NMPF Creates REAL Cartoon Character

Chuck Zimmerman

REAL Seal CharacterThe National Milk Producers Federation is getting REAL serious about the REAL Seal. Well, maybe not so much serious as having some fun. This is the cartoon character that has been created to help “revitalize and build awareness of the dairy industry’s iconic REAL® Seal.” There is already a “cartoon” with the character on YouTube. What would you name it?

“The REAL® Seal has been around for nearly 40 years,” said Jim Mulhern, Chief Operating Officer of NMPF. “This character is intended to bring the importance of looking for REAL® dairy products and foods made with REAL® dairy products to life.”

The first order of business will be naming the character, according to Mulhern, who said a name will be chosen through an on-line challenge.

“We want kids to learn how to differentiate real dairy products and foods made with real American dairy products from the vegetable- and nut-based pretenders,” said Mulhern. “To highlight this important distinction, we are launching a campaign to name the character.”

Names may be submitted through the REAL® Seal website: www.realseal.com. All entries must be received by August 31, 2013. The top three names entered will be posted in September on the REAL® Seal Facebook page (www.facebook.com/realsealdairy) and subject to a vote. The name with the most votes will be declared the winner.

Ag Groups, Dairy, Food, Video

Senate Leader Says No Farm Bill Extension

Cindy Zimmerman

reid-fbSenate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) says no to another farm bill extension.

In remarks on the Senate floor Monday prior to starting business on the immigration reform bill, Senator Reid began by noting that last week’s defeat of the farm bill on the House floor was “the first time the House of Representatives defeated a farm bill since the program was created in the 1930’s.”

Reid says he was sorry to hear the House leadership blame the defeat on the Democrats. “They had to blame someone. They couldn’t blame themselves, even though they should,” he said.

The Senate majority leader urged the House to take up the farm bill passed by the Senate by 66 votes. “I want everyone within the sound of my voice, as well as my colleagues on the other side of the Capitol to know that the Senate will not pass another temporary farm bill extension,” said Reid. “It’s time for real reform that protects both rural farm communities and urban families who need help feeding their children.”

It is still not clear just what, if anything, the House will do about the situation.

Listen to or download Reid’s comments here: Senator Harry Reid on Farm Bill

Audio, Farm Bill

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

Zimfo Bytes

BIVI Swine Team Changes

Cindy Zimmerman

boehringer-ingelheim-logoBoehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI) has announced several new additions and changes in its swine division recently.

Two new employees joined the team Swine Division in April. Gregory Lewis is regional sales manager and Nathan Schaefer, DVM, is a professional services veterinarian. Both joined the company in April. Lewis was area sales manager for Land O’ Lakes for the past two years and previously spent 19 years in various sales management and marketing positions with Alpharma. Dr. Schaefer spent two and a half years as a swine production veterinarian for Iowa Select Farms in Iowa Falls, Iowa, where he oversaw the health management of the company’s farrow-to-wean and gilt development programs.

bivi-jpJean Paul (JP) Cano, DVM, has been promoted to senior associate director of Swine Professional Services. Cano earned his DVM in Venezuela and his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He gained broad experience as a swine practitioner in Venezuela, where he also wrote a number of peer-reviewed journal articles. Cano joined the BIVI Swine Division in 2009. We’ve interviewed JP a couple of times here on AgWired – once at World Pork Expo in 2010 and again at the 2012 PRRS Symposium.

Erin Johnson, DVM, has been promoted to technical manager on the PRRSolutions Team, which leads the Area Regional Control & Elimination (ARC&E) efforts and is supported and advised by recognized PRRS experts from across the U.S. The team conducts and coordinates the research, design and development of the ARC&E and plays an active role in supporting efforts of ARC&E working groups across the country.

Agribusiness, Boehringer Ingelheim, Livestock, Swine

AgCareers.com Supports IFAMA Student Competition

Cindy Zimmerman

ifama-13-eric1The man who had the honor of handing out the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA) 2013 Student Competition awards is a great advocate of agricultural careers – AgCareers.com president Eric Spell.

“We’ve been four out of the last five years to the event,” Eric told me. “One of the hot words that we hear with employers is ‘supply chain’ in agriculture and food industries and this talent pool represents that.”

Eric says the students who take part in the IFAMA world forum and competition are the people who are gaining the skills it will take for the future of agribusiness. “Many of them are Masters or higher levels students who understand ag economics who want to work in the global food chain,” he said, noting they are also very mobile and multi-lingual. AgCareers sponsored a Career Expo and Career Services Center at the IFAMA World Forum in Atlanta last week.

ifama-13-eric2The whole goal of AgCareers.com is to bring this type of talent and agribusiness employers together, and also to make sure that these students have the skills needed for the future of the industry, which is what the upcoming AgCareers 11th Ag & Food HR Roundtable is all about. “We’re going on the campus of DuPont Pioneer in Johnston (Iowa) the first week of August and we have 150 registered attendees and we only have 50 more slots,” Eric said. “And that’s a good thing.”

Attending the HR Roundtable will be agribusiness human resource professionals, executives and managers, university and college faculty & career services staff, and association representatives. For registration and further information, click here and follow the links.

AgCareers.com president Eric Spell at IFAMA World Forum


IFAMA 23rd World Forum Photo Album

AgCareers, Agribusiness, Audio

Monsanto Calls GE Wheat Find “Suspicious”

Cindy Zimmerman

MonsantoMonsanto officials held a press call on Friday regarding “suspicious” evidence in the investigation of genetically engineered wheat plants found in an Oregon field last month that suggests it was possibly intentionally planted.

