Happy Arbor Day!

Amanda Nolz

arbor-day-morton According to TreeHelp.com, the first Arbor Day took place on April 10, 1872 in Nebraska. It was the brainchild of Julius Sterling Morton (1832-1902), a Nebraska journalist and politician originally from Michigan. Throughout his long and productive career, Morton worked to improve agricultural techniques in his adopted state and throughout the United States when he served as President Grover Cleveland’s Secretary of Agriculture. But his most important legacy is Arbor Day.

img_1035 Yesterday, I was reading through The SDSU Collegian, the campus newspaper, and I saw an advertisement for a 5K this morning. It was the 20th Annual Kay Cheever Arbor Day Run for Shade, an early morning 5K (3.1 miles) run around and through SDSU to celebrate Arbor Day. The event was free of charge, and want to know the best part? Participants received a FREE tree for racing in the event. I finished in 25:23, so I would definitely like to cut my time to under eight minute miles. However, I figured for a spur of the moment 6:30 a.m. run, it didn’t turn out half bad. In fact, it felt really good! I dare you to try it sometime!

Anyway, my prize was a Wild Black Cherry Tree. This tree is native to the Eastern United States, west to North Dakota. It is a medium-sized tree, probably reaching 30-40 feet high, and is often used in making furniture. The leaves are dark green in summer, turning yellow to red in the fall. Flowers are white and 4-6 inches long in the spring, followed by reddish/black fruit in late summer. Fruit is edible, but not sweet, and is best for wines and jellies.

I’m headed home today after class, and I’m excited to get this tree in the ground! Happy Arbor Day, everyone!

Events

Farming For The Future

Chuck Zimmerman

Chuck and BetsyAlthough this is about my interview with Scott Mortimer, Successful Farming, I didn’t have a photo of him and Betsy Freese is better looking. I think Cindy took the photo when Betsy and I were creating Twitter accounts for AAEA and Ag Media Summit in our booth at the NAMA convention.

I asked Scott what’s new with Successful Farming and he says that it’s social media. He says that they’ve been in the social media business since 1995 when they started Agriculture.com. Today they’re excited about their Farmers For The Future.com website which is a social networking site for young and beginning farmers . To date they have over 1,300 registered young farmers and ranchers who have uploaded over 4,000 photos and videos. He says that at times now they start their presentation with advertising customers with what they’re doing online and that leads to a discussion of what they’re doing with the magazine.

You can listen to my interview with Scott here: nama-09-mortimer.mp3

NAMA Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Agri-Marketing Conference is sponsored by:
Novus and Successful Farming.

Audio, NAMA, Social Networking

It’s 91 degrees Fahrenheit!

Amanda Nolz

With South Dakota, there is no happy medium. Just a few days ago, I was bundled up in a sweater and a scarf, and today, I’m pulling shorts and a t-shirt from the back of my closet! In March, I shared with AgWired readers that my sister and I had signed up for a half marathon in Brookings, S.D. on May 16, 2009. In my blog post, I told everyone how I joined Team ZIP (Zinc, Iron and Protein), is a group of runners who believe in the power of protein in the land of lean beef. Team ZIP demonstrates that beef gives the strength needed to cross the finish line by participating in running, cycling and triathlon events across the country.

team_zip_running_singlet Well, that was about a month ago, and training has been going okay. My knees hurt once in awhile, and an injured foot slowed me down for a week…but I’m still trucking along. Anyway, this week my Team ZIP jersey came in the mail, and boy, is it snazzy! I’m excited to put it on and run 13.1 miles on behalf of the beef industry. However, while I was running in the scorching heat and infamous South Dakota winds today, I realized that there is huge pressure for me to run well on race day. How good will it look if I’m wearing a beef shirt, and I’m as slow as a turtle! Have any of you ran competitively before? Got any advice or words of encouragement? I’m going to need it! BEEF, it’s what’s for dinner!

Beef

My Sunrise

Chuck Zimmerman

My Missouri SunriseI got so busy early today that I forgot to post this earlier.

This is what the sunrise looked like out my window this morning.

I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of sunrises and sunsets. I’m glad I’ve got eyes to see them and hope that if I ever don’t, I’ll remember them all.

When you see this at the start of the day you know it’s going to be a good one!

