Zeal for the Veal

Laura McNamara

Corporate Executive Chef Peter Schonman of Biaggi’s (left) and his chef, Matt Bettschart, display the winning dishes from the Veal Iron Chef Battle for Manhattan cookoff.This year’s “Battle for Manhattan,” an “Iron Chef” style culinary battle that features the fine, delicate taste of veal, was waged for its second year. It’s no surprise that it was Italian-inspired cuisine that captured the best tastes of veal.

As part of its “Go to Market” strategy, the checkoff-funded veal program held a cooking competition last week in New York City for top U.S. chefs, challenging them to develop original veal dishes using several new veal cuts. The competition was held at the Institute of Culinary Education and marks the second year for the event, officially titled, “The Battle for Manhattan.”

The new cuts are the result of a veal muscle profiling study. During this Veal Optimization Study, researchers looked at nine muscles from USDA Choice or higher carcasses. The study team included meat scientists from the University of Florida and the University of Nebraska, and was funded by the Beef Checkoff Program.
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Ag Groups, Beef, Food

TOP PRODUCER Gets New Editor

Laura McNamara

TOP PRODUCER MagazineCharles Johnson is the newest addition to join the TOP PRODUCER editorial team as the magazine’s national editor. The magazine has promoted another staff member, Linda Smith, to executive editor.

In making the announcements, Greg Vincent, editor of TOP PRODUCER, said the addition of Johnson to the staff “is great not only for Farm Journal Media, but also for the readers of TOP PRODUCER. Charles is one of the most recognized and professional editors in the industry and our readers will benefit greatly from his award-winning writing and photography skills.”

This represents a homecoming for Johnson, a member of the group of Farm Journal Media editors who created TOP PRODUCER in 1984. A veteran agricultural editor and photographer, Johnson most recently served as a contributing editor for two John Deere publications, The Furrow and Homestead. Johnson has garnered numerous honors during his career, including three Oscars in Agriculture, and was named the American Agricultural Editors Association Writer of the Year in 2000.

Vincent said Smith’s promotion “not only recognizes the huge contributions Linda Smith has made to the success of the magazine, but better describes her growing role in day-to-day operations.” Smith has covered agricultural business issues for the past three decades at Farm Journal Media. In her new role, she will help manage the day-to-day operations of creating each issue of the magazine, including the planning of issue content and management of editorial and production timelines. Smith will also continue to write and edit articles.

Farming, Media

Going Global with Soy Gets Praise

Laura McNamara

The Solae CompanyThe Solae Company, one of the world’s leading companies in soy protein manufacturing, singles out the global reach of communications agency Osborn & Barr. Solae commends Osborn & Barr for its global branding initiative.

“We are impressed by Osborn & Barr’s broad experience in global branding and, particularly, their work in the agriculture and nutrition field,” said Michele Fite, vice president of global strategy for The Solae Company. “We look forward to implementing a global brand platform with Osborn & Barr’s expertise that distinguishes Solae as the innovative leader in our industry.”

Osborn & Barr will work with The Solae Company’s global communications team to develop a global branding and communication strategy to improve industry awareness of The Solae Company brand. Strategies include research to determine the current industry opinion of The Solae Company, and development of a new brand platform.

The Solae Company, an alliance between Dupont and Bunge Limited, manufactures soy protein using patented technology developed during more than 35 years of scientific research. Hundreds of products found in supermarkets today use Solae-brand soy protein including food bars, beverages, snack and meat alternatives. Dedicated to providing nutritious and great tasting food to consumers, The Solae Company’s research facilities and manufacturing centers around the world provide soy ingredients that routinely exceed industry standards for safety, consistency and quality because all of the company’s products are backed by a quality management system.
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Agribusiness, Food, Soybean

Tractor Cruising in Iowa

Chuck Zimmerman

Tractor RideOn the way to the Iowa Speedway last week I was driving along behind Alan Slunecka who was taking the EPIC mobile learning center to the track. All of the sudden he slowed way down.

It turns out that we came up behind a tractor ride. I think this is the Tractor Cruise USA. If not, can someone correct me? It look like there’s another one scheduled for this fall too.

I had to record some of it on video (kids, don’t try this at home). After this little YouTube video we actually passed an even longer section of the ride.

Ag Groups, Tractor, Video

Kimberly Taylor Starts AFVI Blog

Chuck Zimmerman

AFVISince it’s been another wild week of alternative fuel blogging I thought I should point you to a relatively new alternative fuel blogger. She’s Kimberly Taylor at the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Institute. You might remember that I blogged their annual convention last year. I guess all my evangelizing is being noticed eh? I like Kimberly’s style and from what I see she is setting a great example of how you can use the blogging mechanism.

Are you interested in what is happening in the alternative fuel and advanced vehicle technology world but don’t have time to satisfy your curiosity?

The Alternative Fuel Vehicle Institute (AFVi) has just the answer for you. “Alternative Fuel Views” is a new AFVi blog that features daily news and perspectives on alternative fuels, vehicles, climate change, peak oil, technology breakthroughs, policy trends and just about anything you may care about related to our industry. The news stories are straight forward, but the commentary provided by AFVi’s Kimberly Taylor is what gives this blog an edge that you won’t find anywhere else. For two years now, hundreds of people have received Kimberly’s daily news in their inbox.

