Mindy McAdams is teaching online journalism at the University of Florida and I’ve pointed you to her website before. She’s been writing a series of articles on new media reporting which I thought would be helpful for you budding agribloggers and farm podcasters. She’s looking for some feedback about what she’s written so far since she’s got several more articles planned. Here’s a list of the topics she’s covered so far. You can find links to all of them on her blog.
RGMP 1: Read blogs and use RSS
RGMP 2: Start a blog
RGMP 3: Buy an audio recorder and learn to use it
RGMP 4: Start editing audio
RGMP 5: Listen to podcasts
RGMP 6: Post an interview (or podcast) on your blog
RGMP 7: Learn how to shoot decent photos
RGMP 8: Learn how to crop, tone, and optimize photos
RGMP 9: Add photos to your blog
RGMP 10: Learn to use Soundslides
Pending EPA approval, Pioneer is getting ready to launch their new Optimum Acre Max which is part of the Herculex family of traits. Specifically, the Herculex RW trait helps protect corn from corn rootworm damage. “Our hope is to be able to reduce corn rootworm refuge, and also to integrate rootworm refuge in a bag,” said Bill Belzer, Senior Manager Marketing, Corn with Pioneer.
The EPA is currently in the process of evaluating the technology and they are anticipating EPA approvals sometime in 2009. The full scale commercial launch is expected in 2010.
“What this technology does is allow growers to be able to plant more in-plant traits in more acres leading to higher yields,” explained Belzer.
In the past, growers needed to set aside approximately 20 percent of their acres for corn rootworm refuge. With the Herculex family of traits, growers could reduce their corn rootworm refuge to only 2-5 percent of their total corn acres. Basically, this means growers will receive, “more in-plant protection or more acres,” said Belzer, which leads to higher yields. A win-win for every grower.
To learn more about the Optimum Acre Max, contact your local Pioneer sales professional or listen to my full interview with Bill Belzer here: cc-09-joanna-pioneer-gat.mp3
Growers are looking for ways to reduce costs this summer, especially as fertilizer costs are on the rise. The Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) just might have a way to help you save money. During Commodity Classic last month, they launched a new propane irrigation engine. According to Brandon Robinson, Projects Coordinator with PERC, “Propane is one of the most efficient fuels out there. In one tank of propane, 90 percent of the fuel will be turned to energy.”
Studies were conducted at the University of Nebraska tractor testing lab where diesel irrigation engines were compared against the new propane irrigation engines. In terms of a gallon comparison between the two fuels, the results showed that is 1.5-1.6 gallons of propane for every gallon of diesel, said Robinson. “This is a great improvement over the old numbers.”
According to Robinson, another advantage of using propane on the farm is that propane prices typcially go down in the summer when other fuel prices go up. This makes propane 30 percent more cost efficient than using diesel irrigation engines that use other fuels, such as diesel.
“We are seeing demand increase as farmers are looking for more efficient applications and cleaner and greener applications. We expanding our base in terms of how farmers can use propane on the farm,” said Robinson.
Growers can learn about all the farm-application uses for propane by visiting www.agpropane.com. You can also learn more by listening to the full AgWired interview with Brandon Robinson: cc-09-joanna-perc.mp3
I don’t know about you but fresh Krispy Kreme glazed donuts are one of the finer things in life. On my way to Kansas City this morning I stopped and was lucky enough for the donuts to be coming right off the line.
In fact, the friendly counter staff pulled one off the line and offered it to me before I could even order.
So, when going to see a client, stop by and pick up a couple dozen to make them happy.
Kruger Seeds, Inc., recently added Performance Data and Seed Finder tools to their Web site. The Performance Data tool connects growers with local yield information.
The National Pork Producers Council at its annual business meeting, the National Pork Industry Forum, elected new officers and members to its board of directors. Click here for the full list of elections.
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange at the annual business meeting of the National Pork Producers Council awarded scholarships to four college students who intend to pursue careers in the pork industry. The winners of the $2,500 Lois Britt Memorial Pork Industry Scholarships are: Bailey Jo Albright, Coldwater, Mich., Michigan State University; Paul Keppy, Davenport, Iowa, Iowa State University; Danielle Guilliams, St Louis, Mo., University of Missouri; and Emily Arkfeld, Dunbar, Neb., University of Nebraska.
