Today, we have 2-way radios, 3-way light bulbs, 2-in-1 juicer/squeezer and 3-in-1 breakfast makers. They’re designed to make life easier, quicker and simpler. Now, out of the kitchen and into the shop…..if anyone has ever looked in my husband’s toolbox, you’d know that wrenches, nuts and bolts are anything but easy and simple. He has square-head, hex-head and 12-point wrenches. He says, “Go get me the 1/8 wrench, honey (emphasis on honey because he knows I have no idea which one he needs; and I know he’s going to get frustrated and have to go look for it himself anyway. So why did he ask me?).” I don’t think it’s simple.
However, in my Grandpa’s treasure chest, we came across this 9-way wrench. NINE-WAY! Made only for one shaped bolt, one shaped nut – with a square head. So instead of needing a whole tool chest full of wrenches, he carried one. Now that’s easy. And compact. And simple.
This leads me to believe that, though back in the 30s, work was more manual and probably physically harder, but some things were just “easier.” I sure can think of nine better ways to spend my time than to rummage through a toolbox for 15 minutes looking for a 1/8” hex-head wrench.
During most of Monday I’ll be on the agriblogging highway to Lexington, KY for the Alltech Global Dairy 500. The theme is “Sustainability in a Changing World.” The program has been so successful that this year they’ve added a “Global Beef 500″ as well!
I’m looking forward to seeing my Alltech friends and enjoying a frosty Kentucky Ale! Most of my coverage will be on World Dairy Diary starting Monday evening. But I’m sure I’ll find something to share with you here on AgWired as well. For example, on Thursday, I’ll share the stage with Alltech’s Billy Frey to discuss social media. I’m really looking forward to that. I’ll also be assisting David Butler who will be managing the Alltech blog, Alltech Innovations.
So follow along here or on Twitter with the hashtag #Global500.
Wyffels Hybrids added to its 2011 product lineup by releasing two new products: W5077 and W7147.
Deere & Company is introducing a new name – John Deere Financial – for its business unit that offers credit and other financial services.
John Deere has added three new lines of offset disks to its Frontier family of tillage products: the DH51 Series, the DH52 Series, and the DH53 Series.
Two new professional development initiatives will take place in conjunction with the 2011 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Congress in Canada.
IFAJ-Pioneer Hi-bred International Master Class
Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business, is supporting a pilot project called the IFAJ-Pioneer Hi-Bred Master Class. This program will bring a group of journalists from developing countries to a two-day journalism and leadership workshop prior to the congress.
The workshop will focus on journalistic training, global agriculture and communications trends. Journalists will have a chance to share ideas with colleagues, and network with professionals from around the world. Master Class participants will be selected from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe.
The project will be based on a workshop with developing-country journalists initiated at the 2010 Belgium Congress, which was managed by AgriTerra, a Dutch-based agri-development agency. AgriTerra will help coordinate the master class program in Canada, owing to its experience in networking with journalists from underdeveloped countries.
IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders in Agricultural Journalism Expansion
Alltech will expand its sponsorship of the successful IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders in Agricultural Journalism award to include a Boot Camp workshop. This activity will provide select young journalists with expert training and feedback through on-site writing or broadcasting assignments and further develop their leadership skills through formal in-class training.
As a part of their learning experience, award winners will write or record spot news three times during the duration of the congress. Their stories will be made available to the general media and posted on the IFAJ website. Mentors will be assigned to the young leaders to work with them throughout the congress and guide them through their program, which was developed with stimulus and input from IFAJ member Branko Vrabec of Slovenia.
Conceived at the IFAJ 2005 meeting in Switzerland by Alltech and federation officials, the young leaders award has brought budding journalists to Japan, Austria and the US.
The iPhone 4 really shoots good video but can be very hard to hold steady. Now there’s a new solution with a cool name, OWLE Bubo. It’s a holder for the iPhone that provides not only better stabilization but tripod mount, forward facing microphone and best of all IMO, a wide angle lens. This thing is strange looking but extremely functional. It’s on the pricey side though. I’d only buy if you know you’re going to use it. Learn more in the review video below.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was in the Peach State earlier this week talking with peanut growers and visiting an ethanol plant.
