Agricultural Media Summit mania is in full swing. My in-box has been busy today. So I thought I’d add to the news by letting you know that Successful Farming is sponsoring AgWired coverage of the AMS, along with BASF. I asked Jana Rieker, Sales Development Manager for Successful Farming and Agriculture Online to fill me in on what’s new and how they’re involved with AMS this year.
We have a tremendous presence at the show with John Walter, Agriculture Online Multi-Media Director serving as the current President of AAEA, and Laurie Potter, Successful Farming New Products Editor serving as the Committee Chairperson for the InfoExpo Trade Show.
We have seen increases of 30-35% in our online impressions each month over last year. Among them are “CropTechTour” which is sponsored by John Deere, and delivers an interactive field reporting system with maps, video, and commentary from Certified Crop Advisors and Certified John Deere AMS Dealers who post agronomic tips and information about their area. We also have a successful series called Farmers for the Future which is sponsored by DeKalb and the Farm Credit System Foundation.
Agriculture Online was launched in May 1995, with a vision to be a community for farmers to connect with one another to discuss the business of Agriculture. Today, John Walter, and his team of experts continue to lead Agriculture Online into the social media world. We have always delivered tremendous community engagement through our discussion groups, and we continue to grow our site by utilizing other social media tools to enhance the user experience on our site. We have an editor, Mike McGinnis, who has a desk on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade and is able to get immediate reaction and reporting to provide to our audience in video, audio or email communications. By also tapping into the expertise in interactive media within Meredith Corporation, we are able to deliver our audience more reasons to choose Agriculture Online as their source for information online.
Now that John Walter is a professional blogger I’m sure he and I will be talking at AMS and I’ll share the conversation with you then.
AgWired coverage of the Agricultural Media Summit is sponsored by: and
We’re happy to announce that in partnership with BASF, AgNewsWire is the official online news room of the Agricultural Media Summit (AMS). What this means is that during the upcoming event we’ll be distributing news releases for various exhibitors and sponsors of the AMS. More information on this will be sent to them in the coming week.
You’ll also notice that we’ve got a link for Ag Journalists to take the 2009 Hot Topics Survey. BASF would like ag journalists to take their survey to help them formulate information that will be valuable to them.
What do you think the hottest agricultural news topics of 2009 will be? Crop disease prevention? New seed traits? Floods and drought?
Give us your ideas and you could win some great prizes from BASF. As an industry insider, your input is very valuable. This survey will take less than five minutes to complete, and individual responses will not be identified, so please share your opinions freely.
If you will be attending the upcoming Agricultural Media Summit you will automatically receive a special gift tied into this year’s theme “It’s a Family Reunion!” Follow the instructions on the completion page and bring the printout to the onsite press room at the Summit.
If you’re not attending the Summit, you can still enter the drawing by filling in your contact information at the end of the survey. (Your answers will remain anonymous).
It looks like we’ll be getting to work with a new agency for BASF. Mullen has won integrated marketing communications duties for BASF U.S. Crop Protection to enhance awareness and sales of the company’s herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, plant regulators and seed treatment technologies that offer the highest level of crop protection solutions to growers across the U.S.
“Mullen’s team went to exceptional lengths to understand the complexity of our business and the impact our innovations and technologies have on the U.S. agricultural market,” said Ray Gilmer, BASF Crop Protection Division group communications manager. “We were impressed by the team’s passion and insights into the category and the integrated campaign that flowed from both.”
The agency’s work will include branding, advertising, public relations, digital strategy, direct marketing and media planning and buying for the U.S. Crop business.
One of our sponsors for AgWired coverage of this year’s Agricultural Media Summit is BASF. I spoke on the phone to Allegra Sinclair about what we’re going to be doing. This is going to be fun and she’s excited. By the way, I learned that Allegra is an experienced podcaster and recent Mac convert.
So, what’s up with BASF and AgWired? To start with, BASF is sponsoring the media room for the third year in a row. They’ll be supplying computers, wi-fi and all the things we need to do our jobs. To go along with that, we’re teaming up with BASF and our AgNewsWire service to be the official online media room for AMS. This is a first. What this means is that ag journalists will have an online location to find media releases that AMS exhibitors/sponsors want to distribute during the conference. We’ll also send those releases to our ag journalist list as well. These AMS supporting companies will be receiving notification shortly that they can send a release at no charge during the conference.
