RFA Ethanol Podcast

Competition In Rolex Stadium At WEG

Chuck Zimmerman

It may be raining off and on today at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games but that’s not dampening anyone’s spirits that I can tell. I’m about to go on a photo walk starting with Rolex Stadium where we have the dressage competition underway.

Later this afternoon John Deere will be hosting media for a reception and I’ll be there with interviews and photos afterward.

Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games
is sponsored by: john-deere

Alltech, John Deere

Find Farmers Markets On Your Phone

Chuck Zimmerman

Joining the ranks of the ag apps, like the AgWired iPhone App, is the Farmers Market Finder iPhone App.

Apptika Inc. has just released a new version of its popular Farmers Market Finder app which now includes over 2,500 farmers markets across the U.S. Fresh food lovers and locavores in California, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. can now easily locate farmers markets, U-pick farms, farmstands and CSA’s (community supported agriculture) using their iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.

Responding to user requests for an “open market” feature, the updated app now displays open markets (day of) in green, both in list format and on the map. Favorites are displayed in red.

Get it in iTunes.

Uncategorized

Enjoying The Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 274The Olympics of horse sports, the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, is off to a great start in Lexington, KY and I’m enjoying every minute of my stay here courtesy of John Deere. These Games have been in the planning stages for years and during that time I’ve spoken with title sponsor owner, Dr. Pearse Lyons, Alltech, several times. I had that chance again when Dr. Lyons was escorting Haitian Harmony around The Alltech Experience. They’re a group of children who will be performing here and are part of the efforts Alltech is making to assist the needy in Haiti. As you’ll hear him say in this week’s program, any business man needs “to give back” and this is one way he’s doing it.

You will rightly also hear the pride in Dr. Lyons voice as he talks about the Games finally arriving. And you’ll hear him give full credit to his team and the partnering companies who have stepped up to provide support. I’ve also got to make a point of saying that if you want a lesson in branding your product, service or industry, you need look no further than Alltech and it’s owner. Dr. Lyons makes a comment in the program about how agriculture in the U.S. has done a terrible job of “branding” itself and I can’t agree more. Here at the Games Alltech is doing that in a big way. I wish farm groups and other ag companies had gotten involved since this is a great stage to communicate with consumers. Not sure why they didn’t. Do you? It’s my understanding the opportunity was there the requests made. Anyway, please enjoy this week’s program: ZimmCast 274 - Dr. Pearse Lyons

Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Photo Album

This week’s program ends with some music from Music Alley. It’s a song titled, “Concerning Charlie Horse” by Great Big Sea. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsors, Novus International, and Leica Geosytems for their support.

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired. Subscribe so you can listen when and where you want. Just go to our a Subscribe page

Alltech, Audio, Horses, ZimmCast

A Year In The Life

Melissa Sandfort

A couple of weeks ago, we had a major storm blow through with straight-line winds of almost 90 miles per hour. It knocked over power lines, corn, blew off shingles and took down hundreds of old trees. It was a mess, and for miles, you could see farmers with loaders and forks carrying off piles of branches. My nieces, on the other hand, found this thrilling because they could finally go count the rings on the tree stumps in Grandpa’s back yard.

As a tree grows, it produces new layers of wood around the trunk, just under the bark. If a tree is cut down, the layers are visible in a cross section. The layers appear as a set of concentric circles known as tree rings.

In general, one layer of wood grows each year. Each layer consists of two colors of wood: light-colored “earlywood” that grows in the spring and summer plus darker, denser “latewood” from the fall and winter.

Tree rings vary in size each year depending upon the environmental conditions that the tree experiences. For most locations, tree rings will be wider during years of abundant rainfall and narrower during times of drought.

By counting back from the year a living tree was cut, it is possible to determine the date of tree rings with reasonable accuracy. It ended up that this one was 19 years old. Funny – I don’t remember them planting it!

Until we walk again…

Uncategorized

John Deere Presents Reining

Chuck Zimmerman

This is what it’s all about at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. Horses. Well not just horses but . . . My sponsor, John Deere is a major sponsor of the games and they are the sponsor of the Reining World Championship. Besides their pavilion they also have a reining demonstration arena set up and I just happened to walk by when one was in progress.

Now, if you don’t know much about reining don’t despair. I never did either and I’m going to make sure we do before I’m out of here. So expect to learn more about the different competition disciplines during the next couple days.

Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games
is sponsored by: john-deere

Alltech, Horses, John Deere

Alltech Haitian Harmony Children’s Choir

Chuck Zimmerman

The Alltech Haitian Harmony Children’s Choir is on location at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and they visited the Media Chill Out Zone for a taping of Alltech’s Here & Now, daily web tv show from the games. Pictured in the middle of all these kids is Dr. Pearse Lyons, the founder and owner of Alltech.

