An NCGA Welcome to CUTC

Chuck Zimmerman

Bob DickeyThe CUTC is officially underway now that our keynote session and reception is over. It’s a very quiet media room as yours truly is the only one here. At least the internet access is sort of working. It won’t let me upload to Flickr but I guess that’ll have to wait until later.

Post Update: Here’s some photos: CUTC Photo Album

First up on the program was NCGA First Vice President, Bob Dickey. He welcomed everyone and introduced the keynote speaker, USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development, Tom Dorr. I spoke to him before things got going. He says there’s a contingent of foreign visitors here and although he doesn’t have attendance figures yet he’s hoping for a good crowd. I asked him how things were going with corn planting after seeing that we’re finally nearing completion and he said that he’s hoping for a normal amount of heat units during the next couple months. I can understand that with all the rain we’ve been having in the midwest.

I also recorded his welcoming remarks and am posting them for you here too.

Here’s my interview with Bob: cutc-08-dickey.mp3

You can use this link to download the audio file: Listen to MP3 Bob Dickey Interview (2 minutes)

Here’s Bob’s welcoming remarks: cutc-08-dickey-welcome.mp3

You can use this link to download the audio file: Listen to MP3 Bob Dickey Welcome Remarks (3 minutes)

Ag Groups, Audio, Corn, CUTC, NCGA

Welcome to CUTC

Chuck Zimmerman

CUTCThe fun and games are about to begin here at the Corn Utilization and Technology Conference. The event is being held at the Marriott in downtown Kansas City and I just got in and connected in the media room.

In less than an hour we’ll kick things off with a Keynote Speech by USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development Tom Dorr. He’ll be introduced by NCGA First Vice President Bob Dickey. Afterward we’ll all head across the street for the opening reception.

I’m going to be recording the opening session to post later this evening. So, until then . . .

Corn, NCGA

Got Scholarship? Students Receive Scholar Athlete Milk Award

Laura McNamara

The Milk Processor Education Program has named its 2008 SAMMY Award winners. Twenty-five teens are receiving the $7,500 Scholar Athlete Milk Mustache of the Year Award. A record-breaking 65,000 students entered the contest.

The winners are unsurpassed when it comes to top-notch performance in academics, athletics, community service and leadership.

The 2008 SAMMY Award winners will join a distinguished group of fellow SAMMY alumni and celebrities in the Milk Mustache campaign who serve as inspiring role models to teens across the country.

Winners will receive a $7,500 college scholarship and join Michelle Kwan and Avery Johnson for an award ceremony and induction into the SAMMY Hall of Fame at The Milk House at Disney’s Wide World of Sports(R). Each of the 25 winners also will grace the pages of the USA Today on June 27th with their very own special-edition Milk Mustache ad, joining the ranks of Milk Mustache celebrities from Rihanna and Taylor Swift to Vince Carter and Michael Strahan.

The SAMMY scholarships are given once a year to 25 college-bound high school seniors. Information for the 2009 SAMMY Award program is available online.

Ag Groups, Dairy, Education, Food

Organic Beef Supply Beefs Up

Laura McNamara

Two U.S. organic beef producers are teaming up to expand the nation’s organic beef supply. CROPP Cooperative, North America’s largest farmer owned co-op, and Dakota Beef, the largest vertically integrated organic beef producer in the U.S., have partnered in a mutli-year agreement.

Consumer demand for high quality organic beef has been exceptional and this partnership will ensure supply to an increasingly savvy and discerning organic consumer.

While other beef companies are struggling to supply the market with increased demand as traditional retailers take organic beef “behind the counter” and offer more choice cuts, Dakota Beef is flush with cattle and prepared to meet demand. Innovative supply chain management and long term partnerships with certified organic beef producers make this possible. Looking forward, the partnership with Organic Prairie will ensure strong supply chain in the future, “We currently see more certified organic calves on feed than ever before and that bodes well for the demand that this consumer driven product is creating,” says David Wilcox, an organic cattle finisher from Madison, South Dakota. Ranchers are happy too, Mike Olson, a 1000 head organic rancher from Utah says, “The organic cattle industry seems likes it become streamlined and organized for the first time ever, which is great news for those of us who have stuck with it for so many years.”

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Beef, Organic

Knowing Novus Now

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast-173 - Knowing NovusThe week Cindy will be attending the World Pork Expo in Des Moines with our coverage sponsored by Novus International. I was in their office last week to meet with Jeremy Lutgen and Scott Fleetwood. I did an interview with Scott, who is their Executive Director of Marketing and Products. In it you’ll learn a lot more about the company.

