The United States Potato Board unveiled a new program today that’s taking after the finalists of the Spud Nation Throwdown Recipe Cook-off. They all operate food trucks. Now the Potato Board does too and it’s called Spud Nation.
I will get more information about the vehicle when I talk with USPB CEO Blair Richardson this afternoon. In the meantime you can see the unveiling in the video below.
Experts and industry leaders from around the world will convene in Lexington, Ky., USA from May 22-25 for ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference. Alltech will welcome Steve Wozniak, Apple co-founder, to its main stage on Tuesday, May 24, 2016, at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference, an event dedicated to inspiring innovation. The annual international conference, now in its 32nd year, traditionally draws nearly 3,000 attendees from more than 60 countries to network with peers and discuss world-changing ideas.
“When you think about the power of innovation, you think of Apple. Few companies have had a more profound effect, and so it is a real treat for me personally, as an entrepreneur who also started my business in a garage, to announce that Steve Wozniak, Apple’s co-founder, will be joining us for ONE,” said Dr. Pearse Lyons, founder and president of Alltech.
Also hitting the main plenary stage will be the former president and CEO of Ford Motor Company, Alan Mulally. Mulally will join author and businessman Seth M. Siegel and title-winning University of Kentucky Men’s Basketball Coach John Calipari as the opening keynote speakers on Monday, May 23, at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference.
Closing ONE will be Riverdance in a special live performance on the morning of Wednesday, May 25. Drawing on Irish traditions, the combined talents of the performers propel Irish dancing and music into the present day, capturing the imagination of audiences across all ages and cultures in an innovative and exciting blend of dance, music and song.
The outgoing President of the National Potato Council is Dan Lake, Ronan, Montana. I visited with him during Potato Expo to learn what the big issues were in 2015 for the organization.
Dan says there were four main issues. One is pollinator health and he says farmers are using technology now that is designed to keep bee health in mind. Another is truck weight reform, allowing trucks to haul larger loads. Funding for research is also a big effort. Getting country of origin labeling repealed was another. Listen to my interview with Dan to hear more about each of these issues.
Listen to my interview with Dan here: Dan Lake, NPC President
The Farm Foundation Forum will take place January 20, 2016 and focus on the issue of antibiotic use in both humans and animals. If you have an interest in agricultural, food and rural policy, including members of Congress, congressional staff, executive branch officials, industry representatives, NGO representatives, academics and members of the media, the Farm Foundation encourages you to attend.
Panel members will examine issues and actions in animal health, human health, the retail/market sector and the public policy arena, including what those actions mean domestically and globally. Moderating the panel will be Farm Foundation Trustee Joe Swedberg, who chairs the Foundation’s Antimicrobial Education Project Advisory Committee.
Featured on the panel will be:
– Terry Coffey, DVM, Smithfield Foods
– Steve Solomon, MD, Global Public Health Consulting
– Jerome Lyman, McDonald’s Corporation, retired
– Kathy Talkington, Pew Charitable Trusts
The Forum will be 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. EST at the National Press Club, Washington, D.C. After discussion by the panelists, the floor will be opened for questions. For those unable to attend in person, a live audiocast is available free of charge. The Forum is also free, but registration is required.
Last night marked President Obama’s last State of the Union (SOTU) address, and as expected one area of focus was the fight against climate change. National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson said after the speech that the administration’s focus on the climate change is an issue that farmers and ranchers across the U.S. have been dealing with for many years.
“We are greatly appreciative of the Administration’s focus on climate change,” said Johnson. “Their efforts to help mitigate climate change will give family farmers and ranchers a better shot at ensuring global food security. Family farmers and ranchers can employ numerous practices that reduce or sequester carbon when given the correct incentives.”
However, on trade issues, Johnson said Obama is not on target and the president’s signature trade deal will fail to deliver promised jobs, markets and economic growth for family farmers and ranchers unless there are enforceable rules against currency manipulation. Johnson noted that at least four member countries of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) are known currency manipulators. By manipulating their currencies, countries can make their goods less expensive on the world market, easily eliminating U.S. gains from trade deals. The practice has greatly contributed to this nation’s massive $508 billion trade deficit.
“Unfortunately, not everyone plays fair,” said Johnson. “Like many of the trade deals that proceeded it, the TPP fails to provide effective enforcement tools to prevent competitors from manipulating their currencies and thereby bypassing trade rules. Despite the president’s promises, the U.S. will be on the losing side of the trade ledger once again if we don’t tackle currency manipulation.”
