If you’re trying to reach the rural lifestyle market, the Country Living Association has your Country Connection.
Country Living Association (CLA) now offers a low-cost way for companies and organizations to assist local dealers and representatives in order to reach the rural lifestyle audience. Research continues to show that members of this audience want specific, local information, and if local representatives can provide this information they will remain in the “inner circle” of that particular customer’s decision making process.
CLA will be hosting a webinar on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009, 2:00 p.m. CST to demonstrate the new “Country Connections” program. Contact Courtney Yuskis at 636-449-5088 or yuskis@drakeco.com to reserve a spot. Space is limited to the first 10 organizations to respond.
“Country Connections” is affordable and effective. The program combines monthly e-mails and direct mail pieces to help local dealers and representatives promote events, special offers and promotions, pricing incentives and more to Country Living Association members in their area.
Thanks to on-the-scene-reporter Greg Lamp, Corn & Soybean Digest, I’ve got some information to share from Green Week and the IFAJ meeting taking place in Berlin. Here’s Greg’s report, along with photos. This one is of Mariann Fisher Boel (EU Commission of Agriculture), Michael Mann (seated) and Mike Wilson, Farm Futures.
Nearly 1,000 journalists began their reporting today at Messe Berlin, billed as one of the largest consumer food shows in the world. It is also part of what the Germans call Green Week.
As part of that event, the International Federation of Ag Journalists (IFAJ) assembled their executive committee to hammer out objectives for the coming year.
Fortunately, the EU Commissioner of Agriculture, Mariann Fischer Boel, was able to meet with the IFAJ group for a special Q&A session. Although many of the questions revolved around a change in a European dairy policy, she did comment on biotechnology issues.
When asked about the zero tolerance rules for genetically modified (GM) crops, she said she has “launched a discussion to have an adventitious presence,” or minimum acceptable threshold level. Right now, she says, “Zero tolerance means zero, not even .0001%. We don’t want GM food causing damage to humans, but GM is here and here to stay. We can’t do without them.”
The dilemma, however, according to Ilse Aigner, German Minister of Agriculture, is that “Consumers don’t want biotech in their foods, but we also don’t want our farmers to lose out on the technology.”
Post Update: Janet Kanters has provided an update too, via her Facebook page and with permission to post here:
Greetings from the IFAJ executive committee to IFAJ members.
We are currently meeting in Berlin, during International Green Week. For those of you not familiar with this event, the International Green Week (IGW) is a one-of-a-kind international exhibition for the food, agricultural and horticultural industries. Established in 1926, it invites producers from all over the world to test-market food and luxury items and establish a brand image. Exhibitors often organize around national, regional or product themes. Presentations feature fresh produce, fish, meats and dairy products. These combine with a vast selection of international wine, beer and spirits specialties, to satisfy every culinary palate. Right in line with consumer trends, the IGW also includes direct agricultural sales and the BIO MARKT organic products section. The IGW also features commercial and non-commercial agricultural, forestry, and landscaping exhibits.
The IFAJ executive committee has a full schedule while here, meeting in the various sub-committees, providing feedback and ideas for the ongoing IFAJ website development, and connecting with journalists from around the globe.
The 28th National Beef Cook-Off will come to California in late September. Home cooks nationwide, and local professional restaurant chefs working in the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento metropolitan area counties are encouraged to enter their original, newly developed best beef recipes by March 31, 2009.
Neogen Corporation has received approval from the FDA and National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments for its quick and easy BetaStar US test for dairy antibiotics in milk.
Visit Bvents.com, a new business events directory that lists almost 50,000 conferences, trade shows and conventions – worldwide.
AutoFarm is introducing a new electro-mechanical GPS assisted steering system. The AutoFarm OnTrac2 will debut at World Ag Expo, National Farm Machinery Show and the Canadian Int’l Farm Show.
You remember the Rock and Roll Buffalo? Well now Machinery Link has the Renegade Combine. Here’s a first look at what they’ve done, working with the Chrome Shop Mafia.
MachineryLink, Inc., the leading provider of combine leasing programs to agricultural producers in North America, today announced a collaboration with the Chrome Shop Mafia for the creation of the world’s first custom-restored antique combine for the 2009 Smarter Harvest Tour.
The unprecedented alliance between MachineryLink and the Chrome Shop Mafia (CSM) will produce a dynamic one-of-a-kind machine, combining a vintage heritage with modernized state-of-the-art technology and communication equipment, and finished with the external appearance package that could only be accomplished by the CSM team.
The 2009 Smarter Harvest Tour will launch at the KNID Agrifest in Enid, Oklahoma. Held January 9 and 10 at the Chisholm Trail Expo Center, Agrifest is the fastest growing agricultural show in Oklahoma. The Tour will make a total of 8 agricultural trade shows in seven states and Western Canada, as well as many regional promotional events.