Ethanol plants in the southeast are pretty rare – in fact, First United Ethanol, LLC (FUEL) is really the only one to speak of that is operating at any capacity. FUEL is a 100 million gallon per year corn-based ethanol plant with 860 mostly rural investors from the local Georgia-Florida area. “Most of the ethanol plants in the Midwest are ‘rubber in and rail out’ and we’re sort of ‘rail in and rubber out,’” says FUEL CEO Murray Campbell. While most of their corn comes in by rail from the Midwest, they are starting to buy more local corn as farmers in the agricultural area surrounding the plant are starting to put more corn back in their crop rotation with peanuts and cotton.
Murray is pictured here (right) giving Vilsack and Congressman Sanford Bishop (D-GA) a tour of the plant on Monday.
I interviewed Murray about the timeliness of Vilsack’s visit, coming right on the heels of the biofuels initiatives announced by USDA last week, and the importance of having ethanol production in all areas of the country. Listen to or download my interview with Murray here: Murray Campbell Interview
Vilsack also visited with Georgia’s peanut growers on Monday at the American Peanut Shellers Association office in Albany at a meeting hosted by Congressman Sanford. During the meeting, the secretary heard from representatives of the Georgia Peanut Commission about their concerns that peanuts were excluded from a recent disaster assistance package, even though other commodities like rice, soybeans, cotton and sweet potatoes were included. Vilsack was also encouraged by the peanut industry to increase peanut butter purchases for federal nutrition and food aid programs, and to continue offering storage and handling in the next farm bill.
The head of USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) has been the subject of two recent articles by Washington DC watchdog reporters who are questioning his objectivity when it comes to writing new rules for the livestock industry.
J. Dudley Butler, a Mississippi trial lawyer, was appointed by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in May of 2009 to serve as Administrator of GIPSA and immediately charged with coming up with a new rule to protect livestock producers against “unfair, fraudulent or retaliatory practices” as required by the 2008 Farm Bill and through existing authority under the Packers and Stockyards Act. That rule was announced in June 2010.
Last week, Big Government’s Capitol Confidential did a piece about Butler entitled “Fox Guarding the Hen House” which focuses on how the GIPSA head could profit from the rule he proposed once he returns to private practice as a trial attorney. The article notes a comment Butler made in a speech to the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM), an organization that he helped to found, in August 2009 – after he was appointed to the USDA position. Here’s the quote, in context from Beef Magazine, highlighting the significant phrase. “When you have a term like ‘unfair, unreasonable or undue prejudice,’ that’s a plaintiff lawyer’s dream,” Butler says in the clip. “We can get in front of a jury with that. We won’t get thrown out on what we call summary judgment because that’s a jury question.”
The Hill picked up on the story this week, saying that some things don’t mix well, like “trial lawyers and regulation of the cattle industry.” The article notes that cattle producers have a reason to be concerned about Butler – “a regulatory boss with a background in suing the very industry he now regulates, and one can readily understand the apprehension among many cattlemen and beef producers.”
Both articles note that congressional leaders have already called Butler’s actions into question, but that the Obama administration appears to be unconcerned. It does seem to be a clear conflict of interest and one has to wonder why Butler was appointed to do this job in the first place.
The Mid South NAMA chapter lunch meeting is about to get started. I’ll post a different photo later. We’re just mingling before eating and doing some social media talk.
Janice Person, Monsanto, and I are tag teaming a presentation. The chapter conducted a member survey prior to the mtg. to find out what level of social media participation the members were involved in and solicit questions. I’ll post more on that later.
In the meantime, you can use the Twitter hashtag #midsouthnama to follow tweets or add you’re own. We’re posing some of the questions there and seeking input. Thank you.
Post Update: Our session has concluded. We had a full one with over 30 attending. That’s really good for a NAMA meeting today. I think this topic is still of great interest to a lot of agricultural companies and member organizations. We had some really good questions that included:
• What is the most significant benefit and most significant drawback (real or potential) of a trade association trying to improve its reputation through a significant commitment to social networking ?
• Is this a viable marketing tool for agriculture yet? Especially considering the average age of farmers is in the high 50′s.
