AgWired

Talking Social Media at Alltech Symposium

Chuck — Fri, 25 May 2012 16:44:31 +0000

I attended the 2012 Alltech International Symposium Discuss Dinner titled, “Creating Raving Fans: How can you embrace the digital world for your business?” Our moderator was Michele Payn-Knoper, Cause Matters. Michele had a very diverse group to deal with. I think we had folks from about 15 countries in the room! They had a lot of questions about social media and some reservations. However, there were several in the room that were able to provide good examples of how they are using social media in their business. Michele gave everyone some great advice: “Know your purpose. Build a community around your purpose. And then serve your community well with that purpose.”

Listen to my closing interview with Michele here: Interview with Michele Payn-Knoper

2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:17:17 +0000

Syngenta announced that, during the 2012 calendar year, ROGERS, Synergene Seed & Technology and Pybas Vegetable Seed Company brand varieties are being transitioned to the Syngenta brand.
The North American Equipment Dealers Association released its 2012 Dealer-Manufacturer Relations Survey and Kubota Tractor Corporation tops the charts across several key categories.
CP Bio Energy announced two new national programs for the management of discarded seed of all varieties, including treated seed, regulated seed, and any other seed types that create disposal challenges.
CAST presented prominent farm broadcaster Orion Samuelson, host of the “This Week In Agribusiness” TV show, its President’s award.

GROWMARK Hosts French Cooperative

Cindy — Thu, 24 May 2012 16:52:22 +0000

In the spirit of cooperation between cooperatives, Illinois-based GROWMARK hosted leaders from the French cooperative Terrena last week as part of a 12-day tour of United States agriculture.

“We were approached by the tour leader about coordinating an exchange of ideas between the Terrena leadership and GROWMARK’s leadership,” said Chuck Spencer, GROWMARK director, Government Affairs. “Because our agricultural products compete in a global marketplace, we saw great value in having a discussion with our counterparts at Terrena to learn more about agricultural market conditions and ag supply and product infrastructure in the European Union, which will ultimately benefit our members.”

The visitors from Terrena toured the Stone Ridge Dairy near Mansfield and One Earth Energy in Gibson City. Following the tours, a luncheon was served on a nearby farm and GROWMARK senior management and board members talked about cooperative structure and governance. Dr. Aslihan Spaulding of Illinois State University also shared her research on food trends with the group.

“One of the questions we were asked was our view of cooperatives here in the United States, and we certainly see a strong need and role for cooperative businesses, especially in agriculture,” said Rick Nelson, GROWMARK vice chairman of the board. “Terrena has the same view, and we definitely had a connection with them in recognizing the services cooperatives provide to farmers.”

Terrena serves more than 22,000 farmers in France. Its business units include grains, livestock, viticulture, and horticulture. It also supplies meat, dairy, and wine products to market under several private brands.

Thanks to GROWMARK’s Karen Jones for providing us with the story and photos!

Iowa Great Grower Pleased with Progress

Cindy — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:45:46 +0000

Another of our 2012 BASF Great Growers is Steve Miller of West Union, Iowa in the northeast part of the state. He farms with his dad Henry and is pictured here with his adorable son Cam – the picture of a true family farm!

I was actually supposed to interview Steve and his dad back in the freezing December of 2009 for BASF Headline Harvest reports, which was certainly not the best harvest year to do interviews! It just so happened that the frigid day we were scheduled was the same day that little Cam decided to enter the world, so dad and granddad both were a little tired and preoccupied. We did interview Henry but Steve had other matters on his mind that took priority.

This year, little Cam is big enough to start learning about farming and the season so far has been fabulous. As of last week, Steve says they were already half done with beans and the corn was coming up. “We got the corn sprayed so we’re sitting pretty good,” Steve said.

According to USDA, nearly all of the corn in Iowa is planted already and over 80% is emerged and most of it in good to excellent condition. Steve probably has the rest of his beans planted by now since 85% was planted in the state as of Sunday with over a quarter of the crop emerged.

