Farm Journal has announced that ‘AgriTalk’ has expanded to a new two-hour format. The company’s afternoon radio program, ‘Market Rally,’ is now ‘AgriTalk After the Bell.’ ‘AgriTalk’ will continue to air each weekday morning, with Chip Flory hosting both hours of the nationally syndicated talk show. Beck Ag, Inc. is expanding its new business acquisition efforts and its market intelligence …
Media Training with Minnesota Soybean
The ZimmComm Team is on the AgriBlogging Highway early in 2018. Cindy and I conducted a session on media training for Minnesota Soybean yesterday in Naples. Cindy was the friendly/not-so-friendly reporter who conducted interviews while I was the videographer. I estimate that we conduct between 1,000 and 2,000 interviews/year and we got started in this business back in 1980 so …
‘Farm Town Strong’ Campaign to Address Rural Opioid Epidemic
The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and National Farmers Union (NFU) are working together to raise awareness about the nation’s opioid epidemic and its impact on farming communities. The “Farm Town Strong” campaign aims to provide resources and information to rural Americans and to encourage farmers to support one another when affected by the crisis. The joint campaign comes in …
Agrilyst’s 2017 State of Indoor Farming Report
We first met Allison Kopf, founder and CEO of Agrilyst, at Alltech’s 2017 ONE. There she took part in the first Pearse Lyons Accelerator program. As a reminder, Agrilyst is a “web-based software platform that helps indoor farms manage their crops and gain data-driven insights to make more profitable production decisions.” Allison and her team have now released a 2017 …
MGEX Records Highest Volume in 2017
MGEX recorded its highest calendar year volume in 2017 at 2,803,549 contracts. This number broke the previous record set in 2015. In addition, MGEX options volume for 2017 nearly doubled the preceding record of 61,226 contracts set in 2002. The Exchange also set a new annual electronic volume record with numbers 22 percent higher than the previous one. The best …
ZimmDot by Echo
“Alexa, where in the world is the Golden ZimmComm Microphone?” No, that’s not an Alexa skill yet. But we’re looking into skills for the hottest product of the latest holiday season – the Echo Dot (and the rest of the Echo family). We’re affectionately calling this one you see, the ZimmDot. There are actually quite a few ZimmDots being activated …
2017 in Pictures
2017 is just a memory now, so we compiled some of our favorite photos from the 50 events we attended this year so you can relive it! This album includes some of our favorite shots of the year, our favorite people, and some of the many inductees into the Golden Mic Club. There’s only 200 out of more than 10,500 …
Precision Ag Bytes 1/3
AgJunction Inc., a leader in automated steering and machine control technology for precision agriculture, has filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the Western District of Texas against Raven Industries, Inc. The lawsuit alleges that Raven products violate three AgJunction patents related to automated mechanical steering, implement steering and system calibration technologies. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages and an injunction to …
GROWMARK Announces 2018 Essay Contest Winners
GROWMARK has announced the winners of the 2018 GROWMARK essay contest for FFA members. The theme of this year’s contest was “How can cooperatives demonstrate their value to the next generation of agriculturists?” The four state winners are: Ross Tompkins of Smithboro, Illinois Anna Campbell of Hamlin, Iowa Chloe Momphard of Troy, Missouri Audrey Pelikan of Jefferson, Wisconsin Tompkins is …
Top 4 Trends Impacting Agricultural Communications
Are you worried about the direction that agricultural communications has taken in the last year? If so, you’re not alone. I’ve had many conversations with friends in the industry who are having trouble understanding all the changes. I have thought about it a lot since the trends or factors impacting these changes have also affected my business. I’ve come up …