Support for AG CONNECT is Growing

Cindy Zimmerman

Support is growing for the new global agriculture trade show set to debut January 2010 in Orlando. AG CONNECT Expo 2010 made several announcements this week about support for the show.

Ag Connect ExpoFor starters, the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) will co-locate its annual Agricultural Equipment Technology Conference (AETC) with the new international agriculture exhibition. It will also conduct its annual AE50 “innovation” awards program at AG CONNECT and spotlight the AE50 winning products at the show.

The North American Equipment Dealers Association (NAEDA) joins a growing list of industry groups that have endorsed and will participate in the show. NAEDA will also serve as a major organizer of the AG CONNECT Expo “Preview Day” that will allow dealers and their customers to interact with key decision makers from manufacturers in attendance. That will be held on January 12, the day before the show officially gets underway. In addition, the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association announced their support of the show this week.

AEMLast, but definitely not least, AG CONNECT Expo 2010 has been selected to be part of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Buyer Program, which will help to recruit international attendees and encourage connections with exhibitors who sell to the global marketplace. This is a huge deal for the international show, according Charlie O’Brien, vice president of agricultural services with the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) which owns and operates AG CONNECT Expo. “With the involvement of IBP, attendees and exhibitors at AG CONNECT Expo will benefit from potential trade leads and matchmaking opportunities, international insights into key ag issues, as well as the opportunity to learn different business practices in the context of a global agriculture trade show,” said O’Brien.

AG CONNECT Expo 2010 will be held January 13-15 at Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center. Registration officially starts June 1, but exhibit space sales are already up for grabs. Find out more here.

AEM, Equipment, Farm Shows, International

What Farm Policy Is Looking Like

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast-213 - Farm PolicySince the new staff at USDA is finally filling out and we’ve now had a couple months of a new administration in Washington, DC I thought it might be a good time to learn about what’s going with farm policy these days. So I went to the expert, Keith Good, Farm Policy.

Keith and I chatted via Skype today and I’ll warn you that we just didn’t have a good connection or time to do it all over so the quality leaves a lot to be desired. Keith sounds way better than I do. But then that would be the case no matter what.

It sounds like the budget is high on the list of items that’s being worked on right now and there is certainly action taking place in both the House and Senate on the administration’s proposal. Agriculture spending is under review and the administration’s proposal on it is very controversial because of items like phasing out direct payments over 3 years to producers with income over $500,000. Sounds like farm lobbyists have their work cut out for them.

Keith also talks about Cap & Trade, the effort I think is potentially devastating to businesses, farmers included. As he points out, there’s disagreement over whether we even have a climate problem so why we need to talk about taxing businesses without scientific agreement on this issue is beyond me. But it’s a good example of the non-ag type legislative issues that agriculture has to be very aware of and involved in to have its voice heard.

Keith brought up a point about the image agriculture has inside the beltway and via news coverage nationally and the need for an ongoing attempt to foster a positive, informed public about farming. I sure think we need it and we included in our discussion how new media mechanisms, like the ones driving our business, can assist in this effort.

You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: Listen To ZimmCastZimmCast 213 (19 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:Interview with Keith Good - ZimmCast 213

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar. You can also subscribe in iTunes

Audio, Farm Policy, ZimmCast

4th graders spend a day with agriculture

Amanda Nolz

kaley_w_zoey1212 fourth graders from schools in and around my hometown of Mitchell, S.D. enjoyed an educational day out at the Davison Country 4-H grounds on Tuesday. At the 2009 Mitchell Ag in the Classroom event, there were eight educational stops along the way. First, the fourth graders heard a speech by Central Electric about electrical line safety and how to react in case of a fallen power line or how to avoid lines when flying a kite. The second stop led the students to the farm safety station. A local 4-Her worked with the students to identify all of the dangerous things on a farm and how to evade getting hurt when around farm machinery and animals. Station three was a horse demonstration in which 4-H students discussed the proper care of a horse, how to shoe a horse and the anatomy of the animal.

