USPB Hosts Workshop for International PVO Guests

Amanda Nolz

uspb_pvo_training_april_2009-981 The United States Potato Board (USPB) recently met to introduce new ideas about dehydrated potatoes. Guests learned the nutritional facts, planting, production, harvesting, storing and processing. Eight international guests from four private voluntary organizations (PVOs) and two guests from US PVO headquarters attended the USPB Dehydrated Potato Workshop. Among the PVOs participating this year were Africare, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the International Partnership for Human Development (IPHD), Joint Aid Management (JAM), and the Adventist Development Relief Agency (ADRA).

For the third year running, the USPB hosted guests from select international PVOs for a workshop to introduce US dehydrated potatoes (dehy) as a sensible solution to food programming. The workshop started in Idaho Falls, ID, and finished with the 2009 United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and USDA sponsored International Food Aid Conference (IFAC) in Kansas City, MO.

uspb_pvo_training_april_2009-77 T.K. Kuwahara, USPB International Marketing Manager of Dehy, introduced the USPB and its programs designed to support PVOs in their food programming efforts. Dehydrated potatoes, a commodity available to PVO’s through USDA and USAID programs, was also introduced. Dehy is often overlooked due to the fact PVO’s are not aware of its benefits.

“Dehy is convenient, nutritious, versatile, and economical for use in food programming,” Kuwahara said. “You can’t get all of benefits of dehy from a list of commodities, so we invite the PVO’s to learn firsthand how they can incorporate dehy to support programs such as the health recovery of people living with HIV/AIDS, to school feeding programs with sustainability features of Parent Teacher Organizations (PTOs), to food aid for emergency relief work.”

Farming, Food

NAFB Webinar

Chuck Zimmerman

NAFB WebinarIf you haven’t seen the results of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting Wave Study then you’ve got an online chance coming up.

We want to share that presentation with you, as an NAFB member. It features recorded clips of a number of producers, from across NAFB geography, talking about their dependence upon farm radio. These farmers and ranchers offer candid and valuable insights into their daily use of agri-media.

Mike Parry will walk you through this presentation during two upcoming Webinars. The session will last 60 minutes. Please e-mail Member Services Manager Jennifer Saylor by June 5 to register for the Webinar you prefer:

Tuesday, June 9 at 2:00 pm (CST)
Wednesday, June 10 at 10:00 am (CST)

This free Webinar is intended for members of all three NAFB Councils – Broadcast, Management & Sales, and Allied Industry. Don’t miss it!

NAFB

FCC/USDA Helping Us Become Publishers

Chuck Zimmerman

FCCThe move to make sure all Americans have access to high speed internet access continues to gain momentum. This week Acting FCC Chairman, Michael Copps, released a report to be used as a starting point for the development of policies to continue to deliver broadband to rural areas. I believe this is needed to help restore economic growth and opportunities for people living the country life.

Recognizing that the need for broadband in rural America is becoming ever-more critical, Congress in the 2008 Farm Bill required the FCC Chairman, in coordination with the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, to submit a report to Congress describing a rural broadband strategy. Entitled “Bringing Broadband to Rural America: Report on a Rural Broadband Strategy,” (pdf) the report byActing Chairman Copps identifies common problems affecting rural broadband, including technological challenges, lack of data, and high network costs, and offers some recommendations to address those problems.

Broadband “is the interstate highway of the 21st century for small towns and rural communities, the vital connection to the broader nation and, increasingly, the global economy,” Acting Chairman Copps said in the report. “Our nation as a whole will prosper aa concerted effort to bring broadband to rural America.”

In the report, Acting Chairman Copps notes that Congress has provided new direction and support for federal broadband policies and initiatives, in particular through the American Recoveryand Reinvestment Act of 2009. In addition to providing $7.2 billion for broadband grants, loans and loan guarantees administered by the Agriculture and Commerce departments, that law charges the FCC with developing a national broadband plan by next February.

I love this statement in the report on why broadband matters:

In addition, we not only surf the web, send e-mail, form social networks, and download music and video, but also become ourselves creators of web-based content as we blog about local or world events, and become publishers in our own right.

