Wheat Growers grain and agronomy cooperative announces that Travis Antonsen has been promoted to lead Wheat Growers’ grain origination efforts as the Producer Marketing Manager.
Prior to joining the Wheat Growers team, Antonsen was the head of origination for the Minnesota Soybean Processors plant in Brewster, Minn. Before that he was a merchandiser for the South Dakota Soybean Processors facility in Volga, S.D.
I love seeing new farm podcasts. This one just came to my attention in my email inbox. It’s the Protect The Harvest, Farm Wars! Podcast. This relatively new pro-agriculture advocacy group has jumped into some very important issues of concern for everyone involved in farming today.
Hosted by Wayne Yocum and co-hosted by Dan Kleinsorge, the operations manager of Missouri Farmers Care, the Farm Wars! Podcast is a bi-weekly look at the growing conflict between modern agriculture and extremists within the animal rights and environmental movements.
“Wayne and Dan provide a fresh, inviting and informative take on this very important issue,” explained Iowa State Representative Erik Helland, Protect The Harvest Board Member. “Too many Americans are unaware that their food supply is under attack from extremists who want to control their lifestyles and choices. Hopefully, the Farm Wars! Podcast will be an effective wake up call.”
Released every two weeks, the Farm Wars! Podcast includes in-depth interviews with news and policy makers along with news coverage and discussion segments like “This Week In Insanity” and “Warm Fuzzy/Cold Prickly.”
Take a listen to the latest episode here: Farm Wars! Podcast
All I can say is congratulations to Mary Geiger who is starting a new phase of her career with the Kansas Department of Agriculture. Mary has been a bright spot in the communications department of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. (Plus, I dare say, she’s much better looking than Mike Deering!) So now what are we going to do Mike? Here are the thoughts he shared with me on Mary’s big move.
Bitter-sweet is the term that can best describe the news I have to share today. Associate Director of Communications Mary Geiger will be advancing in her career by serving as the director of communications for the Kansas Department of Agriculture. This is an outstanding opportunity for Mary professionally and personally, as she is afforded an opportunity to be closer to her hometown of Troy, Kan., while also working for the industry she loves.
At the same time, this is a loss for NCBA. Mary has been a determined, go-getter from day one. By leveraging contacts established while working on Capitol Hill, Mary has effectively established NCBA as the go-to source for congressional press secretaries to access the most trusted information regarding the beef cattle industry and policy positions impacting producers. She introduced the concept of tele-townhall meetings, which have been a win for cattlemen and women investing in this organization. Mary has played a significant role in the success of the revamped monthly NCBA membership publication National Cattlemen and she has helped provide content for NCBA’s weekly TV show Cattlemen to Cattlemen. Mary never forgets who she works for and has always considered cattle producers as her top priority. Her accomplishments are many and she is a passionate fighter for the industry.
The two-person policy communications team with Mike and Mary in NCBA’s Washington office is one of the most effective policy communications teams in Washington D C. I am extremely proud of what Mary contributed to NCBA, the entire U.S. beef cattle community and the important role that she has played on NCBA’s communications team.
Please thank Mary for her service at NCBA and join me in congratulating her as she begins an exciting new career. Her last day at NCBA will be May 25.
So, if you think you can fill Mary’s shoes at NCBA here’s where you can get more information.
Just Farmers is helping tell agriculture’s story and there are already a number of them posted. See what you think. Just Farmers is offering a variety of services that include: Developing Social Media Action Plans; Creating Listening Centers; Shaping Your Message; Targeting Specific Audiences; Analyzing Your Presence and Building Your Brand.
Just Farmers is a digital sandbox for those interested in using conversations, relationships and community to harness the power of humanity’s inner want for social interaction in all forms. Several years ago a few in the agricultural world jumped head first into realm of Social Media. Through many learning opportunities, not all good, we found our way to where we are now and our shared passion of conversations as a way to collectively harness the power of individual people when brought together into communities.
As a play on our everyday profession as Farmers we have created “Just Farmers…”. Just Farmers is not specifically about the agricultural meaning of farmer and really is a more broad look at how through the use of different social channels conversations are being grown into crops of relationshipsand the harvest are the communities brought together in the end. More simply Just Farmers… includes those people interested in farming communities of engaged committed individual people by engaging in conversations.
Just Farmers is a project of:
Jeff Fowle
Mike Haley
Ray Prock, Jr.
July 8-14 is National Farriers Week and American Farriers Journal wants to feature farriers via their social media channels. So get your camera or smartphone out and send ‘em a photo/story!
