It’s an odd-numbered year, which means it’s an Agritechnica year.
Agritechnica representatives Annette Reichhold (left) and Dr. Malene Conlong were talking with farmers at the Commodity Classic this week about planning a visit to Hanover, Germany for the event November 10-14.
“Agritechnica attracts 340,000 visitors from all over the world,” says Malene with conference organizer DLG – the German Agricultural Society. She says that Agritechnica is considered the global agricultural “gathering point” and is often the chosen venue for manufacturers to unveil new innovations.
But Agritechnica is more than just an equipment show. “We bring together farmers from all over the world, we have special forums, we have conferences where farmers actually get together to talk about global issues,” said Malene. This year the special focus is on soil and water issues. “We are presenting some of the potential solutions to those issues in various parts of the world.”
Listen to my interview with the Agritechnica ladies at Commodity Classic here: cc09-agritechnica.mp3
2009 Commodity Classic Photo Album
AgWired coverage of the 2009 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by: 
and 
Cindy took this picture of Hugh Whaley, (l) 
As things slowed down today I got to sit down and visit with Hugh about his new position. It made for a good Commodity Classic week ZimmCast. Hugh is a very good friend and I’m glad for this opportunity he has. He’s be working on obtaining, managing and working with farmer driven organizations, not for profit groups, agricultural associations as well as governmental organizations. This fits right in with the kind of work that he’s been doing which includes working with the United Soybean Board and other checkoff groups. 
BASF hosted a panel at the conference to examine how today’s technology can help manage disease in wheat and cereals to meet the growing global demand for grain. The panel featured analyst Arlan Suderman of 
After Suderman’s comments, BASF technical experts on plant disease, Drs. Gary Fellows and Gary Schmitz, talked about how BASF products can help increase global production of wheat and other cereal grains by controlling the most aggressive diseases that affect those crops.
Trish Lynn (r) and the 
You could go to school and learn about precision land management in the New Holland booth at this year’s Commodity Classic. Mike Harvey was teaching when I stopped by. He says the mobile teaching trailer provides a place for growers to see their monitors and even operate a simulator.
BASF, the American Soybean Association (ASA) and the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) announced this year’s scholarship winners for both organizations at the 2009 Commodity Classic. The scholarships are awarded to tomorrow’s agricultural leaders pursuing a degree in an industry-related field. 
Adam also presented the 2009-2010 Secure Optimal Yield (SOY) Scholarship, managed by the ASA and sponsored by BASF, to Brent Larson, a high-school senior from Canby, Minnesota, who plans to major in agronomy and minor in agricultural economics and agricultural marketing at South Dakota State University. 
This afternoon I finally got to meet the 
Growing up on a cattle ranch was tough at times, but looking back now, I realize that it gave me a sense of responsibility and a hard work ethic that transfers into the other things I do in life. More importantly, living on a farm gave me a passion for this industry that would be hard to walk away from. I don’t think there is a better place to be than agriculture, and I’m excited to start my career working for America’s food producers.
I will be graduating from South Dakota State University in May, and hopefully, I will be ranching with my parents and working as a freelance writer once I hit the “real world.” When I’m not outside helping with cattle chores, I hope to get a lot of writing and photography work done. As I embark on my career as an agricultural journalist, I have decided I need to invest in a few pieces of equipment. On my wish list (based solely on need, of course…) is a new laptop computer, an audio recorder, a wide angle lens for my Canon and video editing software. 
Here’s an example of how the stimulus is stimulating. I’m betting there will be other groups formed to help spend that money. I’m not saying this is a bad thing necessarily. Someone sure needs to provide advice to the government officials who are going to be making spending decisions.