The dairy industry was the topic of the fourth station, and students drank free milk samples as they learned about different milking machines, parlors, pasteurization and nutritional facts of dairy products. Station five was hosted by a local hog farmer who played a video on how hog confinement barns play a positive role in pig safety and the environment hosted the fifth stop. Where bacon, sausage and ham come from on a pig was also explained to the students. The sixth station answered questions about the beef industry, and a day-old baby calf was there for the students to pet. Switching gears from farm animals, the National Resources Conservation Service explained the importance of topsoil at station seven. Students crawled through a dirt tunnel and were given a gummy worm at the end of this interactive stop. Finally, station eight explained the importance of honeybees in South Dakota’s agriculture.

Without a doubt, Ag in the Classroom is a great way to tell the agriculture story to a young group of students. In a time where the media, consumers and animal rights activists are constantly exchanging false information about food production, this is an excellent program to educate the next generation of consumers. For more information about Ag in the Classroom head to their website.

Education, Farming

RuMBA Proposes American Broadband Bill of Rights

Chuck Zimmerman

Rural Mobile Broadband AllianceIt looks like the Rural Mobile Broadband Alliance is getting their stuff together. They want to help guide the debate over development of broadband connectivity and have offered the following:

According to RuMBA’s Managing Director, Luisa Handem, the “American Broadband Bill of Rights” demands all Americans have access to a network that is:

(1) Ubiquitous – Services and devices should work seamlessly everywhere:
in rural, suburban and urban areas. America needs an additional two
million square miles of coverage.
(2) Safe – Americans need E911 with location service and an emergency
Cell Broadcast System with weather and disaster alerting. Katrina-
like outages are unacceptable.
(3) Mobile – Whether in the car, on the tractor, at home, in school, at
work and all areas in between, our nation relies on mobility; our
networks must reflect our lifestyle needs.
(4) Affordable – Rural Americans demand competitive pricing for services
and devices. We need the same or better services and devices as the
rest of the country, at a fair price.
(5) Sustainable – America must invest in next generation systems that
can be operated at a profit and maintained by our local small town
carriers. We must leap ahead, buy tomorrow’s technologies, not
yesterday’s.

The group, launched last month, seeks to ensure that rural communities are offered the same affordable mobile broadband services available to urban and suburban areas, and equal access to E911 Phase II (location-based) coverage.

Internet

Farm Foundation Sponsors Food Safety Regulation Forum

John Davis

farmfoundationforum3Our friends at Farm Foundation are at it again, sponsoring another discussion on the pressing issues facing farmers and those in ag-related businesses. The latest discussion… which always presents both sides of the issues, not just everyone agreeing with what everyone else is saying… will feature the “Future of Food Safety Regulation” on Tuesday, April 7.

Presenters will be:

* Carol Tucker Foreman of the Consumer Federation of America’s Food Policy Institute
* Jim Hodges of the American Meat Institute
* Scott Horsfall of the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement
* Margaret Glavin, an independent consultant working on food safety policy issues

A representative of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency will also participate to discuss Canada’s experience with a single food safety agency.

There’s no charge for the forum, and Farm Foundation says those with an interest in agricultural, food and rural policy, including members of Congress, congressional staff, executive branch officials, industry representatives, NGO representatives, academics and members of the media should attend.

The discussion runs from 9 to 11 a.m. on April 7th at the National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW, in Washington D.C with coffee served starting at 8:30 a.m. If you can make it, RSVP by noon CDT on Friday, April 3, to Linda Singer, Farm Foundation.

Don’t forget, Farm Foundation is also holding the fourth in the series of “Transition to a Bioeconomy” conferences… this time focusing on global trade and policy issues… March 30-31 at the Westin Washington D.C. City Center Hotel. If you can’t make that one, just tune in to Agwired.com for the latest updates from the discussions.

Farm Foundation

Say Happy Birthday To Dr. Borlaug

Chuck Zimmerman

There’s a great post on I Am Biotech about birthday boy, Norman Borlaug. He’s a Nobel Laureate and 95 years old today. Visit the post and leave him a message in the comments (you may comment here too).

Today is the 95th birthday of Norman Borlaug, an agricultural scientist who is widely known as the father of the Green Revolution. Dr. Borlaug, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work on world hunger, is credited with saving over 1 billion lives from starvation through his tireless efforts to improve world food production through biotechnology. Dr. Borlaugh is one of only five people in history to have won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal.

