Practice Time at Iowa Speedway

Chuck Zimmerman

Iowa SpeedwayThe first practice session for the Iowa Corn Indy 250 is just about to conclude and Team Ethanol’s #17 car is doing very well. I’ve got another interview scheduled with him in about 45 minutes.

Ryan Hunter-Reay clocked a practice lap at 181.676 mph and is currently 7th fastest. The track was heating up this afternoon as we have a sunny day, something people here in Iowa are very happy to see. There’s another practice session this afternoon and they’ll be back out tomorrow.

We’re hoping to see Ryan crossing that finish line first on Sunday!

Iowa Corn Indy 250 Photo Album

Ethanol

Ryan Hunter-Reay Pumps Up Team Ethanol

Chuck Zimmerman

Ryan Hunter-Reay With Highway PatrolI finally got to meet the Team Ethanol driver, Ryan Hunter-Reay. Ryan was on hand at the Kum & Go pump promotion and posed here with the Highway Patrolmen who helped us with security and traffic and other drivers. He’s the tall guy on the left. Cindy and Laura have already had a chance to meet him. This is my first Indy race of the year though.

Ryan says the Iowa race is very important, especially due to the connection to the corn growers here in the state. He says he’s learned so much from working with people in the ethanol industry, especially how it’s a real part of the solution to our energy crisis.

You can listen to my interview with Ryan here: iowa-08-hunter-reay-1.mp3

Or watch it on this video:

Iowa Corn Indy 250 Photo Album

Audio, Energy, Ethanol, Video

Talking Ethanol With Pioneer’s Russ Sanders

Chuck Zimmerman

Russ SandersPioneer Hi-Bred is sponsoring the Iowa Corn Indy 250 again this year and I spoke to Russ Sanders, Marketing Director, about how the company is involved. He’s pictured here (left) with Team Ethanol driver, Ryan Hunter-Reay and EPIC Director of Communications, Joanna Schroeder.

Russ says that the company sees a great opportunity in the biofuels arena and their participation in this race provides them with a great opportunity to get the message out about the positive benefits of a fuel like ethanol.

You can listen to my interview with Russ here: iowa-08-sanders.mp3

Or watch it on this video:

Iowa Corn Indy 250 Photo Album

I’ll be out at the track today and through the weekend following along with EPIC and finding the ag angle to the most exciting racing there is.

Audio, Ethanol, Pioneer, Video

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • New Mustang Max EW insecticide from FMC Corporation is the answer for effective, economical control of key insects in tree, fruit and vegetable crops. Mustang Max EW is a cost-effective solution for controlling multiple pests, providing excellent knockdown of key insects and maintaining that control for higher yields and increased profit potential for growers.
  • Dow AgroSciences LLC announced it has submitted SmartStax™, a new insect-protection and weed control stacked trait combination in corn, to the U.S. EPA for regulatory review. SmartStax is the industry’s first-ever eight gene stack combination in corn that will feature multiple modes of action to control both above and below ground insects as well as herbicide tolerance.
  • The members of Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) voted to continue the historic dairy farmer self-help program through 2009. In a unanimous vote, the committee overseeing the management of CWT endorsed a continuation of the program – at the present membership assessment level of 10 cents per hundredweight – through calendar year 2009.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Pumping Hands And Gas

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Ryan Hunter-ReayConsumers in Ankeny, IA were treated to a little relief at the gas pump today when the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council teamed up with Kum & Go for a pre-race ethanol promotion.

    Regular (E10) was selling for $2.50/gallon and E85 was $1.85. I filled up my flex fuel van before I left.

    Four of the IndyCar drivers were on hand to help out including Team Ethanol driver, Ryan Hunter-Reay, pictured here, along with Ed Carpenter who is shaking hands with a lady who asked for their autographs.

    I’ll have interviews and more pictures to come. We just got finished with the promotion and are taking a break to get something to eat.

    Post Update: Here’s a link to the photo album I’ve started: Iowa Corn Indy 250 Photo Album

    Ethanol

    Real Girls Eat Meat

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Jessica SimpsonSince Cindy alerted me to this I’ve got to post it. I would have anyway since this is too good to pass on.