• How widespread is use among ag audiences
• How to make $$ in the ag world with social media?
• How to combat crack-pot posters!
• How do you manage Social Media with existing staff and budget …. full time.
• How are you measuring the value?
• Compared with personal use of social media, how much are farmers using it for business and how much do they want to use it for business?
• Where is it all going?
• How do you manage the proper updating of material and responses and how do you measure the impact?
I invite you to post your responses to these questions in comments. Janice and I provided our answers in our session and would be happy to discuss these topics if you contact us.
Senninger Irrigation announces the introduction of their new UP3 (Universal Pivot Products Platform). The new features of this design have been applied to the proven technologies of the i-Wob, Xi-Wob and LDN.
Monsanto Company and the Makhteshim Agan Group announced an agreement that makes Makhteshim Agan key partner of selected offpatent molecules to support Monsanto’s Roundup Ready PLUS weed management platform.
Bayer CropScience announced that import tolerances (Maximum Residue Levels) for its Movento and Ultor insecticides have been established on certain commodities intended for export to Japan, effective immediately.
Agri Marketing Magazine has announced two awards this year. The first one is their 2010 Product of the Year which is AgriGold’s GIANTS.
“The judges voted unanimously for AgriGold’s GIANTS,” says Lynn Henderson, Publisher of Agri Marketing. “We have set very rigorous standards for a product to be named, including the benefit and value added to the marketplace, strategic marketing, share of market and sales growth and other industry recognition the product has achieved. AgriGold’s GIANTS were voted first in all categories.”
“We will be publishing a special supplement with the next issue of Agri Marketing magazine providing in-depth look at the GIANT’S remarkable success,” says Henderson.
This is the twelfth year the magazine has been conducting its Product of the Year program. “The program is designed to recognize the outstanding technology that is being introduced to agricultural producers and the exceptional marketing program supporting it,” Henderson said.
In addition to the Product of the Year award the magazine has also announced a 2010 New Product of the Year – SmartStax Corn which was developed jointly by Dow AgroSciences and Monsanto.
“This is the first time we have awarded a NEW Product of the Year,” says Lynn Henderson, Publisher of Agri Marketing. “For over a decade, we have awarded the Product of the Year award. This year we decided to issue that award again-to a product that has been in the commercial market place for over two years-and the NEW Product that, as the name implies, is in its initial year of introduction.
“Both awards have very rigorous standards including the benefit and value added to the marketplace, strategic marketing, share of market and sales growth and other industry recognition the product has achieved,” Henderson adds.
“It is interesting to note that initial reports showed some corn hybrids containing the SmartStax trait were yielding somewhat lower than those containing triple stacks,” Henderson observes. “However, as harvest progressed and more reports were received, the SmartStax hybrids were consistently yielding higher than the triples. In addition, the judges cited the trait’s ability to provide much more comprehensive insect control, regardless of the genetics used in the hybrid.
In this edition of the ZimmCast we’ll meet Roger Reierson, President, AdFarm . Cindy spoke with Roger to learn what’s new at the agency. We’re continuing this series of interviews with leadership at agricultural marketing agencies which seems to have drawn a lot of attention and many more to come.
With a name like AdFarm you would think the company has a passion for agriculture and that’s exactly what Roger told Cindy. The company started working on ag projects with offices in Canada and Fargo, ND. They went through a re-branding effort that included new offices and additional staff. They “don’t do anything but agriculture.” They believe they’re an agricultural company that does marketing and communications for agriculture. When it comes to what’s new Roger points to the area of being a “catalyst” for agriculture. An example would be a project in California to bring farmers into the world of social media. Roger says the agency has been on the forefront of social media marketing in agriculture with staff who have been strong advocates of the platform. He says it becomes an integral part of strategy for messaging and telling your story in a broader way than was possible just a few years ago. As he puts it, “it’s a global platform.”
When it comes to marketing AdFarm itself Roger says the members of the staff do a lot of communications directly with farmers (in their little red truck). They want to gain insights from them to bring to their work. He says that most of the staff have a direct connection with agriculture through college degrees or a family farm. They’ve also launched a new website that is very social media oriented.
