The 2013 National Agvocacy 2.0 Conference is underway in Charlotte, NC. We’ve got a new crop of agvocates in training mode today and tomorrow, over 100 of them! Our program is just underway with keynote speaker Jay Baer, author of Youtility, Why Smart Marketing is about Help not Hype. We’re going to explore conversations beyond the choir, look at some …
2013 USDA-NASS Farm Computer Report
The latest USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service report, “Farm Computer Usage and Ownership Report” (pdf) is now available. As you would expect, there’s more computer ownership and usage and more high speed internet access with less dialup. You can find the full report here with breakout statistics by state. Here’s a summary of the data. DSL was the most common …
National Agvocacy 2.0 Conference
This week I’ll be attending the 2013 National Agvocacy 2.0 Conference in Charlotte, NC. It has been fun to see the excitement build for the farmers and everyone who will be attending. For many it will be there first event of this kind. My ticket is printed and so are my boarding passes! On Friday I will be sharing a …
Case IH Sponsoring Great American Wheat Harvest Film
Case IH has joined the supporting team for the Great American Wheat Harvest documentary film as a Silver Sponsor. “This validates the diversity of combine colors represented by the wheat harvesting machinery featured in the film with their sponsorship,” says film producer Conrad Weaver. Earlier this spring, the filmmaker joined the more than 200 harvesting crews at the CASE IH …
Get a Gumdrop for your iPad
Using an iPad for precision agricultural applications is a fast growing use of the most widely used tablets. But it also brings concerns over how to protect the devices as they’re transferred from home to truck to tractor or combine. One way is with a rugged Drop Tech Series case from Gumdrop Cases. Here’s me with one I just got …
Pork Summer Advertising Success
The National Pork Board has just recently concluded a summer domestic marketing advertising campaign and the results seem to be very successful when looking at supplies and demand. The United States Department of Agriculture has announced that June 2013 frozen pork supplies are down 14 percent from the previous month, and down nearly 5 percent on a year-over-year basis, reflecting …
Lisa Hightower Joins United Fresh Produce Association
I love seeing a fellow Florida Gator out in the ag communications workplace. Dr. Lisa Hightower has joined United Fresh Produce Association as the association’s new communications manager. Lisa will produce the Inside Fresh United weekly online newsletter, develop content for United’s website and social media sites, work with news media, and promote awareness of United Fresh events, including the …
Why Are You Here Cattlemen?
During the Cattlemen’s Beef Board meeting at the end of the Cattle Industry Summer Conference we heard a great speech in the form of the report given by CEO Polly Ruhland. She had a very heartfelt and powerful message which I believe shows you the quality of the people representing cattle producers on the staff of the Beef Checkoff. You …
Beef Board CEO Reports at Summer Conference
The CEO of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, Polly Ruhland, was on stage this morning for the second general session of the Cattle Industry Summer Conference. I talked with her afterward. She says the new committee structure and format for the conference have generated good feedback. Condensing the agenda into a shorter time frame means that volunteer leaders have to spend …
50 Years of Federation of State Beef Councils
This is the 50 year celebration of the Federation of State Beef Councils. No one has more knowledge of the history of the Beef Checkoff and the evolution of the industry groups than John Huston. John gave us a look back over the years at the people involved in the start of the first agricultural industry checkoff which was 5 …