I just recently spoke with the Ft. Worth Stock Show and found out that they don’t have internet access availability options for the media. However, they are very aware of the growing need for this and I’m betting it will become available next year. I’m just hoping for good AT&T coverage when I’m there week after next.
But it’s not just the media that venues and conferences should be thinking of. It’s the participants. Even cattlemen need internet access. They can use it in their booths, stalls, on their phones and it can be very helpful in keeping them connected and in running their farm.
At last week’s StollerUSA U.S. Ag Associates Conference they started an experiment in the use of a blog to help provide information and interaction with participants. They also made sure there was access as you can see from this photo they supplied me with.
I think all meeting planners should make internet access a standard item on the list.
Post Update: There is internet access on the site as was just pointed out to me but not available everywhere. I knew this but was told it was not available to the media.
Registration is open for the IFAJ Congress 2009. This is a “must-attend” event for anyone in agricultural communications. I don’t care if you’re a farm broadcaster, podcaster, editor, publisher, blogger or agriblogger. You need to be there.
It’s not just that there will be good professional development sessions although that’s reason enough. It’s also because this is your chance to interact with some great people from around the world who will be attending. Many of them will be coming to the United States for the first time. Let’s give them a fantastic welcome.
It’s the first time that the IFAJ Congress has been combined with an event like the Agricultural Media Summit and I think it’s going to go down as the best ever. There are a lot of people working to make it so. Maybe our new administration in DC will find a way to participate.
So get the dates on your calendar and get your registration in as soon as you can! You can keep up on what’s being planned either on the AMS website or at IFAJ2009.com.
I never have been able to work out a deal to blog the Chicago Farmers Farmland Investment Fair but I guess the idea got through to someone. Thanks to Rich Schell for the heads up.
Chicago Farmers Offering Seminar on Using Social Media Marketing to Grow Your Business at Farmland Investment Fair!
Jeff Korhan, green industry speaker, video blogger, Internet marketer, and the founder of True Nature will speak on Using Social Media Marketing to Grow Your Business at The Chicago Farmers Farmland Investment on Saturday February 7, 2009 in Joliet, Illinois
Jeff Martin, Chairman of the Event, commented today, “Jeff Korhan is one of the most exciting speakers around on how social media can be used to promote your business in the tough economy we are currently weathering.” Martin noted further that social media is so important for marketing efforts today that we have added a YouTube video on the Farmland Fair this year and we’re going to blog the fair as well.
I”m not sure how much ag news will be fed into USA.gov but they’re doing RSS feeds now powered by NewsGator. The release claims you can get a feed for Agriculture but it looks like it’s lumped in with Environment and Energy. However, you can find other specific agriculture feeds here.
The Federal government today announced the availability of breaking news and information RSS feeds on the award winning USA.gov website managed by the U.S. General Service Administration’s Office of Citizen Services. With a long history of providing electronic access to government information through the Web, the USA.gov site is delivering on a commitment to streamline and simplify access so that the public no longer has to scour a vast array of government sponsored websites to learn what is new in their areas of interest.
The new service (http://news.usa.gov/), powered by NewsGator, lets anyone subscribe to “really simple syndication” (RSS) feeds on USA.gov, the U.S. government’s official portal, and receive news and information in industry standard feed readers, many available for free, just as it is posted by editorial staff. Alternatively, web visitors can bookmark the Web site in their browser.
The South Dakota Beef Industry Council in a joint venture with the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative sponsored a major beef promotion in Washington D.C. at the NBC 4 Health & Fitness Expo in an effort to bring consumer attention to the health benefits of eating beef.
DuPont and Athenix announced they have entered into a research collaboration to improve insect control in corn and soybeans. Pioneer Hi-Bred will use proprietary insect-resistance trait genes from Athenix to develop and commercialize next-generation corn and soybean seed products.
Much has been made about our new President being so good at using today’s new media tools (blogging, Twitter, etc.) but how about our Pope? The Vatican has officially launched its own YouTube channel which you can find at: http://www.youtube.com/vatican. The channel is being offered in English, Spanish, Italian and German.
This channel offers news coverage of the main activities of the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI and of relevant Vatican events. It is updated daily. Video images are produced by Centro Televisio Vaticano (CTV), texts by Vatican Radio (RV) and CTV. This video-news presents the Catholic Churchs position regarding the principal issues of the world today. Links give access to the full and official texts of cited documents.
