Dozens of agricultural engineering students have received awards from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers this year. The awards are meant to honor those students particularly involved in their field.
The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) honored the latest winners of AEM’s annual Student Engineering and Mechanization Awards during special ceremonies at the recent American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers’ (ASABE) yearly international meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The awards recognize outstanding initiative and accomplishment in ASABE student branch activities. AEM initiated the awards in 1935 as part of its commitment to excellence in agricultural engineering education.
Winners are ASABE student branches which have compiled the most outstanding record of activities during the previous year in areas including membership, meetings, programs and special member activities, including campus and community participation. ASABE helped establish student branches to provide undergraduates interested in agricultural engineering some insight into their chosen profession. Today, student branches are active at most universities offering professional training in engineering related to agricultural, food and biological systems.
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Here’s more proof that our production of ethanol, especially using corn, is becoming a more and more efficient process. I find it amazing how much work is being done by so many companies that you never hear about in the mainstream media. Companies like 
DuPont and FOSS North America today announced an agreement that will help farmers and ethanol producers better understand ethanol yield potential of grain corn being delivered to ethanol plants. The agreement, announced during the Fuel Ethanol Workshop, provides FOSS rights to technology developed by DuPont. Under terms of the agreement, DuPont business Pioneer Hi-Bred is providing to FOSS proprietary Ethanol Yield Potential calibration technology for use in FOSS grain analyzers. The technology provides estimated ethanol yield in terms of gallons per bushel.
After spending another week on the road at the world’s largest tailgate party of corn growers, the Iowa Corn Indy 250 you get a ZimmCast about ethanol.
Beef, poultry, pork… pick your pleasure. The American Meat Institute is launching a new Web Site to demonstrate how the meat industry responds to consumers and constumers.
It’s a fun way to get a wad of cash… well, a Savings Bond for $1,000 to be exact. Chick-fil-A wants to get consumers involved in it’s “Eat Mor Chikin” campaign, so the food chain is hosting an online photo contest. When you spot that clever little cow urging you to opt for the chicken, start clicking those shutters.
From June 25 through Sept. 30, children age 10 and younger are encouraged to work together with an adult to take and submit photos featuring the “Eat Mor Chikin” Cows in a creative way — whether it’s in front of the Statue of Liberty or at a family picnic. The cows can be costumed, stuffed or even a paper cut-out, as long as they’re included in the photo. The Web site will provide details about uploading photos for the contest.
If you’d like to pull for agricultural education then you might want to do it at this event coming up in Illinois.
It’s an authentic midwestern delicacy… well, a recipe borrowed from England actually. Tony Barnicle of Mary’s Home, MO has been selling his “Pickled Black Walnuts” for about five years now. It’s his claim to fame when it comes to value-added agriculture. The mid-MO farmer plucks black walnuts from his trees while they’re still green, pickles them, packages them and puts them on the grocers’ shelves. He likens his “Pickled Black Walnuts” to an habanero pepper. You don’t pop the entire pickled nut into your mouth, but use it more like a garnish. 
He suggests using chopped pickled walnuts to marinate steaks with or crushed pickled walnuts in a classic dip. You can also slice them to garnish crackers and cheese or grind them up on your salads.
This year’s 
Charles 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.