Get Away From Winter to AG Connect

Cindy Zimmerman

January in Orlando is looking pretty good right now to most of us here in the frigid Midwest.

Ag Connect ExpoSo if you have not made plans to attend AG Connect Expo 2010 in Orlando on January 13-15, take this snow day to get on line and make your reservations.

Besides offering the opportunity to get away to a warmer climate, Expo 2010 will provide a world-class event for the global agriculture industry—bringing together the latest in equipment, technology and ideas. The show was developed by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) with the support of a variety of industry organizations and companies, including Agwired and parent company ZimmComm New Media.

Find out more about what AG Connect offers from previous posts here on Agwired – including this interview with AEM’s Charlie O’Brien, and one with expo director Sara Mooney about the show’s awards program.

AEM, Audio

Corn Grower Says “Show Me” The Market

Chuck Zimmerman

Corn MissionFellow Show Me State resident and corn grower from the southeast part of Missouri, Jim Stuever, took a few moments to provide his thoughts on how the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team is doing after arriving in Amman, Jordan. In the photo, Jim (pictured left), is listening to a presentation we’re having from Mohamed Kraishy, USDA Ag Specialist in Jordan.

Jim has seen a very diverse set of conditions from country to country as we’ve traveled. That means that market development efforts are going to be very different in each country too. After seeing the USGC “on the ground” he says that they’re increasing the environment for corn and corn by-products which is helping keep our markets viable. Jim thinks that corn grower investment in the USGC reinforces and increases foreign market use of American feed grains.

You can listen to my interview with Jim below:

USGC Corn Mission In Jordan Photo Album

Audio, Corn, Grains, International, USGC

Webinar with Bloggers: FDA’s Pet Health and Safety Widget

Amanda Nolz

fda-logo To anyone that might be interested: tomorrow there will be a blogger seminar about animal health and safety. This was posted on the FDA website, and I thought I would pass it along.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will host a webinar for animal health and safety bloggers Tuesday, December 8, from 3:00 to 3:30 pm ET. The featured speakers, Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, Principal Deputy Commissioner of the FDA, and Dr. Bernadette Dunham, Director of FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, will focus on the announcement of a widget containing information on the importance of pet health and safety for both animals and pet owners. After the presentations, there will be an opportunity to ask questions or offer feedback.

If you are interested in attending, please send an email to CVMHomeP@cvm.fda.gov. You can also email questions to this address before the webinar. Follow or join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #FDApet.

This looks like a pretty informative event. I plan on following on Twitter tomorrow. Are you going to participate? For more information on the blogger seminar, link here.

Animal Health, Food

Dairy Industry Loses Leader

Cindy Zimmerman

TomMemorialFrontPageThe nation’s dairy producers are mourning the loss of an industry leader, Dairy Farmers of America Chairman Tom Camerlo, who passed away December 3 after a courageous battle with cancer. Tom served as DFA’s chairman since 2003.

“Tom’s commitment to the dairy industry ran deep, and was second only to his devotion to his family,” said Rick Smith, DFA president and CEO. “The entire DFA family extends our heartfelt sympathy to the Camerlos. We share in grieving the passing of our colleague, a dear friend and a man whose lifetime commitment and leadership made an everlasting difference in the dairy industry.”

A scholarship to honor Tom’s legacy – the James P. “Tom” Camerlo, Jr. Memorial Scholarship – has been established at Colorado State University, his alma mater. Contributions in Tom’s name can be sent to the Colorado State University Foundation at P.O. Box 1870, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1870. Checks should mention the James P. “Tom” Camerlo, Jr. Memorial Scholarship in the memo line.

Dairy

Egytian Dairy Tour

Chuck Zimmerman

The final visit for the U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission team was a dairy farm in Egypt. This is the Mirhom Farag Farm, owned by Suzanne Basilios. In the video we walk through the dairy with the farm manager so you can see how the animals are kept in open lots. They are feeding hay and a lot of corn mixed with ddgs.

USGC Corn Mission In Egypt Photo Album

Dairy, USGC, Video

Alltech Goes Green in Serbia

Cindy Zimmerman

AlltechAlltech has opened a state-of-the art energy generation facility in Senta, Serbia.

According to the company, the new plant encompasses many cutting edge technologies and instead of using conventional fuel, it uses the waste from the yeast factory as a raw material. This waste is converted into biogas which is used to power the new co-generation plant, which is the first of its kind in Serbia and one of the first in Europe.