Uncategorized

HSUS is in Nebraska

Amanda Nolz

8ab134a1-d252-41f9-9885-bd0d74cdaf87 The director of a western-Nebraska ranch for wild horses who was charged with animal cruelty this weekend has turned over more than 200 horses and burros to animal welfare groups. The Morrill County Sheriff’s office confirms that Jason Meduna (MED-nuh) of 3-Strikes Ranch in Alliance has agreed to give up the animals. To read the full report, link to 3 Strikes Ranch situation improving.

However, the real story of the day is the HSUS. They are present at the scene, along with veterinarians and local reporters. My question is, if the HSUS cares so much about these sick and tired horses, why aren’t they being cared for at the facilities? Why are they being put under more stress by shipping them? Why weren’t they given immediate feed and attention? While I absolutely do not stand behind a person that would neglect and mistreat these animals, I also think this situation could have been avoided. I have been asked to pass this story along by my friend Craig Henkel, and he reports that the HSUS have hired “real cowboys” to help round up these unwanted horses. Here is Henkel’s report of the situation. He asks everyone to pass the word along to industry contacts and friends. And, all veterinarian, veterinarian students and any available ranch hands have been asked to come help at the ranch.

I warned you, now Humane Society of the United States is in Bridgeport Nebraska

HSUS is not your local pet shelter. This is the group of anti-animal agriculture people who don’t want you or me here, working in agriculture producing food for the hungry around the world. While were at it, I don’t know of many, if any, commodities produced that are not affected by animal agriculture in some way, directly or indirectly.

HSUS is in Bridgeport “helping” with the unwanted BLM horses, that should’ve been humanely harvested a long time ago. Now we have a case of animal cruelty charges against a “horse rescue” ranch, that couldn’t keep up with all the unwanted horses coming it’s way. No matter who is to blame in this immediate case, it’s HSUS and PETA who are the ultimate cause of this problem. They wanted an end to humane slaughter of unwanted, old, useless horses. Now we know exactly what they have caused, ANIMAL CRUELTY. They want an end to: zoos, hunting, fishing, trapping, usage of any animal product, animal research (no matter if it could cure cancer or end hunger), pets, pet breeders, and any agriculture that in anyway affects directly or indirectly animal agriculture.

I don’t know what I’m gonna do yet, but I will not stand by while HSUS gets their way with the media, ESPECIALLY IN MY OWN BACKYARD. Do you suppose we could get some of you and your businesses to sponsor a hamburger fry for those volunteers in Bpt??? Let your friends and neighbors know about this serious issue. Don’t wait until tomorrow. Do it now. If you have friends in the media, local or otherwise, or if you have contact info with government reps (Adrian Smith, Ben Nelson, Mike Johanns, Gov Heineman etc), forward this email and/or construct your own AND THEN SEND IT TO THEM. You WILL make a difference.

Craig Henkel

Animal Health

Greenpeace Is An Enemy of the Environment

Chuck Zimmerman

Here’s a link to an article in NRC Handelsblad, a Netherlands daily newspaper that really hits the nail on the head about the damage being caused by wacko groups like Greenpeace. They really are terrorists who not only endanger the lives and hard work of people who are actually helping our environment while trying to increase food production but they are also contributing to the very things they say they oppose. Here’s a couple of excerpts:

Unfortunately, none of these genetically modified crops are being cultivated in Europe. Their introduction is opposed by Greenpeace and other environmental organisations. Even experimental fields, where the impact of GM crops on the environment are tested, are destroyed on a regular basis by environmental groups. Most recently, two test fields run respectively by the agricultural university of Wageningen and the potato starch company Aveve in Groningen met with that fate.

It seems the environmental organisations are not that interested in the test results. Maybe they’re afraid of having been wrong all these years, if it turns out that the damage to the environment is not that bad. It doesn’t seem to bother them one bit that their guerrilla tactics are putting lives at risk.

How much longer are politicians going to allow themselves to be held hostage by the environmental movement? How many more food riots do we need before the environmental movement is ready to let go of its dogmas? If we want to meet the goal set by the G8 to double food production by 2050, the time to invest in biotechnology is now.

This is just another example of why I never got very excited about Earth Day. When groups like this have used it to promote their emotionally charged, scientifically lacking agendas I find it hard to support it. Having said that though I think all of us in agriculture need to be more involved in the online conversation which is where we can have more impact than ever before. Now we don’t have to depend on co-opted mainstream media channels to tell our story. Kind of like I’m doing here!

