Baby barn owls with a hearty appetite for rodents that destroy sugarcane were one of the highlights of the CTIC Conservation in Action tour this week in the Everglades Agricultural Area. We saw sugarcane being planted and harvested with precision, rich black soil, dozens of varieties of lettuce, a concrete post revealing six feet of soil subsidence in 84 years, …
Florida Farm Bureau Welcomes Conservation Tour
The president of the Florida Farm Bureau welcomed participants on the 2014 CTIC Conservation in Action tour to the Sunshine State Tuesday night as they prepared to visit the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) today. john Hoblick spent some time telling the group, many of whom are from the Midwest, about the EAA and the efforts Florida farmers have undertaken to …
AEM Confident Despite Farm Equipment Sales Drop
Farm equipment sales are down significantly this year, but the head of the Association of Equipment Manufacturer‘s Ag Sector remains optimistic about the industry. “We’re in the business of feeding and harvesting food and you need equipment to do that,” says Charlie O’Brien, AEM Senior Vice President and Ag Sector Lead. “Even though the numbers for this year are down, …
USDA Forecasts More Corn and Soybeans
The harvest may be running a little slow right now, but USDA expects a bit more corn and beans in the bins than they did a month ago, adding to the already record forecasts. Corn production is now forecast at 14.5 billion bushels, up almost one percent from the previous forecast and four percent more than last year. Corn yields …
Grains Council Helping Exports Rebound
With a record corn crop being harvested, exports are more important than ever. The United States exported more than 11 percent of the U.S. corn supply to over 100 countries in the 2013/2014 marketing year, which U.S. Grains Council president and CEO Tom Sleight says is a nice recovery from lost market share after the drought of 2012. “Now it’s …
CFWF Photography Workshop
Improving photography skills was the goal of a post-conference workshop for the Canadian Farm Writers Federation last weekend. Photographer Elaine Shein with DTN/Progressive Farmer took close to 20 participants around the Legacy Garden behind the PEI Farm Centre and through the Royal Forest on the east side of the Crops and Livestock Research Centre grounds. Our Canadian correspondent Trudy Kelly …
Farm Journal Foundation Announces New CEO
The Farm Journal Foundation has hired its first full-time Chief Executive Officer, replacing Board President Charlene Finck. Finck has led the Foundation since 2011, while also serving as Senior Vice President, Editorial at Farm Journal Media. The Foundation has named Tricia Beal as the new CEO, responsible for advancing the organization’s mission and growing its anti-hunger platform, Farmers Feeding the …
Best of NAMA Deadline Friday
Have you entered your best this year in the Best of NAMA yet? If not, you better hurry because the deadline is tomorrow, October 10. The Best of NAMA awards program honors the best work in agricultural communications. Actually, the best of the best, since companies/agencies must first qualify through regional competition in order to advance to the national level. …
AgChat Foundation’s New Executive Director
Jenny Schweigert is the new full time executive director for the AgChat Foundation. Schweigert will focus on advancing ACF’s mission by leading the fundraising campaigns that will support new workshops, educational series, and conferences, like the 2014 Cultivate & Connect Conference. She will also work with the ACF’s Board of Directors to build broad awareness of ACF across agriculture and …
Ebola and ISIS on Borlaug Dialogue Plate
Ebola and ISIS will be among the seemingly non-food related crises that will be discussed at the upcoming 2014 World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue. The President of Sierra Leone is scheduled to give a keynote address, Ministers of Agriculture from Sierra Leone and Liberia are slated to participate in a key panel on agriculture in Africa, and Kanayo Nwanze of …