Why is it that everything from Florida is “fresh?” I’m from Florida. Does that mean I’m “fresh.” I guess it’s all that beautiful blue sky and sunshine. That’s where the American Agri-Women will be holding their annual convention this year. They say it’s, “Fresh Ideas, Fresh Outlook, Fresh From Florida.” I wish they’d hire me to blog it for them.
Here’s the schedule and registration form.
It looks like Jeff Caldwell has the “right stuff” for Meredith.
Jeff Caldwell was recently named new Agriculture Online News and Features Editor for Meredith Corporation’s Successful Farming magazine. Caldwell, who grew up on a western Kansas farm, is a 2001 graduate of Kansas State University, with a BA in journalism/English. After graduation, he worked as associate editor for the High Plains Journal, and then in July 2004 moved to Des Moines to serve as field editor for the High Plains Journal/Midwest Ag Journal, as well as editor, author and designer of the company’s e-mail newsletter.
“Jeff is one of the real rising stars in agricultural journalism. He has the ‘right stuff’ to cover agriculture for the benefit of farmers and ranchers,” said Agriculture Online Editor John Walter. “He will be a great addition to the Agriculture Online and Successful Farming team.”
Using the AgNewsWire.AgWired.com, a couple of seed companies announced their merger today. They’re AgSource Seeds and NuTech Seed. Pictured are owners (left to right) Tom Thompson, Ken Rose, Dennis Ewing and Hollis Oelmann.
(Nevada, Iowa – AgNewsWire.AgWired.com) Two of the Midwest’s young and agile independent seed companies have formed a new organization to deliver more high-performance corn hybrids and soybean varieties. AgSource Seeds, Inc. (Nevada, Iowa) and NuTech Seed, LC (Leland, Iowa) will merge their operations effective September 1, 2006 to complement each organization’s ability to provide the best seed possible for corn and soybean producers.
The new company will market AgSource and NuTech brand seed for the 2007 growing season, with NuTech becoming the primary brand in 2008 and beyond. (Full Release)
On this week’s ZimmCast it’s time to relax in between road trips and discuss our latest farm podcast with Pioneer Hi-Bred called “Forage Forum.”
If you haven’t had a chance to listen to the first podcast for dairy producers, now you can. I’d love to know what you think too.
Listen here: 
ZimmCast 76 (7 min MP3)
The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar. You can also subscribe in iTunes.
The folks at Farm Aid are providing some great content for an agricultural new media workshop. I know I’ll be using them as an example in the one I’ll be conducting at the Ag Media Summit next week.
Take Farm Aid’s new “Top of the Haystack” online contest to win front row seats at the next concert. It’s an online popularity contest where you enter and compete against other people.
We’re giving away front row tickets, airfare and hotel accommodations, and all you have to do is prove you’re Farm Aid’s ultimate fan!
I just love these pictures from the Cotton Council International 50 year reception. They did this in Washington, DC at Union Station. What I like is the little “cotton tree” that frame the speakers like Hunter Moorhead here.
CCI President David Burns, a North Carolina producer, said that at CCI’s inception in 1956, the industry was in crisis: stocks were the highest in recent memory, man-made fibers were on the move and exports were the lowest they had been in a decade. That year U.S. cotton exporters shipped a total of only 2.2 million bales. “By comparison, today’s global mill demand for cotton is more than four times greater than in 1956,” Burns said. “For the 2005-2006 marketing year, the U.S. is projected to export nearly 17 million bales, which translates to more than a seven-fold increase in exports compared with 1956 and represents around seventy percent of current U.S. production.”
Keynote speakers at the event included: The Honorable Thad Cochran, Chairman, Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate; and Hunter H. Moorhead, Special Assistant to the President for Agriculture, Trade and Food Assistance.
If you’re new to the professional world of agribusiness you can find help. For example, you might consider the “How to Manage the Transition from College to Work” seminar coming up August 10 at the Drake & Company headquarters in St. Louis.
The seminar will be conducted by Eric Spell & Erika Brandt of AgCareers.com. It’s also sponsored by Alpha Zeta. I hope that Eric and Erika have blogging in their presentation since it can be a big help to anyone wanting to move their career forward (if done right). Here’s the registration form. (pdf)
BTW. Alpha Zeta has a blog.
A picture can almost be as good as being there. Almost. The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) just put the finishing touches on a new office building. They held an open house in June to “not only showcase its new headquarters office to attendees but also educate them – in a fun and informal way – about AEM and the industry segments it serves.”
The new AEM office is located in the former Allis-Chalmers tractor manufacturing plant in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin suburb of West Allis. The industrial renovation of the plant site has won awards for blending modern design with the character of the past such as exposed brick and other structural elements of the original facility.
“We wanted to use this opportunity to share our enthusiasm for our work and workplace with our members as well as our industry, business and community associates and friends,” stated AEM President Dennis Slater.
Entering the new AEM office, visitors are greeted by dozens of detailed machinery models of all sizes and types, many of them decades old. Slater emphasized that while AEM has a rich heritage of more than 100 years of service, it is focused on the future and its leadership role helping members and the industry meet the challenges of the global marketplace.
The fertilizer folks want the general public to know more about the societal benefits of modern agriculture. One of the ways they say they’re doing that is by creating supplemental educational materials for middle and high school science curriculums. Those materials will be used for the first time this fall.
I’m guessing by the letter I just received from them in the mail that they’re looking for additional support too. If you’re interested please visit them online.
The president of the Canadian Pork Council says Canada, the United States and Mexico are moving in the same direction when it comes to developing systems for tracking the movement of livestock. Livestock identification and traceability was one of the issues discussed recently as representatives of the Canadian and US pork industries gathered in Winnipeg for the annual meeting of the Canadian Pork Council.
CPC president Clare Schlegel says, despite developing some differences in the systems, the Canadian, American and Mexican industries all recognize the need for coordination. Read More
