Big news from the AgChat Foundation today! Welcome Emily Zweber as the first Executive Director. It seems like it has been a long time coming to some of us board members but really, it hasn’t been. In fact, the AgChat Foundation is less than two years old. So let’s meet Emily: Zweber, an organic dairy farmer from Elko, Minn., will …
A FAPRI Farm Market Outlook
Patrick Westhoff is the Director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri–Columbia and a professor in the MU department of agricultural and applied economics. He was also our St. Louis Agribusiness Club speaker yesterday. I spoke with him beforehand since I had to leave early. He says his job was to talk about …
Rick Tolman Receives St. Louis Agribusiness Leader of the Year Award
Today the St. Louis Agribusiness Club presented its annual Agribusiness Leader of the Year Award to Rick Tolman, CEO, National Corn Growers Association. Here’s Rick with his award which was presented by past St. Louis Ag Club President Stephanie Regagnon, Solutia, Inc. I spoke with Rick right after he received his award. He says that he’s “very moved and surprised …
Farmer Christmas Present
I’ll bet you can come up with lots of ideas for the perfect gift for the farmer. How about a brick? A brick to be placed on the Farmer’s Walk of Fame at the Ag Hall of Fame? Gift bricks come in two sizes. The National Agricultural Hall of Fame serves to educate the public about the past, present, and …
Wellman Elected President of American Soybean Association
The American Soybean Association announced today that Steve Wellman from Syracuse, Nebraska, is President and Alan Kemper from Lafayette, Indiana, is confirmed as Chairman. Also elected was Danny Murphy from Canton, Mississippi, to serve as First Vice President, an office that places Murphy in line to be ASA President in 2013. Also elected were Randy Mann from Auburn, Kentucky, as …
Hang Out With National Fisheries Institute
Now why aren’t we seeing more of this? Hanging out on Google+. The National Fisheries Institute wants to hang out with you. As the year comes to a close, the President of the National Fisheries Institute, John Connelly, plans to take a few minutes online to “Hangout” with trade media on the latest social networking site to hit the web, …
Bill Pool Joins Wheat Growers
Wheat Growers has announced Bill Pool as Director of Communications and Corporate Marketing. “Bill Pool has a depth of understanding and knowledge of our industry that will help significantly move our communication and marketing efforts forward,” Steve Briggs, Wheat Growers Senior Vice President, Corporate Marketing and Agronomy, said. “His experience with and connections to major agricultural enterprises will serve Wheat …
Cattlemen’s Beef Board Update
The Cattlemen’s Beef Board is enjoying the best relationships with its contractors in years according to new CEO Polly Ruhland. I spoke with Polly, pictured on the right, at the NAFB Trade Talk session to find out how things are going after some of the recent changes. Polly says that the Beef Board is taking a look at the structure …
Fueling Up To Play 60
Former NFL wide receiver Eddie Kennison attended the NAFB Trade Talk to talk about Fuel Up To Play 60, a collaborative program between the NFL and National Dairy Council. I spoke with him to learn more about it. Fuel Up to Play 60 is an in-school nutrition and physical activity program launched by National Dairy Council (NDC) and NFL, in …
Meet New NAMA President
If you don’t know our new National Agri-Marketing Association President then give this week’s program a listen. I visited with Beth Burgy, Broadhead, who took over the helm at NAMA during the Trends in Agriculture conference. Beth says the big project for NAMA is going to be implementing the new strategic plan. That plan includes three strategy areas that are: …