AgWired

As Chuck posted, Mary and I got a sneak peek of the trade show. This year’s show is featuring over 180 companies in over 645 booths. At 3 (Pacific time) the show will officially open to the press, and yes, Mary and I were able to receive press credentials although we are getting some funny looks from people. Maybe they are confused about our blogging…

Already we’ve seen many of the booths, and I am really impressed by the technology, business strategies and other aspects of this industry being presented.

I am especially looking forward to further investigating a special section about renewable fuels, which is new to the show this year.

Already, I’ve had a chance to sit in a copy of the ethanol powered Indy car.

But be assured that both Mary and I will have much more to report back on later.

I asked the college bloggers to think creatively and find some pictures to post. Here’s another one Margy came up with. The post title is hers too.

It’s time to head to some press conferences and get some interviews to bring you later.

AgWired coverage of Commodity Classic is being made posssible by our good friends at New Holland.

Margy took a picture at the NCGA booth because she thought this was such an interesting collection of products made from corn.

The trade show is in setup mode for its big kickoff this afternoon at 4pm. We’ll have a lot more for you afterwards.

AgWired coverage of Commodity Classic is being made posssible by our good friends at New Holland.

It is a beautiful Thursday here in Anaheim. We started of the day by going to the National FFA Organization LifeKnowledge breakfast. This was a press conference that allowed the National FFA to announce their LifeKnowledge program that is being implemented into schools across the nation. This had special interest to me because I was a member of the Illinois FFA for five years and this past summer finished up my year of service as the Illinois FFA Section 5 President. LifeKnowledge is basically a program that incorporates leadership into the agriculture classroom. It is not just for FFA members but for everyone in agriculture. Not only that but the program is available for any teacher Ag related or not. It is a great way to teach America’s youth how to be good leaders, not only in the workforce but in their communities as well. LifeKnowledge helps develop the skills needed for the real world that aren’t always available to teach in the classroom until now.

I had a chance to talk with some of the FFA members that had come to the press conference with their advisor Kris Elliot of the Hanford FFA Chapter, Handford, California, to talk about how LifeKnowledge has effected them.

Michelle Spoelstra is a Junior at Hanford High School as is currently taking an Ag Leadership class. Here is what she had to say about LifeKnowledge: “I think LifeKnowledge is a good thing because it means your not listening to a monotone teacher for an hour. You get to interact with other students and share your thoughts. It makes students believe that they have the ability to be a leader.”

Her Ag advisor Kris Elliott talked about how he feels about LifeKnowledge: “These are like no lessons you will ever see before. It is so easy to incorporate LifeKnowledge into my lesson plans and the kids don’t even know what hit them. They are so enthusiastic after one of my LifeKnowledge lessons they ask when the next leadership lesson is going to be.”

If you want to learn more about this story be sure to watch for my article in the Illinois Agrinews in the next couple weeks.

The trade show here at the 2006 Commodity Classic is currently being set up and the booths look amazing. In this picture you see me with a huge John Deere 8530. Yes, I’m a green fan. We also visited the ethanol booth where they had an Indy Racing Car simulator run by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Counsel. Be looking for video clips and pictures of it from either Margy or I in the near future.

The media are so enthusiastic here at the start of Commodity Classis that they’re even interviewing each other.

Here’s Jack Crowner, Crowner Farm News, interviewing AgriTalk’s host, Mike Adams. They’re actually talking about a very serious subject, which is renewable fuel and the role that corn and soybeans plays in that industry. You can learn more about it on our renewable fuels website, DomesticFuel.

AgWired coverage of Commodity Classic is being made posssible by our good friends at New Holland.

Commodity Classic Student blogger Margy Fischer, sponsored by Monsanto

As expected, I had an early start to my first full day at Commodity Classic. I attended a breakfast hosted by FFA regarding their program LifeKnowledge.

It was the best way to start a day here – with lots of agricultural products. From the orange juice, to the egg quiche, to the French toast with almonds and peaches, our tables celebrated our diverse food supply.

FFA promoted their exciting initiative of engaging and interactive leadership lessons called LifeKnowledge. The program is sponsored by John Deere, Monsanto, the National Pork Board, Chevrolet, and Cargill.

There were four student leaders of the Hanford FFA chapter, Hanford California present at the breakfast, so they got a day off from school and the chance to boast about the advantages of LifeKnowledge, which their teacher Kris Elliot who uses these lessons in his classrooms. From what I learned this morning, these lessons can be used to integrate leadership lessons into all classrooms, even technical classes.

FFA was not available at my high school, but I was enthused to see what the organization is doing to improve our youth leadership education which can have powerful impacts on our society and the agricultural industry.