Minnesota, U.S.A, — For more than three decades, Minnesota Farmfest has been a destination for thousands of local residents, regional farmers, top producers, academic leaders, politicians and agriculture organizations and associations. This year’s event kicks off Tuesday, August 7  at the Gilfillan Estate, seven miles southeast of Redwood Falls, Minnesota.

In addition to political forums, issues affecting farmers will also be debated. The first – Water Quality Initiatives – will be led by Linder Farm Network Farm Director Lynn Ketelsen on August 7  at 1:15pm. The panel includes top ag policy makers including Dave Frederickson, MN Commissioner of Agriculture; Kevin Paap, President, MN Farm Bureau;  Doug Peterson, President, MN Farmers Union; and Lawrence Sukalski, Chairman, MN Ag Water Resource Center.

“Once again, Kent Thiesse has done an incredible job at putting together our Minnesota Farmfest forums,” says Raymond Bianchi, vice president and group show director of IDEAg. “These forums offer attendees access to policymakers that need to hear from them. This year’s forum is one of our best.”

At 2:45pm on Tuesday, U.S. Senator Al Franken will open “The Renewable Fuel Standard: Fueling the Agriculture and Energy Industries.” The discussion will be led by panel members - Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy; Tim Rudnicki, Executive Director, MN Bio-Fuels Assn.; Brad Nelson, President, MN Ethanol Producers Assn.; Chad Willis, Chair, National Corn Growers Assn. Ethanol Committee; and Doug Peterson, President, MN Farmers Union.

On Wednesday, the afternoon panel will discuss Consumer Preferences: Future changes for the livestock industry and on Thursday, Innovation in Agriculture: Opportunities from the University will be the topic for Thursday’s program. For more information, log onto http://www.ideaggroup.com/farmfest. Registration is sponsored by NAPA Auto Parts.  Qualified attendees can register for free admission at www.IDEAgGroup.com/Farmfest.

In its third decade, the IDEAg Minnesota Farmfest continues to connect industry leading manufacturers/providers with decision making producers. It is a leading agricultural event, drawing attendees from around the region. Minnesota Farmfest is visited each year by more than 35,000 attendees with over 600 vendors.

The Minnesota Farmfest forums are developed by former University of Minnesotaeducator Kent Thiesse. Each year, thousands attend to hear from leaders in the field discussing topics on national and state agricultural policy issues affecting rural Minnesota.

Minnesota Farmfest is produced by IDEAg, a property of Cygnus Business Media. The company reaches millions of professionals annually. As one of America’s top business-to-business media companies, Cygnus is leading the way in providing targeted content to top decision-makers and organizations.

The company’s corporate initiatives and organizational architecture are built with one goal: fully engaging audiences in aviation, building & construction, public safety & security, and agriculture vertical markets, as well as diversified industries such as transportation, printing, accounting, and vending. Visit Cygnusb2b.com to learn more.

Image Courtesy of  Chapendra

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Since Japan saw March’s devastating earthquake hit, the island nation has been focusing on securing its energy supply with a focus on electric vehicles. With the Fukushima nuclear plant knocked out and many other plants affected by what has been called the worst earthquake in 300 years, widespread blackouts became common throughout the country. In response, off-the-grid electricity sources have become increasingly favored to prevent future failures.

According to the National Police Agency of Japan, the 8.9 Richter scale earthquake and tsunami that hit the Pacific coast of Tohoku severely affected five of the country’s top companies. Toyota Motor Corp., Sony Corp., Honda Motor Co.,  Nissan Motor Co. and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. were the top five which suffered setbacks.

Nissan, the creator of the all-electric Leaf, has taken action by developing a solar charging system which stores its power in the Leaf’s lithium-ion battery. The automaker has installed 488 solar panels so far at its Japan headquarters which will provide enough power for 1,800 Leafs for a year.

Nissan suspended its operations at six plants immediately following the earthquake. Due to damages and small fires which broke out at the Tochigi and Iwaki Plant, restorations took place lasting longer only at the Iwaki engine plant which was in the quake zone. Production restarted March 24 with almost 1,300 Infiniti models lost due to damages during the quake.

While the company’s shares lost 10.1% following the wake of the earthquake, it has regained strength in shares as well as in the development. In a joint venture with Sumitomo Corp, Nissan plans to reconstruct its electric car batteries when they are traded then resold as power storage units. Plans to implement this project are estimated to begin in 2016.

“These batteries can be useful as back-up power for homes when there’s an outage,” said Takashi Sakagami, head of the joint venture, 4R Energy Corp.

In addition to helping household energy security, a second life for old car batteries is also made possible. The batteries are high capacity and composed of various heavy, precious and rare metals which would be problematic to dispose.

Increasing technology of electric cars provides an advantage that is not only beneficial to the environment but also to Japan’s energy security. With electric vehicles, each household could potentially have its own mobile power source in the event of another disaster which disables access to mass produced power.

Big power consumers on the eastern side of the island are now required to cut power use by 15 percent and households have been directed to do the same.

Other automakers in Japan are developing their own methods of bringing energy security from the car to the home. Mitsubishi Motors is developing a portable converter which will allow electric vehicles to power household electronics. Toyota is developing batteries for direct home use to power a project known as the “Toyota Home.”

These model homes will manage power usage, tap into solar power and store excess power in the batteries for night-time use. It is estimated by Toyota’s project manager, Hiroshi Okajima, to be available by the end of 2013.

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