LPC Elects New Leadership

Jamie Johansen July 28, 2016

Livestock Publications Council (LPC) members gathered for the 2016 Ag Media Summit and one item of business was electing new leadership. Congratulations to new LCP president, Scarlett Hagins, and her new team.

2016-2017 LPC Officers:
President – Scarlett Hagins, Kansas Stockman
1st Vice President – Cindy Cunningham, National Pork Board
2nd Vice President – Carey Brown, Cow Country
Secretary-Treasurer – Jennifer Carrico, High Plains Journal
Immediate Past President – Angie Denton, Kansas State University

LPC Board of Directors
Ben Richey, United State Animal Health Association
Greg Henderson, Beef Today/Cattle Exchange.com
Jennifer Shike, University of Illinois
Katie Maupin, Seedstock EDGE
Kent Jaecke, Focus Marketing Group
Leanne Peters, Cattle Business in Mississippi
Miranda Reiman, Certified Angus Beef, LLC
Molly Schoen, Charolais Journal
Steve Taylor, Appaloosa Journal
Jennifer Scharpe, Limousin World
Eric Tietze, Ozarks Farm & Neighbor

Scarlett has worn many hats throughout her leadership in LPC. She let me pick her brain while at AMS to learn a bit more about the role LPC plays in agriculture communications throughout the country and how she plans to help implement the Council’s three-year strategic plan.

“My year will be spent putting legs under our strategic plan to start accomplishing some of the other goals, like implementing new programs to benefit our members and ways to make their jobs easier with educational programs.”

One of those programs is called Coffee & Collaboration. It is an online type of webinar through Skype for business where members can reach out to each other and never leave their office. We all have busy schedules and this is just one example of how LPC is meeting the needs of its members right where they are.

“We also provide regional workshops throughout the year. Our website is also a great resource where you can find award applications and the code of ethics to use along with your publication if you get questions from customers. We want to be any kind of resource that helps our members do their job better.”

Listen to my complete interview with Scarlett here: Scarlett Hagins, LPC President

View and download photos from the event here: 2016 AMS Photo Album

Coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by

Ag Groups, Ag Media Summit, Livestock, LPC, Media, Publication

Meet New ACT President, Kelsey Litchfield

Jamie Johansen July 28, 2016

Pictured second from the left is Kelsey and her officer team.

It was easy to get excited about the future of agriculture when I saw so many young people attending this year’s Ag Media Summit. Those young agriculturalists are Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) members and took on St. Louis this week with fellow American Agricultural Editors Association (AAEA) and Livestock Publications Council (LPC) members with professional development sessions, networking and fellowship.

ACT also took care of business and elected new leadership for the upcoming year. I sat down with new ACT president, Kelsey Litchfield, a senior at the University of Illinois, to learn more about her future career goals and hear her plans for ACT going forward.

“My job is to oversee the entire organization, chair committees if needed and serve as a mentor and leader to ACT members need. I am really excited for the year ahead. I want to build something, I want to grow it. I really want to connect more with the chapters.”

Kelsey also has a vision to gather the ACT chapter presidents together virtually providing a platform to share and glean ideas. New chapters are popping up across the country and she feels keeping the communication lines open will encourage support and growth.

Listen to my complete interview with Kelsey to learn more about ACT and the future of agricultural communications: Kelsey Litchfield, ACT President

View and download photos from the event here: 2016 AMS Photo Album

Coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by

Ag Groups, Ag Media Summit

Grad Student Talks Community Approach to Sustainability

Lizzy Schultz July 28, 2016

Water sustainability was the topic at the most recent Food Dialogues event from the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA), and while much of the discussion focused on the concerns facing our environment and the quality of the nation’s natural water resources, panelist Vanessa Perry had a different conservation to bring to the table.

Perry, a PhD student in the Department of Forest Resources at the University of Minnesota with a research focus on community capacity to respond to natural resource challenges, in particular water management, brought an insightful, unique perspective to the panel, as her sustainability expertise is centered greatly on the social aspects of sustainability, and the cultural, socio-economic, and psychological impact that conservation efforts can have on a society.

