2010 was a very busy year on Agwired, but no different than normal! We spent a total of 172 days on the road covering more than 60 different events from coast to coast, as well as Mexico and the Netherlands.
Traffic was up 17% on Agwired this year to a grand total of more than 185,000 unique visitors. We had a total of 1580 posts this year, including more than 530 with audio. We posted nearly 16,000 photos on Flickr and 103 videos on YouTube.
The most popular YouTube video of the year was the unveiling of the Chip Foose designed John Deere tractor at Commodity Classic, which has been viewed nearly 13,000 times. Videos from the John Deere XUV media event were viewed over 5,000 times. Other top videos of the year including the unveiling of the New Holland T8 & T9 Tractors, Opening Day at National Farm Machinery Show, AG CONNECT Expo Preview, General Motors Exec at the National Ethanol Conference, President Obama at the POET plant, AgLeader at AG CONNECT, Kip Cullers New Record, and the fly-by at the National Agricultural Aviation Association meeting.
Thanks to our readers, our sponsors and clients, our freelancers and other friends for making 2010 great! Best wishes to all for a healthy, happy, prosperous and blessed new year!
I remember when it was a rare thing to post a feature about a farmer blogger. Not anymore. Now agvocates are popping up everywhere (the web). Take a new follower of mine on Twitter, Paul W.
Paul blogs at Salt Creek Life and has a regular podcast on BlogTalk Radio. His profile on Twitter says, “North Missouri Row Crop, and Beef Farmer. Blogger, Web Radio Host. All Around Entertainer, Ha!” Now that is an interesting combination don’t you think? Maybe he should be applying to join the NAFB now that they allow webcasters as members?
So would you give Paul media credentials to cover your meeting?
Smooth Sailing at Commodity Classic in Tampa, FL sounds really good right now. I spoke with American Soybean Association VP, Bob Worth, about the upcoming annual event. He farms in Minnesota and was in between a rain storm and a blizzard so I know he’s looking forward to heading south at the beginning of March.
Bob says we’re going to have a classic Commodity Classic with farmers able to learn while catching up with old and new friends. He says the event helps farmers better their bottom line. Some of the top issues he thinks will be topics of discussion and probably part of farm group policy sessions and resolutions include water quality, biodiesel tax credit extension and the farm bill. You can listen to my conversation with Bob here: Bob Worth Interview
Today is the last day of 2010 and the last chance to enter and win $250 in the ZimmComm web pub survey contest this month.
If you read Agwired and want to have a voice in what we cover here in 2011, fill out our survey today. At the end of the day, we will be taking the names of everyone who has filled out an on-line survey in the past two months and putting them all in the hat to draw one winner for the month of December. Everyone, that is, except our lucky winner from last month Jamie Wilson with the Corn Marketing Program of Michigan. She already got her $250.
Right now you have about a 1-500 chance of winning – not bad odds at all. Start out the new year right – with an extra $250 in your pocket – or at least the satisfaction of helping to make Agwired the best darn agribusiness news source it can be!
It looks like agriculture has a ways to go to change public perceptions according to our latest ZimmPoll. In answer to the question, “Do you think the general consumer perception of agriculture changed in 2010?” 43% say “No it didn’t really change,” while 30% say “Yes, it got worse,” and 27% said “Yes, it improved.” Where do you fall in those categories? That’s 73% of our respondents who think it didn’t change or got worse. Sounds like we really do need some campaigns to reach out to consumers doesn’t it?
The new poll is now live and the question is, “What do you think will have the biggest influence on ag in 2011?” There are no doubt many factors that will have an influence. We’ve picked a couple. When I post the results next week you can add any others you’d like to the discussion.
Remember, you can submit your questions for us to pose and add your feedback anytime by using the comment feature.
ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.
Mark your calendars and come join the Board of Directors of the Texas Rice Council as they celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the organization.
Dave Rolli has been named a region sales manager for Wyffels Hybrids, responsible for supervising seven district sales managers.
The Renewable Fuels Association is proud to announce the Flex-Fuel Station Locator application for Android phones.
The Board of Directors of Monsanto Company has announced that Pierre Courduroux, 45, will be appointed as the company’s new senior vice president and chief financial officer effective Jan. 1, 2011.
