I asked National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) President Elect J.D. Alexander some tough questions during the recent Cattle Industry Summer Conference. One such question was, “What is your favorite way to prepare your beef?” His answer – a bone in ribeye prepared on the grill. So I tried it out last night for dinner and boy was it tasty. OK, …
RCA Trellis Growing System Turns Acres Into Profits
The RCA (Rotating Cross-Arm) System from Trellis Growing Systems is turning marginal land into profits for many Midwestern farmers who have begun to plant a new cash crop – blackberries. Developed by Indiana grower Richard Barnes, the RCA System enables Midwestern growers to successfully and profitably plant blackberries by overcoming some of the traditional challenges associated with the crop. Barnes …
NCBA Helping to Create Export Markets for Cattle Producers
It often appears that a major role of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) is to play “defense” against all the bad policy, press and public opinion that exists. While this is a role of the organization, it is not its only function. I also learned during the Cattle Industry Summer Conference that they also focus on “offensive” tactics like …
Talking Bio-Forge ST With Stoller USA
Jeff Morgan, Stoller USA is standing next to his good friend and ours, Kip Cullers. Actually it’s a Kip cutout. Jeff was on the floor of InfoExpo to talk about Bio-Forge ST a new seed treatment product that he says is “farmer driven” and has taken off this year. He says the first question he gets from ag journalists is …
New Products From Monty’s
At the Ag Media Summit I visited with Monty’s Plant and Soil Products and Gary Coughlin. Thanks to whoever took the photo and posted it on the Monty’s Facebook page! So I asked him, “What’s new?” Gary says they’ve just released four new products, Corn Blend, Soybean Blend, Cotton Blend and Tobacco Blend. He says they all contain their humic …
Swine Health Updates at BIVI Seminar
The Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health Seminar in North Carolina offered updates in two important swine health areas – mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and PRRS. Dr. Erin Strait with Iowa State University talked about getting the most out of diagnostics for M. hyopneumoniae. “The biggest issue I usually see is over-interpretation of diagnostics and not understanding that those diagnostics are often skewed …
Hog Economics in the Biofuels Era
“Hog Economics in the Biofuels Era” was the topic of a presentation by Purdue University economist Dr. Chris Hurt at the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health Seminar in North Carolina. Dr. Hurt says government policies like biofuels and even food stamps were built upon a “psychology of surplus” to increase prices. “We continue to see a psychology of surplus in …
Dr. Temple Grandin at BIVI Swine Health Seminar
Nobody talks common sense about animal welfare better than Dr. Temple Grandin of Colorado State University. If you are in the livestock industry, unless you live in a cave, you have heard of Dr. Grandin. In fact, a decent portion of the general public now knows this amazing woman, thanks to the HBO movie starring Claire Danes which celebrates Temple’s …
Clear Case for Cover Crops on CTIC Tour
Participants on this week’s he 2011 CTIC Conservation In Action Tour in Ohio heard a clear case for cover crops from farmer Allen Dean in Williams County. “For several years now we’ve been watching our watersheds when we get these large rainfall events and it’s been interesting to see where we have some type of cover crop, water coming off …
Traveling Wall Honors Our Military
I thought this was a cool story to share from the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. These bikers are huge supporters of our military men and women and it showed. The Traveling Wall by AVTT was on display at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. This wall contains names of those who have lost their life in service to our country, defending our freedom. …