Last year, the wind blew all their corn down, “so we definitely took a look at height on corn and root structure and doing more of the smart stacks,” he said. They are sticking to their normal 50/50 rotation and were happy to be able to get lots of preparation for planting done last fall.

Steve said they did change their herbicide program for corn this year. “We went to a pre-emerge herbicide. Last year, we went post-emerge and we got caught when it started raining and rained for about two weeks,” he explained. “So we’re doing things differently to make sure we get the chemical where it needs to be at the right time.” They scout both corn and soybeans to determine the best time to apply Headline.

BASF wants to know – what types of crop protection products are you using this year on soybeans? Answer the Production Poll here.

Listen to or download my interview with Steve here and watch for more Great Grower interviews coming up. BASF Great Grower Steve Miller

Farm Families Return to DC This Summer

Melissa — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:18:05 +0000

The nation’s top crop and the farm families who grow it will return to the U.S. capital this summer for the fourth year in a row as part of the Corn Farmers Coalition educational program that debuts June 1, at Union Station, an important venue for reaching policymakers inside “The Beltway.”

Corn farmers from 14 states and the National Corn Growers Association are supporting the Corn Farmers Coalition program to introduce a foundation of facts seen as essential to decision making, rather than directly influencing legislation and regulation.

The Corn Farmers Coalition is launching its major advertising campaign by taking over every available ad space at Union Station. The effort will also put prominent facts about family farmers in Capitol Hill publications, radio, frequently used websites, and other Metro locations in June and July.

The coalition will meet with media, members of Congress, environmental groups and others to talk about farming’s bright future: how U.S. farmers, using the latest technologies, will continue to meet the demands of a growing population and how this productivity can be a bright spot in an otherwise struggling economy.

Dr. Pearse Lyons Wraps Up Alltech Symposium

Chuck — Wed, 23 May 2012 16:35:02 +0000

The 2012 Alltech International Symposium has concluded. The “Magic Man” as he was called more than once during the event is Dr. Pearse Lyons. Here he is on stage during the closing session this morning.

I was able to ask Pearse his thoughts in closing at the end of the session. He says “What a pity it’s over.” He’s ready for another three days! Looking to the future continued growth of Alltech his key word is “speed.” Not speed that compromises quality but speed that grows the company quickly and perhaps even bigger than they currently envision.

Listen to my closing interview with Dr. Lyons here: Interview with Dr. Pearse Lyons

2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

Tom and Anya’s Future

Chuck — Wed, 23 May 2012 16:29:07 +0000

The 2012 Alltech International Symposium was all about the future and everywhere you looked the faces of Tom and Anya looked back at you. These young children represented all children and many of the presentations here focused on what their world will be like as they grow up. So, after seeing Tom and Anya in pictures we were treated to meeting them on stage at the end of the Symposium.

Here’s Dr. Pearse Lyons with little Tom and Anya. How cute is that? And when you see children like Tom and Anya how can you not help but want to make their future world even better than the one we’ve grown up in?

2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

An Alltech View of China

Chuck — Wed, 23 May 2012 16:19:14 +0000

His presentation was titled, “The Great Call of China.” Dr. Mark Lyons talked about what he has learned about the culture and opportunity represented by the China market. In fact, he’s learning the language right now and Alltech predicts that the country may represent 25% of their business in the future.

At the 2010 Symposium we got a glimpse at this market from Joaquin Pelaez is the Senior Vice President for Product Excellence at Yum! Brands, Inc. In this morning’s closing session Mark expanded greatly on some of those ideas from what he has found out from his time in China. For example, he says he conducted a survey in which the word Respect came up over and over. In his presentation you’ll learn from his observations and perhaps these will serve you well if you ever work in the China market. Mark concluded his remarks saying that it’s the perfect place for the aspiring CEO!