Johnson also applauded the president for his efforts to end the embargo with Cuba. “NFU appreciates president’s actions to end 50 years of a failed, self-imposed trade embargo on an island nation of 11 million people just 90 miles from American shores. Now it is time for Congress to step up and end this embargo for good.”
The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture has named Susan Grigsby’s “First Peas to the Table” as its Book of the Year. The book tells the tale of how a little girl, Maya, and her classmates learn about gardens and peas, as well as Thomas Jefferson’s garden at Monticello.
“I am so happy that, thanks to this recognition from the American Farm Bureau Foundation For Agriculture, more children will have access to ‘First Peas to the Table,’” said Grigsby. “I sometimes help students set up their own school gardens and am always inspired by the sense of wonder that develops as the children discover the infinite number of variables involved in turning one tiny seed into a plant that can feed a family.”
“After reading the agricultural-related correspondence and journals of Thomas Jefferson, I was struck by the passion that he and others had in regards to experimenting to figure out which plants, previously grown on other continents, would grow best in each of the diverse environments spread across the country,” she continued. “I wrote the book to celebrate how every gardener, young and old, learns through experimentation, through failures and success and with a joy for the wonders of nature.”
The Book of the Year award springs from the Foundation’s effort to identify accurate ag books, a collection of nearly 500 books for children, teenagers and adults that accurately cover agricultural topics. Book of the Year selections are educational, help to create positive public perceptions about agriculture, inspire readers to learn more and touch their readers’ lives, as well as tell the farmer’s story. The accurate ag books database is available at: http://www.agfoundation.org/recommended-pubs.
One hundred copies of the book have been donated to the Orange County’s library system. The area will be the host for the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 97th Annual Convention.
AFBF VP Scott VanderWal and President Zippy Duvall
Zippy Duvall, who served as president of Georgia Farm Bureau for nine years, is the 12th president of AFBF, chosen in the first open election for the organization’s president in 30 years. Scott VanderWal has served as President of South Dakota Farm Bureau since June of 2004. Together the pair will be serving the membership of the nation’s largest general farm organization, which also set policy for the coming year during the delegate session today. Renewable fuels, governmental reform, farm policy, risk management and international trade were among the most important matters slated for action over the next 12 months.
Learn more in this press conference with Duvall and VanderWal: AFBF 2016 Closing Press Conference
Zippy Duvall accepts the gavel from outgoing AFBF president Bob Stallman
Duvall, a third generation dairy farmer who currently maintains a 300 head beef cow herd, defeated three other candidates to be elected as president of the nation’s largest farm organization. His passionate acceptance speech stressed faith and freedom and his first action as president was to bring his wife and family to the podium to share in his victory.
“If you didn’t vote for me this time, I’m going to work so hard you’ll want to vote for me next time,” Duvall told the delegates as he accepted his first two year term.
Scott VanderWal of South Dakota was elected vice president of the organization from a field of three. VanderWal is a third-generation family farmer who raises corn soybeans and does custom cattle-feeding and some custom harvesting.
Read the AFBF press release here.
Listen to the announcement of Duvall’s election and his first address to the membership: Zippy Duvall elected AFBF president
In just a couple hours Potato Expo 2016 will open the trade show doors which marks the official start of this year’s conference. We’ll have some food truck recipe competition and a beginning seminar on the topic of soil health management.
I want to thank Nufarm for sponsoring my coverage of this show and will find out what’s new with them in the trade show. Right now all I know is that it has something to do with zebras. Hmm.
I’m already collecting photos for your viewing and sharing pleasure and will be adding to them periodically each day: Potato Expo 2016 Photo Album
Anti-GMO activist turned advocate Mark Lynas shared his conversion experience during a featured workshop at the 97th American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention and IDEAg Trade Show.
Lynas told an audience of farmers and ranchers how he changed his mind on GMOs when he came face-to-face with the science supporting biotechnology. “As a scientist, you must have data to back up what you’re saying,” Lynas said. “And I realized I wasn’t holding myself to the same scientific standards on GMOs as I applied to my research on climate change. You can’t pick and choose where you use science to back up your argument: You have to be consistent.”
He also asserted that we need more advances in technology, and that GMOs are critical to helping farmers around the world feed a booming population. “Science and technology need to keep progressing to preserve the resources we have left,” he said.
Lynas also spoke to members of the media at the convention during a press conference on Monday morning. Listen to his comments here: GMO advocate Mark Lynas press conference
