The Cotton Board, Memphis, Tenn., is pleased to announce William A. “Bill” Gillon as its new President and CEO.
The man who has served as executive director of the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers since its inception six years ago, Aaron Putze, has accepted a position with the Iowa Soybean Association.
Balchem Corporation announced the addition of Ric Grummer, Ph.D. to its Animal Nutrition and Health Division. He will assume the new position of ruminant technical director.
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon traveled down to the southwest corner of the state to congratulate world champion soybean producer Kip Cullers who broke his previous record yet again with 160.6 bushels per acre on his 2010 test fields.
“Agriculture is the backbone of Missouri’s economy, and growers like Kip Cullers are the reason why,” said Governor Nixon. “Missouri farmers feed, fuel and clothe the world, and they also create jobs, support local businesses and help our communities thrive. When it comes to soybeans, Kip Cullers continues to take the science to a whole new level, and his work is blazing new trails that will keep Missouri agriculture moving forward.”
One of the secrets to Kip’s soybean growing success is BASF products like Kixor herbicide technology and Headline fungicide, so BASF is providing a way for the agriculture industry to congratulate him on this achievement.
“We are pleased to announce that we are rallying all of agriculture to congratulate Kip,” said Paul Rea, Vice President, US Crop, BASF. “BASF employees will be leading the way in sending personal congratulations to Kip on our Facebook page SuperSoy landing tab, and through Twitter using hashtag #SuperSoy.”
To send your congratulations, go to the SuperSoy landing tab on the BASF Crop Protection Facebook page and upload your personal message of congratulations to Kip Cullers. BASF will present Kip with an album of all the congratulations received during Commodity Classic 2011.
Listen to remarks by Dale Ludwig with Missouri Soybean Association, Governor Nixon and Kip here: 2010 Soybean Yield Award
One of our TATT Global Farmer to Farmer Roundtable participants is Pam Johnson, Iowa farmer. Pam is a board member of the National Corn Growers Association. She is not only participating in the roundtable discussions but was also on the panel of this morning’s Biodiversity World Tour town hall mtg.
I spoke with Pam before the afternoon roundtable session got underway. She farms corn and soybeans with her husband and sons in northern Iowa. She says this discussion has been great for her because farmers share a lot of the same issues and concerns around the world. She thought this morning’s town hall meeting was a good one with an audience that understands that there are a lot of definitions for terms like sustainability. She says that the point was made that farmers are working hard to be productive while maintaining a viable business and taking care of their land and other resources. She hopes that the farmers visiting the United States will take away the idea that they have to be able to operate in an atmosphere where their government policy, the public and consumers work with farmers. In other words, it’s not an “us vs. them” situation.
The TATT Global Farmer to Farmer Roundtable is now in session. This is a discussion which will take place this evening and continue tomorrow morning with a concluding lunch.
After introductions we’re now involved in a discussion about issues like the growing world population and challenges faces farmers who are trying to produce food to feed them all. I’m listening in and will be conducting some interviews with various participants to post in coming days. There are some very interesting farmers here from a variety of types of farms.
The Truth About Trade & Technology Global Farmer To Farmer Roundtable participants went from meeting with our Sec. of Agriculture to a tour of the Iowa State University Seed Science Center. It was a short but fascinating look at the largest public seed testing facility in the country.
We got a real behind the scenes look at the various labs before heading off to our next stop on the Bill Couser farm, Couser Cattle Company. I’ve just updated the photo album and will have more interviews coming.
Here’s our panel at the Biodiversity World Tour town hall mtg. with Sec. of Ag Vilsack (right). It has been a very interesting discussion with lots of questions about organic vs. traditional agriculture and sustainability. I believe you’ll be able to watch a recording of the session on the BWT website.
The participants include:
Rajesh Kumar, Vegetable Farmer from Tamil Nadu, India.
Camila Illich, Field Crop Farmer from Guarapuava, Brazil
Pam Johnson, Corn and Soybean Farmer from Central Iowa, United States.
