Nothing at World Pork Expo compares with seeing a kid that might weigh all of 30 pounds working to control the movements of a hog that has 200 pounds on him. Precious! Nearly 900 youngsters and 2500 hogs are signed up for the World Pork Expo Junior National Show this year – three times more than two years ago and …
NPPC President Opens World Pork Expo
National Pork Producers Council president Randy Spronk of Minnesota welcomed the media to the 25th anniversary of World Pork Expo on Wednesday morning in Des Moines with an update on what is new at the show. “We expect to have around 25,000 attend the expo over the next three days,” Spronk said. “One of the neatest things is we have …
AGree Likes Senate Immigration Bill for Ag
Food and agricultural policy organization AGree sent a letter to Senators Monday urging them to pass the immigration reform bill approved by the Judiciary Committee in order to provide a stable workforce for American agriculture. The bill “presents a huge opportunity for foreign-born agricultural workers who want to build a better future for themselves and their families and for American …
World Pork Expo Turns 25
This week we celebrate the silver anniversary of World Pork Expo, the world’s largest pork-specific trade show, presented by the National Pork Producers Council. Nearly 20,000 pork producers and industry representatives from 39 countries will be in Des Moines this week for the 2013 World Pork Expo. “If you’re looking for products, technology or information, World Pork Expo is the …
Agri-Pulse Open Mic with Dr. Steve Meyer
New on Agri-Pulse this week: Dr. Steve Meyer is president of Paragon Economics. He consults with the National Pork Board and the National Pork Producers Council. As an economist, he examines the Smithfield Foods sale to a Chinese company and speculates on whether it will be given regulatory approval. He looks at the impact of such a move on grain …
GROWMARK Getting Into Multimedia Spirit
Look for some cool new multimedia additions to the on-line version of GROWMARK Spirit magazine coming this year. “We’re looking at taking Spirit magazine to another platform,” said editor Cassie Becker, noting that it is currently available in an eReader format “where you turn the pages and that’s about it” but they are moving to the ZMags platform which provides …
Broadcasters Support Farm Broadcasting
The roots of agricultural broadcasting run deep in broadcast history, starting with the first stations on the air in the 1920’s airing weather and market reports for farmers and ranchers. By 1922, the USDA reported that 35 of the 36 stations licensed by the Commerce Department had been approved to broadcast USDA markets! Since farm broadcasting has been such an …
Agri-Pulse Open Mic with Rep. Frank Lucas
New on Agri-Pulse this week: Frank Lucas (R-OK) Chairs the House of Representatives Agriculture Committee and succeeded in getting a diverse farm bill through his committee in 2012 and 2013 with over a 3/4 majority. However, the toughest battle lies ahead, with floor debate expected in mid-June. Lucas talks about the major challenges of a bill that has budget restraints …
GROWMARK Interns Journey to Great
Summer is officially underway and for over 60 college students it is the beginning of a great journey as interns for GROWMARK, Inc. “This is our 54th annual GROWMARK summer internship,” says GROWMARK University Relations Manager Ashley McClintock. “We have 61 interns this summer, representing 16 universities across North America.” The 12 week internship program encompasses a variety of different …
Rural Interests Concerned About Losing Local TV
“Water, sunlight, and soil are essential ingredients to agricultural businesses and the communities that rely on them. So too is spectrum, and the free, local news and information broadcasted on it.” That’s the first line of a letter sent to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) this week from agricultural interests regarding concerns about television translator service and low power television …