Then on AgWired you’ll find our patented online event coverage with pictures, interviews and video. Cindy will be there with me so this could get interesting. We’ll be posting our interviews so that they can be downloaded and ag journalists are welcome to use them. Same goes with pictures. So if you can’t be there and want to know what’s going on, well, you know where to go online.
We’re also planning to use AgWired Live TV to webcast the BASF press conference. I’ll have more details on that later.
Allegra says that one of the most important things about AMS for them is the relationship building with ag journalists and I sure echo that. The InfoExpo and other activities provides a great venue for social networking and I’ve seen lots of positive results of it from my own experiences.
Listen to Allegra and me talk about this year’s event:
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We hear a lot about the growth in ethanol production but do you know how it gets from the plant to where it needs to be to enter our fuel supply? How about rail car? During our discussion on the infrastructure needs of a Transition To A Bio Economy, we heard from Paul Hammes, Union Pacific Railroad. Of course his focus was on rail infrastructure and as it relates to biofuels. Specifically, he spoke to the different pieces of that supply chain like rail cars, the rail network and unload/load capacity.
He says that the biofuels industry development happened quite quickly and that put some pressure on their network. In particular, it presented challenges at the destination markets for the unloading of ethanol. One of the challenges has been that ethanol is moved in small units and in concentrated areas. He see future challenges as developing rail infrastructure to meet capacity demands and more development at destination terminals.
You can listen to my interview with Paul here:
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It looks like a morning of “joint-development” announcements. This first one is from BASF and Nidera.
BASF and Nidera today announced the introduction of CLHA-Plus – a new genetic trait for the CLEARFIELD Production System for Sunflowers – at the 17th International Sunflower Conference held in Cordoba, Spain.
CLHA-Plus is the result of a long-term joint development program between BASF and Nidera, a leading sunflower seed breeding company that supplies genetics worldwide. “Nidera’s expertise in sunflower breeding and biotech development techniques complements our core competencies in AHAS genes and imidazolinone tolerance technology,” said Alyson Emanuel, Director, Global Strategic Marketing Herbicides of BASF’s Crop Protection division.
During the BASF Media Summit there were several breakout sessions like the one presented by Paul Rea, Director, BASF Specialty Crops. Attendees got to choose one and I picked Paul’s. He spoke of new products, including Clearcast herbicide and flexible product packaging for the pest control, vegetation management and turf and ornamentals markets. I was interested to see several of the journalists I had just met the week before in Minneapolis at the TOCA meeting.
You can listen to and download the first 10 minutes of Paul’s remarks here: Paul Rea Remarks (10 min MP3)
Or listen to them here now:
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Dr. Hans Kast, President/CEO, BASF Plant Science Holding GmbH, spoke at this week’s Media Summit about plant biotechnology and the work the company is doing in R&D. Picture courtesy of Carl Cox Photography.
On the subject of plant biotechnology, Dr. Hans Kast, President and Chief Executive Officer of BASF Plant Science, indicated that the research and development focus for BASF Plant Science is concentrated in three areas – more efficient agriculture, renewable raw materials and healthier nutrition for humans and animals. “BASF Plant Science has a unique technology platform to support our gene discovery work in these areas,” said Kast. “It combines phenotypic screening with high throughput metabolic profiling to determine gene function, which has led to a broad and diversified early stage pipeline of lead genes.”
Marcus Heldt is Group Vice President, North America, Crop Protection Division, for BASF. He spoke at this week’s Media Summit about how the company is putting innovative knowledge gained in marketing to one crop area to use in targeting other market segments.
BASF is also building on the leadership and success of its Plant Health platform with Headline fungicide. “Headline has clearly established a solid track record in field crops over the last four years with its Plant Health benefits. So much so, that more than 10 million acres of corn and soybeans were treated with an application of Headline in 2007,” said Markus Heldt, Group Vice President, North America, BASF Crop Protection. Now, Heldt said, BASF is leveraging the expertise developed with Headline in field crops for the benefit of other sectors such as turf and ornamentals and fruit. He pointed to the Plant Health work currently underway in the organization’s turf and ornamental business and the potential for Plant Health to play a significant role in addressing issues, such as product shelf life and water restrictions for the ornamental plant production and golf course industries respectively.
