We’re seeing more and more ag companies utlizing new media tools in their communications efforts. Here’s one I just found out about. The picture is Kassie Billerbeck, an Iowa State Student, who has her own blog a new Dow AgroSciences website. She’s doing some fertilizing in her plot at the Farm Progress Show site.
Dow AgroSciences has launched a new Web site to promote its Ultimate Yield Tour at the 2008 Farm Progress Show. With weekly updates from the show site, podcasts and maps, www.UltimateYieldTour.com will offer up-to-date information to help growers get the most from the Dow AgroSciences exhibit at the Farm Progress Show, Aug. 26 to 28 in Boone, Iowa.
The Ultimate Yield Tour will highlight new products from Dow AgroSciences and Mycogen Seeds, including a new nitrogen stabilizer, eight-gene stacked corn, advanced crop protection products and innovations in herbicide tolerance traits. The tour will take place at the Dow AgroSciences exhibit, located on Central Avenue between First and Second Streets on the Farm Progress Show grounds.
“We’ve doubled our exhibit space at the 2008 Farm Progress Show, making way for even more demonstration plots,” says Brent Stauffacher, Dow AgroSciences product manager. “We know that growers want to see results, so we are using this new Web site to promote our plot tour and encourage growers to experience our products and pipeline of new technologies firsthand.”
“Kassie’s Plot Blog” is one of the unique features of the Web site designed to help build anticipation for the show. Kassie Billerbeck, an Iowa State University student and agronomy intern for Dow AgroSciences, will maintain a blog with weekly updates and photos of show site activity and crop status.AgroSciences, will maintain a blog with weekly updates and photos of show site activity and crop status.
Internet? No one’s ever going to use that! Blogs? Fad, not going anywhere.
Four years ago I heard that a lot. Rob Cook and I talk about it in this week’s ZimmCast.
Well, here’s another blog just to show you another example of how the platform can be used. This time it’s Missouri Agriculture’s Lunch & Learn Series.
The goal of Missouri Agriculture’s Lunch and Learn Series is to spread knowledge about Missouri agriculture and the impact livestock and crops have on our rural economies. This series also highlights the important connection between livestock and row crops, as well as the relationship between the growing biofuels industry and the state’s animal agriculture industry.
Road blogging for pets and parasites is what the Companion Animal Parasite Council is doing this week. The folks at BCS Communications are figuring out this thing called new media.
The CAPC parasitologists and veterinarians are traveling the country this summer between July 24 and August 6 to bring you the latest information on protecting your pets and family from parasites, vector-borne diseases and zoonotic risks.
FFA Alumni State Leaders are gathered in Washington, DC and thanks to a new blog, you can keep up with the action.
The National FFA Alumni State Leaders Conference kicks off today. FFA Alumni members will have an exciting week touring Washington, D.C., visiting with their congressional representatives and learning more about opportunities available through the FFA Alumni. The event would not be possible without the generous sponsorship of Tractor Supply Company, Toyota and Farm Credit Services.
This blog has been created to provide information and photos regarding the National FFA Alumni’s 2008 State Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C. Joy Carter with the Georgia Peanut Commission, who is southern region director on the National FFA Alumni Council, is the blog developer and poster - I am sitting in the Panama City airport with her right now as she prepares to head out to DC. The FFA Alum blog address is ffaalumnislc.wordpress.com.
While we’re still celebrating iPhone 3G release day I thought I’d point out something that may make it a more desirable choice for agribloggers. If you’re a WordPress user like me then there will be an application which allows you to post directly from your iPhone.
The WordPress for iPhone App is nearly ready to go. It supports WordPress.com blogs as well as self-hosted WordPress.org blogs running version 2.5.1 or newer.
Timing wise, with the launch of Apple’s iTunes App store this morning, we expect to see this showing up very soon.
While we wait, here is a brief video showing the App in action. (It’s high quality, so may take a moment to kick off.)
