Strategizing for the Future

Laura McNamara

National Council for Agricultural EducationThe future of agriculture education is no light matter for the National Council for Agricultural Education. That’s why the Council is meeting June 15-17 in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, for a 10 x 15 National Conference. The Council plans to address long-range stategic planning for the future of ag education.

“We want to create new programs in communities not yet served by agricultural education and FFA,” said Allan Sulser, chairman of the National Council. “We can strengthen the quality of current programs to provide personal, academic and career education in agriculture. It will contribute to our strategic goal of having 10,000 quality agricultural education programs in operation in this country by the year 2015,” he said. “Agricultural education is at a crossroads, with the past and present both impacting our vision and decisions,” said Larry Case, Ed.D., coordinator of agricultural and rural education, U.S. Department of Education. “These policy meetings are integral to the future success of the agricultural business and agriscience industries in the United States. We must meet the needs for a competent scientific workforce for tomorrow incorporating techn ological and academic advances that continuously develop.” The 10 x 15 management team has identified eight high-priority initiatives to carry agricultural education successfully into the future. They are:

1. Program Standards for agricultural education (Goal: Set and seek adoption of National Program Standards for Agricultural Education for academic, technical, career and life skills based upon the integrated model of agric
2. Link food, agriculture and natural resources content standards to national academic content standards (Goal: Link national academic content standards in science, math, language arts, and social sciences and engage the academic community in setting national standards.)
3. Develop multiple agricultural education designs (Goal: Identify 5-10 potential new markets for agricultural education programs and develop multiple agricultural science education designs that meet community and industry needs.)
4. Program data reporting (Goal: Create and operate a program results reporting system to provide baseline and annual data to document program value at local, state and national levels and provide feedback for continuous improvement.)
5. Agriculture educator recruitment (Goal: Develop and implement agricultural education teacher recruitment strategies in grades 9-14.)
6. Agricultural education advocacy strategy (Goal: Develop local, state and national strategies that effectively advocate agricultural education.)
7. Agricultural education brand strategy (Goal: Develop and implement a brand strategy for agricultural education that results in the greatest success for the enterprise as a whole.)
8. Program funding strategy (Goal: Devise and implement a local, state and national strategy to enlist public, corporate and organizational support to build agricultural education programs at all levels.)
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Ag Groups, Education

On Fire To Learn About Propane

Chuck Zimmerman

Missouri Highway MorningWhile most people are sleeping the agriblogger is up and on his way to another event. This time it’s Propane Days in Washington, DC.

It was a beautiful sunrise on the way to St. Louis airport. The sky looked like it was on fire over the farm fields that were mostly covered with a light layer of ground fog. I wish I’d had more time to set up for a better picture.

It’s almost time to board. Over the next couple days I’ll be featuring interviews and pictures about the activities of the Propane Education & Research Council which is a sponsor of Propane Days.

It’s and education event and an educational opportunity that I’m looking forward to.

Ag Groups, Propane

Missouri Couple Boasts Champion Pork

Laura McNamara

Pork CheckoffThis year’s tastiest pork came out of Odessa, MO. Odessa’s Craig and Patty Kidwell can make their claim as pork royalty after earning Grand Champion honors in the Pork Checkoff’s 20th Annual Great Pork BarbeQlossal™. The couple, who run Boys of BBQ Patty, received $10,000 worth of cash and prizes, June 9th.

This is the second time the Kidwell’s have won BarbeQlossal. “The Great Pork BarbeQlossal contest shows pork’s versatility,” said Lynn Harrison, a pork producer from Elk Mound, Wis. “This is another way to reinforce to consumers that pork is spirited, creative, engaging and energetic.” The grand champion must cook in all four categories – whole hog, loin, ribs and shoulder. The 2007 grand champion team placed second in the whole-hog category, fourth place in the loin category and tenth place in the rib category.

“BarbeQlossal is unique. It is one of the only contests in the country that allows competitors to cook four cuts of meat,” Kidwell said. “This allows us to showcase to consumers how easy it is to cook great tasting pork.”