You can listen to and download his remarks here: Markus Heldt Remarks (21 min MP3)
Or listen to them here now:
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Dr. Peter Eckes spoke at the BASF Media Summit about how the company is turning science into innovation in the Crop Protection division.
Dr. Peter Eckes, Senior Vice President Global Research and Development for Crop Protection at BASF, stressed that new active ingredients are key to future success and points to Kixor herbicide as a good example. “Such breakthroughs are providing our customers with the tools they need to improve productivity.” According to Eckes, BASF Crop Protection research and development is fueled by the company’s extensive corporate research platform. As an example, he highlights new product innovations based on BASF’s best-in-class polymer research. “With new polymer technology we can give existing active ingredients, such as Prowl H2O® herbicide, for example, better performance. The new encapsulated formulation provides targeted release and better efficacy. We are also translating these advances in formulation technologies into new product concepts that will provide new benefits to our customers.”
One of our speakers at the BASF Media Summit was Michael Heinz, President of BASF’s Crop Protection Division. He focused on the business aspects of how well his division is performing and what the future holds.
“Today, growers seek to maximize productivity on limited land and to minimize their risk in light of rising input costs,” said Michael Heinz, President of BASF’s Crop Protection division. “For both, they need innovative solutions. As the division’s business results last year and in the first-quarter of 2008 have shown, our long-term strategy of investing in innovative solutions is paying off,” he added. Heinz pointed out that innovation at BASF comes from all facets of the business – from research and development, to new business approaches and value-adding services.
You can listen to and download Mike’s remarks here: Mike Heinz Remarks (15 min MP3)
Or listen to them here now:
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At this evening’s BASF Media Summit dinner our speaker was political analyst Charlie Cook. Here he is getting interviewed before our meal.
Charlie thinks we’re going to have a very close Presidential race and that there’s an event yet to happen that will have an important effect on the outcome. He says that Hillary is done and coming in for a soft landing.
I started the interview you see still going on in the picture and you can download and listen to it here: Charlie Cook Interview (5 min MP3)
Or listen to it here now:
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I don’t think Ray Gilmer, BASF Group Communications Manager, could have scripted a more perfect evening to close out their Media Summit here in Washington, DC.
We just finished our final dinner on top of the Hay-Adams Hotel right across from the White House which makes a great background for a picture. I’ve got quite a few more in the photo album so check them out. Thank you Tricia Braid Terry, RFD Radio Network, for taking the picture.
Before I get to BASF innovation I just have to let you know this is post # 5,000 on AgWired. Talk about some new media innovation!
Our first speaker this morning at the BASF Media Summit was Dr. Stefan Marcinowski, BASF Executive Board member. His job was to provide us with an overview of the company and a key word in his presentation was “Innovate.” Keeping with the theme of From Research to Reality, he says that BASF invests significantly in R&D which leads to innovation and that fuels the constant re-invention of the company.
I like his remark that the future is the “time zone where we’ll spend the rest of our lives.”
According to Dr. Marcinowski, BASF is the number one chemical company in the world in sales. He says their income has tripled in the last 10 years.
Wow. What a morning here at the BASF Media Summit. After doing some live video streaming, interviews, pictures and recordings we got to have lunch with USDA Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Bruce Knight.
Bruce talked about the farm bill of course. He used a description from a story in the Washington Post which called the current proposal “an overstuffed turkey.” When he was asked about so many farm groups coming out in support of the proposal he basically said that if he was a special interest group he’d be pretty pleased with it too. However, he said that just because a lot of groups support it, that doesn’t make it good for Americans.
Apparently we’re going to be moving to different rooms this afternoon so this morning’s episode of AgWired Live TV is over but I have several recorded interviews like the following one with Mike Heinz, BASF President, Crop Protection Division.
Thanks to all of you who watched and made it through our internet access disappearing for a few minutes.
I didn’t know we had internet access here in the BASF Media Summit presentation room so I had to move my set up but we’re live and I’m going to stay live for the rest of the day.
You can see the live stream showing up on my Mac here in the back of the room.
Right now we’re near the end of the first session of speakers.
Somebody just turned the air conditioning on which has been really needed here this morning.
This is going to be a fun day of live web streaming activity. Hopefully I’ll bring you some live interviews during our breaks.
