Today Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that $8.4 million in financial assistance is available to support 23 new partnership projects in several Mississippi River Basin states under USDA’s Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI). On the phone with reporters to talk about it this morning was NRCS Chief David White, seen here talking with participants in the recent Conservation …
Senate Cuts Farm Bill Amendments
The number of proposed amendments to the Senate farm bill shrank from nearly 300 to 73 yesterday as senators struck a deal to get debate back on track. “This is not a great agreement, but it’s a good agreement,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announcing the deal late last night. The good news is that the “rotten egg …
BASF Plant Health Alive and Well in Canada
There were a good number of agricultural journalists from Canada at the recent BASF Agricultural Solutions Media Summit in Chicago, which highlighted both the differences and the similarities in the crop protection market compared to the U.S. One of the breakout panels for Canadian agriculture journalists at the event featured Canadian farmer Wayne Black, director of the Ontario Federation of …
Record-Setting World Pork Expo
The 2012 World Pork Expo was another one for the record books. The Expo set records for the number of pigs in the Junior National show and the quantity of meals served at the Big Grill, and featured the creation of the world’s largest pork burger during its well-attended MusicFest. The WPX Junior National broke another record for the number …
Bailey Ballou 2012 LMA Champion Auctioneer
The 2012 Livestock Marketing Association’s (LMA) World Livestock Auctioneer Champion is Bailey Ballou of Elgin, OK. Bailey participated in a press conference call just now which I thought I’d share with you in case you couldn’t be on it or are interested in what Bailey had to say. The competition was held last Saturday in Turlock, CA. If you listen …
Southeast AgNet Announces AgNet West
Southeast AgNet introduces a new venture, AgNet West Media, LLC. The company has just announced the newly formed joint venture with California farm media personality Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm Director, and Laurie Greene, West Coast operations (pictured below). The company will operate AgNet West Radio Network, local farm radio network for stations and listeners in California and the western region. I …
GROWMARK Recognized for Communicators’ Works
We’ve had the pleasure of helping our friends at GROWMARK tell their story right here on this blog, and now, several of the company’s employees who also tell that story have been recognized by the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) Institute, recently held in Tucson, Arizona. This company press release has details. First place honors went to Cassie Becker, corporate communications …
Zimfo Bytes
Swanson Russell announces the promotion of Chris Johnson and Laura Witte in the Omaha office and Robin Barrett, Ryan Holt, Venetia Reimnitz and Lynette Von Minden in the Lincoln office. The USDA has appointed James Wuerflein of Kremlin, Okla., to the United Sorghum Checkoff Board of Directors. Hoosier Ag Today has announced a partnership with Growers Edge to bring its …
New Holland “Race With the Winners” and Win
If you love NASCAR and are in the market for a new compact tractor or utility vehicle, New Holland has just the ticket. New Holland Agriculture has partnered with several of the race tracks hosting NASCAR events in 2012 to create the “Race with the Winners” program. Five finalists will be selected during pre-race activities for a chance to win …
Egg Amendment is Top Priority for NCBA
As the amendments to the 2012 Farm Bill are piling up in the Senate, one of the more than 240 stands out as causing the most concern to many agricultural organizations, including the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), and that is the rotten egg amendment. A “dangerous piece of legislation” is what NCBA calls amendment #2252, put forward by Senator …