Here’s another blast from the past from the American Angus Association. It was produced in the late 1960’s or early 1970’s to show how and why young cattle producers could become Angus breeders. You’ll love the scenery. And guess what? You can still become an Angus breeder. Just give them a call to find out how.
TJ Masker Has AgWired App On His iPod
Speaking of very impressive young people making an impact at National Ag Day activities let’s hear from Iowa State University student, TJ Masker. Why? Because he told me that his iPod Touch has the AgWired App installed on it! Yes, this is a pure testimonial for why you should have the app on your iPhone, Touch or iPad (Android version coming soon). TJ also did a great job introducing Ag Day speaker Jonathan Coppess too.
You can listen to my interview with TJ here: TJ Masker Interview
2011 National Ag Day Photo Album
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Agricultural Youth Participate In Ag Day Activities
The National FFA isn’t the only agricultural youth education organization involved with Ag Day. I visited with several more this week starting with Jessica England, President (left) and Lauren Greaves, First Vice President, Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow. I learned that you pronounce it A-C-T to start off! This college level student organization promotes leadership with agricultural communications majors. They were attending Ag Day activities because they wanted to help make sure elected leaders in the Capitol were aware of how important the industry of agriculture is. We also talked about different activities conducted by ACT like their annual meeting that’s held in conjunction with the Ag Media Summit.
You can listen to my interview with Jessica and Lauren here: ACT Interview
Another organization represented at National Ag Day was 4-H. I spoke with Brad Copenhaver, Virginia Tech, who has been active in 4-H for many years. He says his Grandmother has been a 4-H volunteer for over 50 years! He started with 4-H when he was nine years old. He served on his state 4-H cabinet and is still involved. He was asked to be a 4-H representative at National Ag Day activities to help promote how important agricultural education is.
You can listen to my interview with Brad here: 4-H Interview
And I also spoke with Nancy Barcus, Agriculture Future of America. Nancy is the Director of Leader Development Programs. She says that AFA works with college men and women who are preparing for a career in agriculture with leadership programs that help them become more competitive. There were twenty five student members attending Ag Day activities. She says that their attendance helps them understand how policy affects agriculture.
You can listen to my interview with Nancy here: AFA Interview
2011 National Ag Day Photo Album
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Fastline Sponsors Ag Day
One of the sponsors of Ag Day is Fastline, represented at National Ag Day activities by Matt Coniglio, pictured here with some of the attendees at Tuesday’s banquet. You might even be able to guess who they are!
This was the first year for Fastline to sponsor Ag Day. Matt says that they wanted to become more involved on a national level with the agriculture audience. I asked him what he would say to all those companies who are considering becoming sponsors (you are, aren’t you?). He says, “I would encourage anybody to become involved. This is our industry. It’s where we all have our livelihood. And it’s obviously a really important industry for our country.” He hopes that this celebration will help encourage a stronger, unified ag community.
You can listen to my interview with Matt here: Matt Coniglio Interview
2011 National Ag Day Photo Album
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Senate Ag Committee Views From Ag Day
The General Counsel for the Senate Ag Committee is Jonathan Coppess. He was one of the speakers at the National Ag Day lunch. Jonathan was introduced by FFA student, TJ Masker, Iowa State University. In his remarks Jonathan provided some background on the farm safety net and then talked about the current situation with the farm bill. As you would expect, budgets are an issue and another one is farm credit. One of his responsibilities is going to be helping write the new farm bill! He says they’re going to have less funding to work with.
You can listen to TJ introduced by Orion Samuelson, emcee, and then Jonathan’s remarks here: Jonathan Coppess Presentation
2011 National Ag Day Photo Album
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Ag Council Board Members Speak Out at Ag Day
During National Ag Day activities I visited with some big time supporters who are urging other companies and organizations to get involved. I’m going to share their thoughts with you here starting with Barry Nelson, John Deere, who is serving as Secretary/Treasurer for the Agriculture Council of America (pictured center). John Deere is one of the partner sponsors of Ag Day. Barry says they’ve been having Ag Day activities in Washington, DC since 1973 and have developed a pretty good brand. He says the job of the board of ACA is to plan what they’re going to do for the next Ag Day. In addition to the events in Washington, DC they also supply materials and support for other Ag Day events around the country via the website. He also makes a point that this is one day out of the year when everyone can get together to support the industry even if their competitors.