“I think there is a lack of awareness on the roles and responsibilities that we all have towards the issue of water quality,” she said in an interview following the discussion. “Farmers are being told that they’re the cause of water pollution, and that may not be the best solution if we’re all really trying to work together towards a common solution. These issues affect us all, we all have responsibilities here, and its really important to bring some more awareness to how we’re using resources and the different ways that all of us are affecting our country’s water quality.”

Her focus in the discussion remained centered on the necessity of community engagement and collaboration in terms of finding solutions to water quality issues.

“If this was an easy problem, we would have fixed it. We’re working on a complex issue, and that requires a complex solutions,” she said during the event. “It isn’t just one person, we are all responsible, and what you do to help solve these issues depends on the role you have in society. It takes a bit of thoughtfulness and reflectiveness on all of our parts to see where we have responsibilities.”

Listen to Lizzy’s full interview with Vanessa here:
Interview with Vanessa Perry, University of Minnesota

View and download photos from the event here:Food Dialogues: Minneapolis Photo Album

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Audio, Conservation, Environment, Sustainability, USFRA, Water

AgWired Editors Visit Vietnam Agriculture

Kelly Marshall July 28, 2016

ALOT at the Vietnam National university of Agriculture. Precision editor, Kelly Marshall 1st row, 4th from the left. Animal editor, Jamie Johansen 2nd row, 2nd from the right.

Missouri Agricultural Leadership of Tomorrow (ALOT) has nearly completed their two year program. As a wrap-up of their study of agriculture the group recently visited Vietnam to gain a global understanding of the industry. The 20 member participants include two of AgWired’s editors, Jamie Johansen and Kelly Marshall.

Farmers move catfish to larger ponds with these boats, buckets, and boards. Catfish is a major export in Vietnam.

The trip lasted two weeks and included three major cities in Vietnam. In the capital city of Hanoi we visited with officials from Vietnam’s Agricultural Extension Center, heard from professors of soils, crops, and animal science at the Vietnam National University of Agriculture, learned about alternatives to the massive overuse of antibiotics at Biospring. We also ate lunch at DEBACO, a vertically integrated company handling everything from egg production to the processing facility to grocery stores and restaurants.

Rice research faces its own issues in Vietnam. Only corn and soybean GMOs are allowed.

Flying 1,000 miles south we landed in Can Tho in the heart of the Mekong River Delta. At Can Tho University we grasp a better understanding of water quality (or lack thereof!) in a country with international rivers. Despite misgivings about the river, we got to experience a sunrise trip to one of the world’s most interesting sights, the Mekong River Market. We also made stops at the Cuu Long Rice Research Institute, an elementary school, a rice processing plant, a forestry processing plant, an import/export seafood company, and a fish farm.

Most farmers own 3-5 diary cows, making it difficult for researchers to convey best practices to the many small-scale producers. This demo farm is slowly helping to improve production in the area.

Our final destination was the city of Ho Chi Minh, formerly Saigon. There we saw experiments in dragon fruit production, toured a furniture factory, walked through an Israeli-run Diary Demonstration Farm, and drove through the mangrove forest. We saw our first soybean and corn fields, which made us nostalgic for our home climate and beans that yield more than 20 bushel/acre, and gratefully tasted Australian beef at our first McDonald’s sighting.

As we arrive back in the states and again immerse ourselves in topics like TPP, the trip has certainly opened our eyes to see things from another vantage point. I find I am more thankful than ever to live, farm and raise my family in rural America, and at the same time I have greater respect for a life lived in a plywood shack on the banks of a dirty river.

When I come back to my desk and write about topics of interest to AgWired’s readers I see that Vietnam was different, but in many ways, at the core, we are the same.

ALOT Vietnam Trip Photo Album

International, ZimmNews

Working Together On Water Conservation

Lizzy Schultz July 28, 2016

Water conservation was the focus of the latest installment of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance’s (USFRA) series of Food Dialogues, held this week in Minneapolis, and for panelist Rebecca Flood, Assistant Commissioner for Water Policy at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), protecting our water supply is at the heart of her entire career.