This week’s program ends with some fun music from Music Alley. It’s a song titled, “NewsFlash” by Eileen Carey. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.
If you’re a member of the NAFB Foundation Booster Club then it’s time to renew. If you’re not, then join today. For incentive you’ll be in a drawing for a new Flip camera.
The NAFB Foundation Booster Club campaign is in full swing! A big thank you to all of the generous individuals and companies that have contributed to the 2010 Booster Club! We are still working toward our goal of $21,000.
It’s not too late to give and help the NAFB Foundation achieve its goal. All those who have contributed $100 or more in 2010, including those that give at the convention, will have their name entered in a drawing to win one of two Flip video camcorders.
All contributions made on-site will automatically be included. If you can’t make it to the NAFB Convention, you can still make your contribution online or by mailing a check to the NAFB office. To be eligible for the drawing contributions made before the convention must be received by close of business Friday, November 5.
Your support to help protect the future of ag and rural broadcasting is greatly appreciated. We hope we can count on your support!
“In today’s 24-7 news cycle, agriculture needs to have highly trained communicators who can write, broadcast, blog, tweet and utilize other types of communication tools in a way that provides audiences with accurate and timely information,” says Agri-Pulse Editor Sara Wyant. “This program has the potential to attract top talent for teaching and research.”
To that end, Agri-Pulse has announced a $10,000 pledge to UI to enhance its joint agricultural communications program with a first-of-its kind endowed chair in agricultural communications, named after distinguished professor James F. Evans, to support teaching and research in the field. As part of this joint program between the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) and the College of Media, the university plans to have at least three teaching positions and include initiatives in environmental and consumer communications.
“Dr. Evans has been a wonderful teacher and mentor for hundreds in agricultural communications and we are extremely pleased that the chair will be named in his honor,” adds Wyant. “This donation is a way for my husband, Allan Johnson, and I to give back to those who have helped us grow and prosper as agricultural communicators and demonstrate our support for the development of bright, capable experts who can communicate about food, feed, fiber, fuel, natural resources and rural development.” Sara’s son, Jordan Lutz, is a sophomore at UI studying agricultural and biological engineering,
Cellectis plant sciences announced that it has signed a licensing agreement with Midwest Oilseeds Inc. The agreement provides Cellectis plant sciences with the ability to utilize Midwest’s Aerosol Beam Injector technology for precise modification of plant genomes.
Ag Software Designs, LLC is pleased to announce the launch of FieldRx, an independent web-based precision ag engine to be used by ag professionals for creating site-specific field prescriptions.
Bayer CropScience is pleased to announce the return of Movento and Ultor insecticides, which received re-issued registrations from the EPA.
New Holland Agriculture was presented with two awards for engineering innovation by the Agrosalon 2010 Exhibition committee: for the CSX7000 combine’s Opti-Fan system and the FR9000 forage harvester’s IntelliFill system.
…like they used to. I hear that same phrase muttered under the breath of house wives when it comes to washing machines and blenders, and the same from farmers when it comes to equipment. Things are made faster, cheaper, and don’t last as long as they used to. I think that’s to encourage continued consumer spending.
Take this bridge for example. I almost wandered around in the weeds to look for a “patent date” marked on it because I’m quite sure it was built in the early 1900s. A century-old bridge. We celebrate century-old farms, and today I marvel that a bridge can last this long. The next thought that went through my head was – how do combines get over this bridge? I guess they don’t. They just take the other way around.
There’s a story that goes along with this bridge. It involves a kitten, blanket and an old-school cooler that we couldn’t get the lid off of. I’ll save that story for another time.
The 83rd National FFA Convention, which concluded over the weekend in Indianapolis, set an all-time event attendance record with a total crowd of 54,942 members, advisors, sponsors and guests.
The new slate of young leaders for the organization are pictured here, left to right: Riley Pagett of Oklahoma, president; Landan Schaffert of Colorado, secretary; Shannon Norris of New Mexico, western region VP; James Flatt of Tennessee, southern region VP; Tiffany Rogers of Michigan, eastern region VP; and Wyatt DeJong of South Dakota, central region VP.
