Despite a wet spring causing a challenging start to the season, the 2013 corn crop is still looking to break new ground this year, according to the latest USDA production estimate out today. Corn production is forecast at 13.8 billion bushels, up 28 percent from 2012. If realized, this will be a new record production for the United States. Based …
Answering Consumer Questions about GMOs
The agricultural biotechnology companies that develop genetically modified seeds (GMO) have united to launch a broad, new initiative to provide accurate information and answer the toughest questions about GMOs and how our food is grown. GMO Answers is produced by the members of The Council for Biotechnology Information, which includes BASF, Bayer CropScience, Dow AgroSciences LLC, DuPont, Monsanto Company and …
Why Are You Here Cattlemen?
During the Cattlemen’s Beef Board meeting at the end of the Cattle Industry Summer Conference we heard a great speech in the form of the report given by CEO Polly Ruhland. She had a very heartfelt and powerful message which I believe shows you the quality of the people representing cattle producers on the staff of the Beef Checkoff. You …
Learning About FMC Products at AMS
And now a few parting words from our AMS sponsor, FMC Corporation. David Davies is product manager for some of FMC’s products for fruits, vegetables, and sunflowers. One of those products is BroadAxe. “BroadAxe is a pre-emergence herbicide aimed at the sunflower market,” said David. “It basically will give you really good control of kochia and broadleaf weeds, but in …
Beef Board CEO Reports at Summer Conference
The CEO of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, Polly Ruhland, was on stage this morning for the second general session of the Cattle Industry Summer Conference. I talked with her afterward. She says the new committee structure and format for the conference have generated good feedback. Condensing the agenda into a shorter time frame means that volunteer leaders have to spend …
Farm Broadcasters at AMS
Right after I did a post this week about why farm broadcasters should attend Ag Media Summit I did run into a couple of farm broadcasters there, including Tom Cassidy with New York-based Ag Radio Network, who was able to visit with some of the InfoExpo exhibitors like Kerry Overton with Koch Agronomics. Also in attendance to represent the National …
American Soybean Association at AMS
Soybean farmers were well represented at the Ag Media Summit this week in Buffalo by American Soybean Association Communications Director Patrick Delaney and president Danny Murphy. Since I do a daily audio report for Agri-Pulse, I was happy to get to chat with Danny about the policy issues on ASA’s plate at the moment, which start with the ongoing farm …
The Minute from FMC
Like an artist who becomes known by one name only, FMC’s Authority Minute will soon become simply The Minute. I chatted with our good friend Paul Redhage of FMC Corporation at the Ag Media Summit this week, first of all thanking them for sponsoring our coverage from this great event. Chuck usually is the one to cover AMS but since …
50 Years of Federation of State Beef Councils
This is the 50 year celebration of the Federation of State Beef Councils. No one has more knowledge of the history of the Beef Checkoff and the evolution of the industry groups than John Huston. John gave us a look back over the years at the people involved in the start of the first agricultural industry checkoff which was 5 …
Welcome to Cattle Industry Summer Conference
Hello and welcome from the Cattle Industry Summer Conference. I’m Beef Board Blogging over at MyBeefCheckoffMeeting.com but sharing with you here when I can. Let’s get started with thanking Merial for sponsoring the news room once again. We sure appreciate their support and the wonderful place to work out of. I did an early morning interview with NCBA’s Chase Adams …