AgriLabs will donate $1,500 to be awarded as scholarships to deserving youth by participating state cattle association affiliates. Selection of the participating organizations will be made during the National Cattleman’s Beef Association Convention.
U.S. sheep producers now have access to an approved reproductive management tool, EAZI-BREED CIDR Sheep Inserts from Pfizer Animal Health.
Wind energy for rural America was an engaging topic during the educational session, “Harvesting the Wind,” held yesterday during the AG CONNECT Expo. The session provided an outlook for the wind energy industry in the states as well as offered information on projects suited for rural areas, such as farmers leasing out their land to companies to site windmills. The session was sponsored by 25×25, a nonprofit organization that believes our country can get 25 percent of our energy through renewable sources by 2025.
Presenters included Lisa Daniels, Executive Director and founder of Windustry, a nonprofit organization that specializes in developing community wind projects. These types of projects are owned by local members of the community and private investors, not wind turbines owned by a utility company. In addition, Steve Wegman, Director of South Dakota Wind Energy Association discussed how his organization is helping South Dakota increase its wind energy through rural projects, and Susan Sloan, Manager, Strategic Partnerships for the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), provided an industry overview that included current and proposed policy and programs to increase wind energy throughout the U.S.
A few interesting statistics that were shared during the session: the wind energy industry added an estimated 35,000 jobs last year; wind emits no CO2 and uses no water; and today the wind energy industry has the capacity to generate 31,000 megawatts of wind per year. One megawatt generates enough electricity to power 225-300 homes per year.
In 2008, the U.S. Department of Energy authored a report called “20% Wind Energy by 2030,” that is currently being used by the Obama administration for guidance on growing the wind industry. A copy of the report is available at www.20percentwind.org, and don’t forget to visit our AG CONNECT Flickr album.
Here’s the happy smiley greeting crew for AG CONNECT Expo Networking Night at Universal Studios. Attendees had the opportunity to go to the Islands of Adventure, Marvel Super Hero Island, which we had all to ourselves.
Who’s your favorite Marvel super hero? Mine has always been The Mighty Thor although Spiderman comes in a close second. I took photos of the characters on display which are in the updated photo album.
Well, we’re in the home stretch. It’s the final day of AG CONNECT Expo and the temperatures are supposed to be in the 70’s today! I’ll be back out on the show floor today along with Joanna Schroeder conducting interviews and hope to have a wrap up interview from show staff by the end of the day.
A year ago would you have thought you’d see this proudly displayed in an agribusiness booth?
I didn’t think so. But AGCO is connecting socially with their customers as we found out at Tuesday evening’s Tweetup. So how about your company? Are you getting your social network in order?
If you follow the AG CONNECT Expo Twitter hashtag which is #agconnect then you’ll see how social things are. Check it out.
Precision agriculture technology is on display all over the AG CONNECT Expo show floor. I don’t think I’ve seen quite so many exhibits outside of a show dedicated to this growing technology application. Raven Industries is one of the companies exhibiting something new here at the show.
I spoke with Marketing Manager, Ryan Molitor, this afternoon about Slingshot. He says Slingshot represents a breakthrough in connectivity, online services and hardware. It can deliver advanced RTK correction signal technology and high speed internet using wireless in the cab.
Discussing the future of agricultural communications was the job of Orion Samuelson, Jim Evans and Mike Yost today at AG CONNECT Expo. Jim has spent a lifetime in agriculture and Ag communications, as a practitioner and professor at the University of Illinois. The panel took place in Successful Farming’s Innovations Theater where they’ve been doing live webcasts of the presentations. You can see a portion of their discussion here:
Jim will be joined by Radio Hall of Fame personality Orion Samuelson, whom Jim came to know in the 1950s when they both worked in Green Bay; and by Mike Yost, who, as the former Administrator of USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS), has extensive cross-cultural communication experience. Yost is also the owner-operator of Yost Farm in West-Central Minnesota and a former chairman of the American Soybean Association.
“I have never seen a time of such need and potential for skilled communicators who can deal with the complexities of agriculture and the food enterprise of societies,” he reports. “Through painful and costly experience, agri-marketers, producer and consumer groups, the food industry, government agencies and others are learning that the old, one-way, top-down approaches don’t work. Thousands of case examples around the world testify to the urgent need for better models and methods of communicating within agriculture, and between agriculture and the societies that depend on it. Professional Ag communicators can help lead the way in that effort.”
Not everyone who teaches communications has had such a lasting and powerful influence on students, but Evans’ devotion to his students and his commitment to the highest standards have been so influential across the decades that his former students are now raising funds for a new “James F. Evans Endowed Chair in Agricultural Communications” at the University of Illinois at Champaign.
TeeJet Technologies, based in Springfield, IL, announced their new guidance system that offers guidance and live video displayed simultaneously. The news about the Matrix Guidance System with RealView Guidance Over Video was announced during the AG CONNECT Expo in Orlando, Fla. and comes in two screen sizes: 570G Model and 840G model with options for four or eight cameras.
In an AgWired exclusive interview with Rich Gould, vice president and guidance business manager at TeeJet Technologies explained that the really unique feature of the system lies in its ability to connect to a video camera and show real-time video images and in addition to show the guidance information overlayed on the video image. In other words, you are seeing your field on the screen.
Known as precision agriculture, this type of technology helps farmers to become more efficient whether planting, fertilizing or harvesting their crops. Ultimately, this information leads to reduced costs and higher profitability.
