Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has made very few in-person appearances since becoming the head of USDA for a second president last year, but he did make it a point to attend the 2022 Commodity Classic in New Orleans Friday and address thousands of corn, sorghum, soybean, and wheat farmers. “I’m here today to talk about the opportunities and challenges …
Commodity Group CEOs Meet the Press at #Classic22
The CEOs of the commodity groups that make up the Commodity Classic, together with the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, met the press this week to discuss a variety of issues impacting the industry. American Soybean Association CEO Steve Censky, National Corn Growers Association CEO Jon Doggett, National Sorghum Producers CEO Tim Lust, National Association of Wheat Growers CEO Chandler Goule, …
In Person #Classic22 is Big Success in Big Easy
New Orleans is the place to be this week for the 2022 Commodity Classic – live and in person. Like the National Ethanol Conference two weeks ago, the Commodity Classic is seeing only a very modest decline in attendance compared to the last live event in 2020. National Corn Growers Association CEO Jon Doggett says they had 7100 pre-registered for …
Digital Commodity Classic Attracts Thousands
The 2021 Special Edition of Commodity Classic last week appears to have been a virtual success. According to the organizers, by Thursday, the total number of attendees was nearly 6,000, with more than 4,000 farms represented from 49 states and 24 countries. The online event concluded Friday with a live keynote address from USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack. If you missed …
Vilsack Speaks at 2021 Commodity Classic
The 2021 Commodity Classic Special Edition ended today with a closing general session featuring U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. Moderating was National Association of Farm Broadcasting president Gale Cunningham, WYXY, who posed questions to the Secretary after his opening remarks. Secretary Vilsack addressed a number of topics, including COVID relief, trade with China, renewable fuels, and conservation and carbon …
Syngenta Press Conference at 2021 Commodity Classic
It is early on day one of the 2021 Commodity Classic Special Edition. First up on the schedule have been press conferences. I sat in on the Syngenta press conference which featured the following speakers and was moderated by Paul Minehart, Head, Corporate Communications, North America at Syngenta. You can listen in to the conference below. Syngenta announced the new …
2021 Commodity Classic Special Edition Week
Welcome to 2021 Commodity Classic Special Edition Week. It is being “Delivered Right to Your Farm” since it is online only this year. For most people I know, the 2020 event was the last in-person one they attended. Cindy and I have attended many of these over the years. In fact, Cindy has a Commodity Classic photo album collection from …
2021 Commodity Classic Will Be Virtual
Even though we all expected it, the news is still sad. Commodity Classic will be virtual in 2021. The annual conference and trade show was originally scheduled for March 4-6, 2021, in San Antonio, Texas. The new format is expected to be offered the first week in March 2021. The 2022 Commodity Classic will be held in New Orleans on …
Syngenta News from Commodity Classic
Syngenta had a couple of big announcements at the 2020 Commodity Classic, including a collaboration with Truterra (formerly Land O’Lakes SUSTAIN) to offer a “step-change in stewardship and conservation best practices for U.S. growers while helping them focus on maximizing acre-by-acre productivity and profitability.” This technology-based alliance will make use of data analytics from both the Truterra™ Insights Engine and …
USB Puts Protein First
A panel at the 2020 Commodity Classic in San Antonio discussed the role played by all types of protein when it comes to global nutrition efforts. “We know that worldwide we are going to have an extreme need for protein by the year 2050,” said Polly Ruhland, United Soybean Board (USB) CEO. “We know that protein is one of the …