“The evidence now collected, the fact patterns established and the original Roundup Ready CP-4 event appearing suddenly after 12 years, out of nowhere in a single field in the state of Oregon is highly suspicious,” said Monsanto Vice President and Director of Technology Robb Fraley, stressing that they don’t know the grower or the field or have the plant samples available. However, “the more data we generate, the more clarity we’re getting on this, and the more suspicious it looks.”

When pressed by reporters, Fraley said, “It’s fair to say that there are folks who don’t like biotechnology and would use this as an opportunity to create problems.” He also pointed to the recent destruction of two sugar beet fields in the state of Oregon by anti-GMO activists.

Monsanto's Robb Fraley
Agribusiness, Audio, Biotech, Wheat

Connecting Beef Checkoff Funds With LMA

Jamie Johansen

lma-13-maxeyEveryone involved in the beef industry understands the importance of the beef checkoff program. And what better time to inform producers of this beef promotion tool then during the 2013 Livestock Marketing Association’s Annual Meeting & World Livestock Auctioneer Championship.

Jimmy Maxy, Secretary/Treasurer for the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and cattleman from California, took in the event and spoke with Chuck on the importance of the two organizations working together.

“The funding that comes from the promotion of beef, comes from cattlemen and cattlemen market their cattle through livestock markets. Each time that happens it’s a source for beef promotion. It’s our job to take those funds and do the best we can with them and bring back great returns to cattlemen.”

He also added that it was a great chance to personally interact with producers, that livestock markets are a collection point for checkoff funds and it serves as a way to educate producers about the checkoff program.

You can listen to Chuck’s interview with Jimmy here: Interview with Jimmy Maxey

Here you can find photos from the event: 2013 LMA/WLAC Photo Album

Audio, Beef, Livestock, LMA

Immigration Policy Forum in Kansas City

Cindy Zimmerman

With the Senate poised to vote on comprehensive immigration reform this week, USDA held a forum on the issue Friday in Kansas City, featuring Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, former Kansas City mayor and current Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, and representatives of the nation’s dairy industry.

“We are blessed by the most productive, most innovative and most hard-working farmers and ranchers,” Vilsack said. “American agriculture is the greatest in the world, but we risk that if we don’t have certainty in our farm policy and we don’t have comprehensive immigration reform.”

dfa-kc“Because of America’s farmers, we enjoy abundant, safe and affordable food in this country,” said Dairy Farmers of America board chairman Randy Mooney. “In order to ensure that continues, we need Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. For the dairy industry – an industry where there is no such thing as a day off – there is no viable visa program to provide a legal, stable and knowledgeable workforce that ensures milk and other dairy products get into the dairy case, our lunch programs and more.” Watch Mooney’s comments in the video below or download the audio here. DFA Chair Randy Mooney

Mooney emphasized that the need for qualified workers is an issue bigger than dairy, pointing to specialty crops such as lettuce, strawberries and apples that also require labor that is not desirable to domestic workers. Similarly, a shortage of workers affects crop farmers, directly for their own farms and for farmers who buy their product.

The comprehensive immigration bill being considered by the Senate – with a final vote expected possibly this week – includes provisions for agriculture including a new “Blue Card” program for current experienced farm workers and a new agricultural visa program to meet future labor needs. The provisions in the bill were the result of an agreement reached between farm worker groups and agricultural organizations.

Audio, Dairy, labor, USDA, Video

Join #TeamAgChat

Chuck Zimmerman

#TeamAgChatIt’s team building time for the AgChat Foundation. Have you joined the team yet? If you’re active on Twitter then follow or use #TeamAgChat to help the organization reach it’s goal this week of raising $10,000. The #TeamAgChat event is live and will conclude on June 28. I got my donation taken care of and hope you will too.

If you value what AgChat Foundation gives to the farm and ranch community, then it is time to show your support. The AgChat Foundation is nearing its fiscal year end and has a goal to be fully funded by June 30, 2013.

Could you support it at $10, $50, $75 or even a dollar at day? Any and all amounts will help reach the goal

To help sweeten the deal, everyone who supports the Foundation at the $75 level or higher will receive Social Media Guru Jay Baer’s new book titled “Youtility-The Marketing Strategy for the Age of Information Overload”. ALSO, every support (no matter the amount), will be entered in a daily drawing to win Youtility as well.

Ag Day

New Trustees and Directors for Farm Foundation

John Davis

farmfoundationlogo3Farm Foundation names three to their Board of Trustees and another two to their Board of Directors. The group says the three new trustees come from the food and agribusiness value chain:

Elected were William Buckner, CEO of the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation; David Cleary, Director of Global Agriculture for The Nature Conservancy; and Jerome Lyman, Vice President, Quality Systems & Food Safety, McDonald’s Corporation. The election took place earlier this month at the Board’s annual meeting in Ames, IA.

“We are excited that these accomplished executives are adding their leadership to the Foundation’s Board of Trustees,” says Jay Armstrong of Muscotah, KS, who was elected Chairman of the Board. “The Foundation’s leadership reflects the diverse character of today’s food and agricultural systems and is dedicated to providing public and private decision makers with comprehensive, objective information on the issues that will shape the future,” Armstrong added.

The two new members of the Board of Directors include Joe Swedberg, Vice President of Legislative Affairs for Hormel Foods, and George Hoffman, President and CEO of Restaurant Services, Inc.

Farm Foundation