This is a fine looking group from the United States. We waited until the last possible moment to get this picture taken.
The closing banquet was closing around us by the time we got around to it.
Some of the Canadians Attending IFAJ
I don’t have any of their names, but Owen Roberts, if you know feel free to post a comment and identify these Canadians attending the IFAJ Congress.
I had to post this because I’ll be in Ontario next month conducting an agriblogging and farm podcasting workshop at the University of Guelph. The two on the left are students there.
Picking and Grinning In Norway
I don’t know who the band is but bluegrass in Norway?
They opened up and closed for the IFAJ Congress 2006 ending banquet.
Green Tractors At This Dairy Farm
I thought this would make Barry Nelson happy at John Deere.
The Norwegian dairy farmer I interviewed today made a point of making sure I knew he exclusively uses John Deere tractors. He seemed pretty proud of that.
Dairy Barn Fashion
It’s been a long trip and sometimes you start to get a little goofy. I tried to interview old Betsy here but she wasn’t interested.
As you might expect, we had to suit up to go into the diary barn.
I wasn’t the only one thinking I looked pretty fashionable in my blue suit.
Norwegian Cow Record System
One of the companies helping sponsor the IFAJ Congress here in Norway is GENO Breeding and A.I. Association.
On our dairy tour today, Torstein Steine, Director of Breeding and Research, gave us an overview of the Norwegian Cow Record System. GENO is very involved in this project which has an immense amount of data online now.
Robotic Dairy Expert
Before we got to go into the dairy barn on today’s IFAJ Congress tour we learned about automatic or robotic milking from the expert.
He’s Gunnar Pettersson, Swedish University of Agricultural Science. He used a power point presentation but I recorded him anyway and am providing an edited version of that talk.
Robotic Milking At Smestad Farm
Today I got to visit a dairy operation which is pretty big business in Norway. We toured the Smestad farm. Pictured here are our hosts, Ole Kristian and Randi Skallerud.
The interesting part of the dairy is that he’s using an automatic milking system. So before we event went into the barn we learned more about robotic milking.
International Seed Spitting Contest
I left the dinner last night a lot earlier than most. Just as I was leaving to be a good boy and go home to my hotel room a seed spitting contest was getting started.
A Reindeer Roast
Here at the IFAJ Congress in Norway we have not gone hungry.
Our dinner last night was a reindeer roast. Actually we had a lot of meat that included lamb and I’m not even sure what all else.