Kick-off the 2006 Agribusiness Forum on November 14 with Jim Wiesemeyer, Informa Economics, for Global Forces Shaping Agriculture at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Kansas City.

The rapid emergence of the bio fuels industry has shifted production emphasis from food and feed to fuel. Global economic pressures are impacting where and how products are grown. And, consumer trends further compound this very complicated picture. Wiesemeyer will set the stage for our look at the Global Forces Shaping Agriculture as he explains the interaction of these global forces and Washington’s reaction. Wiesemeyer will also give attendees a fresh peek at how the election results will impact agriculture.

From his office in Washington, DC, Jim Wiesemeyer contributes daily to Informa Economics’ Morning Comments report, providing clients with the latest information on agricultural policy and trade developments. Since 1978, Wiesemeyer has frequently reported on and interviewed senior government officials, including Presidents Reagan and Carter, as well as several USDA Secretaries; he has traveled extensively in his assignments and is a frequent speaker on farm policy and trade issues.

Prior to joining Informa Economics, Wiesemeyer most recently was the Washington editor and bureau chief for ProFarmer, Inc. where he still contributes a daily analysis and commentary on policy and trade developments in his column Inside Washington Today. Also while at ProFarmer, he was the Washington editor for Oster Communication’s ProFarmer newsletter and Futures magazine. Wiesemeyer also was the Washington bureau chief for Futures World News (FWN), formerly owned by Oster. Prior to ProFarmer, he was a Washington editor with Doane’s Agricultural Report and Washington editor and managing editor of the Washington Farmletter. Wiesemeyer received his Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Southern Illinois University.

Informa Economics, Inc. (formerly known as Sparks Companies, Inc.) is a world leader in broad-based agricultural and commodity market research, analysis and consulting. Informa Economics, Inc. serves hundreds of firms and institutions worldwide from their headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee.

Don’t forget to register for the the 2006 Agribusiness Forum, November 14-15, in Kansas City.

Join us as we hear from noted economists, innovative producers, consumer food marketers, commodity leaders as well as bio-fuels experts, as they set the stage for how your business will add value to this evolving system now and in the future.

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

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

We look forward to seeing you in Kansas City at the 2006 Agribusiness Forum!

MoKan NAMA will be hosting a chapter meeting just prior to the start of the 2006 Agribusiness Forum, Tuesday, November 14 on the upper tier of Union Station in Kansas City.

The meeting will begin with a buffet luncheon at 11:00 a.m. followed by speaker, Bill Horan, a producer from Iowa and board member for Truth About Trade and Technology. Horan will speak about Biotechnology, in particular, crops engineered to produce pharmaceutical and industrial compounds.

Cost for the MoKan meeting is $15 for members (including other NAMA chapters); $30 for Non-Members; and first time guests are free.

Union Station is connected to the Hyatt Regency Crown Center via skywalk making it convenient for you to attend the MoKan meeting and the Agribusiness Forum.

If you would like to attend the MoKan NAMA meeting, please RSVP by Friday, November 10 to Melanie Acklin at [email protected].

If you are interested in attending the Agribusiness Forum, register now at http://nama.org/forum/register.htm.

The Agri-Business Educational Foundation (ABEF) will be hosting a Casino Night during the Welcome Reception of the 2006 Agribusiness Forum, Tuesday, November 14 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 2007 Agri-Marketing Conference & Trade Show registration.

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 15 at the 2006 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 Steve Engle, Woodruff Sweitzer with the marketing communications honor; Barry Nelson, John Deere, with the award of excellence in public relations; and Anita Vanderwert, Brownfield Network with the honors in sales.

The Awards luncheon will begin at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, November 15. To sign up for the luncheon or the entire Agribusiness Forum visit, http://nama.org/forum/register.htm.

Join Sano Shimoda, BioScience Securities, for The Final Frontier: Where Are We Headed on November 15 at the 2006 Agribusiness Forum at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Kansas City. Shimoda will provide his “crystal ball” look at the forces reshaping agriculture.

The economic potential derived from BioInnovation at the plant/agriculture interface has dramatically expanded in response to growing recognition of new developing BioBased solutions to meet three growing, major, long-term challenges facing the global economy.