In this week’s program we’ll get an update on the IFAJ and Ag Media Summit program from Joann Alumbaugh, Farms.com. Joann is co-chair of the program committee this year.
Our planning committee for the conference met after Commodity Classic in the Worthington Hotel, Ft. Worth, which is where we’ll be at the end of July and first of August. To start things out we’re going to have a debate between former Congressman from Texas, Charlie Stenholm and Barry Flinchbaugh, Professor Emeritus, Kansas State University. That should be not only an entertaining but thought provoking session. We’ve got sessions over several days on a variety of topics from photography to writing and you can find the schedule here.
This week’s program ends with music from the Podsafe Music Network. It’s a song called, “Fort Worth Stomp” by the Defibulators. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.
You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 211 (11 min MP3)
I’d like to see them ask some different questions but there’s plenty of room to provide comments so I hope you’ll take the time to respond. It will be very helpful to the staff in planning for future conventions.
Take a look at this interesting document from USDA, “Rural Boradband At A Glance 2009 Edition.” It points out how fast farmers are adopting the use of the internet for business purposes and clearly outlines the challenges many areas of the country still have in getting broadband access.
It has a number of interesting graphs like the following one comparing rural vs. urban internet use by income.
Broadband Internet enables businesses to increase efficiencies in existing commercial relationships, increase market presence by reducing the cost of reaching larger markets, and introduce new services. Broadband Internet, however, can also increase competition between businesses (e.g., local banks must compete with Internet-only banks). Business adoption of the Internet has been rapid. In 2005, 30 percent of farmers were using the Internet for farm business; 2 years later, use had increased to 63 percent. As Internet adoption increases, the need for high-speed Internet also rises as online purchasing and marketing become the norm. Rural businesses, however, use broadband less than urban businesses, perhaps due to higher prices for rural broadband service.
Ketchum has created a new position called director of online relationships and reputation for their Food and Nutrition Practice. Filling that role will be Tom Barritt. Good idea. It will be interesting to see how they manage this. Tom says that food is “emotional and evocative and perfectly suited to social media.” So is agriculture in general and greater use of these mechanisms he mentions would help farmers and farm groups get their message out by joining “the conversation.”
Barritt was previously director of the agency’s global Issues and Crisis Management Network.
In his new role, Barritt will be responsible for working with clients to embrace online channels to help them better manage their communications needs to achieve their business goals. As associate director, the practice will capitalize on Barritt’s six years as head of Ketchum’s Issues and Crisis Management Network as he takes on the role of chief adviser on food reputation management, as well as builds and activates growth plans to benefit the practice’s client relationships and business development. This move aligns the Food and Nutrition practice with the agency’s growing global digital strategy capabilities and follows the appointments of Jonathan Kopp as global director of Ketchum Digital and Clement Lau as senior vice president of digital communications in Ketchum’s Greater China division in February.
“There is a dynamic conversation around food taking place online from recipe sharing to food blogs to photos to social networks,” said Barritt. “Food is emotional and evocative and perfectly suited to social media. We have a great opportunity to help our food clients navigate this space and join in the conversation.”
From “Darling to Devil” in the blink of an eye – that’s what happened to the biofuels industry in the past year or so – but better communications on the part of the industry could have helped with the damage control and could still help repair some of the damage done. What’s more, the damage done to biofuels could also happen to other alternative energy products like wind, solar, geothermal, and hydrogen unless communicators implement three important lessons learned from the attack on biofuels. They will be presented by experts in the field at the upcoming Communicating Renewables Summit, April 21-23, 2009 in Minneapolis, MN.
1. Learn to create key messages that resonate with consumers – Suzanne Shelton, President and CEO of The Shelton Group, will tell you “What consumers really think about green.”
2. Unify with “one voice, one message” – Matt Williams, partner in The Martin Agency , will discuss how to ‘green’ your brand from the core to create sustainability efforts that build your brand and differentiate you from your competition.
3. Prepare an Issue Management Plan in advance of attacks – “Crisis Communications vs. Issues Management” will be presented by Eileen Wixted, principal of Wixted, Pope, Nora and Thompson (WPNT).
