The NAFB Store is Open

Cindy Zimmerman

NAFB ladies – have you always wanted a sweet black t-shirt or a zippered tote with NAFB in rhinestones? Guys – how about a nice cap, t-shirt, wind shirt, polo or bomber jacket with the NAFB logo?

Yeah, you know you want it!

Have you found yourself far from home without an NAFB lapel pin or made frantic inquires of your peers to see if they could spare you one? Do you lay awake at night, fretting about what others think because you don’t show pride in your association?

Rest easy, friend. There is a solution. The NAFB Store. No longer will you have to scurry among friends to find a pin or be shunned for not wearing one. The NAFB Store can provide the shirt, cap, visor, bag or piece with *bling* that lets people know you’re a member of the NAFB and proud of it. You asked for it…..we’ve got it!

The NAFB on-line store is open for business now. Order your stuff today and get it in time for convention!

NAFB

The Walnut Cracker

Melissa Sandfort

Remember me telling you about how Grandpa picks up black walnuts by the 5-gallon bucket full each year? They’re so potent you have to wear rubber gloves when you work with them, otherwise your hands smell like black walnuts for weeks. I’d hate to think what they do to your insides!

Between the hours spent collecting them and the hours spent shelling them, he also has to crack each one. This walnut sheller helps speed up the process. You stick the walnut between the piston, push the lever and crack the nut. I counted – there are nine different cracking settings, meaning you can fit all sizes of walnuts from the smallest to the meatiest walnut.

For the amount of time he puts into this every year, I don’t think the pay-back is worth it, but it gives him something to do and the bakers around town appreciate his effort.

Like I said, just watch what you’re eating and see if it passes the smell test if you’re not a fan of black walnuts.

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

Rest In Peace Indy Car Driver Dan Wheldon

Chuck Zimmerman

It was with great sadness that I tuned in to today’s Indy Car race and saw the 13th lap multi car wreck and learned that Dan Wheldon was killed. Wow. I’ve had the opportunity to get to know a number of these Indy Car racers over the years. You can say all you want about the wisdom of driving a “car” at 220 MPH but they are still people. This brought back memories of Paul Dana in 2006. I liked Dan and certainly took a number of photos of him in the winner’s circle. He was the winner of this year’s Indy 500.

Today’s race was cancelled after this happened. Then the drivers all rode 3 abreast for five laps to honor Dan. This is just a photo of my tv while they were circling the track.

Here’s a photo of Dan in the winner’s circle in at the 2007 Kansas Lottery Indy 300.

At the time I was working with our sponsor known at that time as the Ethanol Promotion & Information Council (now Growth Energy). Dan won the first race of that season in Homestead, FL. I asked him about racing on ethanol in his post race press conference.

Here’s what he said: Dan Wheldon Ethanol Comment

My prayers go out to Dan and his family. It is a shock when something like this happens. I also hope all the other drivers involved in the accident are okay.

Ethanol, Indy Racing

American Hoggers Debuts This Week

Chuck Zimmerman

Here’s a show that is already set to record on my DVR, “American Hoggers.” The trailer was more than enough to convince me it’s worth watching. So I’m hoping it lives up to the hype. Imagine, an entertaining show about a serious problem – the effects of the feral hog population in the United States!

Lifelong Texan Jerry Campbell has been in the hog hunting game for over half a century. His kids, Robert and Krystal, are hoping to turn Dad’s lifestyle into a full-time family business helping desperate landowners clear their property of destructive wild boars that are causing millions of dollars in damage. The family takes on their first job at a nearby ranch, but when their lead hunting dog, Rooster, disappears in the middle of the hunt, the family has to find a way to finish the job without him.

“American Hoggers” is a new original real-life series that follows the Campbell family and their struggle to rescue Texas residents and ranches from the devastating chaos caused by millions of invasive wild boars. As you may know, these ferocious hogs can be deadly to humans and animals alike, and can destroy acres of precious farmland in just one night! American Hoggers premieres on Wednesday, October 19 at 10/9 Central.

Meet the Campbells: Jerry Campbell has been hunting hogs “since Moby Dick was a sardine,” but nowadays it’s a family affair. Daughter Krystal “Pistol” Campbell & son Robert learned from the best, and now they help their dad hunt wild boar all over Texas.

Farming, Video

World Food Day Leads In To Monthly #FoodChat

Chuck Zimmerman

Happy Blog Action Day and World Food Day. It’s a great lead in to this week’s FoodChat. What’s FoodChat? It is actually, #FoodChat, which “takes place on the third Tuesday of each month, in lieu of #AgChat, and is tailored more specifically to the interests of consumers, nutrition professionals, foodies and influencers of food choices. #FoodChat gives its followers an opportunity to “meet a farmer” and also helps those in agriculture learn from consumers.”

I’ll be guest moderating this week’s #FoodChat while attending Sunbelt Ag Expo in Moultrie, GA. Our topic is going to “reducing diet related disease.” So right now we’re looking for suggested questions. If you would like to contribute one, please send a direct message to @AgChat.

If you need more information about #FoodChat and how it works, check out these FAQ’s.