(1)Energy/Raw Materials – The global outlook for cost competitive renewable BioBased fuels and raw materials has dramatically expanded with the escalating ramp-up in hydrocarbon values, tied to structural changes in the global supply/demand for crude oil, combined with growing national security of supply concerns. While the economics of both BioEthanol and BioDiesel are being subsidized globally, the real challenge is to reduce costs and create market based economics.

(2)Industrial/Environmental – Demand for economically justifiable, renewable, BioBased products is expected to grow due to corporate, governmental, and public concerns over the direct and indirect costs of environmental degradation of natural resource development, combined with the escalating costs of conventional industrial processes and products.

(3)Nutrition/Health – Escalating demand for nutrition-enhanced foods, as well as the potential to enhance nutritional components, are expected to dramatically expand in response to growing consumer demand; a transformation in health care mindsets; and business models that focus on preventative health care and insurance-based incentive systems.

In addition, there is the potential for pharmaceutical companies to place renewed emphasis on the development and marketing of science-based nutritional products that integrate into “wellness solutions.” This expected broadening focus is partially a response to the continued deterioration in conventional pharmaceutical R&D productivity, government pressures on pharmaceutical pricing, as well as growing global generic competition. More importantly, the key driver will be growth opportunities to market complete “Wellness Systems” (preventative health products, including nutritionals, and conventional pharmaceuticals) to the health care system, as well as respond to growing consumer awareness of the validity of preventative health solutions.

The ability of biotechnology-driven, renewable, plant-based solutions to meet these growing global strategic challenges will catalyze growing market acceptance for the use of a wide range of biotechnologies and related technologies to enhance plants and agricultural crops. In addition, it is likely that technology adoption over the next 5-10 years will accelerate in response to growing consumer and government acceptance, reflecting the demonstration of real tangible benefits. Governments are expected to be a major driving force, due to the expected positive impact on national economic/social/consumer priorities, as well as enhanced global competitive position.

BioScience Securities is a strategic corporate advisory and investment-banking firm founded in 1994 to focus solely on the companies and industry sectors that are on the front line of the biotechnology revolution applied to plants/agricultural crops, on a very broad basis, as we move towards a BioEconomy. A highly focused, knowledge-driven firm, BioScience Securities singular concentration stems from the belief that a wide range of industries will form new corporate relationships with agriculture via technological, product, and market-driven linkages.

Sano M. Shimoda, President and Founder of BioScience Securities, has over 30 years of experience on Wall Street, as an analyst and investment banker, specializing in the agricultural biotechnology, agricultural chemical, agriculture, and basic chemical industries.  An equity analyst by training, Mr. Shimoda followed the ag chemical and chemical industries at Banker’s Trust, The First Boston Corporation, and Anantha Raman & Company, and the agricultural biotechnology and environmental services industries at Montgomery Securities.

Mr. Shimoda co-founded Anantha Raman & Company, Inc., a brokerage, institutional research, and investment banking firm in New Jersey in the mid-1980’s that specialized in the agricultural chemical and chemical industries.

Sano earned an M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and B.S. in Business Administration (magna cum laude) from Lehigh University.

If you would like to attend the Agribusiness Forum, register on-line now at http://nama.org/forum/register.htm. 

For more information on the Forum sessions and our speakers, visit, http://nama.org/forum/index.html.

The Agribusiness Forum is pleased to have Mike Adams, host of AgriTalk as the moderator of a panel discussion on Bio Fuels – Pressures Fueling the Ag Industry. This session will take place at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, November 15 and will be broadcast live on AgriTalk from 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

Energy prices have certainly been center stage during the recent past. The push to redirect corn and soybeans into the fuel industry has raised questions about the long term viability of satisfying the needs for food, feed and fuel. A panel of industry experts will help us understand the pressures emerging within agriculture and what might lie ahead for bio-based fuels. Panel members will include: Rick Tolman, CEO, National Corn Growers Assn.; Neil Dierks, National Pork Producers Council; and Kendell Keith, President, National Feed & Grain Association.

If you are unable to make it to the Agribusiness Forum, tune into AgriTalk on your local radio network or listen on-line at www.agritalk.com and click on the “Listen to AgriTalk Live” button on the right side of the screen.

If you would like to attend the Agribusiness Forum, register on-line now at http://nama.org/forum/register.htm. 

For more information on the Forum sessions and our speakers, visit, http://nama.org/forum/index.html.