This afternoon as I was leaving one of the committee meetings at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference I ran in to two people I had hoped to find and interview. How coincidental is that and convenient too! So I spoke with Sarah Bohnenkamp (left) Program Manager, American National Cattlewomen (ANCW) and Tammi Didlot, President-Elect, ANCW. I spoke first with Tammi. …
NCBA Offers Cattle Producers Drought Resources
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) offers many services to its members (such as the newly launched www.beefusa.org website) including producer education. During the Cattle Industry Summer Conference today, I was able to spend some time with To Field, NCBA’s executive director of field eduction to learn more about some of the myriad of resources available. Field said they do …
Beef Board Leadership Kicks Off Summer Work
The leadership for the Cattlemen’s Beef Board kicked off their meetings with the Executive Committee this morning. Leading the way is Acting Chairman Wesley Grau (center). I spoke to him before things got started. He says they’ll be working on industry solutions and “settling some of the dust that’s been stirred up the last few years and we’re basically changing …
NCBA Launches New Website
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) has a new look – they have launched a new website that was unveiled during the kickoff of the Cattle Industry Summer Conference 2011 in Kissimmee, Florida. NCBA Director of Communications Mike Deering said the new site incorporates traditional and new media resources for their members and visitors to quickly find news and information …
Preview of Cattle Industry Summer Conference
The officers of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association got casual this afternoon at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference. Here they are with Presidential Candidate Herman Cain who will be our opening general session keynote speaker tomorrow. I spoke with Bill Donald, President, NCBA, to get a preview of this year’s conference. He’s the one with a hat. Bill says this …
Ag Media Summit Update From USFRA
One of our sessions at the Ag Media Summit is titled, “Of course our food is safe,” says modern ag – But is anybody listening? The presentation was made by leadership members of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance. The Chairman is Bob Stallman, American Farm Bureau Federation, seen at the podium. I visited with him before the session started. …
USFRA Launches Campaign Inviting Farmer/Rancher Participation
This week the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance announced an ad campaign to encourage participation. So what if you’d like to get involved? There are a number of ways which you can find on the USFRA website. So take a few moments and raise your voice and join the conversation about the industry’s commitment to continuous improvement and dedication to …
Corn Grower Perspective On Conservation Project
One of the participants on the CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Project Field Tour was Mike Plummer. Mike was representing the Illinois Corn Growers who are one of the stakeholder group supporters of the project. I sat down with him to get his perspective on the project. Mike says that the Illinois Corn Marketing Board is working with the project in …
Looking At How You Should Manage Crop Nutrients
One of the stops on the CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Project field tour was Traub Farm. Our presenter was John Traub. The family farm grows corn, soybeans, specialty hybrid seed corn and hybrid sunflowers. The farm was named the Livingston County SWCD Conservation Farm Family in 2010. So they take conservation seriously. I spoke with John after his presentation. He …
Illinois EPA Working With Farmers In Indian Creek Watershed
The Conservation Technology Information Center’s Indian Creek Watershed Project is funded in part by the Illinois EPA. Representing the IL EPA during last week’s field tour was Barb Lieberoff, Environmental Protection Specialist. I spoke with her during lunch. Barb says the Federal 319 Program, part of the Clean Water Act, is what where the program funding comes from. She says …