Become a communications victor, not communications victim at the Communicating Renewables Summit. Register online by March 13th and receive $150 off the early-bird registration rate.
In order to advance the organization’s ability to respond to the scientific and regulatory challenges facing its membership, the National Milk Producers Federation announced changes to its regulatory staff, including the hiring of Betsy Flores as Director of Regulatory Affairs.
The Mosaic Company has just updated www.microessentials.com as a resource for growers with production questions about plant fertility needs, nutrient deficiency syndromes and overall plant nutrition.
Farm Foundation has issued an update of a report last year on “What’s Driving Food Prices?” and found the same factors affecting commodities.
“In July 2008, crude oil prices were at record levels, as were most agricultural commodity prices. Low supplies generated fears of food shortages. The rhetoric of the food-versus-fuel debate rose along with food prices. Today, despite remarkable course changes, the key drivers of food prices and their complex interactions remain the same,” according to the new report.
The new report updates the analysis Purdue University economists Phil Abbott, Chris Hurt and Wally Tyner did just nine months ago for Farm Foundation. That report, released in July 2008, identified three major forces driving food prices: World agricultural commodity consumption exceeding production growth, leading to very low commodity inventories; the decline in value of the U.S. dollar; and the new linkage between energy and agricultural markets.
In the second half of 2008, each of these driving forces completely reversed direction. “The transitions were truly remarkable—almost a 180-degree course change—yet the key drivers of food prices remain the same: supply and utilization of grains and oilseeds; the exchange rate of the dollar and related world macroeconomic factors; and the energy/agriculture linkage,” says Tyner. “Our updated analysis verified the role of the key drivers, although they sometimes play out in somewhat different ways.”
Tyner and his colleagues are participating in a Farm Foundation forum to discuss the results of the study this morning at the National Press Club.
Pioneer recently launched several new products within their Optimum Brand Innovations line. I was able to speak with Tracy Lindo, the Senior Marketing Manager – Optimum GAT about these new products. “Optimum Brand Innovations is the umbrella brand for our high quality input traits that Pioneer is hoping to bring to the market in the next few years,” explained Linbo. The first product is Optimum GAT, a herbicide tolerance trait. “GAT” stands for glyphosate ALS tolerance. The uniqueness of this trait is that it, “provides new herbicide choices and flexibility,” said Lindo.
The second trait is the Optimum Acre Max, which provides an insect protection system. These products will be brought to market pending approvals over the next few years.
These traits, explained Lindo, provide maximum yields, “the right product for the right acre, and cleaner fields through harvest.”
Pending approvals, Pioneer hopes to have the GAT for corn available in the 2010 selling season and GAT soybeans in 2011.
In addition, DuPont Crop Protection is bringing five new herbicides that will be available to be used on this trait as well. There will be demonstrations throughout the summer. Contact your local Pioneer sales rep to learn more or visit www.pioneer.com.
I don’t know if you’ve ever been to a hunting show but even though I’m a hunter I haven’t until last week at the Dixie Deer Classic. This was a pretty cool event and I didn’t buy too much stuff.
So if you’d like to get a feel for it I put together a string of video clips from this year’s event. This way you get the sights and sounds and believe me there are some sounds.
Trent Loos is launching a new contest to feature the best and brightest young people in agriculture. It’s called the “Hot Peppers in Agriculture,” contest, and it calls for tasteful, fun photos that will make food producers “cool” again. Follow-up articles will highlight the interesting lives of farmers and ranchers. Photos can be sent to trent@loostales.com. To support this cause, join the group at facebook.com. Here is an excerpt from his column at Loos Tales.
With all of the challenges that we now face in regard to the future of American Agriculture, I am still convinced that the number one challenge is encouraging young people to return to production agriculture. For the past five years I have been amazed at how “our kids” are treated in public settings. I am frequently told about kids who attempt to hide the fact that their parents are farmers or ranchers. The stereotype still exists that we are bib-overall-wearing simpletons. So how do we turn around the public sentiment and set the story straight about the good-looking, smart farm kids that all other kids should look up to and admire?
