'Energy beet' (not sugar) gathering March 10
The Green Vision Group, working toward growing "energy beets" to make ethanol in North Dakota is holding a meeting Feb. 10 in Cooperstown, N.D., at the Pizza Ranch at noon, I'm told.
Agweek wrote about this group in a December issue, talking with Maynard Helgaas and NDSU Extension Service's Rudy Radke. Although the beets would be grown much as sugar beets are grown, they don't want to make an association between a crop grown for its sugar for human consumption and the crop they want to grow -- only for energy. The beets would yield 38 to 40 tons an acre under irrigation, according to Oakes, N.D., research. Each plant would produce about 20 million gallosn per year.
Questions? Call Maynard at 701-532-0336. Or just show up.
Posted by: mpates on 2/5/2010 at 3:13 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
SD's Anderson honored by bison group
Congratulations to Bruce Anderson of Rapid City, SD, who's getting some nice recognition from the National Bison Association in Denver. It's been interesting to see this animal return to viability from near-extinction.-- Mikkel
South Dakota Processor Named Bison Association ‘Member of the Year’
Anderson Recognized for Efforts to Build Bison Demand, Promote Production
Denver, CO (February 2, 2010) – Bruce Anderson of Rapid City, SD was honored as the National Bison Association’s Member of the Year at the association’s recent annual conference here in recognition of his leadership in promoting bison meat, and in expanding production across the country.
Anderson is one of the pioneers in the commercial buffalo business, with more than 30 years of experience in production, processing and marketing. He has owned and operated Western Buffalo Co. in Rapid City since 1979, and is the largest state-inspected processor of bison meat in the United States.
Anderson serves as the chair of the National Bison Association’s Commercial Marketers’ Committee, which represents processors and marketers of all sizes. As chair of that committee, Anderson helped develop and implement the association’s voluntary check off program which generated nearly $50,000 in contributions last year to promote the sales and production of buffalo.
He has been active in the organization’s public policy activities, and has travelled to Washington, D.C. to meet with lawmakers and regulators on issues important to the bison business.
A strong proponent of cooperation among buffalo associations at all levels, Anderson currently serves as president of the Dakota Territories Buffalo Association. He was a leader in organizing a recent meeting in Las Vegas, NV to bring together leaders from the National Bison Association, and state/regional bison associations to discuss opportunities to coordinate efforts to represent the industry.
Members of the Year are nominated from among the membership of the National Bison Association, and the winner is selected by the group’s Past Presidents’ Committee.
Posted by: mpates on 2/3/2010 at 7:56 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Geib leaves North Dakota trade post
Susan Geib, who has been a force in expanding North Dakota's trade possibilities, is announcing her resignation. Geib's enthusiasm has brought a lot of energy to the state's overseas efforts. The ones I've been most aware of are the effort to bring in eastern European marketeers in the ag equipment business. I'm sure she'll be sorely missed. Below is yesterday's news release. -- Mikkel
News for immediate release
Monday, Feb. 1, 2010
Contact: Jeff Zent
(701) 231-1155
jeff@ndto.com
Susan Geib resigns from the North Dakota Trade Office
Susan Geib, executive director of the North Dakota Trade Office, has announced her resignation after serving as the non-profit organization's founding administrative leader since 2004. Her resignation is effective March 31.
"Susan is the original director of the North Dakota Trade Office, taking us from infancy to a very productive and well respected organization," said Lt. Gov. Jack Dalrymple, the Trade Office's board chairman. "Her skills and knowledge will be greatly missed."
Geib said she plans to travel with her husband, Minnesota State University-Moorhead professor Peter Geib, who has been awarded a grant to conduct research regarding transitioning economies. Geib's background in global business includes managing international sales for Microsoft Business Solutions (formerly Great Plains Software) and teaching university students brand management and customer relationship management.
"I leave behind a highly committed professional Trade Office team that has launched into new markets, enabling North Dakota to triple its export value and move up the ranks from 49th to 30th in the nation," Geib said. "I firmly believe this public-private team will rise to the occasion, reach for more and better trade ties and continue to set the bar ever higher so that all will realize that North Dakota is a small yet remarkable global place."
The Trade Office is a private-public partnership dedicated to expanding the state's global business through advocacy, education and expertise. Since 2000, the value of North Dakota's merchandise exports has increased 219 percent, from about $626,000 to nearly $2 billion.
