THE Big Event at the RNC

Cindy Zimmerman

AgStarThere is no question that AgNite is THE “go-to” event in the Twin Cities this second evening of the Republican National Convention. Organizers were expecting 3-4,000 and that expectation has been surpassed. As someone said, “What if you threw a party and everyone showed up?” It sure seems like that has happened here.

One of the people responsible for making this event possible is Paul DeBriyn, President and CEO of AgStar Financial Services, one of AgNite’s major sponsors. Paul was chairman of the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council when the idea for AgNite was born. “The last convention we had here was 1892,” Paul said. “So this is a very unique event for us and it was a very quick decision for AgStar to make the decision to help sponsor this celebration of Minnesota’s food, fiber and biofuels industry.”

Paul DeBriynThe event is being held in the historic downtown Minneapolis Depot, which is packed with people. “My biggest fear was that there wouldn’t be anybody here,” Paul said. “That didn’t happen.”

He is shown here being interviewed by Don Wick of Red River Farm Network. You can listen to my interview with Paul here: agnite-08-debriyn.mp3

Be sure to check out the AgNite Photo Album to get a real idea of just how many people are here at this event. It’s amazing!

AgWired coverage of AgNite is sponsored by: and

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AgNite Photo Album

Chuck Zimmerman

AgNite SetupPreparations are nearing completion here at AgNite at The Depot.

This is going to be a fabulous celebration here tonight as agriculture is put on display for thousands of people attending the RNC. Cindy and I are getting ready to do some interviews with AgNite sponsors which we hope to post later this evening.

We’ve got a photo album started which contains pictures from the Second Harvest Heartland food aid event earlier in the day. We’ll be adding to it throughout the evening. This event doesn’t conclude until 2am btw!

AgNite Photo Album

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AgNite Will Help Hurricane Relief Efforts

Chuck Zimmerman

Daryn McBethThe Minnesota Agri-Growth Council is the organization hosting AgNite in Minneapolis. Their President is Daryn McBeth, seen here being interviewed by Cindy. This was at the Feeding America food packing event held at their local network affiliate, Second Harvest Heartland.

Second Harvest Heartland is also a member of the Council and Daryn says the unique partnerships between the food bank and other council members, such as Hormel Foods, helps them to be very active in hunger relief efforts throughout the state.

With Hurricane Gustav impacting the start of the Republican National Convention here in the Twin Cities, the focus of AgNite has taken a turn towards relief efforts along the Gulf Coast as well, according to Daryn. “The food and agriculture industries always step up to help after natural disasters,” he said. “We will have the ability for individuals and corporations to make donations to help out with relief efforts.”

Daryn says there has been a great deal of interest among those in town for the convention in attending AgNite and they are expecting to have upwards of 4,000 attend the event.

You can listen to Cindy’s interview with Daryn here: agnite-08-mcbeth.mp3

AgWired coverage of AgNite is sponsored by: and

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Second Harvest Heartland Potato Packing

Cindy Zimmerman

Rob ZeaskeSecond Harvest Heartland of Minnesota pulled in volunteers from the Republican National Convention Tuesday to help pack close to a million pounds of potatoes at their headquarters warehouse in St. Paul.

Second Harvest Heartland potato packingExecutive Director Rob Zeaske says the potatoes are supplied by a generous donor from St. Cloud who prefers to remain anonymous. “Last year they gave us 750,000 pounds of potatoes and are trying to get to a million this year and based on our summer and the economic state, we sure need it,” he said.

Second Harvest Heartland is one of the largest members of America’s Second Harvest national food bank network. They are also a member of the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council, which is sponsoring tonight’s RNC AgNite event – the reason we are here in the Twin Cities this week.

You can listen to my interview with Rob here: agnite-08-zeske.mp3

AgWired coverage of AgNite is sponsored by: and

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AgNite Blog Goes Live

Chuck Zimmerman

Ag NiteBesides finding coverage of AgNite, “A Celebration of America’s Food and Agriculture Industry,” here on AgWired you’ll also find lots of content being posted onto the AgNite Blog.

This is why Cindy decided to come with me. We’re expecting an intensive evening of activity and we’re going to be cross-posting on multiple blog sites.

We’re going to be looking for interviews with organizers, sponsors and attendees. The whole idea is to help educate people about agriculture in our country and the RNC has provided a perfect opportunity for the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council and all the supporting organizations to accomplish that. We’re going to work hard to do our best to help.

We’ll be working out of a media room in The Depot, the event location, and if things go well, you may see us crank up AgWired Live TV too. So please check in with us often this evening. The event officially starts at 8pm, but I know we’ll have content started before then.

AgWired coverage of AgNite is sponsored by: and

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Second Harvest Heartland Feeding America

Chuck Zimmerman

Second Harvest HeartlandHello from Minneapolis, MN, the site of this evening’s, AgNite celebration. That event kicks off at 8pm but Cindy and I will be busy before then.

This morning we’ll be attending a food box packing event at Second Harvest Heartland. This is the regional organization that’s part of the Feeding America network. Feeding America is the new name for what we’ve known as Second Harvest. This promises to be a very visual event so you will see pictures and probably some video as well as interviews. We think there will be some special guests but in this fluid political convention climate, who knows.

