Once again I got to hear our Undersecretary for Rural Development, Tom Dorr. He was first up on the program here this morning at the National Ethanol Conference to speak about the farm bill and focus on renewable fuel policies and provisions. He says the ethanol industry is going through some growing pains, or put another way, transitional challenges. He’s …
Broadband Opportunities for Rural America
That’s the title on a new joint website of the Federal Communications Commission and USDA Rural Development. Pretty soon we won’t see any disparity in rural vs. urban broadband accessibility. “Broadband technology is a key driver of economic growth. The ability to share increasing amounts of information, at greater and greater speeds, increases productivity, facilitates interstate commerce, and helps drive …
Secretary Ed Schafer and Me
Our Secretary of Agriculture, Ed Schafer, made his first major public policy speech today at the Cattle Industry Convention. Thanks to Andy Vance, Buckeye Ag Network, for snapping a picture for me. It was a pleasure for the ag media to get to meet Schafer. For many of us, it’s our first opportunity and I’m sure not our last. I’m …
Baxter Speaks Out For Ag Census
You sure know Baxter Black is more than just a pretty face. He’s also a recognizable voice. I’m sure that’s why USDA had him voice a couple of psa’s for their current Census of Agriculture. I realize these are meant for “broadcast” use but dare I post them on the web? Baxter PSA Number One (:60): ag-census-baxter-1.mp3 Baxter PSA Number …
Ed Schafer Confirmed as New Secretary of Agriculture
Ed Schafer got confirmed today as our new Secretary of Agriculture just in time to sit in with the Cabinet at tonight’s State of the Union speech. Here’s what President Bush had to say about it. I appreciate that the Senate today unanimously confirmed Ed Schafer to be our next Secretary of Agriculture. As a two-term governor and business leader, …
InfoFarm – The NAL Blog
Did you know the National Agricultural Library has a blog? Me either. But it does. Well, sort of. It really looks more like they’re creating individual pages that have a comment form on them. But someone’s writing and it’s all being archived. And it does have an rss feed so you can subscribe to it.
USDA MyPyramid Podcast – Almost
USDA is almost podcasting on its MyPyramid website. I say almost because of this line on their podcast page: “Check back every month for a new video podcast.” Oops. That completely misses the point of podcasting which is about me watching when/where I want and being able to subscribe so I don’t have to go back to a certain web …
Reminiscing With Brenda Curtis-Heiken
This week the ZimmCast hits a milestone with episode number 150. Hard to believe I’ve been podcasting for almost 3 years. It has been a blast though as we pioneer new ways to communicate to farmers and consumers. That’s why it’s kind of fitting that this week’s program contains an interview with my good friend Brenda Curtis-Heiken, USDA Radio. Brenda …
Ice Storm Affecting Livestock Producers
Parts of the midwest got a break from the ice storm today but others had it hit them. Locally we got lots of rain today with temperatures above freezing. The USDA radio news line had a good story about how it’s affecting livestock producers who still have chores to do even when the power goes out. For example, we’ve got …
USDA/Ad Council PSA To Prevent Obese Kids
In this public service announcement produced by USDA and the Ad Council eating an apple keeps the ceiling from falling on you and turns it into a world map. Well, that’s not really the message. The United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Nutrition and Consumer Services and the Ad Council announce today the launch of a multi-media public service advertising …