Attendance at the 2010 International Poultry Expo and International Feed Expo was up over last year at approximately 19,000. In 2009 attendance was just 17,800 due to the overall downturn in the economy and higher input costs. So, things are looking up for the poultry industry right now. At the expo, I had the opportunity to chat about chicken with …
Biodiesel Industry Future Is Bright
The CEO of the National Biodiesel Board, Joe Jobe, was on stage to welcome a standing room only crowd at the opening general session to the Conference. He opened up with a political theme to his remarks. As the folks in the opening video stated very clearly, this last year has been a huge struggle for our industry. With the …
Novus Helps Poultry Producers Optimize
With higher feed costs, it is important for poultry producers to get the most for their money. At the recent International Poultry Expo/Feed Expo, Novus International was talking to producers about how to optimize their poultry diets. “Optimizing the diet does not necessarily mean having a cheap diet,” says Novus product manager Dr. Nasser Odetallah. “They have to make sure …
Talking With Chicago Farmers
The President of the Chicago Farmers is my good friend Colleen Callahan. I joked with her that I appreciated her wearing my Gators orange and blue but she’s actually going to an Illini basketball game later. Colleen conducted one of the presentations here at the Farmland Investment Fair in her role as USDA, Rural Development, Illinois Director. I spoke with …
New From Merial
This is one of the most familiar sights for ag journalists to see at a Cattle Industry Convention. You can believe that the company representative that is probably interviewed the most is therefore with Merial. In what seems to be becoming a tradition I interviewed Dr. Frank Hurtig during the convention to find out what’s new from Merial. He says …
SureVac From Ag Leader Technology
Earlier this week Ag Leader Technology added the patent-pending SureVac electric row shutoff to their lineup of planter section shutoff devices. Since I was at the Iowa Power Farming Show I stopped in and learned all about it from Chad Huedepohl. You can watch the interview or just listen to it below. Here’s the details: SureVac provides today’s precision farming …
Novus Stays Close to Customers
Novus International Executive Vice President of marketing and sales Giovanni Gasperoni, pictured here with a delegation from Thailand, seemed to know everyone at the International Poultry/Feed Expo in Atlanta last week and he greeted them all as close friends. His genuine and effusive personality reflects his passion for the business of animal agriculture and the people in the industry who …
Priority Setting For FY 2011 Beef Budgets
After all the committees meet during convention the leaders got together for a special extra meeting to set their priorities. This was done via a wireless electronic process. You can see CBB Board member Robert Fountain, Jr. (Secretary/Treasurer) holding up his device before they got started. I spoke about the process with Rick Husted who managed the session. He says …
Ag Leader Launches Blue Delta Dealer Network
Ag Leader Technology has announced the Blue Delta Dealer Network. At the Iowa Power Farming Show I spoke with Mike Olson to learn more about it. He’s pictured working in the booth here at the show. Basically, Ag Leader Technology has developed a new elite precision farming distribution network in an effort to bring more structure to a growing precision …
Iowa Power Farming Show
I’m attending my first ever Iowa Power Farming Show courtesy of PrecisionPays.com sponsor Ag Leader Technology. The first person I met this morning was show manager, Tom Junge. The show is conducted by the Iowa-Nebraska Equipment Dealers Association. Tom says they represent about 400 dealers and have been doing the show for 55 years. They have a show in December …