I just read an interesting article on e-Marketer titled, “Executives Not Quite Hot To Blog.” It reports on a study that found that “. . . only a small minority of top executives are convinced that corporate blogging is growing in credibility either as a communications medium, brand-building technique or a sales or lead generation tool.” Interesting. Not everyone buys into that viewpoint though. I wonder if they take into account those CEO’s who post personally without using a “blog.” Take the President/CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation is Jerry Kozak. He is publishing a “CEO’s Corner” on their website. Great idea and I wish more CEO’s did this kind of thing. This isn’t quite blogging but is sort of like it. Why not tell people directly what’s on your mind as the organizational leader. Read More
Farmer Owned Ethanol Plant CEO
I hope you like to hear about the promotion of ethanol because we’re certainly going to have a lot of that over the coming days. In my lead-up to the Indy 500 I want you to meet the President of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council. He’s Tom Branhan, CEO of Glacial Lakes Energy, a farmer-owned ethanol plant in Watertown, SD.
I intereviewed Tom on Ethanol Day in Indianapolis. He tells us a little bit about the success of his company and gives us some information about EPIC and how it’s working to promote ethanol. He also explains what the activities of Ethanol Day mean to the industry.
You can listen to my interview with Tom here: 
Tom Branhan Interview (5 min MP3)
Webby’s Go To Aggy’s
They are called the “Oscars of the Internet,” and two ag groups have won one. They are the 10th Annual Webby Awards.
Ag winners include:
Association Category:
Webby Award: Cotton Inc – Team Cotton, Agency – Velocity Works
People’s Voice: EPIC – drivingethanol.org, Agency – Integer Group
Rookie Driver Gets Milk
I won’t be in Indianapolis until tomorrow evening but agriculture was on display today. The fastest rookie was honored by the American Dairy Association of Indiana. He’s Marco Andretti and he’s award winner number 32. I thought it was interesting that they pointed out that although ethanol has been getting a lot of attention they were the first ag commodity associated with the race.
In accepting the honor, Marco will join his father, 1984 Fastest Rookie Michael Andretti, to form the first father-son duo in the award’s history. In fact, had the program been around in 1965, the Andretti family would be celebrating a three-generation sweep. Marco’s grandfather, the great Mario Andretti, was the fastest rookie qualifier in 1965, his freshman year at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Read More
Sugar Men
The Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida just appointed Roger Hatton, a lifelong resident of the Glades, to their board of directors at its May board meeting. He will fill the un-expired term of John Schlechter ending January 2008 following Schlechter’s announced resignation from the Board this month.
They also announced the naming of George H. Wedgworth, the President of the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida, as the “Sugar Man of the Year – 2005.” Read More
D&PL Acquires Syngenta Cotton Seed Biz
D&PL seems to be on a roll lately. They just acquired Syngenta’s global cotton seed business. Sounds like a big deal to me. Of course the financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition is comprised of operations and assets in India, Brazil, Europe, and certain cotton germplasm in the United States.
The primary assets involved consist of conventional and transgenic germplasm containing Syngenta’s VipCot(tm) insect-resistant cotton genes. D&PL acquired a license to VipCot in 2004 and expects to commercialize varieties containing these traits in 2008 or 2009, subject to receiving regulatory approvals.
Learning To Bee Farm
When I was passing through Georgia last week I was invited to but didn’t make the “Learn elements of sustainable ag at lunch” outdoor seminar on “Beekeeping” in Jasper County. My brother went with a couple of his kids though and talked the extension agent into sending me a pic and some information. Actually she is still sending along a summary which I’ll add to this post when I get it. Thanks Dr. Jean C. Walter, Jasper County Extension CEC.
As I travel around the country and world I am constantly amazed at the volume of work being done in agriculture in so many places by so many people. If I had an editor in every state there wouldn’t be enough time in a week to post everything that’s going on in just one day.
EPIC Founder Interview
I’ll be heading east tomorrow to Indianapolis with one stop on the way. Just to keep you interested in the greatest spectacle in auto racing I’ve got an interview for you to listen to with ICM CEO, Dave Vander Griend. Dave is a founder of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council. His company is a design/engineering firm for ethanol plants.
Dave got interested in the Indy Racing League partnership when he met the late Paul Dana. He talks about that relationship in the interview. I intereviewed Dave on Ethanol Day in Indianapolis. He has a great way of looking at why the promotion and development of ethanol as an alternative fuel is so important to the United States.
You can listen to my interview with Dave here: Dave Vander Griend Interview (7 min MP3)
Manage Your Horses
From the makers of CattleMax we now have EquineMax. It’s the “complete horse management software program” from Cattlesoft, Inc. You can see screenshots and a video overview here.
The Basic Edition keeps complete records including medical treatments, breeding records, unlimited pictures and pedigree information. The program also has income and expense tracking to simplify tax records and appointment reminders to ensure vaccinations are on time.Read More
Canadian Biotech On Display
In case you didn’t make it to BIO 2006 there’s another conference coming up in Toronto you might want to check out. It’s the 2nd annual Agri-Food Innovation Forum. If you are feeling “elite” then you can be one of the “elite gathering of researchers, academics and executives involved in bioproduct innovation in Canada and beyond.” Actually elite is a better word than exclusive.
Held in conjunction with the BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing, the event will present distinguished experts and their vision, experience and success stories in this globally significant new market.
The Agri-Food Innovation Forum will take place at the Toronto Westin Harbour Castle Hotel, starting with a joint BIO-Forum Welcoming Reception the evening of July 11, followed by a half day Forum on the morning of July 12, with Canadian plenary speakers focusing on the 2006 theme: Celebrating Excellence in Canadian Industrial Bioproducts. At noon on July 12, the Forum wraps up and the BIO World Congress begins.