At the closing dinner for the 2012 Conservation in Action Tour, Trudy Fisher, Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality spoke to our group. Trudy told us that she’s a farmer’s daughter and has farming experience herself. For that reason, the things we were seeing and hearing about on the tour are near and dear to her heart. …
Whopper of a Pork Burger at Pork Expo
It may not qualify for the Guinness Book of World Records, but it will feed a lot of hungry people. A 260 pound pork burger was cooked at World Pork Expo on Thursday by Gary Vinsand, owner of Vinny’s BBQ in Dakota City, Iowa on behalf of Hog Slat and the National Pork Producers Council. “I made one two years …
BIVI 3FLEX Makes an Impression at WPX
Managing swine respiratory diseases is economically important for the pork industry, which is why the relatively new Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica 3FLEX vaccine is being well received by producers. During a BIVI press conference at World Pork Expo, experts discussed the latest findings in managing swine respiratory diseases such as Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), Porcine Circovirus Associated Disease (PCV2) …
Iowa Governor Visits Pork Expo
There is probably no governor in any state who is a greater advocate for agriculture than Governor Terry Branstad of Iowa. The governor visited World Pork Expo on Thursday afternoon and had some pork for lunch before addressing some remarks to producers at the NPPC Investors luncheon. “We know how important agriculture and the pork industry are to our state,” …
Precison Ag Puts Medicine on the Hurt Place
We like new technology and we like our gadgets. We’re called AgNerds. And AgNerds are pretty open to precision agriculture. John McKee is one of us. John is a farmer of corn, cotton, soybeans and wheat. He was a civil engineer prior to farming so precision ag has come natural to him. He was also one of the speakers on …
NPPC President at World Pork Expo
Nearly 20,000 pork producers and industry experts from about 38 countries are at the World Pork Expo in Des Moines this week, including National Pork Producers Council president R.C. Hunt of North Carolina. I had a chance to chat with R.C. this morning after he gave an update to the media about trade issues. R.C. is excited about expo this …
Survey on Sow Housing Released at WPX
Results of a survey issued opening day at the World Pork Expo show that the overwhelming majority of the U.S. sow herd spends some time in individual housing, known as gestation stalls. The findings confirm concerns by the National Pork Producers Council about food retailers who have bowed to demands of animal activists and announced they will use only pork …
BASF Media Summit Concludes on High Note
What better way to conclude the world-class BASF Ag Media Summit in Chicago than with a trip to the top of tallest building in the Western hemisphere to look out over the city. Pictured here are Kristen Adams and Pat Morrow, part of the crack communications team with BASF Ag that put the event together, and Paul Rea, BASF Vice …
Corn Technology Utilization Conference Concludes
The 2012 Corn Utilization Technology Conference has come to a close and attendance was officially higher than in 2010. It has been a tremendous showcase of all kinds of research being done to continue to make new products and improve others made out of corn which is “Rooted in Human History (pdf).” To close out the conference and give us …
Precision Ag is a Conservation Tool
During the 2012 Conservation in Action Tour the word “precision” came up multiple times. As precision ag continues to develop it is being seen as an effective tool for conservation plans and practices. One of our speakers addressed this subject. He’s Terry Griffin, farmer and also VP, Applied Economics for new precision ag company, CrescoAg. Terry says one example of …