2013 FinOvation Awards

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Chuck

Farm Industry News held its annual FinOvation Awards dinner here at the National Farm Machinery Show last night. A lot of the winners were on hand including our sponsor New Holland. Pictured are Gary Wojcik (left) and Mark Hooper with their award:

Tractors: High horsepower, 4WD – T9 with SmartTrax, New Holland

The T9 4WD tractor with tracks from New Holland takes the FinOvation honors in the high-horsepower 4WD category. The new SnartTrax option consists of four belted rubber tracks designed to reduce soil compaction and slippage created by these 600-plus-hp tractor. They also can provide a ride over bumps that is smoother than that of wheel tractors. While the tractor is premium-priced offering, its tracks have features to balance out the cost. One of those is its single-wheel design, which allows you to bolt the tracks onto the same axle as the tires. This design allows you to switch out wheels for tracks, depending on field conditions. Visit newholland.com/na.

You can find lists and descriptions all the winners on the Farm Industry News website.

2013 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

Coverage of the National Farm Machinery Show is sponsored by FMC and New Holland Agriculture

Rod Smith Honored at Media Reception

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Chuck

Legendary agricultural media icon Rod Smith, Staff Editor, Livestock & Poultry, Feedstuffs, was honored for his years of service to the livestock industry during the 2013 Cattle Industry Convention. Rod is seen here receiving a gift from Kendal Frazier, Senior VP of Planning, Governance and Leadership Development, NCBA, during last evening’s media reception.

Rod is retiring on June 30th this year after 35 years with the publication. For years now he and I have opened and closed the media rooms of many conventions like this one. We’ll miss him and his incisive questions and reporting.

Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show Photo Album

IFAJ Meeting During International Green Week

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Chuck

It is time for International Green Week in Berlin, Germany. That means that many members of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists are their and having their own meetings. It has been several years since I’ve had the opportunity to attend this massive show.

Thanks to Riitta Mustonen for sharing this photo on Facebook with a description of the seminar she is attending.

IFAJ Freedom of the press seminar going on. Oliver Vujovic (in the middle): “If you have a dangerous information, don’t try to be a star. Share your information with colleagues. Then it doesn’t help if they kill you, the info is already spread.”

“In every country you can increace democracy, and it is the work of journalists.”

AFBF Shows How to Handle General Session Press

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Chuck

I go to a lot of shows, events, conventions and American Farm Bureau Federation is right at the top of my list of those groups who really know how to help the press do their job. They get it. Provide resources, assistance and you’re much more likely to have coverage.

Let’s take this photo from the opening general session here in Nashville. The press have their own seating area that includes tables, chairs, lamps and many power outlets situated on the tops of the tables. In addition, there are several mult boxes (allows us to record session audio) and good internet wifi. This is a big group of ag journalists here. They are all working more efficiently thanks to AFBF. This is all located at the front of the room, on the side. We have quick access to get up and take photos and then sit back down without having to walk all the way to the back of the room. That may not sound important unless you’re the one having to walk back and forth 15 times during a session!

Now, let’s go back to the media rooms. They have tables, chairs, both wifi and internet cables as well as a extra computers for those who did not bring one (hard to imagine anymore but . . .). They made sure the internet access was beefed up to handle the volume of data that is being transferred. I have not experienced a slow down. I can’t tell you how many times I get to a media room and the internet access just is not capable of handling the traffic. I blame a lot of that on hotel facilities that are trying to scrimp on what they are providing but I think groups need to proactively check it. Use a service like Speedtest.net to see what your speed is for example.

So, if your association or company wants to know how to set up to handle the press I recommend giving the AFBF communications staff a call. Or I would be happy to consult with you too.

I also have to mention food. Like other groups AFBF provides meals for the working press. Many groups many not think this is important but when you’ve got tight deadlines and especially if you’re not staying in the main hotel this can be extremely beneficial.

2013 American Farm Bureau Convention Photo Album

Keeping the Media in High Cotton

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Cindy

Marjory Lynch Walker and T. Cotton Nelson have staffed the news room at the Beltwide Cotton Conferences for many, many of the event’s 58 year history and while they are not sure what the changes in store will mean for media attendance, they are looking forward to moving ahead.

“Media attendance has always been healthy here. We’ve had as many as 50-60 members here,” Cotton told me, adding that attendance has continued to be strong over the years, even as less growers have been attending. That’s why Cotton says they appreciate Monsanto’s sponsorship of the news room. “Their support has allowed us to have the equipment in here, a big room, food for the media – just to make it a really good working environment for the media.”

Cotton notes that there will still be lots of information to get out to producers with the revamped schedule for Beltwide next year. “We realize the transfer of technology by the news media of the information that’s presented here is great for cotton growers,” he said.

