Cargill Children’s Farm

Chuck Zimmerman

Botanica, The Witchita Gardens is receiving $100,000 from Cargill which will be used in the creation of the “Cargill Children’s Farm.”

. . . an interactive, interpretive, multisensory area within “The Downing Children’s Garden.” The project is part of a multiphase, 27-acre expansion for Botanica. The first phase of this expansion is the Downing Children’s Garden, which is scheduled for completion in 2011. The Cargill Children’s Farm will help children learn about, and better understand, rural farm life, including sustainable agriculture, responsible water utilization and good environmental stewardship.

“The Cargill Children’s Farm will allow every visitor to connect with nature through a themed area that will teach people about gardening, tending and harvesting crops,” stated Jody Horner, president of Cargill’s U.S. meat business based in Wichita. “This will be a fun, safe, interactive place for children, teachers and parents to learn about where their food comes from and how it is produced. Given Cargill’s historical roots stemming from origins in the Midwest grain business 145 years ago, this is a perfect fit for our community support and we’re delighted to be involved.”

You can follow the progress on the Downing Children’s Garden on their blog, Peepholes In The Fence.

Agribusiness, Education

Boelte Bull Welcomes You To Ag Media Summit

Chuck Zimmerman

I just got my flight information entered into the Boelte-Hall airport pickup invitation for the Agricultural Media Summit. The folks at Boelte are once again welcoming AMS attendees and getting us where we need to go. I’m really looking forward to seeing industry friends and colleagues the end of next week.

Be sure to get your picture taken with “Boelte Bull” at the Welcome Cruise Sunday night. Then stop by our InfoExpo booth Monday or Tuesday for a game of darts with a chance to win a prize. We’re looking forward to seeing you in St. Paul!

Don, Terry, Paul and Ralph
Boelte-Hall, LLC

Ag Media Summit

Missouri Beef Industry Council Board Meets

Chuck Zimmerman

It’s hard to believe that we’ve been doing work for the Missouri Beef Industry Council for over 6 years. MBIC was the first ZimmComm client and we’re proud to still be working with them and can’t say how much we appreciate their confidence and support.

Today the MBIC was doing what all state Checkoff organizations are doing and that’s working on the budget for the next fiscal year. So they’ve been sitting through presentations and I was just happy to get them all up and in a group photo so they could work a few kinks out.

One of the projects we do for the MBIC is produce their weekly podcast which was a first for the industry. It’s now called Checkoff Chat. I also had the opportunity today to record several episodes which will be used in upcoming weeks. We did some statistics checking on Checkoff Chat downloads for this year only and there are episodes that have been downloaded as many as 2,800 times!

Many of these folks will be in Denver the week after next for the Cattle Industry Summer Conference where I’ll be Beef Board Blogging once again.

Ag Groups, Beef

Corn Congressmen

Chuck Zimmerman

Corn growers are in Washington, DC taking care of business. It’s the semi-annual Corn Congress.

Corn farmers from across the country will gather in Washington the week of July 12 for a series of team and committee meetings, Capitol Hill visits with lawmakers and the semi-annual Corn Congress, where grower-leaders from 28 states will elect four new members of the National Corn Growers Association Corn Board. You can hear NCGA President Darrin Ihnen talk about it: Off The Cob
One of the activities that took place today was the presentation of the President’s Award.

National Corn Growers Association President Darrin Ihnen today presented the President’s Award to Senator John Thune (R-S.D.) during NCGA’s Corn Congress events in Washington, D.C. The President’s Award is given annually to a leader who has worked to advance issues important to corn growers and agriculture.

NCGA has a photo album going for Corn Congress this week so check it out.

Ag Groups, Corn, NCGA

Equipment Bone Yard

Melissa Sandfort

Dotting the landscape of the greater Midwest are what I like to refer to as equipment bone yards. It’s the shallow gravesite for many a used, worn-out, retired truck, spray rig or cattle trough. They tirelessly decorate the hills as though saying, “Someone was once here. We worked hard, and now it’s time to rest.”

In this day and age of reuse, reduce, recycle, it’s hard to fathom why and how these bone yards have grown to be the size of an implement dealers’ yard. Isn’t there some way to dispose of the metal? To reuse the parts? Or sell it as an antique? Those cattle troughs would be a pretty unique petunia planter along the side of a house, don’t you think? And a stock tank, a perfect swimming retreat.

Or maybe it’s the mindset of a farmer: let nothing go to waste…I might need that again sometime. How often I’ve just tosses something aside because of my 2-year rule (if it hasn’t been used in 2 years, throw it out).

Maybe I should start my own bone yard. I’m sure the neighbors would love that.

