Evan Slack’s 50th Consecutive Cattle Industry Convention

Chuck Zimmerman

Evan SlackAt this evening’s media reception my good buddy Evan Slack, Evan Slack Network, was honored when NCBA President, Andy Groseta, called him up to the podium to congratulate him on 50 consecutive years of covering the Cattle Industry Convention.

Evan says he’s seen a lot of changes in that time. I’m sure he has. Evan has always been a big supporter of the cattle industry and it was a very nice of NCBA to recognize him in front of his peers this evening.

Remember that you can find full size versions of all our event photos online:Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

Cattle Industry Conference, Media

All Star Prize Package

Cindy Zimmerman

International Poultry Expo 09Novus International has been gathering entries for an “all-star” prize package ever since their first event at the International Poultry Expo way back on Tuesday at lunch. That’s when I took this photo of Novus team members Tricia Beal and Lorraine Magney collecting the entry forms.

International Poultry Expo 09The package itself has all kinds of fun goodies in it – including an autographed Lou Brock baseball jersey – all wrapped up in a baseball barbeque grill that is just too perfect for tailgating.

At some point – either here or later – the winner of the prize package will be randomly drawn from probably thousands of entries at this point and notified. I assume they will ship the prize to the lucky winner – they don’t have to be present to win!

International Poultry Expo Photo Album

AgWired coverage of International Poultry Expo is sponsored by:
Novus

See all the posts from the International Poultry Expo using this link.

Novus International, Poultry Expo

Columbian Poultry Success Story

Cindy Zimmerman

International Poultry Expo 09As the name implies, the International Poultry Expo is a global event that attracts poultry industry professionals from around the world.

I had the pleasure of meeting Jorge Bedoya, president of the Columbian Poultry Industry Association, at the U.S. Soybean Export Council booth and got to talk with him about how soybean producers in this country have helped grow the poultry industry in Columbia.

Jorge says their relationship with the U.S. soybean industry started ten years ago and the numbers speak for themselves. “In the last decade, the poultry industry in Columbia more than doubled,” he told me. “The per capita consumption levels of poultry protein have skyrocketed. It’s a strategic partnership that we developed through the years and we hope we can strengthen in the coming decade.”

The poultry industry is one of the largest employers in the rural areas of Columbia and it is one of the fastest growing industries in that nation. “Basically, it puts on the table of consumers two of the most important proteins for Columbian citizens,” Jorge says.

Listen to my interview with Jorge here:
usb-columbia.mp3

You can also download the interview here: Jorge Interview (mp3).

International Poultry Expo Photo Album

AgWired coverage of International Poultry Expo is sponsored by:
Novus

See all the posts from the International Poultry Expo using this link.

Audio, Novus International, Poultry, Poultry Expo, Soybean, USB

Beef Ambassadors Ready To Rock

Chuck Zimmerman

Beef AmbassadorsOnce again I’ve had the opportunity to meet our latest Beef Ambassador team. This is a picture of them with Carol Abrahamzon, Project Manager for ANCW at the opening general session. Due to budget constraints they had to go home early today but at least they got to spend some time here at the national convention with members of the industry.

This morning they had a blogging lesson and I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with. AgWired has offered to sponsor the Beef Ambassador’s blogs. We’ll see how that goes.

In the interview you’ll meet all of them and learn why they decided to become Ambassadors and what they’ll be doing in the coming year.

You can listen to my interview with them here: cic-09-ambassadors.mp3

I’ve updated the photo album and there’s a lot in there to see so feel free to browse:Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference

Lou Brock Steals Hearts at Poultry Expo

Cindy Zimmerman

International Poultry Expo 09A man best known for stealing bases during his stellar career was stealing hearts today at the Novus booth during the International Poultry Expo.

Baseball Hall of Famer Lou Brock, an all-star for the St. Louis Cardinals in his day, really hit a home run for Novus at the expo. He spent two hours signing autographs and taking pictures with hundreds of expo attendees. He and his wife Jackie, pictured here with several members of the Novus team, are very gracious and special people and it was a pleasure to meet them.

I did a quick interview with Lou about his outlook on life and what he thought about being a part of the International Poultry Expo this year.

Listen to that interview here:
ipe-09-brock.mp3

You can also download the interview here: Brock Interview (mp3).

Anyone who got their picture taken with Lou at the Novus booth can find those photos in the photo album link below.

International Poultry Expo Photo Album

AgWired coverage of International Poultry Expo is sponsored by:
Novus

See all the posts from the International Poultry Expo using this link.

Audio, Novus International, Poultry Expo

LPC Holds Lunch Meeting at CIC

Chuck Zimmerman

Diane JohnsonA little ditty about Rick and Diane . . . sounds like a song. Actually it’s Rick Coyle, Northern Ag Network and Diane Johnson, Livestock Publications Council. I really have no idea what they’re doing here in the news room at the Cattle Industry Convention.