Listen to Dr. Mark Lyons talk about the China market here: Dr. Mark Lyons on China

2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

Agriculture.com® wins two MobileWebAwards

Melissa — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:19:28 +0000

Less than one year after the re-launch of m.Agriculture.com, the site has been awarded two MobileWebAwards from the Web Marketing Association for Best Magazine Mobile Website and Best Magazine Mobile Application.

The two awards come shortly after the announcement of the industry-first Mobile Commerce Messaging suite of offerings. The new services include a unique [A] Deals feature that provides farmers with direct marketing promotions and discounted offers from advertisers.

After m.Agriculture.com was launched in 2010, its developers soon began testing new services most appropriate for mobile use. These services included dynamic, multimedia content like video, slideshows, and an “app tray.”

The mobile site helps farmers keep up with the latest markets, weather, news, technology, and now input buying opportunities.

Monsanto Purchases Precision Planting, Inc.

Melissa — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:05:48 +0000

In line with its vision of delivering yield to farmers sustainably, Monsanto Company announced it reached an agreement to purchase planting technology developer Precision Planting, Inc., a proven leader in improving yields through on-farm planting performance.

The Precision Planting team will become part of Monsanto’s Integrated Farming Systems unit, which utilizes advanced agronomic practices, seed genetics and innovative on-farm technology to deliver optimal yield to farmers while using fewer resources. Precision Planting has a long history of innovations that optimize planter performance and increase yield potential, including the new FieldView™ technology, which offers an application designed to monitor all critical aspects of planter performance and crop data analysis. That will complement Monsanto’s planned Integrated Farming Systems offering of science-based agronomic seed prescriptions combined with next-generation precision equipment to help farmers boost yields and reduce risk.

The Precision Planting operations will remain in Tremont and all Precision employees will be offered their continued jobs in Tremont. Monsanto agreed to pay $210 million for the business, plus a performance-based payment of up to $40 million.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close this summer.

Parents Should be Responsible for Child Nutrition

Chuck — Wed, 23 May 2012 13:31:10 +0000

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “Who should be responsible for child nutrition?” I am all for good food nutrition for our children. But who is responsible? It seems like the government thinks it should have some control. I’ve heard and read lots of people saying we need more nutrition education. But don’t we have more than enough of that? How long has USDA made good nutrition information available? But we still see the problem of overeating. So, here’s what our poll found. 72% said Parents! I say, amen to that. Of course then you might ask why aren’t parents doing a better job of controlling what their kids eat. 24% said All of the above and 4% said Schools and no one chose specifically Government or Nutritionists. Interesting results.

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “Which group should restaurants consider experts on animal care?” This past weekend many folks in agriculture participated in an online thank you campaign for Domino’s Pizza. Why? Because the restaurant chain made a decision based on good humane animal practices and did not give in to the demands of the animal activist group HSUS. So, let us know your thoughts on this question. We appreciate it.

ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa — Wed, 23 May 2012 12:57:12 +0000

Merck Animal Health announces the U.S. approval of ZUPREVO (tildipirosin) – a new macrolide antibiotic for the management of bovine respiratory disease.
Miller Electric Mfg. Co. has announced the launch of its Miller Online Store, offering an engaging, customer-friendly shopping experience for the DIY segment.
Charleston|Orwig was recently voted Top Workplace in Wisconsin for the third year. This year the agency ranked 11th of 56 in the small business category.
Collegiate FFA is now accepting applications for its National Collegiate Agricultural Ambassador program.

Alltech’s FoodPrint Discussion Dinner

Jamie — Wed, 23 May 2012 12:39:43 +0000

The Carbon FoodPrint was the topic of debate for one of the Discussion Dinners at the 2012 Alltech International Symposium. Moderator, Damien O’Reilly, Irish National Television and Radio Broadcaster, lead the dialogue on perception vs. reality. Delegates enjoyed a tasty chicken dinner while chatting about how much of the carbon footprint hype is branding and how much is changing operations.

“It is a very timely discussion because everybody in the world knows more or less what we we mean when we say your carbon footprint. It is a relatively new phenomenon I suppose, but people are becoming more conscious about it and their impact on it.”

