Pennsylvania Ag Official Drives Biofuel Production

Laura McNamara

PennsylvaniaThe production of biofuels plays a key role in both rural development and national security for one Pennsylvania agriculture official. Executive Deputy Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture says investing in homegrown biofuels, such as biodiesel and ethanol, translates into the investment in domestic, local economies. Redding was referencing the benefits of biofuel production in the wake of PA Governor Edward G. Rendell’s PennSecurity Fuels Initiative.

Testifying before the state House Committee on Environmental Resources and Energy, Redding said that Governor Edward G. Rendell’s PennSecurity Fuels Initiative, part of his Energy Independence Strategy, will support the production of nearly one billion gallons of renewable transportation fuels annually.

“For every dollar we don’t send overseas, that’s another dollar we can use to grow Pennsylvania’s economy,” said Redding, noting that the United States imports 60 percent of its oil, with Pennsylvania spending $30 billion annually on liquid fuels produced beyond the state’s borders. “Depending on fossil fuels from countries that are politically unstable or controlled by regimes hostile to America’s interests is a danger to our national security. Under Governor Rendell’s plan, our farmers, local communities, biofuel manufacturers, and trucking and rail industries all win, while curbing our reliance on foreign oil.”

Under the Governor’s PennSecurity Fuels Initiative, every gallon of gasoline sold in Pennsylvania will include 10 percent ethanol once in-state production reaches 200 million gallons per year; with incremental increases up to 20 percent once annual production reaches 300 million gallons.

Agribusiness, Biodiesel, Ethanol

Dr. Franz Fischler Will Chair IFAJ Congress 2008

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast-140 - Dr. Franz Fischler on IFAJ 2008We may have just concluded one IFAJ Congress but it’s time to look forward to next year. The man in charge is former EU Commissioner of Agriculture Dr. Franz Fischler. He’s chairing IFAJ 2008 and I met him in Japan.

I found Dr. Fischler to be very easy to speak with. He’s got me convinced that Cindy and I should go to Austria and Slovenia next year. I think he’ll I Interview Dr. Franz Fischler on IFAJ 2008convince you too. He says that we’ll get to see how a former communist country has changed and is working to keep the peace and their independence. It sounds like we’ll get some very contrasting looks at agriculture too since we’ll start out in one country and wind up in another.

The program concludes this week with music from the Podsafe Music Network. This week’s song is “Alpaca Cheese” by a Derek K. Miller. Cindy thought it should be polka but I heard enough in the Coliseum last week.

You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: Listen To ZimmCastZimmCast 140 (15 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:zimmcast140-10-8-07.mp3

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar. You can also subscribe in iTunes

Audio, IFAJ, ZimmCast

Farmers Appointed to Serve on USSEC

Melissa Sandfort

In an effort to continue to increase U.S. soybean farmer profitability through international exports, the United States Soybean Export Council (USSEC) announced director appointments to its board at a recent meeting. The United Soybean Board (USB) appointed seven soybean checkoff farmer-leaders to the 19-member board, which was created in 2005 to strengthen relationships with foreign buyers and increase exports of U.S. soy.

These appointments come at a time when the U.S. soybean industry is coming off a record-breaking year. Figures recently released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture show U.S. soybean exports grew to an all-time high of 1.1 billion bushels.

“USSEC is partially funded through the soybean checkoff, and it is imperative that we wisely invest farmer dollars to meet the needs of soy buyers around the world,” says Mark Pietz, USSEC Chairman and a soybean farmer from Lakefield, Minn. “We are excited to have a great mix of experience from our new and returning board members, and I look forward to serving with them to create export opportunities in the year ahead.”

The following soybean checkoff farmer-leaders have been appointed to serve on the USSEC board of directors for the 2008 fiscal year: Greg Anderson from Newman Grove, Neb.; Ike Boudreaux from Lebeau, La.; Phil Bradshaw from Griggsville, Ill.; Ken Dalenberg from Mansfield, Ill.; Secretary Terry Ecker from Elmo, Mo.; Eric Niemann from Nortonville, Kan.; and Chairman Mark Pietz.