Here’s what the incoming President of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting is doing now. Check out Cows & Coffee to see the latest from Lindsay Hill. BTW. For those of you wondering about Lindsay’s status as incoming NAFB Prez due to the shutting down of the ABN Radio Network, she fulfilled the organization’s guidelines and applied for membership under new language in the by-laws that allows for “webcasters.” Interesting eh? According to outgoing NAFB Prez, Greg Akagi, reporting to the membership on the membership committee’s decision on her application, “the committee approved Lindsay’s application for membership.” So that settles that issue and we welcome Lindsay as an NAFB member of a different type who will be the Prez for the new year!
Welcome to CowsAndCoffee.com. Would you like a table, booth, or perhaps you’d prefer to kick back in your easy chair? After all, that’s why we’re here.
CowsAndCoffee.com is the place to read the latest agricultural news while you sip your morning cup of coffee. Listen to farm broadcaster Lindsay Hill discuss what’s “brewing” while you surf the web. And chat with other farmers and ag industry professionals just as you would at the local diner.
CowsAndCoffee.com is your online coffee shop. So stop by each day for your daily dose of caffeine and ag information to keep you going throughout the day.
So what kind of cool gadgets did you get for Christmas. Actually, I meant to say “tools” instead of gadgets. They can be tools if used properly!
I’ll start with the Apple TV. I got one that will be replacing my original unit. Of course that means I will have to have the Remote app for my iPad and iPhone to control it with! This has been called a hobby for Apple. They went over a million units in sales last week at $99/ea. Not exactly a hobby I’d say. It allows you to watch HD movie and TV show rentals, Netflix movies and YouTube videos along with iTunes music and photos from your computer. I’m sure we’ll see it continue to develop too.
So if you got cool gadgets feel free to comment and share what you got, what you like and what you’re going to do with them.
Item #48 on our wedding registry: automatic can opener, a.k.a. item #8 that still sits on the pantry shelf and has never been used. I guess I shouldn’t say never. I think my husband used it once or twice.
Raise your hand if you still use the old-fashioned kind where you have to manually turn the knob. I know, there are hundreds of people out there who complain of wrist pain and arthritis and are looking for a scapegoat, but from the show of hands, I’d say technology may not have won this one.
This is a photo of an old bottle cap lifter and can opener from my grandmother’s collection of antiques. Her mother and grandmother both used it, and to give you an idea, her grandmother was born in 1860 and married at the age of 31. I’m thinking she was using the bottle opener then. In 1891, I doubt they worried about smooth edges on the lid.
So, item #48 will remain on the shelf. Maybe my son will write about it as “one of mom’s antiques” some day.
EGT, LLC, announced it is building two high capacity shuttle train loaders in Montana to ensure that EGT can efficiently ship wheat from a key growing region to the company’s export grain terminal.
Allflex USA is introducing a one-piece, self-piercing tag called the A-Tag.
Vivando fungicide from BASF Crop Protection has received full registration from the U.S. EPA and the California Board of Pesticide Regulation.
Got iPad? Want to use it in the kitchen more? Get the Cookineo App.
A recent study (OTO Research Fullsix November 2010) covering user interest for iPad content, has reported a paradox : although the kitchen is the room where we spend most of our time every day, it is not a spontaneous answer to the question “where do you use your iPad?” This would suggest that browsing a recipe website on iPad does not completely fill the need. This is why the creators of Cookineo have revolutionised kitchen assistance by inventing a new “cooking experience”.
It involves using technology with a unique obsession: to make life easier for those who prepare meals daily. This means:
1. Recipes illustrated step by step with a very few words.
2. Navigation through the steps of the recipe is done by clapping hands and without touching the screen.
3. A pictorial summary in order to access data only in case of blackouts.
4. Amounts calculated by the number of guests.
5. An indicator, “4 square balance nutrition”, which makes allowances for choice and reminds you to balance your diet over time.
6. Converter of menu into a shopping list to avoid any forgotten ingredient.
7. Mailing and printing of a shopping list.
8. A service available everywhere, even without WiFi access.
The AgChat Foundation will be holding an agvocate training session in Atlanta during the 2011 AG CONNECT Expo. It will be held January 8 from 3-6pm. If you’d like to attend then get your ticket by registering now.