Food

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has awarded two grants totaling $6.3 million to National 4-H Council.
  • Engle Creative Solutions, LLC announced the launch of its new website. In addition, the company introduced its new logo and tag line: Stand out in a crowded world.
  • Bayer announced the re-launch of its professional products website. The newly designed site will incorporate new user-friendly features.
  • USDA announced that the public comment period on the new animal identification rule that has been proposed has been extended until Dec. 9.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Free AgWired App

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Hey iPhone fans. Today’s release and delivery of the new iPhone 4S makes it a great time to get the free AgWired app. And you Android folks don’t worry. We’ve got you covered too. Sorry Blackberry users. We have felt your pain this last week.

    So here’s where you can go to join the thousands of people getting AgWired on their smartphones:

    AgWired App in iTunes Store

    AgWired App in Android Market

    The AgWired App allows you to easily keep up to date wherever you are and provides multiple ways to to see news filtered by key word categories. Additionally, the app has a built in mechanism to provide you with the latest news produced by the ZimmComm News Network on alternative energy, the dairy industry and the latest in precision agricultural farming.

    When you open up the app you use the drop down menus to find the latest news from AgWired, Domestic Fuel, Precision Pays and World Dairy Diary. Thank you.

    Apps

    October is National Cooperative Month

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Each October since 1964, cooperatives across the United States have been celebrating the cooperative difference, business model and the contributions of cooperatives to their communities, during National Cooperative Month.

    One of the best examples of an agricultural cooperative that makes a difference is GROWMARK, based in Bloomington, Illinois, and chairman of the board Dan Kelley says cooperatives touch our lives in many ways.

    growmark annual meeting 2011“Cooperatives have a long history going back to England in the mid-1800s when producers would get together to help market their products and that has resulted in the cooperative system here in the United States,” he said. “If you think of products like Welch’s grape juice, Florida’s Natural, SunMaid Raisins – those are cooperatives that have a national brand and market in some cases world wide.”

    Dan says cooperatives in general are important to not only the economy of the United States, but the entire global economy, which is why they are looking forward to being a part of the United Nations International Year of Cooperatives, which officially begins on October 31. “What we intend to do is participate with other cooperatives here in the United States through the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives,” Dan says, adding that they will be focused on telling the cooperative story to a broader audience.

    Dan says cooperatives are especially important to developing countries and some GROWMARK board members and managers were able to go to Ghana earlier this year to offer some advice to producers there. “It was an eye-opening experience to see people who are getting by on a subsistence standard of living and with some minor improvements could really improve their lives,” he said.

    Listen to my interview with Dan here: Dan Kelley Interview

    Audio, Cooperatives, GROWMARK

    Initial iOS 5 Thoughts

    Chuck Zimmerman

    I’ve already been getting questions about Apple new mobile operating system, iOS 5. That’s what happens when you tweet that you’ve got it!

    Like many people yesterday, I was frustrated getting the update on my iPhone 4. It took about 2 hours to get it downloaded and then I couldn’t get the update installed due to Apple server overload. So I waited until this morning and then had no problem.

    Here are a couple of initial thoughts for you:

    1. I really like the changes in the camera functions. Now you can crop, enhance and Tweet, all built in. The photo here is one I took and did all three functions while out jogging on the Katy Trail (I stopped for a few seconds :)) a while ago. Click on the photo for a larger version. When the phone is asleep you can just double click the home button, click the camera icon that now appears and you’re ready to shoot. No waking the phone up, finding and opening the camera app. The volume up control now lets you snap the shutter too which is a big help.

    2. I was very confused about where my music went since there is no longer an iPod app. There is now one called Music instead. It only has your music. Videos have been moved to the Videos app. Makes sense and I breathed a sigh of relief. At first I thought it might have had something to do with the whole iCloud thing and music that you purchased through iTunes. The majority of music in on my computer came from CD’s that I own.

    Other than that about all I can add right now is that there have been a lot of app updates. Getting those and updating them via iTunes took quite a while this morning. I know this isn’t a lot of information but those are just a few initial observations.

    Tomorrow I am supposed to get my new iPhone 4S. After I get that set up I’ll share more.

    Apps

    Farm Bureau Says FCC Must Test Technical Fixes for GPS

    Cindy Zimmerman

    afbfThe American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) says the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and an independent technical company must complete comprehensive and rigorous testing on all proposed technical fixes to ensure there is no interference between broadband and GPS signals that could be created by a broadband network being developed by LightSquared.

    “It is critical that costs for resolving this issue are not passed along to farmers and ranchers through higher GPS or equipment costs,” AFBF President Bob Stallman said during a House Small Business Committee hearing on Wednesday. “LightSquared should cover the expense of all technical fixes related to the interference issue to ensure the cost is not passed along to farmers and ranchers.”

    Many farmers rely on GPS for precision agriculture. This includes using GPS for accurate mapping of field boundaries, roads and irrigation systems; for precision planting; and for targeting the application of fertilizer and chemicals that combat weeds and crop diseases. GPS also allows farmers to work in their fields despite low-visibility conditions such as rain, dust, fog and darkness.

    “While the deployment of broadband services is important for economic development, better education and improved health services in rural America, the use of precision agriculture is vital to America’s farmers and ranchers as they continue to feed, fuel and clothe the world,” Stallman said.

    AFBF submitted comments to the FCC     in July urging the agency to ensure there is no interference with GPS receivers prior to granting LightSquared permission to operate its high-powered base stations.

    AFBF, Precision Agriculture