The Trade Office board of directors has formed a search committee to fill the executive director position. The search committee will accept applications until 4pm, Thursday, Feb. 11. The position description and qualification requirements are available on the Trade Office Website at www.ndto.com. Applicants with export management experience are encouraged to provide a letter of interest, resume and three references to North Dakota Department of Commerce Commissioner Shane Goettle at:
North Dakota Department of Commerce
1600 E. Century Ave., Suite 2
PO Box 2057
Bismarck, N.D. 58503
Posted by: mpates on 2/2/2010 at 3:58 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Borlaug papers are digitized, accessible
If you're like me, a big fan of Norman Borlaug, who died in 2009 as one of the most important agricultural figures in the world's history, then you may be interested in this news: all of his papers are going to be "digitized" and available to the public. The news release from the University of Minnesota follows. Thanks to the U of M! -- Mikkel
Contacts: Marlo Welshons, University Libraries, welsh066@umn.edu, (612) 625-9148
Ryan Mathre, University News Service, mathre@umn.edu, (612) 625-0552
U libraries to digitize Norman Borlaug papers
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (02/02/2010) —The University of Minnesota Libraries have been awarded funds to digitize the papers of Dr. Norman E. Borlaug and related historical materials from the University Archives. "The Borlaug Papers are among our most heavily used materials," said Elisabeth Kaplan, head of University Archives and project director. "They are especially popular with local high school students who use them in History Day projects. Digitizing these materials will make them accessible to an international community of scholars and researchers of all ages."
Borlaug -- who received his bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees at the University of Minnesota -- was a world-renowned plant pathologist and humanitarian who won the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his development of the high-yield, disease resistant wheat that is credited with saving billions of people from starvation. Borlaug is known as the father of the "Green Revolution," a term coined in the 1960s to describe the transformation of agriculture that began in the 1940s with rapid advances in food crop production developed to keep pace with worldwide population growth. Borlaug passed away in 2009.
Fifty-eight boxes of archival material will be digitized, including five decades of field notebooks, the pocket-sized books in which Borlaug documented his travel and work in the field in Mexico, South America, Africa, the Middle East, South and South East Asia and Eastern Europe. Other items include Borlaug's correspondence with colleagues mentors and world leaders; talks and writings; multiple drafts of his Nobel acceptance speech; and over 7500 photographs from the late 1940s through 2000.
Papers from some of Borlaug's contemporaries will also be included in the digital collection, including correspondence and photographs from E. C. Stakman, Borlaug’s mentor and longtime head of the U plant pathology department; the papers of Helen Hart, U of M alumna and faculty member, and expert of cereal rust disease; and portions of the John Gibler Papers, U alumnus and colleague of Borlaug’s at the Rockefeller Foundation.
The project, which will be completed by May 2011, is being supported by a $27,667 Minnesota Historical and Cultural Grant, a program supported by the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment. Approved by Minnesota voters in November 2008, the state constitutional amendment provides for an increase in Minnesota state sales tax to support outdoor heritage, clean water, parks and trails, as well as arts, history and cultural heritage.
Related Links
University Archives: http://special.lib.umn.edu/uarch
Minnesota Historical and Cultural Grants: http://www.mnhs.org/legacy/grants/index.htm
Posted by: mpates on 2/2/2010 at 10:23 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Nice piece on Chuck Suchy
I read a nice recent piece on Chuck Suchy, North Dakota's agricultural troubadour, in a recent copy of Fargo's local alternative weekly newspaper in its Jan. 28 issue. You know the one.
In the story, writer Randy Christianson casts Suchy in a golden glow -- as emblematic of the "family farmer" in North Dakota. Suchy raises 80 head of black Angus also "harvests songs, which seem to organically sprout from his soul year after year," Christianson writes, adding later that he "realizes that the family farmms he celebrates in song may be bucking a trend."
"I don't know how close I feel to modern farming anymore," Christianson writes, quoting Suchy. "I'm saddened by the lack of community. But we still need to stay in touch with the land, so I'll just plug on."
I, for one, am glad Suchy plugs away, and I think a lot of others are too. Good job, Randy.
Posted by: mpates on 2/1/2010 at 9:43 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
