October Midsouth NAMA Chapter Meeting

When: Thursday, October 23, 2014
Time: 4:00 and/or 5:00 p.m.
Where: Fogelman Executive Conference Center at University of Memphis, Amphitheater 219
Cost: $15

REGISTER HERE!

Have you seen the documentary FARMLAND? Chances are, if you work in agriculture, it was on your radar, even with its limited release in theaters this spring. As the second part of the fall series dedicated to advocating for agriculture, Midsouth NAMA is offering a unique chance to learn what led to the creation of the film followed by a viewing.

This is an opportunity to get together with other Midsouth agribusiness professionals to participate in an important discussion, so the Midsouth chapter is opening up this event to other ag associations and anyone who works in agriculture.

Here’s what they are asking you to do: invite other people! Forward this email, pick up the phone, send a text message, hire carrier pigeons, brush-up on your smoke signal skills…whatever it takes. As ag professionals, it is vital we understand current issues and know how to serve as ambassadors for our industry. The more people at the event, the better.

There will be time for networking with drinks and hors d’oeuvres between the 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. events. It will be a cash bar, no credit cards so stop by the ATM on the way!

Join the Midsouth Chapter at 4pm to hear from Randy Krotz, CEO of US Farmers & Ranchers Alliance, the organization whose generous support made the film FARMLAND possible. Randy will discuss the research and events that led to the creation of the film. He will share details related to the cinematic success, consumer reaction and the launch of the I Am FARMLAND campaign.

Join them at 5:00pm to view the FARMLAND film – a must see film for ag professionals! The run-time for the film is 77 minutes. Check out the film’s trailer here: www.farmlandfilm.com

What’s the best way to relax after multiple days of exhibiting at World Dairy Expo? Enjoying some Wisconsin cheese and beverages while catching up with your fellow NAMA friends, of course! The Badger NAMA chapter hosted a reception on Thursday, October 2, 2014 for NAMA professionals from across the US and Canada exhibiting at the show.

In conjunction with the reception, the Badger Chapter career co-chairs Maria McGinnis and Kelly Smith organized an event that provided the student chapters of UW-Madison and UW-Platteville an opportunity to network with potential future employers and build their networking skills.

This year’s activity was a mini-panel discussion focused on the topic “Advice from future colleagues in the Ag Industry.” Three professional NAMA members were selected from the reception attendees with varying backgrounds and experiences. The panelists included Andrea Bloom, Vita Plus; Mike Opperman, Charleston|Orwig and Marvin Kokes, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and NAMA President-elect.

The panelists were open and honest about questions including:  things I wish I would’ve done in college before I graduated; what impresses you most about a potential job candidate; tips for starting out at your first job; I’ve been working for X number of years and I still struggle with this; and what is one office pet peeve that you have?

The tips and advice from the enthusiastic panelists resonated with the students. Just a few of the many favorites included:

— “Be passionate about what you do. It will make the bad days fewer, and great days more often.”

— “Get ready to be kicked around a little bit your first year. Contrary to what you think, you don’t know everything when you graduate.”

— “Don’t be afraid to ask your boss or even someone else successful in your company out to lunch. Find out how they became successful within your organization.”

— “Get as much experience as you can through internships and networking through professional organizations such as NAMA.”

The Badger NAMA Chapter would like to thank all of the individuals who were able to attend, and are already looking forward to seeing everyone next year at the World Dairy Expo event!

Mike Coon, founder of dataTHRESH, Inc., kicked off the Iowa NAMA September meeting talking about the importance of big data community sharing. Mike discussed the value of evaluation and adopting technology tools to de-risk business, especially at a time when the price of corn is decreasing, interest rates are increasing, and there are significant weather challenges. Using these tools can increase predictability for farmers. He reminded everyone that all consumers will be impacted by the outcome of the data revolution in agriculture and how important it is to invest the time and educate yourself.

The Call for Entries deadline is one week from today!

Make sure you enter your best work to compete for top honors. Visit the Call for Entries Website  to view the categories and print off a pdf. Thank you to AdFarm for donating the creative on the Call for Entries.

The ABEF Media Auction will be closing soon – make sure to get your bids in! The auction will close on Wednesday, October 15. Proceeds from this auction support the NAMA Student Careers Program.

If a bid is received on an item within the last 30 minutes of the auction, the auction will remain open on that item through the next business day until 5:00 p.m. (central time). This process will continue until no bids are received within 30 minutes of the bid closing.

The purchaser of the item is obligated to pay the purchase price to the ABEF even if the item is not used. Any resolution of conflict between the buyer and donating company will not remove the obligation of the buyer to pay the purchase price to ABEF.

For more information please contact Jenny Pickett in the NAMA office at (913) 491-6500 or email to jennyp@nama.org

What a way to kick off Midsouth NAMA’s Fall season.  The first event took place at the Memphis Agricenter on September 26 and featured David Glover of The Bartlett Bee Whisperer.  Honey Bees have slowly been dying the last 60+ years.  From a whopping 5 million bees in 1940 to only 2.4 million in 2014, these bees have been disappearing due to diseases and viruses.

An interesting fact about honey bees is that they are smoked in their hives when harvesting honey because their bodies fill up with honey and it makes them less likely to sting people.  Also interesting is that 60% of the honey bee population is sent to California to pollinate almond trees in the Spring.  And, if you ever wanted to find out if apples were pollinated correctly, just cut one up and count the seeds – if it has less than 10 seeds then it was not. David was very informative and his take-away was that honey bees are needed for our ecosystem.  As a result, he relocates bee hives.

The MoKan chapter kicked off the new chapter year with a mix and mingle for students and professionals on September 30. The event was hosted by SFP, A Verdesian Life Science Company, and featured an office tour and lab demonstration. Prior to the social, NAMA students from K-State participated in a careers discussion with client and agency representatives.