World Food Day October 16

Chuck Zimmerman

World Food DayWorld Food Day is scheduled for October 16 and the theme is “Agriculture and intercultural dialogue.” This event is organized the the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. “It will highlight biodiversity’s role in ensuring that people have sustainable access to enough high-quality food to lead active and healthy lives.”

World Food Day (WFD) was established by FAO’s Member Countries at the Organization’s Twentieth General Conference in November 1979. The date chosen – 16 October – is the anniversary of FAO. It has since been observed every year in more than 150 countries.

I attended World Food Day in Rome in 2001 which was held in conjunction with the First International Workshop on Farm Broadcasting at which I was a participant in what they called Working Group I, which focused on “Creation of a Network Linking the African Farm Radio Broadcasters with the American Farm Radio Broadcasters Via the INTERNET”. It was a memorable event. FAO has a goal to eliminate hunger in the world and is very involved in issues like food safety as well.

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NAMA Agribusiness Forum

Chuck Zimmerman

NAMA Agribusiness ForumI don’t think I’ve pointed you to the National Agri-Marketing Association’s fall Agribusiness Forum have I?

It will take place November 8 – 9 at the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Crown Center. No schedule available onlne yet but sponsorship information can be found here.

I urge you to go but if you can’t look for AgWired to blog the Forum!

NAMA

New Research Data From NAFB

Chuck Zimmerman

NAFBThere’s some new qualitative research available on the National Association of Farm Broadcasters website. A lot of research is being done these days by various media entities as groups try to figure out what’s really going on and how it’s going to affect their future. You can look at some slides from the research here. The survey was on Class 1+ farmers only and only in 12 midwest states. I wish it could have covered the whole country and included regional breakouts. But if wishes were . . . The research was conducted by Ag Media Research. It would be interesting to see all the cross tabs because the slides raise almost more questions than they answer.

It looks like younger people are becoming more involved in what’s going on at the farm. If I read the data right there are more people under the age of 40 making decisions than over the age of 40! I also thought it was interesting that they asked about listening to audio on the internet. The study says that “only” 20 percent say they listen to audio off the internet. I’d like to know what that percentage was 5 years ago! I’d also like to know what the percentages are by age group. My guess without more data is that the number is rising and with an increase in younger people making decisions on the farm it will continue to grow. Probably the percentage is higher in the younger age groups than the older.

Another interesting bit of information concerns internet access. According to the results over three fourths of farmers have access with almost 25% saying they have high speed. I’m sure that’s up significantly in the last couple years. With all USDA has been doing to promote and fund rural high speed access I’m sure it’s going to continue to grow. The graphic shows that over 13% say they have it but don’t use it. What it doesn’t say is who’s answering that question and what about all the other people in the household since the study makes a point of showing the increase in the number of people in farm households.

I am glad to see that farmers still consider farm radio very important! The majority listen to more than one radio station and with the young farmers over 40 percent listen to 3 to 6 stations in a day! This is a significant difference from the older farmers and I wonder what the cause is. Not mentioned at all is satellite radio and whether any of the stations listened to are satellite versus regular broadcast. The fact is that radio continues to be an effective vehicle to reach farmers because of its portability and the information needs of farmers only continues to grow.

By the way, registration is also now available online for the fall NAFB Convention.

Media, NAFB

AAEA Members To See Strategic Plan At AMS

Chuck Zimmerman

American Agricultural Editors AssociationThe American Agricultural Editors Association is one of the main sponsors of the upcoming Ag Media Summit. At the meeting members will be presented with a strategic plan that’s been in the works for a while. If you’re a member you should go to the AAEA website, read the plan and submit your comments or be prepared to talk about it at the meeting that will be held Aug. 3.

I’d post some of the draft but then I’d get in trouble and we don’t want that. After a quick review (I’ll spend more time on it later) it’s very detailed and the strategic planning committee of Susan Davis, chair, Betsy Freese, co-chair, Andrew Burchett, Den Gardner, David Hest, Gregg Hillyer, Andy Markwart, Kelly Schwalbe, Greg Vincent and Willie Vogt must have put some time into creating it!

Once it’s official we’ll post more information about it.

ACN, Ag Media Summit, Media

New Pork Board Officers

Chuck Zimmerman

National Pork BoardI’m not related to Brian from Nebraska in case you’re wondering.

National Pork Board Elects New Officers

Danita Rodibaugh, a pork producer from Rensselaer, Ind., was elected president of the National Pork Board at the board’s summer meeting in Dallas, Tex., July 21. Wayne Peugh, a producer from Edelstein, Ill., was elected vice president.

Rodibaugh, who had been vice president of the organization, succeeds Dave Culbertson, a producer from Geneseo, Ill., as the leader of the 15-member board, which administers the demand-building, research and consumer information programs supported by all producers through the Pork Checkoff. Culbertson completed his one-year term as president and remains on the board.

The board also seated new members Carol Hein of Spickard, Mo., and Brian Zimmerman of Beatrice, Neb. They replace Hugh Dorminy of Russellville, Ark., and Mike Bayes of Orient, Ohio, both of whom completed two three-year terms on the board and who were not eligible for reappointment. Hein and Zimmerman will serve three-year terms.