As mentioned, this year, American Farriers Journal is going to spotlight farriers based on your feedback. From now until July 1, we encourage horse owners to submit pictures of their farrier working with their horses, and share why you appreciate your farrier or tell us a story about your farrier.
If you are a farrier making a difference in the industry, send us your pictures and tell us a unique story of how you helped improve a horse’s life. We will be featuring your stories, and the stories horse owners share with us during National Farriers Week on Facebook, Twitter and AmericanFarriers.com. You (or your nominated farrier) could even be featured on our Facebook cover photo!
Great or small, we want to hear everything farriers are doing to support the industry. You can submit your photos and stories to Michelle Sauer at msauer@lesspub.com. Be sure to include your full name and location with your submission (if you are a horse owner, please include your farriers full name and location as well).
American Farriers Journal has also posted a certificate for National Farriers Week that horse owners can download and personalize for their farriers. It can be downloaded at http://www.americanfarriers.com/file_open.php?id=173.
Do you find food confusing? Not sure who to believe? Try the folks who produce it and the science behind today’s food production. CommonGround is one resource you should look to if you’ve got questions
CommonGround, a volunteer group of farm women dedicated to creating conversations around farming and food, wants to help provide moms with facts around some of the biggest food myths that exist in America. Recently, CommonGround commissioned the Gate-to-Plate Survey to gain insights into how U.S. moms feel and think about their food and the food choices they make for their families. More than 70 percent of moms surveyed admitted to having questions or concerns about how their food is grown or raised – a number that CommonGround volunteers hope to decrease through independent third-party data, firsthand experience and honest conversations.
Here are some major topical areas in the report:
Guilt and Confusion Around Organic Foods
Buying into “buying local”
Myths About Food Costs and the Modern Family Farmer
To get a wrap up of the 2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit I spoke with President/CEO Kay Johnson Smith. Kay was given these beautiful flowers in recognition of her service during the organization’s celebration of its 25th anniversary.
Kay says this year’s Summit was a little different than normal since it focused more on how to effectively communicate with the consumer and better understand what the consumer wants and needs to know. It also provided a cross-species networking opportunity which is one of the benefits to this type of meeting. I asked Kay what stood out in her mind after listening to the presentations. One was a step by step method to communicate with the consumer which gave specific workable ways to accomplish this. Another was presentation on the PennAg Industries Association Today’s Agriculture display at the 2012 PA Farm Show.
You can hear my interview with Kay here: Interview with Kay Johnson Smith
2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit Photo Album
Thanks to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and United Soybean Board for their sponsorship of our coverage of this year’s Summit.
The Chairman of the Animal Agriculture Alliance, Chris Ashworth, closed out the 2012 Stakeholder Summit after introducing our final speaker. I visited with him to learn how things are going with the organization.
Chris talks about the fact that they are celebrating 25 years of advocating for animal agriculture representing all animal species. He says that this past year they’ve had a lot of success at the state level impacting legislation that supports agriculture. He says the Stakeholders Summit had a record attendance and that social media came to the forefront as a tool to communicate agriculture’s message. Yes indeed!
You can hear my interview with Chris here: Interview with Chris Ashworth
2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit Photo Album
Thanks to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and United Soybean Board for their sponsorship of our coverage of this year’s Summit.
Let’s talk “Authentically Agriculture” with Michele Payn-Knoper, Cause Matters and founder of the weekly AgChat Twitter conversation. Michele was a presenter at the 2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit. Michele says her presentation title means “that agriculture really needs to do a better job of connecting on a human level.” She spoke about the values, validation and voice that’s needed for agriculture and challenged the group to think about these ideas. Even though you may be a farmer you’re still a human being first and to start at that level to connect with other human beings is the basic first step. Sounds like good advice to me.
We also talked about AgChat and the AgChat Foundation which both Michele and I serve on the board of. It is amazing that the weekly Twitter conversation has been going for over 3 years and Michele says there has been participation from over 15,000 people from 15 countries. She says the outcomes from the conversation are fascinating. I’ll also use this chance to promote this year’s AgChat Foundation Agvocacy 2.0 Conference which will take place August 23-24 in Kansas City. Submit your application here.
Listen to this week’s ZimmCast here: Authentically Agriculture with Michele Payn-Knoper
Thanks to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and United Soybean Board for their sponsorship of our coverage of this year’s Summit.
Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsors, GROWMARK, locally owned, globally strong and Monsanto, for their support.
The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired. Subscribe so you can listen when and where you want. Just go to our Subscribe page.