Eighty teams from 15 states competed in the annual pork barbecue contest held at the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa. Of those, 19 were competing in the Great Pork BarbeQlossal for the first time. Teams competed in one or more of the four categories. Monetary prizes in the Great Pork BarbeQlossal are awarded for first through tenth places in each category, as well as the top five overall scores. Reserve Grand Champion honors and $3,000 went to Fred Horstman of 4 Mile Smokin Crew in Pleasant Hill, Iowa. The team placed first in the whole-hog category and eighth place in the loin category.
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Food, Pork

Mellencamp Among Performers At FARM AID Festival

Laura McNamara

NAMA members with Alida SanabriaThe Big Apple will be getting a taste of the farm at FARM AID 2007: A HOMEGROWN FESTIVAL. Randall’s Island in New York City will host the festival. The list of A-listers slated to participate at the event include Willie Nelson, John Melencamp and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. FarmYard members will have access to the best seats in the house in the event’s pre-sale on Friday, June 15, 10 a.m. EDT.

Farm Shows

Sanabria Inaugural Grant Winner

Laura McNamara

NAMA members with Alida SanabriaAnd the first annual Eastern Chapter, National Agri-Marketing Association’s student award goes to Alida Sanabria.

To support young, aspiring ag professionals, the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA), Eastern Chapter, presented its first annual student award grant at New York City’s John Bowne High School graduation awards ceremony on May 31, 2007. Wendy Elliot, Pfizer Animal Health, presented the award to graduating senior Alida Sanabria. Alida is an animal science major in John Bowne’s specialized agriculture program and is active in the student FFA chapter.

Gibbs & Soell Public Relations matched the NAMA grant amount, resulting in a total award of $600.

“We believe that recognizing the achievements of students committed to agriculture is important for the future of our industry,” says Ms. Elliot, “Honoring these successes is one way that we can encourage the continuing development of future ag professionals.”

Alida will enter the pre-veterinary science program at Cornell University this fall.

Steven Perry, assistant principal and director of agriculture of John Bowne High School, says, “Our school welcomes the involvement of groups like NAMA through this special award program. Alida worked especially hard to achieve her academic successes and has wanted to be a veterinarian since she was six years old. The NAMA award will help in moving Alida closer to her goal at Cornell.”

John Bowne High School is located in Queens, NY. The school’s specialized agriculture program is nationally recognized as an outstanding urban agricultural education offering. One of the unique aspects of the program is the relationship between classroom instruction and hands-on experience. During the school year, students take classes in plant science and animal science, in addition to courses in traditional academic subjects. Students develop their agricultural experience on the school’s land laboratory and in both urban and rural agriculture jobs during the summers. John Bowne graduates go on to agricultural and technical colleges and many out-of-state institutions throughout the northeast before establishing themselves in leadership positions in agricultural professions.

Ag Groups, Education, NAMA

Country Music and Farming Just Go Together

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast-123 - CMA Loves AgricultureI hope you enjoyed the posts from this past week of CMA Music Festival activity. I’ve got more for you when I find the editing time. I want to thank Gene Hemphill with New Holland for sponsoring my coverage of the event. I also want to make sure I mention and thank Holly Fritz, H.B. Fritz & Associates, Inc., because she and her husband John did a great job with logistics and making everything run smoothly.

CMA Music FestivalThis week on the ZimmCast I’ve got an interview with Paula Milton, CMA Director of Business Development. We talked about the whole idea of marketing country music and agriculture. With this being the second year of the New Holland sponsorship and the Michael Peterson/New Holland Celebrity Tractor Race I figured she would have made some evaluation of how the relationship is working. As you’ll hear her say, it’s not only positive but I think she’d like to see it continue to grow.

The program ends with music from the Podsafe Music Network and a band called 77 South. The song is “A Country Song.”

You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: Listen To ZimmCastZimmCast 123 (16 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:

zimmcast123-6-11-07.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.

Agribusiness, Audio, New Holland, Tractor, ZimmCast

ARC Breakfast at AMS

Chuck Zimmerman

Agricultural Relations CouncilHello professional agricultural public relations people. If you’re going to be in Louisville for the Ag Media Summit (where all the cool people will be) then you need this on your calendar.