Jeremy Lutgen and Scott FleetwoodScott and Jeremy are pictured outside their office in St. Louis. Scott says they’ve got facilities in 25 locations globally and serve customers in 80 countries. They take pride in “performance through innovation.” Cindy will be working out of their booth at Pork Expo where Scott says they’ll be helping educate producers about how to improve production through the enhancement of animal nutrition.

When it comes to sponsoring our coverage he says that these types of partnerships are important to establish relationships and help transfer knowledge out to the market place. Cindy will be doing her best to do just that.

This week’s program concludes with music from the Podsafe Music Network. Since both Cindy and I will be on the road I picked a song titled, “Travelogue” by George Wood. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: Listen To ZimmCastZimmCast 173 (14 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:zimmcast173-6-1-08.mp3

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar. You can also subscribe in iTunes

Agribusiness, Animal Health, Audio, Novus International, Pork, World Pork Expo, ZimmCast

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Jeff Murphy, vice president of sales for Kemin AgriFoods North America, announces the appointment of Marc Hoopingarner as the Key Account Manager responsible for Kemin sales development in the territory which covers Delmarva, West Virginia, Virginia, North and South Carolina. Doug Macklin, who previously serviced these accounts, will now focus solely on managing the Kemin account managers in the East Region in his role as East Region Sales Manager.
  • Kemin Industries Inc. will host swine veterinarians, nutritionists and decision makers at its second annual swine summit in Des Moines, IA, June 4, 2008, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. The focus of the 2008 swine summit is “Netting More Energy”. Speakers Clifford Adams, Ph.D., Ruurd Zijlstra, Ph.D., Joseph Hahn, Ph.D., and David Meeker, Ph.D., will discuss net energy formulation, how to evaluate new high energy feedstuff options, what options are available, and how to extract more energy with nutricines such as enzymes.
  • Deere & Company has announced it will invest approximately $35 million to increase manufacturing capacity by 30 percent for combine harvesting systems produced at the John Deere Harvester Works in East Moline, Ill. The investment will include machine tooling and fixtures, improved work processes, and improvements to the existing paint system. The project is expected to be completed in early 2009.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Missouri Field Work

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Missouri Field WorkIt was a beautiful day to be out on the Katy Trail today and with that great weather comes a lot of field work.

    Here’s some red and green on the job in the Missouri River bottoms.

    Around here we’re starting to see corn and even some soybeans above ground but there’s still a lot of fields waiting to be planted. In fact, we’ve still got standing water in some areas where we usually don’t see it.

    But it’s a wonder what a few days of sunshine will do. Picture taken by my Blackberry.

    Uncategorized

    Multi-Track Editing With SoundBooth CS4 Beta

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Adobe SoundboothFor you aspiring audio editors or farm broadcasters out there with a Mac, multi-track editing just got easier. I’ve been using Adobe Soundbooth and wondering why they never made a version of Audition for the Mac. Well they still haven’t but they’ve got a new version of Soundbooth in beta and I just edited tomorrow’s ZimmCast with it.

    It’s still not Audition but it’s way ahead of what we had with the CS3 version of Soundbooth. So I suggest giving CS4 beta a try. If you get stuck figuring out how to start a multi-track session give me a call and I’ll guide you the best I can.

    Uncategorized

    Wisconsin Farm Technology Days

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Wisconsin Farm Technology DaysIn this day of precision agriculture you can still go old school at a show like the Wisconsin Farm Technology Days.

    Although the 2008 Wisconsin Farm Technology Days taking place in Brown County will showcase the latest technological advances in agriculture, it will also pay tribute to the technology that helped farmers increase their productivity in the early 20th Century. The farm expo will include a Heritage Machinery area, featuring classic tractors, implements and other machinery, according to John Schmidt, the show’s Tent City chair.

    “This equipment really helped build America’s agricultural industry, making our farmers the envy of the world,” says Schmidt. “That’s one of the reasons why collecting and restoring vintage tractors and machinery is growing in popularity.”

    Farm Shows

    Milk Madness

    Laura McNamara

    Summer marks a season of dairy-related activities and events in Minnesota. Now residents can keep up with dairy and the nearly 5,000 Minnesota dairy families at ExploreDairy.com.

    ExploreDairy.com is designed to provide a complete rundown of summertime dairy activities, and give Minnesotans a closer look at what the state’s farm families are up to. If you’re looking for memorable things to do this summer, if you’ve ever wondered about life on a farm, or if you’d like to learn more about the people who produce the milk, butter, cheese, ice cream and yogurt we enjoy every day, stop by ExploreDairy.com.

    ExploreDairy.com will be updated throughout the season with the latest news and information about all of Minnesota’s dairy-related events. For more information.

    The website will also feature recipes, videos and a ‘Dairy Diary’ blog.

    Ag Groups, Dairy, Farming, Food