Despite an impassioned plea by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas to “move this bill forward” the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013 (FARRM) failed on a vote of 194 to 234, with 60 Republicans joining the majority of Democrats to defeat the House version of the farm bill. “If it fails today, I can’t guarantee you’ll …
Government Taking Away Privacy
Before we get to our new Zimmpoll let’s look at the results of our latest one which asked the question, “ What is your opinion of Senate immigration bill?” From our poll results it looks like you want to see changes to the immigration bill. Our poll results: Forty-one percent said Border Security First! Sixteen percent said Bad Deal Overall, …
Hershey…..Not the Candy Bar
Another school story, but this one is about a young boy’s dedication to caring for his bucket calf. Oh, those 4-H projects that became family members… I had gone to school early one morning and was enjoying the quiet – mentally preparing for the day. The phone ringing in my room interrupted thoughts of how to creatively teach simple division. …
Food Dialogues Transparency
Yesterday’s Food Dialogues topic was, “TRANSPARENCY AND FOOD: OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO TODAY’S CONSUMER.” This was part two of the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance panel discussion in Chicago on the topic. The event took place at Kendall College School of Cullinary Arts. Panelists included Ellie Krieger, moderator, RD, host of Food Network’s Healthy Appetite, and New …
ASTA elects first woman to officer team
Risa DeMasi was elected as the second Vice Chair of ASTA at the 130th ASTA annual meeting. This election is marks a memorable moment for ASTA as DeMasi is the first woman to be elected an officer. She will serve a three year term in which she serves as the second Vice Chair in 2013-2014, the first Vice Chair in …
Bayer Supports Project in Honor of 150 Years
As part of Bayer’s 150th Anniversary celebration the Bayer Care Foundation has donated $790,000 to 150 projects from around the world. Nine of them are from the United States and three of them are based out of Bayer CropScience’s home state of North Carolina. The projects were chosen based on employee volunteer projects from across the country. The North Carolina …
FuSE program grows future ASTA members
The Future Seed Executives (FuSE) program was initiated as a branch of the ASTA Management Skills Committee in 2004. According to Liz Pestow, immediate past chairman of the FuSE initiative, “The focus of FuSE is to provide educational and networking opportunities to those in the industry with seven years or less experience,” Pestow said. Members involved in FuSE range from …
IFAMA Student Competition Winners
A team of MBA students from Santa Clara University won first place in the IFAMA Student Case Competition Wednesday at the World Forum in Atlanta. The competition consists of teams representing universities worldwide who simulate a fast turnaround analysis and presentation which they make to a panel of senior management judges on a corporate hot topic. This year there were …
DuPont Exec Talks Food Security at IFAMA
Food security was the topic for an address Wednesday to the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA) World Forum by DuPont Executive Vice President Jim Borel. “We need a new generation of food visionaries who can see the tremendous opportunity made possible by the simple fact that people have to eat,” Borel said. The DuPont executive talked about the …
Georgia Ag Commissioner Welcomes IFAMA
Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Gary Black was very pleased to have the International Food & Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA) host its 23rd annual World Forum in the Peach State. “Thank you for choosing our capitol city to be the host for this wonderful meeting,” Black said in welcoming the group on Tuesday. “It’s a great opportunity to celebrate what we …