By now you know that the new CBB website is MyBeefCheckoff.com. I just realized that it’s what you get when you type in the old CBB web domain too.
One of the features you’ll soon find on the new CBB website will be producer profiles. The idea is to find out what producers (beef and dairy) think about the programs and activities of the Checkoff.
To get things started I did a number of interviews today and will get many more before the end of the summer conference. I started out with Jim Eschliman, Ericson, NE. He’s a dairy producer and it has been his career. He says they milk 140 cows but have around 300 head all together.
So when it comes to the Beef Checkoff he says that we have to continue to promote beef and get dairy producers to understand that fact. As he says, they’re beef producers too.
Jim says it’s important for dairy and beef producers to understand how to handle their animals and especially pay attention to the shipping process.
He sells cull cows and steers and thinks the Checkoff has increased the price he receives. As he puts it, “The Checkoff really helps.”
You can listen to my interview with Jim here: cisc-08-jim-eschliman.mp3
New technology and new media are a perfect fit, so it is fitting that 
The National FFA Alumni State Leaders Conference kicks off today. FFA Alumni members will have an exciting week touring Washington, D.C., visiting with their congressional representatives and learning more about opportunities available through the FFA Alumni. The event would not be possible without the generous sponsorship of Tractor Supply Company, Toyota and Farm Credit Services.
The Zimfo Bytes you see several times a week have been a very well received feature of AgWired. It allows us to post more nuggets of news to help keep the agrimarketing community informed. Melissa Slage, Cattlemen’s Beef Board, is the author of 
At the Southern Peanut Growers Conference this week, I had a chance to meet up with one old friend I hadn’t seen in over 20 years – and one new friend that I knew but had never met.
This gentlemen is known as “Mr. Peanut” in the Southeast and he wears many hats in the peanut industry. Tyron Spearman has been the peanut industry reporter for 
USDA Undersecretary Dr. Gale Buchanan may work in Washington, DC but his heart is in the southeast. “I spent 21 years at Auburn University conducting research in peanuts and other crops,” said Buchanan. “Then went to the University of Georgia as the director of the Coastal Plain Experiment Station and dean at the college of agriculture.” He also attended the University of Florida, so he is a “triple Southerner.” I guess that makes him a cross between a Tiger, a Bulldog and Gator.
The Cattlemen’s Beef Board Administration Subcommittee got things started here at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Denver today. I spoke with CBB Chairman, Dave Bateman, about what we can expect to see happen during this meeting.
The first thing I did after getting into Denver today was go to lunch with my buddy, Evan Slack. He took me out for some excellent comfort food. Catfish, greens, cornbread, candied yams and sweet tea. Mmm, mmm. 
Farmers and others in agriculture are just like everyone else these days. For the vast majority of us, computer usage is becoming a part of our everyday lives, if it hasn’t already taken it over!