Until we walk again…

Uncategorized

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Syngenta is sponsoring the inaugural Syngenta Almond Scholarship Program. Applications are currently being accepted, and the scholarship is open to high school seniors and college students (excluding seniors) interested in pursuing a career in agriculture who currently reside or attend school in California and are involved in the almond-growing industry.
  • Planalytics will host the AgriBusiness Weather Intelligence Symposium on Thursday, July 22nd at the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark. Featured speakers include retailers, marketers and other experts sharing first-hand success stories of how they improved performance by incorporating Planalytics weather insights and intelligence into their business operations.
  • Lessiter Publications, Inc., has launched a new 18-week video/blog series, entitled “Shipping Out.”
  • Mark Stephenson has been appointed director of the University of Wisconsin Center for Dairy Profitability.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Soybean Producers Get to See for Themselves

    Cindy Zimmerman

    usbTen soybean farmers from around the country will have the opportunity this month to see for themselves what their soybean checkoff investment is funding.

    The United Soybean Board’s third annual “See for Yourself” program begins on July 26 in St. Louis and ends on July 31 in Mexico, the number one importer of U.S. soybean meal. Along the way, participants will tour several facilities that represent various end users of U.S. soy and have the opportunity to interact with USB farmer-leadership and provide their perspective and feedback on the checkoff. Several of the checkoff’s areas of focus, including animal agriculture, international sales, development of new soy uses and efforts to protect and increase yields of U.S. soybeans, will be highlighted on the tour.

    Farmers who will be taking part in the trip are: Aaron Brandt of Missouri, Barry Alexander of Kentucky, Brian Cassady of Iowa, James Checkel of Minnesota, Bert Greenwalt of Arkansas, Loren Hylton of Indiana, Todd Oglesby of Mississippi, Dawn Scheier of South Dakota, Reginald Strickland of North Carolina and David Williams of Michigan.

    Soybean, USB

    Farm Bureau Honors Agriscience Innovation

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Eight agriscience innovators are getting some monetary recognition for their efforts, courtesy of American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF).

    afbfAFBF, in partership with the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation, presented the awards and research funding to scientists, teachers and high-school students for exemplary innovation in the field of agricultural science.

    “The winning candidates from each category have demonstrated a hunger for forward-thinking scientific knowledge,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman. “The fruits of their work will be seen as America continues to leads the way in agricultural science innovation.”

    The winners included Oregon State University professor Patricia Kennedy and USDA researcher Thomas Jackson who each received the CCFF Agricultural Science Distinguished Scientist Award and $25,000 in research funding. CCFF Agricultural Science Educator Awards were presented to Crystal Retzlaff, an agriculture educator at Oconto Falls High School in Oconto Falls, Wis., Lisa Konkel, an agriscience educator at Big Foot Union High School in Walworth, Wis., and Byron Ernest with the Lebanon Community School Corporation in Lebanon, Ind. Three high school students received CCFF Agricultural Science Student Awards and $5,000 – Rosemary Chapple, a senior at Waterloo High School in Waterloo, Ill., Stephanie Hoskins, a senior at Lincoln Park Academy High School in Fort Pierce, Fla., and Jake Carlson, a junior at Elk Grove High School in Elk Grove, Calif.

    AFBF

    The Dorm Room Diner

    Chuck Zimmerman

    The Dorm Room Diner just sounds like it would be a great gift for your college student. I found a link via one of my Twitter followers. So I checked it out and the first thing that caught my eye was “beef” and I love beef (all other types of meat too). Here’s what Dulce Taylor says on her cookbook website about dorm room cooking and starting the project.

    I felt a little like Julia Childs and made everything from Beef Stroganoff to Chicken and Dumplings.

    I was the envy of the dorm. I started eating better, had lots more energy and looked great (no freshman fifteen here)! By the end of spring semester, I had a whole pile of delicious recipes that my friends kept begging me to make!

    Everyone was begging for my recipes!

    When I came home for the summer, I realized that a lot of other college students (you included) could benefit from the easy, simple recipes I had used that year. So, my mom helped me put this cookbook together…and “The Dorm Room Diner” was born.

    Food

    Welcome To Beltway Beef

    Chuck Zimmerman

    The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association has just started its first official blog, Beltway Beef. Here’s the first post from blogger Mike Deering.

    It is a pleasure to welcome you to the the first-ever blog of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. We are excited to engage in this new initiative and sincerely hope you are just as thrilled to have this blog as another resource at your disposal.

    NCBA is stepping up its efforts to not only keep you informed, but also engaged. “Beltway Beef” affords you the opportunity to learn and express your views. You can rest assured we’ll be listening. This blog is intended to serve as a sounding board for the U.S. cattle industry. We will be covering mainly policy issues that impact U.S. cattle producers and rural communities. However, we may stray away from strictly policy-related issues from time to time. We also hope to provide a little entertainment now and then!

    As we start this new project, feel free to offer any suggestions!

    Ag Groups, Beef, NCBA