To encourage and support higher education for relatives of FCS Financial members, FCS Financial will again offer up to 35 scholarships valued at $1,000 each. The scholarship deadline is March 1. Apply here.
This summer, FMC Corporation and Crop Production Services sponsored the 2008 Bin Buster tour across the Midwest, hosting technical meetings where crop producers could enjoy a free meal, learn about FMC products such as Hero insecticide, and register to win a new 15,000 BTU Charmglow gas grill.
Members of the American Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee elected Mathew Meals as the committee’s chairperson for 2009. He will take over as chair in February, at the end of the committee’s leadership conference, and serve one year.
Daniel Prough of LaGrange, Ind., earned the grand prize in the Farmer Idea Exchange competition at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 90th annual meeting. Prough won a year’s use of a New Holland TV-145 bidirectional tractor.
What’s new in used farm equipment can be found on the redesigned John Deere MachineFinder. They’ve also announced a blog to go along with it. Interesting . . .
John Deere announces that it has completely overhauled and redesigned its MachineFinder™ website (www.MachineFinder.com) from the ground up to make it easier for used equipment customers to more quickly find the equipment they’re looking for and to improve the user experience.
The revamped MachineFinder used equipment website features an enhanced search and browsing system, built-in shipping integration, and the ability to save searches. The changes to the website makes it easier than ever for customers to find and review pre-owned agricultural, construction, forestry, commercial, and residential equipment from the company’s network of authorized dealers.
“MachineFinder not only provides improved user interfaces, but new functionality that will better assist customers in acquiring used equipment from John Deere dealers,” says Michael Gause, division manager of John Deere Remarketing Services. “Our project team’s goal was to design MachineFinder so that our customers could conduct business with John Deere dealers as easily as possible.” (more…)
Hey farm podcasters. Have you been wanting a new digital audio recorder? Marantz is offering some temptations. First of all there’s a rebate program for the very popular PMD620 (Cindy and I each have one). If you purchase it between now and March 31st you get a $100 rebate. That’s a deal. I recommend purchasing from BSW.
Then to tempt you further there’s the new PMD661:
Introducing your new product on YouTube. What a concept.
Let’s hope we see continued commitment to rural development in the new administration in Washington, DC. The outgoing one has sure done a lot in this area, especially to develop broadband which is providing new opportunities in our rural and farm communities.
Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer announced today that Open Range Communications has finalized a $267 million loan agreement with USDA Rural Development to provide broadband service to 518 rural communities in 17 states.
“The completed agreement brings millions of rural Americans closer to having access to broadband and other cutting-edge communications technologies,” Schafer said. “This kind of high-speed internet connectivity will lead to increased investment and business opportunities in rural communities.”
The loan closing executes an agreement USDA Rural Development announced on March 25, 2008, when it approved a $267 million loan to Open Range. In addition to the USDA Rural Development loan, Open Range has secured $100 million in financing from One Equity Partners, the private equity arm of JPMorgan Chase & Co.
The topic of the St. Louis Agribusiness Club lunch was “Policy Outlook for Agriculture as the Political Dynamics Begin to Change.” I think the political dynamics have already changed don’t you?
Giving us his take on this was Thomas J. Erickson, Vice President, Government Affairs, Bunge North America. He says that since the incoming administration seems to have a lot of public support it will be interesting to see how elected leaders and others interact with it. So developing relationships will be a big part of the initial activity we’ll see. He’s also looking to the upcoming USDA Planting Intentions Report to provide an important signal about American agriculture that will be looked at very closely in Washington.
I wonder when our first interaction with the new administration will be. I sent an email to the transition team last week suggesting that they convert the presidential limo to run on ethanol but haven’t heard anything back on that yet.
Here’s a good example of the use of a webinar by the Plant Management Network. It looks like it was put together with Articulate.
PMN recently hosted a live webcast demonstrating its informational resources and how to use them. Specifically, it showed how agricultural practitioners may use PMN’s various tools in their daily work. The webcast was presented by Howard Brown, current chair of the International Certified Crop Adviser Board, and Phil Bogdan, PMN communications manager. While oriented to consultants, the talk provides a quick backgrounder of use to anyone interested in science-based agricultural management information. The webcast is titled An Online Resource to Support Agricultural Practitioners and has been archived for further viewing, sound required.
Pioneer Hi-Bred is releasing 96 new Pioneer brand corn products to growers across North America for the 2009 planting season. This new advancement class includes 39 new genetic platforms providing improved genetic gain across all maturities.
The National Biodiesel Board announced Jessica Robinson has been named Senior Communications Specialist to enhance the organization’s communications efforts in promoting the widespread benefits of biodiesel.
