Pawlenty and Peterson At ACE

Chuck Zimmerman

MN Governor Tim PawlentyWe had a couple of politicians with us here today at the ACE Convention. The first one on stage was Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.

When I asked him about his vision for the future of ethanol in Minnesota he said he wants to be the benchmark state for the rest of the country on the development, use and availability of ethanol. . You can listen to my interview with him here (1 min): ace-07-pawlenty.mp3

Congressman Collin PetersonNext up was the Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Collin Peterson who represents Minnesota’s 7th Congressional District. After his speech I asked him about why his farm bill contained less money for renewable fuels research than USDA asked for. Peterson says that they didn’t want to overdo it and that he feels that there is adequate funding in his bill. I also asked him about the whole food vs. fuel issue. He thinks that has died down and as he put it was “ginned up” by people who had other interests.

You can listen to my interview with Congressman Peterson here: ace-07-peterson.mp3

2007 ACE Convention Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Ethanol

Looking Down on AgriTalk

Chuck Zimmerman

AgriTalk at ACEI don’t mean that the way it sounds. I was actually looking down on AgriTalk just a few minutes ago when they were doing their show live here at the ACE Convention. In the picture Mike Adams is interviewing ACE executive vice president, Brian Jennings.

This takes care of the AgriTalk road picture portion on my ACE Convention coverage. It’s a tradition you know.

AgriTalk ACE AwardAgriTalk was presented with an award by the American Coalition for Ethanol here today.

It’s their 2007 Media Excellence Award.

Congratulations to Mike Adams, John Herath and Mike Perrine.

I didn’t get to listen to the show but they had a good audience here and I heard the applause when they were done even here in the media room. They’re set up just outside the trade show.

2007 ACE Convention Photo Album

Ag Groups, Ethanol, Media

American Coalition for Ethanol Convention Underway

Chuck Zimmerman

Corn BalloonThe American Coalition for Ethanol convention got kicked off yesterday. I might have made it to the opening trade show reception except for United Airlines problems again. But I’m here now enjoying a very large media room.

This morning the trade show was the first order of business before breakout sessions. We’ll have an opening general session this afternoon featuring Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. I’ll be recording that and doing most of my posts on Domestic Fuel.

If you’d like to see what’s going on there is a photo album online that you’re welcome to visit.

Ag Groups, Ethanol

Jay Leno Talks Biodiesel With Joe Jobe

Chuck Zimmerman

Jay Leno's Garage VideoHello from the American Coalition for Ethanol convention in St. Paul, MN. Before I get into some ethanol coverage though I’ve got a biodiesel story for you.

You might remember that I went out to Burbank earlier this year with Joe Jobe, National Biodiesel Board and Gene Hemphill, New Holland to visit Jay Leno’s Garage. While we were there Jay shot one of his website videos with Joe and they talked a lot about biodiesel. That video is now online for your viewing pleasure.

I think you’ll find that Jay is a very big fan of renewable fuels.

Ag Groups, Biodiesel, Ethanol, New Holland

Farm Aid To Host Star-Studded Concert

Laura McNamara

Farm Aid 2007It will be a concert for all music fans with a myriad of tastes… to help promote the farm fresh tastes of produce from American family farms. Farm Aid 2007: A HOMEGROWN Festival is the organization’s first-ever concert in New York.

Artists representing a variety of genres are slated to join Farm Aid board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews on Sunday, September 9 at Randall’s Island in New York City for the day-long festival. The show will promote food from family farmers and raise funds for Farm Aid’s work throughout the year to strengthen family farm agriculture.

Among the artists who will perform at Farm Aid 2007: A HOMEGROWN Festival are Tim Reynolds, who will join Dave Matthews, The Allman Brothers Band, Counting Crows, Matisyahu, Guster, The Derek Trucks Band, Warren Haynes, Supersuckers, The Ditty Bops and Montgomery Gentry. Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds and The Allman Brothers Band are scheduled to play full sets.

Farm Aid 2007“Thanks to a warm welcome from Mayor Bloomberg and New Yorkers, Farm Aid is bringing the annual concert to New York for the first time in 22 years,” said Carolyn Mugar, Farm Aid’s executive director. “With inspiring music from generous artists and a menu of family farm food, Randall’s Island will be transformed into a music festival to be remembered.”

Farm Aid 2007: A HOMEGROWN Festival will feature a full day of music, an abundance of family farm food vendors, and hands-on, interactive exhibits with farmers and activists that inspire living a homegrown life. For the first time at a major concert event, the goal is to serve 100 percent local, organic, humanely-raised and family-farmed food.
Read More

Farming, Food

Britian Talks About Foot And Mouth

Laura McNamara

Britian officials will be addressing the Foot- and Mouth- scare in England that has U.S. producers carefully monitoring their livestock. Look for an update on the issue later this afternoon.

Chief Veterinary Officer Debby Reynolds will host an on-camera press conference
today, Wednesday 8 August, at 15.30, to update on investigations into the
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak.