The technology behind farm machinery, such as tractors and sprayers, is continually becoming more streamlined with advances in computer and software innovation. So, why not livestock? MobileDemand is a rugged tablet PC manufacturer based out of Idaho and they’ve just put the power of the PC in the hands of the field staff at Wendell, Idaho’s Box Canyon Dairy.
MobileDemand says its partnership with ProfitSource enables dairy farms to bring both wireless computing and specialized DairyQuest software into the cattle pens, streamlining operations, saving time, and reducing error.
I spoke with MobileDemand CEO Matt Miller about how he found the agriculture industry to be optimal match for the rugged PC company. You can listen to my interview with Matt here.
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MobileDemand also offers a video summary of its case study with Box Canyon Dairy. The video further illustrates how the tablet PC and DairyQuest Software have helped one dairy farm increase efficiency in both the breeding and health monitoring of its 8,000 cows. You can watch the video here:
While I’m on the subject of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council, I realized that I’ve neglected to mention their newly designed member website.
I think it’s a great example of how a “blog” can be your primary website. EPIC staff, (occasionally, Cindy and myself), easily and frequently update the website with fresh information that their members want and need to know. Members can subscribe to it and there are plenty of pages of information that are also updated easily and frequently. It’s another ZimmComm New Media blog project that we’re pretty proud of. Elizabeth Hilpipre, EPIC staff, is becoming a master blogger and loves her new iMac btw.
This agriblogger is getting a taste of life in Argentina this summer. Mandy Nolz publishes, Chewing The Cud. Here’s what she’s doing down south, “For the month of June, I will explore the city of Buenos Aires to attend Spanish classes, live with a host family, and complete my goal of studying abroad during my college career.”
She’s already had some interesting observations about the differences in life there versus here. For example:
What surprised me the most, is the true understanding these city folks have of rural South America. If you haven´t heard, the government in Argentina continually butts heads with the agriculturalists. Due to the high export taxes, farmers have a hard time making money when the government is so focused on keeping domestic prices low for the consumer. As a result, there have been protests, strikes, and much fighting done by the ranchers in order to change things for the better.
As a former Beef Ambassador, she has her priorities right.
They eat beef, they are aware of how it is produced, and they support the ranchers. Does it get any better than that? If you are reading this, please take note and begin to educate the people of your community about agriculture. It is time that we have our voice in the heart and souls of the cities in America. If not, where does the future of agriculture rest? Ciao, from Argentina!
I’m not sure how long they’ve been doing this but I just noticed that when I opened a PR Newswire release it’s got a little link at the top that says, “Blog It.” It seems to only let you post to a Blogger or Wordpress.com account though. I tried posting it to ZimmComm.biz but no go.
At least they’re thinking in the right direction. Adding a function that would allow you to post to a blog on your own domain/host would be a nice next step.
I guess bloggers can be journalists after all. Who would have thought?
Joining the growing number of ZimmComm designed and developed blog is HAT Chat. Hoosier Ag Today announces the launch of the interactive blog “HAT Chat”. Located at www.hatchat.net, this blog is a place on the internet for a discussion of the news and issues impacting Indiana agriculture. HAT broadcasters Gary Truitt and Andy Eubank will regularly share their insights on the news and issues of Indiana agriculture as well as a behind the scenes look at the news and the operation of HAT. Hoosiers will be able to participate in this discussion by posting comments on the blog.
The blog will also be a place to learn the latest news about Hoosier Ag Today. News releases and other information about HAT will be posted to HAT Chat first. The site will be a multi-media site featuring photos, audio clips, and even video pieces. “This is going to be a fun place; I invite everyone to come and have some fun with us,” said Gary Truitt, President of HAT. The site was designed by ZimComm New Media.
This is what gets the agriblogging farm podcaster going on a Monday morning. Rocket Fuel from Coffee Zone. If you need some, let me know and I’ll do the deal for you and ship it. It’s $12.50/lb. plus shipping and handling.
