Matt Teagarden is a rancher from Topeka, Kansas whose family has been in the business of cattle for at least four generations. During the Cattle Industry Summer Conference, he said he was closely watching the language around the mandatory COOL program. He explained there is a confidential trade ruling from the World Trade Organization indicating that Mexico and Canada are …
Agvocating For Dairy
At the AgChat Agvocacy 2.0 Conference I met Twitter follower and now friend in person. Here’s @DairyCarrie Mess and her husband. You’ll notice that Carrie is wearing a New Holland shirt! That’s because the dealership she works at sponsored her participation in the conference. I talked with Carrie to learn what drew her to AgChat and using social media. I …
Where Them Cows At
Just because you couldn’t make it to the AgChat Agvocacy 2.0 Conference doesn’t mean you can’t communicate with the community. Take the Dairy Goddess who couldn’t be here. She passed along a video link to share around and I found it via the conference Facebook page. It’s a great video and I hope you enjoy it as much as I …
Pemberton on Policy
Don Pemberton is a rancher from Hopkinsville, KY. His family business has been in operation for 40 years, and he is a long-time National Cattlemen’s Beef Association member who feels it’s important to have an association that “has your back” so to speak. He was recently elected as Vice Chair of the Policy Division, and the big joke during the …
USFRA Presents Research at AgChat Agvocacy 2.0 Conference
At the AgChat Agvocacy 2.0 Conference the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance presented some research with consumers that was conducted by Maslansky, Luntz + Partners. On our program was Jenn Dahm (pictured left). Jenn says that “the finding that all of our research hinges on is the fact that America loves farmers and ranchers. All the effort we’re putting in …
Roads Lead to Colorado
All roads lead to Colorado. Cattle producer Terry Fankhauser is a Kansas native but moved to Colorado about 11 years ago. He comes from a multi-generation ranch, but it was only big enough for the family that was there so Fankhauser said his dad had the foresite to tell him to go find something else. And that he did in …
Iowa Corn Trophy Reaps Publicity
P.T. Barnum has been quoted as saying “There’s no such thing as bad publicity,” but those in the agriculture industry might disagree with that at times. The vicious backlash over the Iowa Cy-Hawk series football trophy, sponsored by Iowa’s corn growers, might be one of those times – or it might not. The trophy shows an Iowa family together after …
New Ideas for Promoting Soybean Exports
The final session of the US Soybean Export Council Animal Utilization Stakeholders meeting in Seattle this past weekend focused on a discussion of new ideas to promote soybean exports in the future. As chairman of the United Soybean Board International Marketing Committee, Jim Call of Minnesota split his time between the animal utilization and the human utilization meetings. “I think …
Growing a Crop of Agvocates
All of the attendees at the AgChat Agvocacy 2.0 Conference are going home with logo shirts thanks to the work of Drew Bender, agriculture education instructor in central Ohio. He’s one of the volunteers helping make the conference happen. Last year he was on the training committee and this year he’s continued his involvement putting on the second conference. Drew …
Farmer Involvement in Agvocacy Training
Ryan Weeks is a 5th generation farmer from south-central Nebraska (pictured on left). He thinks that if farmers don’t use social media to tell their story someone will do it for them. He’s involved in the AgChat Agvocacy 2.0 Conference. He got interested after starting on Twitter and attending last year’s conference. This year’s he’s serving on the training committee. …