During the month of September, as part of Hunger Action Month, 55 food banks in 24 states received monetary donations on behalf of Weeding out Hunger, a hunger-relief campaign based on grower purchases of Halex GT corn herbicide.
The National Corn Growers Association announced that Kyle Fergason has been promoted to National Corn Yield Contest Manager and will handle the day-to-day operation of this popular program.
Mycogen Seeds has launched a redesigned website to help growers make well-informed decisions about their MYCOGEN brand seed purchases. The focus of the website is “Localized Products, Performance and People.”
Aquarium Digital Engagement, the interactive division of McCormick Company, welcomes two new staff members to its Des Moines-area office. Digital strategist Dylan Hamilton and digital designer Matt Smith recently joined the company.
Straight from the NAMA Trends in Agriculture conference is a video with one of the presenters produced by Paulsen Marketing.
Dr. Jay Lehr capped off the first day of NAMA’s Trends in Agriculture in Minneapolis. Dr. Lehr, an economist and futurist, talked about the challenges agrimarketers have in communicating agriculture’s story to consumers.
Once again this year I’m sharing a series of videos from the NAMA Trends in Agriculture conference that have been produced by Paulsen Marketing. Here is the first installment.
The kick-off session got underway with Mark Pearson of Market to Market, talking about “Agriculture in a Globally Local World.” Pearson says the shift in how we’re connected with the rest of the world today is having a significant influence on American agriculture.
Just because the sponsor of my coverage here at the Export Exchange 2010 DDGS conference is the Renewable Fuels Association, and just because RFA VP Research, Geoff Cooper (right) was being interviewed, I am posting the often seen and purely voluntary AgriTalk post.
Host Mike Adams and Producer John Herath are also pictured. I’m just saying that it’s a nice gig to get out on the floor about 9am, set up your table, do your show at 10 and then “go home.” Good work if you can get it! It was nice seeing the guys though. Been days.
Did you know that October 8 is World Egg Day? This is a very timely event with all the bad publicity this good food has received lately here in the U.S.
Novus International has joined with industry associations on two continents to celebrate this year’s World Egg Day and bring awareness to the affordability and nutritional value of eggs.
According to the World Health Organization, hunger is the single largest threat to public health. As the world’s population soars from 6.8 billion this year to more than 9.2 billion by 2050, agriculture will be faced with the critical issue of feeding a continually rising population. As our population increases, incomes will raise, diets will diversify and the demand for food will increase. Populations will demand a broader portfolio of foods particularly proteins such as poultry meat and eggs. These growth trends will continue for many years and will strain the food chain from field to fork. Novus International, Inc., a global leader in animal health and nutrition, is taking steps to answer this demand through promotion of the most economical source of protein, the egg.
Eggs are one of the most nutritious and economical foods to produce and purchase. They can be used to help fight hunger, malnutrition and starvation. “Our vision at Novus is to help feed the world affordable, wholesome food and achieve a higher quality of life,” said Dr. Giovanni Gasperoni, Executive Vice President, Marketing and Sales, Novus International. “In conjunction with the celebration of World Egg Day, and in support of our corporate vision, we are partnering with the egg industry in Africa and North America to promote the nutritional benefits of eggs. Parents, children, educators and athletic adults need to recognize the importance eggs play in a healthy diet”.
Novus has prepared resource kits for egg industry associations in Africa and North America to utilize through their various distribution channels including schools, clinics and workplaces. The materials in each kit carry the message “I Know the Truth About Eggs” and point to the informational website www.eggtruth.com. Materials include: educational brochures, posters, postcards, t-shirts and a children’s coloring book. Materials have been structured to specifically target parents, children, educators and athletic adults. Read more here from Novus.
Help spread the truth about the “original super food” – at eggtruth.com!
After leaving the NAMA Trends in Agriculture conference I headed on down the agriblogging highway to another conference of importance to U.S. grain producers. This is the Export Exchange 2010 which got off to an official and social start this evening with welcoming remarks from U.S. Grains Council President/CEO Tom Dorr (left) and Renewable Fuels Association President/CEO Bob Dinneen.
The conference is focused on connecting international buyers of DDGS and coarse grains with the U.S. market. I don’t know what the attendance totals are here but we had a full room for the welcoming reception. During the next couple days I’ll have interviews and presentations posted mostly on Domestic Fuel.com from the event.
