A group of public and private agriculture organizations announced an alliance known as Improved Maize for African Soils that will improve food security and livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa.
Farmer-leaders of the United Soybean Board and soybean checkoff selected the U.S. Soybean Export Council as its primary contractor to implement its 2011 International Marketing program.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently announced the appointment of 16 farmer-leaders and two alternates to the United Soybean Board and soybean checkoff.
James Herring of Amarillo, Tex., has been elected as the new president of CattleFax.
The new watchdog project on the tail of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is really showing a bite that matches its bark.
The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) just launched HumaneWatch.org earlier this week to expose the agenda and activities of HSUS. It includes a sharp-toothed blog written by CCF’s Director of Research David Martosko, as well as a document library and database tracking the organizations related to the HSUS financial empire. They also have a Facebook page with nearly 2,000 fans so far this week. You can tell it’s already ruffling some feathers.
Speaking of ruffled feathers, it appears the backlash against [yellow tail] wine for its donation to HSUS finally hit the mark. John Casella, managing director of Yellow Tail’s parent company Casella Wines, gave a statement to ABC News this week that said the company will only make contributions to animal groups “without lobbying interests” in the future.
Mr. Casella says he never anticipated any negative criticism of the donation and the intention of the partnership with the HSUS was to celebrate and save animals.
“Being farmers ourselves, we acknowledge those who care for their land and their environment, just as we do,” he said. “We are proud of our rural heritage and value a solid relationship with agricultural communities around the world.”
The company also sent a letter today to the American Agriculture Alliance seeking to mend fences with farmers and ranchers. Meanwhile, Yellow Tail has also apparently taken down all the negative comments about the donation on their Facebook page, but there are still some great videos out there expressing discontent. Check out this one that really hits the mark, produced by Nebraska corn growers.
Before leaving Ducks Unlimited this morning we took a group photo of those of us attending the Agricultural Relations Council meeting. Thank you to Tony Dolle, Director, Communications for doing the honors.
We received a great program overview and I’ll have more to post on the presentation at Ducks Unlimited within the next couple days. Your agriblogger is a little agritired at the end of this trip.
We also toured an ADM grain handling/barge facility this afternoon and have a social media panel discussion coming up. Then it’s off to BB Kings for supper this evening. I’ll bet you wish you were here. We do.
At the urging of my ARC buddies I am posting a new edition of “Guess Whose Boots.”
This is going to be tough. I will not lie. But the first person to leave a comment with the correct answer (as defined by me) will win a prize from the ZimmComm prize stash.
I will tell you that the photo was taken today in Memphis as part of the Agricultural Relations Council meeting that I’m attending.
John Kasper has been announced as Director of Marketing for FMC Corporation today.
In this position, Kasper will lead the FMC marketing group and oversee segment strategies, all tactical marketing elements of the operational business, traditional communications and e-communications, market and competitive intelligence efforts, data management and customer relationship management functions.
“John is an excellent addition to our strong, innovative marketing team,” says Bob Trogele, North America area director for FMC. “He has an exceptional background in agribusiness and crop production and brings a wealth of experience to this new challenge. He will be an invaluable asset as FMC continues its aggressive expansion of our crop protection portfolio in the coming months and years.”
This morning the Agricultural Relations Council unveiled a new logo. Actually, it was ARC President Deron Johnson who made the unveiling.
He says the logo has some very specific thematic elements including:
The “A” in arc has an actual arc that sweeps through the middle of the letter.
The typeface is bold and uppercase signifying simplicity and strength. This logo is contemporary, yet still conservative and professional.
The colors symbolize life (green) and nourishment (yellow).
Also, the arc in the “A” goes a long way in giving a head nod to agriculture.
When I receive a good quality electronic version of the logo I’ll get it posted for you.
Newly elected officers include:
President – Deron Johnson
First Vice President – Mace Thornton
Second Vice President – Katana Ewbank
Secretary Treasurer – Mike Opperman
Immediate Past President – Bob Giblin
Director – Janice Person
Director – Amy Keith McDonald
Director – Carroll Merry
Director – Mark Ingbritson
Farmland values was a very important topic of discussion at the Farmland Investment Fair put on by the Chicago Farmers. One of the educational sessions on the topic was conducted by Mike Shane, First Farm Credit Services.
Mike told me they focused on what land values are now and what drives them. They can’t predict them of course. He says they’ve see a leveling off of values in recent years and decline in certain areas like the Dekalb, Kane and McHenry county areas around Chicago but if you go further south in the state they’re more flat or even higher. Land is still available and they’ve seen some land sell for as much as $8K in those areas. Interest rates were a question they got asked a lot and right now they’re about as low as they’re going to go.
New things are coming to the cattle industry market from Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica. During a media breakfast at the recent Cattle Industry Convention I spoke with Craig Jones, Sr. Associate Director Cattle Services. He told me that the company has had great interaction with producers who have been visiting with them in their booth.
Their acquisition of products like Cydectin, Pyramid and others from Ft. Dodge Animal Health has enhanced their product lines but it has raised questions about who to get what product from. He thinks it has gone very smoothly though. At this convention their main goal was to get their name out and help producers understand the changes that have taken place.
From Puerto Vallarto to Memphis, TN. Now that’s culture shock. But I’m here at the Agricultural Relations Council Meeting at the Westin off Beale St. Our program has just started with a presentation from John Charles Wilson, Agricenter. I’ll have a post on his presentation later.
To get things kicked off I spoke with ARC President Deron Johnson, Rhea & Kaiser Marketing Communications. He says it’s a mix of professional development and networking. The focus is the Consumer Outreach For Ag. The program will include in the hotel presentations and off site ones as well. It will conclude with a social media panel. The photo of me interviewing Deron was taken courtesy of Janice Person.
Deron says ARC is in a “solid year two of rebirth” for the organization. There are more attendees here this year and they’ll be making some exciting announcements before the end of the meeting. He says they’ll be making a compelling case for people in the industry to join ARC.
The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) just launched 
Farmland values was a very important topic of discussion at the Farmland Investment Fair put on by the Chicago Farmers. One of the educational sessions on the topic was conducted by Mike Shane, First Farm Credit Services. 
New things are coming to the cattle industry market from Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica. During a media breakfast at the recent Cattle Industry Convention I spoke with Craig Jones, Sr. Associate Director Cattle Services. He told me that the company has had great interaction with producers who have been visiting with them in their booth.
From Puerto Vallarto to Memphis, TN. Now that’s culture shock. But I’m here at the