Brownfield Ag News radio network announces the addition of radio station KQMQ-AM in Independence, Iowa. This addition brings the total number of Midwestern radio stations affiliated with Brownfield Ag News and Waitt Agribusiness to 300.
Here’s my work station earlier today at the DoubleTree Hotel in St. Louis. Macbook Pro, iPhone, card reader and my camera. Oh, and yes, I was using hotel lobby bandwidth.
The tools to communicate with are certainly changing. If I didn’t want or need to take real high res photos I could just blog an event with my phone and computer. In fact, I’ve had more than one person ask me if I’m willing to try it.
Want to sponsor my effort? You pick a meeting that I don’t already have sponsored and I’ll blog it with my iPhone and Mac only. Let me know if you’re willing to try it with me.
Despite icy roads and blizzard conditions, I made the haul from Brookings, S.D. to Lincoln, Neb. for a job interview. I decided that the poor economy and struggling job market was a lot scarier than a good, old South Dakota winter storm, so I made the 5 hour trip down to Neb. for the interview.
As this is my last semester at South Dakota State University, the time is ticking to find a job and make a decision about my future. I have got to admit that I’m feeling very fortunate to have agriculture as my area of expertise because so many general journalist students are having a difficult time finding jobs in the current market. It was really sad to see some of my Dec. graduate friends still searching for jobs during winter finals week. Do you think the jobs just aren’t available right now? Will this economy ever recover?
Anyway, the interview went well, and I’m excited for the opportunities that await me in the future. Of course, I will continue to pursue new positions as they arise as I’m constantly on the search for the perfect job for me. My question is, what is the job outlook in your area? Are young people finding jobs with ease? Are you offering jobs that you are having a hard time filling? What kind of skills are you looking for in these positions? Has the economy had an impact on the growth of your business? Inquiring minds want to know…
At today’s St. Louis Agribusiness Club lunch meeting Illinois farmer Greg Guenther received the Agribusiness Leader of the Year Award. Greg is pictured with SLAC President Laurie Hiler (left) and his wife.
I spoke to Greg afterward (on my iPhone) and he says it was a pleasant surprise. He’s says it’s nice for folks to acknowledge the time he’s put in as a volunteer leader over the years. Since Greg is also head of GLB Consulting LLC, a company that provides seminars in bioenergy investing I asked him what he thought the new year and new administration means to that industry. He believes we’re going to see a definite commitment to biofuels out of the new administration and congress. He’s concerned however about the trend toward “next generation” biofuels and what that will mean for farmers who have invested in increasing yield and production of corn to make ethanol.
As a gadget, I mean cool tools, kind of guy I thought this was a great invention idea and it won an award at the American Farm Bureau Federation convention.
Daniel Prough of LaGrange, Ind., earned the grand prize in the Farmer Idea Exchange competition at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 90th annual meeting.
Prough won a year’s use of a New Holland TV-145 bidirectional tractor. New Holland has provided a year’s free use of a tractor to the grand prize winner for 19 of the 20 years the program has existed.
Prough’s invention, an illuminating grease gun, is a xenon flashlight mounted on a heavy-duty pistol grease gun. Having the flashlight mounted on the grease gun makes it much easier to pump the gun and hold the grease tip at the same time.
Gene Hemphill, New Holland, says that Dan calls it GREASED LIGHTNING. He used his new iPhone to send me the photo of him (left) with Dan by the way! I’m telling you, they are a handy tool too.
An alliance of agricultural groups and companies has put together a report to help people understand sustainability. Yes, that word that everyone seems to have a different definition for.
The report released today by the Keystone Alliance, provides a definition of economic and environmental sustainability focusing on “meeting the needs of the present while improving the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” The Environmental Resource Indicators report was released at the American Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting by Field to Market, the Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture.
I interviewed two people today for a release the organization sent out via our AgNewsWire. Sarah Stokes Alexander is Director of Sustainability Programs, Keystone Center and Project Director, Field To Market Initiative. She describes the organization.
Marty Matlock is the area Director of the Center for Agricultural and Rural Sustainability, University of Arkansas. He talks about the report and trends they found.
The Colorado-based Keystone Center examined five resource indicators: land use, soil loss, irrigation water use, net carbon emissions and energy use.
Corn growers in particular posted impressive gains, boosting per-acre productivity by 41 percent while reducing per-bushel land use by 37 percent, per-bushel soil losses by nearly 70 percent, and water use an average of 27 percent per bushel. Energy use dropped an estimated 3 percent per acre and 37 percent per bushel, with greenhouse gas emissions down 8 percent per acre and 30 percent per bushel.