So, posting was light on AgWired over the weekend. After all, it was Father’s Day weekend. Happy Father’s Day yesterday to all you Fathers.
Now that the caffeine is starting to kick in I feel a posting blitz coming on. That remains to be seen but it could happen. I’ve already got a number of fresh, “first of the week,” news releases in. It looks like BASF was first. Give me a minute to read through them and we’ll see what gets posted.
For you agribloggers and farm podcasters seeking some professional improvement opportunities this summer, here’s one. It’s the Blogworld & New Media Expo. The dates are September 20-21 in Las Vegas. I am thinking about going.
They’ve got these interesting tidbits about blogging on the Expo homepage. You’ll find links in them to where they got the information. Important Blogging Statistics
* Over 12 million American adults currently maintain a blog.
* More than 147 million Americans use the Internet.
* Over 57 million Americns read blogs.
* 1.7 million American adults list making money as one of the reasons they blog.
* 89% of companies surveyed say they think blogs will be more important in the next five years.
* 9% of internet users say they have created blogs.
* 6% of the entire US adult population has created a blog .
* Technorati is currently tracking over 70 million blogs .
* over 120 thousand blogs are created every day .
* There are over 1.4 million new blog posts every day .
* 22 of the 100 most popular websites in the world are blogs .
* 120,000 new blogs are created every day .
* 37% of blog readers began reading blogs in 2005 or 2006 .
* 51% of blog readers shop online .
* Blog readers average 23 hours online each week .
The National Turkey Federation is becoming more savvy in online social networking. June is ‘Turkey Lovers’ Month’ and to celebrate, the federation is debuting its new identity on Facebook.com
The federation chose to focus the concept on Facebook, to reach a younger audience that is talking with their peers through this social networking community. Campaign participants will add a “turkey voki” — a small, talking cartoon turkey — to their profile areas and share it with their friends across Facebook.
The talking turkey voki has the right elements to spread the National Turkey Federation’s message virally. The talking turkey delivers a humorous, customizable message and it wears a t-shirt that says “Shake Your Tail Feather”. The voki also says, “Do I make you hungry? Happy Turkey Month!” Users can customize the talking turkey’s clothes and choose to load up their own voice to the turkey voki with their phone or computer. The voki platform allows users to send the talking turkey to friends, or post it on a social network profile area or blog.
The tested message, “Shake Your Tail Feather,” was an almost-unanimous choice among the younger audience. Participants said they chose the phrase because it made them want to get up and dance.
Facebook users can find the talking turkey in the Voki Voice Avatars application.
I’m not sure if mobile computicating is a term but the phones of today are computers that let us communicate on the go and today the iPhone took a step forward. I got back from Nashville in time to follow along with Tom Kravitz on One More Thing as he wrote about the stage show at the Apple WWDC. I really like the idea of updating your post during a presentation like this.
For you ag meeting planners out there, “How about some wireless internet access during the presentations and in the meeting rooms?” I know many of you are finally getting a media room with internet access but we’re way beyond that. Of course, we can update our websites from our phones and with more AT&T 3G, it’s getting easier.
If none of this makes sense to you then we need to talk about how you’re communicating in a web 2.0 world.
The executive director of the National Biodiesel Board is not just a country music fan, but also a country music singer… well, for his wife and kids at home at least. But today, Joe got a bit more exposure than a home audience. He performed live on the Dave Nemo Show on XM Radio with renowned country music singer/songwriter Michael Peterson.
Michael and Joe also delved into energy issues, renewable fuels and where all that fits in with public policy. Joe says the National Biodiesel Board is aiming to have biodiesel replace five percent of the national supply of diesel fuel. He says that is equivalent to the amount of diesel the U.S. if refining and importing from in Iraq. In other words, he says the National Biodiesel Board is aiming to replace the diesel fuel we get from Iraq.
