Cattle Company Forces Change in Michael Pollan University Lecture

Amanda Nolz

1_00_off_burgers_large Finally, someone puts some pressure on Michael Pollan. He’s scheduled to speak at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in an unopposed keynote speech for college students geared on the topic of animal agriculture and food production. However, in a recent article in the Triple Pundit, sources revealed that David Wood, chairman of the Harris Ranch Beef Co., urged the university to put on a forum with well-respected agriculturalists on the panel to counteract Pollan’s statements. Way to go David! Here is an excerpt from that article…

After receiving pressure from the owner of an agribusiness — that just happens to be a major donor — the university decided to turn what was to be a guest lecture by noted sustainable agriculture guru Michael Pollan, into a “panel discussion” including a scientist favored by the beef industry, according to the Los Angeles Times. In an angry September 23rd letter to the university president, David E. Wood, chairman of the Harris Ranch Beef Co., wrote, “While I understand the need to expose students to alternative views, I find it unacceptable that the university would provide Michael Pollan an unchallenged forum to promote his stand against conventional agricultural practices..”

Allowing Pollan to speak unchallenged had made Wood “rethink [his] continued financial support of the university.” Wood has pledged $150,000 toward a new meat processing plant on campus. Pollan, who has encountered such resistance to his appearances before, told the university he could lecture, or he could participate in the panel, but not both. Cal Poly made its decision, and quickly assembled a panel featuring Pollan, Gary Smith, Monfort Endowed Chair in meat science at Colorado State University, and Myra Goodman, co-founder of Earthbound Farm Organic, one of the largest organic businesses in the country.

Beef, Media

Consumers Trust Farmers, Still Hold High Expectations

Amanda Nolz

Food-Safety Consumers still trust farmers; they just need their confidence restored in some aspects of the food system. Those were some of the conclusions from a “consumer trust” survey commissioned by the Center for Food Intregity. Highlights from the survey were presented last week at the 4th Annual 2009 Food System Summit in Kansas City. Geni Wren summed up the conclusions of the study in an article titled, “Consumers Trust Farmers, But Also Hold Them Responsible,” published in Dairy Herd Management. Here is an excerpt from the study…

-Consumers hold farmers/producers, themselves and food companies primarily responsible for food safety.
-Consumers continue to trust themselves and those who prepare food in their homes more than any others.
-Consumers place a high amount of trust in farmers and food companies for food safety.
-Consumers hold farmers primarily responsible for humane treatment of farm animals.
-Consumers lack confidence in any food system segment for ensuring the humane treatment of farm animals.
-Consumers hold farmers primarily responsible for sustainability.
-Consumers lack confidence and trust in any food system segment for ensuring sustainability.
-Consumers hold themselves, farmers and food companies primarily responsible for nutrition.
-Consumers lack confidence and trust in any food system segment for ensuring nutrition.

Food, Livestock

United Soybean Board Supports World Food Prize Hall

Cindy Zimmerman

WFPThe United Soybean Board (USB) and soybean checkoff, through USB’s Biotechnology Initiative, announced a $500,000 investment in the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates in Des Moines, Iowa. This investment will be used to help create a kiosk in the new educational wing at the Hall of Laureates that will help educate the public on the value of biotechnology toward increasing U.S. soybean production.

usbThe announcement was made by Richard Fordyce, team lead on USB’s Biotechnology Initiative and a soybean farmer from Bethany, Missouri. “The exciting things are what are to come – the soybeans that will be bred to increase protein, increase oil,” Fordyce said. “If we can move forward with worldwide acceptance of biotech crops, it could be a very exciting time. The potential is very good for soybeans in helping to address world hunger.”

The proposed educational exhibit is planned to utilize a conversation recorded this past year between the late Dr. Norman Borlaug, founder of the World Food Prize, and the chairman of the United Soybean Board. World Food Prize Foundation president Ambassador Kenneth Quinn said the donation from the U.S. soybean producers will benefit many. “I can speak on behalf of Dr. Borlaug who would tell you thank you as well,” Quinn said. “Not only on behalf of the World Food Prize, but on behalf of all those future generations of students who will come there and be able to hear Dr. Borlaug speak.”

