One of our speakers here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference brought the discussion down to the farm level. John Miranowski, Iowa State University, spoke about the impact of biofuels on the rural economy and the farm structure. He says that their numbers indicate that increasing biofuels production will have a positive impact on rural communities and farm …
Biotech Needed to Increase Biofuels
Like the first speaker on our program today here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference, our second speaker, David Zilberman, University of California, Berkeley, says we need to increase agricultural productivity. His talk was on the distributional effects of biofeuls and he had two conclusions. The first one is that biofuels make some people better off and some …
Is There a Biofuel To Food Price Link?
The first speaker here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference is Michael Wetzstein, University of Georgia. His talk deals with two issues. One is on price volatility and the other is on food and fuel. He’s one of 22 speakers on the program and all the talks are dealing with the biofuels issue. I’ll do my best to …
MobileDemand Outfits Dairy with Rugged Field PC
The technology behind farm machinery, such as tractors and sprayers, is continually becoming more streamlined with advances in computer and software innovation. So, why not livestock? MobileDemand is a rugged tablet PC manufacturer based out of Idaho and they’ve just put the power of the PC in the hands of the field staff at Wendell, Idaho’s Box Canyon Dairy. MobileDemand …
How an Iowa Corn Grower Feels – Optimistic
At the Iowa Speedway yesterday, the Iowa Corn Growers Association held an outdoor press conference. They used it to help educate media about corn usage by placing banners on the side of a grain trailer showing the relative percentages of corn used for different purposes like livestock feed and ethanol. I did a short interview with Gary Edwards, ICGA board …
Getting The Inside Look at Ethanol
We had an inside look at ethanol press conference here at Iowa Speedway this morning. Participating were (l-r), Toni Nuernberg, EPIC, Craig Floss, Iowa Corn Growers Association, Mike Sobetski, LifeLine Foods and Troy Hobbs, Monsanto. They helped answer questions journalists here had about the fuel that’s burning in these IndyCars. You can see individual posts with each of them on …
Ryan Hunter-Reay Pumps Up Team Ethanol
I finally got to meet the Team Ethanol driver, Ryan Hunter-Reay. Ryan was on hand at the Kum & Go pump promotion and posed here with the Highway Patrolmen who helped us with security and traffic and other drivers. He’s the tall guy on the left. Cindy and Laura have already had a chance to meet him. This is my …
Talking Ethanol With Pioneer’s Russ Sanders
Pioneer Hi-Bred is sponsoring the Iowa Corn Indy 250 again this year and I spoke to Russ Sanders, Marketing Director, about how the company is involved. He’s pictured here (left) with Team Ethanol driver, Ryan Hunter-Reay and EPIC Director of Communications, Joanna Schroeder. Russ says that the company sees a great opportunity in the biofuels arena and their participation in …
Rock and Roll Meets Tractor and Country
We certainly had a little bit of rock and roll getting together with country at the Michael Peterson/New Holland Celebrity Tractor Race. One of the contestants who held the lead for a while was Rolling Stones keyboardist, Chuck Leavell (left), seen here with Michael Peterson. Chuck is a central Georgia tree farmer where he and his wife have 2,500 acres. …
Bio Economy Transition
Biofuels have been making headlines all over the place lately. I’m sure the weather in the central United States is going to continue to fuel the issue. It’s also taking us out on the road a bit this month. Cindy’s at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop and later this week I’ll be at the Iowa Indy Corn 250. Next week I’ll …