Outside the American Royal is a very large and very unique metal structure called “Bull Wall.”
The sculpture features cutouts of bulls. Very artsy and rustic and of course, very American Royal.
Since one would wonder about what this is, there’s a sign that explains it all. I’m guessing the artist, Robert Morris, had a lot of people wondering what the heck he was doing. I assume he used some kind of welding equipment to make this thing.
Visit the American Royal to learn all about it.
The 107th American Royal is in full swing and in fact the PRCA Rodeo is scheduled in Kemper Arena in Kansas City on Oct. 27 – 29! I was on site this past weekend so I’ve got a few images to share. Maybe there’ll be time to go spend a day at least. This is one busy place this month and next!
You can find out all about it on their website.
Let’s give a great big AgWired welcome to Keith Good. Why? Because starting today Keith will be our first regular writer! Keith is a blogger and you can find him on FarmPolicy. He’s a policy and trade guy who will be bringing you a weekly summary of what’s new in the world of ag policy.
I think you’ll agree that policy has a direct impact on agricultural marketing and communications. I was looking for someone who deals with it every day and has special insight because of that dedication. I’m creating a new category called “farm policy” so you’ll always find Keith’s articles easily. In case you’re new to AgWired, the categories are links in the right sidebar which will call up all the articles we have on that topic.
If a weekly dose of FarmPolicy isn’t enough for you I highly recommend that you visit FarmPolicy.com and subscribe to his daily emailed “The FarmPolicy.com News Summary.” Neither will cost you a dime, although like us, Keith would be grateful for a donation! Just send Keith an email to this address if you’d like to subscribe to his daily summary.
Of course you want to know more about Keith don’t you? Well, “Keith Good graduated from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (B.A. 1992, Economics; J.D. 1998, School of Law), and Purdue University (M.S. 1994, Agricultural Economics). He is licensed to practice law in Arkansas and Washington, D.C. He lives in Central Illinois with his wife, an Emergency Room Physician, and three kids (all under six years old), whom he currently takes care of full-time. He has been summarizing farm policy news since December 2003.”
Enough about Keith. Keep an eye out for his articles. They will speak for themselves!
I haven’t said much about avian flu because I just don’t really know much about it. However, when you’ve got one of these flame shooting poultry house sanitizers we may just not have to worry too much! I like propane (I just wish it were cheaper) and here’s a great use for it. In fact, if you want to see a video of Flame Engineering’s Red Dragon Poultry House Flame Sanitizer just look here (9.1MB WMV).
The Propane Education & Research Council is helping promote the flaming sanitizer.
The Red Dragon, a new implement from Flame Engineering, Inc. (LaCrosse, KS), utilizes six liquid propane torches that project intense, sweeping flames underneath a sturdy steel hood to kill bacteria. The heat from the flames stays constant at approximately 1400° F, which is hot enough to effectively eliminate a host of harmful pathogens.
“The use of propane to help in the sanitation process of poultry houses is important for both the poultry industry and the propane industry,” said Mark Leitman, Director of Agriculture Programs for the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC). “Hopefully, growers will see these positive results from Texas and seek out flame sanitation in their area.”
I’d think there are some other uses for a unit like that. I know I can come up with some. How about you?
Major League Baseball may not be very happy about the new Got Milk tv ads but I say, “Get a life.” They’re funny and created by the California Milk Processor Board.
It’s a series of ads that look like a breaking news story about players “pouring” a performance enhancing product. I think it’s very well done. It’s all in fun says the agency. “Goodby, Silverstein & Partners Co-Founder Jeff Goodby whose agency created the campaign says Brosnan needs to get a sense of humor, “It’s just milk. Believe me, we know parody is based on a serious topic. So we wanted to make sure that it was goofy enough so that people didn’t get upset.”
They apparently did as this statement by MLB’s Brosnan shows. “There is nothing humorous about steroid abuse. I would think that the California Milk Processor Board and their advertising agency would know better regarding an issue that threatens America’s youth.”
Maybe I could enter as an “old” student and be an ambassador for beef! If you read AgWired you’ll probably get the impression that I think beef is good. But if you’re a real student you can compete for some cashola.
The National Beef Ambassador Competition is slated for November 3-5 in Austin, Texas, at the Hilton Austin Airport Hotel. Students from 25 states will compete for over $5,700 in cash and scholarship awards.
The National Beef Ambassador Program provides leadership training for the youth beef ambassadors, who advance the interests of the beef industry through promotion and peer education. The program is funded in part by America’s Beef Producers through the Beef Checkoff Program and is administered by American National CattleWomen, Inc. (ANCW) on behalf of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board.
There’s some new people on the Hass Avocado Board thanks to Sec. Johannes. I thought you might want to know.
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today appointed three producer members, three alternate producer members, and two importer members to serve on the Hass Avocado Board.
Robert Bednar of Valley Center, Calif., was reappointed to serve a three-year term, beginning Nov. 1, 2005, and ending on Oct. 31, 2008. Newly appointed producer members, alternate producer members, and importer members will serve three-year terms beginning Nov. 1, 2005, and ending on Oct. 31, 2008. Producer Members appointed are: Bennett R. Drake of Temecula, Calif.; and Ralph De Leon of Santa Paula, Calif. Alternate Producer Members appointed are: John D. Lindstrom of Bonsall, Calif.; Bradley R. Miles of Carpinteria, Calif.; and Kenneth J. Roth of Vista, Calif.. Importer Members are: James C. Donovan of Ventura, Calif.; and Avi Crane of Laguna Hills, Calif.
Want to know what’s in the foods you eat? USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, Food Survey Research Group (say that 3 times real fast) just introduced a new online search tool today that let’s you find out all the food ingredient information you could ask for. It’s called “What’s In The Foods You Eat.” You can run it online or download the search tool to your computer.
This assumes you want to know the answers. Let’s say you’ve just washed down a 16 oz. T-bone with a couple bottles of beer. Do you really want to know this?
Actually they introduced it to dieticians today in St. Louis at the American Dietetic Association convention. I’m sure those folks need a resource like this to provide good information to their clients.
It’s time to kick off a new week of stories here on AgWired. Let’s start with Novartis Animal Health, US. Why? Because they were the first in the old inbox and because I thought it was interesting that they sent releases out announcing the results of the competition they held at their booth at a recent trade show.
The show was the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) in Salt Lake City, Utah. Two daily winners were announced:
Christopher C.L. Chase, DVM, PhD and Kim Ehlers, DVM, captured the daily high scores at the recent conference of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) in Salt Lake City, Utah.
By playing an interactive quiz sponsored by Novartis Animal Health, the top scorers earned a $1,000 scholarship in their names to be sent to a U.S. veterinary school of their choice. The quiz was part of Novartis’ “Legacy of Leadership” theme for their booth at AABP. The theme tied into the Vira Shield® Legacy of Leadership sweepstakes, which commemorates cattle producers who will buy the 200 millionth dose of Vira Shield this year. Five winners will receive $5,000 to use toward college expenses. The quiz contest was designed to allow veterinarians to help bovine veterinary medicine students continue their education.
This week I interviewed Kathy Cornett, CEO of McCormick Company, about a unique project her agency recently completed. They have published the first ever Southwest Plains Dairy Directory. This printed directory is also available in an online, searchable database. I thought it was interesting that a full service advertising agency created a publication but it’s not the first time McCormick Company has done something like this. Remember AgriTalk?
You can listen to this week’s ZimmCast here: 
The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar. You can also now find the ZimmCast on CoolCast Radio.
