Our morning two general session featured several economists including Steve Meyer, President, Paragon Economics. I talked with him afterward to get a few of his thoughts on how things are looking for the meat industry. The number one item is weather. Of course Steve says that’s harder to predict than the markets! Steve says we’re on such a tight supply …
Fact vs. Fiction in Food Crisis Management
Crisis management. We hear a lot about it and any company wants to be ready to handle one if it should happen. How do you deal with fact vs. fiction, especially in the food industry? At today’s Annual Meat Conference we heard from Sue Borra, Senior Vice President of Communications, Food Marketing Institute and Eric Mittenthal, Vice President, Public Affairs, …
Sponsoring Great American Wheat Harvest
During the recent AG CONNECT Expo Conrad Weaver unveiled the new trailer for The Great American Wheat Harvest film documentary. Today we’re announcing that AgWired has come on board as a Silver Sponsor! We’ll be updating you throughout the film’s production process with interviews and more. To hear what another sponsor has to say I talked with Barry Nelson, John …
Zimfo Bytes
Ten GROWMARK employees were recognized at the 2013 National Council of Farmer Cooperatives’ Information Fair. Agrium Inc. announced record consolidated net earnings from continuing operations of $354-million for the fourth quarter of 2012. U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced several biotechnology regulatory actions sent to the Federal Register for publication. American Soybean Association reports a …
Sequester Monster is Coming
The impending deadline for “sequestration” has taken on the character of a looming cataclysmic event or awakening of a sleeping monster in a horror movie – a monster with an axe aimed at all government spending. Sequester is scheduled to take effect on March 1 and so far Congress has made no effort to prevent the across the board spending …
Resistance Fighter of the Year Award Winner
Fighting weed resistance is becoming more and more important and one way Syngenta has been working on it is with their Resistance Fighter of the Year Program. Here’s one of this year’s winners, Scott Stallbaumer from Saint Marys, KS. I met him in the Syngenta exhibit at the National Farm Machinery Show. The other winner is Scott Holder from Boyle, …
FMC Marketing with Authority
The Authority Minute is a video podcast series by FMC that has come about because as Paul Reghage, FMC, says, “Growers were telling us they like to hear from other growers.” So FMC developed the Authority Minute series which Paul says will be at least 18 episodes. These short interview segments include farmers, retailers, consultants and researchers including not only …
Making Safe, Affordable, Abundant Food a Reality
The Annual Meat Conference is very much about education and that includes getting the big picture when it comes to the industry not only here in the United States but also around the world. We got that perspective from Jeff Simmons, President, Elanco, who spoke on “Making Safe, Affordable and Abundant Food a Global Reality.” You can listen to or …
Meat & Greet at Annual Meat Conference
The tastiest part of this opening day of the 2013 Annual Meat Conference has been the Meat & Greet Welcome Reception. Thanks to Tyson and Certified Angus Beef for sponsoring this. Pictured is a New York Strip Roast being sliced up. Yes, it is excellent. Here are some other items that you could find: Roasted Certified Angus Beef® brand Prime …
Success in Restaurant Business with the Neelys
If you want a Recipe for Success then get Down Home with the Neelys, as in Gina and Pat. They opened up the 2013 Annual Meat Conference with a story of hard work and devotion to not only their business but their family and I wish everyone could hear it. I got a taste for you though by catching them …