AgWired

Tell Us What You Think By Commenting

If you see anything on AgriMarketing Pros that stirs your emotions use the comment feature!

That means that you read a post and want to say something about it you just click on “Comments” at the bottom of the post and enter your thoughts. A little form pops up which you fill out and then you hit the submit button and you’re done. Simple.

Then your thoughts are there for other readers of the post to see and they can comment on your comment. It’s a great system!

Agribusiness News & Notes

Anderson Joins Valent U.S.A. Corporation’s Sales Team

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (March 31, 2005)- Valent U.S.A. Corporation is pleased to announce the addition of Brad Anderson to their Midwestern sales team. Anderson, a 20-year veteran of the agricultural industry, will serve as a sales representative for the state of Nebraska.

For more information contact Lauren T. Daniel, (901) 523-2000 or
Lori L. Theine, (847) 968-4719

A Gaggle Of Blags?

You know “blog” really isn’t a very pretty word. But what else are you going to call it? What if it’s an ag-related blog?

Would it be a “blag?” (Sent in by the oh so creative Steve Mays)

And would a bunch of blags be a blaggle?

Writing Our Way To Switzerland

Actually I hope we can eat some good cheese and chocolate and sample some great wines!

I’ll be in some excellent company on my trip this fall to the IFAJ Congress in Thun, Switzerland. At this point I know that John Walter, editor, Agriculture Online/Successful Farming, Mike Wilson, editor, Farm Futures, Kelly Schwalbe, BCS Communications and Greg Lamp, editor, The Corn And Soybean Digest will also be going.

I’ll be writing more about this trip as we get closer. It’s not until the end of August.

A New Angus At Hard Rock Cafe

I love beef and I love the idea of Certified Angus Beef at a rock and roll restaurant! My middle name begins with an “A.” It could stand for Angus. Can I have one free too? Please . . .

A NEW LEGEND IN BURGER HISTORY
Hard Rock Cafe Introduces New Legendary Burger Made with Certified Angus Beef®

Orlando, Fla., March 29, 2005 – Get ready AC/DC . . . there’s a new Angus in town! For more than 33 years, Hard Rock Cafe has been known for great American food and its unparalleled collection of memorabilia from the world’s greatest rock legends including Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, U2 and Nirvana. Today, Hard Rock Cafe announced the addition of the world’s next great icon – the Legendary Burger, the company’s tastiest burger yet, made with 10 ounces of Certified Angus Beef®, the world’s premium brand of fresh ground beef.

And

ANGUS EATS FREE!
Hard Rock Cafe Offers Complimentary New Legendary Burger To
Anyone Named Angus

Orlando, Fla., March 29, 2005 – Hard Rock Cafe is calling all those “branded” with the name Angus to try its new Legendary Burger, made with Certified Angus Beef®, for free! From April 3rd through April 4th, 2005, anyone with the name Angus, first, middle or last, is invited to stop by their local Hard Rock Cafe in the continental United States to enjoy the company’s most succulent burger yet . . . on the house.

For more information contact Crystal Meier at Certified Angus Beef.

Publication News & Notes

1. I got the following note from Robert Jan Fernhout, updating me on his re-location and new duties.

Dear Chuck,

Robert

You’ll have to contact Robert about his newsletter. It’s a great looking piece but I just couldn’t publish it here.

Commodity Group News & Notes

1. Shae Dodson, Communications Coordinator for R-CALF USA has been busy! I’ve received several releases announcing mtgs., fundraising results and more. Here’s excerpts from them. Please contact Shae for more information.

Billings, MT ~ Cattlemen who gathered at Northern Livestock Exchange in Minot, ND on February 25, 2005, raised $6,000 for R-CALF USA. Roger Sundsbak and Marilyn Hagen, owners and operators of Northern Livestock Exchange said, “We appreciate R-CALF USA for the work it is doing to support the ranches we do business with. We want to support the organization taking care of our customers.”

Fort Scott Livestock Market in Fort Scott, Kan., will host an informational meeting and fund-raiser for R-CALF USA and Kansas Cattlemen’s Association (KCA) on Tuesday, April 5. A dinner at 6:30 p.m. CST kicks off the event, followed by speakers from each organization and then a rollover calf auction.