The Hall of Laureates will be named after Dr. Bourlag and housed in the former Des Moines Library. Renovation of the 100-year-old building is expected to be complete by 2011.

USB, World Food Prize

Trade Show Kicks Off at BlogWorld

Chuck Zimmerman

The trade show kicked off this morning here at BlogWorld. I did a walk through video clip for you and for myself to decide which ones I want to go back and spend some time with. So if you’ve never seen what a bunch of geeks getting together looks like, now you’ll know. Video shot and uploaded with my iPhone.

Activity on the floor was great to get the show started.

BlogWorld Expo Photo Album

Video

Blogosphere Is Very Healthy

Chuck Zimmerman

Richard Jalichandra TechnoratiDay two of the BlogWorld and New Media Expo is underway. We’re listing to Richard Jalichandra, Technorati, give a preview of this year’s State of the Blogosphere. It will be published next week.

They surveyed bloggers this past year and he’s showing us some selected statistics. He started out by saying that the blogosphere is very healthy and contrary to media reports otherwise, bloggers are blogging even more than last year. Of the professional bloggers, 40 percent have worked in traditional media. He says, “Blogs are media.” I fully agree with that.

I caught Richard on his way out after his keynote address and you can listen to my interview with him below.

BlogWorld Expo Photo Album

Audio

World Food Day Good Time To Thank Farmers

Chuck Zimmerman

World Food DayAfter having Blog Action Day yesterday, today we have the 29th World Food Day. It’s a great time to thank a farmer for feeding you. And we can especially thank American farmers who lead the way in innovation, environmental stewardship and production.

World Food Day, October 16th, is a worldwide event designed to increase awareness, understanding and informed, year-around action to alleviate hunger.

That is a noble goal and one that the American farmer and agricultural companies and organizations work year round to achieve.

Here’s a list of events taking place today to commemorate the event.

Ag Groups

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • AgCareers.com is offering a Webinar on Friday, Oct. 30, 2009, at 11 a.m., “Coaching and Mentoring Strategies for Success.”
  • AgVenture Frontier Hybrids has hired Charlie Maddux as the company’s sales and marketing manager.
  • Eighty-five students from 11 universities competed for top honors in the 2009 Collegiate Weed Science Contest. Among the challenges: Identify more than two dozen weeds on sight. Visit the Weed Science Society of America online to see whether you can identify the same weeds.
  • Cargill announced that five of its Nutrena brand horse feeds can now be purchased at Tractor Supply Company stores across the United States. Nutrena SafeChoice and the four Nutrena Life Design formulations are available in more than 900 Tractor Supply stores nationwide.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Bill Gates Defends Biotech Crops

    Cindy Zimmerman

    At the World Food Prize Forum in Des Moines on Thursday, Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates spoke out in support of biotechnology to help feed the world.

    “We have to develop crops, including new inputs to go with them that can grow in a drought,” Gates said. “We have to have crops that can survive a flood, that can resist pests and new diseases. We need higher yields on the same land, despite more difficult weather. And we will never get there without a continuous and urgent, science-based search to increase productivity, especially focused on the needs of small farms in the developing world.”

    WFPGates took environmentalists to task for having an idealistic attitude that jeopardizes the ability of developing countries to grow enough food. “They have tried to restrict the spread of biotechnology into sub-Saharan Africa without regard to how much hunger and poverty might be reduced by it.”

    While Gates said that major breakthroughs in the fight against hunger and poverty are now within reach, he cautioned that progress toward alleviating global hunger is “endangered by an ideological wedge that threatens to split the movement in two.” On one side, he said, there are groups that support technological solutions to increase agricultural productivity without proper regard to environmental and sustainability concerns. On the other, there are those who react negatively to any emphasis on productivity.

