It’s a Hairy Job…

Melissa Sandfort

I have the luxury of working from him which means my attire consists of running shoes, sweat pants, t-shirts and sweatshirts. Gone are the days of getting up more than an hour early just in order to apply make-up, wash and style my hair and stand in my closet thinking, “I have nothing to wear” for 15 minutes. I’m sure there are days my husband wishes I would do a little more with myself but then he remembers that I don’t need make-up to go feed the horses or impress the mailman who I see once a month.

When my grandmother was young, it was customary for a woman to get dolled up not only for church on Sunday but for everyday life. My grandmother and her mom always have on hand hair pins, curlers, rollers, clips and rubber rollers to do their hair. This was also back in the days of aprons and panty hose, both of which I don’t own.

And when getting up at 5 a.m. was customary in order to feed the animals, gather the eggs, milk the cow and start on a meal large enough to feed a small country, who had time to do their hair???

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

ANCW President Addresses Cattle Industry Convention

Chuck Zimmerman

Jill Ginn of Texas addressed the general session of the Cattle Industry Convention last week as one of her last acts as the 60th president of the American National Cattlewomen (ANCW).

“I’m proud to say that this national voice has had a major impact with consumers, politicians and other cattle producers for 60 amazing years,” Jill said. “In 2011, nearly 1600 ANCW members, representing 28 state affiliates, committed to continue our legacy.”

She noted that ANCW’s primary focus is to mobilize their network of volunteers to engage in conversations with consumers and youth about topics ranging from cooking to animal well-being.

Jill has been a cattle buyer for Excel and is currently a territory manager for Novartis Animal Health and she has served in officer positions for various cattlewomen associations.

Jill is now past president of ANCW as Tammi Didlot of Oklahoma was elected the 61st president during the organization’s 2012 Annual Meeting in Nashville.

Listen to Jill’s comments here: ANCW President Jill Ginn

2012 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference, Livestock

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • National 4-H Council has named Dr. P. Bai Akridge as its new Director of Global Projects.
  • Feedstuffs is excited to announce that veteran communicator Andy Vance will be joining its editorial team in a full-time capacity effective March 1.
  • The USDA will amend the federal marketing order regulating the handling of pistachios produced in California, Arizona and New Mexico.
  • A new Issue Paper from CAST examines the impact of certain weed management practices on soil conservation objectives and addresses ways to mitigate negative effects.
Zimfo Bytes

NAFB President at Cattle Industry Convention

Cindy Zimmerman

National Association of Farm Broadcasting president and poet laureate Tom Steever of Brownfield Ag News impressed the 2012 Cattle Industry Convention with yet another of his original poems. Like he did at the American Farm Bureau convention, Tom wowed the crowd in his own special way.

His poetic composition for the cattle industry was on the timely topic of dust – and anyone aware of the bureaucratic battle over the regulation of “particulate matter” will enjoy Tom’s “It’s Only Dust.”

Listen to the audio here and watch the video below: NAFB President Tom Steever - Dust

2012 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

Audio, Cattle Industry Conference, NAFB, NCBA, Video

2012 National Biodiesel Conference

Chuck Zimmerman

It’s hard to believe I’ve been Biodiesel Blogging for seven years now. This is the seventh year of the National Biodiesel Conference Blog, one of the first ones we created when we started agriblogging!

The 2012 National Biodiesel Conference is taking place in Orlando, FL. Once again New Holland is sponsoring the media room and the blog and we thank them!

I’ll be posting mostly on the conference blog and Domestic Fuel during the next several days. Just in case you wondered, I will be posting photos too: 2012 National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

Biodiesel

Novus Introduces NEXT ENHANCE

Chuck Zimmerman

The Novus International team rallied around Wally again this year at the Cattle Industry Convention. The company also had a new product announcement.

Novus International, Inc., announces the release of NEXT ENHANCE®, a source of plant extracts that affects the rumen environment to consistently boost both efficiency and weight gain in beef cattle.

NEXT ENHANCE is a source of cinnamaldehyde and garlic oil (containing the active ingredient diallyl disulfide), which have been shown to favorably modify rumen fermentation. This allows dietary carbohydrates and proteins to be more efficiently used by the animal.

On hand to discuss NEXT ENHANCE was Jim Gerardot, Executive Director, Global Strategic Marketing for Novus. He explains why this natural product is a great new option to optimize weight gain in cattle.

Listen to my interview with Jim here: Novus Introducers NEXT ENHANCE

2012 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Cattle Industry Conference, Novus International

Pioneer Sees Strong 2011 Results for Plenish Soybeans

Cindy Zimmerman

Dupont’s Pioneer Hi-Bred is reporting strong seed performance for Plenish high oleic soybean varieties despite challenging growing conditions in 2011.