TeeJet has applied for a patent and Gould notes that, “This technology is applicable to anyone driving back in forth across a field.”
It can be used on any machine, manufactured by any company, in any country. This is an advantage for growers in developing countries in that they have the ability to jump ahead and adopt the latest technology immediately.
You can see photos from AG CONNECT Expo in our Flickr album and listen to my interview with Rich Gould here.
My Alma Mater was out and about at AG CONNECT Expo today. Here are three ag comm students from The University of Florida. They were watching this afternoon’s panel discussion in the Innovations Theater on the future of ag communications. I’ll have more on that later.
Joanna and I have spent all day collecting interviews which we’ll be posting right here until they’re all posted. It’s probably going to take a few day because we’ve got a lot of them.
Winners of the Young Farmers & Ranchers (YF&R) Achievement Award, Discussion Meet and Excellence in Agriculture competitions were announced final general session at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 91st annual meeting.
Scott and Mendy Sink of Virginia won the Excellence in Ag Award. They received a 2010 Dodge Ram pickup, courtesy of Dodge, and free registration to the YF&R Leadership Conference in Oklahoma February 20-22. The Excellence in Ag award recognizes young farmers and ranchers who do not derive the majority of their income from an agricultural operation, but who actively contribute and grow through their involvement in agriculture, their leadership ability, and participation in Farm Bureau and other organizations. We were especially proud that farm broadcasters Andy Vance and Lindsay Hill were in the top ten finalists for that award.
Aaron and Ashley Reding of Kentucky won the Achievement Award which recognizes young farmers and ranchers who have excelled in their farming or ranching operations and exhibited superior leadership abilities. They also won a 2010 Dodge Ram Pickup courtesy of Dodge and paid registration to the 2010 AFBF YF&R Leadership Conference.
Last, but not least, Rachel Bina of North Dakota won the Discussion Meet. She also gets a new Dodge pickup and registration to the conference. The Discussion Meet simulates a committee meeting in which active discussion and participation are expected. Participants are evaluated on their ability to exchange ideas and information on a predetermined topic.
The runners-up in all three competitions won a $6,000 Savings Bond and a STIHL Farm Boss chainsaw, both courtesy of STIHL. Read more about all the winners here.
AG CONNECT Expo released some statistics about the show this morning during a press briefing. We heard from Show Director Sara Mooney and AEM VP of Ag Services, Charlie O’Brien.
Here’s some quick stats for you. There are currently 7,000 registered. The final numbers will change since we’re not at the end of the show yet by the way. Of those 7,000 there are 2,000 producers with an average or 2,900 acres and 80 percent say they are decision makers. There are 1,800 agribusiness and 800 dealers. The balance consists of all the people working out on the show floor. There are 312 exhibitors using 167,800 square feet of space. About 20 percent of attendees are from outside the U.S. and there are 67 countries represented and 49 out of the 50 states in the U.S. (Hawaii) didn’t have anyone here.
Presenters included Lisa Daniels, Executive Director and founder of 
Here’s the happy smiley greeting crew for 
Well, we’re in the home stretch. It’s the final day of AG CONNECT Expo and the temperatures are supposed to be in the 70’s today! I’ll be back out on the show floor today along with Joanna Schroeder conducting interviews and hope to have a wrap up interview from show staff by the end of the day.
A year ago would you have thought you’d see this proudly displayed in an agribusiness booth?
Precision agriculture technology is on display all over the AG CONNECT Expo show floor. I don’t think I’ve seen quite so many exhibits outside of a show dedicated to this growing technology application. Raven Industries is one of the companies exhibiting something new here at the show.
Discussing the future of agricultural communications was the job of Orion Samuelson, Jim Evans and Mike Yost today at AG CONNECT Expo. Jim has spent a lifetime in agriculture and Ag communications, as a practitioner and professor at the University of Illinois. The panel took place in Successful Farming’s Innovations Theater where they’ve been doing 
ve video displayed simultaneously. The news about the Matrix Guidance System with RealView Guidance Over Video was announced during the 
My Alma Mater was out and about at AG CONNECT Expo today. Here are three ag comm students from The University of Florida. They were watching this afternoon’s panel discussion in the Innovations Theater on the future of ag communications. I’ll have more on that later.
Scott and Mendy Sink of Virginia won the Excellence in Ag Award. They received a 2010 Dodge Ram pickup, courtesy of Dodge, and free registration to the YF&R Leadership Conference in Oklahoma February 20-22. The Excellence in Ag award recognizes young farmers and ranchers who do not derive the majority of their income from an agricultural operation, but who actively contribute and grow through their involvement in agriculture, their leadership ability, and participation in Farm Bureau and other organizations. We were especially proud that farm broadcasters Andy Vance and Lindsay Hill were in the top ten finalists for that award.
Aaron and Ashley Reding of Kentucky won the Achievement Award which recognizes young farmers and ranchers who have excelled in their farming or ranching operations and exhibited superior leadership abilities. They also won a 2010 Dodge Ram Pickup courtesy of Dodge and paid registration to the 2010 AFBF YF&R Leadership Conference.
Last, but not least, Rachel Bina of North Dakota won the Discussion Meet. She also gets a new Dodge pickup and registration to the conference. The Discussion Meet simulates a committee meeting in which active discussion and participation are expected. Participants are evaluated on their ability to exchange ideas and information on a predetermined topic.
AG CONNECT Expo released some statistics about the show this morning during a press briefing. We heard from Show Director Sara Mooney and AEM VP of Ag Services, Charlie O’Brien.