Caldwell in Liquid Feed Hall of Fame

ARLINGTON, Va. — David Caldwell, Ph.D., was inducted into the American Feed Industry Assoc.’s Liquid Feed Hall of Fame, the highest award offered by the AFIA Liquid Feed Committee and the liquid feed industry. 

 The honor was presented to Caldwell at the Liquid Feed Symposium Awards Luncheon in New Orleans, La., in early September. The meeting is the country’s largest gathering of liquid supplement leaders in manufacturing, nutrition, quality, sales and marketing. 

Raised on an Indiana farm, Caldwell grew up in the presence of beef cattle, swine, sheep, corn, soybeans and hardwood timber production. He attended Purdue University, receiving his bachelor’s degree in animal science. In 1968, he served two years in the U.S. Army and later completed his doctorate in animal nutrition at Purdue University. Caldwell resides in Indiana on his family’s farm with his wife.

Ohio’s top conservation farmers honored

LONDON, Ohio — Ohio’s top conservation farm families for 2014 were honored Sept. 18 for their long-standing dedication to natural resource conservation on the land they farm. 

The families honored were Karl and Kevin Elder from Fairfield County; Bruce and Carole Goodwin of Warren County; Casey Clemens of Morgan County; Steve and Beth Fulton of Medina County; and Gerald and Cheryl Whipple of Ottawa County.

In addition to receiving $400 each from the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, the families were also featured in the September issue of Ohio Farmer magazine and received plaques from Hancor Inc. 

Nominations are sought annually between January and May, and Ohio farming families are encouraged to apply.

Young journalists go to Alltech boot camp

 ABERDEEN, Scotland — Ten young leaders in agricultural journalism took a look at how agribusiness can implement new technologies and increase on-farm efficiencies to feed an ever-increasing global population as well as their role in communicating these advances at this year’s International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) boot camp, sponsored by Alltech.

Held prior to the IFAJ congress in Scotland and jointly with the IFAJ/Agriterra Master Class, the intensive journalistic boot camp-style workshop focused on the theme of innovation with recipients of the IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders Award discussing agribusiness issues from around the world and further developing their skills through social media applications, a news conference with the United Kingdom minister of agriculture and guest farm, news and industry panels.

Fergal McAdam, sales manager for Alltech Ireland, led a discussion on how consolidation, efficiency and innovation are key factors in feeding nine billion people by 2050. McAdam also shared the results of Alltech’s latest initiative, the EPS program, launched with more than 14,000 cows on 58 farms in 19 countries in Europe last year. The program uses a number of tools to measure each farm’s efficiency levels, and then gives customized nutrition and management recommendations for that farm to increase profitability and improve sustainability.

Winners of this year’s IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders Award from North America are Amy Roady, a communications director for the Illinois Soybean Assoc., and Debra Murphy, a field editor for RealAgriculture in Canada.

IAEA honors breeding achievements

VIENNA, Austria — Awards honoring teams of scientists who have helped increase food security by using radiation to breed better crop varieties were presented in September by Yukiya Amano, International Atomic Energy Agency director general.

Mutation breeding, which uses radiation to mimic natural plant mutation events, is a well-established method that enables plant breeders to work with farmers to develop variations of rice, barley, sesame and other crops that are higher-yielding and more resistant to disease.

Scientists and teams from Peru, China, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam were selected for Outstanding Achievement Awards.

Iowa grower first in Drive to Thrive contest

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Syngenta announced Oct. 2 that Jim Cuddeback, a corn and soybean grower from Washington, Iowa, is the Grand Prize winner of its Drive to Thrive contest. 

In Cuddeback’s winning essay, he named his family, which includes his wife of 44 years, two sons and five grandchildren, as the driving force behind his farm’s success. His genuine passion for agriculture is another motivator for him.

Since 1975, he has no-tilled most of his 540 acres of cropland. He also uses fall cover crops on his farm’s more erodible acres, has planted more than 20,000 trees on his properties, and has 250 acres in the Conservation Reserve Program. Because of his exemplary commitment to healthy soils and improved water quality, Cuddeback received an Iowa Farm Environmental Leader Award in 2014.

USCA elects new slate of officers for 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States Cattlemen’s Assoc. (USCA) elected a new slate of officers for 2015 at its annual meeting in October. 

Nominated were Danni Beer, Keldron, S.D., for USCA President; Chuck Kiker for USCA Vice President; and Jane Wooster for Treasurer. 

Regional Directors were nominated for the following regions: Region I (Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii): Kent Wright; Region IV (Utah, Wyoming and Colorado): Adam Redland; Region VII (Nebraska and Iowa): Rod Gray; Region X (North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota): Kenny Graner.