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Melissa Sandfort

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  • USDA has finalized procedures for the upcoming referendum on the continuation of the Sorghum Checkoff Program. USDA will conduct the referendum Feb. 1-28, 2011, at local Farm Service Agency offices for producers and the Agricultural Marketing Service office for importers.
  • Only 25 percent of Americans consider “healthy” food choices when dining out, according to the 2010 Healthy Eating Consumer Trend Report.
  • Online voting is now open for the Ag community to help select the 2011 “Advocating for Agriculture Awards” winners. Deadline to vote is Dec. 9, 2010.
  • Mother Earth News and Funny Farm Industries has launched the Pickin’ Chicken app in the Reference section of Apple’s App Store. Download price is $2.99.
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    CHS Growing With Renewable Fuels

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Mark Fenner, CHS Energy (not pictured), was one of the people working during the NAFB Trade Talk session. He says that they market under the Cenex brand. They’ve been selling a lot of diesel fuel products and the new Tier 4 engines are a real focus for them. Trends in the renewable fuels area have a definite effect on them. An example is the flat price of biodiesel which has really hindered growth in the use of the fuel. They are extremely bullish on ethanol though.

    You can listen to my interview with Mark here: CHS Interview

    NAFB Convention Photo Album

    Audio, Cooperatives, Energy, NAFB

    Croplife America Presents Modern Agriculture

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Mary Emma Young was taking care of business at the NAFB Trade Talk session for Croplife America. I visited with her to learn what the organization is focusing on this year.

    She says they have been pushing the image of “modern agriculture” and the use of new technologies. Of course using new technology depends a lot on regulations. This is an area that Croplife America works on with legislators in Washington, DC. She says agriculture is largely a bi-partisan issue so they look forward to continuing to work with legislators on both sides of the aisle.

    You can listen to my interview with Mary Emma Young here: Croplife America Interview

    NAFB Convention Photo Album

    Agribusiness, Audio, NAFB

    Last Chance for NAFB Foundation Toy Tractor

    Cindy Zimmerman

    As you start your Christmas shopping, consider this for someone on your list – a signed John Deere toy tractor that will support future farm broadcasters.

    Joe Ertl has personally autographed each of the numbered John Deere B 1/16 scale toy tractors for the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) Foundation. This unique tractor was specifically designed for NAFB and includes a mounted replica of a tractor radio. Only 200 of these tractors have been produced to benefit the NAFB Foundation. Numbers 6-200 have been made available to the public for sale while the first five were auctioned live during the NAFB Convention earlier this month.

    The price per tractor is $85 plus shipping and handling and orders can be made online.

    The NAFB Foundation is the nonprofit charitable and educational arm of NAFB that works to keep the quality and viability of the farm broadcasting profession and industry at the highest level through the support of NAFB education, marketing and research activities, annual student scholarships and internship grants to stations and networks.

    NAFB

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    Melissa Sandfort

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    • The FDA has granted approval for feeding Optaflexx (ractopamine hydrochloride) to beef cattle as a topdress to increase live weight gain and improve feed efficiency during the final 28 days to 42 days of the finishing period.
    • Farm Market iD announced it has made available for commercial use previously unavailable information on more than 26,000 agricultural producers in Florida derived from local ownership records, and enhanced by GIS data and satellite imagery.
    • CHS Inc., announced it has named veteran agribusiness leader Carl Casale as its new president and chief executive officer, effective Jan. 1, 2011.
    • Boot Media, LLC, announced that “PegasusTV” will launch as digital channel 57.4 in the 10-county Houston television market on March 1, 2011, the first local affiliate channel of the new nationwide Pegasus Television Network.
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      Happy Thanksgiving!

      Cindy Zimmerman

      If you have food on your table today – thank God and thank our nation’s fabulous farmers and ranchers for the affordable, safe and abundant food supply they produce for the world.

      I found this poem online that gives good reasons to give thanks today for those who produce the food, fuel and fiber that we all enjoy everyday:

      I’m Just a Farmer, Plain and Simple
      By Bobby Collier

      Happy Thanksgiving From ZimmComm New MediaI’m just a farmer,
      Plain and simple.
      Not of a royal birth
      But rather, a worker of the earth.
      I know not of riches
      But rather, of patches on my britches
      I know of drought and rain,
      Of pleasure and pain.
      I know of the good and the bad,
      The happy and the sad.
      I am a man of emotions.
      A man who loves this land,
      And the beauty of its sand.
      I know of a spring’s fresh flow
      And autumn’s golden glow,
      Of a newborn calf’s hesitation,
      And the eagle’s destination.
      I know of tall pines,
      And long, waiting lines.
      Of the warmth of campfires,
      And the agony of flat tires.
      But I am a man who loves his job
      And the life I live.
      I am a man who works with God,
      I cannot succeed without his help,
      For you see,
      I’m just a farmer
      Plain and simple.

      Uncategorized

      Missouri Beef Council Thanks Farmers

      Chuck Zimmerman

      This week’s Checkoff Chat, the Missouri Beef Industry Council podcast, is all about #thankafarmer. Cindy talked with Whitney Wallace about the importance of thanking farmers for food, fuel and fiber.

      You can hear about ways that the MBIC has helped consumers better understand where their food is coming from and who produces it for them: MBIC Checkoff Chat

      Ag Groups, Audio, Beef, Food

      Give Farmers A High Five

      Chuck Zimmerman

      AlpharmaOn this #thankafarmer and #foodthanks day how about giving farmers a high five? Voting is now open in the 2010 Alpharma Reach Teach Learn Student Video Contest.

      Their are five videos entered in the contest and I just voted. Voting is being done via Facebook and it’s hard to decide but someone has to win!

      Uncategorized

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      Melissa Sandfort

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      • Premier Companies will be moving its main headquarters to a location at 875 S. Marr Rd. (Columbus, Ind.). The current office was damaged by floods in June 2008, yet the company has experienced financial growth over the past two years.
      • Paulsen Marketing interviewed producers to uncover why, when and where they are adopting new communication technologies.
      • John Deere has taken its annual preseason equipment sales promotion to new heights with the creation and launch of the Green Fever Sales Event and Sweepstakes.
      • John Deere has added three new lines of offset disks to its Frontier family of tillage products: the DH51 Series, the DH52 Series, and the DH53 Series.
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        Thank A Farmer For Food Aplenty

        Chuck Zimmerman

        We’re going to be doing a little bit of #thankafarmer while giving #foodthanks today.

        Let’s start with the National Corn Growers Association. They are thanking family farmers for providing “food aplenty.” The focus is on protein which is created by chickens, turkeys, cows and pigs who eat the corn produced throughout the country. You can learn more about it on their “What does protein do?” page.

        Ag Groups, Farming, Food