Joseph Rueter, Curation Station, talked to the NAMA Trends in Agriculture conference about effective digital brand communities. Actually, our scheduled presenter could not make it and Joseph was called in at the last minute. One of the things he did to prepare included tweeting his followers for their input for what he should tell this group of agrimarketers. How many of you would think to do that? Makes sense though and he got a lot of responses which became part of his presentation. A key element to what he told us was to “tell good stories.” I think you need to listen to my interview to understand what he means by that.
Reports from the NAMA Trends in Agriculture Conference are brought to you by Quarry Integrated Communications. Quarry helps agri-marketers convert branding into buying. Learn more at Quarry.com.
The leader for the trends team within the consumer insights strategy group at General Mills is Carol Bagnoli. Carol was part of the Macro Food Trends Panel Discussion at the National Agri-Marketing Trends In Agriculture conference. She looks at consumer trends and how they’re shifting including consumer values, behavior shifts outside of food, food trends, health trends, sustainability and demographic trends. She says a lot of what consumers think is formed by perceptions and sometimes they really can’t provide a sound reason for why they believe something. Right now they seemed to be really focused on health and things like high fructose corn syrup. She says this is a big one for the industry so there continues to be a real need to get good information out on the subject.
You can hear more about her thoughts on consumer trends and what is causing them in my interview with her here: Carol Bagnoli Interview
Reports from the NAMA Trends in Agriculture Conference are brought to you by Quarry Integrated Communications. Quarry helps agri-marketers convert branding into buying. Learn more at Quarry.com.
Eight youth participated in the inauguration of the Junior National Beef Ambassador Program in Rapid City, S.D. Funded in part by the beef checkoff, the objective of this new youth program is to promote a stronger interest and clearer understanding of the many aspects of the beef industry, its values and virtues, to youth 12 to 16 years old. While preparing for the contest, students have the opportunity to gain knowledge, advocacy skills and an understanding of the importance of beef advocacy and promotion. (Photo L to R: Nolz, Mairose, Loos)
First prize was awarded to Kaley Nolz, an eighth grader from Mitchell, S.D. Nolz loves to show cattle, play sports and is active in 4-H. Erin Mairose, Kimball, S.D., earned second place. Mairose is a sophomore and lives on a ranch that has been in her family for more than 50 years. She is active in 4-H and plays the viola in the Huron Symphony Orchestra. Third place went to Libbi Loos, a seventh grader from Litchfield, Neb. Loos enjoys training, showing and riding horses. She is active in 4-H where she shows cattle and has started her own beef herd with her first show heifer.
All of these youth are encouraged to participate in the National Beef Ambassador Program’s online advocacy efforts and to continue to grow as beef advocates returning to participate in the Senior division of the National Beef Ambassador Program.
What are the trends in food facing a company like Hy-Vee? We found out at the NAMA Trends In Agriculture conference from Rose Mitchell, Senior VP, Governmental Relations.
Rose says there are four key trends they are looking at that include health, safety, taste and how to cook. She says they listen to their customers to identify these trends and then put plans into action to address them. Listen to her provide some examples in my interview.
Reports from the NAMA Trends in Agriculture Conference are brought to you by Quarry Integrated Communications. Quarry helps agri-marketers convert branding into buying. Learn more at Quarry.com.
This year the National Agri-Marketing Association presented Professional Development Awards of Excellence to four people. Pictured are (l-r) Marvin Kokes, NCBA (Sales), Sue Otten, AGCO (Public Relations), Scott McClure, Brighton Agency (Marketing Communications) and not pictured Elena Lindemann, Land O’Lakes Purina Feed (Product/Species Management).
I spoke with Marvin, Sue and Scott about their award and how the theme for the NAMA Trends In Agriculture conference, “Agriculture In A Globally Local World” relates to their business.
Reports from the NAMA Trends in Agriculture Conference are brought to you by Quarry Integrated Communications. Quarry helps agri-marketers convert branding into buying. Learn more at Quarry.com.
The 2010 Minnesota Agri-Growth Council Annual Meeting is scheduled for Nov. 4 at the Minneapolis Convention Center and will focus on contemporary issues facing the food and agriculture industry while also looking back at the hurdles and successes this proud industry has experienced.
The CR9060 combine manufactured by New Holland Brazil was awarded Gerdau’s Best of the Land Award Silver Trophy in the Novelty category for 2010.