Listen to my interview with Cotton here: Cotton Nelson interview

2013 Beltwide Cotton photo album

Passing of George Logan

Posted on January 5, 2013 by Chuck

Cindy and I were very saddened to hear of the passing of George Logan. George was one of the people we got to know well through the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. He was always willing to talk and offer advice over the years and always seemed to kept a pretty level head. We have memories of visiting him at his Lake of the Ozarks place when our daughters were younger and wish we could have done that more often. Here’s the announcement from the NAFB office.

Dear NAFB members,

Once again, our association finds itself saying goodbye to one of our long standing members. We received notice this morning that George Logan passed away.

George served our organization in so many ways–he was President in 1972, served as NAFB’s first Executive Secretary, honored as the Meritorious Service Award recipient in 1985 and was inducted in the NAFB Hall of Fame in 1995. George was also instrumental in helping set up the NAFB Foundation and served as Treasurer of the Foundation until just a few years ago. His impact on NAFB is evident and his friendliness and sincerity will be missed.

Services are currently pending. NAFB will provide details when they become available.

Tom Brand
Executive Director
National Association of Farm Broadcasting

Post Update: You can find a full biography of George Logan, details about services and more using this link.

Looking Back at Agri Marketing in 2012

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Chuck

ZimmCast 378 To take a look back at the most viewed stories in the agricultural marketing world Lynn Henderson, Publisher, Agri Marketing Magazine, and myself did a run through of the top stories and posts on our websites. This is the first time we’ve done this and we had a lot of fun. Enough fun that we think we should do it more frequently. What do you think about that?

You can find find the AgriMarketing.com TEN MOST COMMONLY VIEWED AGRI MARKETING NEWS ITEMS IN 2012 here. You can find the Top Posts in 2012 on AgWired.com here. Very different lists and some surprises on each of them.

Listen to this week’s ZimmCast here: The Year in Agricultural Marketing

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsors, GROWMARK, locally owned, globally strong and Monsanto, Roundup Ready Plus, 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.

Farm Journal Gets Commodity Update

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Chuck

Big announcement from Farm Journal and Commodity Update today!

Farm Journal Media announced it has acquired the majority interest in Commodity Update, the leading mobile media company serving agriculture. Farm Journal acquired a minority stake in the company two years ago.

Joel Jaeger will continue to serve as CEO of Commodity Update, will continue to maintain a significant stake in the enterprise, and will also join Farm Journal’s Executive Leadership Team, responsible for driving a wide range of mobile marketing solutions that benefit farmers and the companies that do business with them.

Founded by Jaeger in 2006, Commodity Update currently serves more than 75,000 subscribers, who receive up to three separate information products and more than three messages each day as part of an individually personalized subscription package. Subscriber satisfaction and subscription renewal has tracked over 90% annually during the last three years.

“Joining forces with Farm Journal Media helps us develop even more powerful and integrated mobile marketing solutions, and expands the information set we can bring to farmers’ phones,” Jaeger said. “The mobile category will play a significantly bigger and more strategic role in the overall media mix in the next few years. We’ve been the leading mobile offering in agriculture for seven years, and we’re excited to take that to the next level with an innovative organization and powerful brand like Farm Journal.”

A Toast to Anita

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Chuck

This is a toast to Anita Vanderwert. One of our very good friends who is leaving Learfield Communications and Brownfield Ag News for a new career opportunity. I’m sure we’ll still see Anita somewhere out there on the agriblogging highway though. This week Learfield had a farewell party which we couldn’t attend. But thanks to Joyce Steinman, we got pictures!

Here are some words from the invitation to Anita’s farewell party. It’s not too late to send a message in if you know Anita. See how below.

Anita Vanderwert has been doing this network thing for a long time, and after 18 years she has decided it’s time to make a change. Anita’s position at Brownfield has provided her with the opportunity to cross paths with many people. And you know, once you meet Anita, it’s very easy to soon become her friend.

While we will miss her greatly, we are excited for Anita and her new adventure and nothing is more fitting than to send her off with a fond and fun farewell toast.

If you are unable to attend, please send a note or email with a memory or two that we can share with Anita as we toast her new endeavor.

Send your cards or notes to:

Anita Farewell
c/o Myra Verslues
Brownfield Network
505 Hobbs Road
Jefferson City, MO 65109

Or email using the subject line: Anita Farewell to mverslues@learfield.com.

Season’s Greetings From NAFB

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Chuck

The National Association of Farm Broadcasting is sharing their season’s greetings.

Celebrate…

the Tradition of Giving,
the Beauty of the Season,
and a New Year of
Peace and Happiness!

From Your Friends at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting

2012 NAFB President Tom Steever has written a holiday story for your listening pleasure, featuring the 2012 NAFB Board of Directors. Click the link to listen! Holiday Greetings from the 2012 NAFB Board of Directors (mp3)

Looking Ahead to 2013 Ag Media Summit

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Chuck

Here’s a Merry Christmas from the Livestock Publications Council Board of Directors. They’re looking forward to a wonderful 2013.