Now I know this isn’t about agriculture. However, besides being just plain cool I’m hoping this offers you some ideas when you’re planning your new communications strategies. Think about:
Commodity Classic Channel
New Holland Channel
Ethanol Channel (see Poettv)
Farm Progress Channel
Syngenta Channel
Eat More Beef Channel
I could go on and on. What companies are going to be leaders in using a resource in which reaches so many people around the world? Who’s going to be brave? I know many are putting video clips on their website in nice custom corporate design packages. But who sees them? How many times are they watched? How can anyone find them if they don’t visit the website first? Need help? You know who to call.
If you’ve got a channel already or are planning one please feel free to comment.
Dean needs more help. I think he’s too busy but up to the challenge at Broadhead+Co.
“We are committed to helping our clients navigate these challenging times, and interactive promises to be a key component in this strategy,” said Dean Broadhead, President and CEO. “Our new team members bring a depth of experience and will strengthen our agency’s ability to provide truly integrated communications.”
Rebecca White comes to the Minneapolis-based marketing communications agency after seven years as the Studio Manager at the United States Government Printing Office in Washington, DC. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she has over 18 years experience as an art director and designer and has worked on a wide variety of projects; retail broadcast, direct mail, point-of-sale, and product launches.
An honors graduate of the University of Minnesota, Elizabeth Page is an award-winning graphic designer who has worked for a variety of national and international clients in her career. A member of the American Institute for Graphic Artists, she has designed and produced dozens of web sites and integrated with Content Management Systems.
Rhonda Battina joins the Broadhead + Co account services team with over a dozen years of experience in the corporate and agency sector. She has managed numerous projects for a diverse client base that includes Pfizer Animal Health, Syngenta, Inspector General, Partnership for a Drug-Free America, and Target Corporation.
A recent graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead where she was captain of the women’s soccer team, Morgan Klinnert is a valuable addition to the interactive team at Broadhead + Co. She has extensive experience in desktop publishing and e-marketing.
Cindy noticed that our friend, David Buchholz, David and Associates, is doing a little South American blogging at Midwest Corn Growers, 2009 Study Tour to South America.
In this space we allow corn growers, media and others who are interested to learn what we’ve learned and experience a bit of what we experienced on a two-week study tour to Brazil and Argentina. The tour – from January 10 to 25, 2008 – covers a lot of ground, so this blog will, too.
Brazil and Argentina are important agriculture producers who complement and compete with producers in the United States. These countries are also major meat producers and play an important role in biofuels. By better understanding their operations, policies and future plans we will be better able to compete – and also work together on important issues.
You’ll find lots of pictures and some very in depth reporting of their activities. I think Dave is into it!
Post Update – from Cindy: I was actually alerted to the blog by Ken Colombini with the National Corn Growers Association who did a post about it on Corn Commentary yesterday.
After about 230 pictures here in Houston, I’m done. Of course that doesn’t count about 2 hours of video and audio that includes about a dozen interviews.
This afternoon it was the customer’s turn to see the show in the arena and then get to ride and drive these new utility tractors and Gators. The sun was shining and I think I probably should have put some lotion on. Tomorrow it’s time to head on home to ZimmComm World Headquarters.
During the day I had a chance to do some Tweeting, including posting to my 12Seconds.tv account from my iPhone:
You may have noticed the baseball-themed banner ad here on AgWired for Novus International and the International Poultry Expo, coming up next week in Atlanta. We are very pleased to have Novus sponsor our coverage of the IPE this year and Chuck recently got to chat with Novus director of product management Wendell Knehans about their plans for the event.
“We’re bringing an “all-star” theme to try and bring some of St. Louis to the show,” Wendell says. That will include giving away all-star tickets and having a special guest on hand at the booth – Baseball Hall of Famer Lou Brock.
The Novus all-star product line-up for poultry producers includes Advent, DHA Gold, Mintrex and Alimet – nutritional solutions that Wendell says “help producers be more economically efficient, driving toward better production costs in this tough time for the poultry industry.”
Listen to Chuck’s interview with Wendell here: slac-novus.mp3
I will be the official IPE blogger and will heading to Atlanta next Mondy to begin coverage on Tuesday with a technical presentation given by Novus’ Dr. Tara York on SANTOQUIN, Selenium and Vitamin E. Stay tuned!
The readers of No-Till Farmer magazine voted on the products that performed best in their no-till operations in 2008 – and the “No-Till Product of the Year” winner is – Headline fungicide from BASF.