Chris Eichhorn has been named a product development manager for Wyffels Hybrids, responsible for identifying, testing and managing corn hybrids and seed technology.
The American Agricultural Editors’ Association unveiled its new website featuring a new look and content management platform.
It looks like agribusiness has a new social networking location. AgHaven is in beta mode. What do you think? Can a stand alone social network make it in ag?
AgHaven, LLC is a collaboration of cutting edge search engine technology, social networking, agri- marketplace and agriculture industry expertise. This collaboration provides the agriculture industry with specific content for all stakeholders; including consumers, producers, agri-marketing, vendors and manufacturers.
Agriculture specific information delivered to the industry drives AgHaven, LLC. That information is filtered and distributed using semantic search technology. Semantic search vastly improves search results for users and delivers qualified customers for advertisers.
This combination of information technology and agriculture expertise will revolutionize the way agriculture is presented and searched on the web.
Capping off the first day of the NAMA Trends In Agriculture conference was Dr. Jay Lehr, The Heartland Institute. He started out his presentation on feeding the world with a video of him promoting agriculture and fertilizer to consumers on the streets of San Francisco. It was actually pretty funny to see people’s reactions from cab driver to old man on a city park bench as he randomly walked up to them and starting agvocating. It was a demonstration of what he sees as a severe need in agriculture to tell its story and re-connect with urban consumers.
Dr. Lehr was fascinated by NAMA’s local chapter concept and suggested that companies and organizational members ought to get together in efforts to communicate the message about agriculture to their local communities. Great idea!
Reports from the NAMA Trends in Agriculture Conference are brought to you by Quarry Integrated Communications. Quarry helps agri-marketers convert branding into buying. Learn more at Quarry.com.
Our kick-off speaker at the NAMA Trends In Agriculture conference this afternoon was Mark Pearson, Market To Market. Mark is a lot of things, including farmer and stockbroker in addition to his hosting of the tv show. He was here to talk about what he sees as trends in agribusiness which means looking forward but also backward.
Mark looks at the general world economic outlook which he thinks is strengthening nicely. He also thinks commodity markets are a key element in the outlook. He says we’re in a bull market for corn, soybeans and wheat. In other words, “the world is coming to the United States to be fed.” Then thirdly, he looks at what’s happening with livestock, especially in light of factors like ethanol which he thinks has a very uncertain future. He mentions what’s happened to biodiesel as a precursor to what may happen to the ethanol sector. He also talks about international markets like China and now a look to Africa which is being seen as a real potential growth market. For marketers he also points to the changes in communications technology as a factor to keep in mind when you look at how and where farmers are getting their information. He doesn’t know too many successful farmers who don’t carry a Blackberry or iPhone!
Reports from the NAMA Trends in Agriculture Conference are brought to you by Quarry Integrated Communications. Quarry helps agri-marketers convert branding into buying. Learn more at Quarry.com.
The National Agri-Marketing Association, Trends In Agriculture conference has a big crowd in Minneapolis. Welcoming us was committee chair, Lacy Carroll, Colle+McVoy. She introduced our kick-off speaker Mark Pearson, Market To Market. I’ll have an interview posted with Mark soon. I’m on my Verizon Mifi and it’s not real fast right now, especially since I’m uploading photos to get the conference photo album started.
So, lots more to come. Our theme is Agriculture In a Globally Local World. I’ll find out how that theme is addressed by as many of the speakers as I can.
Reports from the NAMA Trends in Agriculture Conference are brought to you by Quarry Integrated Communications. Quarry helps agri-marketers convert branding into buying. Learn more at Quarry.com.
Madlynn Ruble, Albert Lea, Minn., Jessica Sweet, Livermore, Calif., Austin Joyce, Pearland, Texas, Kelli Fulkerson, Burlington, Mich., and Kristen Stufft, Lewistown, Pa., were chosen as the 2011 National Beef Ambassador Team winners at the annual competition, funded in part by the beef checkoff, held Oct. 1-3 in Rapid City, S.D. Contestants were judged in the areas of consumer promotion, classroom presentation, media interview technique and issues response.
Twenty-six contestants from throughout the country vied for a place on this elite team of agriculture advocates and $5,000 in cash prizes as well as five educational scholarships totaling $5,000 given by the American National CattleWomen Foundation, Inc. Additionally, one Beef Ambassador will be chosen for a prestigious USDA internship in Washington, DC.
