If you are concerned about the indirect land use change (ILUC) issue, you should plan to attend the National Corn Growers Association’s Corn Ethanol Land Use Conference in St. Louis on August 25-26.
Registrants can participate in a myriad of topical sessions including land use change, nitrous oxide, new technologies and their effect on greenhouse gas emissions, domestic and international yields, satellite data and land conversion greenhouse gas emission factors, defining renewable biomass, and distillers grains.
“This conference provides a unique opportunity to get the latest information on land use from some of the most prominent experts in industry and academia. We are fortunate to have speakers representing each of the various models used in developing the rules implementing the new Renewable Fuel Standard,” said Jamey Cline, NCGA Director of Biofuel Programs.
Presenters already scheduled for the conference include Dr. Bruce Dale of Michigan State University, Dr. Wally Tyner of Purdue University, Dr. Pat Westhoff of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute and Dr. Michael Wang of Argonne National Laboratory.
Cost for the conference is $250, and includes refreshments, a cocktail reception and lunch. The meeting will take place at the Renaissance St. Louis Airport Hotel. Registration information is available on-line.
Holistic health for horses just got a little better.
According to a 
Speaking of NAFB . . . They have announced their 2009 Foundation Scholarship Recipients.
It’s time to book your room and reservation for this year’s National Association of Farm Broadcasting convention. You can hear a message from Greg Akagi about the convention 
Here are a couple of new online resources to get information about food and farming in the United States today. Both are backed by the 
The other site is 
During the recent Ag Media Summit my friends at 
It was very interesting to note that although over 94% expressed high levels of confidence with proposing the use of digital and social media, a high number (39.7%) said their top challenge was “unclear ROI to justify efforts.” So although they like and are comfortable with new media options they aren’t clear how to justify them. I think it’s interesting since these social media mechanisms are so “measurable.” However, there seems to me to be a lingering fear and or distrust of using measurements that don’t include all of a person’s demographic data. As if somehow, the visitors to a blog on agriculture aren’t farmers. Of course, some may not be but on the other hand why would you not think that visitors to a topical blog are involved or at least very interested in the subject?
Looking ahead to the Farm Progress Show, there’s already a lot of activity on the site, including exhibitors. Take Monsanto for example. They’re not only busy but you can follow along since they have several web options.
Jim Evans, 
“One of the things we’ve seen all summer with the economic situation, people have moved away from traditional steaks and those kinds of more expensive product. We’re working with retailers to help them feature those kinds of items. We’re helping consumers understand how to use something like the flatiron were they can still have the steak experience but at a lower cost.”