Austrian Hog Farming

Cindy Zimmerman

Bring a wafer-thin slice of Vulcano to your mouth and savour the magnificent aroma of the dry-cured ham before allowing the full taste to develop on your tongue. That’s the translated version of the sales pitch for Vulcano Ham company in Austria. This was our last stop before leaving Austria for Slovenia on the 2008 IFAJ Congress trip and it …

IFAJ, Novus International, Pioneer, Pork

Sound of MOOsic

Cindy Zimmerman

One of the highlights of the 2008 IFAJ Congress in Austria was the visit to a traditional mountain farm. All of the participants in that tour just raved about the pastoral scenery on such a perfect day they expected to see Julie Andrews dance up over the hillside singing the “Sound of Music.” Unfortunately, Chuck and I did not get …

Beef, IFAJ, Novus International, Pioneer

Dancing To Quasimojo

Chuck Zimmerman

I don’t know when the first Quasimojo performance was at an IFAJ event but they’re still going strong. This year’s Congress found them playing on stage after our final dinner in Portoroz, Slovenia. We had just finished all the speeches and awards and were full and it was late. The band has a kind of flexible membership and somehow seems …

IFAJ, Novus International, Pioneer

Pumpkin Seed Oil

Chuck Zimmerman

A year before the IFAJ Congress 2008 we were given packets of pumpkin seeds to plant and then we were supposed to send in or bring photos of our pumpkin plants. I tried but let’s just say growing pumpkins isn’t one of my things. We saw lots of pumpkin fields but never got to visit any when we were in …

IFAJ, Novus International, Pioneer

Slovenia Ag Group

Chuck Zimmerman

While we were in Slovenia at the IFAJ Congress one of our hosts was Ciril Smrkolj who is President of the Slovenia Agriculture and Forestry Chamber, a primary ag group in the country. I spoke with him at our closing dinner. He’s very much a pro-agriculture kind of guy. He says that his organization does work on promotion and marketing. …

Ag Groups, Audio, IFAJ, International, Novus International, Pioneer

Food and Farming Canada

Chuck Zimmerman

The traveling agriblogger is now resting comfortably in Chicago O’Hare, waiting on the next flight. So far, so good this morning. You can see what the sunrise looked like outside my plane in Columbus, OH this morning using this link. While doing some more email work I noticed that Lilian Schaer, Food and Farming Canada, is now following me on …

Ag Groups, IFAJ, International

Franz Fischler Concludes The Congress

Chuck Zimmerman

I like the way Fran Fischler, President of the IFAJ Congress 2008, started his remarks at the end of the event. “Everything has already been said but not by everybody.” He then proceeded to thank all the people who worked to make this Congress a reality, including all the sponsors. He pointed out how different farming is around the world. …

Audio, IFAJ, International, Novus International, Pioneer