I am launching the “Hot Peppers in Agriculture” contest and requesting your tasteful photos of people in agriculture that might get someone to stop and look and say, “Hey, I would like to find out what this person is all about.” By the way, I am not talking about a gender biased scenario here, I am requesting male and female photos be emailed to me. I am not restricting it to young people. There are some hot moms and dads in American Agriculture and we need to get them in the limelight as well. My goal is simple here: I want to capture the attention of the non-farm audience and let the world now that it is “COOL” to be agriculture and I predict we can turn around the negative stereotype that has clouded the image of our great industry ever since Grant Wood painted the American Gothic in 1930!
I’m not sure what a “robust” membership drive is but NCBA has launched one. I’m passing this along because one of my Tweeple (http://twitter.com/jaegermaister) sent it to me saying that ” . . . one of our tactics is to use social networking to help spread the word and hopefully touch a lot of potential members that we normally would not reach.” Very wise choice Nate. Consider it done. Hey Forrest, are you on Twitter yet?
This year, the U.S. Congress will address many legislative issues that directly affect cattlemen’s bottom line – including property rights and environmental regulations. “The industry needs a stronger voice that represents the forceful, unified influence of America’s beef producers,” said Forrest Roberts, NCBA’s chief executive officer, when announcing the new “Spring Roundup” membership campaign.
“NCBA intends this intensive drive to significantly expand its 31,000-member producer base, grow its state affiliates’ member base, and strengthen the state-national membership position as a political force to be reckoned with—in state and federal legislatures,” Roberts added. “The old adage, that there is ‘strength in numbers’ has never been truer as the industry continues to be bombarded with challenges to the agricultural way of life.”
“As an industry, we need to come together and get serious about defending ourselves and our way of life. Many extreme advocacy groups have millions of members and millions of dollars. They will ensure their viewpoints are front and center with lawmakers,” Roberts said. “NCBA has a solid membership base and can claim many legislative and regulatory victories, but to continue that success, we need to strengthen and solidify our sphere of influence.”
What is it about blogs that are so addicting? Is it the ability to write about whatever your passions are? Is it the opportunity to peak inside the life of someone else? Is it a break from the work routine, a chance to escape and think about something fun? Is it a great way to be informed and meet with others that are interested in the same things as you? Is it a replacement to daily news reports? What is it?
I have been blogging since 2006, and it took me awhile to figure out their appeal. My first blog took forever to develop a following. Over time, I have learned so many lessons in how to make and write an effective blog spot for readers to enjoy. Here are a few of the tough knocks I have learned along the way.
1. Be open, honest and completely transparent. Being a blogger gives a person the opportunity to write anything, and it would be easy to dramatize the stories shared on a blog. However, it’s best to be yourself; people will like you for who you are. Write honestly and openly, and people will learn to trust what you have to say.
2. Linking! Linking back to previous articles within the blog is the best way to help readers navigate through old blog posts. Of course, linking to other articles that support your blog post topic is a great tool to add credibility, but if you can tie back to something you have already written, readers will learn more about your blog and stay longer.
3. Write, write, write…often. What’s the best way to develop a constant readership? Be someone that people can count on. Committ to writing everyday, or develop a routine that keeps readers coming back. Of course, readers can utilize RSS feeds to keep track of your work, but keep them coming back for more with your steady updates.
4. Interact with your readers. Reply to their comments. Conduct a voting poll on a topic of interest. Host a contest. Ask open-ended questions in your blog. Start up a conversation.
5. Include photos, videos, podcasts and your personality. Add the extras that make a blog post, a destination. Switch it up to keep the interest of all of your readers. Have fun and be creative!
So, what about you? What have you learned in your blogging efforts? What did you think about blogs when they first became popular? What do you think about them now?
Fastline Publications has promoted Joe McWilliams from VP, Sales and Marketing to President.
The former President and founder of Fastline Publications, Bill Howard, will continue his role as CEO of the company.
McWilliams began his career at Fastline as a National Sales Manager in the farm and truck divisions. He has been with the company for 13 years.
“This promotion is in recognition of Joe’s dedication and significant achievements with our company,” said Howard. “His passion and loyalty to Fastline’s products, customers, and staff is unmatched. Joe has demonstrated a continuous desire to see Fastline succeed.”
