AgChat Summary

Chuck Zimmerman

AgChatAnother AgChat session is in the can. This time the focus was on food safety. You can follow back through the conversation via Twitter. Here’s the questions that were posed.

Q1 via @agriblogger Is it reasonable to expect that government can guarantee #food safety? #farm #agchat

Q2 Via @TruffleMedia What will Food Safety Modernization Act ’09 do for consumers and producers, if passed? http://bit.ly/117Y44 #agchat

Q3 via @KateOnline What are some of the biggest misconceptions about the way food is produced/grown/raised & safety of that food? #agchat

Q4 What are key resources for the consumer to learn about food safety? #agchat http://twubs.com/agchat

Q5 via @KateOnline Do you feel consumers perceive certain products as safer? Organic/Local/Conventional? #agchat

Q6 via @KateOnline What #ag and #farm practices do you see or use that improve #food safety? #agchat

Q7 – the grand finale: What is the one executable idea you can take away from this evening’s fiery #food convo? #agchat

The online session was fast paced at times as comments and ideas were proposed from a wide array of people. According to our moderator we had 1200 tweets in less than2 hours with 150+ different contributors. Over the last 3 months we’ve had over 400 unique contributors.

Thanks again to Michele Payn-Knoper for moderating. Also feel free to check out AgChat on Facebook.

Uncategorized

From Rainy Plains to Dry Mountains

Amanda Nolz

img_1931 Well, I’m finally here for an exciting week at the 2009 Cattle Industry Summer Convention. I’m writing to you from the News Room at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Denver. I’ve ditched the rainy plains of South Dakota for a much more summery mountain climate of Colorado. Before the week kicks off, I thought I would give an agricultural update about my home state.

While I’ve been gone, my mom reported to me that we received another 1.5 inches of rain last night. Now, for Texans, I know that must sound like heavenly music. However, since May 31, we have had over 17 inches of rain, and a lot of hail, too. Average rain fall for an entire YEAR in South Dakota is 20 inches, and we have had over six inches in the last week! Of course, I hate to complain, our grass is thicker and taller than ever. We need more pairs to run on the pastures this year! However, our oats have flooded out and haying has been nearly impossible. Last night, my grandpa’s pastures were hit with grapefruit-size hail, killing livestock, deer and pheasants during the storm. It’s certainly been an interesting “summer,” to say the least. I can honestly say this is one of the first summers to my recollection where we aren’t praying for rain at this time of year.

So, how about all of you? How is the weather at home? How are the crops and livestock doing this summer? Are you overcoming Mother Nature’s challenges, whether it be drought or flood? I want to hear from you.

Oh, and be sure to tune in tonight as I will be reporting updates on Cattlemen’s Beef Board activities. Check out more blog entries at the Beef Board Meeting Blog.

Signing off from my Denver vacation from the rainy plains!

Amanda

Cattle Industry Conference, Farming, Livestock

Dow AgroSciences Acquires Pfister Hybrids

Chuck Zimmerman

Pfister HybridsHere’s the latest change in the seed business and it’s a big one.

Dow AgroSciences LLC announced today it is acquiring the majority of assets of Illinois based corn company Pfister Hybrids. The addition of Pfister Hybrids will further expand Dow AgroSciences’ current U.S. seeds business as the company anticipates the introduction of SmartStax(TM) in 2010 and Dow AgroSciences Herbicide Tolerance (DHT) technology in corn in 2012. The transactional close is expected in the near future.

“Pfister was one of the founding seed corn companies in the Midwest, and we are proud to continue the legacy started more than seven decades ago by one of the nation’s original seedsmen Lester Pfister,” said Stan Howell, vice president, North America Regional Commercial Unit for Dow AgroSciences. “Pfister Seeds is a welcomed addition to our U.S. seed business. At Dow AgroSciences investing in innovation is the key to our future, and we look forward to building upon the Pfister tradition.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Dow AgroSciences will acquire the Pfister brand and the sales and marketing areas, as well as the warehousing and administrative services of the business. Dow AgroSciences will continue to independently market seeds under the Pfister Seeds brand, and Pfister Seeds will continue to be headquartered at its existing location in El Paso.

Linda Brown, president for Pfister, will remain with Pfister Seeds LLC as general manager. Dale Brown will continue with Pfister as the business and brand development lead and Bill Salmi will remain as the company controller.

Agribusiness, Seed

Redfish Seminar at Peanut Conference

carly

Redfish Riviera OutfittersA new addition this year to the Southern Peanut Growers Conference first day fun was a Redfish Sport Fishing Seminar, presented by Redfish Riviera Outfitters.

Steve Bailey with Redfish Riviera and Captain Daniel Snapp with Grassy Flats Charters, in colorful shirts promoting peanuts, presented tips and tricks of the fishing trade to peanut growers and their families.

Listen to an interview with Steve and Captain Daniel here:

Audio, Peanuts

American Peanut Council President Honored

carly

The Webster definition of “valor” is “strength of mind or spirit that enables a person to encounter danger with firmness” and that was required this year more than any other for the peanut industry.

Patrick ArcherIn recognition for his strength and leadership of the peanut industry during a time of crisis, American Peanut Council president Patrick Archer received the Valor Award, presented by Valent USA.

