Many people in the agriculture community like to complain about the law, but only a select few take the time to do something about it. In the recent Grassroots newspaper published by the New York Farm Bureau (“NYFB”), there is a great article by Jeff Williams (on page 13) about how a New York agriculture producer took the initiative to …
Will be Attending the New York State Fair
I am looking forward to attending the New York State Fair again this year. I will be up in Syracuse on Tuesday, August 31st to watch the State Supreme Champion Beef Female Show. I will then be judging the steer show the following day. If you are up in Syracuse on those days please come by and say hello. …
Beef Quality Assurance Certification
I am pretty excited to complete the Beef Quality Assurance (“BQA”) certification program. I registered with Carol Gillis at the New York Beef Industry Council . A $10 registration fee is required to help pay for the Mid-Atlantic Producer Certification Manual. After a cursory overview of the materials this morning, the manual seems chalk full of best management practices concerning …
Excited To Be Blogging Again
Apologies to my readers for taking a hiatus from blogging the month of July. My blog was changed to a different platform to give me greater flexibility. I hope to start video blogging this fall so please stay tuned. Big thank you to Matt Welsh at Kill Disco Design and Ranch House Designs for helping me with this transition. Now …
AAW Spotlight: Interview With Jannell Lagein
As I noted on Monday, I completed the American Agri-Women – Syngenta “Leadership At Its Best” Conference in Greensboro, North Carolina and I am posting interviews with other participants in the conference. Today’s interview is with the North Dakota firecracker (and ranch wife) Jannell Lagein. 1. Please explain your connection ot the agriculture industry. I was born and rased on a …
YPC’s Public Relations Task Force Subcommittees
As I said in this blog, I am the Public Relations Chair for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (“NCBA”) Young Producers’ Council (“YPC”). Last month we had a conference call with folks interested in being on the committee. I wanted to update those of you who were not able to make the call but are interested in digging in and getting …
New York Agri-Women To Host Reception and Tours in NYC June 16-18th
I’m very excited to announce details of the first annual reception and New York agriculture spotlight hosted by the New York Agri-Women on June 16-18th. Several representatives from the national organization American Agri-Women (“AAW”) (@Women4Ag) will be zippng up to NYC after their annual legislative efforts on Capitol Hill. New York Agri-Women is the new state affiliate of AWW and we’re …
Simmental Reading Part 2: Abuse in Show Industry
Yesterday, I noted how much I enjoyed this article in January’s SimTalk. I also recommend reading Marty Ropp’s article titled “Winning At Any Cost?” in the Register published this month. In this article, Marty mentioned the abuses that take place in the show livestock industry. Specifically, he stated that “the use of illegal drugs on livestock, inhumane practices such as cosmetic surgeries …
Catching Up on My Simmental Reading– Succession Planning
For those of you that know me personally, you know that I am a big supporter of the Simmental cattle industry. It’s the breed of cattle that my family raises and grew to love the breed throughout my childhood. I also spent some time in Bozeman, Montana interning at the association’s headquarters. Last night, I was catching up on reading the latest …
YPC’s Public Relations Task Force
I make no secret on this blog my love for the cattle industry and activity with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s (“NCBA”) Young Producers’ Council. I will continue to serve as YPC’s Public Relations Chair for 2010. Please let me know if you are interested in joining the Public Relations Team as I would like to have a conference call next …
Urban Development: Is It Making It Too Hard For Children To Stay On The Farm?
This past week I was asked this very question and it made me think about the connection between urban development and our children who grew up in production agriculture who later leave the farm only to get a job in a metropolitan area. In this blog, I mentioned that this issue is creating a problem for agriculture estate and succession planning as some farmers …
Update from NCBA Convention
I can’t believe that I’m not in San Antonio right now! I couldn’t make it for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (“NCBA”) Annual Convention and Trade Show this year since I had to be in court yesterday in Brooklyn. I have been keeping up on convention happenings by following tweets from #NCBA10. Yesterday, NCBA’s Young Producers’ Council (“YPC”) relected a fresh slate of …