John Deere Green Fever Sweepstakes Winners Announced

Melissa Sandfort

Derek Burk of Brookville, Ind., was selected as the grand prize winner from more than 121,000 entries in the John Deere Green Fever Sweepstakes. Burk had the choice of a new Ford F-250 Lariat 4×4 pickup and new John Deere 1026R Sub-Compact Utility Tractor with loader or $50,000 (USD) cash. He took the $50,000 cash.

Burk farms corn, soybeans and hay and raises cattle with his grandfather in southeast Indiana and also works as a mechanic for a general contractor. He said he plans to invest some of the money and use the rest to buy a home or additional farmland. His John Deere dealer is Koenig Equipment, Inc., in Oxford, Ohio.

The Green Fever Sweepstakes, which ended Feb. 28, 2011, drew entries from more than 20,000 property owners, farmers/ranchers and commercial landscape contractors in the United States and Canada.

John Deere

Wrapping Up at World Pork Expo

Cindy Zimmerman

After torrential downpours over night, it’s pretty quiet here on the last day of World Pork Expo.

We had some serious rain during the day yesterday, but it all cleared up just in time for the bands to start playing and the roasted hogs to come out. National Pork Producers Association CEO Neil Dierks says the expo was excellent this year, especially day one. “We haven’t heard the numbers yet, but we won’t be surprised if it’s not the best first day we’ve had for many, many years – even though it was 94 degrees and about 97 percent humidity,” he said.

Neil says producers are “reasonably pleased” with the current state of the industry, but concerned about issues facing them such as feed availability, getting trade agreements approved and government regulation, especially the proposed GIPSA rule.

Listen to or download my interview with Neil here: NPPC CEO Neil Dierks

Audio, GIPSA, NPPC, World Pork Expo

BIVI Committed to Swine Industry

Cindy Zimmerman

“Value through Innovation” is the theme for Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica (BIVI) at the World Pork Expo this year and the company is proud of its commitment to helping pork producers.

I stopped by the BIVI exhibit at the trade show yesterday and talked with Tim Bettington (right), executive director of the company’s swine division and Randy Buller (left), senior associate director for the division.

“BI is very committed to the swine industry,” Tim told me. “We have several other species under our umbrella but the swine industry is the key one for us. We’ve grown up as a swine organization and globally swine is the number one sales driver for us.” Tim says they are in the process of completing an R&D facility in Germany that will complement the facility they have in Ames, Iowa that has been very successful in developing the company’s PRRS vaccine.

Listen to or download my interview with Tim here: Tim Bettington, BIVI

Randy says there is a great deal of interest among producers in the 3FLEX vaccine they introduced just last year. “It is the only product in the swine industry that mixes three vaccines in a similar platform,” said Randy. The 3FLEX consists of three vaccines: Ingelvac CircoFLEX®, Ingelvac MycoFLEX® and Ingelvac® PRRS MLV to address circa virus, mycoplasma, and PRRS in one shot.

Listen to or download my interview with Randy here: Randy Buller, BIVI

2011 World Pork Expo Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 World Pork Expo is sponsored by NOVUSAgWired coverage of the 2011 World Pork Expo is sponsored by boehringer-ingelheim
Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine, World Pork Expo

Whole Hog Courtesy of Novus International

Chuck Zimmerman

The crowd formed early and eagerly awaited the Novus International hog cooked by Lynch BBQ. Just before slicing and picking the pig the team gathered for a photo.

It only took a few minutes to get this hog into trays and ready for serving. I sampled and can’t say enough about how tender, juicy and tasty this pork was. It was just the right way to finish off a long day at World Pork Expo.

So we’re now on location for the final day. Check out the our photos. They’ve been freshly updated this morning.

2011 World Pork Expo Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 World Pork Expo is sponsored by NOVUSAgWired coverage of the 2011 World Pork Expo is sponsored by boehringer-ingelheim
Food, Novus International, Pork, Video

Peace, Love and Pork at World Pork Expo

Cindy Zimmerman

2011 world pork expoThe folks at Automated Production Systems led a peaceful pig protest at the 2011 World Pork Expo Thursday with their 60s-themed roast pig.

With cries of “Fork More Pork” in different languages, the AP team really outdid itself this year. The company, which specializes in swine production equipment such as feeders, ventilation and flooring, has a different theme for their pig every year. Previous years have included Mexican Fiesta and Elvis, but this one will be hard to top.