Pictured celebrating the opening of the plant in Serbia are Dr. Bojan Pajtić, current prime minister of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Serbia; Dr. Pearse Lyons, President of Alltech and Mr. Zoltan Pek, Mayor of Senta.

Alltech

Producer Thoughts On Egypt

Chuck Zimmerman

Corn MissionThe U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission Team has concluded visiting Egypt. Tomorrow it’s on to Jordan. Before finishing today we sat down for our debrief which includes documenting our observations and making recommendations based on what we saw. Those will be provided to USGC in the form of a final report. I have updated the Eqypt photo album from our visits today.

To get some producer feedback on our time in Egypt I interviewed Darren Armstrong, North Carolina. Darren says the biggest thing you see immediately is the potential. He says that in just a couple of years we should see significant growth. He says we need to keep our quality up and take care of the market by supporting Dr. Soliman, USGC Country Director. He thought the feedlots we visited were well taken care of and are becoming more efficient. He’s glad to see how ddgs have been so well accepted here and that is good for American producers. He says it’s, “been like a look back in history.” He compares where a lot of the Eqypt countryside is with where we were at in America not that long ago.

You can listen to my interview with Darren below:

USGC Corn Mission In Egypt Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Corn, Grains, USGC

Dr. Soliman Is Face of USGC In Egypt

Chuck Zimmerman

Corn MissionThe face and voice of the U.S. Grains Council in Egypt is Dr. Hussein Soliman pictured in the center of our Corn Mission group while visiting our last stop in the country. He has been working on behalf of U.S. grain producers for almost 20 years and has not only seen Egypt become one of our top importers but can take a lot of the credit for helping make it happen. You won’t find anyone more passionate about what he does. All of us on the team are very appreciative of his assistance and guidance while visiting this week.

I spoke to Dr. Soliman while we were at one of the Mirhom Farag Farms, owned by Suzanne Basilios, also in center of the photo. She treated us to a wonderful meal at her dairy and I’ll have a video clip of it coming up soon.

Dr. Soliman provides a very good summary of the work the USGC has done in Egypt and the results he’s seen over the years. The market is far from mature and in fact will grow tremendously, especially when the poultry sector gets back to normal. In the meantime, the biggest opportunities lie in beef and dairy production.

You can listen to my interview with Dr. Soliman below:

USGC Corn Mission In Egypt Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Corn, Grains, International, USGC

Mixing His Own Buffalo Feed

Chuck Zimmerman

Corn MissionNow that the modern form of open feedlot management has come to Egypt there are an increasing number of producers using the system. One of them is Ashraf Taha, pictured on the right.

The U.S. Grains Council Corn Mission visited the El-Amel Feedlot this morning to see his operation. He had very few animals left after having just sold most of them at market. He was actually using this time to do maintenance work on his feedlot facilities. Besides raising buffalo Ashraf is very particular about the feed he provides and invested in the equipment to mix his own which includes a healthy portion of ddgs.

You can listen to my interview with Ashraf below:

USGC Corn Mission In Egypt Photo Album

Audio, Corn, International, USGC

Will Agriculture Benefit From Climate Change Legislation?

Amanda Nolz

Stock-dam Will Agriculture Benefit From Climate Change Legislation? That’s the question that Hoosier Ag Today asked recently after the USDA released its final analysis of the Climate Change legislation that is currently making its way through Congress. As we looks at the pros and cons of this legislation, I think it’s safe to say that things are changing in the agriculture industry today, and we are going to have to be proactive instead of reactive when it comes to taking care of the environment.

Gary Truitt writes, According to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, “The report sees extraordinarily small increase in food prices. Somewhere between point one percent and point two percent in the short run and between one percent and two percent by the year 2050.”

He told reporters during a national teleconference on Wednesday that increases in fertilizer and energy costs will be minimal and that farmers will be able to more than offset those higher costs by trading in the carbon market. The Secretary says the conservative study, which assumed no technological progress, found that over the medium- and long-term, carbon offsets will “overwhelm” any increased production costs. Vilsack had tough words for those who advocate more study and a slower approach to dealing with climate change, ”The climate is changing and we have to deal with this change now.”

As the “original environmentalists,” farmers and ranchers should keep a close eye on this legislation. What are your thoughts on Climate Change legislation? How will it affect your segment of the agriculture industry?

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