Second Harvest Heartland is the Upper Midwest’s largest hunger-relief organization with a recently updated mission to end hunger through community partnerships. Second Harvest Heartland forms the cornerstone of organizations working together to alleviate hunger in our 59 county service area. This year, SHH will deliver more than 34 million pounds of food to our 1,000+ non-profit member agencies and programs, including food shelves, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, senior community centers and children’s after school programs.

One of the main priorities of the day is to solicit support for relief efforts for Hurricane Gustav victims. The hurricane may not have been as damaging as Katrina but a lot of people are displaced and I’m sure they will be needing help. I’ll be posting more about how to get involved later after I learn more.

I’d like to thank AgStar Financial Services for their support of our interactive media coverage of AgNite.

AgWired coverage of AgNite is sponsored by: and

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More Monsanto Sustainability

Laura McNamara

The potential for increasing yields exists everywhere if you ask Michael Doane. Michael is the Sustainability Team Lead for Monsanto. He spoke at the Monsanto discussion on sustainability on the 2008 Farm Progress Show last week. After his speech, I caught up with him and we spoke more about how he thinks the world will answer the global food demands of the future.

While Michael says a big portion of global food needs will be met in developing countries that have a huge potential for improving crop yields, he says there is still a lot of opportunity for increasing yields in the already yield-efficient U.S. Modern technology such as biotech, Michael says, means farmers in the U.S. still have a landscape that’s wide open with opportunity.

“If you just look at some of the yields that have been achieved in some very optimized conditions, it suggests that we’ve got a long ways to go before we’ve tapped yield potential [in the U.S.],” Michael said.Read More

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Audio, Biotech, Education, Environment, Farm Progress Show, Farm Shows, Farming, Technology

Biotechnology Feeds Sustainability, Feeds the World

Laura McNamara

Thirty-three percent of the land’s surface is used for food production. That’s the figure that John Hoffman, Iowa farmer and President of the American Soybean Association puts out there. He says that 33 percent makes up 55 percent of the land that’s arable. So, we’re already using more than half the arable land out there to feed the world. Much of the rest, John points out, is mountainous, desert or protected forests and parks. In short, John is basically saying, ‘what we’re already using, is all we’ve got.’ Plus, he adds, we have to produce more… ‘with what we’ve got.’

“We’ve got to grow to feed double the amount of people on the same amount of arable land.,” John said. “We don’t want to encroach on fragile rainforests as Michael said or encroach on grasslands. So we need to find a way to do that. I think from my experience, my travels, my knowledge on my own farm, that the way we’re going to do that is unequivocally with biotechnology.”

Biotechnology, Hoffman says, is the answer for feeding the future and protecting our environment.

“We’ve got to feed that growing world,” John said. “We’ve got to step up to the plate and provide fuel, food, fiber, feed and I think American agriculture world agriculture will be able to do that and its through biotechnology.”Read More

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Farmers get FIT with Mapping

Laura McNamara

Pioneer is offering a new, free service that it says can give farmers more: more information and more uses for that information. Pioneer Hi-Bred’s FIT mapping combines GPS data with a free mapping service offering farmers detailed information about their crops, where they’re growing their crops and whether they’re growing them in way that maximizes their resources. Did I mention it’s free?

I caught up with Lisa Baumhover at the 2008 Farm Progress Show and we talked about just what FIT mapping does offer farmers and how easy it is to use. You can listen to my interview with Lisa here: fp-08-baumhover.mp3

You can also download the audio file with this link.

Check out our Farm Progress Show 2008 Photo Album.

AgWired coverage of the 2008 Farm Progress Show
is sponsored by: BASF and New Holland

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Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Anyone who’s been disappointed in frozen hamburger patties is in for a great-tasting treat with the new frozen burger patties from Nolan Ryan’s Guaranteed Tender Beef. Made from 100 percent all-natural beef and available in three different varieties, they will be located in the frozen foods sections. The new introductions include: Nolan Ryan’s Guaranteed Tender Ready-to-Cook Chuck Patty, Nolan Ryan’s Guaranteed Tender Fully Cooked Chuck Patty and Nolan Ryan’s Guaranteed Tender Fully Cooked Mini Beef Chuck Sliders.
  • CHS Crop Nutrients announces the retirement of Burnie Baker and the promotion of Jim Carlson and Tom Mulrooney, all based at the Inver Grove Heights office. In his new role, Carlson will be responsible for potash product management; he was previously anhydrous ammonia product supply manager. Mulrooney is promoted from assistant product manager to product manager, phosphates. Both Carlson and Mulrooney began their new responsibilities Sept. 1, following Baker’s retirement.
  • The United States Potato Board (USPB) is pleased to announce the promotion of Carroll Graham to the position of USPB director of retail programs effective July 23, 2008. For the past seven years, Graham has served as the USPB retail marketing and sales manager.
  • Dairy Farmers of America, Inc. announces the formation of a new Farm Services Division that consolidates the oversight of several member services, including risk management, health insurance, financial services and bulk buying programs. The Farm Services Division will be led by Greg Wickham, who will serve as president of the division.
    Zimfo Bytes