Here’s what it says about agriculture:

It is clear that access to fixed and mobile broadband services also has the potential to enhance the efficiency and productivity of a number of agricultural activities in rural areas. Farmers, particularly those with smaller operations or in more remote locations, can materially benefit from real-time access to weather and crop reports and to databases of local and national agricultural extension services. For example, farmers can be warned if there is a heightened risk of a plant blight, a livestock disease, or an insect infestation; examine the problem; and know immediately what they need to do to address it. They can call upon Internet-driven tools and applications to consult with experts and precisely calculate the additional inputs they might need to enable their fields to flourish and their animals to thrive—with less waste or risk to the environment. Detailed online market information can help farmers time the sales of their products more profitably. Web-based interaction can help consumer-focused farmers develop a personal relationship with their clientele to assist in bringing the right products to markets at the right time—saving time, fuel, and frustration.

Internet

Speaker to Debunk Animal Activists

Amanda Nolz

A workshop to educate farmers and ranchers on how to become spokespersons for agriculture will be held June 19, 2009 at Westwood Park in Geauga County, Ohio. This workshop, sponsored by the ProAnimal Coalition of northeast Ohio, will provide information on how local speakers can tell the factual story of animal agriculture and its importance to us and our food supply.

matt-sv-thumb Featured speaker will be Matt Sutton-Vermeulen, nationally known for working with leaders in the community and agricultural industry to help them reach out to the community with factual information about animal agriculture. If you’re in the area, this workshop sounds like a valuable resource for spokesperson training.

Sutton-Vermeulen will focus on the myths and misinformation from animal rights groups that are out of touch with today’s agriculture and putting our food supply at risk. He is well-know for working with non-governmental groups to help them become animal agriculture activists.

The June 19 workshop is open to all interested people who want to be spokespersons for animal agriculture and its importance to our country. Threats are coming from the Humane Society of the United States that they are coming to Ohio with a program to restrict sound, approved livestock practices. Such restrictions, if imposed, would reduce our food supply and increase the cost.

Registration for the workshop can be done by calling the Northeast Farm Bureau Office at 800-410-4613 by June 15. Registration is free if made by June 15 and $30 after that date. Westwood Park is located at 9465 Kinsman Road, state Route 87, in Russell Township, Geauga County.

For more information, link to John Parker’s article at Trib Today.

Food, politics

Discover Farting Cows

Chuck Zimmerman

I just got pointed to another wacko group trying to claim that what we eat is causing global warming. There’s just so much wrong with this. Global warming? Uh, that hasn’t even been conclusively proven. Too many scientists disagree on the subject. So why do these wacko groups employ scare tactics and outright lies? To raise money to line their pockets and push a completely different agenda which seems to me to be more about their “religion” than the topic.

This one is from Let’s Act Now. They’re so ashamed of themselves that they don’t even identify who they are other than to say that it’s a “joint effort of a group of people . . . ” Now that’s really clear. I guess they wanted to be clear that it wasn’t animals doing this but people.

Of course when you see that they’re promoting Animal Planet, Discovery Channel and the farting cow you start to figure it out. According to the NCBA Issues & Reputation Management program, it appears to be an effort of Supreme Master Television, a free-to-air satellite broadcasting channel run by a self-described spiritual teacher Ching Hai. Supreme Master Television operates out of its Los Angeles studio and features programs that “support a modern lifestyle that is green, healthy and compassionate.”

Apparently this wacko group is sending it’s self-promoting tv commercials to stations in the guise of a PSA and some of them are ignorant enough to air them.

Wackos

“Take me Out to the Ball Game” Song and Video Contest

Amanda Nolz

Got a beat in your step and a competitive edge? Here is an interesting contest you might want to consider entering…

batdog The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council today announced an impressive lineup of judges for the Council’s contest to rewrite “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”so that it includes a long-overdue reference to hot dogs.

Judges will include Washington D.C.’s “Man About Town,” Bob Madigan,of WTOP radio; Chicago news and sports personality Bob Sirott of NBC5 ; hot dog historian Bruce Kraig, author of the new book Hot Dog; Agri-talk Radio Host Mike Adams; and Eric Haman, corporate communications manager at Hatfield Quality Meats and star of the YouTube sensation “The Hatfield Hot Dog Launcher.”

Entries must be received by June 12, 2009. Winners will be announced at the start of National Hot Dog Month July 1 and will be featured in an online video on the Hot Dog Council’s YouTube channel.

For details on prizes and how to enter, link to the American Meat Institute.

Advertising, Public Relations

Are You Using Your Strengths?

