More than 200 golfers turned out on behalf of the beef industry on the tenth anniversary of the Beef Bucks Golf Challenge—the largest number ever for the major fundraising event of Beef Bucks, the South Dakota-based volunteer-run beef promotion organization.
Sporting 52 teams, this year’s Beef Bucks Golf Challenge on August 17 at the Brandon Municipal Golf Course brought together beef producers, beef industry reps, and beef- supporting businesses, consumers and organizations for a day of golf, ending with a grilled steak dinner and auction.
Dollars raised through the golf tournament are used to fund scholarships for college or vocational school-bound young people with a background in the beef industry. Beef Bucks also promotes beef through a number of other promotional events throughout the year.
This year, the top dollar-generating auction item was a Lincoln commemorative rifle donated by the Henry Rifle Company and purchased by Daniel Holt from Fayetteville, AK. Other auction items included a basketball autographed by South Dakota’s-own Mike Miller of the Miami Heat, and a limited edition Bert Blyleven-signed Hall of Fame Induction print from the Minnesota Twins.
The first-place winning teams of the Beef Bucks Golf Challenge Championship Flight were: first place Pharmco Sod Busters; second place Yankton Livestock; and third place J & R Distributing.
Beef and dairy producers will have the opportunity to show wounded veterans their appreciation, simply by buying Cydectin® Pour-On from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30, 2012. For each liter of CYDECTIN (moxidectin) Pour-On purchased, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. will donate $1.00 to Wounded Warrior Project™ (WWP). In 2011, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. donated nearly $200,000 to support Wounded Warriors through the Buck-a-Liter program.
The money raised through the CYDECTIN Pour-On Buck-a-Liter Program is used to help support WWP’s programs, which are uniquely structured to nurture the mind and body, and facilitate economic empowerment and engagement.
Producers are encouraged to visit their local veterinary clinic or dealer store to purchase CYDECTIN Pour-On from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30 to support WWP.
A passionate and powerful group of agvocates are doing their best to shut down the wifi connection at the Kansas City Crowne Plaza Hotel! It’s Agvocacy 2.0 Conference time. I just joined the conference this afternoon and have some photos in the process of uploading now. Jamie Johansen is also attending the conference and between us we’ll collect a lot of photos and some interesting interviews to share.
Today the sessions have been focusing on telling our story beyond the choir. I know there has been some concern about farmers being able to reach out to non farmers with social media to tell their story. We have lots of good examples here from attendees to presenters who are showing how that is possible.
I’ll add a link to our photo album from the conference as soon as I can.
Post Update:
Here’s where our photos can be found. More added all the time. 2012 Agvocacy 2.0 Conference Photo Album
The American Farm Bureau Federation is asking everyone today to remember the many individuals and families facing severe struggles due to this year’s devastating drought. According to AFBF President Bob Stallman, suggestions for a National Day of Prayer for Drought Victims have come from a number of people throughout farm country as a way to support people facing challenges related to the ongoing drought.
“There is hardly a person involved in agriculture this year who has not been adversely affected by the drought of 2012,” said Stallman. “Due to the terrible impact the drought disaster has dealt, we think it is fitting to come together as an organization and as a nation for unified prayer for all those who are hurting and who face serious challenges in the months ahead. As we all know, the agriculture community is about coming together during the tough times, and this is yet another time that calls for unity, compassion and faith for better days ahead.”
Bow your head, get down on your knees, say a short prayer or a long one – but pray. God never gives us more than we can handle, with His help. Amen.
More than a dozen agricultural journalists this week got the annual sneak preview of the Farm Progress Show being held August 28-30 in Boone, Iowa. FPS media tent organizer since 1986, Gene Hemphill, was on hand to meet and greet every one and sent us a few photos.
In this picture, Mark Lovig, Operations Manager for the Farm Progress Show, gestures toward a FPS attraction during the Media Advance tour of the Tent City as journalists enjoy a ride on the rubber-wheeled train pulled by a new tractor from New Holland Agriculture, sponsors of the Media Tent for the past 26 years. The Boone site got the first phase of a major infrastructure upgrade in time for this year’s show, with more and better roads, but just wait until 2014 when all of the nearly 5 miles of roads at the permanent site will be asphalt.
Don Tourte, Vice President of Sales & Events for Farm Progress Show, welcomed the journalists attending the Media Advance and talked about some of the new information technology that will be used to help visitors navigate and enjoy the show this year.