    “It’s a false choice, and it’s dangerous for the field,” Gates said. “It blocks important advances. It breeds hostility among people who need to work together. And it makes it hard to launch a comprehensive program to help poor farmers. The fact is, we need both productivity and sustainability—and there is no reason we can’t have both.”

    Let’s put this in the Blog Action Day Climate Change category under the topic of Food Production. We can have both – productivity and long term sustainability. In fact, we already do have both here in the United States. The majority of our nation’s farms are models of both productivity and sustainability for the world. We are using less land, less fertilizer, and less energy to produce more food than ever before. If developing nations are able to utilize biotech crops, we can and will be able to feed the billion people across the globe who are suffering from malnutrition, as well as the increasing global population. I’m not a big fan of Bill Gates, but I have to applaud him today for standing up to radical environmentalists who want us to move backward instead of forward.

    Biotech, Environment, Sustainability, World Food Prize

    Blog Action Day Thoughts

    Chuck Zimmerman

    BADIt’s Blog Action Day. A day when apparently a whole lot of environmental extremists are joyfully proclaiming the end of life as we know it. Seems like a continuation of the Chicken Little theory. Take the Prime Minister of the UK’s blog post that says, “Climate change is the biggest threat to all our futures.” Maybe we should just all roll over and die right now? Or is it possible that we’ve got a lot of people trying to alarm and scare the public to help further their political agenda? Take a look at the photo in this post on the organizing group, Change.org’s, blog on animal rights. Yes they want you to become vegans.

    I’m hoping that a lot of farm bloggers are weighing in on the subject of climate change. As Cindy said earlier this week, the organizers of this annual promotion even sent out very misleading and incorrect information about agricultural production, encouraging participating bloggers to use it in their posts.

    If you’re a regular AgWired reader you know of my complete skepticism of global warming and that mankind has an impact that is changing the climate. I believe in climate change of course and that different areas of the world have changes from time to time. Take the seasons for example.

    The fact is that agricultural production and the technological breakthroughs we’re seeing in precision, seed technology and better chemistry is having a positive impact on the environment and our ability to help feed the world. So let’s accept the fact that we have climate change and focus on how to deal with it instead of trying to scapegoat the very people who provide our food. Let’s realize that we’re seeing the development of crops that are drought resistant and that we’re producing more and more food on less and less land.

    Yeah, this year’s Blog Action Day topic and the hysteria it’s trying to create is just plain BAD.

    Uncategorized

    ZimmComm On Location at BlogWorld

    Chuck Zimmerman

    BlogWorld and New Media ExpoHow do you become new media experts? Participate in conferences like BlogWorld and New Media Expo. That’s why I’m here with Carly and Robert our webmaster. In fact, Robert is in this photo somewhere. The Mac in the front row on the left is mine.

    The opening session is underway featuring Laura Fitton, Pistachio Consulting. She’s challenging and inspiring us. And many need that after their first night in Las Vegas!

    Part of her message so far is to be or become lucky and she’s telling her story of how she has become successful through her expertise in “microsharing.” She just said that Twitter has improved her life. Sounds silly right? Well if you don’t understand how that can happen and how a social networking utility like Twitter can improve your business or farm then you probably haven’t invested a little time in learning what it can do for you. But since you’re not here feel free to give me a call and I can conduct a social media training session for you.

    I’ve started a photo album for the conference which I’ll be adding to periodically over the next couple days: BlogWorld Photo Album

    Post Update: I interviewed Laura after her session. Laura says that the main message she wanted people to walk away with was “Be Awesome.” She also wanted to plant the idea of using social networking mechanisms like Twitter to connect with other people and get your ideas out in the world where they might yield awesome results.

    She says Twitter has helped take her from a busy stay at home Mom to giving the keynote here, publishing a book and launching her business. She points out how well Twitter works for business since there are so many Twitter tools.

    Listen to my interview with Laura below:

    Uncategorized