Billings, MT ~ In an innovative way to integrate seedstock production sales into the fund-raising effort for R-CALF USA, the Lucky 7 Angus Ranch of Wyoming donated 10 percent of the proceeds from 10 bulls sold during its recent sale at Riverton Livestock Auction in Riverton, WY. The Jim Jensen Family, owners of Lucky 7 Angus, raised $4,535 in cash and memberships for R-CALF USA.

Billings, MT ~ Two sales held at Platte Valley Livestock in Gering, Nebraska on October 4, 2004, and February 28, 200,5 generated $5,500 for R-CALF USA. Jerry and Sally Weekes, owners/operators of the auction market said, “We believe the position that R-CALF USA has taken on critical issues in the cattle industry is right, and we’re happy to do what we can to help support the organization.”

2. From Lori McCubbins with Illinois Corn Growers Association:

March 29 – SPRING IS THE TIME TO TALK TRADE: Spring has arrived and so have Congressmen and Senators. Like a Robin they return to their Districts for Easter break. Spring is a time for new beginnings; so please take advantage of speaking with your representatives on Corn Grower issues while they are at home.

3. The Missouri Sheep Producers Executive Director, Doug Gehring sent this in:

(MARSHALL, Mo.)—Supporting the future of the Missouri sheep industry is a key strategy for the Missouri Sheep Producers (MSP) organization. Offering four $750 scholarships to current and former 4-H and FFA members involved in the sheep industry is one way the organization accomplishes this strategy.

For more information about the Missouri Sheep Producers Scholarship, please contact Sarah Shultz at 573-522-9213.

Agricultural Relations Council Stirring Up Interest

If you’re involved in agricultural public relations you’ve heard of ARC, the Agricultural Relations Council. I just received this note from Jeri Omernik with an announcement of ARC activities prior to the upcoming NAMA Conference in Phoenix.

Hi Chuck:

Best,
Jeri

ARC Spring Fling

April 19, 2005 • Phoenix

Ready for some fun in the sun? Join your ARC colleagues in Phoenix for a power-packed day of professional development and networking. The program will include a presentation on the growing “agritainment” segment along with sessions on land use and water resources in the parched Southwest. You’ll also learn about all the changes that now make earning your APR accreditation more accessible. Mark your calendar now to be at the Hyatt Regency Civic Center in Phoenix April 19, immediately preceding the Agri-Marketing Conference and Trade Show!

Program
April 19, 2005 (preceding the 2005 Agri-Marketing Conference and Trade Show)
Hyatt Regency Phoenix

9:00 a.m. Registration
9:45 a.m. Welcome and Introductions, Jeri Omernik and Carroll Merry
10:00 a.m. That’s AgriTainment!, Carrie Schnepf, Schnepf Farms
11:00 a.m. Managing Water in a 9-Year Drought, Herb Guenther, Director, Arizona Department of Water Resources
Noon ARC Luncheon
1:00 p.m. Earning Your APR Through ARC, Everett Tacket, PRSA Chapter Accreditation Chair
2:30 p.m. Break
3:00 p.m. Land Use and Water Issues, Grady Gammage, Jr., partner at Gammage & Burnham
4:00 p.m ARC Business Meeting
5:30 p.m. “Waterin’ Hole Reception
7:00 p.m. Dinner on your own

To Register:

ARC Members $150 Before March 31 $200 After March 31
Non-Members* $420 Before March 31 $470 After March 31
* Includes one year of ARC membership.

Agricultural Relations Council
62768 N. Star Dr.
Montrose, CO 81401
Phone: 970-249-1465
Fax: 970-249-4385

Agribusiness News & Notes

1. Tamara Rozmarynowski sent in the following information from Wisconsin Public Service which you can link to:

The 45th Annual Wisconsin Public Service Farm Show

Wisconsin Public Service Enhances Web Site for Farm Customers

2. Novartis Animal Health News: ImmPact Guidelines for Vaccination and Beef Health Management Now Available

GREENSBORO, NC (March 28, 2005) – Keeping cattle healthy positively affects producers’ bottom lines. Knowing how to keep them healthy, however, isn’t always easy.

The ImmPact program includes vaccination recommendations, along with management practices, that can be utilized prior to when animals become increasingly susceptible to disease. To order the ImmPact program educational brochures, call
1-800-454-3424, ext. 358. Contact Joseph Burkett for more information.

