Deputy Secretary at World Pork

Cindy Zimmerman

World Pork Expo 2008 Chuck ConnerDeputy Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner visited the 20th annual World Pork Expo on Thursday and spoke with producers about some of the challenges and opportunities facing the industry.

World Pork Expo 2008 Chuck Conner pressOn the opportunity side is exports. “Thanks to this industry for your role in leading US exports to another remarkable level,” Conner said. The latest forecast calls for agricultural exports to hit $108.5 billion – $26 billion more than last year. “And pork is certainly doing a big portion of this. We expect the value of pork exports to be up 35 percent from 2007.”

Conner discussed the challenges of higher feed costs and actions USDA is taking to help alleviate the situation, such as opening up CRP land for haying and grazing, but he does admit that he is concerned about the effects of the weather on this year’s crop. And he talked about the Farm Bill.

After his formal presentation, we had a little “press gaggle” with Conner – which always makes for good photos.

Listen to Conner’s speech here: wpx08-conner.MP3

World Pork Expo Photo Album

AgWired coverage of World Pork Expo is sponsored by:
Novus

Audio, Livestock, Novus International, Pork, Swine, World Pork Expo

EPIC Gets a Mascot

Chuck Zimmerman

Edgar the E ManAt today’s Annual Meeting EPIC unveiled Edgar the E Man. He’s the official mascot of EPIC and available to members for appearances at events. I got Reece Nanfito, EPIC Director of Marketing to take my picture with Edgar.

The Kansas and South Dakota Corn Growers submitted the winning names which have been combined to become his official name. EPIC held a contest with members to come up with his name. The winners will get Edgar to appear at no charge to one of their events.

To hear more about the story of Edgar, I interviewed EPIC Executive Director, Toni Neurnberg. She describes the whole purpose behind the mascot initiative: epic-annual-mtg-eddgar.mp3

Audio, Ethanol

An International Welcome from Novus

Cindy Zimmerman

World Pork Expo 2008 RandyWorld Pork Expo is a natural fit for an international corporation like Novus. Pictured here by the multi-lingual welcome sign are Mark Klamfoth and Randy Anderson with Novus.

Randy says they have already had visitors at the tent today from China, Brazil and Mexico and they expect many more from other countries over the course of the expo.

With producers very concerned about their profit margins and getting the most from expensive feed, Randy says Novus has several products and programs to reduce costs and increase efficiency. Among their products are Acidomatrix, Activate, and Mintrex.

Learn more here in my interview with Randy wpx-novus-randy.mp3

World Pork Expo Photo Album

AgWired coverage of World Pork Expo is sponsored by:
Novus

Livestock, Novus International, Pork, World Pork Expo

Kicking off the 20th World Pork Expo

Cindy Zimmerman

World Pork Expo 2008 Bryan BlackFirst order of business at World Pork Expo this morning was a press conference featuring National Pork Producers Council president Bryan Black from Ohio.

World Pork Expo 2008 Bryan BlackBryan discussed the 20th anniversary of the event, changes made this year to use badges instead of passes for attendees, the state of the US pork industry, exports and more.

Afterwards, Bryan visited with me in the Novus hospitality tent to do a condensed version interview of all the press conference topics. He says the expo gives pork producers and industry partners around the world one single meeting place to get the latest in technology and information. They have over 400 exhibitors this year and are expecting somewhere between 30-40,000 in attendance.

Here’s my interview with Bryan wpx08-black-1.mp3

World Pork Expo Photo Album

AgWired coverage of World Pork Expo is sponsored by:
Novus

Novus International, Pork, World Pork Expo

Smokin’ at WPX

Cindy Zimmerman

World Pork Expo 2008The smokers were already fired up at 7:00 this morning here at the World Pork Expo, getting ready to serve some excellent BBQ to expo goers throughout the day.

The show is underway and we have already got a Flickr photo album up and lots of audio to get posted. The media center is very busy with plenty of reporters filing reports.

Enjoy the photos here on Flickr.

AgWired coverage of World Pork Expo is sponsored by:
Novus

Livestock, Novus International, Pork, World Pork Expo

EPIC Annual Mtg. in Omaha

Chuck Zimmerman

Toni NuernbergThe Ethanol Promotion and Information Council Annual Meeting is underway here in Omaha, NE. Last night we had a major lightning storm. After living through one in Kansas City the night before I’m wondering if I’m a lightning rod. I’m heading to Nashville tomorrow and keeping my fingers crossed.