Mark your calendars now!

Agricultural Relations Council Breakfast at Ag Media Summit

Tuesday, July 31, 7 – 8:30 a.m., Marriott Louisville Downtown

Stay tuned for details.

Ag Media Summit, ARC

Weighing Worth

Laura McNamara

What's it Worth?When it comes to purchasing farming machinery and equipment, it just got a lot easier to shop around. Successful Farming, the nation’s leading agriculture magazine, has released a modern price guide for equipment manufactured from 1970 through the present. Successful Farming says “What’s it Worth?” is based on the magazine’s editorial expertise in machinery.

For years, Successful Farming readers have asked “What’s it worth?” Now they will know exactly what to ask for when selling or purchasing all types of agricultural and construction equipment. The one-of-a-kind guide compiles more than 14,000 actual sales prices from Greg “Machinery Pete” Peterson. Peterson also provides the reader knowledge to research accurate price points, identify realistic “asking” prices, determine assets when applying for a loan, establish depreciation schedules, and evaluate an estate. A bonus section provides a “how-to” guide for effectively buying and selling equipment.

“If you are planning on buying or selling used machinery in the future, you need the ‘What’s It Worth’ book,” says Dave Mowitz, Successful Farming Machinery Editor. “Knowing what comparable machinery has actually sold for allows you to confidently set a solid price for equipment you are buying or selling. This data is based on actual prices people have paid for machinery over the past year.”

Buy “What’s It Worth” in stores or at www.successfulfarmingbooks.com. Retailers may email diana.willits@meredith.com if they would like to carry the book in their retail locations.

Founded in 1902, Successful Farming was the first magazine published by Meredith Corporation and has a circulation of 440,000 and 1.1 million readers. Successful Farming is one of the most successful and recognizable brands in the Agricultural industry. Its Web site, Agriculture Online, established in 1995, was one of the first agricultural Web sites in America. It has since received the Jesse H. Neal Business Journalism Award for best Web site, was listed among BtoB magazine’s Media Power 50, and was named Best of the Web by Media Industry News.
In addition to the magazine and Web site, Successful Farming properties include the Successful Farming Radio Magazine®, Successful Farming Data Solutions, Market Research, and custom publishing.

Equipment

Learn About Jay Leno’s EcoJet from Bernard Juchli

Chuck Zimmerman

Bernard Juchli being interviewed by meThanks to John Herath, producer of AgriTalk for letting me do an interview with Jay Leno’s Garage Chief, Bernard Juchli today. John also edited it together for me and I think I need to take a lesson from him.

In this interview with Bernard you can learn all about the EcoJet car that’s been on display this weekend here at the CMA Music Festival New Holland tent. Jay just wanted a nice little jet engine powered car and with Bernard’s help and the help of companies like General Motors he got one.

Hopefully by the time you check this post the video will show up on YouTube. It’s been a little slow with the processing this afternoon and I’m tired of waiting so I’m posting it anyway. Bernard was one of the contestants in today’s Michael Peterson/New Holland Celebrity Tractor Race btw.

CMA Music Festival Photo Album

Biodiesel, New Holland

Michael Peterson Wraps Things Up

Chuck Zimmerman

Michael Peterson on TractorAt the end of today’s Michael Peterson/New Holland Celebrity Tractor Race the man took a turn on the course himself. Michael did great with a time of 52.8 seconds. However, that didn’t beat race winner Todd Fritsch’s time.

I did a wrapup interview with Michael which Todd joined in on. Michael says the estimate is up to about 1,500 people out here today and I think that’s pretty accurate. He really appreciates what New Holland is doing and his relationship with the company. Listen to Michael wrap things up in our interview: cma-07-peterson-wrapup.mp3

I’ve got some more interviews and some more video that I’ll post over the coming days. For now it’s time for me to wrap things up in Nashville and work on the next venue which will take place in Washington, DC.

CMA Music Festival Photo Album

Audio, New Holland, Tractor