Notice that the roast pig is sporting peace sign earrings and shooting a peace sign with its cloven hoof! The video shows just how much the AP folks really get into their theme.

2011 World Pork Expo Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 World Pork Expo is sponsored by NOVUSAgWired coverage of the 2011 World Pork Expo is sponsored by boehringer-ingelheim
Pork, Swine, Video, World Pork Expo

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

    Lynch BBQ Going Whole Hog at World Pork Expo

    Chuck Zimmerman

    BBQ is what’s cooking at World Pork Expo. This is the best smelling show I’ve been to this year! Here’s Scott Beaton, Lynch BBQ. He’s been cooking this hog since about six o’clock this morning. I visited with him but all I got on the spices side was, “our secret seasonings.” Okay. This pig will be served this afternoon at the Novus International tent.

    It’s the sixth year for Scott to be cooking at World Pork Expo. He’s a big Minnesota Vikings fan and has had a chance to cook for them which was a real highlight in his cooking career. Scott also says that the pork industry is vital to their business and to the state of Iowa. Scott Beaton Interview

    2011 World Pork Expo Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the 2011 World Pork Expo is sponsored by NOVUSAgWired coverage of the 2011 World Pork Expo is sponsored by boehringer-ingelheim
    Audio, Food, Pork, Swine, World Pork Expo

    World Pork Expo Junior National

    Chuck Zimmerman

    We’ve been talking nutrition, politics and promotion but for a big part of the crowd coming out to World Pork Expo it’s about showing pigs. The World Pork Expo Junior National Show is taking place and I wandered through to take some photos.

    If you’ve never been to a show then watch the short video clip. I saw two show rings in action this afternoon and people were having a good time.

    2011 World Pork Expo Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the 2011 World Pork Expo is sponsored by NOVUSAgWired coverage of the 2011 World Pork Expo is sponsored by boehringer-ingelheim
    World Pork Expo

    Korean Ambassador Urges Passage of FTA

    Cindy Zimmerman

    The Korean ambassador to the United States says “time is running out” for Congress to approve pending free trade agreements and “the stakes are high.”

    Ambassador Han Duk-soo was the keynote speaker at the National Pork Producers Council Strategic Investment Program luncheon at World Pork Expo on Thursday. He encouraged pork producers to “not let up” in urging Congress to ratify the FTA with South Korea, which is pending along with those for Colombia and Panama. “The disagreements in Washington that have delayed the FTA’s ratification are ironic, in that it enjoys almost unanimous support,” he noted. “America’s pork producers have been among the most vocal and active proponents of these agreements.”

    Like those here in the U.S. who want to see the agreements passed, the ambassador is concerned that if they are not approved by end of summer, the presidential campaign will effectively delay them even longer.

    Listen to or download the ambassador’s comments here: Korean Ambassador Han Duk-soo

    2011 World Pork Expo Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the 2011 World Pork Expo is sponsored by NOVUSAgWired coverage of the 2011 World Pork Expo is sponsored by boehringer-ingelheim
    Audio, NPPC, Pork, World Pork Expo

    Pork Producers Can Measure Carbon Footprint

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Thanks to the efforts of the Pork Checkoff, pork producers now have a tool that will allow them to calculate their carbon footprint.

    The “Live Swine Carbon Footprint Calculator” was unveiled today at World Pork Expo by the National Pork Board. Pork producers Randy Spronk of Minnesota (pictured) and Roy Henry of Kansas did the introduction, as well as Rick Ulrich with the University of Arkansas, which actually developed the program.

    Randy was one of the first to test the carbon footprint calculator and shared what he learned with the media and later during an educational session with producers. “The impetus for this came from producers,” Randy said. “The original intent was to identify ‘hot spots’ for energy use, areas where they could have the most impact on cost of production.”

    Randy says the calculator is very simple to use and clearly shows how inputs, such as feed, energy use, manure and pig performance, are all related to the carbon footprint of a barn. Due to privacy issues and the tremendous size of the computer program, it is only available to producers via disc and cannot be downloaded from the web. Copies are being distributed here at World Pork Expo and can be ordered on-line at pork.org/sustainability.

    Listen to or download comments from Roy Henry, Rick Ulrich and Randy Spronk here: Swine Carbon Footprint Calculator

    2011 World Pork Expo Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the 2011 World Pork Expo is sponsored by NOVUSAgWired coverage of the 2011 World Pork Expo is sponsored by boehringer-ingelheim
    Audio, Environment, Pork, World Pork Expo