Hey farm podcasters. Have you been wanting a new digital audio recorder? Marantz is offering some temptations. First of all there’s a rebate program for the very popular PMD620 (Cindy and I each have one). If you purchase it between now and March 31st you get a $100 rebate. That’s a deal. I recommend purchasing from BSW. Then to tempt …
My Twitter Life
A new milestone in my Twitter life is just about to be reached. I have 199 followers on Twitter. Who will be #200? Will it be you? If you’re tweeting let me know what you think about it. Do you like it? Is it useful (personally, professionally)? Post Update: Follower 200 is Livable Future, the blog of The Center for …
USDA Closes Broadband Loan Agreement
Let’s hope we see continued commitment to rural development in the new administration in Washington, DC. The outgoing one has sure done a lot in this area, especially to develop broadband which is providing new opportunities in our rural and farm communities. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer announced today that Open Range Communications has finalized a $267 million loan agreement with …
Political Policy Dynamics Changing
The topic of the St. Louis Agribusiness Club lunch was “Policy Outlook for Agriculture as the Political Dynamics Begin to Change.” I think the political dynamics have already changed don’t you? Giving us his take on this was Thomas J. Erickson, Vice President, Government Affairs, Bunge North America. He says that since the incoming administration seems to have a lot …
Plant Management Network Teaches You How To Use It
Here’s a good example of the use of a webinar by the Plant Management Network. It looks like it was put together with Articulate. PMN recently hosted a live webcast demonstrating its informational resources and how to use them. Specifically, it showed how agricultural practitioners may use PMN’s various tools in their daily work. The webcast was presented by Howard …
New Media Work Station
Here’s my work station earlier today at the DoubleTree Hotel in St. Louis. Macbook Pro, iPhone, card reader and my camera. Oh, and yes, I was using hotel lobby bandwidth. The tools to communicate with are certainly changing. If I didn’t want or need to take real high res photos I could just blog an event with my phone and …
Greg Guenther Receives Award From St. Louis Ag Club
At today’s St. Louis Agribusiness Club lunch meeting Illinois farmer Greg Guenther received the Agribusiness Leader of the Year Award. Greg is pictured with SLAC President Laurie Hiler (left) and his wife. I spoke to Greg afterward (on my iPhone) and he says it was a pleasant surprise. He’s says it’s nice for folks to acknowledge the time he’s put …
Greased Lightning Awarded By AFBF and New Holland
As a gadget, I mean cool tools, kind of guy I thought this was a great invention idea and it won an award at the American Farm Bureau Federation convention. Daniel Prough of LaGrange, Ind., earned the grand prize in the Farmer Idea Exchange competition at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 90th annual meeting. Prough won a year’s use of …
Defining Sustainability
An alliance of agricultural groups and companies has put together a report to help people understand sustainability. Yes, that word that everyone seems to have a different definition for. The report released today by the Keystone Alliance, provides a definition of economic and environmental sustainability focusing on “meeting the needs of the present while improving the ability of future generations …
AAAE Conference in May
After more years in agricultural communications than I care to remember I keep finding organizations that are new to me. This one is the American Association for Agricultural Education. Goals of AAAE Serve as an advocate for improvement of teaching and learning in agriculture. Provide a forum to address issues in agricultural education. Provide an approach to identifying, prioritizing, and …