McWilliams primary focus will continue to be Fastline’s sales. He will also have executive oversight of training and development as well as marketing. McWilliams said, “Along with our entire management group, I will be devoting a significant amount of my time and energy to ensure that Fastline continue our path of appropriate growth and development. These are challenging times but there are also great opportunities. Our focus has been and will continue to be, helping to make our customers even more successful.”
In advance of the upcoming NAMA convention and our breakout session on social networking, this Nielsen Online report (pdf) is very timely and interesting.
Now visited by over two-thirds (67 percent) of the global* online population, “Member Communities,” which includes both social networks and blogs, has become the fourth most popular online category – ahead of personal email. It is growing twice as fast as any of
the other four largest sectors (search, portals, PC software and email), according to The Nielsen Company’s “Global Faces and Networked Places,” a comprehensive report published today revealing the new global footprint of social networking.
“Social networking has become a fundamental part of the global online experience,” says John Burbank, CEO of Nielsen Online. “While two-thirds of the global online population already accesses member community sites, their vigorous adoption and the migration of time show no signs of slowing.
Social networking will continue to alter not just the global online landscape, but the consumer
experience at large. This study explains why.”
According to the Nielsen report, Facebook – the world’s most popular social network – is visited monthly by three in every 10 people online across the nine markets in which Nielsen tracks social networking use. Orkut in Brazil has the largest domestic online reach (70 percent) of any social network in these markets.
The report, available today, provides insights into the changing size and audience composition of the global social networking audience and the increasing share of Internet time for which it accounts. The report also analyzes how the major players are faring and what advertisers and publishers can do to take advantage of the social network phenomenon.
Other key findings include:
- One in every 11 minutes online globally is accounted for by social network and blogging sites.
- The social network and blogging audience is becoming more diverse in terms of age: the biggest increase in visitors during 2008 to “Member Community” Web sites globally came from the 35-49 year old age group (+11.3 million).
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.
Pending EPA approval, 
Growers are looking for ways to reduce costs this summer, especially as fertilizer costs are on the rise. The 
typcially go down in the summer when other fuel prices go up. This makes propane 30 percent more cost efficient than using diesel irrigation engines that use other fuels, such as diesel.
I don’t know about you but fresh 
In this week’s program we’ll get an update on the 
July and first of August. To start things out we’re going to have a debate between former Congressman from Texas, Charlie Stenholm and Barry Flinchbaugh, Professor Emeritus, Kansas State University. That should be not only an entertaining but thought provoking session. We’ve got sessions over several days on a variety of topics from photography to writing and you can find the schedule 
Okay Commodity Classic media people. Now’s your chance to provide some feedback on this year’s media room.
Take a look at this interesting document from USDA, 
From “Darling to Devil” in the blink of an eye – that’s what happened to the biofuels industry in the past year or so – but better communications on the part of the industry could have helped with the damage control and could still help repair some of the damage done. What’s more, the damage done to biofuels could also happen to other alternative energy products like wind, solar, geothermal, and hydrogen unless communicators implement three important lessons learned from the attack on biofuels. They will be presented by experts in the field at the upcoming 
The new report updates the analysis Purdue University economists Phil Abbott, Chris Hurt and Wally Tyner did just nine months ago for Farm Foundation. That report, released in July 2008, identified three major forces driving food prices: World agricultural commodity consumption exceeding production growth, leading to very low commodity inventories; the decline in value of the U.S. dollar; and the new linkage between energy and agricultural markets.
The second trait is the Optimum Acre Max, which provides an insect protection system. These products will be brought to market pending approvals over the next few years.
Trent Loos is launching a new contest to feature the best and brightest young people in agriculture. It’s called the “Hot Peppers in Agriculture,” contest, and it calls for tasteful, fun photos that will make food producers “cool” again. Follow-up articles will highlight the interesting lives of farmers and ranchers. Photos can be sent to trent@loostales.com. To support this cause, join the group at facebook.com. Here is an excerpt from his column at 
I’m not sure what a “robust” membership drive is but NCBA 
What is it about blogs that are so addicting? Is it the ability to write about whatever your passions are? Is it the opportunity to peak inside the life of someone else? Is it a break from the work routine, a chance to escape and think about something fun? Is it a great way to be informed and meet with others that are interested in the same things as you? Is it a replacement to daily news reports? What is it?
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
