Farmer Mac Has New VP

Chuck Zimmerman July 15, 2005

You’ve heard of Farmer Mac, right? What does it stand for? The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation of course.

Mary Waters Joins Farmer Mac as VP of Corporate Relations

WASHINGTON, July 14 – The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac), the Congressionally chartered secondary market for agricultural real estate and rural housing mortgage loans, has announced that Mary Waters has joined the company as Vice President – Corporate Relations.

“I am delighted that Mary is joining Farmer Mac to lead our government relations and producer group outreach efforts as well as manage other important external corporate relationships,” said Farmer Mac CEO Henry D. Edelman. “Continuing developments at Farmer Mac have made it important for us to have an experienced professional managing these important corporate functions. Mary brings with her a tremendous amount of Washington experience working with Members of Congress and the agricultural community.”

Most recently, Ms. Waters served as Assistant Secretary, Congressional Relations at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, having been nominated by President Bush in April 2001. At USDA, Ms. Waters led USDA’s interaction with Congress on successful passage of Administration priorities including the 2002 Farm Bill, Trade Promotion Authority, the Healthy Forests Act and the Child Nutrition Act.

For more information contact Jerome Oslick of Farmer Mac, +1-202-872-7700.

Agribusiness

Biofuels Symposium In China

Chuck Zimmerman July 14, 2005

They managed a great conference on ethanol recently in Kansas City. Now it’s time for a broader conference in China. They are BBI International. I just wish it didn’t conflict with deer season in Missouri!

BIOFUELS – AN ENERGY SOLUTION

Exciting new energy legislation, that includes biofuels provisions, will become law in China in January 2006. This Symposium will address China’s need to meet the anticipated demand from the new legislation and the latest information about biofuels production and use.

Keynote Speaker: Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, Chair, U.S. Governors’ Ethanol Coalition

SYMPOSIUM TOPICS
China’s energy situation
Biofuels: New production technologies
Market development
Research & development
Environment & air quality
Coproducts
Feedstocks
Government policy & energy strategies

For more information visit their website at World Biofuels Symposium.

Agribusiness

Bunge Invests In China

Chuck Zimmerman July 14, 2005

Just as our Sec. of Ag departed on his trip to China, Bunge announced their plans to grow into the country. Looks like trade will be picking up with this huge new market area.

Bunge Agrees to Purchase Soybean Processing Plant in China

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., — Bunge Limited (NYSE:BG) today announced that it has agreed to purchase a controlling interest in an integrated soybean crushing and refining plant in the port city of Rizhao, Shandong Province, China, from Sanwei Group Ltd. The plant, Bunge’s first in the country, will link Bunge directly to customers in the expanding soybean meal and oil markets in the Shandong region. Sanwei will retain a minority interest in the newly created joint venture company.

For more information contact Stewart Lindsay.

Agribusiness

Changes To MBIC Website On This Week’s MBIC Report

Chuck Zimmerman July 11, 2005

In this week’s MBIC Report, executive director Steve Taylor, discusses changes being made in the organization’s website to make it more user friendly and to add to the amount of content available.

You can listen to the MBIC Report here

The MBIC Report is a weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar.

Ag Groups, Audio, Podcasts

European Trip Discussed On CornTalk

Chuck Zimmerman July 11, 2005

MCGA CEO Gary Marshall just returned from his second trip to Switzerland in the last couple months. While there he met with the folks at Syngenta’s headquarters office. He also stopped in France to meet with French corn growers. Learn about his trip in this week’s CornTalk program.

You can listen to CornTalk here

CornTalk is also a weekly AgWired podcast which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar.

Ag Groups, Audio, Podcasts

Distinguished Young Holstein Breeders

Chuck Zimmerman July 10, 2005

Buttles Named Holstein Association 2004 Distinguished Young Holstein Breeders

BRATTLEBORO, Vt., June 28, 2005- Andrew and Lynette Buttles, Lancaster, Wis., have been selected as the 2004 Distinguished Young Holstein Breeders by Holstein Association USA. They were honored at the National Holstein Convention in Portland, Maine on Tuesday, June 28.

