A Nicer Tractor

Chuck Zimmerman

Billy YatesOne of the celebrities at the Michael Peterson/New Holland Celebrity Tractor Race on Sunday was Billy Yates. He had a great time and I’m very glad to have met him.

He took a few moments for an interview. Like many that I spoke with, he’s driven a tractor growing up, but not one as nice as the competition New Holland Boomer used in the competition. As you can hear in this sound bite he thinks marketing a tractor brand to country music fans only makes sense: Listen To MP3 Billy Says It Makes Sense (21 sec MP3)

You can listen to my interview with Billy here: Listen To MP3 Billy Yates Interview (1.5 min MP3)

Audio, Tractor

E85 Observations from the Road

Chuck Zimmerman

Rick TolmanI’m not the only one writing about ethanol on the road. So is Rick Tolman, CEO of the National Corn Growers Association. Rick’s posting some road commentary on E85 which you can find on this page. It’s not quite blogging but it’s close. Here’s an excerpt from his last post:

Yesterday, I reported on the state of E85 pricing and availability as my wife, Linda, and me set out on our road trip to St. Paul, Minn. I went so far as to characterize the pricing and availability as “ugly.” I am optimistic as we travel onward that pricing and availability will improve. There is only one E85 station in the greater St. Louis area (although the NEVC Web site www.e85fuel.com lists 59 stations in all of Missouri). Illinois has nearly twice the number of stations—122—so I am hopeful the E85 infrastructure is improving.

I think it’s great stuff that NCGA members will appreciate reading. You can also hear a report from Rick on the post too.

Ag Groups, Audio, Ethanol

Moo-ving On

Chuck Zimmerman

Steve Taylor Missouri Beef Industry Council Executive Director Steve Taylor, one of our favorite “cowboys,” just gave us the news that he will soon be riding off into the sunset. He’s heading west to become the CEO of the Appaloosa Horse Club in Moscow, Idaho. Steve has been ED of the MBIC for 19 years so he thinks it’s time to giddy-up and move on. He’s been a horse lover since he was a youngster so he is excited about his new job. He will be sticking around until the end of July and says they expect to have an announcement about his replacement soon.

Beef, Horses

Support Ethanol On The Interstate

Chuck Zimmerman

Ethanol AdvocateIt’s about time to hit the blogging trail again. This time on a cross country interstate highway celebration tour.

How’s this look for an “ethanol advocate?” That’s me. I like the idea of growing our own fuel and for the next couple weeks I’ll be the official ethanol advocate representative for the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council driving along with a convoy of participants in the AASHTO Celebrate The Interstate promotion. It’s all about celebrating the kickoff 50 years ago of our interstate system.

Follow along the route here. If you’re in the area at one of our stops, please come on out and show your support. Drive along with us if you’ve got an ethanol logo on your vehicle. How about it corn growers and corn grower groups? In your state we’d love to have your support along the highway. Email me if you’ve got questions and want to participate.

I’ll be blogging the whole event here but mostly on Domestic Fuel. There will be lots of interesting photos and interviews to see and hear. If you’re a reporter, you have my full permission to download and use whatever you see.

Ethanol

African Dairy Editor Honored

Chuck Zimmerman

Reg Weiss Receives AwardThe International Federation of Agricultural Journalists has presented a special award to their regional vice president for Africa. I’m taking this from their latest newsletter and thought you might be interested since Reg Weiss, has been honoured for his contributions to agriculture and specifically the South African dairy industry during 58 years in active journalism.

Western Cape Editor of the Dairy Mail in South Africa, Weiss was honoured at the South African Dairy Championships dinner held at Stellenbosch. Cape of Good Hope Agricultural Society president Duimpie Bayly presented Weiss with an illuminated address on behalf of the Society, the first and oldest in southern Africa. This added his name to the Society’s roll of honour as part of its 175th celebrations and cited “his contribution to the dairy industry in South Africa, his enthusiasm for dairy matters, complemented with objective journalism”. Read More

IFAJ, International, Publication

New USB Members Appointed

Chuck Zimmerman

United Soybean BoardA couple of new members were recently appointed to open positions on the United Soybean Board. This of course now makes them high-ranking government officials from the “M” states.

In Maryland, soybean farmer G. Steve Moore of Sudlersville, will fill an opening and serve his term through 2007. In Minnesota, soybean farmer James Call of Madison, will fill an opening and serve his term through 2006. In Missouri, soybean farmer Richard Fordyce of Bethany, will fill an opening and serve his term through 2007.

Ag Groups

Omega-3 Pork gets USDA Label Approval

Chuck Zimmerman

Harry SiemensThis is great news for a Manitoba company that just doesn’t give up. Why has it been such slow slugging? “We’re the first,” says company president Willie Hoffmann of Winnipeg, MB Canada.
On June 8, Prairie Orchard Farms, under its Verdancia Farms Trademark, officially received label approval from the USDA to market their naturally Enriched Omega-3 Pork in the United States. This means the meat processor is the first naturally enriched Omega-3 pork producer to receive USDA approval in North America.

“We are extremely pleased to be North America’s first producer of naturally produced Omega-3 pork and will now be in a unique position of being able to export high quality, naturally produced Omega-3 enriched pork to the United States,” said Hoffmann. Read More

International

Farm Podcasting Proven

Chuck Zimmerman

SwinecastOne of the first agricultural podcasts is the Swinecast. I’ve been following it’s development since early last year and I can tell you this is no longer some sort of unproven concept. Ask Dennis Erpelding at Elanco Animal Health what he thinks. Kudos to Ned Arthur for taking a bold step into the new media world. We’re getting there buddy! I hope no one believes that a company like Eli Lilly would invest in this new technology without serious thought and the belief that it is helping them accomplish their customer communication goals.

Elanco’s innovative Internet “conversation” between swine producers and industry experts – celebrates its 100th episode by expanding its introduction to swine industry allies across the nation. “We’re pleased to invite the entire industry to become a part of this bold new Information-Age initiative,” says Ned Arthur, SwineCast Content Partner. “Over the past year, as we’ve slowly introduced SwineCast in test markets, the response from participants has been overwhelmingly positive. We’ve discovered that all segments of the swine production industry significantly benefit from an ongoing dialogue with each other, regardless of their location or nationality. That’s what SwineCast provides. That’s what we want to share with you.”

The concept behind SwineCast is simple. Read More

Agribusiness, Podcasts, Pork

CMA Music Fest Photo Album

Chuck Zimmerman

Gene & Michelle HemphillI took a few more pictures at the CMA Music Festival than I posted. They’re all uploaded into a Flickr photo album for you if you’d like to browse them. You can find it here: CMA Music Festival Photo Album (442 photos)

I know the guy on the right likes to be in the background but he needs to get a lot of credit for one of the most creative promotional campaigns I’ve seen in a long time. That’s Gene Hemphill, Industry Affairs Director for New Holland and next to him is his wife Michelle. Finally I got to meet the better half!

Gene, not only was the CMA booth/promotion/tractor race fantastic but so is the whole campaign which started last year. How are you going to top this?

Tractor

Tractor Signing

Chuck Zimmerman

Michael Peterson Signs TractorAll of the celebrities that raced today signed this New Holland tractor which will be auctioned off on Ebay soon.

Here’s Michael Peterson adding the last signature.

I was very proud of him saying the following during his performance today: Listen To MP3 Michael Peterson Says Visit AgWired (11 sec MP3)

That’s it for today folks. Time to call it a day. It’s road time tomorrow before another major road trip which will be blogged on Domestic Fuel beginning Wednesday. Check it out.

Audio, Tractor