Soybean, USB

World Dairy Expo Summary

Chuck Zimmerman

Fried Cheese VendorWow. It’s nice to be home. You can call this a catch up day and a much needed one. I’m going through cheese withdrawal right now.

It’s always interesting (to me) to summarize our activity when blogging an event. So here’s some current totals for World Dairy Expo:

42 posts on World Dairy Diary, 10 on AgWired
24 episodes of The Milking Parlor podcast – These are interviews conducted while there. Those have collectively been downloaded 244 times.
7 YouTube videos – Those have collectively been viewed 527 times.
242 pictures on Flickr – Those have collectively been viewed 9,725 times. (I took 383 total)

Here’s some official summary information from the World Dairy Expo staff that I thought you’d be interested to know:

Total Attendance: 67,143 (Last year’s attendance was 65,563)

International Guests: * 2,862 from 89 countries (2006: 2,131 from 80 countries)
Top five countries of international attendance: Mexico (273); Canada (269); Germany (201); Argentina (184); Japan (146)
* does not include International Dairy Short Course attendees as of 10/06/07

Commercial Exhibitors: 707 companies from 24 countries

2007 World Dairy Expo Photo Album
World Dairy Diary coverage of World Dairy Expo is sponsored by:
NutriDense Silage Charleston Orwig

World Dairy Expo

Zimfo Bites

Melissa Sandfort

  • Washington, DC, American Farmland Trust (AFT) announces the availability of the Norm Berg Special Collection, an online archive of speeches and writings by and about Norm Berg. Berg is a living link to the beginnings of agricultural conservation in the United States. He worked for the first chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Soil Conservation Service (SCS), and then steadily rose through the ranks serving as chief from 1979 until 1982. Berg advocated for a broader understanding of agricultural conservation, recognizing, before most, that development posed a serious threat to the nation’s agricultural resources.
  • Cotton growers now have access to America’s leading foliar fungicide to control key yield-robbing diseases and boost plant health in their cotton acres with the EPA registration of Headline® fungicide from BASF. One of the key advantages of a foliar application of Headline in cotton is the protection it provides against diseases so cotton plants are not stressed during the peak production period. Since the application timing for Headline will be similar to the timing for an insecticide and/or Pentia spray, Headline could be tank-mixed with these products to make applications more efficient across the cotton fields.
  • Thanks to the hard work and efforts led by the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Young Farmers and Ranchers program, AFBF has been recognized as the 2007 Trade Organization of the Year by America’s Second Harvest, the nation’s largest food bank network. AFBF received the honor because of its many contributions through the organization’s “Harvest for All” program, a partnership between Farm Bureau and America’s Second Harvest spearheaded by the AFBF YF&R Committee. Since it was launched on Hunger Awareness Day in June of 2003, the program has contributed the equivalent of more than 10 million meals to the nation’s hungry, including 4.5 million pounds of donated food, $489,000 dollars raised and over 20,000 combined volunteer hours.
Zimfo Bytes

The Champions of World Dairy Expo

Chuck Zimmerman

Supreme ChampionThe 2007 World Dairy Expo is over and it ended with a great Parade of Champions. You can see pictures of all the action in my photo album. There’s 242 of them in there!

Here’s your Supreme Champion, Indian Acres Mm Pistachio Pie, Ashley Elise Sears, So. Deerfield, MA . Jersey was the Reserve Supreme Champion, Llolyn Jude Griffen-et, Peter Vail & Budjon Farms, Lomira, WI.

You can listen to the announcing of the Reserve and Supreme Champions of the 2007 World Dairy Expo here: wdx-07-champion.mp3

You can also watch the announcement here:

2007 World Dairy Expo Photo Album
World Dairy Diary coverage of World Dairy Expo is sponsored by:
NutriDense Silage Charleston Orwig

Dairy, Video, World Dairy Expo

International Forum for Women in Dairying

Chuck Zimmerman

Kathy LaScalaIt’s the final day of World Dairy Expo and things are getting more relaxed for the agriblogger. It’s also a lot quieter here in the media room. We’re down to the die-hards I guess.