Ag Groups, Pork

New “Fight Agroterrorism” Collaboration

Chuck Zimmerman

USDAI’m not sure what a “new collaboration with states . . . ” means. I’d kind of like to think that these folks have all been working together already but maybe this announcements means to reassure us.

USDA, FDA, DHS AND FBI JOIN STATES AND PRIVATE INDUSTRY TO PROTECT NATION’S FOOD AND AGRICULTURE SUPPLY FROM AGROTERRORISM

WASHINGTON, July 26, 2005 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Department of Health and Human Services’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) today announced a new collaboration with states and private industry to protect the nation’s food supply from terrorist threats.

“Ensuring the safety of our nation’s food supply is a top priority for President Bush and USDA,” said Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns. “This partnership demonstrates our commitment as government and the private sector work together to protect our agricultural commodities from terrorism. We look forward to working with our partners.”

For more information contact Angela Harless, USDA (202) 720-4623, Susan Trevino, FDA (301) 827-6244, Kirk Whitworth, DHS (202) 282-8010, FBI Press Office (202) 324-3691. I guess the contact at the FBI Press Office is secret. Shh.

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Ethanol Gains Ground In DC

Chuck Zimmerman

American Coalition for EthanolThe big news out of Washington, DC today is very good news for the ethanol industry.

Senate-House Energy Bill Negotiators Agree to Double Demand for Ethanol – American Motorists will have Access to More Clean, Cost-Effective Fuel

Sioux Falls, SD (July 26, 2005) – The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) today praised the Energy Bill Conference Committee for passing a Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) calling for at least 7.5 billion gallons of homegrown ethanol to be used by 2012, thereby reducing the nation’s dangerous dependence on foreign oil and providing a much needed boost for rural economies.

“The American Coalition for Ethanol applauds the energy bill conferees for approving a dramatic Renewable Fuels Standard as part of the comprehensive energy bill. This is a critical step towards doubling ethanol use by 2012. We encourage Congress to adopt the overall energy bill containing the RFS later this week,” said Brian Jennings, ACE Executive Vice President. “The historic bipartisan Senate-House agreement on renewable fuels guarantees the U.S. will replace a modest level of high-priced foreign oil with cleaner, less expensive ethanol and biodiesel. It’s a win for American farmers and American consumers.”

The 7.5 billion gallon RFS agreed upon in committee is just shy of the 8 billion gallon RFS passed in the Senate version of the energy bill.

For more information contact Kristin Brekke.

Ag Groups, Ethanol

Cattlemen’s Beef Board To Set New Budget

Chuck Zimmerman

Cattlemen's Beef BoardThe Cattle Industry Summer Conference is about to get underway in Denver. The conference is actually a joint effort of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Cattlemen’s Beef Board and the American National Cattlewomen. Here’s what the CBB will be working on:

CATTLEMEN’S BEEF BOARD TO DISCUSS FISCAL 2006 CHECKOFF DIRECTION
CBB Budget up for Approval at Summer Meeting in Denver

CENTENNIAL, COLO. – The Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) will review a recommended budget for fiscal 2006 and will hear proposals for specific beef checkoff programs for the year during the Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Denver July 25-30.

The Beef Board’s Executive Committee will meet July 27, when it will receive a financial report from the Board’s treasurer and get an update on the status of state beef council marketing plans and audit reports, among other items.

A CBB Update Session on Thursday, July 28, will give Beef Board members an opportunity to raise any questions, concerns or suggestions they have about current checkoff topics in an open-discussion environment.

For more information contact Diane Henderson.

Ag Groups, Beef

New Outlook Version of NewsGator

Chuck Zimmerman

NewsGatorI actively promote NewsGator as “the” news aggregator program you should use. For one thing it integrates right into Outlook and although the RSS feeds you subscribe to aren’t email, it allows you to view and handle them like email, including being able to forward a feed to someone as an email!

The online version of NewsGator is free. You create an account, subscribe to the feeds you want and then let NewsGator go retrieve them. With this version you have to visit the NewsGator website and log in to view and edit your feeds. This is why I like the (very low cost) Outlook version. I don’t have to go anywhere except my Outlook folder to see my feeds. The new version is NewsGator Outlook 2.5.

NewsGator IE MenuPlus I don’t have to cut and past the news feed url into the online edition, although it’s really not difficult. Here’s how you do it with the Outlook version. When you see the feed you want, you just right click and one of your choices is “Subscribe in NewsGator.” You click on it and you’re done. The feed is added and it checks for updates immediately.

Well now that you know my personal favorite, what’s yours and why? Feel free to post a comment on this or email me. Do you subscribe to RSS feeds? Are you using RSS?

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Sunset in Mid Missouri

Chuck Zimmerman

Mid Missouri Summer SunsetIt has been a hot and dry month in Missouri. With a few exceptions we need rain and we’re hoping to get it this week. At 4am this morning it was 81 degrees here in Holts Summit!

It looks like relief is on the way. Here’s hoping that’s true. Even with the extreme heat Mid Missouri still gets some beautiful sunsets. This was last night. I was just too lazy to post it then.

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