Novus’ Green Acres is the Place to Be

Cindy Zimmerman

Novus International’s Green Acres Farm is the place to be this Saturday when they hold a ribbon cutting at the facility in Montgomery City, Missouri. The ceremony will be followed by a Fall Festival with food, entertainment and fun activities for the whole family. The research farm, located about an hour or so from Novus global headquarters in St. Charles, …

Novus International, Research

MGEX Reports Higher October Trading and New Team Member

Cindy Zimmerman

The Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX) reports that trading volume in October was up significantly over a year ago. According to MGEX, October futures and options trading volume was 149,923 contracts, a 33 percent increase over the same period a year ago. Total exchange open interest was up 39 percent over October of last year, led by a strong increase in …

Markets

Former Congressman Named Growth Energy President

Cindy Zimmerman

Growth Energy has announced former congressman Jim Nussle as new president and chief operating officer of the ethanol organization, effective November 1. Jim Nussle (pictured on the left with Growth CEO Tom Buis) is a former eight-term Congressman from Iowa and served as Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President George W. Bush. He has served on …

Audio, Ethanol

Get Out and VOTE!

Cindy Zimmerman

Hopefully everyone reading this will be wearing one of these “I Voted” stickers by the end of today – well, assuming your polling place has them. Mine didn’t this morning and I was quite disappointed. It’s kind of like getting ashes on Ash Wednesday – wearing it is a reminder to others of what day it is. Much is being …

politics

AFBF Annual Convention Agenda Shapes Up

Cindy Zimmerman

Topics ranging from environmental policy and food safety to the 2012 farm bill and use of social media by farmers and ranchers highlight a slate of conferences during the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 92nd annual meeting, Jan. 9-12 in Atlanta, Ga. “Successful farming and ranching in the 21st century involves managing a vast amount of knowledge and information on a …

AFBF

NAFB President-Elect Ready for Convention

Cindy Zimmerman

The big event of the year for farm broadcasters and everyone else associated in the business is just around the corner – are you ready? The president-elect of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) has everything in place for the annual meeting in Kansas City next week and she is very excited about some of the changes in store …

Audio, NAFB

Novus Announces New Partnership in Africa

Cindy Zimmerman

Novus International has announced a new Novus Scholars partnership with Egerton University located near Nakuru, Kenya. The agreement, signed earlier this month, details how Novus International will assist the University in developing its local capacity as well as support the local feed industry by providing equipment and training. “We have established a repeatable model with our Novus Scholars program that …

Education, Novus International

Vilsack Visits Georgia Peanut and Ethanol Producers

Cindy Zimmerman

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was in the Peach State earlier this week talking with peanut growers and visiting an ethanol plant. Ethanol plants in the southeast are pretty rare – in fact, First United Ethanol, LLC (FUEL) is really the only one to speak of that is operating at any capacity. FUEL is a 100 million gallon per year corn-based …

Audio, Ethanol, Peanuts, USDA

DC Media Question Motives of GIPSA Boss

Cindy Zimmerman

The head of USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) has been the subject of two recent articles by Washington DC watchdog reporters who are questioning his objectivity when it comes to writing new rules for the livestock industry. J. Dudley Butler, a Mississippi trial lawyer, was appointed by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in May of 2009 to serve …

Livestock, Media, USDA

Agri-Pulse Pledge to Expand UI Communications Program

Cindy Zimmerman

Agri-Pulse Communications is putting their money where their mouth is to help communications students at the University of Illinois (UI) get the education they need to compete in a new media world. “In today’s 24-7 news cycle, agriculture needs to have highly trained communicators who can write, broadcast, blog, tweet and utilize other types of communication tools in a way …

Education, Media