Flood oversees MPCA’s programs and activities dedicated to the maintenance and improvement of Minnesota’s abundant water resources. She serves as the liaison to the agricultural sector, and assisted the Minnesota Department of Agriculture with the development of the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program, a voluntary program designed to expedite adoption of agricultural best management practices specifically designed to protect water quality.

Her participation in the panel was passionate, eloquent, and optimistic, with a focus on the importance of continuous data collection on water quality, as well as a strong vocal support for increased collaboration between conservation agencies and producers.

“The data and information we now have now that we are able to adequately fund our monitoring and assessment is allowing us to be able to craft solutions and work with farmers on these issues. We want to be able to work with farmers to craft solutions that are both environmentally and economically friendly so we don’t have any negative, unintended consequences down the road,” she said in an interview following the panel discussion.

Listen to her full interview here:
Interview with Rebecca Flood, MPCA

View and download photos from the event here: Food Dialogue: Minneapolis Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Conservation, Environment, Sustainability

Zimfo Bytes

Lizzy Schultz July 28, 2016

FamilyFarms Charities has established a memorial scholarship in memory of the late Roger Booth, an employee of AgriSolutions for nearly 38 years. Booth passed away on June 30 from pancreatic cancer.
Sixteen students from throughout the U.S. have been selected by The National FFA Organization as finalists for its 2016 top achievement awards: American Star Farmer, American Star in Agribusiness, American Star in Agricultural Placement and American Star in Agriscience.
Swanson Russell recently announced three new employees in its Lincoln office: Joe Giusto was hired as a media planner, Chelsea Honnens will be working as an associate designer, and Ryan Koenig will join the team as an associate user experience designer.
The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture recently awarded 13 $500 mini-grants to communities across the nation through the Foundation’s White-Reinhardt Fund for Education program, which allocates grant money throughout county and state Farm Bureaus to help expand agricultural literacy efforts.

Zimfo Bytes

From #AgMedia- FMC Grows Corn Division

Kelly Marshall July 27, 2016

Perhaps when you think of FMC you think of soybeans- but that is changing, says Chris Reat, Corn Product Manger. At the recent Ag Media Summit in St. Louis, Missouri Reat told AgWired they’re expanding their corn sector with a full range of herbicides, insecticides and fungicides.

When asked about corn crops for this year Reat’s advice was not to discount the value of an application of fungicide or pesticide still this season. With weather being hot and cold, rainy then dry, a grower’s best bet yield potential might involve a round of just the right product.

“Lots of decision to be made yet, even with this crop, this year,” Reat tells Chuck. “I just encourage guys to flexible with their approach and opportunities. If there is still a chance to finish off a crop with a fungicide applications to go ahead and realize the highest yield opportunity then they ought to consider doing it. Even though we have a challenge in the markets, they’re still going to fluctuate, but still it always pays a farmer at the end of the day to get more production out of those acres. We always see those applications pay off.”

Overall, he says, growers are planning more and using products carefully because they are seeing it pay off. A crop is already a tremendous investment, and more and more growers are seeing the wisdom in making it the best crop possible.

To hear more of Reat’s advice listen to Chuck’s full interview here: Chris Reat, FMC

2016 AMS Photo Album

Coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by

Ag Media Summit, Agribusiness, FMC, Fungicide, Herbicide, Insecticides

#AgMedia Recognizes Scholarship Award Winners

Kelly Marshall July 27, 2016

Cameron Jodlowski accepts his award from Laurie Bedord.

The Ag Media Summit is well underway in St. Louis, Missouri with many important topics being covered this week. Few, however, are as important as preparing the next generation to be involved in the agriculture industry, a concept Alltech and the American Agricultural Editor’s Association (AAEA) understand well. Both organizations sponsor scholarships to assist the best and brightest in their goals of bettering our industry.

Ann Hess presents Nora Faris with her scholarship award.