No-till products in 11 specific categories were also selected as the best of their field for 2008. Each of the products and their manufacturers were honored during an awards ceremony last week at the 17th annual National No-Tillage Conference in Indianapolis. Other winners were:
No-Till Equipment: Early Riser Planters, Case IH
Planter/Drill Attachments: Martin Row Cleaners, Martin Industries
Strip-Till Equipment: Blu-Jet StripTill System, Thurston Manufacturing
Spray Equipment: AGCO Spra-Coupe 7000 Series, AGCO
Residue Management: The Spreader, The Spreader Inc.
Fertility: Agrotain, Agrotain International
Insect Protection: YieldGard VT Triple, Monsanto
Fungicides: Headline, BASF
Seed Treatment: Cruiser, Syngenta Seed Care
Precision Tools: RTK AutoSteer, AutoFarm
Weed Control: Roundup PowerMax, Monsanto
BASF and Monsanto Company have joined forces to accelerate the development of next-generation of dicamba-based weed control chemistry products. The partnership will be working to develop crops that are resistant to both Roundup® agricultural herbicides and dicamba to deliver significant on-farm benefits to growers.
According to Monsanto Global Chemistry lead Sean Gardner, “Combining a second type of herbicide resistance with Roundup Ready® technology would offer growers multiple tools for weed control through the use of Roundup®, dicamba, or combinations of both herbicides.”
Dicamba is a benzoic acid herbicide and BASF is currently the largest provider of dicamba and dicamba-based solutions.
Good morning from Texas. AT&T seems to have fixed their 3G problem and now I can “get out.”
This morning local area John Deere dealers got a presentation on the new line of utility tractors in a classroom style setting before heading out to ride and drive them before the general public gets here this afternoon.
I’ve already update the show photo album and am getting ready to shoot some video and interviews.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service plans to open a new Agriculture Quarantine and Inspection and Port Technology Methods Development Laboratory in South Miami, Fla., later this year. Scientists at this new facility will work to ensure that agriculture imports are free of invasive species.
The FDA announced it will make final the guidance describing a regulatory framework for governing genetically engineered animals. This system will ensure the products made available through this science will go through a rigorous and transparent review process before being approved for the marketplace.
Accelerated Genetics is pleased to announce a new product line called Essential Solutions. This product line will feature various products for organic fed cattle. The first product that is being released is a Direct Fed Microbial.
Just a few hours after Barack Obama took the oath of President of the United States, the U.S. Senate confirmed seven of his cabinet appointees, including Tom Vilsack as Secretary of Agriculture.
But, don’t look for an update on the USDA website just yet. Unlike the new whitehouse.gov website, which went live at 12:01 eastern yesterday, the USDA website has yet to be updated with the new secretary’s info. As of this morning, the Secretary pages on usda.gov are just blank. Could be because USDA offices were closed yesterday for the inauguration. First time I can recall there being four days in a row without an updated USDA newsline.
Everybody in agriculture seems happy about Secretary Vilsack – with the exception of mainly activists who are opposed to biotechnology. In case you don’t know his background, Vilsack was governor of Iowa from 1999-2007, during which time he chaired the Governors Ethanol Coalition, Governors Biotechnology Partnership, and the National Governors Association’s Natural Resources Committee, which handles agriculture and energy policies. He also owns a 600 acre farm in Iowa.
Now we will await the secretary’s new appointments for deputy and the various agencies within USDA.
It’s great to be out on location for the first time in 2009. The weather in Houston is beautiful so I’m sure John Deere is loving it. Tomorrow we’ll have a full day of activities at the Houston Farm and Ranch Club. It’s Drive Green time again.
This afternoon was all about setting up for the show tomorrow. I took some photos like this one and started the event interviews which you’ll find on the Drive Green Utility Tractor Show blog. Unfortunately I couldn’t get internet access to work there. Believe me, I tried. Even the AT&T signal for my air card is the “wrong one.” Don’t ask. It would take too long to explain. But I can still use my iPhone there so keep an eye on my Twitter feed tomorrow.
I got to associate with Jerry Stoller, CEO and President of Stoller Group, today at his 16th annual U. S. Ag Associates Conference in Houston, TX. I am on location with the John Deere Drive Green Utility Tractor Show but had time to stop by and speak to Jerry during their lunch break today. Patricia Lawson, Hondo Group, was kind enough to snap a picture of me interviewing Jerry with my iPhone.
Jerry says he’s been conducting this Conference for 16 years now after 7 people got together for the first one.
University professors, researchers, growers, crop consultants and Stoller Group representatives will join in an effort to learn from one another. With individuals from many different backgrounds contributing, results from various experiments and observations from the past year are presented at this technical meeting. Highlights of the conference include discussions on product development and strategies to increase crop yields. Some of the work presented is theoretical; however, most are practical studies that have been obtained through university research and field trials.