Training is a major pillar of the Foundation and this unique opportunity provides an excellent opportunity for farmers attending AgConnect equipment show, American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual meeting and the National Cotton Council’s Beltwide Cotton Conference a chance to spend a few hours focused on telling their farm’s story using social media.
Ray Prock, ACF secretary and a dairy farmer from California, says “The concept is to take advantage of the opportunity of having so many good agvocates gathered in one place, broaden the Foundation’s reach & further empower a small group of farmers to increase social media skills and knowledge.”
Prock said the plan includes a three-hour hour hands-on session featuring ACF Board members and others in the AgChat community as trainers and presenters. (more…)
For the past three years, we have been creating year-end photo albums for some of our clients with a service called Blurb. There are others out there that can do the job, but I started using Blurb and have stuck with it and I think it’s just great – easy to use and not very expensive for a really high quality product.
If you want to check out the books we have done, just go to Blurb.com and type zimmcomm in the search box and all of our books will come up – or you can just use this link. I wish we could do photo albums for all of our clients, but they are a bit time consuming – although I am getting better at it every year! Next year I hope to make a few personal ones for our family. Daughter Chelsea has used iPhoto on the Mac to make some for family. She is currently designing one for Chuck’s brother and his family, who just lost their house to a fire last weekend, that includes some of the many photos we have taken on visits there over the years. I’m sure they will treasure it.
In this age of digital photography, I have heard many people complain that looking at pictures on the computer is just not the same as having those prints in nice albums that you can take out and pour through the memories, and most of us just don’t want to take the time and trouble to have them printed to put in albums. Doing it on-line is a great way to solve that dilemma – and with custom backgrounds and colors and text boxes, etc – it’s actually easier, more fun and makes really long-lasting and beautiful books that can be bring memories for years. Plus, you can make multiple copies to share!
The fire that destroyed Chuck’s brother’s house really made us think about all those memories we have lining the shelves of our house. We have at least 40 albums containing more than 10,000 photos that we could never get out of the house if there were a disaster. So the big project next year will be to get them all digitized to save – along with the 70,000 plus digital that we already have on the home server from work and personal events over the past seven years or so! I had already looked into getting our old 8mm videos digitized by a service called iMemories and they do photos as well. If anyone has already used a service like this and have some feedback, please let us know.
Wishing everyone a blessed and joyful holiday full of memories that will last forever!
Thanks to Aimee Chandler, Ag Program Coordinator, University of Illinois Extension for a farmers rendition of the Night Before Christmas. I hope you enjoy it.
FARMERS NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS 2010
Twas the night before Christmas when down on the farm
The animals were resting in the warm, cozy barn.
Now was the time to reflect on the past year
Saying thank you for all the great things they had here.
A calf had been born to the brown and white cow
All bedded in straw from up in the hay mow.
The horses they whinnied with such a great joy
They were a present picked out for the farmer’s young boy.
The pigs they all squealed with every ounce of their might
For the farmer’s wife gave them extra apples tonight.
Even the dogs gave a bark to say thanks
While wagging their tails the children all yank.
A nice quiet night is what they all thought
But little did they know quiet it was not.
When what to their wondering eyes should appear
But the farmer’s whole family had all gathered here. (more…)
ZimmComm New Media gave the three year old site a face lift that just went live last month. Corn Commentary was developed in 2007 to provide NCGA with an outlet for providing opinions on issues impacting the industry, especially in the areas of environment, food safety, health and energy.
The blog was recently updated with a new design and multiple staff members of NCGA have taken over as primary contributors to the blog, which includes new posts several times a week. The new design also incorporates a Flickr photo album feed, as well as links to social network profiles on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. In addition, there is a live Twitter feed of tweets by Corn Commentators and a featured video built in to the new design. Those Corn Commentators include Ken Colombini, NCGA communications director; Mark Lambert, NCGA senior communications manager; and NCGA communications managers Cathryn Wojcicki, Susan Powers and Janice Tolley Walters.
As we deal with cold why not think ahead to a warm New Orleans and an awesome Ag Media Summit? Here is some new information taken from the latest Livestock Publications Council newsletter. Thank you Diane!
