Help beef up the NAMA membership with the latest membership promotion.

During the month of November, recruit a business associate, peer or friend to the benefits you enjoy as a member. Every NAMA member who recruits a new member in the month of November will receive a $25 gift certificate to Omaha Steaks!

Simply tell your recruit to join on-line at http://www.nama.org/join.html and include your name in the “Referred by” box or simply have them call the NAMA office at 913-491-6500 to join and remind them to say they were referred by you!

Don’t forget to register for the 2007 Agribusiness Forum, November 13-14, in Kansas City.

Make plans to join your colleagues November 13-14 in Kansas City, MO to learn from leading economists, journalists, consumer food experts and more as they share strategies for how you and your business can prosper in today’s global market.

The Forum will take place at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center (near the NAFB hotel).

To register for the Agribusiness Forum visit, http://payment.nama.org/forum.htm.

We look forward to seeing you in Kansas City at the 2007 Agribusiness Forum!

Sarah Muirhead, Feedstuffs, will be the presenter for the session Food Safety and Consumer Confidence - What’s Making News, at the Agribusiness Forum, November 13-14 in Kansas City.

American consumers have been jolted by food safety scares in the past year ranging from dirty spinach to sickening peanut butter. Yet it was the case of contaminated pet food from China that seemed to galvanize public opinion that something in the system has gone awry. That’s just the way it is: consumers and newspaper readers can be fickle, walking away from serious stories about their own health in favor of less weighty pieces about dogs and cats. So how and why does the media react the way it does when it comes to covering food safety-related issues and what implications does that have on consumers?

Sarah Muirhead covers the feed, food, pet and agricultural sectors for Feedstuffs. She has followed the Chinese food scare, the rise of the organic and natural industries, the labeling debate surrounding bovine somatotropin in milk and the food industry’s chase for consumer dollars, sometimes at the expense of the science, and what’s in the best interest of the rest of the food chain. Sarah has been covering the issues for Feedstuffs for 25 years. She graduated from the University of Illinois in Champaign, Ill.

To register for the Agribusiness Forum visit http://payment.nama.org/forum.htm.

The Agri-Business Educational Foundation (ABEF) is hosting a Casino Night during the Welcome Reception of the 2007 Agribusiness Forum, Tuesday, November 13 at 5:30 p.m. Proceeds from the Casino Night will benefit the ABEF in support of the NAMA Student Careers Program.

Every Forum attendee will receive a ticket that they can cash in for $5,000 in chips to try their luck at the tables. If attendees don’t do so well, a $20.00 donation to the ABEF at the Casino Cashier or one of the Roaming Cashiers will get them an additional $5,000 in chips.

At the end of the evening, attendees can cash in their chips and winners will be announced at the Wednesday luncheon session. First, second and third place prizes will be given. In addition, for every $1,000 in chips that an attendee turns in, their name will be entered into a drawing for a 2008 Agri-Marketing Conference registration.

To register for the Agribusiness Forum or just the Welcome Reception/ABEF Casino Night, visit http://payment.nama.org/forum.htm.

Join us in congratulating the honorees of this year’s NAMA Professional Development Awards of Excellence. The award recipients will be honored at a luncheon on Wednesday, November 14 at the 2007 Agribusiness Forum.

The Professional Development Awards of Excellence recognize NAMA members for achievement in the areas of Marketing Communications, Product/Species Management, Public Relations and Sales.

Join us at the Agribusiness Forum as we honor Pete Kovac, Nicholson Kovac, with the marketing communications honor; Greg Smith, Padilla Speer Beardsley, with the award of excellence in public relations; Klaas Okkinga, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, with the product/species managment honor; and Bill Heffron, recently retired from Bock & Associates, with the honors in sales.

The Awards luncheon will begin at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, November 14. To sign up for the Agribusiness Forum visit, http://payment.nama.org/forum.htm.

This year, around 1270 entries were received for the Best of NAMA competition. That is 200 more entries than last year’s competition!

The regional entry judging for Best of NAMA will take place November 12-13 in Kansas City. About 50 judges will take time out of their busy schedules to help with judging the entries. First and merit entries will be on display during the Welcome Reception/ABEF Casino Night of the 2007 Agribusiness Forum from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, November 13.

The regional first and merit winners are eligible to advance to the national judging in February and national winners will be announced at the Best of NAMA Awards Ceremony, which will kick-off the 2008 Agri-Marketing Conference, Leading the Charge, April 16-18 in Kansas City.

Watch for the number of entries per chapter in the next NAMA e-News.

To register for the Welcome Reception/ABEF Casino Night or the entire Agribusiness Forum visit http://payment.nama.org/forum.htm.

On October 23, 2007, Greg Twist, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Soybean and Corn Processing for Ag Processing, Inc. (AGP), spoke to the Midlands NAMA chapter about VISTIVE® low-linolenic soybeans.

AGP was one of the initial VISTIVE soybean processors to partner with Monsanto when the low-linolenic characteristic was introduced into the marketplace in 2005. The company has expanded to seven processing facilities from its initial two plants in the first year. The seventh plant was just added in 2007. “This could mean $25 to $30 or more per acre to the soybean farmer,” said Greg Twist. “We feel this is a win-win opportunity for Midwestern producers to earn a higher return on their soybean acres while providing consumers with healthier oil.”

The addition will allow even more Midwestern farmers an opportunity to earn a significant premium by growing the trait-enhanced soybeans. VISTIVE soybeans contain three percent linolenic acid as compared to the typical eight percent level found in traditional soybeans. VISTIVE low-linolenic soybean oil enables food companies such as the Kellogg Company, KFC Corporation, and Ventura Foods to reduce transfats in their products and frying oils.

As the American consumer is focusing on a healthier diet and with Government regulations focused on cutting fats from the American diet, VISTIVE low-linolenic soybeans are the first of many output traits being developed that can meet a consumer demand. Previous traits developed, like Roundup Ready, have focused on improving a grower’s operation. This focus on meeting a consumer demand will cause a shift in growers’ decision-making process.