Gary Munkvold, Seed Science Endowed Chair, Chair of the Graduate Program in Seed Technology and Business, Iowa State University.
Judy Chambers, Director of the Program for Biosafety Systems in the Environment and Production Technology Division at IFPRI, Senior Advisor to USAID.
Our moderator is Orion Samuelson, WGN (left).
After this morning’s session I’ll be following the TATT Global Farmer To Farmer Roundtable participants to a farm tour before we return to Des Moines for their opening session. So I’ll see you along the way, especially on Twitter.
U. S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack was an opening speaker at the Biodiversity World Tour stop on the campus of Iowa State University. It is being webcast live right now and I believe a recorded version will be available later. If you’d like to hear the Secretary’s comments I have them posted below.
The theme of the town hall meeting taking place here is “How can we feed a growing world while protecting our environment?”
World Food Prize week is underway in Des Moines, IA. There are a lot of meeting, town halls, roundtables, symposiums, ceremonies taking place, some simultaneously. I’m going to be focusing on the Truth About Trade and Technology Global Farmer To Farmer Roundtable. So to kick things off I spoke with TATT Chairman, Dean Kleckner.
He says that there are 16 farmers here this year from various countries including the United States, to have a discussion on farming where they live, and to do it in a public forum to foster better understanding between countries and the general public. He’s says it has been interesting to hear how similar the challenges are throughout the world. I’m planning to feature interviews with as many of the farmer participants as I can during the next couple days.
Soybean superstar Kip Cullers is going to officially announce his 2010 soybean yield results today at a press conference near his farm in Purdy, Missouri.
Kip set the world soybean yield record in 2006 with 139 bushels per acre, then beat that the following year with a yield of 154.57 bushels per acre. When another grower achieved a yield of more than 100 bushels per acre in 2008, the 100 Bushel Club was formed and Kip was inducted.
Today’s news conference will include Missouri Governor Jay Nixon and representatives of the Missouri Soybean Association, who are understandably proud of this native son. Also, the good folks from BASF will be there – and me, too! Can’t wait to see my friend Kip again – and his lovely wife Michelle and their little brood. I took this photo of Kip during his soybean harvest last year.
Need a good excuse to dine out this week? Well, the American Farmland Trust invites you to have a meal out on the town in support of farms in this country now through October 16th:
“We hope that many consumers will be a friend to farms and join us at the table during the national Dine Out for Farms™ week October 10-16,” says Jon Scholl, President of American Farmland Trust (AFT). “Restaurants in 17 states signed up to participate in this inaugural event because the chefs recognize the need to protect America’s farmland and support family farmers. Farmland is a key ingredient that farmers need to be able to grow provisions for restaurateurs and our own kitchen tables.”
This national, week-long event is designed to bring together restaurants and consumers together to support a sustainable future for America’s farms. Scholl wants to make sure people make the connection with food and the land.
“It’s never been more critical than it is today for diners and consumers to reconnect with the farmers who grow their food. That’s not only so we can have farm-fresh food but also because of the critical issues facing our nation—including food security and healthier diets,” Scholl adds. “The United States has been losing nearly one million acres of farmland each year, and the farms and farmland most under threat are near cities where the majority of our dairy, fresh fruits and vegetables are grown.”
And as Oliver Monday with The Market Restaurant in Gloucester, Massachusetts, one of the participating restaurants, points out, “Without land, there will be no farms. Without farms, there will be no food.”
“Agriculture is the backbone of Missouri’s economy, and growers like Kip Cullers are the reason why,” said Governor Nixon. “Missouri farmers feed, fuel and clothe the world, and they also create jobs, support local businesses and help our communities thrive. When it comes to soybeans, Kip Cullers continues to take the science to a whole new level, and his work is blazing new trails that will keep Missouri agriculture moving forward.” 
Soybean superstar Kip Cullers is going to officially announce his 2010 soybean yield results today at a press conference near his farm in Purdy, Missouri.