Andy and Lyn have both been involved in the dairy industry for many years. Andy graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Madison with a bachelor’s degree in Dairy Science. Lyn grew up on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania and earned her bachelor’s degree in Dairy Science from Penn State and has her master’s degree in Dairy Nutrition from University of Wisconsin – Madison.

For more information contact Lisa Perrin.

Ag Groups

1.4 Minutes To Select Your Pork

Chuck Zimmerman July 10, 2005

I know I’m not your average consumer and this information is about those folks. I see a package of pork I want and I just grab it! Not too much thinking goes into my decisions.

DES MOINES, Iowa (July 2005) – In an effort to help retailers merchandise and move more fresh and processed pork, the National Pork Board is determined to find out one thing: What motivates consumers to purchase pork? The Point of Decision 2 (POD2) research conducted by the National Pork Board recently was geared to find out just that, and much more.

A major finding from the POD2 research is that consumers spend 1.4 minutes on average making a pork purchase. Pork purchases were primarily determined by cut of meat and cooking method. Seventy-nine percent of consumers purchasing pork inspected multiple packages and 77 percent spent time reading package information.

For more information contact Cindy Cunningham.

Ag Groups, Pork

Former CIA Director Woolsey On Ethanol & National Security

Chuck Zimmerman July 6, 2005

The 25×25 Ag Energy Work Group held a press conference today with former CIA director James Woolsey. It was a discussion on the idea that reducing our dependence on foreign oil is an issue of national security. Here’s what their news release said:

Why is the former Director of Central Intelligence pushing for ethanol and other biofuels? The answer is simple: National security.

Two decades before the September 11 attacks, James Woolsey, CIA director from 1993-1995, warned that a handful of terrorists could shut down three-quarters of the oil and gas supplies to the Eastern states, cut the power to any major city or kill millions by crashing an airliner into a nuclear power plant. He remains a strong proponent of securing our nation’s vulnerable energy systems and decreasing our reliance on energy controlled by “pathological predators and vulnerable autocrats of the Mideast,” a reality he terms a “tragedy waiting to happen.”

Shortly after Americans celebrated Independence Day, he’ll join the leaders of the 25 x ’25 Ag Energy Work Group to discuss the need to focus on U.S. energy independence. They’ll share efforts to develop more renewable energy sources such as wind, methane, solar, ethanol and biodiesel and how the 25 x ’25 vision is bringing together a broad coalition of interest groups to make this happen.

You can listen to the full press conference here (16 MB – 45 minutes)

Ag Groups, Audio, Ethanol

Clearing Up Misconceptions About Beef Checkoff – MBIC Report

Chuck Zimmerman July 4, 2005

How well do you understand the Beef Checkoff? In the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision to allow the Checkoff to continue it’s a good time to make sure we understand how the Checkoff works. Missouri Beef Industry Council executive director Steve Taylor clears up some common misconceptions he still finds with producers about the Checkoff in this week’s MBIC Report.

You can listen to the MBIC Report here

The MBIC Report is a weekly podcast on AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar.

Ag Groups, Audio, Beef, Podcasts

New Festival At American Royal Barbeque Contest

Chuck Zimmerman July 4, 2005

Since I mentioned the Royal in the last post and since it’s a barbeque kind of day then you should know about a new item at the American Royal Barbeque Contest.

New Festival Added to Barbecue
The 26th Annual American Royal Barbecue Contest has announced the addition of a new public music and food festival to the world’s biggest barbecue contest. “We want the barbecue contest to be a celebration of the city’s heritage that everyone in Kansas City can participate in and be proud of,” says Neal Patterson, American Royal Chairman of the Board. In addition to the concert, the American Royal also announced plans to build a “Barbecue Restaurant Row” where the public can taste great barbecue from some of the biggest names in Kansas City.

For more information contact Suzanne Levy.

Ag Groups

Page 2,191 of 2,237
←
1
...
2,190
2,191
2,192
...
2237
→