Patrick says this year is one he hopes he never has to repeat. “The recall started January 9th and was greatly expanded the following weekend, which was inauguration week in Washington DC,” Patrick said. “The city was in lock down, we had to work from home. It made a difficult situation even more of a challenge.”

He credits everyone in the peanut industry with the massive communications effort that helped get information out that eventually helped to resolve the situation. “The industry really pulled together during the crisis and everybody from the grower all the way through the manufacturer really worked hard in a concerted and coordinated effort to combat the problem,” Patrick said.

Listen to an interview with Patrick here:

Audio, Peanuts

Pioneer Launches Plenish

Chuck Zimmerman

Pioneer PlenishSoybean growers now have a new brand to add to their arsenal of seed options. This one from Pioneer Hi-Bred.

Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business, today introduced Plenish as the brand name for the high oleic soybean oil trait in the next generation of healthy soybean products from Pioneer. These products will bring more value to soybean growers in high-performing varieties and increased global competitiveness for the U.S. soybean industry.

The Plenish high oleic soybean oil trait will be introduced in the industry-leading lineup of Pioneer® brand soybean varieties. These varieties are on track for a limited introduction in the U.S. for 2010 planting, pending regulatory approval, and will be offered in a broad range of maturity groups.

“Pioneer leads the industry in the development and commercialization of soybean traits that benefit everyone from growers to consumers,” says John Muenzenberger, Pioneer business manager for specialty oils. “Developed through the Pioneer exclusive Accelerated Yield Technology (AYTTM) system and launched in the Y Series product line, these soybean varieties will have the key agronomic and defensive traits growers want, including resistance to SCN, Phytophthora and SDS. Also making it attractive to growers will be the opportunity to receive a premium for producing and segregating their high oleic crop.

Agribusiness, Pioneer, Soybean

Florida’s ‘Pure’ Honey Standard

Amanda Nolz

Get your sweet tooth ready for Florida’s “pure” honey standard in Florida! According the the Miami Herald Breaking Business News, Nirvi Shah reports about Florida’s big step towards producing pure honey for the world.

honey Florida has become the first state — and possibly the first in the world — to ban additives, chemicals or other substances from honey produced, sold or processed in Florida.

”Too often in the past, honey has been cut with water or sugar, and sometimes even contaminated with insecticides or antibiotics,” said Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson. “In the future, when you’re paying for honey in this state, pure honey is what you will get.”

Food

Catch You in Denver!

Amanda Nolz

baby-face-close-up Are you geared up for the Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Denver? I’m getting ready and packing my suitcase for an exciting week with beef cattle raisers from around the country. There are so many things to see in do while at the conference, and I will be working with Cindy to cover the Cattlemen’s Beef Board meetings and events throughout the week.

Be sure to catch us at our new media workshops, where we will be discussing blogging tips and tricks for effectively telling the beef production story. I hope to meet a lot of you there! Who knows, maybe we will even stop you for an interview! See you there!

For a full schedule of events at the Cattle Industry Summer Convention, link here.

Beef, Cattle Industry Conference

Marinade Your Meat on Demand

Chuck Zimmerman

Schwan's Beef Chimichurri Marinade on DemandIf you like to marinade your beef before cooking it then you might want to think Schwan’s courtesy of The Chicago Meat Authority. Take this Marinade on Demand Chimichurri Beef. Yes, Marinade on Demand. It doesn’t get any more convenient than that.

Marinate with all of the flavor but none of the mess. SCHWAN’S® exclusive packaging lets you marinade your meat all in one package-no additional bowls needed! This self-marinating package contains USDA Choice Ranch steaks and a popular South American Chimichurri marinade made with cilantro, onion, garlic, bell pepper, parsley and lime juice. Just thaw, marinade and grill for steak house perfection.

I’m pretty sure the Joint New Products & Culinary Initiatives Committee of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and NCBA had something to do with this.

But let’s say you’d like to have a nice pork dinner and wish there was a way to do the same. There is. Isn’t life wonderful? Try Schwan’s Marinade on Demand Herb and Garlic Pork.

Beef, Food, Pork

Peanuts on Panama City Beach

carly

Hello from Panama City Beach, Florida and the Southern Peanut Growers Conference.

The theme of the 11th annual conference is really a tribute to the U.S. peanut industry for overcoming adversity in 2009.

Everyone knows that this year has been a tough one for the industry, starting out with the salmonella issue in January. But, Georgia Peanut Commission executive director Don Koehler says the industry has come back stronger than ever after what could have been a complete crisis.

“Farmers are really resilient and even though it wasn’t a crisis they caused themselves, we have made it through,” Don says. “And the really good news is that our May 2009 numbers for peanut butter were 13 1/2 percent over what we did in May 2008.”

That is truly an amazing example of crisis management and communications, two topics growers will be hearing about during the conference this week, as well as an even bigger emphasis on food safety than ever before. “We want to make sure that can never happen again,” said Don. “But, when you look at it, we’ve got to take our hats off and maybe even bow just a little bit to the growers and to the peanut industry in general.”

See all the coverage of the peanut conference here on the SPGC blog.

The SPGC Flickr Photo Album is started – view it here and keep checking back as photos will continue to be updated throughout the conference.

Listen to an interview with Don here:

Audio, Peanuts