Pioneer Plenish“I’ve had great success with Plenish high oleic soybeans,” said John Motter, director, United Soybean Board and chair of the Ohio Soybean Council. “During this year’s harvest my Plenish soybeans yielded higher than my overall farm average at 55 bushels an acre, and agronomic performance was outstanding.”

Pioneer launched the high oleic soybean trait in its industry-leading lineup of Pioneer® brand Y Series soybean varieties, with key defensive and agronomic traits such as soybean cyst nematode resistance, phytophthora and sudden death syndrome tolerance, and excellent field emergence and harvest standability.

Pioneer will continue to work closely with growers who are trained in growing specialty crops under identity preserved conditions in targeted geographies based on processor collaboration to produce Plenish high oleic soybeans for continued product testing. Pioneer currently is collaborating with ADM in central Indiana, Bunge in northwest Ohio and Zeeland Farm Services in Michigan on contract production programs to produce Plenish high oleic soybeans in 2012.

Pioneer, Soybean

USDA to Mark 150th Anniversary at 2012 Outlook Forum

Cindy Zimmerman

Eight former agriculture secretaries will help celebrate the 150th anniversary of USDA as they participate in a historic plenary panel at the 2012 Agricultural Outlook Forum, which will be held Feb. 23-24, 2012, in Arlington, Va.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will give the keynote address at the forum and moderate the panel which will feature any and all of the former living secretaries who are able to attend. They include (in reverse chronological order) Ed Schafer, Senator Mike Johanns, Ann Veneman, Dan Glickman, Mike Espy, Clayton Yeutter, John Block, and Bob Bergland.

In addition to the traditional USDA commodity supply and demand and food price outlooks, the forum will also feature 25 breakout sessions with more than 80 speakers that will focus on a broad range of topical issues, including: global food security; foreign trade, financial markets, and economic development; conservation; energy; climate change; food safety; food hubs; extension programs; and next generation farmers. USDA has hosted the Agricultural Outlook Forum since 1923.

Registration for the forum is still available for a cost of $425. Plenary speeches will be Webcast after 6 p.m. EST on Feb. 23, and breakout session speeches and PowerPoint presentations will be posted online after 6 p.m. Feb. 24.

USDA

Meet the New NCBA Officer Team

Cindy Zimmerman

Meet the new officers of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

From left to right, they are: President J.D. Alexander from Pilger, Nebraska; President-Elect Scott George from Cody, Wyoming; and Vice President Bob McCan of Victoria, Texas.

We already heard from J.D. and now immediate past president Bill Donald, but below is the audio from J.D.’s executive committee report at the NCBA membership meeting Saturday morning. He makes a great analogy there between great cowboys who can spot a sick animal before it even knows it’s sick, and the great cowboys working for NCBA in Washington DC who are able to know “if there’s something brewing that may have an effect on our industry.”

Listen to J.D.’s report here: New NCBA president J.D. Alexander

President-elect Scott George is primarily a dairyman in a family partnership that also includes a small cow-calf operation and breeding business. “Cattle are our whole business,” he says, adding that he has never been more optimistic about the industry. “Demand is good, both domestically and internationally, so we’ve got some great opportunities, great prices and that should remain for several years.”

Scott says issues NCBA will be focused on in 2012 are the estate tax, transportation issues and a new farm bill.

Listen to my interview with Scott here: NCBA president-elect Scott George

Bob McCan oversees the cattle and recreational hunting and wildlife operations for his family’s company, McFaddin Enterprises in Texas. He was NCBA policy division chairman for 2011 and is proud of NCBA’s accomplishments in Washington last year.

Bob reports that membership for NCBA is just a tick above 24,000 now, starting to head back up after a drop when dues were raised last year to $100. “With the service that you get and the representation that you get, that’s not a whole lot,” he said, noting that members get lots of discount deals with companies like Roper, John Deere, New Holland and others. “There’s just not a whole lot of reason not to shell out $100, especially with the cattle market we’re looking at now.”

Listen to my interview with Bob here: NCBA vice president Bob McCan

2012 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference, Dairy, NCBA

Beef Board Wrap-up

Chuck Zimmerman

Right after the conclusion of the CBB portion of the joint board meeting at the end of the Cattle Industry Convention I spoke with Chairman, Wesley Grau. Wesley says the 2012 Cattle Industry Convention has been “very positive.” The record turnout of 8,217 registered has been a sign of that positive mood in the industry. He says “everyone is moving forward to communicate” and “cattlemen agree on the need to promote beef in the United States and around the world and we’re going to take those steps necessary to do so.”

You can find more reports on Beef Board activities at the convention on the Beef Board Blog, MyBeefCheckoffMeeting.com. They include board meeting financial, evaluation committee and management reports.

You can listen to my closing interview with Wesley here: Closing Interview with Wesley Grau

2012 Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

Cattle Industry Conference