At the AgChat Agvocacy 2.0 Conference I met Twitter follower and now friend in person. Here’s @DairyCarrie Mess and her husband. You’ll notice that Carrie is wearing a New Holland shirt! That’s because the dealership she works at sponsored her participation in the conference. I talked with Carrie to learn what drew her to AgChat and using social media. I …
Pemberton on Policy
Don Pemberton is a rancher from Hopkinsville, KY. His family business has been in operation for 40 years, and he is a long-time National Cattlemen’s Beef Association member who feels it’s important to have an association that “has your back” so to speak. He was recently elected as Vice Chair of the Policy Division, and the big joke during the …
USFRA Presents Research at AgChat Agvocacy 2.0 Conference
At the AgChat Agvocacy 2.0 Conference the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance presented some research with consumers that was conducted by Maslansky, Luntz + Partners. On our program was Jenn Dahm (pictured left). Jenn says that “the finding that all of our research hinges on is the fact that America loves farmers and ranchers. All the effort we’re putting in …
Roads Lead to Colorado
All roads lead to Colorado. Cattle producer Terry Fankhauser is a Kansas native but moved to Colorado about 11 years ago. He comes from a multi-generation ranch, but it was only big enough for the family that was there so Fankhauser said his dad had the foresite to tell him to go find something else. And that he did in …
New Ideas for Promoting Soybean Exports
The final session of the US Soybean Export Council Animal Utilization Stakeholders meeting in Seattle this past weekend focused on a discussion of new ideas to promote soybean exports in the future. As chairman of the United Soybean Board International Marketing Committee, Jim Call of Minnesota split his time between the animal utilization and the human utilization meetings. “I think …
Growing a Crop of Agvocates
All of the attendees at the AgChat Agvocacy 2.0 Conference are going home with logo shirts thanks to the work of Drew Bender, agriculture education instructor in central Ohio. He’s one of the volunteers helping make the conference happen. Last year he was on the training committee and this year he’s continued his involvement putting on the second conference. Drew …
Farmer Involvement in Agvocacy Training
Ryan Weeks is a 5th generation farmer from south-central Nebraska (pictured on left). He thinks that if farmers don’t use social media to tell their story someone will do it for them. He’s involved in the AgChat Agvocacy 2.0 Conference. He got interested after starting on Twitter and attending last year’s conference. This year’s he’s serving on the training committee. …
Novus International Shares Vision with US Soybean Growers
The vision of Novus International is “To help feed the world affordable, wholesome food and achieve a higher quality of life.” That is a vision this global animal nutrition company shares with the U.S. soybean industry, with exports around the world accounting for more than half of annual production. “A lot of commonality in that and a lot of opportunity …
What Soybean Stakeholders are Learning at USSEC Meeting
The weather is fabulous in Seattle this weekend, but directors of the United Soybean Board (USB) are inside and hard at work learning more about opportunities for exports at the US Soybean Export Council Animal Utilization Stakeholders meeting. As far as stakeholders are concerned, USB is one of the major ones represented here, since soybean checkoff dollars are used to …
USB Helps Direct Soybean Export Promotion Dollars
The whole purpose of the US Soybean Export Council Animal Utilization Stakeholders meeting this weekend in Seattle is to evaluate the international marketing program for animal feed use and explore ideas for the future. One of the architects of the series of meetings that will be held in advance of program allocations for the 2013 budget year is United Soybean …