We’re less than an hour away from the opening of the InfoExpo Grand Opening and Reception. I took at sneak peak at the booths, food and beverages and people are going to be treated to a great time.
There are a few companies adding the final touches…and a few companies already getting down to business!
See you there. IFAJ/AMS 2009 Photo Album.
AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2009 is sponsored by:
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The newly appointed Director of Public Relations for the American Angus Association is Eric Grant. He’s oversee the Association’s advertising, public relations and communications programs.
Grant is a 24-year veteran in agricultural communications, public relations and advertising. “For more than two decades, Eric has been an advocate of rural America and rural Americans,” says Bryce Schumann, Association CEO. “We look forward to taking a more aggressive and innovative approach to public relations, advertising and communications. We believe Eric’s ideas, energy and execution will help accomplish this and strengthen the position of the Angus breed.”
During the last two decades, Grant served as assistant editor for National Cattlemen’s Association, senior contributing editor for Farm Journal/Beef Today, and contributing editor for the American Cowboy and Range magazines. He has written for Angus Journal for more than 10 years. His award-winning photography and articles have appeared in more than 100 publications around the world.
Other Association news includes:
Shelia Stannard has been named the director of activities and events for the American Angus Association. She assumed her new responsibilities August. 1. Stannard has been with the Association nearly 11 years, starting as assistant director of public relations and most recently serving as director of communications and events.
Crystal Young has been appointed assistant director of public relations for the American Angus Association. In this capacity, she will be responsible for conducting many of the Association’s public relations and advertising efforts.
If you’re wondering where Steve Engle is then wonder no more.
Steve Engle is joining Pure Marketing and Media as Creative Director and as President of Pure Ag, the agency’s new agribusiness division.
During his 28-year agency career, Engle has worked on many major accounts in a variety of industries, including Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer, DuPont, John Deere, Pioneer, DeKalb, Bank of America, Pacific Bell, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Kansas City, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Iowa, Boone County National Bank, Capital Region Medical Center, and others. In addition to winning numerous national and international creative awards, Engle was honored in 2006 with the prestigious Professional Development Award of Excellence in Marketing Communications by the National Agri-Marketing Association.
There is a lot of discussion around the best way(s) to sequester carbon but the biggest discussion involves the issue of what is the best way to do this and what will be the long term effects. Several people took the stage during one of Sunday’s afternoon sessions called: Carbon Sequestration – The Path to the Promise.
Theodor Friedrich with the Crop and Grassland Service of the FAO, along with Nathan Rudgers, with 25×25 Carbon Work Group, shared the podium to discuss the ability of farmers to capture and store atmospheric carbon in their soils as a way to reduce carbon emissions. This practice to be both a boon to the air and the soil as this could provide a new financial stream for farmers.
Friedrich focused on the role of soil in carbon sequestration noting that when soils are put into production they lose CO2. However, he said, this also makes them a big carbon sink and warned that a key element to the success of this process would be agricultural management of the soils. In the end, he cautioned that in regards to climate change, “agriculture must be a part of the solution, not part of the problem.
From there Rudgers took the stage to focus on how forestry can play in important role in carbon offset programs (cap and trade). He noted that under the cap-and-trade, regulated entities must reduce emissions or purchase offsets to cover them. He commented that his organization is looking at woody biomass which, “can be a robust contributor to energy solutions.”
To see the full presentation, visit IFAJ’s website.
AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2009 is sponsored by:
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As I mentioned in the first part of my post, I had the opportunity to tour around Ft. Worth with journalists from around the world during the IFAJ conference. After leaving the Rocky Top Therapy Center we headed to the Texas Motor Speedway for a little fun on the track.
I’ve been to the speedway before and actually enjoyed watching the awe of our international friends more than anything. The speedway seats nearly 200,000 fans on a race weekend and is the host of two Nascar races and an IndyCar race. I could hardly believe this, but the speedway was completed in 1997 and in April ’97 had their first Nascar race. After the weekend was over, the owners made so much money they were able to pay off the speedway. Amazing!
After watching some participants of the Richard Petty Driving School (a program where people can pay to learn how to drive a one of the race cars that compete in the Nascar Sprint Cup Series) with much jealousy, we headed to Superior Livestock Auction located in the historical Ft. Worth Stockyards. From the information that I can gather, they actually auctioned off livestock and other animals in the stockyards until the mid to late 90s. Now, many livestock auctions are handled online and Superior Livestock Auction is the company that pioneered the online auction. You can also watch the actions live on RFD TV and they will also soon be broadcast on cable. Nothing like the ability to buy a lot of Angus without leaving your couch.