“I hope we can provoke a debate here about the food industry and food companies and what they are doing. Some have signed up for the foodprint idea which is to say we have reduced our carbon footprint by 5 or 7%. But some questions asked are how can we monitor them?”

Listen to moderator, Damien O’Reilly’s interview here: Interview with Damien O'Reilly

2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

2012 Alltech Smart Debate

Chuck — Tue, 22 May 2012 21:13:59 +0000

This year the Alltech debate session is titled Smart Debate. Topics include: feeding 9 billion people; is Africa now Brazil? What’s next for biofuels and more. Our panelists include Tom Arnold, CEO, Concern, Ireland; Sean Richard, Senior Lecturer in Business Economics, Cranfield University, UK; Dr. Marcus Vinicius Pratini de Moraes, Former Minister of Agriculture and Food Supply of Brazil and Tom Dorr, CEO, U.S. Grains Council. Our moderator again this year is Aidan Conolly, Alltech.

Listen to my interview with Aidan in which he summarizes some take away points from the debate here: Interview with Aidan Conolly

To give you a flavor for the debate here’s each panelists answer to the question: What does the future hold for us?

Listen to Tom Arnold’s answer here: Tom Arnold Answer

Listen to Sean Rickard’s answer here: Sean Rickard Answer

Listen to Dr. Marcus Vinicius Pratini de Moraes’s answer here: Dr. Marcus Vinicius Pratini de Moraes Answer

Listen to Tom Dorr’s answer here: Tom Dorr Answer

2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

A UK Perspective on Improvement in the Food Chain

Jamie — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:34:14 +0000

The 2012 Alltech International Symposium was host to Keith Millar, Head of Animal Feed and Animal By-Products Unit at Food Standards Agency, UK. He shared his insights into control and improvement in the food/feed chain during the New Regulatory Landscape breakout session.

Mr. Millar was private secretary for two separate leaders of the House of Commons. He was a United Kingdom delegations leader in numerous international negotiations. He also worked at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the UK Food Standards Agency since its formation. He is currently secretary to the Independent Advisory Committee on Animal Feedingstuffs. And is also a member of the International Dairy Federation’s Task Force on Animal Feeding.

“The fundamental take home message I wanted to give was as a government regulator I can’t do my job without having a good working relationship with the industry. I get most of my facts and topical up-to-date information from the industry and thats why I was delighted to come across the Atlantic and speak at this global conference in Lexington, KY.”

Listen to the complete interview with Keith here: Interview with Keith Millar

2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

USDA Invests in Mississippi River Basin Water Quality

Melissa — Tue, 22 May 2012 18:49:03 +0000

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and its partners will invest nearly $32 million this year in financial and technical assistance for five water quality and wetlands improvement projects in seven Mississippi River Basin states. When fully implemented, the projects will prevent sediment and nutrients from entering waterways, decrease flooding and improve bird and fish habitat. NRCS estimates that this investment will restore 11,400 acres to wetland habitat.

Landowners interested in applying for funding should contact their local NRCS office. Signup dates may vary based on the individual project.

NRCS provides funding for these new projects through its Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Program, part of the agency’s Wetlands Reserve Program. Since 2010, NRCS has formalized WREP agreements under MRBI with 47 landowners in the Mississippi River Basin, investing $17.8 million in long-term conservation easements and wetland restoration projects.

Note: Chuck will be covering the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) 2012 Conservation in Action Tour thanks to support from CTIC and AGROTAIN.

Alltech Young Scientist Global Scholarship Winners

Chuck — Tue, 22 May 2012 18:42:57 +0000

Alltech announced the winners of their Young Scientist competition during today’s afternoon session. In addition to regional winners there are two global winners (graduate and undergraduate). Altogether there were 8,000 entries in the competition! Presenting the awards were Dr. Mark Lyons and Dr. Inge Russell.

