A crowd of more than 1,000 people packed the Orr Building in August on Ag Day at the Illinois State Fairgrounds to celebrate Illinois' number one industry. The morning started off with a breakfast, featuring the dedication of the Illinois Department of Agriculture administration building as the John R. Block Building. Illinois HB 5540, sponsored by State Senator Darin LaHood and State Representative Don Moffitt, named the administration building after John Rusling Block, the only Illinois agriculture director to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. John Block said he was both “excited and humbled” that the Illinois Department of Agriculture building now bears his name.

Farm Director Joe Gill (KASM, 1150 AM, Albany, MN) broadcast “live” from the Minnesota State Fair this year at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. He spoke with Minnesota Ag Commissioner Dave Frederickson. “We spoke about many issues including a recent trade trip to Mexico, Avian Influenza, pollinators and more,” Joe said. 

For NAFB President Susan Littlefield, it's been a busy summer and early fall. “From watching three kids show livestock at the county fair to finishing up the season at the Nebraska State Fair, it’s been packed with family memories,” Susan said. “All three kids show sheep and my son, Paul, shows hogs as well,” she explained. “I got the chance to announce again this year at the Nebraska State Fair for the 4-H and FFA sheep and goat shows. The FFA Sheep Staff took it a step further, and we are starting to use #TeamSheep with the hopes of over the year promoting the show for FFA members.” (Susan is shown here with TeamSheep composed of Nebraska FFA Advisors who run the sheep show at the state fair.) New this year, the state fair added the Open Class Sheep Show announcing to Susan’s calendar. “It was great to be able to congratulate so many of my friends as they showed. At one point I would announce a class and run across the show ring to grab a sheep, show it, then announce the class winners and next class and grab another sheep!” 

The @AgriBlogger and @FarmPodcaster (aka Chuck and Cindy Zimmerman) had the opportunity to visit Expo Milano 2015 in Italy during September with New Holland Agriculture and farmers and ag journalists from around the world. The Expo is the current version of the World’s Fair. This was Chuck’s third visit as part of the New Holland Expo sponsorship. The New Holland “Heroes and Bloggers Days” included nine of the ten farmers chosen by the company to represent agriculture in their “Seeds of Life” series display at the Sustainable Farm Pavilion at the expo. The farmers came from Brazil, Canada, England, France, Germany, Russia, and South Africa – with two from Italy.

The Oklahoma Wheat Commission teamed with OETA-TV (Oklahoma Educational Television Authority) to produce a 30-minute TV show, The Truth About Wheat. Ken Root (Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network, Dyersville, IA) was contacted by the Oklahoma Wheat Commission and Jim Reese, Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture to serve as moderator for the informational broadcast.