Vilsack Gaining on Glickman in Office

Cindy Zimmerman

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is within two weeks of serving longer in that position than Dan Glickman under President Clinton. “In about 15 days he will beat my record, because I was in office about 5 years and 11 months,” said Glickman during his introduction of Vilsack at a Chicago Council on Global Affairs event on Monday. “He’s doing this …

Audio, USDA

CFWF 2014 Award Winners

Cindy Zimmerman

No conference is complete without awards and the Canadian Farm Writers Federation was no exception. Pictured here from left to right are some of CFWF’s best of the best for 2014. Alice McFarlane, Fabmar Communications received the Gold level award in the Electronic Media-Audio category; Lisa Guenther, Farm Business Communications scored Silver in the Press Editorial category; Wayne Riley, Agriculture …

Audio, Media

CFWF Discovers PEI Products

Cindy Zimmerman

Cheese, mussels, potatoes and preserves were just a few of the many Prince Edward Island products that Canadian Farm Writers learned more about during the 2014 CFWF conference. Bruce MacNaughton and his wife operate the Prince Edward Island Preserve Company, located in an old butter factory, which uses local produce to make a variety of tasty preserves, marmalades, jellies, honeys, …

Audio, specialty crops

CASE IH Connects at CFWF 2014 Conference

Cindy Zimmerman

Beautiful Prince Edward Island (PEI) was the spot for the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation 2014 Annual Conference and CASE IH was a Russet sponsor of the event. The sponsor categories were aptly named this year in honor of PEI’s largest agricultural industry – potatoes – and Russet is the top. Two shiny red CASE IH tractors decorated the lawn of …

Audio, Case IH, Media

NCBA Concerns About Beef Checkoff

Cindy Zimmerman

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack met earlier this week with the Beef Checkoff working group and reportedly told them he’s planning on implementing a new checkoff program for the industry by January, 2016. The action would be taken under the 1996 Commodity Promotion, Research and Information Act, also called the “generic checkoff act,” and would be separate from and in addition …

AFBF, Audio, Beef, NCBA, USDA

Everglades Ag Conservation in Action Preview

Cindy Zimmerman

If you have ever wanted to see the Florida Everglades up close and personal – here is your chance. The Conservation Technology and Information Center’s 2014 Conservation in Action Tour is exploring the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) October 14-15 to hear the tale of farmers working with the entire ecosystem in mind. CTIC executive director Karen Scanlon says the tour …

Audio, Conservation, CTIC, specialty crops

Cooperatives Set Another Record

Cindy Zimmerman

October is National Cooperative Month and once again the nation’s agricultural cooperatives set a new sales record for 2013. According to USDA, total business volume in 2013 surpassed $246 billion, exceeding the 2012 record by $8 billion or four percent. This is the third consecutive year of record sales by ag cooperatives, reflecting increased sales in the overall farm economy …

Cooperatives, USDA

Next USFRA Dialogues to Feature CAST Winner

Cindy Zimmerman

The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) is presenting the Borlaug CAST Communication Award this year to Dr. Alison Van Eenennaam, an Animal Genomics and Biotechnology Cooperative Extension Specialist in the Department of Animal Science at the University of California-Davis. The award recognizes individuals who are actively excelling in communication of agricultural science and technology. She will receive the …

Animal Agriculture, Animal Health, USFRA, World Food Prize

Corn Stocks Up, Soybeans Down

Cindy Zimmerman

There’s more corn in the bins than there was a year ago at this time. USDA’s newest Grain Stocks report shows 1.24 billion bushels of old crop corn in all positions as of September 1, up 50 percent from the same time last year. The report from the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) found less soybean stocks than a year …

Audio, Corn, Soybean, USDA, Wheat

Holland Picks New Holland

Cindy Zimmerman

The T6 AutoCommand™ tractor, from CNH Industrial brand New Holland Agriculture, has won the ‘Boerentrekker of the Year Award 2014’ in the Netherlands by leading Dutch farming magazine Boerderij. The title recognizes the ‘Best Farmer’s Tractor’ for the year in Holland and was conferred at the Agrotechniek 2014 trade fair by the magazine. First published in 1915, this weekly independent …

International, New Holland, Tractor