The AMS program committee has been hard at work since the conclusion of the 2010 AMS and there are some exciting announcements of speakers who have been confirmed. We are taking a unique angle with this year’s keynote speaker at Tuesday’s luncheon and will hear from Ted Jackson who is a staff photographer for the New Orleans Times-Picayune. He paddled into the Lower Ninth Ward just after the levee broke and spent harrowing days in the devastation that followed, challenging himself both as a photographer and as a human being. He’s going to share his stories and images with us. According to program chairman, Steve Werblow, “We are in for an unforgettable look at Katrina and New Orleans that will touch us personally and professionally”. For some insight on Ted, click here.
Other news:
Ann Wylie is back! She is a dynamic and insightful writer and coach and will conduct four workshops on Monday.
Photographer Peter Krough will deliver two sessions on digital workflow management. The step after shooting a photo is knowing what to do with it and where to find it next. Krough is expert at every step of the process.
Other topics for the 2011 Jazz It Up Ag Media Summit are:
Measuring results in digital media.
Sales and marketing
“How-to” session on surveys and statistics
Ethics case study review
“Nuts and bolts” session with photography
These are just a few teasers to whet your appetite for AMS 2011! Have a topic you want more
information on? Let us know we might still have time to get them on the docket.
Another week, another ZimmPoll. In answer to the question, “Do you participate in social media?” the majority say they do. According to the numbers, 53% say yes and they post regularly, 28% say yes but they rarely create their own posts, 27% say no and they never will and only 1% say no but plan to start participating soon.
It is possible, as has been pointed out to me, that our results might be skewed slightly since so much of this particular poll question is being seen by those who already participate in social media. I can see that. However, we have a lot of website visitors who I’m sure are not yet social media savvy.
The new poll is now live and the question is, “Do you think the general consumer perception of agriculture changed in 2010?” This should resonate since the whole topic of consumer perception of farming is so top of mind right now. In fact, it has given rise to new agricultural organization efforts like the USFRA and of course it is one of the goals of the AgChat Foundation to help consumers better understand where their food comes from and who is producing it and how. Can’t wait to see the results from this one!
ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.
Syngenta and DuPont announced that Syngenta will grant Pioneer Hi-Bred a non-exclusive, global license to its corn rootworm trait MIR604 (Agrisure) for corn seed.
GlyTol glyphosate-tolerant technology, a proprietary trait from Bayer CropScience, will be commercially available to cotton growers in 2011.
Bayer CropScience AG and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have signed a non-exclusive agreement to improve wheat breeding and generate new wheat varieties.
Let’s meet a different kind of agency, an association and cause management company. Let’s meet Drake & Company and who better to talk about it than the man himself, Steve Drake. This is the continuation of my series of podcast conversations with the leadership of various types of agricultural communication agencies.
I remember when Steve got his company started about 18 years ago and he’s done nothing but grow. In fact, when it comes to what’s new with DrakeCo, growth is part of the story. For example, we can point to the fact that they are the management firm for the newly formed U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance. In our conversation we talk about this and just what the company will be doing for the new effort. It’s clear that a lot of formative work is being done. One thing Steve makes a point of is that his company will be “managing” and not actually performing project work of whatever type USFRA decides on.
Other topics covered in our conversation include the Trees for Troops program, Christmas Tree Journal excellence award, managing association conferences, including on an international level and how digital media and content management is impacting associations. Steve says they’ve just completed a strategic growth plan that has re-structured the company into three major divisions. They’re hiring too! So listen in and learn what’s new with Drake & Company: ZimmCast 286 - Drake & Company
This week’s program ends with some music from Music Alley. It’s called “That’s What Christmas Means” by Maximum Fidelity.
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.
Traffic was up 17% on Agwired this year to a grand total of more than 185,000 unique visitors. We had a total of 1580 posts this year, including more than 530 with audio. We posted nearly 16,000 photos on Flickr and 103 videos on YouTube. 
For the past three years, we have been creating year-end photo albums for some of our clients with a service called 
Let’s meet a different kind of agency, an association and cause management company. Let’s meet 
In this week's program Chuck talks with David Armano, Global Innovation and Integration.
