The real business gets kicked off tomorrow here at the National Ethanol Conference. Today was kind of a social and fun day which ended in over 2,000 people enjoying a very nice reception. We were dry inside but it rained outside.
I wandered out for some fresh air as the sky was getting dark and thought this picture kind of sets the mood for being in Arizona.
This is one of many vehicles on display here at the National Ethanol Conference in Tucson, AZ.
The Renewable Fuels Association is having their annual marketing meeting where up to 70 percent of the ethanol that’s sold during the summer months gets negotiated.
If you’d like to keep up on the action then check out the National Ethanol Conference Blog we installed for RFA and you can guess who’s the biofuels blogger.
This has been rumored for quite a while and today the announcement came officially that Sirius and XM are going to become one.
XM Satellite Radio and SIRIUS Satellite Radio today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement, under which the companies will be combined in a tax-free, all-stock merger of equals with a combined enterprise value of approximately $13 billion, which includes net debt of approximately $1.6 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, XM shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 4.6 shares of SIRIUS common stock for each share of XM they own. XM and SIRIUS shareholders will each own approximately 50 percent of the combined company.
Mel Karmazin, currently Chief Executive Officer of SIRIUS, will become Chief Executive Officer of the combined company and Gary Parsons, currently Chairman of XM, will become Chairman of the combined company. The new company’s board of directors will consist of 12 directors, including Messrs. Karmazin and Parsons, four independent members designated by each company, as well as one representative from each of General Motors and American Honda. Hugh Panero, the Chief Executive Officer of XM, will continue in his current role until the anticipated close of the merger.
I think it will be interesting to see if the rural audience gets some new programming out of this deal.
The combined company is committed to consumer choice, including offering consumers the ability to pick and choose the channels and content they want on a more a la carte basis. The combined company will also provide consumers with a broader selection of content, including a wide range of commercial-free music channels, exclusive and non-exclusive sports coverage, news, talk, and entertainment programming.
I really think I need to get in touch with more Internet Marketing Managers like Gigi Arino. She holds this position for Syngenta in their crop protection area. We had a great conversation at the National Farm Machinery Show and I recorded part of it to share with you.
Gigi says that a growing challenge within the company is how they coordinate and integrate the various divisions and the websites devoted to each. She sees herself as a bridge between IT and marketing to make sure that the websites in her area deliver the information promised in a fresh, updated and easy to use format. It sounds like we may even see a little Syngenta blogging before long. A few of her main sites include FarmAssist, AgriEdge and Syngenta Crop Protection.
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There’s two new team members at The Meyocks Group. They are Kristen Brown and Kari Moyer.
“We’re pleased to add Kristen’s and Kari’s experience and talents to help our agency better serve our clients,” said Craig Clasen, president.
Brown, an account executive with the agency, began her advertising career with Rhea & Kaiser Marketing Communications in 
Naperville, Illinois.
She earned a B.S. degree in journalism at Iowa State University and is active in the National Agri-Marketing
As we get closer to Commodity Classic the winners of the National Corn Yield Contest are surfacing in a variety of news releases as companies proudly announce who’s using their varieties. The Walter brothers here won in the AA Non-Irrigated Class for Illinois. You can find a list of state winners here and national winners here.
Ralph and Don Walter of Grand Ridge, Ill., won top honors in the National Corn Yield Contest (NCYC), sponsored by the National Corn Growers Association, for their yield of 253.6155 bushels per acre with the Mycogen brand 2T780 corn hybrid. The 2T780 hybrid is a 114-day HERCULEX® I Insect Protection/LibertyLink® hybrid and is a favorite among many growers in the region. It was a standout hybrid again in 2006 and is known for its high yield performance across many soil types. “We just tried the 2T780 hybrid on 35 acres, and it was fantastic,” Don Walter said. “Even with our low subsoil moisture, it outperformed everything we planted and that’s what we want: high-yielding hybrids.”