    Deceiver.com has a great post with this photo of Jessica Simpson and her “Real Girls Eat Meat” t-shirt. I can’t say I’ve been a fan of hers but I think she’s just made a bunch of new ones. (Picture from Bauer-Griffin)

    Of course the folks at PETA (that should stand for People Eating Tasty Animals) are not happy. You really need to read the comments on the Deceiver.com post.

    So, here’s a couple places I found where you can buy shirts, here and here.

    Food

    Zimfo Bytes

    Melissa Sandfort

      Zimfo Bytes

    • The U.S. Poultry & Egg Association has launched a new Web site with a new user-friendly look. The site provides online visitors with dramatic improvements in navigation, uniformity, appearance, and accessibility.
    • Rhea + Kaiser Marketing Communications has named agribusiness journalist Drew Harris as senior account executive, public relations, working on the Bayer CropScience portfolio of Southern row crops products. Prior to joining Rhea + Kaiser, Harris was managing editor of Cotton International and Cotton Grower magazines, based in Cordova, Tenn.
    • Novus International, Inc., announces the appointment of Travis Boatwright as South Central Poultry Sales Manager covering OK, TX, AR, LA, AZ, and KS. Boatwright joins Novus from Lohmann Animal Health where he served as the Corporate Accounts Manager and was awarded Salesman of the Year three times.
    • Wisconsin Dairy Products Assn. announces that Gary Steinhauer has been selected to receive the 2008 WDPA Presidents Award. Steinhauer spent 24 years working for Madison Dairy as vice president in Madison, Wisc. Steinhauer will be honored at a special awards dinner on Sunday, July 13 at the 2008 Dairy Symposium.
      Zimfo Bytes

      Travel and BBQ Go Together

      Laura McNamara

      The online travel agency CheapTickets.com is bringing consumers the best in barbecue and travel this summer. The agency has teamed up with Rick Browne, host of PBS’ Barbecue America, to launch bbq.cheaptickets.com.

      The new site, which features a blog written by Browne exclusively for CheapTickets, reveals undiscovered BBQ destinations around the U.S. In his blog, Browne highlights lesser known, but equally delicious, hidden BBQ gems in Portland, ME, Las Vegas and San Francisco, just to name a few.

      And just in time for Fourth of July travel, the site offers budget-friendly vacation packages and sales that will ease the pinch of the pocketbook. Through the BBQ site, customers have access to CheapTickets’ Summer Sale which offers $50-off qualifying flight + hotel packages of three or more nights using the promotional code SUNSALE50(1).

      Now, if we could just get the airlines to serve BBQ during the flight…

      Food

      Dog Wild for Hot Dogs

      Laura McNamara

      Okay. So who knew just how crazy Americans are for hot dogs? I didn’t. Apparently, Hatfield Quality Meats does. The family-owned meat company says on July 4th alone, Americans will chow down on 150 million hot dogs. That’s enough hot dogs, the company says, to stretch from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles… five times over. That’s just one day. Hatfield says that by the end of the summer, Americans will have eaten an estimated 7 billion hot dogs.

      Hatfield Quality Meats will turn out more than 50 million hot dogs, or ‘franks,’ this summer alone. In addition to its traditional meat and beef franks, the company recently introduced new Authentic Deli-style Beef Franks, along with pre-marinated entrees such as Lemon Garlic Pork Loin Filets, Sweet Brown Sugar Ham Steaks and Southwestern-style Smoked Sausage — all for the grill.

      What few people realize is that hot dogs — of all varieties — are considered sausages.

      Click here for more hot dog triva.Read More

      Food

      Corn Field Driftwood

      Chuck Zimmerman

      Corn Field FloodingThis is not something you want to see in your corn field. River driftwood.

      Actually that’s not the only thing wrong with this picture near Eddyville, IA. The water in the background is supposed to be the rest of the field, not the Des Moines River. It was an eye opener of a drive up to Newton, IA today. The worst flooding and fields I saw were in Iowa. Even fields with some very good looking corn had huge areas of dead or very yellow plants where it looked like water had pooled up for a while.

      At least the sun was shining most of the way up. However, I did drive through a line of showers right after getting into Iowa earlier this afternoon.

      Farming