Those who know me, know how much I love to plan a party!  Since Bailey our Black Lab will turn one on February 8, it seems like a perfectly good reason to celebrate.

Honestly, I’m hoping that making a home-made canine cake will inspire my two kids to spend some “quality time” in the kitchen.  (At this point, I’ll use any reason to get them interested in food prep!)

I’ve been told that dog cake recipes are relatively simple, which makes them especially kid-friendly.  They usually don’t involve too many ingredients or complicated steps.  Batches are small, so baking times are minimal.  What’s most appealing to me is that it doesn’t matter what the finished product looks like – a dog will eat it any way.  Best of all, Bailey won’t care that I have yet to perfect my piping skills!

What’s your favorite way to spoil your pet on his or her birthday?  Do you have a favorite recipe you’d like to share with me for a dog cake?

Iowa farmers and those involved in the agriculture industry are invited to participate in a series of free, online training webinars sponsored by the National Corn Growers Association. The seminars are helping farmers learn how to best use social media to engage in conversations with consumers about modern agriculture practices, represent corn grower interests and counter misinformation being spread by some regarding agriculture practices.

“Consumers are turning to social media to learn about modern agriculture,” says Jay Lynch, an Iowa Corn Growers Association director and a farmer from Humboldt. “Not all of the information about agriculture that is being presented by the media or online to the public today is correct. However, by using the social media we in the Iowa agriculture industry can counter this misinformation by telling the real story behind how we raise the food that consumers eat.”

The next webinar will take place February 17 at 10:30 a.m., where leaders of the discussion will walk listeners through setting up social media profiles on various sites, and how to begin building a following – social media essentials to help the ag industry speak with consumers.

For a full list of social media trainings, visit http://www.ncga.com/socialmedia.

See Agovcates in Action

Troy and Stacy Hadrick are perhaps the strongest example of what farmers using social media can do to influence change. The Hadricks are ranchers from South Dakota who turned a media nightmare into a grassroots campaign to tell America’s agricultural story.

Troy and Stacy will share their story with farmers in Iowa in the month of February, when the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) and Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) Young Farmers Committee present “Advocates for Agriculture: Lead Out Loud.” The presentations will take place Monday, Feb. 7, at The Hotel at Kirkwood Center in Cedar Rapids, Tuesday, Feb. 8, at the FFA Enrichment Center DMACC Campus in Ankeny and on Wednesday, Feb. 9, at the Siebens Forum Buena Vista University in Storm Lake.

All sessions are free and will begin at 6:00 with a meal, followed by the program. Register a week in advance by contacting your county Farm Bureau office or by contacting ISA’s Katie Holtz at kholtz@iasoybeans.com or 515-669-7660.

Source: Iowa Soybean Association’s E-Gold Standard E-Newsletter Jan. 27 issue.

I continue to be amazed by the technology that is at our fingertips today – sharing video with family members by phone or video-conferencing meetings from miles apart. I’m amazed with the tools that have allowed agvocates in rural America to connect with consumers on a daily basis, using mobile Twitter while they care for their livestock or combine their crops.

And some of these tools, well, they’re also just plain fun! Yesterday I decided to test the capabilities of one such new technological device, the Vulkano, during a four-hour flight to an American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) board meeting. The Vulkano allows you to watch your home TV from anywhere in the world as long as you have Internet service.

The Vulkano device is hooked to your cable or satellite box, which then connects to the Internet through a wireless or wired hookup. The neat thing about it is that it gives you a remote control on your computer, so you can change the channels just as you would if you were sitting in front of the television.

So, on my flight, I simply opened my computer and tuned into our home television while I was 38,000 feet in the air and hundreds of miles away from home. Talk about impressive!

There was a downside, however. I couldn’t get the remote to work on my laptop. Since our kids had been watching Disney Channel’s “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody,” that was the only channel I could watch.  Although that particular show wouldn’t have been my first choice, the whole concept of watching my home TV still amazed me.

I’m amazed at what technology and gadgets the Vulkano allow us to do both in business and in our personal lives. Do you have a story of a cool new gadget you’ve tried out you would like to share?