The National Pork Board has given its approval to a $51 million budget and operating plan for 2008 that addresses five critical issues facing the U.S. pork industry. The board approved the 2008 budget and plan at its meeting in Des Moines Nov. 13-14. The budget now goes to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture for final approval. The five critical …

Kip Cullers of Purdy, Mo., outdid himself by growing an astounding 154.7 bushels of soybeans per acre this year, beating his own world record established last year with 139.39 bushels per acre. He accomplished his record-breaking production by planting Pioneer® 94M80 soybeans on an irrigated and conventionally-tilled field near Stark City, Mo. Cullers attributes an intensive plant management program to …

Mark your calendars. The 2008 NCBA Legislative Conference is set for March 31 to April 4, 2008 in Washington, D.C. – Holiday Inn on the Hill. This is your chance to speak with key congressional and agency influencers and make your voices heard! A strong showing in Washington is vital to the beef industry. Questions? Contact the NCBA Convention & …

Join us Monday, Nov. 19, 2007 for the ”NEIGHBOR FRIENDLY FARMING” program at the Illini Center, campus of UIUC in Illinois. Registration begins at 11:30. Julie Maschoff, co-owner of The Maschhoffs Inc., a network of over 250 independent family farmers working together to create environmentally responsible pork operations, will lead the program. Learn about the Maschhoff family’s approach to building …

Penton Media’s BEEF® magazine, America’s leading cattle publication, is collaborating with 12 leading land grant universities to conduct the first Beef Stocker Survey, a national effort to benchmark and characterize the management practices and challenges of stocker operators and backgrounding operations. The confidential survey questionnaire was mailed this month to an extensive list of industry contacts, representative of the segment’s …

The next meeting of the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City will be breakfast on Friday, Nov. 9, 7:30 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center (Chouteau Room.) The featured speakers will be Jim Finnerty and Julie Doane, both involved with the public television show: America’s Heartland. Breakfast will be $15.00 for Council member and $20.00 for nonmember. Please RSVP …

Producers interested in “Going For The Green” at this year’s Illinois Commodity Conference can save some green by signing up early, with a lower registration fee. “Going for the Green: Seeing Agriculture’s Future” is the theme of this year’s conference, which will be held Nov. 20th at the DoubleTree Hotel and Convention Center in Bloomington. The one-day event begins at …

A complete series of “new generation” disc mowers — designed for today’s tougher mowing conditions, increased acres and faster cutting speeds — has just recently been introduced by Vermeer. New Vermeer® 40-Series Disc Mowers are available in four different sized models and feature heavy-duty gearbox housing, increased cast material, self-contained cutting disks, Quick-Clip® Blade Retention System and new, wider skids. …

Penton Media’s BEEF® magazine will host its second annual BEEF Quality Summit, Nov. 7-8, 2007 at the Holiday Inn Centre in Omaha, Neb. This year’s conference will focus on “Beef Quality in the Ethanol Era” and explore the impact of increased ethanol production on beef carcass and retail product quality; beef industry infrastructure and economics; and key related business issues …

Pioneer Hi-Bred is adding 23 new soybean varieties to its lineup for 2008. These new Pioneer® brand soybean varieties offer growers protection against yield-robbing pests such as soybean cyst nematode (SCN), sudden death syndrome (SDS), Phytophthora root rot and brown stem rot (BSR). Twenty-one of the new Pioneer soybean varieties contain the Roundup Ready® (RR) gene and offer impressive performance …