* Date: Wednesday 8 August
* Time: 15.30
* Venue: Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London, SW1P 3JR

The CVO will be available for a limited time after the press conference for
broadcast interviews.

Please call 020 7238 5054, 020 7238 5599 or 020 7238 5054 to confirm
attendance.

Livestock, Media

Zimfo Bites

Laura McNamara

  • Diamond V® has appointed Dave Lusson Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer at Diamond V Mills, Inc. As Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer, Lusson will directly oversee the company‚s financial reporting, long-term financial planning, accounting and information technology departments as well as the company‚s Mexican business unit. “Dave’s strong background in finance and management skills are something we look forward to having at Diamond V,” said John C. Bloomhall, President and CEO of Diamond V. “We are thrilled to have someone with his experience on our team.”
  • A team of DuPont ( NYSE:DD) scientists has identified a gene that, when silenced, can help increase the feed value of grain, improve breeding programs for corn and other crops and reduce phosphorous in animal waste. Results of this research were published online in Nature Biotechnology on August 5. The gene controls production of phytic acid, a compound in grain and oilseeds that is not digestible by monogastric animals, such as swine and poultry, and reduces the availability of essential minerals. Through genetic manipulation, researchers at DuPont business Pioneer Hi-Bred were able to silence the gene in corn, greatly reducing the amount of phytic acid in the seed. “This research is a major advancement in our effort to improve the quality of grain used for animal feed and brings more value to producers,” said Jinrui Shi, research scientist at Pioneer. “For years, seed and biotech companies have been trying, with little success, to bring a low-phytic acid offering to market. This is the first time an institution has successfully produced a transgenic low-phytic acid trait without impacting germination or plant growth.”
  • The American Agricultural Editors’ Association (AAEA) presented five Lifetime Achievement awards in Louisville, KY, on July 31. Two of the awards were given to Wilson Carnes and Bob Rupp, and three posthumous Heritage Awards went to Charles Scruggs, Jim Thomson, and Cordell Tindall. This year, AAEA re-instituted the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was given for the first and only time in 1990. These awards are sponsored the by The Sonja Hillgren Foundation. The five recipients were selected by the AAEA Service Awards Committee
Zimfo Bytes

Seeing The Pfizer Manufacturing Site

Chuck Zimmerman

Pfizer Media Event ParticipantsDay two of the Pfizer Animal Health Media Event started out in a serious rain storm. I sure wish we’d had some of this back home.

Here’s most of our group getting ready to board the buses this morning to go to our first stop. We went to the Pfizer Global Manufacturing Site to see where they make products and package, label and crate them up for shipment. This was a big building. I mean big. The main corridor that runs through it is 1/4 mile long for example. Let’s just say we worked up an appetite for lunch.

This building doesn’t have windows and is a very controlled environment as you might imagine. The employees are only allowed to bring a family member in for a couple hours on one evening of the year. The rest of the time it’s tight security. We had to put on gowns, hair nets, safety glasses, booties and for those with mustache/beard, a beard net. And that wasn’t the highest level of contaminations protection for many areas we didn’t get to go into.

The amount of investment in a facility like this is really hard to comprehend until you see the fully automated lines where they take the product and bottle or otherwise package it for shipment. One of the things I was impressed with is how they use the same level of control and safety precautions on all products regardless of whether they’re for human or animal use.

Uncategorized

Biosecurity Alert for Livestock

Laura McNamara

USDAThe outbreak of foot- and mouth- disease abroad has the Department of Agriculture issuing an alert to domestic livestock producers. The U.S. Ag Department singles out the need for Pennsylvania producers to closely monitor contact with British livestock.

The state Department of Agriculture is urging livestock producers to heighten biosecurity practices, especially if dealing with international markets, in light of a recent foot- and-mouth disease outbreak in Britain.

Foot-and-mouth disease is highly contagious and affects swine, cattle, sheep, goats and deer, which can be devastating to the livestock industry.

There are no implications for the human food chain or for human illness related to the disease. Read More

Livestock, USDA

Getting The BRD Scoop At Pfizer

Chuck Zimmerman

Dr. Dan ScruggsHere’s the guy who really showed us the way when it comes to BRD in cattle today at the Pfizer Animal Health VMRD facilities. He’s Dr. Dan Scruggs and his topic was the whole BRD complex. I know more about diseases I couldn’t pronounce before today than I’ve got time to write about tonight. Let’s just say there are a number causes for bovine respiratory disease and Pfizer has some relatively new products to treat them with

Dr. Scruggs says timing of treatment is the key to success. He was one of the wet lab leaders after his talk. By wet lab I mean we went into a very wet lab and looked at recent necropsy’s of calves that had very diseased lungs so we could see first hand the effect of the diseases. I really think it was the best way to understand how much impact these diseases have and how much damage they can do in a short period of time.

You can listen to my interview with Dr. Scruggs here: pfizer-vmrd-07-scruggs.mp3

Or if you’d like you can download it here: Download MP3 FileDr. Dan Scruggs Interview

Animal Health, Audio