President Bush made a surprise nomination for Secretary of Agriculture Wednesday afternoon – a little-known former governor from North Dakota, Ed Schafer. In making the announcement, Bush said, “Ed Schafer is the right choice to fill this post. He was a leader on agricultural issues during his eight years as the governor of North Dakota. He worked to open new …
Rural Lifestyle Info in Ag Census
One of the sources of a lot of information for anyone needing to research the rural lifestyle market is the USDA Census of Agriculture. You might think it’s just about corn, soybeans, hogs and cattle but you’d be wrong. According to Gene Danekas, Director of Ag Statistics, USDA-Missouri, (pictured on the left in his booth at the Country Living Olympics) …
Meeting Acting Ag Secretary Conner
I got my first opportunity to meet our Acting Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Conner today. He was the luncheon keynote speaker at the Cellulosic Ethanol Summit which is underway in Washington, DC. He addressed the group on the subject of what agriculture’s role is in building a national cellulosic industry. I caught up to him outside as he was leaving …
First Press Conference with Acting Ag Secretary
It didn’t go off quite as planned, but Acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner held his first telephone press conference with the media on Monday afternoon. After a brief opening statement, it was opened to questions, but there weren’t any! Even though there were nearly 100 reporters on the line. That was because they apparently had some technical difficulties and an …
U. S. Secretary of Agriculture Resigns
Here in Japan the turmoil at their Ministry of Agriculture precluded our being able to meet with their Minister. Back home it looks like we’ve got a little turnover going on too. I just learned that Mike Johanns has resigned as our Ag Secretary. The picture of him here is from the recent Farm Progress Show. I’ve always been a …
Sec. of Ag Mike Johanns Visits Farm Progress Show
Our U. S. Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns is visiting the Farm Progress Show today. His first stop was the media tent where he awarded EJ Water Cooperative with $8.8 million for a loan and grant to build a water treatment plant. This is part of USDA’s Rural Development initiative. Johanns then proceeded to make some comments regarding the farm …
Farm High Speed Internet Access Doubles
The latest Farm Computer Usage and Ownership report from USDA’s NASS was posted today with very little fanfare but I think it is very important to agricultural marketers! Following is the main summary of the report but there’s lots of data in there if you want to study and use it. I’m highlighting some key points in it for you. …
Biosecurity Alert for Livestock
The outbreak of foot- and mouth- disease abroad has the Department of Agriculture issuing an alert to domestic livestock producers. The U.S. Ag Department singles out the need for Pennsylvania producers to closely monitor contact with British livestock. The state Department of Agriculture is urging livestock producers to heighten biosecurity practices, especially if dealing with international markets, in light of …
Farm Bill Update From Secretary Johanns
What’s happening with the Farm Bill is the subject of more press releases than we can count lately. I don’t focus a lot of time on policy but it’s important to know what’s going on. This morning U. S. Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns, held a press conference to bring us up to date and explain the Administration’s position on …
Connecting Rural America
It’s really getting hard to ignore the fact that broadband internet access is available or in development everywhere in rural America isn’t it? We’re sure not ignoring it. In fact, we’re helping companies take advantage of it! Deputy Agriculture Secretary Chuck Connor today announced the availability of $8.9 million in grants for communities without broadband service to provide residential service …