The moderator for the 2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit was Tom Steever, Brownfield, who is currently the President of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. Tom was also one of our presenters so it was interesting seeing him introduce himself, speak, thank himself and then present himself with the AAA coffee mug token of appreciation. It was also hilarious. Tom took over moderating duties for Tom Brand, NAFB, Executive Director, who could not attend due to a family emergency.
Tom’s topic was “Strengthening the Bond.” I took that to mean a discussion about relationships and I was right. His message was that “the farmer has a story to tell and that the farmer should tell to consumers.” By doing that we can build the relationships that will help them better understand where our food comes from. And he also points out how farm broadcasters can help tell the story of the farmer.
You can hear my interview with Tom here: Interview with Tom Steever
2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit Photo Album
Thanks to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and United Soybean Board for their sponsorship of our coverage of this year’s Summit.
If you need a speaker on the subject of social media and content marketing then you need Shelly Kramer, V3 Integrated Marketing. I met Shelly last year and she talks about what I do better than I do and I like that. I’m sharing a short excerpt from her comments at the 2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit on blogging which is near and dear to my heart as you all know.
Shelly was here to speak on “Closing the Trust Gap,” and her comments on how individuals and companies can accomplish this are spot on. I fully agree with her idea that you used to spend money on media and then you got business. Today you spend time on media and you get business. Now, that media is yourself and/or social media (mobile website, blog, podcasts, social networking, etc.). Of course time is money but to utilize these tools properly you have to invest time and give it time to develop. She also made a point of saying how big a mistake it is to think you can hire the company president’s just out of college daughter to run your social media accounts. If you think about that hard enough for a minute you’ll understand why. However, it happens and it is a setup for potential disaster.
You can hear an excerpt of Shelly’s comments here: Shelly Kramer Talks Blogging
2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit Photo Album
Thanks to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and United Soybean Board for their sponsorship of our coverage of this year’s Summit.
The Animal Agriculture Alliance is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Here’s Steve Kopperud receiving a present since Steve was the founding President. I hope that’s the right title. The AAA was given birth by the American Feed Industry Association and was originally known as the Animal Industry Foundation.
Speaking of the American Feed Industry Association being a founding member/organization/supporter of the AAA, here’s Sarah Novak, Vice President, Membership & Public Relations at AFIA, receiving a 25 years of support award from AAA Chairman Chris Ashworth. During our Stakeholders Summit reception last night all the long time supporters of the AAA were recognized and photos are in the online photo album.
2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit Photo Album
Thanks to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and United Soybean Board for their sponsorship of our coverage of this year’s Summit.
The winners of the College Aggies Online Scholarship are attending the 2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit. Here they are from Casper College with their adviser, Marty Finch. The college team was presented a check by Animal Ag Alliance Chairman Chris Ashworth and and Kay Johnson Smith, President/CEO.
I visited with the students, Kaycee Carpenter, Trinity Holland and Jessie McClellan. I asked them to tell us about the College Aggies program and what being here means to them and why they are such strong supporters of agriculture.
You can hear my interview with our scholarship winners here: Interview with Scholarship Winners
2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit Photo Album
Thanks to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and United Soybean Board for their sponsorship of our coverage of this year’s Summit.
What is agriculture’s voice like in today’s media? That’s the question posed to the panel that Janie Gabbett, Executive Editor, MeatingPlace, served on here at the 2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit. Janie used some great examples of how big issues like LFTB and BSE have been handled by the mainstream media and talked about how industry stakeholders can and should handle these situations.
Janie gave some great advice. For example, she says that you have to have factual information readily available before these issues blow up. That’s because journalists are under ridiculous deadlines and need instantaneous information and resources. She says that if you wait to put it together until you’re asked for it then you’ve lost the opportunity. I agree. She also makes a point of using the social media platforms like blogging since even the media are doing so as well as consumers and animal activists. She also makes a great point that those of us in “industry” media should be looked to as a place to make sure good information is available. MeatingPlace is followed and read by mainstream media just like AgWired is!
You can hear my interview with Janie here: Interview with Janie Gabbett
2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit Photo Album
Thanks to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and United Soybean Board for their sponsorship of our coverage of this year’s Summit.
Lessons Learned From Europe was the topic addressed by Mike Sheldon, Greenway Farms Limited, during the opening session of the 2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit. Mike talked about regulatory burdens and activist influence. You’ll hear him say in my interview with him that what’s happening there is coming here to the USA.
I asked Mike what he wanted to communicate to our group here. He says that he first wanted us to know how big the impact is going to be on hog production when closed confinement stalls for sows are banned next year. He says this change is happening in Europe and will happen here as well. This change is going to be huge. He says that minor changes can be dealt with but a change of this magnitude which will require massive investment to implement without showing a greater return is going to be hard to deal with.
