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Texas
Agriculture Archive
May 7, 2004
Texas Agriculture named NAMA finalist
Texas Farm Bureau's publication, Texas Agriculture, was among the national finalists named in the recent 2004 Best of NAMA Awards competition.
The TFB entry was a Region 2 Merit Award winner and competed in the National Agri-Business Marketing Association's Public Relations/Public Affairs/News Category (subcategory: Company & Association Newsletter Directed to Farmers, Ranchers & Growers).
The winner, Agriculture Business Review, produced in Alberta, Canada, communicates RBC Royal Bank's long-standing commitment to agriculture. The publication provides its readers with articles that deal directly with the challenges of managing a farm in today's competitive global environment.
Along with TFB's Texas Agriculture (in-house), regional winners and their publishers from across the country included the following:
John Deere (Osborn & Barr Communications); The ARM & HAMMER Animal Nutrition Group (Charleston Orwig Inc.); Syngenta Crop Protection (Gibbs & Soell Inc.); Valent U.S.A. Corporation (archer>malmo); Harris Moran Seed Company (Woodruff Communications); Michigan Farm Bureau (in-house); and Iowa Soybean Association (in-house).
Collegiate Discussion Meet winners named
This year's finalists were: Tyler Koch, Kilgore College; and Tavia Robertson and Sean Durham, both of Abilene Christian University. The winner, Jonathan Wilkerson, is also a student at ACU.
The annual Collegiate Discussion Meet Contest is an opportunity for college students majoring in agriculture to win a cash prize for themselves and their university.
Sponsored by the Texas Farm Bureau Young Farmer & Rancher Advisory Committee, this year's contest—the second of its kind—was held at the state headquarters in Waco.
College agriculture majors from several universities competed for cash prizes and the chance to compete in the National Contest which will be held in New Orleans, LA in February of 2005.
The winner of this contest receives a check for $1,000 and a traveling trophy. Each of three finalists receives a check for $200 and the university attended by the winner also receives a $500 check.
Texas Farm Bureau will sponsor all four finalists to compete in the national contest in New Orleans and will also invite these students to attend the TFB annual meeting in San Antonio in December.
Last year's Collegiate Discussion Meet winner, Carrie Watts, representing Abilene Christian University, was a finalist in the National Contest held in Salt Lake City this past February.
The Discussion Meet is a round-table discussion of four pre-selected agricultural topics. Contestants receive the topics well in advance of the contest so they are able to study and gather information. Texas Farm Bureau also sponsors a similar contest for professional agriculture producers who are no more than 35 years of age.
Carrie Watts, a student at ACU and winner of TFB's 2003 Collegiate Discussion Meet Contest, was a national finalist. Here, Jeffery Gatzke, AFBF YF&R Committee, presents Watts her award in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Cornyn receives rural water award
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has received the "Friend of Rural Water" award for his outstanding work to improve water resources in rural Texas areas.
Cornyn, a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, was presented with the award by the Texas Rural Water Association (TRWA).
"Water is an absolutely essential part of life and is often taken for granted—until it's gone," Sen. Cornyn said. "I'm honored to receive this recognition and will continue working hard to ensure that all people in Texas have access to a good quality and an adequate water supply."
Cornyn received the award for his work with the Environmental Protection Agency to allow the TRWA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to use funds through the Safe Drinking Water Act for quality sampling of the state's water systems.
The "Friend of Rural Water" award is given annually by the Texas Rural Water Association to someone who has demonstrated extraordinary work to further the cause of providing clean, safe, and plentiful water to rural areas in Texas.
A delegation of 28 members from 10 Texas rural water districts presented Cornyn with the award in his Washington, D.C. office.
Notable Quotables
—Scott McClellan, assistant to the president and press secretary, during a press briefing in response to a question regarding the preliminary WTO ruling on cotton subsidies.