I thought I’d share the photo as a tease for tomorrow’s ZimmCast which will feature an interview with Dr. Lyons about the culmination of years of work leading up to the Games taking place now in Lexington.

The 24 members of the Alltech Haitian Harmony children’s choir have touched down in Lexington, in preparation for their scheduled performances during the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. The children are aged between 6 and 13 years and are pupils of the Centre Educatif l’Union des Coeurs elementary school in the town of Ouanaminthe in northern Haiti.

The choir will tour Kentucky, acting as ambassadors for and raising awareness of Haiti, the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. The philosophy behind the formation of the choir is to provide the boys and girls from Ouanaminthe with the best education for a better future. The program was inspired by “El Sistema”, a youth outreach program that brings musical education to some of the world’s most underprivileged children. The children will perform their repertoire of songs in Creole, French and English.

Speaking at the arrival of the children to Blue Grass Airport, Dr. Pearse Lyons commented, “As some of these children come from the most needy families, the Alltech Haitian Harmony choir is committed to enriching both their educational and emotional development. The driving force behind all of Alltech’s projects in Haiti has been sustainability, because only with long-term sustainable development and enterprise can people get the education, jobs and income they need to ensure a brighter future for themselves and to secure a better start for the next generation.

Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games
is sponsored by: john-deere

Alltech

William Shatner Rouses Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games

Chuck Zimmerman

I am betting there are people at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games who got their hotel or airfare via Priceline. If so, it would have made the master pitch man, William Shatner, happy. He made an appearance during the opening ceremonies here last night and got huge cheers from the crowd. He didn’t beam anyone up though. Now that would have been interesting.

It’s now day two and I’m getting ready to head toward the Kentucky Horse Park. Today I’m planning to “chill out” with Alltech. I’ll explain that later. I’ll also be visiting with my sponsor, John Deere. I found their exhibit on the way back to my car last night. This is a big venue and there are also celebration activities in downtown Lexington that I’m going to try to visit before leaving. There’s too much going on to cover it all so I’m not even going to try. I hope though to give you a good overview of the Olympics of horse sports.

Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games
is sponsored by: john-deere

Alltech, John Deere

Opening Ceremonies For Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games

Chuck Zimmerman

The 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games opening ceremony had abundant pageantry. We had dancers of all kinds and lots of music and lots of horses. And of course we had the parade of countries and athletes who will be competing.

As i write this post my photo album is updating with this evening’s photos. We moved from bright light to darkness so it was a challenging event to shoot, especially when you consider the distance to the stage from where we were situated and moving targets. We had a lot of dignitaries make an appearance. The Mayor of Lexington, Jim Newberry and the Governor of Kentucky, Steve Beshear welcomed everyone to the event. You can listen to their comments here which start with Jim already in progress: Welcome From Mayor and Governor

Other special guests this evening included Muhammad Ali who rode in with Dr. Pearse Lyons, President, Alltech and we also had a special visitor – the First Lady of Jordon.

Also with us this evening was the President of the FEI, HRH, Princess Bint Al Hussein. She also welcomed everyone to the games and gave the official proclamation that the games have started: Games Start With HRH, Princess Bint Al Hussein

Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games
is sponsored by: john-deere

Alltech, Audio, Horses, John Deere

2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Have Begun

Chuck Zimmerman

The 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games are underway at Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. I’m here courtesy of one of the sponsors of the games, John Deere. I’ll be tracking some of their activities here for the next couple days.

To get things started I spoke with the Vice President of Alltech, Aidan Connolly. Aidan has been here all day so I asked him about his observations. He says the games just couldn’t have gotten off to a better start. A nice rain brought in some cooler but sunny weather and the crowds have been big. It’s all building up to tonight’s opening ceremony which I’ll be attending. Aidan says the games are showcasing agriculture and people have been asking just what Alltech does since I guess this might be a first time for a company like Alltech, involved in animal health and nutrition, to sponsor the games. It’s also the first time they’ve been held in the United States! Aidan says their involvement with the games has been a “game changer.” This includes the new contacts they’ve made internationally and growth in their business. So from my perspective it all looks good from here.

You can listen to my interview with Aidan here: Aidan Connolly Interview

I have started the soon to be famous 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Photo Album. You’ll probably be able to tell who my sponsor is.

AgWired coverage of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games
is sponsored by: john-deere

Alltech, Animal Health, Horses, John Deere