Release submitted by Morgan & Myers, contact Tricia Falter.

3. Consistent Results a Select Sires Trademark

PLAIN CITY, Ohio, March 29, 2005 – Select Sires owns more Top-100 TPI high-reliability sires than any other A.I. company. Four of these bulls exceed 97% Rel. and each is a graduate of the Program for Genetic Advancement(TM) (PGA(TM)).

Also:

Fifteen Holsteins Newly Designated as “Excellent” at Select Sires

PLAIN CITY, Ohio, March 29, 2005 – A classifier from the Holstein Association USA officially designated 15 new bulls “Excellent” for conformation at Select Sires – seven of which received final scores of 90 points or more on their first score. Approximately 50 percent of Select’s active-A.I. lineup is now Excellent with 18 bulls scored higher than 93 points.

For more information contact Cathy Bewley or Beth Ertl

4. Beck’s receives initial license for Herculex™ Rootworm technologies

March 24, 2005 – Beck’s Hybrids of Atlanta, Indiana accepted an offer from
Dow AgroSciences LLC to be the initial licensee for Herculex™ RW Rootworm Protection and Herculex™ XTRA Insect Protection. Depending upon EPA registration, Herculex RW is expected to be launched for 2006 and Herculex XTRA launched for 2007. Beck’s is excited to offer these new combinations of top genetics and insect protection to their customers.

For more information contact Scott Beck.

Agency News & Notes

Latorra, Paul & McCann Bring Home Addy “Best of Show”

March 10, 2005 (Syracuse, NY) – The Syracuse Ad Club sung its praises for Latorra Paul & McCann (LP&M) at the 2005 ADDY® Awards for advertising creative excellence. LP&M received “Best of Show” for its Syracuse Opera Poster Campaign, rounding out its collection of seven silver and two gold ADDY® awards. Entries were judged based on artistry, originality and creative strategy.

Although their award wasn’t for an ag account the agency does handle several ag clients, including: Fort Dodge Animal Health, the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council. Contact Lorrell Walter for more information.

Overwhelming Response From Agrimarketing Professionals To AgriMarketing Pros!

I have to say I’m overwhelmed with the great feedback so many of you have offered to our blog dedicated to the profession of agrimarketing. I’ve received so many items and ideas that it will take me a while to get to them all but I promise I will. To start with I’ll try to post at least an excerpt and a link to most standard announcements. Then our readers can go there to get the “full story.” This will happen on a regular basis starting tonight.

The more intriguing and involved ideas, stories and articles might take a little more time to develop but nothing will be ignored. I encourage you to write about your ideas. Be creative. Editorialize. What do you like? What don’t you like?

Thank you for your words of encouragement and interest. We’ll try to maintain the high standards that all agrimarketing professionals should adhere to.

By the way, if you have criticisms please send them in too. We’re grownups. We can take it. I really believe that’s what helps us become better at our chosen profession.

New John Deere Book Available That Tells The Secrets

I’d like to thank Barry Nelson for being the first person to respond to our email notification about AgriMarketing Pros. Barry pointed me to the press/news center of the John Deere website for the latest information from Deere and Co.

The latest is about the release of a new book.

THE JOHN DEERE WAY: Performance that Endures by author and journalist David Magee (Wiley; April 2005; $24.95, Cloth) is the story of how Robert Lane and his management team have kept John Deere at the top of its game.

The book is available at Amazon.com: The John Deere Way

The book contains some of the “secrets” to the company’s success such as:

I will not put my name on a product that does not have in it the best that is in me.
If we don’t improve our products, others will make them in our place.
Always maintain integrity.
Concentrate on areas where you have a clear competitive advantage.
It is more important in business to listen than to lead.
It is more valuable to link than to leverage.
It is better to be lean than laden.
In a rigorously competitive market, virtue is necessary for sustained value creation.
It is important to build a business as great as your products.

Sounds like some great lessons for any business, including ours!

Why Does Keith Good Publish FARMPOLICY.com?

Our ZimmCast this week features fellow blogger Keith Good. Keith is the publisher of FARMPOLICY.com, one of the few blogs focusing on agriculture. Keith keeps an eye on the mainstream news and provides a concise summary of news that’s important to agriculture. You can listen to the interview here or subscribe to our podcast feed in the sidebar titled “ZimmCast.”