During our media talk session Kathy LaScala wanted to talk about the International Forum for Women in Dairying. I asked her what this is all about. She says you can find out more on their website. The dates are September 28 & 29, 2008 at the Madison Concourse Hotel.

International Forum for Women in DairyingKathy says the conference will feature many speakers and plenty of opportunities for women to network with each other since they face the same challenges regardless of what country they’re from.

Listen to our “Milking Parlor” podcast with Kathy here: Listen To MP3 Interview with Kathy LaScala (MP3)

To subscribe to the Milking Parlor podcast, here are some instructions.

2007 World Dairy Expo Photo Album
World Dairy Diary coverage of World Dairy Expo is sponsored by:
NutriDense Silage Charleston Orwig

Ag Groups, Audio, World Dairy Expo

Creating Farm Podcasting Listeners

Chuck Zimmerman

Win an iPod at Schering PloughYou’ve got to love all the companies that are giving away iPods to producers so they can listen to our farm podcasts!

Take Schering-Plough which is giving away an iPod here at World Dairy Expo (Booth 3817). That’ll be one more dairy producer who can subscribe to our Milking Parlor podcast.

The idea of listening to content when you want and where you want and that you can’t get anywhere else is getting easier and easier to do and so more and more farmers are doing so.

2007 World Dairy Expo Photo Album
World Dairy Diary coverage of World Dairy Expo is sponsored by:
NutriDense Silage Charleston Orwig

Agribusiness, Podcasts, World Dairy Expo

Rhea & Kaiser Move Rewards Talent with Promotion

Laura McNamara

lynch_kim.jpgA look at the latest internal changes at Rhea & Kaiser would suggest the marketing communications agency rewards a job well done with a job on a higher rung of the company ladder. Rhea & Kaiser has promoted Kim Lynch from account supervisor to management supervisor of account services.

In her new role, Lynch will oversee all communication programs for the Bayer CropScience horticulture portfolio, which includes fungicides, insecticides, herbicides and seed treatments.

“Kim has a proven track record of excellent leadership and strategic planning capabilities,” said Kim Cooke, vice president and account management supervisor at R&K who oversees all Bayer CropScience business. “This expanded role enables her to contribute even more to this team and valued client.”

Advertising, Agencies

Hondo Grows Its Marketing Team

Laura McNamara

The Fort Worth-based Hondo Group is expanding its capabilities in marketing communications. Hondo now has a new account executive, a new junior designer and a new production and traffic manager. The company says it’s eager to put the fresh perspectives from these three new hires to use.

“We are very excited to bring in these three talented new employees,” said Lynn Balinas, president of The Hondo Group. “We look forward to expanding our account service and creative departments with a diverse team that will offer new perspectives to our clients and prospects.”

blackwell_cara.jpgCara Blackwell will serve as production and traffic manager for The Hondo Group. Prior to joining the company, Blackwell has served for more than 15 years in the advertising industry in Texas and California, working on accounts including Microsoft, Cingular, Sony, Kraft and Sears in various production management roles. Blackwell is an active volunteer with the Humane Society and graduated from Southern Methodist University with a B.F.A. in Advertising.

woodward-ashley.jpgAshley Woodward joins The Hondo Group as an account executive. Woodward will be assisting with account service and public relations activities for Wyffels Hybrids and Badger Veterinary Hospital. Prior to joining the agency, she served as an intern at Remington Hybrid Seed Company. She recently completed her term as National President of Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow and holds a B.S. in Agricultural Communication from Purdue University.

hong_tina.jpgTina Hong will serve as a junior graphic designer for The Hondo Group. Hong specializes in brand identity, publication design and corporate identity packages. Hong previously served as a graphic designer for D. Anderson & Company, a local pharmaceutical company, and was a graphic design intern for Oregon State University’s Conference Services. Hong is an active member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts and earned a B.F.A. in Graphic Design from Oregon State University.

The Hondo Group is dedicated to providing clients with strategic branding processes and procedures, and new products and technologies. The agency represents clients in a variety of areas including: commercial real estate, agriculture, western lifestyle and professional services. As a full service agency, The Hondo Group helps clients close the marketing loop between great products and satisfied consumers.

Advertising, Agencies