American Farm Bureau Sets Policy

Chuck Zimmerman

AFBF Annual MeetingThe votes are in, the delegates have spoken and the American Farm Bureau Annual Meeting has concluded with a new set of policies. AFBF President, Bob Stallman, held a closing press conference to point out a few highlights from today’s decision making. He said that even with the adverse weather conditions that happened here in Atlanta the program ran smoothly and attendees all accepted some small changes that had to be made. He pointed out that they’re farmers and deal with the weather every day! I’m going to pull a few comments from the news release that just came out in the interest of time and because I know some AgWired fans are waiting on this.

You can listen and download the press conference here: Bob Stallman Closing Press Conference

Stallman told us that delegates voted to “maintain a strong farm income safety net, address dairy price volatility and urge greater oversight of regulatory actions by the Environmental Protection Agency.”

As Congress prepares to draft a new farm bill later this year and in 2012, the delegates reiterated their support for extending the concepts of the 2008 farm bill.

“The 2008 farm bill has worked as farmers and ranchers have weathered market ups and downs over the last four years,” said American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman. “It’s important to maintain a program that protects our nation’s food, fiber and fuel supply and the consumers who rely on agriculture’s productivity.” Read More

AFBF, Audio, Farm Policy

Farm Bureau Members Engage in Social Media

Cindy Zimmerman

A popular session at the American Farm Bureau annual meeting yesterday was “Grassroots Engagement with Social Media,” featuring some of the trailblazers in the SM world for agriculture.

Florida Farm Bureau president John Hoblick introduced the session, which was moderated by AFBF’s Mace Thornton (@AFBFMace on Twitter). “I think of social media as being the equivalent of the green revolution of agricultural communications,” said Mace. “It really has been a game-changer.” When Mace asked how many at the session were on Facebook, about three quarters of the several hundred people in the room raised their hands.

On the panel were Dan Toland (@d_toland) with Ohio Farm Bureau, California rancher Jeff Fowle (@jefffowle) who serves as president of the AgChat Foundation, and Minnesota farmer Emily Zweber (@zweberfarms).

Dan started off the conversation with statistics from the latest PEW internet survey. “65 percent of those under 30 years of age have the internet as their number one source for news and information, that’s 52 percent of the world’s population,” he said. Almost half of those aged 30-59 use the internet for their number information source. Dan stressed the need to have conversations rather than lecture the general public about agriculture, and he noted that using the term “non-farmer” is better than the word consumer, since we’re all consumers.

Jeff got specific about different social media vehicles, like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogs. “Facebook is social media on training wheels – it’s a good place to get started,” Jeff said. He encouraged people to get involved with the AgChat Foundation “to help you take those training wheels off.” He says Twitter is the next step after Facebook, but he warned people to make sure they think before they tweet. “Read what you tweet twice before you send,” he advised.

I had to leave the session early to get to the Mike Rowe press conference, so I wasn’t able to record Emily, but you can hear Dan and most of Jeff’s comments here: AFBF Social Media session

2011 AFBF Annual Meeting Photo Album

AFBF, Audio

MyAmericanFarm.org Showcased At AFBF Convention

Chuck Zimmerman

AFBF Annual MeetingMy American Farm is a great and personal sounding name. It’s the url for a Pioneer sponsored project that’s conducted by the American Farm Bureau Federation. I spoke with Angela Mayfield (right) about what’s new with the project.

Angela says that MyAmericanFarm.org is a free online resource that now has 12 games covering different topics on agriculture. They all meet core content standards for elementary teachers grades 3-5. Of course the games are fun for students of all ages. Besides adding games there is also updated ag information content. The resource is available to any school anywhere.

You can listen to my interview with Angela here: Angela Mayfield Interview

2011 AFBF Annual Meeting Photo Album

AFBF, Audio, Education, Internet, Pioneer

German Agriculture Society DLG

Chuck Zimmerman

AG CONNECT ExpoAG CONNECT Expo is modeling itself after the highly successful AgriTechnica which is held biennially in Germany. That show is run by DLG, the German Agriculture Society with 22,000 members. The managing director is Dr. Jochen Kockler, seen here being interviewed after a press conference. I joined Southeast AgNet’s Randall Weisman in an interview about DLG. Randall asked good questions so I saw no need to jump in.

Dr. Kockler says 66% of their members are farmers and they are completely independent of subsidies, depending on revenue from projects they work on. Their mission is “progress for farming.” He says the AgriTechnica has 2,500 exhibitors. That’s big! In comparison he says AgriTechnica is about 10 times bigger than AG CONNECT in terms of physical size but about the same in terms of educational sessions and content.

