I’ve eaten a lot of ribs and have judged the World Pork Expo’s BarbeQlossal once upon a time. However, I have just eaten the best ribs ever. Cooked by The Rib Whisperer, Trace Arnold. He’s on a Cross-Country Cookout and I found him at the 2013 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in downtown Sturgis.
The HISTORY® Cross-Country Cookout Welcomes Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Attendees
The 80-foot long Ultimate Smoker and Grill, designed and operated by grill-master Trace “Rib Whisperer” Arnold, is the size of a tanker and is hauled by a semi. In the unique smoker chamber, Arnold can slow-smoke more than 2,000 pounds of meat. Hidden beneath the 20-foot hydraulic lid is a wood-fired grill with the capacity to cook 1,000 hotdogs, 500 hamburgers or 200 16 oz. steaks at once.
Of course I had to visit with Trace and am sharing our conversation here: Interview with the Rib Whisperer
HISTORY fans at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally on August 4-6 are welcome to visit the HISTORY Cross-Country Cookout to sample the Rib Whisperer’s tasty hickory-smoked and jalapeno cheddar sausage and play backyard games like cornhole and ladder golf to win HISTORY merchandise and prizes. Learn more about the HISTORY Cross-Country Cookout tour at http://www.history.com/interactives/cookout.
2013 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Photo Album
Beef Was For Dinner at Buffalo Chip Campground
I had no idea until last night that you could find a good steak and a lot more for a rustic sit down dinner at the Legendary Buffalo Chip Campground. It’s the Sturgis Buffalo Chip’s Surf-N-Turf Steakhouse located in The Historic Barn. There are other choices like lobster, chicken, ribs and huge pork chops. But I’m heading to Denver today for the 2013 Cattle Industry Summer Conference. So I chose beef and it was good!
I’ll be the Beef Board Blogger for the conference and you can find most of my stories on MyBeefCheckoffMeeting.com starting tomorrow afternoon.
I am also looking forward to the Club Blue Welcome Reception being sponsored by our friends at New Holland. New Holland also has a special deal going for NCBA members.
Exclusive Savings Offer on Equipment Built New Holland SMART!
You expect quality equipment to help you get the job done on your farm or ranch. That’s why New Holland offers SMART solutions with a full line of products to fit any operation. We’re proud to partner with NCBA to provide exclusive savings that add value to your membership.
Thanks for the work you do to keep the cattle industry strong in the United States!
You can find more here.
USFRA at AMS
The U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) was well represented at the Ag Media Summit by Executive Director Randy Krotz, board member and Wisconsin pork producer Doug Wolf, and Communications Manager Lisa Cassady.
The organization had a booth at the AMS InfoExpo to talk about what’s new at USFRA and I chatted with both Doug and Lisa about some of that. For one, USFRA is taking its highly successful national Food Dialogues effort down to a more regional level with their affiliates so they can do more of them.
USFRA has identified biotechnology and antibiotic use in livestock as two major issues that they are addressing with the non-farm audience. “Those are always controversial issues,” Doug says. “We’re still going to back the science … but we’re up against some really strong emotional responses … but we sit down and debate and discuss how it works.”
Lisa highlighted some changes to the USFRA fooddialogues.com website, one of which helps to address some of those hot-button issues. “We have a really unique section of our website called FoodSource,” Lisa says. “There’s infographics and point-of-view documents telling (consumers) accurate information about agriculture.” Lisa adds that they have also incorporated some search engine optimization to the website which brings up USFRA information for certain key words relating to agriculture.
Doug was one of the founding fathers of USFRA three years ago and he is pleased with the accomplishments of the alliance, which now includes over 80 agricultural organizations and companies. “I think we’re seeing some real strides in the right direction,” he said.
Listen to my interview with Doug and Lisa here: Interview with USFRA at AMS
2013 Ag Media Summit Photo Album
Ethanol Fueling Legends Ride at Sturgis Rally
The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is in full swing and one of the highlights of the event is the 2013 Legends Ride. The event started in Deadwood, South Dakota and ended at the Legendary Buffalo Chip Campground where the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is a sponsor. This is the site where RFA is also pumping free 93 octane E10 for riders.
Chuck Zimmerman caught up with RFA’s motorcycle expert and enthusiast Robert White just before he rode off with the tens of thousands of other riders for the Legends Ride. White said that this is the fifth year Ethanol, Fueled with Pride has sponsored the event. The event is limited to 200 riders, comprised of celebrities, motorcycle builders, riders and more and the event is designed to raise money for charity. This year White said all the funds raised will go to the Black Hills Special Olympics and part of the effort is to fund the vehicle they take to the events.
