The 2012 Annual Meeting of the Agricultural Relations Council takes place this week in Charleston, SC. I’ll be on site starting Wednesday afternoon and will bring you all the sights and sounds that I can. To get a preview of this year’s ARC annual meeting agenda I spoke with ARC President, Mace Thornton, AFBF. Mace says more people are attending …
Outstanding Young Farmers Attend Ag Day Activities
During National Agriculture Day activities we heard from 2011 National Outstanding Young Farmer Chad Budy and his wife Danielle from Oklahoma. They were introduced during our Meet & Mingle lunch. Chad and Danielle were introduced by Orion Samuelson. Both Chad and Danielle come from families with five generations in farming. They have a diversified farm of row crop and livestock. …
Important Issues to Sorghum Producers
During Commodity Classic I got to visit with Terry Swanson, Chairman, National Sorghum Producers. I asked him what his message is to not only sorghum producers but all the farmers belonging to the four commodity groups at Classic and he says, “We have to be unified.” He says that altogether they’re still a small group of people that need to …
Get Registered For 2012 Agri-Marketing Conference
You will find Acres of Innovation at the 2012 Agri-Marketing Conference. Let’s start with the featured speakers. Get registered now if you haven’t done so yet. How do you turn good ideas into action that influences customer behavior and accelerates the buying process? How do you grab market share and stay relevant to your clients and customers for years to …
2012 National Ag Day Essay Contest Winners
Here are the winners in the 2012 National Ag Day Essay Contest. Pictured is written essay contest winner Miriam Martin, Bucklin, MO Meadville R-IV High School, with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. Miriam read her essay during the Celebration of Agriculture dinner. The National Ag Day Essay Contest is sponsored by: CHS Inc., The Council for Agricultural Science & …
2012 Conservation in Action Tour
The Conservation Technology Information Center has announced their 2012 Conservation in Action Tour and it’s going to be done “southern style.” At Commodity Classic I spoke with Karen Scanlon, CTIC Executive Director about this year’s program. I’ll be there again this year thanks to support from CTIC and AGROTAIN. Here’s information on the tour which is open for registration now. …
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Speaks To Ag Day
This evening our U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, the 30th Secretary, addressed the Celebration of Agriculture Dinner for National Agriculture Day activities. We had a wonderful dinner highlighted by a bone-in Berkshire pork chop. Mmm . . . mmm . . . I think that we’ve had a weekly visit with the Secretary each week lately. We saw him …
Helping Congress Better Understand Farming
Congressman Collin Peterson, Ranking Member, House Committee on Agriculture, took to the microphone during the Meet and Mingle Luncheon at the House Longworth Bldg. during National Ag Day Activities. He only had a couple of minutes to speak due to a vote that had just been called. The Congressman started off his remarks about his desire to do what he …
Youth In Ag Groups Attending National Ag Day Activities
One of the best parts of National Ag Day Activities is seeing and meeting all the young people who attend. Most are receiving support to come to Washington, DC through the organization they belong to. We have a lot of blue coats here for example. I met two of them this morning and asked what brought them to the events. …
We Need Both RFS and Farm Bill According to Senator Stabenow
Addressing the attendees to the Agri-Pulse reception last night was Senator Debbie Stabenow, Chairwomen, U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. I visited with her briefly after her remarks. I first asked her what she thought about the importance of the work that’s being done by groups like USFRA which held a Food Dialogues event prior to the reception. …