The BASF Media Summit is underway and we’ve got a big group of journalists here. I didn’t count but most seats are filled.
I’m recording the presentations and will be doing one on one interviews with each of them as well as having some on AgWired Live TV at the times listed in the last post.
Our first speaker, Dr. Stefan Marcinowski, BASF Executive Board member, just finished his presentation which included an overview of the company and their priorities. Right now we’re hearing from Dr. Peter Eckes, Senior VP, Global R&D, Crop Protection.
Here’s the schedule for when I intend to be live on AgWired Live TV.
10:15 - 10:30am
12:00 - 12:15
3:00 - 4:00pm, eastern time. Approx. live break times.
Our sessions are across the hall in a different room where I don’t have internet access so I’m going to be be bringing people to the media room for some live interviews. Check us out:
AgWired Live TV
Agricultural Media Summit mania is in full swing. My in-box has been busy today. So I thought I’d add to the news by letting you know that Successful Farming is sponsoring AgWired coverage of the AMS, along with BASF. I asked Jana Rieker, Sales Development Manager for Successful Farming and Agriculture Online to fill me in on what’s new and how they’re involved with AMS this year.
We have seen increases of 30-35% in our online impressions each month over last year. Among them are “CropTechTour” which is sponsored by John Deere, and delivers an interactive field reporting system with maps, video, and commentary from Certified Crop Advisors and Certified John Deere AMS Dealers who post agronomic tips and information about their area. We also have a successful series called Farmers for the Future which is sponsored by DeKalb and the Farm Credit System Foundation.
and 
We’re happy to announce that in partnership with 
It looks like we’ll be getting to work with a new agency for 
One of our sponsors for AgWired coverage of this year’s Agricultural Media Summit is 
We hear a lot about the growth in ethanol production but do you know how it gets from the plant to where it needs to be to enter our fuel supply? How about rail car? During our discussion on the infrastructure needs of a Transition To A Bio Economy, we heard from Paul Hammes, Union Pacific Railroad. Of course his focus was on rail infrastructure and as it relates to biofuels. Specifically, he spoke to the different pieces of that supply chain like rail cars, the rail network and unload/load capacity.
It looks like a morning of “joint-development” announcements. This first one is from 
During the BASF Media Summit there were several breakout sessions like the one presented by Paul Rea, Director, BASF Specialty Crops. Attendees got to choose one and I picked Paul’s. He spoke of new products, including Clearcast herbicide and flexible product packaging for the pest control, vegetation management and turf and ornamentals markets. I was interested to see several of the journalists I had just met the week before in Minneapolis at the TOCA meeting.
Dr. Hans Kast, President/CEO, BASF Plant Science Holding GmbH, spoke at this week’s Media Summit about plant biotechnology and the work the company is doing in R&D. Picture courtesy of 
Marcus Heldt is Group Vice President, North America, Crop Protection Division, for BASF. He spoke at this week’s Media Summit about how the company is putting innovative knowledge gained in marketing to one crop area to use in targeting other market segments.
Dr. Peter Eckes spoke at the BASF Media Summit about how the company is turning science into innovation in the Crop Protection division.
One of our speakers at the BASF Media Summit was Michael Heinz, President of BASF’s Crop Protection Division. He focused on the business aspects of how well his division is performing and what the future holds.
At this evening’s BASF Media Summit dinner our speaker was political analyst 
I don’t think Ray Gilmer, BASF Group Communications Manager, could have scripted a more perfect evening to close out their Media Summit here in Washington, DC.
Before I get to BASF innovation I just have to let you know this is post # 5,000 on AgWired. Talk about some new media innovation!
Wow. What a morning here at the BASF Media Summit. After doing some live video streaming, interviews, pictures and recordings we got to have lunch with USDA Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Bruce Knight.
I didn’t know we had internet access here in the BASF Media Summit presentation room so I had to move my set up but we’re live and I’m going to stay live for the rest of the day.
This is going to be a fun day of live web streaming activity. Hopefully I’ll bring you some live interviews during our breaks.
The BASF Media Summit is underway and we’ve got a big group of journalists here. I didn’t count but most seats are filled.
Here’s the schedule for when I intend to be live on 
Digital cattle news pioneer, Rob Cook, is now working for Vance Publishing after the company acquired CattleNetwork.com.
