The old water tower on the grounds of the Sunbelt Ag Expo makes a good platform to look out over the show. I climbed it last year for the first time and again this year.
I’ll be out on the grounds today finding more stories and taking more photos. So keep an eye on my photo album as I add to it.
Sunbelt Ag Expo 2009 Photo Album
AgWired coverage of Sunbelt Ag Expo is sponsored by 
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The main sponsor of the Southeastern Farmer of the Year program is Swisher Sweets. Representing them here at Sunbelt Ag Expo is Mr. J. Thomas Ryan, Swisher International. I talked with him prior to the Willie B. Withers luncheon.
He says it’s the 20th year that the company has sponsored the awards program. He says business is good for his company which makes cigars and smokeless tobacco products. The bulk of their business is domestic but they also sell products in 80 other countries.
You can listen to my interview with Mr. Ryan below:
Sunbelt Ag Expo 2009 Photo Album
AgWired coverage of Sunbelt Ag Expo is sponsored by .
The emcee for the Willie B. Withers luncheon at Sunbelt Ag Expo was Mr. Jimmy Hill, President/CEO, Georgia Agri-Leaders Forum Foundation. Jimmy says they develop leaders in agribusiness and forestry with a 12 month program. He says they have 18 people involved in this year’s program. The goal is to develop leaders who will get involved and help solve challenges faced by the industry.
The Study Institute Program of the Georgia Agri-Leaders Forum is an intensive exposure to a wide range of issues and policy discussion. These range from the economy to governmental process, as well as, a liberal opportunity to broaden leadership skills. The one-year program consists of six Study Institutes covering issues affecting those committed to agriculture, agribusiness, forestry and leadership in rural Georgia. Four In-State Institutes are structured in a three-day/two night format; A Government-in-Session (Atlanta/Washington DC) Institute covers eight days; and a National Travel Experience Institute in another state covers six days. Each Institute stresses leadership skills and generates sensitivity to pertinent issues, giving the participants an in-depth understanding of what it takes to get involved in bringing about solutions to political, economical, cultural, social, agricultural, agribusiness, forestry and leadership issues in rural Georgia.
You can listen to my interview with Jimmy below:
Sunbelt Ag Expo 2009 Photo Album
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There’s more than one way to farm fish. Usually you think ponds of tilapia or catfish right? Well there’s also sports fishing pond management of game fish like bass and bluegill. At Sunbelt Ag Expo they have a “fishing ponds” exhibit area. One of the exhibitors is Southeastern Pond Management. Seen in the photo is Kedric Nutt. He says his company helps a land owner manage their fish ponds which includes fish selection, weed control, pond evaluation and more.
Here at Expo the exhibit area is conducting seminars and has a demo pond which Kedric says has a bass species that is trained to eat pellet fish food but will still strike a fishing lure.
You can listen to my interview with Kedric below:
Sunbelt Ag Expo 2009 Photo Album
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At this year’s Sunbelt Ag Expo, Alpacas are popular, especially baby ones. Promoting them is the Southeastern Alpaca Association. Representing the Association here is Carrie Gamblin, Southern Hummers Alpacas, pictured with her husband Jay.
Carrie says the organization is the “hub” for all the member farms. Each farm gets a web page that’s part of the organizational website. They also have an annual show in March and do seminars throughout the year. One of the main projects they’re working on is to get enough animals in the country to convince the millers to take their fiber and run it through the milling process. So far there hasn’t been enough to make that happen. Apparently alpaca fiber would require different milling equipment than wool.
You can listen to my interview with Carrie below:
Sunbelt Ag Expo 2009 Photo Album
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KIOTI has just introduced a new utility vehicle – The MECHRON. Sounds kind of like a character in Transformers. But a couple of different versions were on display at Sunbelt Ag Expo. Now just about everyone has a utility vehicle in their product lineup. I spoke to Ron Parrish in the KIOTI exhibit about their new offering.
This Ultimate Transport Vehicle™ is driven by a fuel-efficient 22hp, 3-cylinder Daedong diesel engine that gives superb power and excellent fuel economy. With one of the widest tracks on the market and 4-wheel drive, the MECHRON™ delivers stable operation and superior traction over challenging terrain and up steep slopes. Front limited slip differential and rear differential lock are standard. The KIOTI UTV offers a 56″-wide dump bed – the widest on the market – for a 1600 pound payload capacity, 23% higher than the market leader.
You can listen to my interview with Ron below:
Sunbelt Ag Expo 2009 Photo Album
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The Georgia Peanut Commission has helped feed hungry people by donating lots of peanut butter this summer. To tell us all about it at Sunbelt Ag Expo, Executive Director, Don Koehler, spoke at this morning’s media breakfast to give us an update on the “Peanut Proud and Feeding Georgia” campaign.
Sunbelt Ag Expo 2009 Photo Album
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You don’t normally think of shrimp and agriculture at the same time. However, here at Sunbelt Ag Expo the Georgia Shrimp Association would like to educate you and feed you at the same time. John Wallace is the President and I caught him frying shrimp early on opening day of the show.
He says their shrimp are from the Atlantic Ocean so they’re “farmers of the sea.” They harvest between four to six million pounds of shrimp a year. Their food booth is actually a good fund raiser for their association.
You can listen to my interview with John below:
Sunbelt Ag Expo 2009 Photo Album
AgWired coverage of Sunbelt Ag Expo is sponsored by .
Congratulations to this year’s winners of the National Agri-Marketing Association 2009 Professional Development Awards of Excellence. These awards honor NAMA members based on outstanding achievement in the professional development areas. This year, Awards of Excellence were presented in the areas of marketing communications, public relations, product/species management and sales.
Lou Ireland, Senior Marketing Manager, N. American Sales/Marketing Communications, Pioneer Hi-Bred Intl., Inc. is honored with the award of excellence in Marketing Communications.
Deron Johnson, Vice President, Director of Public Relations, Rhea + Kaiser Marketing Communications, received the award of excellence in public relations.
Gary Robertson, Marketing Manager, Livestock Biologicals, Fort Dodge Animal Health, is honored with the Product/Species Management award of excellence.
Pete Weil, National Accounts Manager, High Plains/Midwest Ag Journal, received the sales award of excellence.
These awards will be presented during a special luncheon at the 2009 Trends In Agriculture conference, November 11, at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Kansas City, MO.
Steve Troxler is the Commissioner of Agriculture for North Carolina. His state is the spotlight state at this year’s Sunbelt Ag Expo. Steve is here to help kick things off and then I’ll bet he heads back home since their state fair is taking place right now too.
He cut the ribbon this morning at their tent to kick off this year’s Expo and I talked with him. He says their Got To Be NC Agriculture program is one of the ways they’re promoting NC farm products to consumers.
Steve says that agriculture is a $70 billion industry in North Carolina. In the picture with Steve above you can see a tobacco plant on the left. He says NC is the number one tobacco producing state in the country. They’re also number one in sweet potatoes.
Sunbelt Ag Expo 2009 Photo Album
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