United Soybean Board CEO John Becherer (left) received the 2009 Agribusiness Leader of the Year award from the St. Louis Agribusiness Club. According to Dale Ludwig, executive director of the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council, “John leads one of the most successful farmer-checkoff programs in the world.” Ludwig, a senior staff member of a Qualified State Soybean Board, nominated Becherer for …
Bioavailability is Key to Chelated Trace Minerals
When it comes to chelated trace minerals, Dr. Jim Richards with Novus International is a serious expert, and this is no simple subject. “When you chelate a trace mineral, you basically react it with an organic mineral called a ligand,” says Jim, who is Novus Manager of Cell Biology Research. Now, that likely means very little to the cell biology …
History of Poultry Feed Management
The International Poultry Scientific Forum is held in conjunction with the International Poultry Expo each year and is sponsored by the Southern Poultry Science Society, the Southern Conference on Avian Diseases, and the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association. As part of that event, Novus International hosts a luncheon and speaker for the attendees on a topic of general interest to …
Mapping Cattle Industry Attendees
This is an interesting display in the entrance hallway to the Cattle Industry Convention. It’s a large map of the United States with a bowl of pins so you can pinpoint where you’re from. It’s early but there are already a lot of pins from all over the country. I’ll try to remember to get a final shot of it …
CBB and NCBA Officer Previews
The combined meetings of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and Cattlemen’s Beef Board have started here at the Cattle Industry Convention in San Antonio. To kick off our coverage I conducted a short interview with an officer from each organization. Pictured are Tom Jones, CBB Secretary/Treasurer (left) and Bill Donald, NCBA Vice President. I caught up with them prior to …
Welcome to Poultry Expo 2010
The 2010 International Poultry Expo/Feed Expo is getting underway here in Atlanta with associated conferences today, including the Poultry Scientific Forum, Pet Food Conference and Animal Agriculture Environmental Sustainability Summit. Our sponsor, Novus International, is hosting a seminar/luncheon for expo attendees entitiled “Historical Perspectives in Poultry Feed Management,” presented by Dr. Steve Leeson from the University of Guelph. About 200 …
Want Yield Increases? Then You Need Healthier Roots.
There was an unintended theme during the Ag Associates Conference in Houston today–root health. I heard from several researchers, consultants and growers from all over the world that most farmers concentrate on plant health above the ground but don’t spend enough time learning about the plant under the ground. For StollerUSA, root health is one of their biggest areas of …
Merial Media Room
Thanks go to Merial for sponsoring the Cattle Industry Convention media room once again. The media room “officially” opens tomorrow morning but somebody had to be first in. That would probably be Grace Webb who has already stocked the bowls on the tables with chocolate. The action really gets going tomorrow and picks up on Wed. I’ll be here all …
Lynn Balinas Celebrates B-Day at Ag Associates Conference
We’re having a great time here in Houston at the Ag Associates Conference. So much so that it was hard to get everyone to take a break and have lunch! Last night, Lynn Balinas, the President of the Hondo Group, celebrated his birthday with the entire StollerUSA team. His team Patricia Lawson and Brenda Gilbertson, the PR gurus who are …
Epigenetics: The Next Generation of Ag
Farmers haven’t been trained to listen to their plants. But for Jerry Stoller, CEO of StollerUSA, that is what his company does best. In some circles, you could even call him the “plant whisperer.” While having breakfast with Jerry this morning, he taught a group of journalists how to listen and what we heard is….”epigenetics.” “This is going to be …