You can hear my interview with Mike here: Interview with Mike Sheldon
2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit Photo Album
Thanks to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and United Soybean Board for their sponsorship of our coverage of this year’s Summit.
In our first session at the 2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit the topic was legislation. One of our panelists is Anne Hazlett, Chief Counsel, Senate Ag Committee Republican members. Her panel addressed the ag outlook in the 112th Congress and the future of the new farm bill.
I talked with Anne after the session who says she really liked the opportunity to interact with leaders in the livestock industry. She started her comments addressing the action of the Senate Ag Committee last week on the farm bill. She says she also raised some issues for attendees to get proactive communicating to their local legislators. She says there’s a long road ahead for the farm bill. She says the bill will be written under very challenging conditions. It’s time to make sure priorities are known and to talk with legislators not on an ag committee.
You can hear my interview with Anne here: Interview with Anne Hazlett
2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit Photo Album
Thanks to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and United Soybean Board for their sponsorship of our coverage of this year’s Summit.
Attendees to the 2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit were greeted by the organizational team at the registration table. I spoke with AAA Communications Director Sarah Hubbart (right) to get a preview of our program.
Sarah says this is the 11th annual Stakeholders Summit which is held to bring together animal agriculture industry leaders to discuss issues. This year’s theme, Real Farmers Real Food: Celebrating Tradition and Technology, is meant to stimulate a discussion of both the legacy of the role that agriculture plays and the importance of new technologies. I think Sarah is the main social media handler so follow along with @AnimalAg for live tweets during the conference using the hashtag, #AAA12.
You can hear my interview with Sarah here: Interview with Sarah Hubbart
2012 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit Photo Album
Thanks to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and United Soybean Board for their sponsorship of our coverage of this year’s Summit.
He’s America’s Accountability Leader. He’s Bond, Walter Bond. He was also our final speaker at the 2012 Agri-Marketing Conference with a session titled, “No One Can Stop You, But You.” Walter is a former NBA player.
I asked Walter what he wanted these agrimarketing professionals to take away from his presentation. He says the main message is, “I don’t want them to go back home and be the same professional when they left.” He says his background as a professional athlete taught him to get bigger, stronger and faster. He’s applied that same strategy to his post athletic career and suggests the same for NAMA members.
You can listen to my interview with Walter here: Walter Bond Interview
2012 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album
In this week’s program you’re going to hear why the Agri-Marketing Conference is such an important program to have on your schedule each year.
I’ve taken some excerpts from two of our keynote speakers, Peter Sheahan and Ross Shafer as well as an interview with one of our Conference Planning Committee members, Scott McClure, and put them into a program. Let’s get started in show order with Peter Sheahan. Peter talked about “Making it Happen: How To Turn Good Ideas Into Great Results.” Peter talks about how you take good ideas and then execute. It’s in the execution that you take those ideas and innovate!
Next we’ll move along to Ross Shafer who spoke on “Are You Still Relevant?” Of course we’d all like to think we’re relevant. One of the first things Ross says that sticks with me is the idea of “quit going to ag meetings.” He highly suggests going to meetings for other industries. He says that you’ll hear ideas in those meetings you’ll never hear in an ag meeting. That might be just what you need to stay relevant!
And finally we’ll visit with Scott McClure, Brighton Agency, who was our Vice Chair of this year’s NAMA Conference Planning Committee. Scott says the success of this year’s Conference is a combination of the enthusiasm in our industry and the coming together of one of the largest gatherings of people we’ve had in a decade. Scott also says he worked on a great planning committee this year and gives them the credit for coming up with a really good program that included speakers like Peter and Ross.
Listen to this week’s ZimmCast here: 2012 Agri-Marketing Conference Program
Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsors, GROWMARK, locally owned, globally strong and Monsanto, for their support.
The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired. Subscribe so you can listen when and where you want. Just go to our Subscribe page.
The announcement of the student NAMA team that wins the annual marketing competition at the annual Agri-Marketing Conference is always so emotional. There are smiles, cheers and tears. And you even find them on the students too!
This year the winning team is the Iowa State University Student NAMA team. I did not get to be involved in the team competition much this year so somebody needs to help me out and add a comment about what their product was. Sorry, I just did not get notes of that. However, I did capture the winners on video. Think they’re excited?
The other winners included:
2nd place – University of Minnesota,
3rd place – Kansas State University,
4th place – University of Wisconsin-Madison,
5th place – Arizona State University,
6th place – University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign.
2012 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album