The Global Undergraduate winner is Gisele Greghi, Universidade Sao Paulo, Brazil. Listen to Jamie’s interview with Gisele here: Interview with Gisele Greghi

The Global Graduate winner is Qian Wang, University of California-Davis, USA.

The Alltech Young Scientist Award brings together the world’s brightest scientific thinkers from colleges and universities across the globe. To compete for the top prizes, undergraduate and graduate students are asked to register and submit a scientific paper on an agricultural topic such as veterinary science, animal feed technology, agricultural developments or agriculture management.

Listen to Jamie’s interview with Qian here: Interview with Qian Wang

2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

The Farmer of the Future

Jamie — Tue, 22 May 2012 17:46:31 +0000

During the Marketing Forum at the 2012 Alltech International Symposium, Dr. Dwight Armstrong, Chief Executive Officer for the National FFA Organization, answered the question, “Who is the farmer of the future?” The FFA works with 500,000 potential youth farmers to help fill the need for young agriculturalists.

The National FFA Organization is dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.

Dr. Armstrong highlighted the FFA’s efforts to make career success a priority for its future members, current members and alumni.

“The farmer of the future is an individual who can step forward and supply technology, business and science into farming because farming is far more complicated and complex then it has been in the past, but certainly we hope the 500,000 FFA members that are involved in agriculture education and FFA will be the farmer of the future.”

Dr. Armstrong is a former FFA member from Kentucky and served as the 2005 chairman of the National FFA Foundation Sponsors’ Board. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Murray State University and his master’s degree and Ph.D from Purdue University.

Listen to the complete interview with Dwight Armstrong here: Interview with Dwight Armstrong

2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

Alltech Launches Crop Science Business

Chuck — Tue, 22 May 2012 17:20:42 +0000

Alltech launched their Crop Science business during the 2012 International Symposium. During a lunch time press conference we heard from (r-l) Geoff Frank, CEO of Alltech Crop Science; Robbie Walker, Regional Director of Europe and the Middle East for Alltech Crop Science and Jon Carloftis, award-winning garden designer, garden writer, television guest, author, and lecturer.

Alltech has actually been in the plant science business for a number of years but has just pulled the business into the Alltech brand. The company is making all natural products that can be used on a wide variety of plants from grains to gardens. The products are especially helpful to plants that experience stressful conditions. They promote more stable growth and greater yields. I asked about the grain market for midwest U.S. growers and they told me that they are conducting trials right now in Iowa. With higher corn prices growers now have a new alternative application to get the most out of their crop.

Listen to the full press conference here: Alltech Crop Science Press Conference

Listen to Geoff’s opening remarks here: Geoff Frank Opening Remarks

Listen to Robbie’s opening remarks here: Robbie Walker Opening Remarks

Listen to Jon’s opening remarks here: Jon Carloftis Opening Remarks

2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

Food Styling at Alltech

Chuck — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:57:21 +0000

I’m borrowing from the Alltech blog here. I thought it was interesting to hear a food stylist talk about her craft.

Erica Ryan, a food stylist from Dublin, Ireland has spent the last 20 years styling food for TV and film and photography for food packaging and cookery books. Erica is over in Lexington this week helping to put the finishes touches on the display food at ‘The World’s Market’ at Alltech’s Symposium. Erika’s skills require her to maintain the color, texture, composition and quality of the display food that best represents the product.

2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

Alltech Tweetup

Chuck — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:29:43 +0000

During the 2012 Alltech International Symposium we held a tweetup. Here’s our happy group. Thanks to Jamie for taking our photo.

Tweetups provide a great opportunity to meet people in person whom you follow or interact with on Twitter. We got together for a few minutes prior to the Kentucky Night dinner celebration at Kentucky Horse Park last night. Most of these folks were on their smartphones tweeting before, during and after the tweetup.

