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 [email protected]

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.

The student NAMA chapter of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln invited Cornhusker NAMA members to campus on October 1, the night before the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources career fair. Chapter members were the experts that evening. They answered students’ questions and helped prepare them for the career fair. Students also got a chance to practice what they would say to prospective employers.

The format was a casual roundtable. The six professionals were joined by four students for 10 minutes at a time. The students met with all six professionals to get their perspective on various employment issues. They came away from the evening ready to tackle the
next day’s career fair!

New Member List:
Welcome our New Members for September:

AT LARGE
Jaki Welch

BADGER
Taylor Fritsch
Jordan Haelfrisch
Cheryl O’Brien
Jordan Riley

CAROLINAS/VIRGINIA
Jeffery Michel

CHICAGO
Andrea Bonney
Christopher Lehr
Nellie Mitchell

EASTERN
Alissa Smith
Sophie Winter

GATEWAY
Breeana DeVerger

IOWA
Jessica Moffitt
Julie Podey
Amanda Stumbo

NORTH CENTRAL
Doug Monson
Jenna Wegner

NORTHERN PRAIRIE
Roz Leighton
David Torgerson

OHIO
Gail Hettrick

ROCKY MOUNTAIN
Beka Gill
Elizabeth Qualizza

SOUTHEASTERN
Brent Stammen
Randi Walden

SOUTHWEST
Melanie Balinas

WESTERN PACIFIC
Denni Silveira