I promised you another video clip from when AG CONNECT Expo was officially open and here it is. The show is in full swing now and you will begin to see stories posted here as we interview attendees and exhibitors. Joanna Schroeder has joined me here in Orlando and is out on the show floor now. Between us we’ll do our best to bring you all the sights and sounds of this agricultural trade show.
Zimfo Bytes
- Syngenta Seeds, Inc. announced that it has licensed its transgenic cotton event, COT102, containing the novel Vip3A protein, to Dow AgroSciences, which plans to combine it with WideStrike Insect Protection to develop its next generation products.
- A robust pipeline of biotech and conventional traits at Advanta promises to springboard sorghum into a prominent crop in North America and around the world.
- Dana Peterson, a longtime policy staffer at Kansas Wheat, will be the next chief executive officer of the National Association of Wheat Growers.
- Farm Journal Media announces the promotion of Charlene Finck to senior vice president, editorial & content development.
AEM Vice President Speaks To Ag Engineers
The VP of Statistics, Technical and Safety Services for the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) is Darrin Drollinger. He addressed the Agricultural Equipment Technology Conference (AETC) which is conducted by the American Society of Agriculture and Biological Engineers (ASABE) being held in conjunction with AG CONNECT Expo. In his comments he talks about AEM and their new show.
AETC Luncheon – AG CONNECT Expo – Darrin Drollinger, AEM from Chuck Zimmerman on Vimeo.
Welcoming Remarks to AG CONNECT Expo
I think we had a great crowd for the opening ceremony of the first ever AG CONNECT Expo. The Chapin Theater here at the Convention Center is a beautiful facility.
Our emcee for the program was Doug DeVries, John Deere. He welcomed everyone and introduced two of his competitors, Martin Richenhagen, AGCO and Jim Walker, Case IH who also made welcoming remarks. I recorded their remarks which you can listen to and download below:
AGCO/AEM/AgChat Tweetup
We had a great tweetup here at AG CONNECT Expo tonight. Thanks to AGCO for sponsoring it.
You can find AGCO socially:
Facebook
Twitter
Ustream.tv
YouTube
Tweetups are a great place to meet in person with other Twitter folks and network. That’s what we did.
Opening Ceremonies for AG CONNECT Expo
AG CONNECT Expo is officially underway. The opening ceremonies featured the winners of the Agvocating for Agriculture awards seen on stage with the committee members who put the show together.
To lead the crowd out to the opening reception, Gary MacDonald, MacDon Industries, played the bagpipes. Enjoy him on YouTube:
AgWired Live TV at AG CONNECT Expo
Thank you to everyone who watched the live stream of the opening ceremonies from the first ever AG CONNECT Expo. My iPhone streamed live for about an hour and a half. Feel free to post any comments/feedback if you watched.
I had to use the convention center wireless and let’s just say it was not fast. That’s a key to a good live stream.
Photos have been updated from the opening ceremonies.
Chad Yagow Named AETC MVP
Chad Yagow, John Deere, (r) already has his picture on AgWired but he gets another one. At the AETC luncheon today he was presented with the AETC MVP award. Yes, that’s a baseball bat. I guess that’s so he can keep conference attendees in line.
More photos have been uploaded to the photo album so please keep checking it as the show gets underway officially this afternoon.
Record Crop Production in 2009
Despite weather challenges in 2009, American farmers produced record corn and soybean crops.
According to USDA’s crop report out this morning, U.S. corn for grain production is estimated at a record 13.2 billion bushels, up 2 percent from the November 1 forecast, and 1 percent above the previous record of 13.0 billion bushels set in 2007. U.S. grain yield is also estimated at a record level for 2009, at 165.2 bushels per acre. This is up 2.3 bushels from the November forecast and 4.9 bushels above the previous record of 160.3 bushels per acre set in 2004.
Soybean production in 2009 totaled 3.36 billion bushels, up 1 percent from the November 1 forecast and up 13 percent from 2008. U.S. production is the largest on record. The average yield per acre is estimated at a record high 44.0 bushels, 0.7 bushel above the November 1 forecast and 4.3 bushels above last year’s yield. Harvested area is up 2 percent from 2008 to a record 76.4 million acres.
YouTube Farmer New YF&R Chair for AFBF
American Farm Bureau Federation 91st Annual Meeting Photo Album
A dairy farmer who is a YouTube hit with his original “Water ‘n Poo” song is the new chairman of the American Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee.
Will Gilmer of Alabama was elected as by the committee as chairperson for 2010 and will take over those duties in February to serve for one year.
Gilmer owns and operates Gilmer Dairy Farm, which includes a herd of 450 Holstein cows, heifers and calves, as well as more than 500 acres of pasture and forage crop production.
In addition to his daily farming duties, Gilmer maintains a Web site, www.gilmerdairy.com, along with The Dairyman’s Blog, in an effort to reach out to the public about modern farming practices. Gilmer also is active on the micro-blogging Web site Twitter under @gilmerdairy.
Farm broadcaster Meghan Grebner with WIRL in Peoria interviewed Will for her noon show yesterday and you can listen to that interview below the video.
And if you have never heard or seen Will’s funny YouTube hit about nutrient management – viewed over 9,000 times – here it is. Heck, even if you have seen it – worth watching again so you can be singing “Water ‘n Poo” all day long!