2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

Alltech’s Nutrition Revolution

Chuck — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:16:35 +0000

He’s a revolutionary in the area of nutrition. Dr. Karl Dawson, Chief Scientific Officer, Alltech, took the stage the opening session of the 2012 International Symposium. The company is doing breakthrough research in nutrigenomics to find new ways to feed our animals to enhance their performance, health and longevity and enhance the consumer experience. Dr. Dawson also talks about how Alltech is branching out into new research strategies for addressing human health and wellness. I interviewed Dr. Dawson during the press conference held after the opening session and have included it as well as Dr. Dawson’s remarks on stage this morning.

Listen to my interview with Dr. Dawson here: Interview with Dr. Karl Dawson

Listen to Dr. Dawson’s remarks here: Dr. Karl Dawson Remarks

2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

Wheat Growers Promote Travis Antonsen

Melissa — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:58:57 +0000

Wheat Growers grain and agronomy cooperative announces that Travis Antonsen has been promoted to lead Wheat Growers’ grain origination efforts as the Producer Marketing Manager.

Prior to joining the Wheat Growers team, Antonsen was the head of origination for the Minnesota Soybean Processors plant in Brewster, Minn. Before that he was a merchandiser for the South Dakota Soybean Processors facility in Volga, S.D.

The New Holland Field Smart Blog

Chuck — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:44:57 +0000

New Holland has a new blog called Field Smart. It’s part of the New Holland Field Smart campaign.

At New Holland we’re dedicated to continuing this tradition, and we’ve launched our Field Smart campaign to celebrate not only our approach to delivering new innovations to the marketplace, but the farmers that put this technology to use.

To learn more about the project, Cindy interviewed John Elliott, New Holland, Director, Marketing NAR. That’s the feature of this week’s program. ZimmComm is providing content creation assistance to New Holland for this project.

Listen to this week’s ZimmCast here: The New Holland Field Smart Blog

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsors, GROWMARK, locally owned, globally strong and Monsanto, Roundup Ready Plus, for their support.

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired. Subscribe so you can listen when and where you want. Just go to our Subscribe page.

Alltech Kentucky Night

Jamie — Tue, 22 May 2012 13:00:19 +0000

Alltech’s Kentucky Night was full of down-home country music, mouth watering good food and even better company. The event was held at the beautiful Kentucky Horse Park, home of the Alltech Arena and the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and the Alltech National Horse Show. Everyone came decked out in their boots, denim and cowboy hats. A evening full of fun and fellowship where storying were told and new friends were met.

Check out photos from the event here: 2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

My First Harvest

Melissa — Tue, 22 May 2012 02:00:10 +0000

I liked it so much last year I had to do it again – plant my loose leaf blend lettuce, that is. It’s taken a little more time and care this year though to get it started since the weather has turned out so dry and I have a sneaky suspicion that for once the climatologist had it right … Nebraska is in for a very dry summer. This is so much the opposite of last year when during the whole month of May, my garden was under water and the highs were in the 50s.

This garden isn’t big by any means – this first harvest is probably enough to accompany my lunch tomorrow – but that doesn’t squelch my pride one bit. My onions, carrots and broccoli need a little grandmotherly TLC and she’s so graciously offered to come help me thin them once I wet it so the ground is loose. She even has a special contraption that consists of a jar with a hole to help you evenly space those seeds that are so tiny they require a tweezers to pick them up. I might have to carefully inspect the design of hers and then make one of my own!

So while the farmers are busy getting their irrigation primed and ready, I’ve been watering away on my garden, hoping it’s enough to save the poor tomato plants from burning to a crisp in late-May.

Until we walk again …

Alltech Symposium Press Conference

Jamie — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:41:38 +0000

A press conference was held following the morning session of the 2012 Alltech International Symposium. Panelists included Dr. Pearse Lyons, President/CEO of Alltech, Governor John Y. Brown Jr., Dr. Mark Lyons, Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Alltech, Dr. Karl Dawson, Alltech’s Chief Scientific Officer & Tim Gannon, Co-Founder Outback Steakhouse. Catch a recap of the question and answer session as these panelists share the importance of Alltech’s efforts to preserve the future of agribusiness and food production.

