Welcome to a training session here at Southeast AgNet headquarters in Ocala, FL. We’re going to be learning how to blog and podcast throughout the day.
If you see some test posts pop on and off throughout the day, now you’ll know why.
This is going to be fun!
I didn’t know Jim Riemann but I certainly have liked his product. Here’s to hoping that we can always find a good CAB steak.
Certified Angus Beef LLC president Dr. M. James “Jim” Riemann recently announced his intentions to retire. Riemann has served as president since 1999. At Riemann’s suggestion, the CAB Board of Directors appointed senior vice president Brent Eichar as interim president, effective today. Riemann will remain through November 15, focusing on transition and retirement activities.
“I feel very good about the things our team has accomplished in the eight years I have been privileged to be a part of the program,” he said. “The Certified Angus Beef brand has grown to be a highly respected brand throughout all segments of the industry.” “The board is grateful for Jim’s dedication and loyalty to CAB and for his commitment to the mission, which is to increase demand for registered Angus cattle,” said CAB board chairman Bob Norton, St. Joseph, Mo.
Syngenta’s AVICTA Complete Pak has been named Product of the Year by AgriMarketing magazine.
In its first year of introduction, the product captured nearly 50% market share of the estimated $43 million segment. Syngenta says it expects to grow sales by 35 to 50% this year. Runners up for the award were John Deere’s 4930 self-propelled sprayer, Great Plains Manufacturing, and Crop Quest’s Paramount Reporting service.
Here’s the lastest story from Paul McKellips, US Department of State, Public Affairs GO Team on assignment in Iraq. In this one he speaks with U.S. Senator Bill Frist on his first visit to Iraq where he toured a prosthetics lab, the sprawling “tent city” field hospital at the Balad Air Base, and met with President Barzani of the Kurdistan Regional Government.
Senator Bill Frist, M.D., from Tennessee and Senator Mel Martinez from Florida made multiple strategic stops in Iraq as part of a fact-finding trip. Sen. Frist graduated from Princeton University in 1974 and from Harvard Medical School 1978. The senator worked as a heart and lung transplant surgeon and the director of the heart and lung transplantation program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
“When you look at the unbelievable fields here, you can’t help but see great potential for the future. There are incredible partnerships building between the United States and Iraq,” said Frist. “The University of Tennessee, for example, has a great agriculture program. There’s enormous potential for the university to work hand-in-hand with Iraqi farmers.” Listen to the report here: 
Senator Frist in Iraq (1 min MP3)
I should be back in the swing of things by tomorrow evening. It’s not that I’ve been away from blogging though.
Tomorrow I’m heading up to Ocala, FL on the way back from this personal trip. I’ll be conducting some blogging and podcasting training there.
We’ll get up to date shortly.
Just last month USDA announced loans for the development of rural broadband. At the end of last week they announced more.
Agriculture Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner announced that nearly $30 million in loans will be provided to telecommunications firms in Iowa, Kentucky, Ohio and Texas. The funds are provided under the USDA Rural Development’s Broadband Access and Telecommunications Programs.
“Since 1949 USDA has been providing long term financing to build and maintain communications infrastructure that is the cornerstone of rural America’s telecommunications system,” said Conner. “These loans continue a long tradition of ensuring that rural residents fully participate in commercial and educational opportunities that can be provided only by reliable broadband and telecommunications services.”
It’s been a busy week but no where more busy than the Chicago Board of Trade it would seem.
The Chicago Board of Trade today announced its Agricultural complex set an all-time volume record yesterday. The new record of 929,546 contracts surpassed the previous high of 869,005 contracts set on February 22, 2005.
CBOT President and CEO Bernard W. Dan said, “The combination of increased demand in the Agricultural sector coupled with the August 1 addition of side-by-side trading in our Agricultural complex has created greater access and opportunity for the entire marketplace. This new record is a direct reflection of those demands and our determination to create an environment to meet them.”
Thanks to Diane Johnson for sending in a couple pictures from the Livestock Publications Council meeting that took place at World Dairy Expo in Madison, WI. Pictured first are Terri Smith, Select Sires Inc., JoDee Sattler, Dairy Business Communications, Cathy Bewley, Select Sires Inc.
Yesterday Livestock Publications Council hosted its first ever breakfast event during the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. It was an opportunity for LPC friends in the dairy industry to get together and hear more about LPC’s purpose and upcoming events. It was well attended for the first ever LPC organized function at a dairy event. We’ll definitely have a second one next year!
I wish I could have been there. Well, not really. I’m in Sarasota for my high school reunion. Went to the beach today for a while before driving around the old home town (Sarasota, FL).
This picture is Diane Johnson, LPC executive director (left) and Melissa Muegge, Allflex communications director.
It’s that time folks. Last Call for the Best of NAMA competition.
The deadline for submitting entries into the Best of NAMA competition is only one week away! Entries must be RECEIVED by Friday, October 13. Entries are sent directly to the NAMA office and are judged by industry professionals at a regional level for possible advancement to the national competition.
Remember, your local chapter receives $25 per regional entry. So, enter your work in Best of NAMA and support your local chapter at the same time. To view the Best of NAMA Call for Entries visit, http://www.nama.org/amc/bon/index.htm. Download the Entry Form in an Adobe .PDF document at http://www.nama.org/amc/bon/entryform.pdf.
With the help of Mary Knigge with the National Milk Producers Federation, we have this picture from the IDairy press conference at World Dairy Expo.
Representatives from the IDairy coalition officially announced the National FAIR system as the database for manageing dairy identification information on Thursday, October 5, 2006 at World Dairy Expo. During the press conference, a memorandum of understanding was signed by the six organizations naming National FAIR as IDairy’s choice to confidentially house dairy and livestock identification data in compliance with the upcoming national animal identification system.
“Dairy producers need a private animal identification database that can ensure confidentiality, while also complying with the needs of USDA, at a low cost,” said Jerry Kozak, National Milk Producers Federation President/CEO. “As the IDairy coalition looked across the industry for such a system, National FAIR was the clear choice. Producers who choose to work with IDairy can be ensured they are leading the charge for a national animal identification system.”
Dairy and livestock producers can visit the IDairy website: www.idairy.org to learn more about the IDairy database system.