Four web cameras, sponsored by Slingshot brand from Raven Industries, have been installed on the show site to see what’s going on during show days right from the FPS website.
Interactive map and exhibitor list is also featured to allow visitors to map their days at the show in advance.
A Farm Progress Show app is now available for free download to your Android or iPhone. Just search for “Farm Progress Show” in your store and download for free.
Phone delivered voice messages from Max Armstrong during the show days you choose when you register. Updates will include traffic updates, field demo reminders, program info and more! Call 708-675-4648 and follow prompts to register.
And FPS is also on Facebook and Twitter – oh, and on AgWired, too! It’s the next best thing to being there!
AgWired coverage of the 2012 Farm Progress Show is sponsored by New Holland and Monsanto Roundup Ready PlusYesterday was media preview day for next week’s 2012 Farm Progress Show and our good friend Gene Hemphill sent us a few pics from the event with his commentary.
It’s a bird … it’s a plane … No, it’s a wagon? For many years the seemingly flying Kinze wagon has towered over the Farm Progress Show’s Tent City, giving arriving travelers one of the first signs that they were nearing the legendary City’s annual exhibits of agriculture – past, present, and future. And, while Ag-Wired’s Chuck has scaled many a grain bin to capture a breathtaking view of the Tent City, the flying wagon remains beyond his reach!
Oh, what a tangled web the Media can be! At least that might be how it feels for Dena Morgan, Marketing Specialists for the Farm Progress Show. Dena is preparing identification tags for the media guests arriving at Tent City for the annual Media Advance Day, always held the Wednesday before the FPS begins. Maybe the lanyards for the ID cards are tangled, but the agricultural media gets stand-along top billing for its dedication to the industry it represents. Truly, the ag media considers itself part of the industry!
We’ll be there next week – hope to see you then!
Being the mother of a little farm boy, I fully expect to find leaves in his jeans pockets, worm “dirt” under his fingernails and an assortment of other wigglers and crawlers under the seat of his big wheel. In fact, the day he came toting his first fish into the house on the stringer, dripping on the wood floor the whole way, my smile couldn’t have been any bigger. I was so proud of him.
On the farm, we have all kinds of things for little boys to explore and entice their amazement. And I love their curiosity and figure for most things, it will wash off, and for those stains that don’t come out of the shirt, well, that shirt becomes a “work with daddy” shirt.
I wish he would’ve been here this morning as I stepped outside to get the mail and almost stepped right on this monster-sized moth. It’s beautiful – the perfectly symmetrical circular designs painted on faint green fuzzy canvas. I have no idea what kind of moth it is, but if I were a little boy, I would’ve tried to catch him and keep him.
Guess as the mom of a little boy I’ll be doing a lot of Googling about what moths eat, how to keep toads alive, and how to build a healthy environment for turning a caterpillar into a butterfly.
Until we walk again …
This year’s drought has made it tough enough for farmers; the last thing they need is a breakdown or equipment failure when trying to get in what crop they can. Phil Jennings, the service manager at Kinze Manufacturing, reminded me at the recent Ag Media Summit that there are some basic items producers should be checking before they head out to harvest. “We’re going to look for wear on our augers. We’re going to check our hoses to make sure they’re not scuffed or leaking.” Plus, he said we need to check the belts on the auger and, of course, the warning lights, flashers and slow-moving vehicle signs. Phil also said that with tougher conditions out there, checking the tires and track systems, including wheel lugs and bearings, is always a good idea.
More information on Kinze equipment and how you can avoid a breakdown is available at www.kinze.com.
You can listen to my interview with Phil here: Interview with Phil Jennings
2012 Ag Media Summit Photo Album
AgWired coverage of the 2012 Ag Media Summit is sponsored by FMC
A coalition of 39 farm groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Corn Growers Association, and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, is calling on Congress to pass a new farm bill before the old one expires at the end of September. The group, Farm Bill Now, has an interactive web portal at www.FarmBillNow.com, that lets you connect with your members of Congress and show your support for a new five-year farm bill. The coalition points out that this isn’t just for farmers; consumers need to get involved in the effort as well since any farm bill is really a jobs, food, conservation, research, energy and trade bill… something for every American!
Members of Farm Bill Now plan to meet at Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa this coming Tuesday, August 28th to discuss the effort. In addition, representatives of many of the groups in the coalition will gather on September 12th, 2012 at the U.S. Capitol to encourage Congress to pass the bill before programs expire at the end of that month.