I do know that the Livestock Publications Council is having a lunch meeting today and I probably won’t be able to make it. Maybe someone will share a note and a picture from it though (hint, hint, Diane).

Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

Cattle Industry Conference, LPC

Poultry Industry Outlook

Cindy Zimmerman

International Poultry Expo 092008 was a year the poultry industry would rather forget, but the outlook for 2009 is brighter, according to Tom Hensley, president of Fieldale Farms in Baldwin, Georgia. He presented “The Industry Outlook: An Executive Management Perspective” at the International Poultry Expo this morning.

Hensley is optimistic about this year. “You can’t be in the chicken business unless you’re an optimist at heart,” he says. “I think that our feed costs are going to come down.”

While he believes ethanol production has impacted the industry tremendously, he thinks there will eventually be some equilibrium. “We love our corn growers, without them we don’t exist – chickens can’t eat anything but corn. But I still say corn’s coming down.”

Listen to my brief interview with Tom here:
ipe-09-hensley.mp3

You can also download the interview here: Hensley Interview (mp3).

International Poultry Expo Photo Album

AgWired coverage of International Poultry Expo is sponsored by:
Novus

Audio, Novus International, Poultry, Poultry Expo

Coaching the Novus Team

Cindy Zimmerman

The key to a winning baseball team is a good coach and if Novus International was a baseball team, executive vice president of marketing and sales Giovanni Gasperoni would be that coach.

International Poultry Expo 09“Novus was born in 1991, so we celebrate our 18th anniversary this year,” Gio told me in an interview today. “When I came to the states in 1995, I was the only foreigner speaking with a funny accent in the whole company, today we have more people with funny accents in the company than speaking with English accents!” Which just shows how the company has expanded globally to help producers around the world be more productive to meet the protein demands of a growing population.

The Novus “all-star” line up of products has grown as well. “We started with two basic products – ALIMET and SANTOQUIN,” said Gio. In the last five years, they have diversified to offer a broad range of products to serve the needs of customers in not just poultry, but swine, aquaculture and ruminants in general.

“Health through nutrition, makes the animal healthier which makes them more performing, which is what helps our customers around the world,” Gio says.

Gio is passionate about the ability of Novus to serve their customers and ultimately the consumers of the world, by producing more food in a sustainable manner – definitely a winning strategy!

Listen to my interview with Gio here:
ipe-09-gio.mp3

You can also download the interview here: Gasperoni Interview (mp3).

International Poultry Expo Photo Album

AgWired coverage of International Poultry Expo is sponsored by:
Novus

Audio, Livestock, Novus International, Pork, Poultry, Poultry Expo

Headline Receives Plant Health Label

Cindy Zimmerman

BASF announced today that Headline® fungicide is the first fungicide to have EPA approved Plant Health claims on its label. State approvals are currently pending.

“We believe this is a new precedent for the agricultural community,” said Nevin McDougall, Group Vice President, North America, BASF. “Agriculture must rely on innovative products such as Headline to meet the increasing global demand for food and fuel, in the face of decreasing availability of land. BASF is proud to be a leader in crop protection innovation.”

BASF“For years growers have relied on the outstanding disease control and Plant Health benefits from Headline,” said Rick Chamblee, PhD, Technical Service Manager with BASF. “The research behind this registration underscores the commitment of BASF to helping growers get the most out of every acre by supporting the Plant Health benefits of Headline.”

Headline improves Plant Health by acting on three unique areas of the plant’s growth. These Plant Health benefits are improved growth efficiency, excellent disease control, and enhanced tolerance to stress conditions such as drought, heat, cold temperatures and ozone damage.

“The Plant Health benefits of Headline help plants focus their energy on producing more output,” noted Chamblee. “Over and over again, we see the yield advantage of Headline in a number of key crops.”

Headline is the most researched fungicide on the market, with more than 7,000 farm trials conducted on well over a million acres in the past seven years.

BASF

ZimmKids

Cindy Zimmerman

ZimmKidsAre these kids cute or what?

These are the ZimmKids – our Georgia nieces and nephews that I had a chance to spend some quality time with on my first night here in Atlanta. They surprised me by wearing the AgWired t-shirts we sent to them last year. So they’re a little large for them – that just makes it all the more adorable!!!!

ZimmKidsFrom left to right, these adorable ZimmKids are Bayli, Veronica, Luke (our godson), Eli, Mary and Paul Joey. I would give all their ages, but I am not entirely sure about that – let’s just say they range from about 3 to 17.

They are the offspring of Chuck’s little brother Paul and his lovely wife Laura who have been married for 20 years this year. I would add that all these kids are home-schooled and extremely well-behaved – a real joy to be around. They live in a little town about 40 miles east of Atlanta called Newborn with several horses, five dogs, 12 cats, some chickens and a rat. They are really living that rural lifestyle!

Uncategorized