I spent quite a few hours this weekend working on the podcast file to make sure it functions properly. I use the latest version of iPodder which you can download for free. It’s a very simple little program which allows you to subscribe to a “feed” like the ZimmCast. Once you’ve subscribed just make sure your iPodder program is open while you’re online and it will search when you tell it for new programs (manually or at preset time intervals) . When it sees that a new program is available it downloads it to your computer where you tell it to.

I have mine set to download my subscriptions to a file that syncs to my Dell Axim pda. Then I can listen to those files anytime I want! It’s just like radio except I listen when I want to or when I can!

You don’t have to sync it to any device if you don’t want. You can just listen to the downloaded file on your computer too.

Hope you enjoy our ZimmCast this week. Gotta get Cindy into the act. She sounds so much better than I do. But you can listen to her in some of the other audio files available now in our sidebar titled “Audio Programming.”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Tell Us What You Want To See

We’d like to extend an invitation to submit articles, news releases, pictures and other announcements for possible publication on AgriMarketing Pros, your newest place to learn about what’s going on in the agri-marketing world. In fact, as far as we know it’s the only blog about our business.

We’re interested in what you’re interested in. Here’s some ideas:

New marketing campaign
Obtained a new client
Hired a new agency
Started a new publication
Doing something different
Changed your name
Gone on an adventure to a foreign country
Published a new book
Started a new website
Started a new business
Bought somebody
Been bought by somebody
Won any awards
Hired somebody
Fired somebody
Launched a new product
Started a new partnership
Rants and raves
Scheduled your next convention

You can use the old-fashioned mail system or fax machine or just put us in your address book to email us:

AgriMarketing Pros
1600 Skyview Dr.
Holts Summit, MO 65043
573-896-5842 (fax)
news@agrimarketingpros.com (preferred)

Even if you don’t have anything to submit don’t forget to bookmark us or subscribe to our site feed with your news reader (we like NewsGator).

Look up AgriMarketing Pros at our booth at the upcoming NAMA convention.

Corn Growers Looking For a Good Communicator

I don’t plan on making this a habit but because he’s a great guy and one of ZimmComm’s favorite people I’ll do it.

In fact, before I even get started you should know that you can find listings of agri-marketing jobs through NAMA‘s job bank. You have to be a member though!

The new Vice President of Marketing for the National Corn Growers Association is Fred Stemme. He just let me know about a communications position they have open so I thought I’d post the description here.

NCGA is looking for a candidate with the following qualifications: 2-3 years news writing experience, ag background, journalism or ag journalism degree (preferably), who is able to handle a heavy work load. This position is responsible for writing 1-3 daily news stories posted to our web site, our quarterly report, annual report, one-page newsletter that appears six times a year in Farm Futures magazine, presentations on NCGA activities and issues, among other assignments. Additionally, the successful candidate will know how to take photos, be able to travel to meetings as needed (our trade/show convention, Corn Congress in Washington, D.C., and special meetings), work closely with ag media on farm broadcasts and with national media by setting up interviews with our key grower spokespersons and writing letters/op eds.

For more information on the job, contact should be made to our HR department at hr@ncga.com

Maybe in their spare time this person could write some articles to post on AgriMarketing Pros!

Ag Meeting Schedule

There are a number of places you can go to find a listing of meetings that are important to the ag industry and there’s a lot of them, especially when it comes to state associations and state fairs. A good place to find them is in AgriMarketing Magazine where you can search them by type and date.

For our purposes I made up a quick list for planning purposes. They all have websites I’m sure but I didn’t have enough energy to link to all of them. Maybe when I’m just sitting around on a weekend with nothing to do?

We’re going to try to attend as many as we can and provide coverage right here on AgriMarketing Pros!

