It just looks like Al Pell, U. S. Farm Report, is proposing to Jeff Simmons, driver of the Team Ethanol Indy car. Al was actually interviewing Jeff for the show at yesterday’s Gas America pump promotion.
I talked with Jeff and he seems to be very upbeat going into race week for the greatest spectacle in racing.
I didn’t get to meet and talk with Indianapolis Speedway director of photography, Ron McQueeney (pictured on the right) until after I’d been covering Indy Car races for a year or so. Laura got to meet the man on her first trip out. She seems pretty comfortable jumping right in there and is getting some great shots. I took this picture at yesterday’s Gas America ethanol pump promotion.
We’re taking lots of pictures here this week and a selection is being put into our online photo album. If you see something you’d like a higher res version of let me know and I can email it to you when I get time.
The Ethanol Summit just got over with a little while ago and we’re in the Speedway media center doing some photo and audio editing.
American Farmland Trust is providing tools for people to use when lobbying Congress on the farm bill. It’s on a new section of their website called “Our Healthy Land.”
“Congress is Talking About Your Food” and the corresponding website, www.ourhealthyland.org, give consumers an overview of the federal farm bill, and suggests ways in which they can become informed and join the 2007 Farm Bill debate. The website also offers consumers access to specific resources for further information concerning U.S. farm and food policy. To obtain quantities of the brochure for distribution, please call (800) 370-4879, ext. 17.
The brochure and supporting website are a joint project Coleman Natural Foods (CNF) and American Farmland Trust (AFT) through the Coleman Eco-Project 2015, a decade-long conservation program created to raise awareness about the link between conservation, healthy land, healthy food and healthy people, and connect consumers with where and how their food is raised and produced.
I don’t know how familiar you are with Brian and Darren Hefty of Ag PhD but they’ve just started making their television show available on their website. They also produce a regular radio feature called “The Ag Minute.”
“As farmers ourselves we understand that it might not always be possible to watch Ag PhD as often as farmers would like,” said Brian Hefty, co-host of Ag PhD with his brother, Darren Hefty. “This gives the farmer an opportunity to download that latest information to their computer or other portable media player. We really appreciate the feedback that viewers continue to give us on how the show helps them in their operation, and it’s viewer feedback that has led us to develop an online product.”
Entering it’s tenth year of production, Ag PhD is a weekly half-hour television program that currently airs on 13 affiliates in the upper Midwest and Pacific Northwest, as well as nationwide on the RFD-TV Network (DirecTV channel 379 and Dish Network channel 231).
The brothers sound pretty competitive since they’re currently running a poll to see which one won the weekly “sibling showdown debate.”
Hello AgWired fans. In order to keep you even more up to date on what’s new in agribusiness we’d like to welcome Laura McNamara as a contributing editor. Laura is helping me here in Indianapolis this week covering ethanol related activities including the 91st Indy 500 this Sunday. She’s also helping me with posts on our Domestic Fuel website. We spent the day at a local pump promotion and I’ll have some more on that for you by tomorrow.
Let me tell you a little bit about Laura. She spent the last nine months covering Missouri state politics for a statewide radio network, The Missourinet. Before working there she spent last summer working in Rome, where she mostly covered news from the Vatican. She did work for the television news agency, RomeReports. Laura earned her broadcast journalism degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia. While a student, Laura also worked as a 
television reporter and fill-in anchor for KOMU NewsChannel 8 in Columbia and as a radio reporter for Missouri Digital News out of the Capitol in Jefferson City.
Laura’s involved in an interview session with Indy Car driver Sarah Fisher (right) at the pump promotion today in this picture. Yes, she’s using the golden ZimmComm microphone!
Laura wants to expand her reporting experience by covering events all over the world and we’re happy to be working with her. She’s going to be helping me post regular news items on AgWired and with coverage of certain events. You can feel free to send her your announcements as well as to me.
While we’re working together here in Indy you can find a selection of our photos in an online photo album:
This week’s program contains interviews with Alltech founder, Dr. Pearse Lyons and Owen Roberts, University of Guelph. You can also hear a song from Jen Elliott and Bluestruck called “Curse on You” from the Podsafe Music Network.
Dr. Pearse Lyons founded Alltech in 1980 and his company has grown into an international agribusiness. Each year he holds a Symposium for his customers from around the world. While there this week I interviewed him about how he started his company and what he thinks about the whole food/feed vs. fuel situation. I think you’ll find that he’s looking for ways to assist all parties so that we not only continue to feed the world but also develop new energy sources that are more environmentally friendly.
Owen Roberts talks about the new online graduate degree program in agricultural communications that will start this fall at the University of Guelph, Ontario. Owen is an IFAJ board member who was attending their board meeting being held in conjunction with the Alltech Symposium.
You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: 
ZimmCast 120 (15 min MP3)
Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:
zimmcast120-5-22-07.mp3The 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.
The Meyocks Group has added two new team members and the president is pleased.
Kristin Oelmann joins the agency as an account coordinator. Previously she was a marketing coordinator with Iowa Realty/First Realty GMAC in West Des Moines.
A native of Ackley, Iowa, Oelmann earned a bachelor’s degree in communication arts at Wartburg College in 2006.
Angel Modtland, a former agency intern, joins as an art director. Modtland is from Webster City.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in graphic design at Iowa State University this year.
“We’re pleased to enhance our client services by adding the talents and enthusiasm of both Kristin and Angel,” said Craig Clasen, agency president.
I sure hope you’re not getting tired of hearing about where I’m going next. This time it’s another ethanol related adventure in Indianapolis. It’s race week folks and that means working with the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council once again. I’m heading east today and there are activities scheduled through race time on Sunday.
For example, on Thursday, we’re going to have the Ethanol Summit at the race track.
Learn more about the benefits of Ethanol and its use as the official fuel in this year’s 91st Running of the Indianapolis 500. A variety of ethanol industry leaders will be on hand to speak about a wide range of ethanol issues, from performance, environmental and economic benefits, to E85 initiatives, growing consumer demand and the renaissance of rural America. Speakers include:
Jeff Simmons # 17 Team Ethanol Driver
Will Steger, Will Steger Foundation
Tom Slunecka, Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC)
Terry Angstadt, President IndyCar Series
Jim Gentry, Gas America
Thomas Dorr, Under Secretary for Rural Development
Dave Vander Griend, ICM, Inc.
We’re going to have all the sights and sounds we can post here and on Domestic Fuel. I say “we” because I’ll have help. More on that later.
According to a letter I just received from DTN the company has acquired all the assets of QuickFarm effective May 14.
It looks like this means that all Quickfarm customers now have access to a lot more information and services.
With the acquisition, customers now have access to the full suite of DTN agribusiness tools and services including DTN AgHost™, DTN Marketer™, and DTN Grain Trading Portal™. The products are designed to help agribusinesses enhance communications with customers and prospects in order to drive sales. In addition, DTN also provides real-time commodity and futures information, in-depth market analysis and real-time, localized weather information.
Last year I covered the Michael Peterson/New Holland Celebrity Tractor Race at the CMA Music Festival and now the tractor that was signed by the racing celebrities is up for auction online. It will end just in time for us to do it again this year!
Proceeds from the auction will benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Habitat for Humanity, the charity selected by 2006 Celebrity Tractor Race winner, country music artist Wade Hayes, who also autographed the tractor.
“Probably the most noted autograph on it was Tanya Tucker,” said Gene Hemphill, New Holland Industry Affairs Manager. “It will be up for auction until midnight June 9, which is the night before the 2007 Celebrity Tractor Race.” celebrity-tractor-hemphill.mp3
Other celebrity autographs include country music artist Michael Peterson, who organized the charity event that bears his name. Peterson is best known for his hits “Drink, Swear, Steal and Lie,” and “From Here to Eternity.”
“This is truly a one-of-a-kind collectible,” said Peterson. “Not only is it a collectible, but its also a contribution to Habitat for Humanity and St. Jude Children’s Hospital.” celebrity-tractor-peterson.mp3
Bids can be placed at www.newholland.com/na/tractorauction. The site also offers information on the autographed tractor’s specification and the celebrities who competed in the 2006 race. Financial transactions will be conducted offline with the highest bidder, who will be identified after the auction closes and results are verified. Bids will be accepted on the Web site until midnight EDT on Saturday, June 9, 2007.