Some critics arguing against renewable fuels point out that the alternative fuel sources will never fully replace the need for oil. But, Joe says that’s not the point, “That’s like saying if you can’t do everything than you shouldn’t do anything.” Joe says The National Biodiesel Board simply doesn’t share that frame of thought. That’s why it has launched the BioTrucker Fuel Card. The card offers card holders cash price on all biodiesel fuel at 5,000 participating locations and special discounts at select truck stops all without any transaction fees. Those interested can sign up for the card at BioTrucker.com.
Both Michael and Joe lauded the farmers that make up the nation’s ag industry. Joe says agriculture is a powerful industry that fosters cutting-edge, technological innovation. “Ag is slow to move but powerful to respond,” Joe said.
You can listen to the entire broadcast of the Dave New Show with Michael and Joe here:
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I also got some videos of Michael and Joe while they were singing and strumming their guitars. You can watch the videos here:
Deputy Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner visited the 20th annual World Pork Expo on Thursday and spoke with producers about some of the challenges and opportunities facing the industry.
On the opportunity side is exports. “Thanks to this industry for your role in leading US exports to another remarkable level,” Conner said. The latest forecast calls for agricultural exports to hit $108.5 billion - $26 billion more than last year. “And pork is certainly doing a big portion of this. We expect the value of pork exports to be up 35 percent from 2007.”
Conner discussed the challenges of higher feed costs and actions USDA is taking to help alleviate the situation, such as opening up CRP land for haying and grazing, but he does admit that he is concerned about the effects of the weather on this year’s crop. And he talked about the Farm Bill.
After his formal presentation, we had a little “press gaggle” with Conner - which always makes for good photos.
Listen to Conner’s speech here:
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We know that renewable fuels like ethanol and biodiesel are good, right? That’s the premise of a new website that is launched today - GoodFuels.
Addressing America’s dependence on foreign oil will require many solutions. A solution at our disposal today, and one that is already making significant contributions, is the increased production and use of biofuels like ethanol. Ethanol is already reducing our dependence on foreign oil by hundreds of millions of barrels per year and helping to keep oil and gasoline prices lower than they might otherwise be.
GoodFuels.org seeks to provide a thoughtful and comprehensive discussion of all the issues surrounding biofuels and their important role in our energy future, as well as be a resource for information, news and research pertaining to developments in biofuels.
One of the questions I get asked very often is, “How can you make money with new media?” If you read AgWired often then you probably have a good idea of some of the ways that can happen.
But let’s say you’re a membership organization like the Appaloosa Horse Club and you’ve got a blog. What can you do with it besides use it as one of the most effective communications tools you’ve got? Sell sponsorships!
That’s what the ApHC has done. You can see Featherlite Trailers is one of their sponsors of Appaloosa Blog Spot. Now if that’s not cool then I don’t know what is. We built their blog and did some initial training and they’ve take off with it. It’s got great regular content, including some event content I still produce for them a couple times a year. I’m sure Steve Taylor would be willing to share his experience as a CEO blogger with you.
Just in time for my presentation at the TOCA meeting tomorrow (Blogging and podcasting for profit. Sponsored by Ewing Irrigation and PBI Gordon) is this report from Universal McCann titled, “Power to the People, Social Media Tracker Wave 3.” (pdf-24MB) They’ve done this study globally 3 times now so it’s got some interesting comparative data in it. Basically folks, new media is where it’s at in today’s online world no matter what country you’re in or what your occupation or age demographic. So for those of you who still wonder why you should know more about this, your questions will be answered. If you still wonder then let’s just say you have gotten off the Cluetrain. Here’s some interesting points and I urge you to download the report with the link above to read the whole thing.
Social media is a global phenomenon happening in all markets regardless of wider economic, social and cultural development.
All social media platforms have grown significantly over the three Waves: Video Clips are the quickest growing platform, up from 31% penetration in Wave 1 to 83% in Wave 3.