If you are looking for some baloney lite, sometimes humorous, always informative daily information, you can get this free service today by going to http://www.afvi.org/blog/ Read the commentary, read the articles and then leave behind a thought or two of your own. What are you waiting for? Join the conversation.

That’s right folks. “Join in the conversation!”

Uncategorized

E85 Chopper by Orange County Chopper and IFB

Chuck Zimmerman

Green ChopperThis was a cool story out here at the Iowa Speedway today.

They’re billing it as America’s first renewable energy chopper that runs on E85. It was unveiled today just before driver introductions by Iowa Farm Bureau. The bike was built in partnership between IFB and Orange County Choppers.

They held a press conference prior to the public introduction so you can hear them talk about it building it and what they think about ethanol. One of the things they like is the cleaner air they have to breathe when cranking it up in the garage. Here’s the audio from the press conference: iowa-corn-07-e85-chopper.mp3

This chopper project is part of an IFB-led movement called “Join the Ride Iowa.” This chopper will be auctioned off with the proceeds going to the American Lung Association of Iowa.

Iowa Corn Indy 250 Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Corn, Ethanol

Dario Franchitti Wins Iowa Corn Indy 250

Chuck Zimmerman

Dario and Iowa Corn GrowersMy man Jeff Simmons had a rough day, getting knocked out of the inaugural Iowa Corn Indy 250, presented by Ethanol. He was doing so well too! Anyway, once again ethanol wins and this was a big event for the industry.

The winner is Dario Franchitti. He was a survivor out there because it was a brutal race of attrition after multiple accidents.

Dario is here in Victory Lane with members of the Iowa Corn Growers.

This has been a very busy week here in Iowa and you can find more stories and interviews over on Domestic Fuel. I’ve got about 240 of the 1,000 pictures I took in my online photo album. I hope you enjoy them.

I’m heading on home and get a nice week of home office time before heading to Oklahoma on July 4th. You’ll learn more about that this week.

Iowa Corn Indy 250 Photo Album

Corn, Ethanol

IA Corn Indy 250 Race Day

Chuck Zimmerman

Senator InterviewsWelcome to race day here at the Iowa Speedway as we near the start of the Iowa Corn Indy 250, Presented by Ethanol.

To get things started we had a press conference titled, “Ethanol: Fueling Our Future” which was coordinated by the Iowa Corn Growers Association. On hand were Iowa’s state senators, Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin. Also on the program was IA Lt. Governor, Patty Judge, IA Sec. of Ag, Bill Northey, Peter Hemken, DuPont VP, Bob Bowman, ICGA president and Kyle Phillips, ICPB Chairman. Here’s WHO farm dude Ken Root doing a post-conference interview.

I did not get to attend the conference but thanks to Tim Hoskins, IA Farmer Today, I have the full audio of the press conference for you to listen to. Right now the dignitaries are touring the garages.

Here’s this morning’s press conference: iowa-corn-07-race-press.mp3

Iowa Corn Indy 250 Photo Album

Audio, Corn, Ethanol

Important IndyCar Driver Work

Chuck Zimmerman

Jeff Simmons Signing AutographsIt has been a long day at the track here in Newton, IA for the lead up to the Iowa Corn Indy 250. I’ve updated my photo album and am calling it quits for the night since we’ve got to be back out at the track early.

This is what an IndyCar driver does a lot of. It’s Jeff Simmons doing an autograph session after an Iowa Corn Growers/EPIC reception at the track this afternoon.

The Rahal-Letterman team did very good today. Scott Sharp in the Patron car qualified for 4th place in the starting lineup with a speed of 181.713 mph and Jeff Simmons in the Ethanol car qualified 6th with a speed of 181.527 mph which is his highest qualifying position ever! This is a tight field with only the slightest fractions of a second separating the top qualifiers.

You can watch the race live on ABC at 12pm central time.

Iowa Corn Indy 250 Photo Album

Ethanol

ICGA and EPIC Very Happy With Iowa IRL Race

Chuck Zimmerman

Field LogoThe logo for the Iowa Indy Corn 250, presented by Ethanol is very cool. It really looks good on the lawn in between the track and the pits here at Iowa Speedway.

The Iowa Corn Growers Association has been instrumental in making this race a reality here in Newton, IA. One of the corn growers here who’s very excited about what’s taking place is ICGA president-elect, Tim Recker. I interviewed Tim after he and other ICGA leaders unveiled the trophy for this weekend’s race. He says that the Iowa corn growers saw this race as an opportunity to really promote ethanol nationally and especially showcase all the work being done in Iowa to develop this renewable fuel resource. You can listen to my interview with Tim here: iowa-corn-07-recker.mp3

Jeff Simmons in practiceThe Ethanol Promotion and Information Council is also very involved in the promotion of this race, working very closely with organizations like the Iowa Corn Growers Association and Pioneer Hi-Bred. EPIC’s executive director Tom Slunecka was in the media center this afternoon. Tom was happy. And if Tom’s happy, I’m happy (EPIC is the founding and primary sponsor of our sister site, Domestic Fuel).

I got him to sit down for a minute and talk about how he thinks it’s going. He’s just as excited about this race as all the corn growers I’ve spoken with this week. He says that the work EPIC has been doing to create a brand that consumers are aware of and trust is really paying off and venues like this race as well as all the IRL races have been key to showcasing the performance value of ethanol.

You can listen to my interview with Tom here: iowa-corn-07-slunecka.mp3

Iowa Corn Indy 250 Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Corn, Ethanol