Biotech, Video

Win An HP Mini Netbook or Desktop Speaker/Dock At NAMA

Chuck Zimmerman

AgWired HP MiniThe ZimmComm New Media booth is going to be hot and sizzling at this year’s NAMA Convention! We’re celebrating 5 years in business!

How would you like to have your very own HP Mini Netbook computer? Stop by our NAMA booth and get something tweet (you’ll understand when you get there) and register to win.

We’re providing some hot incentives to stop and see us at booth #102 in the Connection Point at the 2009 Agri-Marketing Conference. Since I’ll be leading a workshop on social media Cindy and I thought a tool to help you with yours would be a great giveaway at this year’s convention.

This HP Mini has bee tried and tested and upgraded to 2GB of RAM and has a 16GB internal SSD with an additional 8GB SD card and additional HP 2GB memory card!

You will get looks of envy when you pull this out on the plane or in the airport. It’s a cool little machine.

AgWired Cube II speaker/dockWe’ll also be giving away a Cube II desktop speaker/dock for your iPod or iPhone. We’re all about non platform specific media content and even we don’t know how many audio files we’ve created in 5 years that have been distributed all over the world via internet, broadcast, email and mp3 player. A desktop speaker is an ideal must have for your office.

You’ll have to stop by booth #102 to register though and you won’t have to be present to win.

This is shaping up to be a very interesting NAMA convention since marketing and media have changed so rapidly in just the last year and it’s changing the way we do business. Stop and visit with us to learn more about how new/social media can help you and your clients reach customers where they are now.

We’ll also help you with your gadget wish list!

NAMA

Small Oil Well

Chuck Zimmerman

I don’t know how many of these little oil wells I’ve seen driving around the countryside. Coming back from Kentucky this week I got up close and personal with one at a highway rest stop in southern Indiana. It was very windy out but you can get a good sense of what it’s like being close to one.

Does anybody know how much oil one of these things can produce?

Farming, Video

USDA Staff Appointments

Chuck Zimmerman

USDASec. of Ag Tom Vilsack has made a number of staff appointments including:

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

John Berge-White House Liaison to USDA.
Lindsay Daschle-Confidential Assistant to the Secretary.
Max Holtzman-Senior Advisor to the Secretary.
Grant Leslie-Senior Advisor to the Secretary.
David Lazarus-Senior Advisor to the Secretary.
Sam Liebert-Staff Assistant to the Secretary.
Rohan Patel-Director of Advance for the Secretary.
Denise Scott-Executive Assistant to the Secretary.
Karen Stuck-Confidential Assistant to the Secretary.
Beatina Theopold–Advance Staff for the Secretary.

OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

Bobby Gravitz-Director of Speechwriting and Research.
Nayyera Haq-Press Secretary.
Chris Mather-Director.

You can read more about their backgrounds online.

USDA

Monsanto Announces Beachell-Borlaug Scholars Program

Chuck Zimmerman

Monsanto Beachell BorlaugFor Norman Borlaug’s 95th birthday today, Monsanto has created a $10 million grant to establish the Beachell-Borlaug International Scholars Program, which will “help identify and support young scientists interested in improving research and production in rice and wheat, two of the world’s most important staple crops, through plant breeding techniques.”

Monsanto is funding the program, which will be administered by Texas AgriLife Research, an agency of the Texas A&M University System, for the next five years. The program honors the accomplishments of Dr. Henry Beachell and Dr. Norman Borlaug, who pioneered plant breeding and research in rice and wheat, respectively.

Applications will be reviewed by an independent panel of global judges chaired by Program Director Dr. Ed Runge, who is also a professor and Billie B. Turner Chair in Production Agronomy (Emeritus) within the Soil and Crop Sciences Department, Texas A&M University at College Station.

Students interested in applying to the program can find more details at www.monsanto.com/mbbischolars. Applications will be accepted until May 31.

Announcement of the first year’s winners is planned to correspond with the World Food Prize held in Des Moines, Iowa, on October 15, 2009.

Agribusiness, Biotech, Wheat