Farm Foundation, NASDA to Host Presidential Forum

John Davis

Our friends at Farm Foundation will team up with the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) to hold a Presidential Forum on Agriculture, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012, at the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates, 100 Locust Street, in Des Moines, Iowa. The forum will use Nebraska Senator and former U.S. Secretary …

Ag Groups, Farm Foundation, politics

November Food Dialogues

Chuck Zimmerman

The next edition of The Food Dialogues is coming up on November 15, 2012 in New York City. Farmers, ranchers, industry experts, pundits and media will meet for in-depth conversations on today’s most provocative topics concerning food and its production – antibiotics, biotechnology, and media, marketing and food. The line up has not been announced yet but should be soon. …

Ag Groups, Audio, Farm Progress Show, USFRA

Farm Foundation Workshop to Focus on Free Trade

John Davis

Free trade agreements between the United States and South Korea, Colombia and Panama could mean big growth for U.S. animal products. To help you better understand implications of these agreements, our friends at Farm Foundation are hosting a two-day workshop, Sept. 27-28, 2012, entitled “Emerging Issues in Global Animal Product Trade: Assessing the Effects of Free Trade Agreements on Global …

Ag Groups, Farm Foundation, International, Trade

Soybean Board, Goodyear Partner for Green Tires

John Davis

The United Soybean Board (USB) and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. Goodyear have partnered to develop and test a new tire featuring U.S. soy. The announcement comes as they celebrate two years of collaboration. During the recent USB Biobased Products Stakeholders Workshop in Dearborn, Michigan, Goodyear showed its support for soy-based products by flying the blimp over the event with …

Ag Groups, Soybean, USB

USFRA a Part of Agvocacy 2.0

Chuck Zimmerman

One of the sponsors of the AgChat Foundation is the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance. During the recent Agvocacy 2.0 Conference in Kansas City we got to hear from Hugh Whaley, General Manager. He gave our participants an overview of the organization which includes shared values with the AgChat Foundation. Hugh says there are three main goals: “We’re going to …

Ag Groups, Audio

NAMA at Farm Progress Show

Chuck Zimmerman

During the Farm Progress Show the National Agri-Marketing Association held a reception which was very well attended. The idea here is to reach out and engage with other people and organizations in the ag world. There are probably five times as many people in the business who could and should be a NAMA member as there are members. So we’ve …

Ag Groups, Farm Progress Show, NAMA

RFS Comments Start; Corn Growers Want More Time

John Davis

Today kicked off the 30-day comment period to the EPA on the waiver request of the Renewable Fuels Standard. But the National Corn Growers Association is already asking for more time. NCGA President Garry Niemeyer sent a letter to the EPA requesting an additional 30 days of comments, citing harvest and the uncertainty of this year’s corn crop: “Across the …

Ag Groups, Corn, Ethanol, NCGA

Livestock 101 at NAMA Boot Camp

Jamie Johansen

Animal agriculture seems to be under a constant fire from those who don’t understand it. During the recent NAMA Boot Camp, Dr. Dan Thomson, Assistant Dean of Outreach and Professor at Kansas State University Vet School, addressed the basics of the industry along with issues and challenges so agri-marketers could help educate the growing population of non-ag consumers. “I think …

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Audio, Beef, Dairy, Education, Farming, Food, Horses, Livestock, NAMA, Pork, Poultry, Swine

Do The Right Thing

Jamie Johansen

During the 2012 NAMA Boot Camp a highlight for me was a breakout session on crisis management. Daren Williams, Executive Director of Communications for NCBA, spoke with attendees about the ins and outs of dealing with crises in the agriculture industry. In my interview with Daren he shared his role of promoting the wonderful world of beef to consumers, how …

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Audio, Beef, Education, Livestock, NCBA

Social Media Beyond the Choir

Jamie Johansen

AgNerds from across North American came together in Kansas City, MO to attend the 2012 Agvocacy 2.0 Training. “Beyond the Choir” was a common theme throughout the week as we tweaked how to use social media in telling our story of agriculture to those not quite as familiar with it. Some came as social media gurus and others with a …

Ag Groups, Audio, Dairy, Education, Social Networking