We had a great going-away party for Steve Taylor today in Columbia, MO. Stevie “Wonder” is going off into the sunset to Moscow, ID. He’s leaving behind the Beef Babes, current and future.
Aren’t they cute? The Missouri Beef Industry Council office was all decorated. We had a bluegrass band, hamburgers and cake. Good luck with the move Steve and great job Beef Babes.
I’ve been in a lot of airports lately. Take today as an example. We got out of Raleigh okay and then had to circle St. Louis for a while. Then we got to sit on the tarmac for a while until the plane at our gate got out of the way. Then it only took 45 minutes for baggage to show up.
So, when you’ve got time in an airport you look around. And see things like this advertisement for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and The Arthritis Foundation. The cow caught my eye and at first I thought it was weird that anyone was worried about a cow with arthritis. But then I noticed that the focus is on the woman’s leg. Duh.
So, next it’s off to Portland and some more airports. My knee is feeling a little sore. You don’t suppose . . . nah. You can learn more about knee pain here.
Ahh, the “Interim” position. Hopefully in Doug Jeske’s case it will become permanent. That would be cool Doug. Doug is the Interim President of The Meyocks Group since:
Donna Tweeten, president of The Meyocks Group, will leave the agency in mid-August to take a position as assistant vice president of communications and brand management with Hy-Vee, Inc., the agency’s parent 
company. Doug Jeske, agency senior vice president, will lead The Meyocks Group as interim president during an internal and external search for Tweeten’s successor.
Jeske joined The Meyocks Group in 1993. A native of Eldora, Iowa, he earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Iowa State University and then completed a master’s degree at Northwestern University. He worked in corporate communications at Sandoz Agro before accepting a job with the agency.
Doug was one of the first ZimmCast interviews I did and you can still listen to it.
Congratulations to my good buddy Rich Keller. Rich is now the Editor for AgProfessional and AgLender publications (the Food 360 people). He previously contributed to Vance publications as a freelance writer.
With a BS in journalism from Iowa State University, Keller’s most recent position was with American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) as director of news services. He previously worked at a daily newspaper and agricultural newsletter production company before switching to agency and policy work.
Keller has 20 years of experience in advertising and public relations with communications agencies for major crop protection companies, including DuPont, FMC and Bayer. He has led communications for new product introductions in the Midwest, South and California for row crops, specialty crops and industrial vegetation control. Working with Bayer CropScience, he focused on direct communications and relationship marketing with corn and soybean producers. He changed emphasis to public policy communications for an association by working for AFBF.
I thought it would be appropriate to make my last post from Syngenta Media Day include an interview with Mary-Dell Chilton. Mary-Dell says she’s way past retirement age but still gets in early each day to get to work. Why? Because she thinks it’s exciting and important.
In my interview with her she talks about the turning point in the development of what we now know as biotechnology. She also thinks that the safety of the food made from the products developed by Syngenta is completely safe. She says the testing is rigorous for example.
You can listen to my interview with the first Executive Director of this facility here: 
Mary-Dell Chilton Interview (5 min MP3)
Besides the work that Gibbs & Soell did in putting together today’s Syngenta Media Day it also takes some work inside the company. The person doing that is Jane Bachmann, Scientific Communications Manager.
Jane was a scientist first and now handles communications work. She’s involved with a media interview of a Syngenta scientist in the picture. I thought it would be interesting to learn more about what she does for the company and what her challenges are.
For one thing, she says that communicating what Syngenta does to consumers is important so that they can feel confident about the safety of the food that’s produced by growers who plant their seeds.
You can listen to my interview with Jane here: Jane Bachmann Interview (5 min MP3)
Roger Kemble is head of crop genetics research for Syngenta. Here he’s being interviewed by AgDay TV.
After they were done, I got to ask Roger a few questions. One of the things we talked about was the facilities and investment Syngenta makes in R&D each year. He called the facility we visited the “discovery engine” for the biotechnology business.
You can listen to my interview with Roger here: Roger Kemble Interview (6 min MP3)
The final stage of our media day at Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc. was an opportunity for interviews. A couple of the guys escaped me but I have several for you.
First up is Bruce Howison who we met earlier today. Bruce is head of marketing for Syngenta Seed. I asked him to give us an overview of the current work being done in the seed business. Once he mentioned amylase corn we got right into the whole ethanol production discussion since it’s a hot topic and one Syngenta is very excited about.
You can listen to my interview with Bruce here: Bruce Howison Interview (9 min MP3)
After lunch we had two final presentations. The first one was done by John Salmeron, Group Leader, Applied Genomics.
John gave us an overview of both GM and Non-GM genomics work being done by Syngenta. His research group supports seed product development.
Last but not least on the program was Scott Valentine, Project Leader, Corn and Soy Traits. Scott provided some specifics and focused on drought tolerant corn. When asked about when we should expect to see that corn on the market he said that his bosses ask him that all the time. Sometime, “soon.”
We couldn’t get out of the research area without talking about bugs. Particularly bugs that chew on corn plants.
In this picture a scientist is performing an insect bioassay. They’re continuing to perfect traits in corn plants that will kill harmful insects while not causing harm to beneficial insects.
We got to view comparisons of plants with the traits and without after exposure to harmful insects. It was very easy to see the difference in root mass, leaf damage and size of the plants overall.