RFA, or “ethanol” is also involved in other events taking place at Sturgis including the art exhibit at the Buffalo Chip Campground, where motorcycles that can’t be seen anywhere else are on display as well as a few other events. But White said beyond that, they are here for one main reason and that is to promote ethanol.
“This year we’ve had a lot of push back from the American Motorcyclists Association (AMA) and it’s really focused around E15 and it has gotten really confusing to a lot of people. We want folks to use the right fuel; to know what type of fuel they can use, and in fact Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 1-4 pm at the Buffalo Chip, we have 93 octane E10 that I has especially blended for the riders who can come and fill their tanks for free….And we’ll show them that indeed E10 will work just fine.”
You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Robert here: Interview with Robert White
It’s Time To Send in Your Nominations!
Farm Broadcaster of the Year and the Horizon Award sponsored by Syngenta are given based on professional excellence demonstrated in these specific areas:
- On-air broadcasting (including news, markets, weather and/or special reports)
- Leadership in broadcast programming, promotion and marketing at station/network
- Community involvement and leadership
- NAFB involvement
Broadcast Council members with five years or less experience are eligible for the Horizon Award. Nominate a deserving Broadcast Council member or yourself for either award by emailing Member Services & Event Coordinator Aaron Corbet (aaron@nafb.com) by August 23. Each individual nominated is reviewed for eligibility and then asked to provide more information about themselves in an application.
The NAFB Awards Committee will determine the winner of each category. Winners will be announced at the Awards Luncheon on Friday, November 15, during the NAFB Convention.
BigBalers for Big Jobs
Now here is a new toy for all those commercial hay operations, straw contractors and owner-operators shipping world-wide. New Holland Agriculture’s Next Generation BigBaler 330 produces 3’x3′ bales and the BigBaler 340 produces 3’x4′ bales.
- Provides up to 20% more capacity with up to 5% more density with patented “C” Shaped Shuttle design.
- Increased baling speeds of 110 bales per hour.
- PTO driveline design brings improved durability with efficient and faster feeding.
- Proven pre-change chamber along with 48% increased flywheel inertia ensuring consistent and dense flake formation with less driveline.
- SMART features including Smart Fill Indicators, Crop Saver and Crop ID.
Mark Lowery, Hay & Forage Marketing Specialist, focuses on crop packaging and baling equipment and served as our BigBaler expert for the day. While interviewing Mark, he gave light into the new technologies used to bring New Holland’s 2014 lineup front and center when it comes to hay and forage production in North America.
Listen to my interview with Mark from here: Interview with Mark Lowery
View photos from the event here: 2013 New Holland Ag Media Event Photo Album
Rod Hamilton Brings Sexy Back to Ag
Ever since Justin Timberlake sang about bringing sexy back, it appears that sexy is making its way back to a lot of things – including, says Rod Hamilton, agriculture. Although he admits that the cheek and tongue comment gets people’s attention and that’s not necessarily the image in which he believes ag should brand itself, he is serious that one reason kids and college students aren’t working toward careers in ag is because they don’t think its a cool industry. But it is.
Rod Hamilton joked about not being sure why he was asked to speak to the over 200 attendees at AgCareers.com Ag & Food HR Roundtable but it only took a few comments for everyone to realize, why in fact, he was perfect. Rod didn’t begin life on a farm. He was sent to a farm to “grow up” and before he knew it he landed a job at Christensen Farms (a pork producer) based in Minnesota. Now the communications manager, he has seen several things: an industry that is not delivering a consistent message nor doing a good job of telling positive stories about itself and a shortage of up and coming talent. He noted that HR managers need to widen their pool of candidates and begin recruiting kids at a younger age to get them excited about agriculture.
Rod is also interesting because he sees an industry that needs more involvement in politics, so to fill the void he became a politician. He is now serving his fifth term in the Minnesota House of Representatives, and he is a member of the Agriculture Committee and served as Minority Lead, Vice Chair and Chair of the Committee. In this role, he has worked with educators throughout the state from elementary school through college as well as members of Minnesota communities who are passionate about where their food comes from, to ensure ag education stays in the classroom. And fortunately for the ag industry, he is just ramping up his career.