Madlynn “Maddy” Ruble is a sixth generation cattle producer. Ruble, a freshman at the University of South Dakota, is majoring in Spanish and Political Science. Jessica Sweet is involved in her family’s cattle ranch and enjoys showing livestock at her county fair. She is a freshman at Modesto Junior College studying agriculture education and business. Austin Joyce, a freshman at Texas A&M is majoring in Agriculture Business. Joyce enjoys raising Red Brangus with his dad and uncle and hopes to have his own ranch someday. Kelli Fulkerson a sophomore at South Dakota State University is serving as a National Collegiate Agricultural Ambassador. Fulkerson travels around the nation speaking about American agriculture. Kristen Stufft was extremely active in 4-H and is on the board of directors for the Junior Hereford Association. Currently a junior at Penn State University, Stufft is majoring in Animal Science.
After the event, as youth ambassadors, they speak to industry issues and misconceptions, while educating peers and others about food safety, nutrition and the Beef Checkoff Program at consumer events, in the classroom and online.
It looks like the Obama Administration via USDA is getting some pressure to look into the effect of the proposed GIPSA rule according to a release from the NCBA. You can download the letter here (pdf). You can learn more about this issue by reading our previous coverage of the issue, including interviews with this link.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack received a bipartisan letter today, Oct. 4, 2010, from 115 members of the U.S. House of Representatives calling for a comprehensive economic analysis of a propose rule on livestock and poultry marketing under the Packers and Stockyards Act. The proposed rule, released by USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) in June, was in response to a request made by Congress. However, many elected leaders note that the rule goes above and beyond the intent of Congress.
“In the 2008 Farm Bill, Congress directed the Department (USDA) to promulgate a discrete set of regulations under the Packers and Stockyards Act. However, in doing so, GIPSA also included additional proposed regulations that greatly exceed the mandate of the Farm Bill,” the House members penned. “Such a broad rule that extends so far beyond Congress’ direction in the Farm Bill and that would precipitate major changes in livestock and poultry marketing requires a vigorous economic analysis. The analysis contained in the proposed rule fails to demonstrate the need for the rule, assess the impact of its implementation on the marketplace, or establish how the implementation of the rule would address the demonstrated need.”
The letter was led by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.); Ranking Member Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), Livestock Subcommittee Chairman David Scott (D-Ga.) and Livestock Subcommittee Ranking Member Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas). National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President Steve Foglesong said the 115 Congressmen and women that signed the letter should be given credit for standing up for U.S. farmers and ranchers and all of rural America.
This week I’m beginning an informal series for the ZimmCast to learn what’s new at marketing and communications agencies. To get things started this week I’d like to share a conversation with Diane Martin, President/CEO, Rhea + Kaiser.
So let’s start out by asking, “Who is Rhea + Kaiser?” In their words, “We’re an agency of highly collaborative, creative problem-solvers and opportunity-seekers. Solving communications and business problems for our clients with a philosophy of putting ideas first.” I’m hoping you’ll listen in and learn about the things Diane is most proud of at R+K. For one thing they are growing and adding new people to the team. So please enjoy this week’s program: ZimmCast 275 - Diane Martin - R+K
This week’s program ends with some fun music from Music Alley. It’s a song titled, “Twitter Tweetin” by Carrie Dahlby and The FuMP. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.
Farm Credit Services of Illinois and the Illinois Pork Producers Association are teaming-up to provide free grilled pork burger meals during the sixth annual “Harvest Lunch Tour.”
ANIMART, Inc. announces the recent addition of Kayla Buske as marketing associate of the large animal dairy and livestock division which provides animal health products and supplies to producers.
Public Lands Council held its 2010 Annual Meeting in Pendleton, Ore., on Sept. 13-14. At the meeting, new leadership was elected to the executive committee and PLC members adopted new and interim policies.
Milk producers and dairy industry organizations from around the country will meet to “Create a Path to Prosperity” in Reno, Nev., on Oct. 26-28, 2010, at the joint annual meeting of the National Milk Producers Federation, the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board, and the United Dairy Industry Association.
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.
It looks like the Obama Administration via USDA is getting some pressure to look into the effect of the proposed GIPSA rule according to a release from the NCBA. You can 
This week I’m beginning an informal series for the ZimmCast to learn what’s new at marketing and communications agencies. To get things started this week I’d like to share a conversation with Diane Martin, President/CEO, 
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
