Palm Desert, CA is a place you really have to want to go to. It is beautiful but can take some effort to travel to. But apparently a lot of Agricultural Retailers Association members really wanted to attend their annual conference. According to Daren Coppock, ARA President/CEO, attendance was strong. Much stronger than they even hoped for. In my last …
WTO Announces $1.01 Billion in COOL Retaliation
We anticipated this and now it’s here. The World Trade Organization (WTO) announced $1.01 billion retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods authorized in the country-of-origin labeling (COOL) with Canada and Mexico. The WTO has upheld multiple times our neighboring country’s claim that the label creates an unfair advantage to U.S. products. U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, R-Kan., Chairman of the Senate Committee …
Soil Health Institute Launched To Benefit Soil
The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, in partnership with the Farm Foundation, announced the launch of the Soil Health Institute today. For years, the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation and Farm Foundation have been providing education and insight into the importance of agriculture and proper land stewardship. In 2013, they launched the Soil Renaissance. The movement brought together growers and organizations across …
California FB President Addresses ARA
The president of the California Farm Bureau Federation welcomed members of the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) to his state this week for their annual meeting. Wenger talked about the importance of the agricultural industry in the United States and his home state. “As we see that today (farmers) are less than two percent of the population and in California farmers …
Farm & Food Partnerships – A New Paradigm
The topic was “The New Paradigm: Farm + Food Partnerships to Meet New Consumer Demand.” Our opening keynote speaker at the Agricultural Retailers Association Conference & Expo was Steve Peterson, Retired Director of Sourcing and Sustainability, General Mills. Steve actually just recently retired and is now farming full time on his farm in Minnesota. Steve told us that he has …
Agricultural Retailers Gather in California
The 2015 ARA Conference & Expo is underway in Palm Desert, CA. Opening the general session this morning is Steve Peterson, Retired Director of Sourcing & Sustainability, General Mills. I’ll share an interview with him later. We have a big crowd attending again this year. The theme is Performance. Precision. Passion. and the conference programs reflect those concepts. After a …
FFA Joins #GivingTuesday Movement
The National FFA Organization and the National FFA Foundation are encouraging the use of #GivingTuesday. Held on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, the day is designed to encourage generosity after the shopping events of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The FFA hopes to inspire others to give back and support causes they in which they believe. “Donations to the National FFA Foundation …
ARA Performance. Precision. Passion. Preview.
It’s time to get back on the agriblogging highway with a trip to the 2015 Agricultural Retailers Association Conference & Expo. The theme is Performance. Precision. Passion. We’re going to discover how performance, precision and passion shapes success through presentations, networking and exhibits at this event for ag retailers and suppliers. You can still attend if you would like and …
Happy Thanksgiving from the American Doorstop Project
Before 1863 each state scheduled its own day of thanksgiving at different times, generally states in New England. But on Oct. 3 of that year President Abraham Lincoln gave a proclamation setting a National Day of Thanksgiving. “The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, …
AMSA Launches TheMeatWeEat.com
The American Meat Science Association (AMSA) has debuted their new website, TheMeatWeEat.com. The consumer focused site provides accurate, fact-based information from U.S. meat scientists to help consumers make informed decisions regarding the meat their families enjoy. “TheMeatWeEat.com is the perfect avenue to relay the research of countless meat scientists into digestible information our consumers are looking for. Targeting our audience …