You can listen Randall’s interview with Dr. Kockler here: Interview With Dr. Jochen Kockler

2011 AG CONNECT Expo Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, International

Grassroots Farm Policy Making

Chuck Zimmerman

AFBF Annual MeetingOne of the most important parts of the Annual Meeting of the American Farm Bureau Federation is the annual meeting of the voting delegates. These folks got down to business early this morning and will hopefully conclude this afternoon with a new policy book. This is grassroots policy making in action!

The leadership is at the head table with all the voting delegates in front of them. There are multiple screens showing the policies being debated and corrections or changes are made live. After votes are cast the final version goes to the staff who will prepare a final book of the new policies.

We’re supposed to get a summary of what got passed and a look to the future for AFBF policy in the coming year at a press conference following today’s meetings. We’ll have that for you later in the day.

2011 AFBF Annual Meeting Photo Album

AFBF, Ag Groups, Farm Policy

Mike Rowe Answers Spokesman for Ag Question

Cindy Zimmerman

Here is a video clip of Mike “Dirty Jobs” Rowe at the American Farm Bureau Federation press conference prior to his appearance at the closing general session. Roger Ward with WLDS in Jacksonville, Illinois asked him the question about whether he would be willing to be a spokesperson for agriculture.

By the way, recording audio or video during Mike’s appearance on stage was not allowed, so it was very nice that he gave the press some face time. We sincerely appreciate AFBF for setting that up!

AFBF, Video

NAFB President Lindsay Hill Reports At AFBF

Chuck Zimmerman

A tradition at the American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Meeting is to have the NAFB President give a pre-general session news and market report. This year NAFB President Lindsay Hill did her duties. You can find Lindsay at Cows & Coffee.

I found out that I can hold an iPhone shooting video with my arms raised up for about 4 minutes before the shakes start!

2011 AFBF Annual Meeting Photo Album

AFBF, NAFB, Video

Serving Peanuts To Farmers

Chuck Zimmerman

AFBF Annual MeetingWhen you’re in Georgia at a farm show you know you’re going to be talking peanuts. That’s what I did with Don Koehler, Georgia Peanut Commission, pictured with Donna Rocker. We not only talked peanuts we sampled some. Don says that during the trade show in the AFBF Pavilion at the AG CONNECT Expo they made and served 350 waffles that were served with a peanut/maple sauce and chopped nuts, 150 pounds of fried peanuts served with different seasonings and 700 peanut butter/chocolate covered cherries.

Don says he wanted the farmers attending the show that were here from all over the world to know how good and healthy peanuts are for them. He says peanut butter is more than just a “bread spread.” He also told me that the 2010 season had about every kind of weather condition possible but wound up with a pretty good crop and they expect better weather in 2011.

You can listen to my interview with Don here: Don Koehler Interview

2011 AFBF Annual Meeting Photo Album

AFBF, Ag Groups, Audio, Peanuts

Cabela’s At AG CONNECT Expo

Chuck Zimmerman

AG CONNECT ExpoAn exhibitor at AG CONNECT Expo that you may not expect to see is Cabela’s. Handling the duties was Gene Catrambone, National Sales Manager. Gene says that a major portion of Cabela’s business comes from business to business sales, especially in the ag sector. They supply products directly to farmers but also to major agribusinesses. They offer tools for incentive programs and gifts to promote brands. As he puts it, they can put a logo on just about any product. They have over 200,000 of them! Approximately 80 percent of their ag customers are represented at the show. Now we know why they are there.

You can listen to my interview with Gene here: Interview With Gene Catrambone

2011 AG CONNECT Expo Photo Album

Audio

Mike Rowe – Advocate for Agriculture

Cindy Zimmerman

When asked if he would consider being a “spokesperson” for agriculture, Mike “Dirty Jobs” Rowe said, “I don’t think American agriculture needs a spokesman, I think they need an advocate. And the advocates I believe they need are people like me who have shown a long term addiction to chewing and swallowing.”

Mike was kind enough to meet with the farm media in a press conference prior to his appearance before thousands of farmers and ranchers at the American Farm Bureau Federation 92nd annual meeting closing session. His admiration for agriculture was evident as he talked about the many farm families he has met in the course of filming the Discovery Channel program “Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe.”

“I want the show to be a series of examples that show farmers as they are and that just quietly celebrates the business of getting the job done,” he said. “The more opportunities I have just to show farmers being farmers, that’s the best way that I can think of to help move the needle.” Mike has been doing the show for seven years and says he’s worked on most types of farms.

During his address, Mike talked about some of his favorite farming episodes, like the Colorado sheep farm where he learned to castrate lambs with his teeth, and found out why it is better for the animal than the HSUS-recommended method of using a rubber band. He struck chords with the nation’s farm and ranch families when he talked about letters he has received from groups like PETA and federal agencies like EPA over programs that featured agriculture jobs.

Enjoy Mike Rowe’s AFBF press conference comments here: Mike Rowe AFBF press conference

2011 AFBF Annual Meeting Photo Album

AFBF, Audio