To kick things off here EPIC Executive Director, Toni Nuernberg, welcomed members and introduced keynote speaker, Dr. Robert Zubrin, author of Energy Victory. His presentation is fascinating. I’ve got his book and now I’m planning to read it as soon as I can. You can hear an interview Cindy did with him on Domestic Fuel here.

This is the first large scale annual meeting of EPIC and well over 100 members are in attendance. The meeting allows them to hear first hand from staff and vendors about all the projects underway to help promote ethanol and educate the general public. Yesterday I conducted multiple presentations for members on the use of new media like blogs and podcasts.

Uncategorized

FMC Supports “Be a Hero, Support a Hero”

Melissa Sandfort

Crop producers in a variety of markets will have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of U.S. servicemen and women stationed overseas, with the “Be A Hero, Support A Hero” program from FMC Corporation.

Throughout 2008, FMC will continue its support of the United Service Organization’s (USO) Operation Care Package initiative as part of the company’s ongoing “Be A Hero, Support A Hero” promotion. A $5 donation will be made for each individual who completes the “State of the Industry” survey at various tradeshows and grower events throughout 2008. Individuals can complete the survey by clicking through a few short questions focused on production trends, market shifts, etc.

FMC will make its second donation on behalf of the 194 participants who completed the “State of the Industry” survey at the National Farm Machinery Show, February 13 – 16, in Louisville, Ky. FMC will donate $970 to Operation USO Care Package to send 39 care packages overseas.

More than one million care packages have been distributed to service personnel stationed overseas since the inception of Operation USO Care Package in 2001. Today, the USO distributes nearly 25,000 packages per month to troops around the world.

Last year, FMC donated more than $4,200 to Operation Care Package through the “Be A Hero, Support A Hero” program, resulting in 168 care packages. This year, after two tradeshows, FMC has donated $2,055 and 82 care packages, which is nearly half of its total donation in 2007.

Agribusiness

A Float’s Eye View of the 2008 CMA Music Festival

Laura McNamara

Fans waved and hollered, calling out “Michael!” as the New Holland/Michael Peterson float rolled past during the 2008 CMA Country Music Festival Kick-Off Parade. Some fans even blew kisses to the country music singer/songwriter. Others boldly cried out their admiration for the inspirational speaker. Michael and local FFA students tossed t-shirts and waved back to an eager and excited crowd. At one point, Michael even took a phone call from a random construction worker’s phone. I believe it was Michael’s drummer on the line. I’ll have to double check that with Michael though…

I took a couple videos from float, offering a “float’s eye view” of the parade.

You can watch the videos here:


2008 CMA Music Festival Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the CMA Country Music Festival is sponsored by:
New Holland

Ag Groups, New Holland, Podcasts, Tractor, Video

FFA Students Ride New Holland Float at CMA Music Festival Parade

Laura McNamara

A handful of FFA students offered country music singer/songwriter and inspirational speaker Michael Peterson today. Michael spent the day setting up for his exhibit at the Nashville Convention Center in preparation for the 2008 CMA Country Music Festival. The FFA students pitched in on the behind the scenes prep. Of course, their help came with quite the perk. The FFA boys got to join Michael on the New Holland float during the CMA Country Music Festival Kick-Off Parade.

I did a quick video with the boys before the float took off. You can watch the video here:


2008 CMA Music Festival Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the CMA Country Music Festival is sponsored by:
New Holland

Ag Groups, New Holland, Video

Behind the Scenes Before the Big Show

Laura McNamara

Local FFA members help Michael Peterson set up his exhibit in the Nashville Convention Center.…or festival rather. The New Holland crew joined Michael Peterson and members of the local FFA chapter in setting up for a week of excitement at the 2008 CMA Country Music Festival. Concerts, autograph sessions, exhibitions and of course the New Holland/Michael Peterson celebrity tractor race will all be a part of this weekend’s festivities.

I interviewed Michael about the legwork that’s goes into preparing for major events like Nashville’s country music celebration. You can listen to my interview with Michael here:
cma-08-peterson-1.mp3

I’ll have posts from today’s CMA Country Music Festival Kick-Off Parade online soon.


2008 CMA Music Festival Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the CMA Country Music Festival is sponsored by:
New Holland

Ag Groups, New Holland, Tractor