Charles Lyons is a cattle producer from Mountain Home, Idaho. Unlike most ranchers I spoke with during the Cattle Industry Summer Conference, Lyons is a first generation rancher who decided to try cowboying about 12 years ago. Also, being from Idaho, a state where 65 percent of the land is federally owned, he has a few different policy issues that …
Cattle Association Trade Policy Update
Kent Bacus, Manager of Legislative Affairs for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), has a lot of important policies that he is working on in D.C. Since so many NCBA members who attended the Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Florida have various policy issues on the top of their minds, I thought it was high-time I learned more about them …
Cattle Producer Bob McCan Optimistic About Future
Bob McCan, a cattle producer from Victoria, Texas is optimistic about the future, despite the legislative challenges before the industry. He shared his views with me on the industry during the Cattle Industry Summer Conference. There are many issues affecting the industry right now including proposed GIPSA rules, which he views as a major issue right now. He said the …
Record Setting Conservation in Action Tour
The 2011 CTIC Conservation In Action Tour on August 9 in northwest Ohio was one for the record books. “We’re thrilled that we had to add an extra bus,” said one of the organizers of this year’s event, Steve Davis with the Ohio USDA NRCS. “We wanted to show people the agriculture in northwest Ohio, the good work that many …
Seven Wonders of Corn Yield World
Seven has always been considered to be the perfect number, so it’s no surprise that there are seven factors that make up the combination for consistent high yielding corn crops. A new website looks at “The Seven Wonders of the Corn Yield World,” based on the research of University of Illinois plant physiologist Dr. Fred Below. Dr. Below has been …
Farmers Educate NAMA Boot Camp
National Agri-Marketing Association Boot Camp attendees heard directly from the farmer this morning. The first item on the agenda was a producer panel moderated by Tom Hudson, Successful Farming. Tom says it was very interesting to hear what types of media influenced these farmers. One thing that came through loud and clear was how important local information is. They want …
Update on BIVI 3FLEX
It has been on the market for less than a year, but Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica’s 3FLEX™ swine vaccine is already gained wide acceptance among producers. At the BIVI Swine Health Seminar in North Carolina last week, Dr. Greg Cline gave an update on the acceptance of the 3-way vaccine to combat Porcine Circovirus, Mycoplasma Hyopneumoniae AND PRRS. “The acceptance and …
NAMA Boot Camp Networking
The kickoff event on the NAMA Boot Camp program was a dinner and program on networking. Our presenter was Becky Johnson, Fleishman-Hillard. Becky made us get to know each other at our tables. She said that networking can be likened to the idea of six degrees of separation since we all probably have something in common. We also did some …
NAMA Boot Camp Preview
The 2011 NAMA Boot Camp is underway. To get a preview of the program I spoke with Erin Nash, Osborn & Barr, Vice Chairman for the conference. Erin says we’ve got a lot packed into the program which includes hearing from farmers themselves. She says “We design Boot Camp to offer not only an introduction but introductory information to the …
International Joint Commission Chair Attends CTIC Tour
One of the participants on the 2011 CTIC Conservation In Action Tour in northwest Ohio last week was the chairman of the International Joint Commission (IJC), Lana Pollack. The IJC was established by the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty to monitor the rivers and lakes along the border of Canada and the United States and aid the governments of the two …