I couldn’t help but become excited about the field during his presentation and as the first day came to a close, I realized that if HR managers could bottle his passion for the industry and for kids and sprinkle it on students around the country, there would no longer be a shortage of amazing talent entering the agribusiness industry. But until then, he gave HR managers some great advice on recruiting and retaining talent to the ag industry.
Listen to my interview with Rod Hamilton here: Rod Hamilton Brings Sexy Back to Ag
Visit the AgCareers.com Ag & Food HR Roundtable photo album.
AgCareers.com HR Roundtable Kicks off to Full House
AgCareers.com Ag & Food HR Roundtable (@AgCareers / #AgRT) kicked off in Johnston, Iowa today, the home of global agricultural powerhouse and event host, DuPont Pioneer. Each year the event has grown larger and its no wonder why. With an urgent need for new 
talent to join the agricultural industry, there is no better event in the country for HR managers to network about job recruiting, hiring and retention tips.
The first session kicked off with some remarks from AgCareers.com President Eric Spell (who BTW- I am in a Twitter competition with) who discussed some recent trends, gave some project updates and announced some new and exciting projects. In addition, he announced the preliminary results of AgCareers.com AGRIBUSINESS HR REVIEW. This year more than 60 agribusiness companies participated with information about emerging industry trends and developments regarding Salary Reviews, HR Management Practices, Management Performance Schemes, Benefits and Salary Packaging, Recruitment Practice, Retirement Trends, and Branding Practices.
A few key discoveries according to Spell: more than 1 million agribusiness veterans are expected to retire in the next three or so years. This during the same time that there is a severe shortage of students who are graduating and taking jobs in the agribusiness field. The two hottest career fields in agriculture over the next few years: plant sciences or agronomy.
AgCareers.com has thousands of jobs on its site at any given time also has job posts for thousands of internships. Spell said the most high-profile internships for 2014 will be filled by Thanksgiving and encourages students, and employers to begin the search now.
But maybe one of the coolest programs AgCareers has, and it happens to be new, is its AgWarriors program which aims at helping connect veterans and employers. Interestingly, Spell said that more than 40 percent of the jobs needed in Ag don’t require ag backgrounds and with the unique skill sets these veterans bring to the workforce, they will be in high-demand to fill positions over coming years.
I’ve barely touched on the great information that was shared during the opening session today. You can listen to my interview with Eric Spell here: Interview with Eric Spell
Visit the AgCareers.com Ag & Food HR Roundtable photo album.
Passing the AAEA Gavel
At the American Agricultural Editors Association (AAEA) membership meeting this morning at the Ag Media Summit, the gavel was officially passed and a new president took over the reins of the organization.
Laurie Bedord with Successful Farming (right) is now the immediate past president of AAEA and Holly Spangler of Prairie Farmer is the new president. They are both excited about the direction of the organization and getting more young people involved for the future of agricultural journalism.
Listen to my interview with Laurie and Holly here: Interview with two AAEA presidents
2013 Ag Media Summit Photo Album
FMC Announces Anthem Finalists at AMS
You could call it “Rural America’s Got Talent.” After six months, 185 entries and a round of online voting and judging, FMC Corporation has announced the final four contestants in the Anthem “Stand and be Heard” Singing Contest.
“This is the second year we’ve had the Stand and be Heard contest,” said FMC’s Tim Thompson, pictured here second from the right with his colleagues at the Ag Media Summit this week. “It’s for students in FFA, NAMA and 4H – ag students – who sing the national anthem on video and submit it and (are judged) for the opportunity to win up to $10,000 in scholarships.”
Tim says over 30 states were represented in the entries and they have now been judged down to the final four – Alexander Raun, 18, from Minden, Nebraska; Alexandra Carpenter, 19, from Crawfordsville, Indiana; Hayley Hall, 17, from Bladenboro, North Carolina; and Noelle Goodson, 18, Fayette, Ohio.
Next the four will be on their way to Nashville for a professional recording session and new videos will be posted to the site on August 26 so you can cast your vote for the winner. You really have to go and listen to these kids sing acapella to hear their pure sound. Everyone knows what a difficult song our beautiful national anthem is to sing, so you know these kids have real talent!
The contest was started last year to promote FMC’s Anthem herbicide for corn and Tim says they expect to have new registrations coming soon for cereals, potatoes, peanuts, cotton and soybeans. “A great grass products, longest residual product on the market today, along with great broadleaf control for things like palmer amaranth,” he added.
Listen to my interview with Tim here: Interview with Tim Thompson, FMC
2013 Ag Media Summit Photo Album