There are representatives attending this year’s Conference from 40 countries. Maybe it will need to be re-named with the word “International” after this! Jerry is also a blog fan. He says, “I think there’s tremendous potential using the internet, these blog sites, in order to teach.” You have to listen to this interview. He’s got some great anecdotes like an analogy of agriculture to a woman. It’s great. You can hear why he makes a good teacher.
You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 203 (12 min MP3)
Steve S. Myers, an 18-year veteran at Busey Ag Services, LeRoy, Il, has been named Farm Manager of the Year by the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers. The presentation was made during the ASFMRA Annual Meeting held in November in San Antonio.
Steve was raised on a grain and livestock farm in Western Illinois. His passion for agriculture led him to Illinois State University where he graduated with a degree in Agriculture Education. Upon his graduation in 1986, Steve began his career as a vocational education instructor at Blue Ridge High School in Farmer City, Ill. After a couple of years in education, Steve joined the ag retail industry when he became a Crops Specialist and Plant Manager for McLean County Service Company in Bellflower, Ill. In 1990, Steve joined what was then Busey Bank as a professional farm manager. He currently manages more than 15,000 acres for 66 clients. In addition to professional farm management, Myers is a licensed real estate broker and certified crop advisor.
Four leading chefs from around the country have developed tasty, new almond snacks in response to the Almond Board of California’s “Ultimate Snack Off Recipe Contest.” By March 13, fans are encouraged to vote for their favorite almond recipe and to be entered in the Grand Prize College Basketball Package sweepstakes, valued at $8,500.
Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc., announces that it has an adequate supply of its Ingelvac CircoFLEX vaccine to meet the needs of swine producers and veterinarians who want to vaccinate pigs against porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2).
Stewart-Peterson is offering a series of interactive workshops for farm families to learn how to navigate the current volatile commodity markets. Workshops will be held at the Riverland Energy Cooperative community room in Arcadia, Wisc., 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 5 and Feb. 17, 2009.
My main man, Steve Mays, the Obamanator, is on the ground in Washington, DC to attend today’s inauguration. I realize he’s not looking for the agricultural angle but he’s blogging it and tweeting it, using Flickr and even some video. I’d rather watch his coverage than any of the network blather. We may be miles apart politically but he does a good job and gets the new media thing better than most.
I’m not sure where I’ll be at actual inauguration time. Heck, I’ve got to look up what time it is. I haven’t really been that interested. However, I did download the new Ustream.tv app to my iPhone and it works great here at KCI Airport wifi. It requires a wifi connection but allows you to watch live streaming video like Agwired Live TV! They’re supposed to have a live feed from the event. You can already watch some live webcam video from the area.
Just think of the possibilities for events of your own!
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
David conducted a presentation on delivering expert opinion via social media to an audience at the start of International Poultry Expo week. He's got some great information about who consumers trust and how you can use today's consumer behavior to help communicate your message.
I just recently spoke with the Ft. Worth Stock Show and found out that they don’t have internet access availability options for the media. However, they are very aware of the growing need for this and I’m betting it will become available next year. I’m just hoping for good AT&T coverage when I’m there week after next. 
I never have been able to work out a deal to blog the Chicago Farmers Farmland Investment Fair but I guess the idea got through to someone. Thanks to 
I”m not sure how much ag news will be fed into USA.gov but they’re doing 
Much has been made about 
Dean needs more help. I think he’s too busy but up to the challenge at 
After about 230 pictures here in Houston, I’m done. Of course that doesn’t count about 2 hours of video and audio that includes about a dozen interviews.
You may have noticed the baseball-themed banner ad here on AgWired for 
The readers of 
Good morning from Texas. AT&T seems to have fixed their 3G problem and now I can “get out.”
Just a few hours after Barack Obama took the oath of President of the United States, the U.S. Senate confirmed seven of his cabinet appointees, including Tom Vilsack as Secretary of Agriculture. 
It’s great to be out on location for the first time in 2009. The weather in Houston is beautiful so I’m sure John Deere is loving it. Tomorrow we’ll have a full day of activities at the Houston Farm and Ranch Club. It’s Drive Green time again.
I got to associate with Jerry Stoller, CEO and President of 
Jerry says he’s been conducting this Conference for 16 years now after 7 people got together for the first one.
Steve S. Myers, an 18-year veteran at Busey Ag Services, LeRoy, Il, has been named Farm Manager of the Year by the 
My main man, 
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
