U. S. Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns, announced some new Cotton Board members:

Just when I thought I was done for the day I realized you should get at least something from Hong Kong. I can at least pretend like I’m there via the internet.

The WTO Hong Kong Ministerial is about to kick off and I’m sure we’ll have some good stuff for you. To kind of get you in the mood you need to watch/listen to Mr. Lamy, the WTO Director General.

I wanted to go to Hong Kong but business is very, very busy and then there’s that bird flu thing . . . but Sara Wyant is there and she’s letting her subscribers to Agri-Pulse know what’s going on each day.

I don’t know about you but on a day like today (frigid) a good cup of coffee is necessary. I’m only writing this because I know you’re looking for good holiday gifts and maybe you’re a coffee lover like me.

Here’s my first post from my new Dell Latitude D410. With all the travel that’s underway and not going to stop (except for the holiday weeks) I can not lug around an Inspiron 9100. That is a great machine but it’s a portable desktop. This is a dream machine for a road warrior.

This has been a memorable day in the development of ZimmComm, Marketing & Communications as we welcome Amy Shaffer to our staff. Amy is our first employee and we’re really glad to have found her. Amy has a very strong IT background and will be helping us with the management and development of our various databases, including AgNewsWire.AgWired.com. I’ll add a photo as soon as I get one. I’m on the east coast this week making presentations and hope to have a photo to share by tomorrow.

USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service unveiled a newly designed website today. I went there wondering what’s new.

PRWeek reports that the California Department of Food & Agriculture that could be worth up to $500,000 in the next year for “outreach and education on Pierce’s disease, which can devastate grapevines, and the glassy-winged sharpshooter, the insect that carries it.” You need a paid subscription for the full story, which I don’t yet have.

On this Thanksgiving holiday I want to say “thanks” to all of you who are regular AgWired readers and especially you subscribers. AgWired wouldn’t exist without you. Your kind words and encouragement have made it all worthwhile. I promise that we’ll continue to bring you the latest information about the business of agricultural marketing and throw in a little entertainment along the way. Who says we can’t we have fun doing what we love.