Amanda Nolz

Whether it’s a job, team or club, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. The important thing is both improving upon those weaknesses and utilizing talents and strengths. I often get updates from Ag Careers, offering advice on how to be most effective in your career. “Understanding and Utilizing your “Strengths,” by AgCareers.com with content from Marcus Buckingham’s book Go Put Your Strengths to Work has a great message for those wishing to make their strengths more relevant at work, school, clubs, etc.

Your strengths are those activities that make you feel strong. The person best qualified to identify them is you. You don’t need a manager or a performance appraisal, or even a psychologist to tell you what your strengths are. Think about which activities draw you back to them time and again. You know which activities you can’t help volunteering for. There are certain activities that keep your interest and your concentration with almost no effort. You know which activities leave you feeling strong, fulfilled, and powerful.

So, what are your greatest strengths? That’s one of the first questions a person is asked in an interview. What makes you feel strong? How can you put more of an emphasis on those strengths in your career? For me, it’s important to do the job that makes your heart sing. At graduation, I received a card that said, “If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life,” and I think that’s so true. Today, take a minute to think about your strengths and weaknesses. What are the areas you can improve upon, and what are the things that make you thrive?

Agribusiness

Carbon Policy Topic of Next Farm Foundation Forum

John Davis

farmfoundationforum3In the tradition of bringing together diverse points of view to come up with real solutions to the problems facing agriculture today, our friends at the Farm Foundation are hosting another one of their trademark forums.

Entitled “Carbon Policy Options and Implications for Agriculture,” this conversation will be held this coming Tuesday, June 2nd:

Presenters confirmed for this Forum are:

* Iowa farmer Varel Bailey,
* Allison Specht of the American Farm Bureau Federation,
* Jon Scholl of American Farmland Trust,
* Nathan Rudgers of 25 x ’25, and
* Lou Hayden of the American Petroleum Institute.

This free, two-hour forum starts at 9 a.m. at the National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW, in Washington, D.C. As usual, each presenter has 10 minutes to make their comments, and then it’s opened up for discussion from the floor.

Make your reservation with Mary Thompson, Farm Foundation Director of Communication, at mary@farmfoundation.org by this Friday, May 29th.

Farm Foundation

Shall We Gather at the River

Amanda Nolz

It seems like there’s a new video put out everyday. Thankfully, this video entitled, Shall We Gather at the River which was produced in 2008, went pretty much under the radar. I was sent this from a friend in Washington D.C. the other day, and I thought I would share it with all of you. I think it’s increasingly important that we understand and comprehend what the media and the consumers think about the agriculture industry, and this movie definitely points fingers with us as the bad guys. Here is a brief summary on the video…

A hundred years ago one man wrote a book that changed America. The man was Upton Sinclair. The book was “The Jungle.” It exposed the scandalous rancid health conditions inside the country’s meat processing plants and led to the passage of landmark federal legislation that regulated health and sanitation in meat processing for the first time in our history.

A heart stopping new documentary, “Shall We Gather at the River” has just been released which exposes a huge health and environmental scandal in our modern industrial system of meat and poultry production. The health and environmental damage documented in today’s factory farms far exceeds the damage that Sinclair could have imagined a century ago. Some scientists have condemned current factory farm practices, calling them “mini Chernobyls.”

I don’t think this calls for action as the movie has come and gone; however, let this be an educational moment on the increasing number of individuals who don’t like the way their food is raised in this country. What can we do to earn the trust of the consumers again? Where do we start. I’ll tell you one thing…it starts with me. It starts with one letter to the editor, one positive photo, one great blog post, one conversation in the coffee shop. I’m not going to let dramatic video productions stand in my way and tell my story. It starts with me…

Farm Policy

Misty Mount Rainier

Chuck Zimmerman

Mount RainierThis will be my last photo post of the day from the great state of Washington.

Although most of the mountains were clouded over this morning, they pretty well cleared up this afternoon. Here’s Mount Rainier on my way back to Seattle. According to Wikipedia it’s an active stratovolcano. With the cloud lingering at the top it looks like it’s smoking!

Mount Rainier is an active stratovolcano (also known as a composite volcano) in Pierce County, Washington, located 54 miles (87 km) southeast of Seattle, Washington, in the United States. It is the highest peak in the Cascade Range and Cascade Volcanic Arc at 14,411 feet (4,392 m). The mountain and the surrounding area are protected within Mount Rainier National Park. With 26 major glaciers and 35 square miles (91 km2) of permanent snowfields and glaciers, Mount Rainier is the most heavily glaciated peak in the lower 48 states.

Uncategorized