57% have joined a Social Network, making it the number one platform for creating and sharing content: 55% of users have uploaded photos, 22% of users have uploaded videos.
Blogs are a mainstream media world-wide and a collective rival to traditional media 73% have read a blog, 45% have started a blog.
Social media has strong impacts over brands reputation 34% post opinions about products and brands on their blog 36% think more positively about companies that have blogs.
Here’s the percentage of respondents who agreed with these statements:
56% Blogging is a good way to express yourself
36% I think more positively about companies that have blogs
33% I have a favorite blog that I read regularly
32% I trust bloggers opinions on products and services
31% Blogging is an important way to socialize with friends
There’s so much information in this report that I can’t even begin to point it all out. It’s all good. Just take some time, take a deep breath and say, “I will read it and I will try to “get it.” If you’re in agricultural marketing today then I hope you understand all the terms in the graphic at the top of this post.
Maybe I should start a “Blog of the Week” post or something. It’s getting hard to keep up with all of them but I’ll do my best to point you to them, especially good ones like this one newly created by Michele Payn-Knoper.
She’s a professional speaker and agrifood consultant who has started a new blog “to help build connection between farm gate and consumer plate.”
Michele Payn-Knoper is the author of the Cause Matters blog. “The faces behind the food plate have inspired me to find a better way to share material related to telling agriculture’s story,” she says.
We’re seeing more and more ag companies utlizing new media tools in their communications efforts. Here’s one I just found out about. The picture is Kassie Billerbeck, an Iowa State Student, who has her own blog a new Dow AgroSciences website. She’s doing some fertilizing in her plot at the Farm Progress Show site.
Internet? No one’s ever going to use that! Blogs? Fad, not going anywhere. 
The National FFA Alumni State Leaders Conference kicks off today. FFA Alumni members will have an exciting week touring Washington, D.C., visiting with their congressional representatives and learning more about opportunities available through the FFA Alumni. The event would not be possible without the generous sponsorship of Tractor Supply Company, Toyota and Farm Credit Services.
While we’re still celebrating 
While I’m on the subject of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council, I realized that I’ve neglected to mention their 
This agriblogger is getting a taste of life in Argentina this summer. Mandy Nolz publishes, 
I’m not sure how long they’ve been doing this but I just noticed that when I opened a 
Joining the growing number of ZimmComm designed and developed blog is 
This is what gets the agriblogging farm podcaster going on a Monday morning. Rocket Fuel from 
For you agribloggers and farm podcasters seeking some professional improvement opportunities this summer, here’s one. It’s the 
I’m not sure if mobile computicating is a term but the phones of today are computers that let us communicate on the go and today the iPhone took a step forward. I got back from Nashville in time to follow along with Tom Kravitz on 
Deputy Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner visited the 20th annual World Pork Expo on Thursday and spoke with producers about some of the challenges and opportunities facing the industry.
On the opportunity side is exports. “Thanks to this industry for your role in leading US exports to another remarkable level,” Conner said. The latest forecast calls for agricultural exports to hit $108.5 billion - $26 billion more than last year. “And pork is certainly doing a big portion of this. We expect the value of pork exports to be up 35 percent from 2007.”
We know that renewable fuels like ethanol and biodiesel are good, right? That’s the premise of a new website that is launched today - 
One of the questions I get asked very often is, “How can you make money with new media?” If you read AgWired often then you probably have a good idea of some of the ways that can happen.
Just in time for my presentation at the TOCA meeting tomorrow (Blogging and podcasting for profit. Sponsored by Ewing Irrigation and PBI Gordon) is this report from 
Maybe I should start a “Blog of the Week” post or something. It’s getting hard to keep up with all of them but I’ll do my best to point you to them, especially good ones like this one newly created by Michele Payn-Knoper.
Digital cattle news pioneer, Rob Cook, is now working for Vance Publishing after the company acquired CattleNetwork.com.
