National Pork Producers Council leaders conducted the traditional first day World Pork Expo press conference this morning to discuss issues of importance to the industry. Among the bigger issues is expanding international markets for U.S. pork by getting Congress to pass the three pending free trade agreements with Korea, Colombia and Panama. “We need new and expanded markets,” said NPPC …
Welcome To World Pork Expo
The 2011 World Pork Expo is starting in Des Moines, IA. Welcoming the media was Doug Wolf, President, National Pork Producers Council. Doug is a producer from Lancaster, WI. He says there are over 450 exhibitors from eleven different countries and attendees from 33 countries. He says they’re expecting over 20,000 producers to attend. Attendees will find business seminars on …
Growing Precision Farming at GROWMARK
Here’s the latest installment of our “Getting To Know GROWMARK” series. Meet Sid Parks, Manager, Precision Farming. That means we talked about FS Green Plan Solutions, a broad area of products and services offered to local FS retailers. The definition of precision farming is very broad and the technology is advancing at a fast pace. For this reason Sid says …
American Ethanol on the Kansas Speedway
American Ethanol was prominently displayed at the Kansas Speedway on Sunday for the inaugural Sprint Cup Series STP 400 race. The American Ethanol logo and paint scheme was on Clint Bowyer’s No. 33 Chevrolet and larger than life along the backstretch wall of the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway to spotlight the partnership between the National Corn Growers, ethanol and NASCAR, which …
Irish Agricultural Journalism
The ZimmCast takes an Irish turn this week. I visited with agricultural journalist, Damien O’Reilly. Damien works for the Irish National Television and Radio Broadcaster, RTE where he hosts a weekly show called, “Countrywide.” The show is the evolution of “Farmweek” which was very production agriculture focused. The change in the show allows for more rural lifestyle content while still …
STP 300 Winner Justin Aligaier
The inaugural STP 300 Nationwide Series race is in the books. The winner is Justin Aligaier, Brandt Racing, in the #31 car. He actually ran out of fuel right after crossing the finish line. These guys plan it right down to the end! The Family Farmer/Marquis Energy car driven by Kenny Wallace finished 7th. And since all these cars are …
Master AgVocate Kenny Wallace
I finally caught up to NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace today during the hospitality event for Illinois corn and soybean growers. Here’s Kenny revving up the crowd before afternoon qualifying. I’ve been following some race car advocates for clean burning ethanol for a while but I think Kenny has them all beat. I wish I had recorded his remarks to the …
Marquis Energy Sees Great NASCAR Ethanol Opportunity
The President of Marquis Energy is Mark Marquis, seen here introducing NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace to the crowd attending yesterday’s event held at the Hennepin ethanol plant. I spoke with Mark and learned that Marquis Energy is a real family type business that he had built after growing up on a family farm in this area and branching out into …
Dealing With Disruptive Change In Dairy Industry
Disruptive change sounds disturbing. However, perhaps it’s more of a challenge. Mandi McLeod, System Insights, Ltd., New Zealand, talked about it and its impact on the dairy industry during the Alltech International Symposium. She’s seen here being interviewed by Ireland’s RTE voice Damien O’Reilly. I spoke with Mandi after Damien to learn what is going on with dairy farming in …
Hunting The Wild Cicada
I don’t know about where you are but the cicadas have made their presence known here in Missouri. Hunting is not the right word. I just walked out in the front yard to take a picture of this bad boy. They really just started showing up. Nothing, then boom, they’re everywhere. I’ve passed white fences and walls that are covered …