“Caddy Shack” was the feature film at the Ag Media Summit party by the pool Monday night. For those of you who have seen the movie, you will likely recall the classic “doodie” in the pool scene. Organizer Diane Johnson, however, had never seen the flick – so when someone asked her yesterday if there would be Baby Ruth candy …
Rolling Stone is Down to Earth
Gene Hemphill of New Holland became fast friends with Chuck Leavell, tree farmer and keyboardist for the Rolling Stones, as soon as Chuck Zimmerman introduced them some time last year. Since then, Leavell has been on the rock and roll side for New Holland, with Michael Peterson being the country side. By the way – Gene is the one on …
Trimble Continues to Innovate
Trimble just announced last week that revenue for its second quarter of 2008 was up approximately 15 percent compared to last year. For the Field Solutions segment of the company, the increase was 68 percent, driven primarily by strong demand for agricultural products. I had a chance to sit down with Rob Lindores, Director of Marketing for Trimble Agricultural, about …
Major New Ag Trade Show Announced
The big announcement at the Ag Media Summit today was a new major agricultural trade show to take place in 2010. The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) announced AG CONNECT Expo, “a new international agriculture event that will showcase the latest industry innovations, products and technology and offer access to leading industry experts worldwide.” The inaugural Expo is slated for …
Corn Blog Wins Gold Award
Gotta admit to being pretty proud of this – the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and the Center for Association Leadership has awarded the National Corn Growers Association with a 2008 Gold Circle Award in the category of “Blogs – Association Annual Budget Greater than $2 Million” for Corn Commentary. John H. Graham IV, CAE, president and CEO of …
Farm Foundation Food Prices Report
Farm Foundation is holding a forum at the National Press Club at this very moment to release a new study offering a comprehensive, objective assessment of the forces driving food prices. Farm Foundation president Neil Conklin says what the study shows is that today’s food price levels are the result of complex interactions among multiple factors. “However, one simple fact …
Trimble Trio
New technology and new media are a perfect fit, so it is fitting that Trimble/Ag Technologies sponsored our blog coverage this week at the Southern Peanut Growers Conference. Left to right, the trio representing them at the conference were Josh Pitts of Ag Technologies, Trimble regional sales manager Tim East and Brian Kelly with Ag Technologies. I set up my …
FFA Alumni Conference Blog
FFA Alumni State Leaders are gathered in Washington, DC and thanks to a new blog, you can keep up with the action. The National FFA Alumni State Leaders Conference kicks off today. FFA Alumni members will have an exciting week touring Washington, D.C., visiting with their congressional representatives and learning more about opportunities available through the FFA Alumni. The event …
Old Friends and New at the Peanut Meeting
At the Southern Peanut Growers Conference this week, I had a chance to meet up with one old friend I hadn’t seen in over 20 years – and one new friend that I knew but had never met. Those of you in the ag journalism business may recognize this lady – formally the voice of the American Farm Bureau Federation …
USDA Undersecretary at Home in the Southeast
USDA Undersecretary Dr. Gale Buchanan may work in Washington, DC but his heart is in the southeast. “I spent 21 years at Auburn University conducting research in peanuts and other crops,” said Buchanan. “Then went to the University of Georgia as the director of the Coastal Plain Experiment Station and dean at the college of agriculture.” He also attended the …