Learn all you want to know about U. S. Potatoes. Did I spell that right?
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today (Feb 16) appointed 27 producer members and two importer members to serve on the National Potato Promotion Board. All terms begin March 1, 2007, and end Feb. 28, 2010.
Producer members reappointed to the board are: Ronald Ray Lehr, Jr., Bakersfield, Calif; David Radtke, Sanford, Colo.; Stanley Searle, Shelley, Idaho; Thomas Qualey, Sherman, Maine; Steven Mark Whited, Bridgewater, Maine; Wayne Leep, Shelbyville, Mich.; Jason Derrick Yazzie, Bloomfield, N.M.; Bryan Beck, Tionesta, Pa; and Michael Maynard Pink, Pasco, Wash.
Newly appointed producer members are: Kevin Campbell Johnston, Bakersfield, Calif; Sid Staunton, Tulelake, Calif.; Rodney L. Lenz, Wray, Colo.; Monty L. Smith, Blanca, Colo.; John J. Harper, Mountain Home, Idaho; James Hoff, Idaho Falls, Idaho; Brent J. Stoker, Burley, Idaho; Curtis Stoddard, Grace, Idaho; Carl Madsen Ball, Hamer, Idaho; Charles L. Lake, Ronan, Mont.; Jerry Strickland, Huntington, Ore.; Kevin William Weber, Moses Lake, Wash.; Larry R. Jensen, Mount Vernon, Wash; Nathan L. Cox, Warden, Wash.; Albert Stahl, Ritzville, Wash; John O. Morris, Jr., Ephrata, Wash; John Michael Grose, Terra Alta, W. Va.; and Tim Stevenson, Wisconsin Dells, Wis.
Sanjiv Kakkar, Lawrenceville, N.J., is reappointed to serve in an importer position, and Dale Beck, Twin Falls, Idaho, is newly appointed to serve in an importer position.
The FAO has another new website. This one is all about the “Right To Food.”
FAO today (Feb 15) announced the launch of an interactive web site on the right to food, providing practical information for policy-makers, legal practitioners, civil society members, UN staff, academics and the general public. Through the web site, users can increase their awareness of the human right to food, access resources for capacity-building at national and international levels, and find guidance, methods and instruments to assist in implementation of the right to food at the country level. Resources include training materials and an e-learning course, tools to raise awareness of the right to food, and a virtual library containing manuals, technical papers, policy briefs, case studies and publications.
The Missouri Corn Growers Association held a seminar last week in conjunction with their annual meeting on “Profiting in the New Paradigm – Feed and Fuel Security.” The focus was on how corn growers and livestock producers can work together to produce ethanol and still feed cows and pigs and chickens at a reasonable price.
One of the speakers was National Corn Growers Association CEO Rick Tolman, pictured on the left. On the right is Farmer Dave Schumacher – the world famous Farm Guy with KTRS radio in St. Louis. The two hooked up via cell phone in the hallway after Rick’s presentation to be on the KTRS afternoon show live.
Dave was kind of surprised that his afternoon talkers would be interested in dealing with something so agricultural, but it just goes to show that ethanol is really getting the attention of mainstream media.
I just thought it was a funny picture of the two of them talking to each other on cell phones in the hallway.
On my way out of the National Farm Machinery Show I paid a visit on my friend and former farm broadcaster, Price Allen. Price works for Monty’s Plant Food Company which is practically across the highway from the show. He introduced me to the company president, Dennis Stephens (pictured).
Dennis shares the unique story about Monty’s Plant Food since it is the outgrowth of an effort by the company founder to make a better rose bloom! Now they sell their products in 13 countries and are really focusing growth on the agricultural market. Dennis explains all this and why their plant food product is so much superior in helping create a healthy plant which is their number one goal.
Listen to the Monty’s story in my interview with Dennis here (9 min): nfms-07-stephens.mp3
You can learn more about their original consumer product, Monty’s Joy Juice, here.
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