Meetings Schedule For The Serious Agri-Marketer

NAMA – Phoenix, AZ 4/20-22/2005
World Pork Congress – Washington, DC 4/27-30-2006
Washington Watch – Washington, DC 5/1-3/2005
NRECA Legis. Conference – Washington, DC 5/2-4/2005
World Pork Expo – Des Moines, IA 6/9-11/2005
BIO 2005 – Philadelphia, PA 6/19-22/2005
Intl. Fuel Ethanol Workshop – KC, MO 6/28-7/1/2005
Cattle Industry Summer Conf. – Denver, CO 7/26-30/2005
Ag Media Summit – Milwaukee, WI 7/31-8/3/2005
ACE Annual Mtg. – Omaha, NE 8/16-18/2005
Farm Progress Show – Decatur, IL 8/31-9/2/2005
IFAJ – Thun, Switzerland 8/31-9/4/2005
Husker Harvest Days – Grand Is., NE 9/13-15/2005
Feed Industry Expo – KC, MO 9/19-21/2005
World Dairy Expo – Madison, WI 10/4-8/2005
Sunbelt Ag Expo – Moultrie, GA 10/18-20/2005
American Meat Inst. – Intl. Conf. – Chicago, IL 10/26-29/2005
North American Livestock Expo – Louisville, KY 11/5-18/2005
Agritechnica – Hannover, Germ. 11/8-12/2005
NAFB – KC, MO 11/9-11/2005
National Agricultural Bankers – Omaha, NE 11/13-16/2005
National Western Stock Show – Denver, CO 1/8-23/2006
NCBA – Denver, CO 2/1-4/2006
World Ag Expo – Tulare, CA 2/14-16/2006
National Farm Machinery – Louisville, KY 2/15-18/2006
Commodity Classic – Anaheim, CA 3/2-4/2006
National Grain & Feed – San Diego, CA 3/30-4/1/2006

Great Article About Podcasts

Although it repeats some of the things that I’ve written before about podcasting I still recommend you look at this article written by Stephan Spencer for MarketingProfs.com and in their e-newsletter today.

I hope you’ve had a chance to listen to a ZimmCast, our version of the podcast which is available in the sidebar. We started the weekly interview program just a few weeks ago and already have several interviews scheduled in coming months that I think you’ll enjoy listening to.

I agree with one of the things Stephan says in his article and about how podcasting isn’t for everyone. To start with, it’s very much like deciding to start a new radio show. I can’t tell you how many times over the years someone would come to me with an idea for a “great” new program. Most never got started once the idea person realized the effort involved in making a good sounding product that someone will want to listen to.

I think this is one of the reasons why companies and agencies haven’t used audio with their news releases and targeted radio reporters. It’s not always easy sounding good but that’s what professionals like us here at ZimmComm are for! We take the effort out of it and make sure the product you send is broadcast quality and something reporters can use if they choose to.

The same holds true for podcasting. If your company or agency would like to start a regular podcast look to a company like ZimmComm to produce it for you! Feel free to comment or email me with questions.

Blog Search Engines

I just added some links to a number of blog search engines. You’ll find them in the Suggested Links sidebar.

These are some interesting ones you might want to look at if you’re trying to learn more about what blogging is all about.

Another reason to link there is that it improves the priority your blog receives when they crawl and search for you!

National Agriculture Day

It’s almost a too late to post this but I think it’s only right to honor the men and women farmers of America who provide such abundance!

National Agriculture Day is coordinated by the Agriculture Council of America and it kicks off National Ag Week.

We should all be grateful for our safe, abundant food supply.

Feedback From Reporters

I’m going to periodically post feedback we receive from reporters because I think it’s a good idea to see what reporters tell us regarding Talking News Releases. I plan to post the good and the bad without edits.

The reporter in this post was responding to an email request for feedback on a series of releases we sent over the last couple months for the Missouri Agricultural Statistics Service about their ARMS Survey. We really prefer not to send out requests because we know reporters hate taking the time to respond but we will do so and in this case we received more than the normal number of responses.

This post is from Bob Priddy, News Director for the Missourinet, a statewide news radio network, owned by Learfield Communications, where I used to work as manager of the Brownfield Network. Bob is a past president of the Radio, Television News Directors Association.

As you might recall from your days of living in the same room with us, the Missourinet is pretty cruel to people who offer canned tape. It’s easy to be cruel to strangers who call on the phone and offer comments from the head of the National Association of Left-handed Arc-Welders about the problems of the pasta manufacturing industry in an era of low-carb diets, especially since that person lives in New Hampshire.

Bob Priddy

Thanks Bob for your feedback. We fully intend to keep sending you our Talking News Releases for the benefit of our clients and as a service to reporters like yourself!