Yeah. It sounds like a specialty adult beverage I know. Maybe Cindy and I will invent one while we’re here!
It’s sand and surf in the sunshine state. Time for a little R&R. The way we look at it, we’re guaranteed a white Christmas!
But that doesn’t mean you’ll be missing anything on AgWired during the holidays. Far from it in fact. Just add the AgWired App to your favorite iOS or Android device and keep up on the latest.
Here is Patrick Delaney in action prior to joining the American Soybean Association as Communications Director. Patrick will be based in ASA’s Washington Policy Representative Office of Gordley Associates in Washington, DC.
“ASA is pleased to welcome Patrick to our team,” Censky said. “His experience in ag policy communications will serve him well in his role with ASA, where he will craft timely communications on policy decisions and issues happening in Washington, as well as talking points and analysis to keep ASA’s farmer-leaders and state affiliates informed.”
Delaney comes to ASA from the United Fresh Produce Association, where he managed staff, advised leadership and communicated to key audiences and stakeholders on all publicity matters, including advocacy and crisis communications on nutrition, labor, food safety, immigration, trade, sustainability and farm policy. He has worked in various public relations roles with agencies and the radio broadcast industry.
Bob Callanan, who has served as ASA Communications Director based in St. Louis, moves into a new position as ASA’s Project Development Director, where he’ll develop program concepts and proposals to be presented to state soybean affiliates, qualified state soybean boards, and industry partners.
Communications Coordinator Cassandra Langley will have an expanded role at ASA’s headquarters in St. Louis, assisting Delaney in the implementation of communications developed there.
Congratulations to Patrick, Cassandra and Bob on your new responsibilities!
Oh, that’s right, there are no horses in front of this wagon – it’s just for decoration. Every year, my Grandparents pull this wagon out of the shed and into their front yard for Christmas and decorate it with running white lights on the wheels.
Horse-drawn wagons such as this were used to transport anything and everything on the farm. From being used when husking corn to hauling grain to the bin or hauling hogs to the butcher, this wagon was put to work.
One year, the lights were on the wrong way and the wagon was going backward. It was quite comical.
Until we walk again …
Okay folks. This holiday greeting might be hard to beat. It’s a personalized greeting that includes a link to world class opera seasonal music which I just finished listening to. Here’s the message and link:
Season’s Greetings from Alltech
Dear Chuck and Cindy,
We thank you for your support in 2011 and wish you and your family the very best of health and happiness for the upcoming year.
Please click here to enjoy a special seasonal musical performance.
Here’s what you’ll find:
In the spirit of the season we hope you enjoy this sample of our Alltech Vocal Scholars’ outstanding performances during the Alltech Holiday Celebration of Song.
Alltech believes in community involvement. The Alltech Vocal Scholarship Competition is the largest competition of its kind in the world. Held each spring at the University of Kentucky in the United States, talented young singers from across the world compete for more than $400,000 in prizes and music scholarships. During the holiday season Alltech along with UK Opera Theatre puts on a community concert – the Alltech Holiday Celebration of Song which features these talented young artists.
It’s holiday greeting time. It’s also Christmas time too you know.
I’m going to feature some of the holiday greetings we get here once again this year. We get so many that are creative and just plain good looking that they need to be seen by more eyeballs!
Here’s one from Utah State University which came with this message:
Greetings!
We hope this winter season finds you happy and well. Please view our online holiday greeting here.
Regards,
Mark R. McLellan, PhD
Vice President for Research & Dean of the School of Graduate Studies
Utah State University
Big news from the AgChat Foundation today! Welcome Emily Zweber as the first Executive Director. It seems like it has been a long time coming to some of us board members but really, it hasn’t been. In fact, the AgChat Foundation is less than two years old.
So let’s meet Emily:
Zweber, an organic dairy farmer from Elko, Minn., will focus on furthering ACF’s mission of connecting farmers to diverse audiences via social media platforms. She also will provide day-to-day management oversight and fundraising support.
“Emily uses social media every day on the family farming operation, so she’s a great choice for this position,” says Darin Grimm, ACF president. “What began as an all-volunteer outcropping of an agricultural social media movement is growing into a professionally managed organization. Having Emily on board is a real boost.”
Grimm added that ACF’s highly-successful summer thought-leadership and social media training conference is slated to provide more content than ever in its third year, and that additional training programs are planned.
Emily received her bachelor’s degree in agriculture economics and international studies from South Dakota State University and is a University of Minnesota Center for the Study of Policy and Governance Humphrey Policy Fellow. Previously, she has served as the Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation’s executive director and the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation’s special programs coordinator. Emily and her husband, Tim, co-own and operate Zweber Farms with Tim’s parents.
Established in 1906, the Zweber farm is a certified organic dairy. The family also runs a successful natural meat business for which Emily coordinates all social media and marketing.
I spoke with Darin and Emily by phone just a few minutes ago. Listen in on our conversation about today’s exciting news and get to know Emily.
At the National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA) convention last week I had the opportunity to chat with Chris Wharam, a BASF tech services rep with in North Dakota, about how they help farmers and custom applicators in his state.
Chris was already pretty familiar with the crop protection business before he took the job with BASF, since his family owns Valley Sprayers in Park River, ND. Chris also has a master’s degree in plant pathology from North Dakota State University. “In my role with BASF, I get the opportunity to work with many people all throughout agriculture – including growers, retailers, distributors, university folks, consultants,” he said.
One of the things that BASF does to help aerial applicators is sponsor Operation S.A.F.E. (Self-Regulating Application and Flight Efficiency) fly-ins around the country. “It’s an opportunity for applicators to get their equipment calibrated and do pattern tests,” Chris said. “A little over 1200 planes have gone through these SAFE fly-ins, 150 different locations all over the United States.”
Many aerial applicators, like Valley Sprayers, also do custom ground applications for their clients, which Chris says is very important for cereal crop growers in his part of the country. “We often will make an application of Headline in the tank with our herbicide applications in that 3-5 leaf stage, and growers are consistently capturing a 4-6 bushel yield bump with that application,” he explained. “As the season progresses, we have an opportunity to apply fungicide again at the flag leaf time and our products at that time would be TwinLine® or Headline.” Finally, at flowering time, Chris says they have the head scab product called Caramba®, “again growers are consistently capturing anywhere from a 5-10 bushel yield advantage and reducing the toxins associated with scab infections.”
Listen to or download my interview with Chris from NAAA here: Chris Wharam with BASF
2011 NAAA Convention Photo Album
AgWired coverage of the 2011 NAAA Convention is sponsored by BASF.
Patrick Westhoff is the Director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) at the University of Missouri–Columbia and a professor in the MU department of agricultural and applied economics. He was also our St. Louis Agribusiness Club speaker yesterday. I spoke with him beforehand since I had to leave early.
He says his job was to talk about why agricultural markets have been so wild the last several years and why they’ll continue to be volatile for years to come. He says one of the reasons is an “ordinary garden variety one” which is weather. Sometimes people forget that he said. He says they’re watching agricultural land markets vary carefully. And of course he mentions farm policy and the farm bill and the efforts in Washington, DC recently. When it comes to tight corn stocks he says the smallest piece of news is having an impact on markets and he expects that to continue for the next several years. Hear some more of his outlook in my interview.
You can listen to my interview with Patrick here: Patrick Westhoff Interview