You can take a photo tour of my day by checking out our IFAJ/AMS 2009 Photo Album.
AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2009 is sponsored by:
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One of the coolest parts of the IFAJ/AMS Big Ol’ Western Welcome Party was pretty hot – branding boards with personal brands. Dozens of ag media types, both American and international, took the branding iron in hand and left their marks.
Our buddy Harlen Persinger – photographer extraordinaire – really got into it and designed a nice brand for himself. Check out the photo album for lots more photos.
There were at least 600 people who attended the party last night at Fort Worth Stockyards that included great music and dancing, as well as some good ol’ Texas barbeque. It was really a fun time for all!
AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2009 is sponsored by:
and
AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2009 is sponsored by:
and
Although I lived in Dallas-Ft. Worth for several years, there is always more to see. I spent the day touring around Ft. Worth as part of the IFAJ conference and visited the Rocky Top Therapy Center (www.rockytoptherapy.org) located in Keller, Texas, the Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth and Superior Livestock Auction, located in the historic Stockyards.
Although the entire day was enjoyable, I was really fascinated with the Rocky Top Therapy Center which uses animals, and specifically equine therapy to help more than 250 emotionally, mentally and physically challenged individuals each week. They use more than 53 horses and 250 volunteers who donated more than 180,000 hours of their time to help these children last year.
We were given a special equine therapy demonstration by several amazing children who all began the program in wheelchairs and now each one of these kids can walk. You can see a video of the therapy here.
Also featured at the ranch is a playground featuring the largest treehouse in the country. For the first time ever, both children and adults have been able to experience the pleasure of sliding down a topsy-turvy slide.
It was a great experience and you can learn more about Rocky Top Therapy Center at www.rockytoptherapy.com. In case you’re interested in donating time or money, they have a fundraiser coming up in October and you can get more information on their website.
To see more photos from the ranch as well as rest of my tour, check out our IFAJ/AMS 2009 Photo Album.
The International Federation of Ag Journalists kicked off the 2009 Congress events with an all American rodeo and some sweet southern cooking at Billy Bob’s Texas in the historical Fort Worth Stockyards. Billy Bob’s is home to the “world’s largest honky tonk,” where international visitors enjoyed a wonderful time of dinner and refreshments. Afterward we moseyed on over to their indoor rodeo arena to see bull riding and more. On the way in to the arena, we were greeted by a genuine Texas longhorn and many of us posed with the (rather smelly) animal. This is me with Jeremy Lutgen of Novus International and Guus Ten Hove from Switzerland posing with the longhorn.
Inside the stadium you were greeted with the overwhelming aroma of livestock, all part of the experience, I guess. This was my first rodeo, as well as a first for most of the visitors to the conference and boy, was it a show! There was music, bull riding, calf roping, funny rodeo clowns, plenty to entertain us all. It was definitely a sight to see with something for everyone.
The night was a great time to mingle and meet people from the conference in a very fun and real American environment. If you ever visit Fort Worth make sure to make a stop at Billy Bob’s!
AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2009 is sponsored by:
and
AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2009 is sponsored by:
and
After the great debate this morning, I had the opportunity, along with Kansas Ag Network reporter Greg Akagi, to spend some time with retired economist Barry Flinchbaugh. We began by asking what the biggest issues are facing the ag community. His response: climate change and healthcare.
“Front and center is renewable fuels and climate change and you can’t separate the two. And the question is global warming a hoax is a stupid question because the political system worldwide has decided that its for real and things are going to happen. The Supreme Court gave the EPA the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. So to pretend we can whip this, we being agriculture is ridiculous. We can’t whip this and we need to get inside the tent and help make the decisions.”
Although his comments on how current climate change policy will affect both America and the international communities are insightful, I wanted to know how the cap and trade bill would affect the profitability of farmers in America.
“I think we can come out a net winner but we need to refine the current law to do this.”
When asked if we can come out a net winner after adding indirect land use, the answer, “No. Absolutely not. And this whole indirect land use issue is a bogus, emotional issue.”
You can’t miss out on the full interview with Barry so listen to its entirety here:
