Flying With Captain Evan Slack

Chuck Zimmerman

Captain Evan SlackFor those of you who might have been wondering if I made it back from Denver the answer is yes. Captain Evan Slack is a great pilot. We ran around some clouds and “weather” on the way to Kansas City. One of the choices as we got near Salina, KS was north or south. We went south and it was the right decision. I think that’s an experienced pilot’s instinct kicking in.

One thing is for sure. You get a much better view than on a commercial airline. You also get to help out the pilot when he needs something from the back seat. This next picture is Denver from the air soon after we took off from the airport where Evan keeps his plane.

DenverWe had to cross a little warm front with some unbelievable clouds that were so close you could reach out and touch them.

This is when I remembered my little camera again and made a short video clip for you.

I didn’t think you wanted to hear the engine noise so I added a part of one of Evan’s interviews he did at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference from his Friday midday show.

2007 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Cattle Industry Conference, Media, Video

Zimfo Bites

Laura McNamara

  • Pro-Act Microbial has launched an updated version of its website. The new layout is even easier to navigate and includes more facts about their services in the agricultural and aquaculture markets. The most notable new addition to the Pro-Act site is a video. The eight-minute video explains the basics behind their system and shows the many economical and environmental benefits of using it in a dairy farm environment.
  • Merial announced today that Accelerated Genetics and Select Sires Inc. are now providing information from the comprehensive IGENITY® profile on all sires in their beef lineups. The scores from the IGENITY profiles for these sires can be found on both companies’ Web sites. “We commend Accelerated Genetics and Select Sires for taking an important step forward in providing more information to their beef customers,” says Dr. Stewart Bauck, Director, Strategic Marketing, IGENITY. “Now, with the IGENITY profile, those customers can make more confident sire selection decisions.”
  • Lynn Harrison, a pork producer from Elk Mound, Wis., has been elected president of the National Pork Board. Harrison, serving his second three-year term on the Pork Board, will serve a one-year term as president beginning Aug. 1. Steve Weaver, a pork producer and National Pork Board member from Elk Grove, Calif., was elected to serve a one-year term as vice president. The elections took place during the National Pork Board’s summer meeting in St. Louis, Mo. Harrison and his wife, Pat, operate a 10,000-head hog farm in northwest Wisconsin. Harrison is a long-time member of the Pork Board’s Environmental Committee and served as the board’s vice president this past year.
Zimfo Bytes

Baxter Entertains Beef Board

Chuck Zimmerman

Baxter Black and MeIt’s getting near time for me to close up shop at ZimmComm New Media’s temporary Denver headquarters. The Cattle Industry Summer Conference is almost at an end. If you want to get a good overall summary of what happened from a Beef Board perspective then visit Beef Board Meeting.com.

At last night’s CBB dinner we were entertained by Mr. Cowboy Poet, Baxter Black. I think just about everyone got their picture taken with him. He’s the volunteer voice of the Beef Board and they loved him.

You can listen to one of Baxter’s stories here: cisc-07-black-3006.mp3

2007 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference

Beef Ambassador Blogs

Chuck Zimmerman

Amanda Nolz and Don HullmanI’ve interviewed Amanda Nolz more than once at a previous cattle industry meeting. Once was at last year’s winter meeting and once again last summer. Well, this ambassador for beef is now a blogger and I’m proud of her.

Amanda is pictured here talking with Beef Board Executive Committee member Don Hullman at one of the meetings here at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference. I hope you check out her blog at Chewing the Cud. Here’s a little bit about Amanda from her site: “A contagious passion for agriculture and a respect for the individuals involved motivate Amanda Nolz to tell her story. As a fifth generation rancher, she grew up on a Limousin cattle operation in southeastern South Dakota. After serving as the 2006 National Beef Ambassador, Amanda Nolz has grown into a strong youth voice in agriculture. Whether speaking with producers, educating consumers, or facing agriculture’s biggest adversaries, Amanda uses her energy and passion to tell the food production story.

With the help of agricultural activist Trent Loos, Amanda has extended her blog Chewing the Cud to the airwaves, which airs throughout the Midwest on Dakota Trails and Tales. She has been published in numerous agriculture journals and has traveled the country touting her message to different agricultural organizations. Amanda is a sophomore Ag Communications student at South Dakota State University and is spending the summer as an intern with the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service in Washington D.C.” You can hear her latest show here (mp3).

Chris Molinaro and Baxter BlackAnother beef ambassador who’s now a blogger is Chris Molinaro, pictured here with Baxter Black at last night’s CBB dinner. You can find Chris at Beef Matters.

Here’s a welcome message from Chris that you’ll find on her site: “My name is Chris Molinaro and I am one of your 2007 National Beef Ambassadors! Not only is it my responsibility, but it is my passion to promote the safe, wholesome, and nutritious product brought to you by the American beef producers! This blog will include my thoughts and view points on topics related to the beef industry, I will tell it like it is:the truth-the facts-and the REAL story behind the beef you eat!”

2007 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Beef, Cattle Industry Conference

New Driver For Team Ethanol

Chuck Zimmerman

Rahal-Letterman RacingSince I’ve written about Jeff Simmons so many times here I’ve got to let you know that he’s been replaced as the driver of the Team Ethanol car. It’s a tough sport. The new driver is Ryan Hunter-Reay. I wish Jeff and his fiance, Stephanie all the best.

So let’s all welcome new Team Ethanol car driver Ryan and hope he has an awesome start at the upcoming Honda Mid-Ohio 200 in Lexington, Ohio.

Rahal Letterman Racing today announces that American open-wheel and sports car race winner Ryan Hunter-Reay will take over as the driver of the team’s #17 Ethanol-sponsored car in the IndyCar Series, effective immediately.

“We have made important strides in our IndyCar program this year and we feel like this is something that we needed to do to maintain that pattern of improvement and growth,” said RLR co-owner Bobby Rahal. “Jeff stepped into a difficult situation last season and did a lot for our team and our sponsors, but we feel at this time, that this is the right move for the long-term future of Rahal Letterman Racing.”

Hunter-Reay worked his way up the American open-wheel ladder, having great success at every level. He began his career by winning six national karting championships before moving onto the Skip Barber program, where he was rookie-of-the-year in the Barber Dodge Pro Series in 2000. He moved to Toyota Atlantic competition in 2002, and led the series with three race wins and three poles, while also pacing the championship in laps led. The performance caught the attention of road-racing ace Stefan Johansson, who hired Ryan to drive for his first-year Champ Car World Series squad in 2003.

Ethanol

Florida Farm To Fuel

Chuck Zimmerman

Gov CristWhile I’m here in Denver at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference Cindy’s attending the Florida Farm to Fuel Summit. That makes for a nice contrast and a long distance romance. We call each other on our cell phones while we’re in our hotel rooms. She’s doing some posting from there on Domestic Fuel, like this one:

Government and industry leaders addressed a sold-out crowd at the second annual Farm to Fuel Summit in St. Petersburg on Thursday. Florida governor Charlie Crist told the group that fuels made from agricultural commodities have reached the tipping point in terms of public acceptance.

“It’s finally registered with everybody that this is something that is not only good for the environment, its good for our country, it gets us off of foreign oil, it is simply the right thing to do for America,” said Crist. “And as governor of Florida, I think we have a wonderful opportunity to lead in this regard, more than anybody else.”

“I love corn, it’s great,” Crist added. “But we have sugar cane here, and citrus waste, and one of the most amazing agricultural industries in America – in the world, really.”

Crist admitted that it is hard to find ethanol in Florida right now, but he hopes that will change soon. “The promise in this area is just limitless,” he says.

Crist also announced that he would be going to Brazil in November on a trade mission that will include discussions about how Florida can work with Brazil in biofuels production.

Listen to the governor’s remarks here: f2f-crist-speech.mp3

Audio

2007 Environmental Stewardship Awards

Chuck Zimmerman

Environmental Stewardship AwardsTaking good care of the land got rewarded last night for 6 farms around the country. The regional winners of the National Environmental Stewardship Award Program were announced.

“The six regional winners have made extensive efforts to work closely with their local communities and government agencies, including the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), to implement conservation programs that benefit everyone. They have seen the value in utilizing conservation programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) on their operations. These folks showcase how the implementation of cooperative research efforts, educational events and government programs can really pay off.

“We are also proud to announce that 2007 marks the 17th year of the Environmental Stewardship Award Program. Over the years, we have seen an exceptional number of applications, and we look forward to the continued growth of this prestigious award program. We thank Dow AgroSciences LCC and the NRCS for their dedication to sponsoring this award program, which honors environmental innovation and perseverance among U.S. cattle producers.”

The 2007 Regional ESAP Winners are…

-Region I: Sunrise Club Calves, Shippenville, Pennsylvania
Nominated by Pennsylvania Cattlemen’s Association

-Region II: Dee River Ranch, Aliceville, Alabama
Nominated by Alabama Cattlemen’s Association

-Region III: Oak Knoll Ranch, Salem, Missouri
Nominated by Top of the Ozarks

-Region V: Roaring Springs Ranch, Frenchglen, Oregon
Nominated by Oregon Cattlemen’s Association

-Region VI: Yolo Land & Cattle Co., Woodland, California
Nominated by California Cattlemen’s Association and California Rangeland Trust

-Region VII: Alexander Ranch, Sun City, Kansas
Nominated by Comanche Pool Prairie Resource Foundation

2007 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Cattle Industry Conference

Merial Media Reception

Chuck Zimmerman

Media ReceptionThanks once again to Merial for not only sponsoring the media room but also last night’s reception. It was in a very cool place, the Buckhorn Exchange. Their website says they have Colorado liquor license #1.

According to Evan Slack it’s the oldest bar in Colorado. He should know right? Just kidding Evan.

I’m hoping for good weather tomorrow for the flight home. I came out to Denver on a one way with Southwest and Evan’s flying me home in his Mooney. This should be interesting. Say a prayer for me.

2007 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Cattle Industry Conference

New Beef Board Advertising

Chuck Zimmerman

John DudleyThings are kind of quiet here today at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference since it’s committee meeting after committee meeting. They’re working but that makes it a little challenging to get to talk to and do interviews. However I caught John Dudley before his committee got started.

He’s chairman of the Joint Advertising Committee. Their meeting is combined with the Nutrition & Health Committee. The reason for that is that new creative ideas for next year’s advertising will be unveiled. John says the new advertising will combine the two messages of previous campaigns that focused on enjoyment and nutrition.

He says he’s going to solicit the opinion of all the members of both committees even though they’ve only got about 3 hours to get the job done. He says the advertising campaign will be very different from past campaigns but didn’t elaborate further. I’m sure we’ll see some more information coming out after the conference here. He did say that the campaign will only be utilizing print and radio since there’s just not enough budget to include television.

Listen to my interview with John here (4 min.): cisc-07-dudley.mp3

By the way, John’s a member of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. He says that they’re real happy to have Eldon White on board who’s their new CEO (formerly executive director of NAMA). I’ve seen Eldon here and he was smiling so I guess he’s doing fine with his new gig.

2007 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference

No Travel Necessary in Search of Rural Dream Home

Laura McNamara

FCS FinancialYou no longer have to log the miles in your search for that great, rural escape. Thousands of rural properties are now available online at myfcsfinancial.com.

FCS Financial recently partnered with LandsofAmerica.com, LLC, an online real estate marketing service provider, to display more than 30,000 rural properties on its web site.

Properties for sale on www.myfcsfinancial.com include farms, investment properties, rural homes, waterfront properties and bare land tracts throughout the United States. It is the largest database of rural land listings in the U.S., and visitors can search the listings by state, county or property descriptions such as acreage size, property type and price.

To search the database, visit www.myfcsfinancial.com and click on “Property For Sale.”

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