Brownfield

Spell Checker a Brownfield Listener

William Pape of Longmont, Colorado, was one of the 15 entrepreneurs at the Ag Innovators Showcase this week in St. Louis.  When I introduced myself seeking an interview about his new business, TraceGains, Pape’s face lit up and he told me that he listens to Brownfield when he drives through Iowa.  Interestingly, Pape, who currently has interest in a couple of cattle operations, was formerly an owner of VeriFone, the electronic system that made possible the worldwide use of credit cards.  Pape was also the developer of (and for this, I give him my humble thanks) the spell checker, which, he says was eventually adopted by all word processing platforms except for one.  That one, he said without naming it, no longer exists.

TraceGains is technology that allows trace back of food and ag products to “first mile” producers.  Pape is typical of the innovative spirit among the presenters at the Showcase.  This was the first Showcase and organizers seem confident there will be more.  Presenters, the entrepreneurs invited to the event, were each given a few minutes to make pitches to potential investors and then networked with them individually.  It was held in the impressive Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis.

-Tom Steever

Grand opening of Nebraska's first ethanol blender pumps

Brownfield's Ken Anderson covered the grand opening of Nebraska’s first ethanol blender pumps at Bosselman’s Pump and Pantry in Grand Island on Friday.  His observations:

There was plenty of excitement at the grand opening of Nebraska’s first ethanol blender pumps in Grand Island on Friday.  The six new pumps are located at the Bosselman’s Pump & Pantry at 1235 Allen Drive, just south of the Grand Island mall.  It also helped that Bosselman’s dropped the price of E10 Super Unleaded to $1.29 and E85 to $1.00 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.  The cars were lined up for a block or more on both service roads coming into the station, to take advantage of the discounts.

I hung around the pumps for a while, hoping to talk to customers who were taking advantage of the new E20 or E30 blends in their flex fuel vehicles—but I couldn’t find any!  Most of the motorists who pulled up had non-flex fuel vehicles and were buying E10.  I talked to a couple of folks who were putting E85 in their flex fuel vehicles, which they had already been doing before Friday.  They both said they liked E85 and the way their vehicles performed with it.  Of course, one of them also admitted that her husband worked at the Ravenna ethanol plant, so they were already big proponents of ethanol.

It’s obvious two things have to happen to really make these blender pumps pay off.  There need to be more flex fuel vehicles on the road, and drivers need to be convinced why they should use more than just E10 in their FFV.  Like anything else, it will take time, but Bosselman’s and the Nebraska Corn Board think the blenders pumps will be popular once people become more familiar with them.  I know Iowa has several blend pumps in the state and they are reportedly being well-received.  Hopefully, the same will happen in Nebraska.

-Ken Anderson

 
Pictured:  Ken interviewed Randy Klein of the Nebraska Corn Board.  Corn grower Curt Friesen of Henderson pumped gas and answered customer questions about ethanol. 

There's a great blog post about this on Nebraska Corn Kernels. 

Back at the sale barn

I was back at Miller County Regional Stockyards outside of Eldon, Missouri on Saturday for the Missouri Simmental Association (MSA) Spring Simmental Sale. My husband and I are members of MSA and always enjoy seeing the cattle and the people. 

Something else I was happy to see, in a stack beside the sale catalogs and membership directories, a flyer titled "Untold Truths of HSUS" outlining some of the facts about the Humane Society of the United States.

-Cyndi Young

 

Lonnie Peterson is an Auctioneer with Miller County Stockyards and sold the bulls at the Simmental Sale Saturday.

The rumor of my demise. . .

"The rumor of my demise has been greatly exaggerated," is a phrase credited to author Mark Twain.  We can say the same about radio today, according to the latest RADAR report from Arbitron, a radio audience research company.  The report says, in a nutshell that radio reaches more than 234 million persons ages 12 years old and older during a typical week.  That 92% exposure rate is steady despite growth of mp3 players.  RADAR report also shows that 89% of teens, aged 12 - 17 years, tune in to radio each week.

Are you surprised?  I'm not surprised.  I'm a HUGE fan of local radio.

Productive trip to D.C.

Julie Harker checks in from Washington, D.C.

 It was a productive day Wednesday!  I went along with the Missouri Farmers Union delegation as they met with staff in the offices of Congressman Ike Skelton, Emmanuel Cleaver, Russ Carnahan, Blaine Leutkemeyer, JoAnn Emerson and, Senator Claire McCaskill to present the special orders of business and policies adopted at the National Farmers Union convention that concluded Tuesday. They also stopped in at the offices of Congressman Roy Blunt and Senator Bond. 

Outside the DC office of Rep. Russ Carnahan.
From left to right:  Hayden Oswald (grandson of Richard Oswald); Richard Oswald, MFU member from Langdon, MO; Katy Dawson, Legislative Assistant to Congressman Russ Carnahan; Jill Lucht, MFU member from Columbia; Brownfield’s Julie Harker; Steve Wright, MFU member from Madison, MO.

 

Brownfield partners with radio stations online

Our Brownfield and Waitt radio partners are doing some great things with their websites, and many are partnering with us online as well as on the air!  Take for instance WJBD Radio in Salem, Illinois;  KIIC Radio in Albia, Iowa; and KSWM and KRMO Radio in Monett, Missouri.

Affiliate WRMJ, Aledo, Illinois has done a great job of utilizing Brownfield content to compliment local farm news and markets. 

Check out your local Brownfield and Waitt Agribusiness radio stations!

Things I've noticed at Commodity Classic

Two things about Commodity Classic in Grapevine, Texas that I will remember:  the carpeting in the convention center is just about as "Texan" as you can get. . .

And some people, like Ron Kindred, our friend from Atlanta, Illinois, have a lot of ribbons attached to their name tags. . .

-Cyndi

Lots and lots of interviews

Dave Russell's coverage of the National Association of Conservation Districts Convention held early this month in New Orleans was relevant, in-depth and spot-on.  And, he did a LOT of interviews!

Carol Benner from the Ottawa County, Ohio Soil and Water District office forwarded a link to story that ran in her local newspaper, the PortClintonNewsHerald.com. about one of those interviews.  Here's an exerpt:

There's good chance if you sit with Brownfield Network's Dave Russell at a banquet, Russell is going to ask for an interview. That's what happened at the recent National Association of Conservation Districts annual meeting in New Orleans when Russell sat with Rich Thorbahn, chairman of the Ottawa Soil Water Conservation District.

Cool new banner ads

Check out our very cool new banner ads on the AgriMarketing website and in the AgriMarketing Weekly e-newsletter.

   

We've got it covered

Ken Anderson attended and reported from the Nebraska No-Till Conference in Mead yesterday.  Be sure to check out his coverage online.

Tom Steever is on his way to Colorado for the "Western Great Plains Sustainability Management 2009" event.  The Monsanto-sponsored conference will examine key issues like water, climate and global food trends, irrigation and fertility management, new seed and trait technologies and other technological developments in agriculture aimed at helping farmers produce and conserve more. 

Dave Russell heads to Louisville, Kentucky for the National Farm Machinery Show this week. 

And of course, the other members of the Brownfield Ag News team are on the ground covering agriculture news and markets for our listeners and viewers!