Environment, Wackos

Proud of Miss America, Past 4-H Member

Amanda Nolz

miss_america_09 I think the Miss America pageant has found a real gem with their 2009-crowned winner, Miss Katie Stam. As a past 4-H member, this Indiana farm girl gives credit to this youth program and her passions in community service. In fact, that is the topic of her platform: Passion for Service: Promoting Community Service and Involvement As a former farm girl and 4-H member, Stam believes in the power of agriculture and giving back, and after her crowning in January, she has been on the fast track to spreading the word.

Miss America had some awesome experiences in 4-H as a kid, spending every summer in the performing arts and creative dramatics program and visiting 4-H friends and family at the Jackson Co. Fair. Stam credits her 4-H experiences to her values in leadership, mentorship and community service. As an American starlet, Stam could use her crown and her platform to transform the way young people think about giving back to the communities and the power of 4-H.

Stam is currently being considered for Time Magazine’s annual 100 Most Influential People List. The annual list asks the public to rate each candidate on his or her influence on the world. Those recognized fall in one of five categories: Leaders & Revolutionaries, Builders & Titans, Artists & Entertainers, Scientists & Thinkers, and Heroes & Icons. Within each category, the 20 most influential people are selected, for a grand total of 100 each year. If you think Stam deserves your vote, visit TIME. Voting ends April 28

As a past 4-H member, I’m so proud of Katie Stam, the 2009 Miss America, for her strong background in 4-H, local communities and agriculture. Stam will undoubtedly make a huge impact during her year of service in representing America.

Uncategorized

More on Twitter #agchat: Farm Slogans

Amanda Nolz

agchat-search Earlier this week, Chuck summarized Tuesday’s #agchat session on Twitter. I joined in for the first time this week, and I wanted to discuss Question 5 on AgWired this morning. Question 5: “If you had 1 recommendation for ag to create a message , what would it be, who would it involve & how would you execute it?”

The tweets that followed this question really impressed me. There were so many outstanding marketing ideas for positioning farmers and ranchers in a positive light. My favorite was the slogan, “Farmers Care.” It was simple and to the point. However, then the discussion changed pace, and individuals started asking if consumers even knew what a farmer was? Is the world so disconnected that people don’t even have a clue as to what a farmer is? I doubt it, but I’m certain their ideas of farmers don’t always coincide with the reality of what food production is.

Even if you missed Tuesday’s #agchat, here is your chance to weigh in. If you could create a slogan for farmers and ranchers to use, what would it be?

Social Networking

Lamb Checkoff Program Passes By 85%

Chuck Zimmerman

American Lamb BoardOver 85% is the approval percentage of lamb producers, feeders, seedstock producers, and first handlers of lamb and lamb products who voted in a national referendum, Feb. 2-27, 2009, and approved the continuation of the Lamb Promotion, Research, and Information Order, commonly known as the Lamb Checkoff Program.

Of the 1,971 valid ballots cast, 1,678 or 85.1 percent favored the program. Opposing ballots totaled 293 or 14.9 percent. Additionally, of those persons who cast valid ballots in the referendum, those who favored continuing the program, accounted for 93 percent of the total production voted, and those opposed accounted for 7 percent of the total production voted.

For the program to continue, it must have been approved by at least a majority of those persons voting for approval who were engaged in the production, feeding, or slaughter of lambs during calendar year 2008 and who also represent a majority of the volume of lambs produced, fed, or slaughtered.

Ag Groups

Get Aphid Alerts On Your Phone

Chuck Zimmerman

Aphid AlertsI’ll bet some of you think texting is just for a contest. That there’s really no worthwhile application to distribute information to your customers this way. Wrong. Check out Aphid Alerts via mobile phone texts, sponsored by Bayer CropScience. My good friend Joel Jaeger, Commodity Update, is the power behind the distribution and Corn and Soybean Digest is helping get the word out. And most importantly Rhea & Kaiser is the agency trying something new!

Welcome to the Aphid Alert
Sponsored by Leverage® 2.7 insecticide

This site is intended to provide you with information on insects that affect soybeans including life cycles, background on scouting of aphids and other insects, forms of prevention of yield loss from aphids, up-to-date scouting reports for your local area and helpful links to find more information.

To sign up for localized, personalized, real-time aphid pressure via text, e-mail or voicemail, click here to register.

Commodity Update and ZimmComm are working on a new project to further develop AgWired Mobile. Hopefully we can roll that out soon.

Agribusiness