RFA Ethanol Podcast

Monsanto Announces Farm Mom Winners

Kelly Marshall

A new crop of “Farm Moms” has sprung up at Monsanto.  Five outstanding women have been selected as regional winners in the 2016 Farm Mom of the Year contest. “Once again we are so honored to have read nominations for hundreds of the strongest, kindest and most passionate women when it comes to their families, farms, communities and agriculture,” says …

Agribusiness

Rhea + Kaiser Bring On Seven New Staff Members

Kelly Marshall

Rhea + Kaiser (R+K) has added seven new staff members to their Naperville, Illinois integrated communications agency. Dustin Gerdes will serve as the Manager of Analytics and Customer Engagement, growing the field to better target and engage R+K’s clients.  He comes from Groupon and earned an undergraduate degree in marketing and psychology from Eastern Illinois University and an MBA from …

Agribusiness

Will FSMA Produce Regs Prove Costly to Small Farms?

Joanna Schroeder

Most of us involved in agriculture have become familiar with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) that was introduced in 2011 as the FDA’s new method of regulating the growth, harvesting, and processing of agricultural goods. While the aim of this new regulatory system is to increase food safety and reduce the prevalence of foodborne illness, there are some aspects …

Agribusiness, politics, Produce, Vegetables

AEM Debuts Smartphone Game

Kelly Marshall

“I Make America” is the new smartphone game from The Association of Equipment Manufacturers.  The app was created to engage and educate the public on manufacturing issues that affect this election cycle. The game can now be downloaded through the Apple Store, Google Play and the Windows Store.  Users participate in ag equipment-themed challenges, followed by multiple choice questions that test …

AEM, Agribusiness, Equipment

Extension Services Keep Farmers Farming

Kelly Marshall

The purpose of the federal cooperative extension program was to provide research for agriculture, helping individual farmers by serving the industry as a whole.  Now a new study from Penn State University has taken a look at the effectiveness of those programs. Stephan Goetz writes in his paper that an estimated 137,000 farmers in the last 25 years would be …

Agribusiness

NCC Disputes Results of Turkish Investigation

Kelly Marshall

Turkey is the second largest export market for U.S. cotton, but now that is being threatened by what the National Cotton Council (NCC) maintains are false allegations. The government of Turkey has claimed the United States dumped cotton into the Turkish market, injuring their domestic prices.  They have now released their final decision, based on their investigation of the incident. …

Agribusiness, Cotton, Exports

AgriBank Insights Wins National Award

Kelly Marshall

Last week the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) recognized some of the best work in agri-makerting.  AgriBank was among those recognized with a first place in the company publications category. The Farm Credit Bank was highlighted for AgriBank Insights.  You can find these reports on the AgriThought page of AgriBank.com. They offer information important to producers, including feature reporting, research, and in-depth analysis designed …

Agribusiness, Farm Credit, NAMA

CommonGround Recognized at NAMA

Kelly Marshall

The National Agri-Marketing Association recognized the advocacy group, CommonGround during their National Awards Ceremony. The group won first place in the Social Tactic category, as well as Best of Show- Digital and the first-ever NAMA Grand Champion award for their video, “Ask a Farmer.” Their newly redesigned website also won first place in the Website Directed to Consumers category. CommonGround …

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, NAMA

DTN Offers Many Great Things at NAMA

Kelly Marshall

DTN/The Progressive Farmer has been making a “latte” noise this week.  To launch their newly redesigned website the team hosted not one, but two parties at the National Agri-Marketers Conference!  The Morning Barista Coffee Lounge opened bright and early so attendees could sip caffeine while perusing www.dtnpf.com.  The After Hours Dessert Lounge provided the night owls with something a little …

Agribusiness, NAMA

Marvin Kokes Steps Down as NAMA President

Kelly Marshall

The National Agri-Marketing Association has kicked off its 2016 annual meeting and AgWired caught our first interview with Marvin Kokes, the outgoing President of NAMA.  Kokes comes from the National Cattlemens Beef Association and looks forward to focusing his time and efforts there once again, but but believes NAMA is truly an amazing organization. The conference will feature some great …

Agribusiness, NAMA