Some corn powered baseball is going to happen in Normal, IL on Tuesday evening and Cindy and I will be on location courtesy of the Illinois Corn Growers. We’ll be at the Crib, the Corn Crib to be precise, for the home opener of the Normal CornBelters. They’ll take on the Windy City Thunderbolts at 7pm. The Corn Crib is …
Meet AgChat Foundation Board Member Ray Prock, Jr.
What better timing could there be to meet a dairy farmer from California? You know what I’m talking about. Let’s meet Ray Prock, Ray-Lin Dairy. Ray serves with me on the board of the AgChat Foundation. We got together on the phone today to talk about the Foundation and farmer use of social media. He’s one of the ones who’s …
Saving Rainforests Would Help U.S. Agriculture
“Saving rainforests isn’t just for treehuggers anymore.” That’s the message past National Corn Growers Association president Fred Yoder of Ohio has about a new report showing that ending deforestation could boost revenue for U.S. producers by between $196-$267 billion by 2030. Yoder participated in a conference call today releasing the report, entitled “Farms Here, Forests There: Tropical Deforestation and U.S. …
Southern States Partners With World Equestrian Games
One of the global partners with Alltech for the upcoming World Equestrian Games is Southern States Cooperative, Inc.. Representing the company during the Alltech Symposium was F.E. Carter, pictured second from right. This was a group photo of the people I interviewed during a reception for the global partners. F.E. is a big fan of the Alltech Symposium and really …
Talking Urban Gardening With Seedleaf
During the Alltech Symposium the media had an opportunity to take an urban garden tour. I could not make it but I did meet the tour guide, Rebecca Self, Education Director for Seedleaf. The purpose of Seedleaf is to increase the amount, affordability, nutritional value, and sustainability of food available to people at risk of hunger in central Kentucky. Rebecca …
Portugal Participation At Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games
The Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games will have over 60 different countries represented and one of those is Portugal. I met Ingrid Van Dorpe, Premix, during last week’s Alltech Symposium. Her company is one of the global partners in the games. I asked Ingrid what she thought of this year’s Symposium first and she says it provides her with a …
NCBA Answers Questions About New Governance Proposal
A proposal to restructure the nation’s largest beef cattle organization is generating some controversy. Representatives of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the Federation of State Beef Councils met with USDA officials today to discuss NCBA’s proposed governance structure and held a conference with reporters afterward to review the outcome of the meeting. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack sent …
Novus International in a Growth Phase
Novus International executive vice president Giovanni Gasperoni is excited about the company’s new acquisitions announced this week, IQF Group in Spain and IQF-ENAMEX in Mexico. “We have been dealing with both companies for a long while so we know the quality of their product,” Gio said in an interview today. “These products are very high quality and they are a …
Corn Utilization Information
The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) just came up with another reason to attend the 2010 Corn Utilization and Technology Conference (CUTC) in Atlanta next month. Former USDA undersecretary and “Next Green Revolution” expert, Dr. Gale Buchanan, who is also dean and director emeritus of the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, will give the keynote address …
Discussing Dairy With Alltech
Discussion dinners are an important part of the Alltech Symposium program. I attended the dairy discussion. Kevin Tuck is Global Ruminant Product Manager and has been with the company for about 20 years. He was our discussion leader. He says that the dairy business outlook is pessimistic right now even though we have a growing population. So, for Alltech, he …