Listen to the complete Alltech International Symposium press conference here: Alltech Press Conference

2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album

USFRA/Ketchum Receive SABRE Recognition

Melissa — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:40:33 +0000

The U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) has received national recognition for its ground-breaking campaign to help improve the dialogue with consumers about how their food is grown and raised. USFRA, along with its agency partner Ketchum Public Relations, won the prestigious Gold SABRE Award for Excellence in the Associations category. The entry, titled “Since When Did Agriculture Become a Dirty Word?,” highlighted the strategies, execution and messaging used for the public launch of USFRA at the September 2011 Food Dialogues Town Hall.

USFRA’s Communications Advisory Committee and Ketchum began their work together in March of 2011. Since that time they have worked together to create a movement that focuses on bringing the voice of farmers and ranchers to conversations centered on food and food production. Over the past fourteen months USFRA and Ketchum have implemented many successful events and tools to help farmers and ranchers have that conversation, and explain the importance of continually improving today’s agriculture. Today’s news remains filled with stories questioning the integrity of the entire food production chain, and USFRA, in response, has initiated recently the “Grow What You Know” Rapid Response System that allows farmers and ranchers to be alerted of topics in the media that lack a farmer and rancher voice. USFRA will also host two additional Food Dialogue events over the next six months to continue the conversation about how food is grown and raised.

Global Ag Equipment Manufacturing Alliance Formed

Melissa — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:24:59 +0000

Leaders from seven agriculture equipment manufacturing associations from around the world have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to officially launch the Agrievolution Alliance, which will facilitate collaboration and cooperation on a global basis within the ag equipment manufacturing industry.

The associations are based in Brazil, Europe, France, India, Italy, North America and Turkey.

The founding associations are:
• ABIMAQ – Brazilian Association of Industrial Machinery and Equipment
• AEM – Association of Equipment Manufacturers – USA/North America
• AXEMA – Association for Industrial Agricultural Equipment, France
• CEMA – European Agricultural Machinery Association
• FICCI – Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
• TARMAKBIR – Turkish Association of Agricultural Machinery & Equipment Manufacturers
• UNACOMA – Italian Farm Machinery Manufacturers Association

Association leaders established the alliance in the shared belief that in today’s global agricultural economy, it is crucial that current issues and future challenges be viewed and worked upon from a global perspective.

The alliance will focus on three areas: industry-specific issues, information exchange and public policy issues. Possible areas of action include coordinating input to harmonization of standards and regulations, serving as an industry liaison with groups such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), using a combined voice on issues such as free trade, and developing a method to regularly exchange market and other industry data.

For more information, contact AEM, who is serving as acting Secretariat: info@aem.org, tel: 414-298-4174.

The Alltech Incredible Journey

Chuck — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:03:27 +0000

Alltech Founder and President, Dr. T. Pearse Lyons welcomed all the attendees to the 2012 Alltech International Symposium. I’ve heard that we have over 3,000 here this year! That’s a big jump up from last year. The Symposium just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

I’ll add opening remarks from Dr. Lyons here as soon as I can. He is talking about the “Incredible Journey.” The Incredible Journey was Dr. Lyons opportunity to describe the history of Alltech which included his personal business philosophy. In it he outlines ten initiatives for the company which has plans to quadruple in size in coming years. The goal is to be a four billion dollar company!

Post Update: Listen to Dr. Lyon’s remarks here: Dr. Pearse Lyons Incredible Journey

After the morning session Alltech held a press conference and I conducted a short interview with Dr. Lyons to get his outlook on the 2012 record breaking Symposium and his vision for the future of the company. You’ll hear him say, “I love my life and it’s the only life I have to live.” He says he’s surrounded by fantastic people who are making things happen that are astounding. He says, “It doesn’t get any better than that.”

Listen to my interview with Dr. Lyons here: Interview with Dr. Pearse Lyons

2012 Alltech International Symposium Photo Album