Earlier this month, the Idaho Bankers Association (IBA) held its 2012 Agricultural Bankers Education Conference. IBA President/CEO Dawn Justice said that it's challenging to draw an overall conclusion from the conference about how agriculture will intersect with the overall economy in the near future. "There are a lot of things happening [in the global economy] and 'uncertainty' is still the watch word," said Justice. "There are a lot of 'What if?' scenarios." Justice emphasized that it's important for every farmer to keep up with what's happening in the global market. "That impacts everything. Farmers have to be more sophisticated -- there's a whole lot more to consider than what they had to in the past."

Debbie Lyons-Blythe, White City, Kansas, is Monsanto’s America’s Farmers Mom of the Year 2012. Lyons-Blythe was nominated by her children (Meghan, Allie, Trenton, Tyler and Eric), and also by her aunt, Mary Ferguson, who she describes as “more of a friend than an aunt.” Both nominations summarized in 300 words what makes Lyons-Blythe so special to her family, farm, community and the agricultural industry.

Hypertherm, a U.S.-based manufacturer of advanced cutting systems, announced the availability of Duramax retrofit torches for five more plasma cutting systems: the Powermax600, Powermax800, Powermax900, MAX42 and MAX43.Patented technology, such as a conical flow nozzle and spring electrode, in the Duramax series of torches, provide more reliable arc starting and enable consumables to last up to six times longer than in the original plasma cutting system torches.

The 2012 Idaho Cattle Association (ICA) Mid Year Conference will be held June 19-20 in Twin Falls, Idaho.