The organization recognized the service of and bid farewell to its long-time national FFA advisor, Dr. Larry D. Case, who will retire on Jan. 1, 2011. “FFA members, you are the future and you make this Missouri farm boy proud,” Dr. Case said to the crowd at the convention. “I’m a thankful man. More than anything I’m thankful for the love of my family…thank you from the bottom of my heart for making it possible for me to be of service to others.”
To honor Dr. Case for his 26 years of service to the organization, the FFA instituted the Larry D. and Joy L. Case Endowment that will be used to benefit agricultural instructor training, student leader development and global agriculture career opportunities. As of Oct. 22, $63,500 has been raised for the Case Endowment principal. T-shirts with the national advisor’s face are being sold and “FFAowl” can be texted to 20222 by any cell phone and $10 will be donated to the endowment.
This farmland in central South Dakota is just some of the best land to hunt pheasant. Once again this year my group got their limit each day.
With all the birds cleaned and in the freezer it’s time to relax and watch some more football. Feel free to share your favorite pheasant recipe if you’ve got one.
I’ll add mine to this post later but I can tell you it has a lot of cream and is wonderful.
On the drive up to central South Dakota I saw a lot of this. These guys were working very close to my destination so I took a photo before driving around them on the gravel road.
This weekend I’m mostly off the grid due to no AT&T service and very little Verizon. Yeah. It’s kind of like withdrawal but it works enough to post a photo! Now if the rain would just stop we could go out and kill some pheasants. I actually got here early enough last night to get one so the weekend started off on a positive note. Photos will come later.
In partnership with Sydenstricker Implements, the Missouri Corn Growers Association (MCGA) awarded one lucky corn grower a new all-terrain vehicle as part of a recent membership promotion. Winning the 2010 John Deere TS 4×2 Gator was Carl Landewee, a grain farmer from Chaffee, Mo.
The “Gator Give-A-Way” was part of MCGA’s summer membership drive designed to help raise awareness of the organization and its mission. Running from May 3 through Aug. 19, individuals who signed up for a new MCGA membership or renewed an existing membership were entered for a chance to win the John Deere off-road vehicle.
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.
Today, we have 2-way radios, 3-way light bulbs, 2-in-1 juicer/squeezer and 3-in-1 breakfast makers. They’re designed to make life easier, quicker and simpler. Now, out of the kitchen and into the shop…..if anyone has ever looked in my husband’s toolbox, you’d know that wrenches, nuts and bolts are anything but easy and simple. He has square-head, hex-head and 12-point wrenches. He says, “Go get me the 1/8 wrench, honey (emphasis on honey because he knows I have no idea which one he needs; and I know he’s going to get frustrated and have to go look for it himself anyway. So why did he ask me?).” I don’t think it’s simple.
Two new 
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was in the Peach State earlier this week talking with peanut growers and visiting an ethanol plant. 
Vilsack also visited with Georgia’s peanut growers on Monday at the American Peanut Shellers Association office in Albany at a meeting hosted by Congressman Sanford. During the meeting, the secretary heard from representatives of the Georgia Peanut Commission about their concerns that peanuts were excluded from a recent disaster assistance package, even though other commodities like rice, soybeans, cotton and sweet potatoes were included. Vilsack was also encouraged by the peanut industry to increase peanut butter purchases for federal nutrition and food aid programs, and to continue offering storage and handling in the next farm bill.
J. Dudley Butler, a Mississippi trial lawyer, was 
In this edition of the ZimmCast we’ll meet Roger Reierson, President, 
“In today’s 24-7 news cycle, agriculture needs to have highly trained communicators who can write, broadcast, blog, tweet and utilize other types of communication tools in a way that provides audiences with accurate and timely information,” says Agri-Pulse Editor Sara Wyant. “This program has the potential to attract top talent for teaching and research.” 
The 
The organization recognized the service of and bid farewell to its long-time national FFA advisor, Dr. Larry D. Case, who will retire on Jan. 1, 2011. “FFA members, you are the future and you make this Missouri farm boy proud,” Dr. Case said to the crowd at the convention. “I’m a thankful man. More than anything I’m thankful for the love of my family…thank you from the bottom of my heart for making it possible for me to be of service to others.”
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