This year Cameron Jodlowski from Iowa State University was awarded AAEA’s Scholarship, and Nora Faris of the University of Missouri earned the Forrest Bassford Student Award sponsored by Alltech.

“We like to get involved with some of these young agriculture journalists right from the beginning,” says Ann Hess, Alltech award presenter. “Alltech just likes to help encourage people to stay with it.”

Listen to Jamie Johansen’s interview with Ann Hess here: Interview with Ann Hess, Alltech

2016 AMS Photo Album

Coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by

Ag Media Summit, Alltech

Keeping Farmers in the Sustainability Dialogue

Lizzy Schultz July 27, 2016

At the latest Food Dialogue from the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) and the Farm and Food Alliance of Minnesota, a panel of experts kept the focus entirely on water sustainability, an issue that has continually placed significant blame on production agriculture. The lone producer on the panel was Nathan Collins, who raises Angus cattle and grows corn, soybeans, and alfalfa on his farm in West Central Minnesota. His perspective brought fresh insight into the conversation about sustainability, a controversial topic that remains without a formal definition.

“I think it’s important that everyone understands that water problems are not just due to agriculture. This is such a broad issue that covers every industry,” he said in an interview following the event. “Farmers have become an easy target because we aren’t always willing to speak up against the misconceptions, but we’re doing so many good things right now. We’ve always had water quality as a top priority, and we wouldn’t be able to continue farming the same land for multiple generations if we weren’t taking care of the land.”

Nathan’s takeaway from the event was the importance of engaging more people in the efforts to finding solutions to the nation’s complex issues surrounding water quality and security, and the fact that telling his story as a producer remains an absolute necessity in the continued efforts towards improving our environment.

“It’s so important for farmers to have conservations with people. Its quite easy and it can be a lot of fun, because a lot of people don’t understand what farmers do on a day to day basis, and the business of agriculture is so diverse that it’s paramount that you share your story with people,” he said.

Listen to Lizzy’s full interview with Nathan here:
Interview with Nathan Collins, MN Farmer

View and download photos from the event here: Food Dialogues: Minneapolis Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Conservation, Environment, Farming, Sustainability, USFRA

The Corporate Commitment to Sustainability

Lizzy Schultz July 27, 2016

The latest installment of the Food Dialogues, held this week in Minneapolis as part of a joint effort from the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) and the Farm and Food Alliance of Minnesota, kept the focus on water sustainability. The diverse panel of professionals highlighted the many ways that water conservation is present in their professions and the companies they represent, and engaged in a productive dialogue that focused on ways to find applicable, real solutions to the problems facing our nation’s water quality.

One panelist was Becky Kenow, Director of Sustainability for Land O Lakes, Inc.. Kenow works to engage businesses in company-wide sustainability strategies, and has made extensive efforts to collaborate and lead cross functional business teams to develop and implement initiatives that maximize economic, environmental and social sustainability on a corporate level.

Her focus during the panel was on the powerful role that technology has played in improving the environmental sustainability of productive agriculture, as well as the ways that working to improve sustainability can be incredibly profitable, and incentivized, by agriculture producers.

“Technology has improved every industry known to man, and agriculture is not an exception to that fact,” said Kenow during the Food Dialogue event, as well as in an interview following the discussion. “There are so many different things that businesses are doing to try to address both water quantity and water quality, and I think that its so important to share that information and help people understand that the agriculture industry has been focused on this for many years, and holds a continued commitment to conservation efforts,” said Kenow in an interview after the panel discussion.”

Her belief in the power of engaging the public and private sectors to work together was evident throughout her portion of the dialogue, and was centered in her biggest takeaway from the event.

“We are all interested in working together to figure out how to address these issues. We have to engage more people in the more proactive approach to this and work together to solve these problems instead of pointing fingers and being afraid of working together and talking about it. None of us can do this alone, we have to work together,” she said.

Listen to Lizzy’s full interview with Becky here:
Interview with Becky Kenow, Land O Lakes

View and Download Photos from the Event here: Food Dialogues: Minneapolis Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Conservation, Environment, Sustainability

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