Field to Market members include: American Farm Bureau Federation; American Soybean Association; Bayer CropScience; Bunge; Cargill, Incorporated; ConAgra Foods; Conservation International; Cotton Incorporated; DuPont; Fleishman-Hillard; General Mills; Grocery Manufacturers Association; John Deere; Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences; Mars, Incorporated; Monsanto Company; National Association of Conservation Districts; National Association of Wheat Growers; National Corn Growers Association; National Cotton Council of America; National Potato Council; Syngenta; The Coca-Cola Company; The Fertilizer Institute; Kellogg Company; The Nature Conservancy; United Soybean Board; and World Wildlife Fund.
After more years in agricultural communications than I care to remember I keep finding organizations that are new to me. This one is the American Association for Agricultural Education. Goals of AAAE
Serve as an advocate for improvement of teaching and learning in agriculture.
Provide a forum to address issues in agricultural education.
Provide an approach to identifying, prioritizing, and organizing research in teaching and learning.
Provide opportunities for individual and organizational growth, development, and renewal.
Provide opportunities to communicate the results of research and other scholarly activities.
Provide opportunities for collaboration within and outside of agricultural education.
Provide for recruiting, inducting, and mentoring people into the profession.
The AAAE 2009 National Conference will be held in Louisville in May. I see they’ve started a Wiki to allow members to update information.
U. S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer held a conference call with reporters to discuss accomplishments of the Bush administration. We were on the call and I thought I’d share a segment with you in this week’s program.
I’ve been pointing out the increased investment in rural broadband through the Rural Development department here on AgWired since we got started and the Secretary mentioned it in his remarks.
Since 2001 this administration has shown its commitment to rural America by investing an average of $14 billion a year in rural development, 36 percent higher than the level of spending when we took office. Those investments have created 2 million new jobs, they’ve expanded broadband service, upgraded health care and emergency response services, and supported renewable energy and energy efficient projects.
I hope we’ll see continued investment in rural broadband with the new administration.
In this week’s program I’ve also got an update on the IFAJ 2009 Congress/Agricultural Media Summit from Greg Lamp, Corn & Soybean Digest. There are updates to the schedule, including post-Congress tours on the Congress website and according to Greg plans are moving along smoothly.
You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 203 (13 min MP3)
MetaFarms, Inc. announced the launch of Report Manager, a new application within i-Production that enables users to customize, schedule, email and fax reports.
Pfizer Animal Genetics has made new advancements in Arthrogryposis Multiplex diagnostics to improve its testing capacity. Investments in equipment and an improved testing methodology enable Pfizer to run larger numbers of samples more efficiently.
Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. announced that its Chilean subsidiary Soquimich Comercial S.A. and Anagra S.A. signed a memorandum of understanding oriented to implement the merger of the two companies.
The USDA informed the American Soybean Association that Secretary Schafer has signed a memorandum recommending that USDA’s Office of Inspector General conduct an audit and, as appropriate, investigation of the National Soybean Checkoff Program based on the petition filed by the ASA on Dec. 10, 2008 to ensure that soybean checkoff dollars are being managed and invested as prescribed by law.
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.
If you’re trying to reach the rural lifestyle market, the Country Living Association has your Country Connection.
Thanks to on-the-scene-reporter Greg Lamp, 
When asked about the zero tolerance rules for genetically modified (GM) crops, she said she has “launched a discussion to have an adventitious presence,” or minimum acceptable threshold level. Right now, she says, “Zero tolerance means zero, not even .0001%. We don’t want GM food causing damage to humans, but GM is here and here to stay. We can’t do without them.”
You remember the 
What’s new in used farm equipment can be found on the redesigned 
A new milestone in 
Let’s hope we see continued commitment to rural development in the new administration in Washington, DC. The outgoing one has sure done a lot in this area, especially to develop broadband which is providing new opportunities in our rural and farm communities.
The topic of the 
Here’s a good example of the use of a webinar by the 
Here’s my work station earlier today at the DoubleTree Hotel in St. Louis. Macbook Pro, iPhone, card reader and my camera. Oh, and yes, I was using hotel lobby bandwidth.
Despite icy roads and blizzard conditions, I made the haul from Brookings, S.D. to Lincoln, Neb. for a job interview. I decided that the poor economy and struggling job market was a lot scarier than a good, old South Dakota winter storm, so I made the 5 hour trip down to Neb. for the interview.
At today’s 
As a gadget, I mean cool tools, kind of guy I thought this was a great invention idea and it won an award at the 
An alliance of agricultural groups and companies has put together a report to help people understand sustainability. Yes, that word that everyone seems to have a different definition for.
After more years in agricultural communications than I care to remember I keep finding organizations that are new to me. This one is the 
U. S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer held a 
I’ve been pointing out the increased investment in rural broadband through the Rural Development department here on AgWired since we got started and the Secretary mentioned it in his remarks.
In this week’s program I’ve also got an update on the IFAJ 2009 Congress/Agricultural Media Summit from Greg Lamp, 
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