You can listen to my interview with Barry here: Barry Nelson Interview
Also serving on the board of the Agriculture Council of America is Kent Schescke, National FFA. He says that FFA has been involved for years as a sponsor and by having students participate as student advocates. They spent Monday at the 4H Center getting some preparation for visiting with legislators to talk about agriculture. He says that building good leadership skills goes hand in hand with good advocacy skills.
You can listen to my interview with Kent here: Kent Schescke Interview
The newest member of the board of the Agriculture Council of America is Colin Woodall, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (pictured on the right). Colin says there are two things that really prompted NCBA to become involved as a sponsor of Ag Day. One is the ability to use Ag Day as a mechanism to reconnect with the American consumer. The second thing is getting young people involved and Ag Day spends a lot of time getting that done. He says that these things are extremely important. Like Barry and Kent, he encourages more companies and organizations to get involved.
You can listen to my interview with Colin here: Colin Woodall Interview
Another board member of the Agriculture Council of America is Tamara Freund Kass, DTN/The Progressive Farmer. The company is also a partner sponsor of Ag Day. Tamara says she got nominated to the board by Barry. She says the board had a great meeting prior to the banquet and discussed how they can continue to get more people involved in Ag Day. She also makes a point of how this celebration of agriculture is an opportunity for varied industry interests to come together in a united way.
You can listen to my interview with Tamara here: Tamara Freund Kass Interview
2011 National Ag Day Photo Album
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Zimfo Bytes
- Beginning April 1, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be conducting the 12th National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation.
- Registration and Housing are now open for the 2011 International Dairy Show, Sept. 19-21 in Atlanta, Ga.
- The United Soybean Board has retooled its website to sharpen its focus on meeting the needs of the nearly 600,000 farmers who grow soybeans in the United States.
- Purdue Extension is accepting nominations for the 2011 Women in Agriculture Awards.
Alliance To Feed The Future
The Alliance to Feed the Future was announced during National Ag Day activities by Dave Schmidt, President, International Food Information Council. There are already 48 who have joined the Alliance. Their goal is “building understanding and promoting the benefits of modern food production, processing and technology.” The reason? “As misperceptions about modern food production and technology become increasingly common, a new alliance has formed to better articulate how our food is produced.” He made the announcement during the luncheon and you can hear his announcement here: Alliance to Feed the Future Announcement
I also interviewed Dave and asked him about his organization as well as the newly formed alliance. You can listen to my interview with Dave here: David Schmidt Interview
More about the Alliance:
Members span all sectors of the food value chain and include professional societies, commodity groups, industry and academia to coordinate via the Alliance to help multiply the effects of their individual and joint efforts to tell the true story of modern food production.
“The more consumers understand how their food is produced, the more they can appreciate the role modern agriculture plays in providing safe, affordable, and nutritious food” says Dave Schmidt, President and CEO at the International Food Information Council, who coordinates the Alliance. “The Alliance will be a clearinghouse of resources to increase consumer understanding of this role.”
2011 National Ag Day Photo Album
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ASTA Meets Ag Day
During the National Ag Day banquet I met one of our sponsors for Ag Day coverage, Andy Lavigne, American Seed Trade Association.
Andy says ASTA is 127 years old and was started by seed companies to promote high quality seed. Member companies produce seed from alfalfa to zucchini and everything in between. If it can be grown from a seed, that’s what their members produce. That makes for a wide variety of companies. They work on legislative matters for their members to try to keep regulations from becoming too burdensome and to make sure there are seed variety options for growers. They do this by working with grower groups and the food industry.
I asked him to describe the current legislative climate and what the key issues ASTA will be working on this year. He says it’s an interesting time and right now agriculture is doing very well. But the challenge will be with Congress and the pressure to reduce spending. He says they are helping make sure agriculture is at the table when the negotiating is going on.
The top priority for ASTA is working with the grower community to make sure there is a viable farm bill. It’s not just because there are a couple of items that have a direct impact on seed production but because it’s so important to their customers.
You can listen to my interview with Andy here: Andrew Lavigne Interview
2011 National Ag Day Photo Album
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Ag Day Essay Contest Winners
The winners of the National Ag Day Essay Contest have been announced. There are two of them, one for a written entry and one for a video entry. In the photo is written essay winner Nora Faris, Concordia, Missouri with Dr. John Bonner, Chair of Ag Council of America who presented her with her check during the National Ag Day banquet. Nora also read us her winning entry which you can read on the Ag Day website: Nora Faris Essay
The video winner is Kyle Trevino, Madera, California:
2011 National Ag Day Photo Album
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