Speaking of 2013 and LPC:

Forrest Bassford Student Award

We are happy to announce that Alltech will again be the major sponsor of the Forrest Bassford Student Award. Scholarship applications for the award are available on LPC’s website. This scholarship will be awarded in Buffalo, New York, at the 2013 Ag Media Summit (AMS). Also, up to four travel scholarships of $750 each will be awarded to deserving students who must be able to attend the AMS. If you have questions, contact: Scarlett Hagins, committee chairman, scarlett@kla.org. Deadline is February 15,2013.

2013 Ag Media Summit – Just Wing it!

Congratulations to Brian Reid, The Showtimes Magazine, who designed the winning logo for the 2013 Ag Media Summit. He gets a $200 “Christ- mas bonus” for his efforts! Watch for next year’s announcement when the logo contest takes place. You too can win the money!

The 2013 Ag Media Summit will take place August 3-7 in Buffalo, NY.

A Farm Progress Holiday Greeting

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Chuck

How about a holiday greeting from Farm Progress? You can watch it online here.

Happy holidays from all of us at Farm Progress, Agriculture’s information leader. This holiday season we wish you a peaceful holiday and a prosperous new year. From all of us at Farm Progress we wish you every happiness this holiday season and prosperity in the new year!

2013 AAEA Summer Internship Apps Being Accepted

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Chuck

Applications are now being accepted by the American Agricultural Editors Association for the organization’s 2013 Summer Internships.

One undergraduate college student in agricultural communications will be chosen to work as an Editorial Intern for High Plains Journal in Dodge City, Kan., and the AAEA Marketing Communications Intern will work with Morgan & Myers and the Progressive Agriculture Foundation in its Waukesha, Wis., office.

Each intern earns a $4,500 stipend for approximately 10 weeks and another $1,000 to cover the costs of attending the Agricultural Media Summit in Buffalo, New York, Aug. 3-7. The new AAEA Marketing Communications internship is made possible through a grant from the AAEA Professional Improvement Foundation, with support from BCS Communications and Gardner and Gardner Communications. The AAEA Editorial Communications internship is sponsored by the AAEA Professional Improvement Foundation.

Internship applications are available at the American Agricultural Editors’ Association website. The applicants will answer the following questions:

“I would like to be the AAEA intern because…”
“What I hope to learn as the AAEA intern is…”
“When I graduate from college, my ideal job would be…”

They are also asked to include a resume, past internships, examples of their work, a letter of recommendation and a statement on their interest in agricultural communications. Applicants are required to be a member of the National Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow organization – they may join either through their college ACT chapter or as an at-large member at the organization’s website.

AgriTalk Now Owned by Farm Journal Media

Posted on December 7, 2012 by Chuck

Here are two of the AgriTalk dudes working at the NAFB convention last month. John Herath, Producer (left) and show host Mike Adams. They now work for a new company. John has a smart phone held up to his ear. Yeah, he’s an agnerd like me.

Yesterday Farm Journal Media announced that they’ve acquired AgriTalk from Vance Publishing.

AgriTalk is the only nationally syndicated long format radio program fully dedicated to agriculture. The acquisition extends Farm Journal Media’s portfolio into radio farm-broadcasting.

On the air since 1994, AgriTalk is a live, one-hour talk show that airs daily on 70 radio stations across the Midwest. Hosted by Mike Adams, the program gives voice to important current issues impacting agriculture and rural America. Adams is a well-recognized and award-winning broadcaster. With the program since 2001, he is a past president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) and was named Farm Broadcaster of the Year by the organization in 1995.

The company will be integrating AgriTalk into its advertising sales efforts. Management of editorial, distribution and production will be under the company’s broadcast division. AgriTalk’s online presence will be on the company’s AgWeb.com website.

MediaPlanet and Agriculture in America

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Chuck

ZimmCast 376 Agriculture in America. Who are the farmers? How are they working to feed a growing population? Good questions and ones that a recent publication insert into USA Today showcased some answers to. I hope you’ve seen it. Have you wondered how and why it was produced? Well wonder no more. In this week’s program I visit with Hailey Pierson, Senior Publisher, MediaPlanet, Inc. MediaPlanet is the company that put this publication together. I also spoke with Bob Stallman, Chairman of the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance and President of the American Farm Bureau Federation, about the project since it featured a letter from him and USFRA worked with MediaPlanet.

Hailey told me “Our work in Agriculture in America was really dedicated to bringing on board a great amount of industry leaders to share the key stories in the agriculture space. And I think what we ended up with is a piece that talks about how important it is to continue to tell agriculture’s stories in new ways with new voices and to be constantly engaged.”

I asked her how her company came up with the idea. She says it was the first time they’ve narrowed a project down so specifically in one industry. Previously they had done some social cause work on investing in women and girls and investing in Africa. Those projects showed them the need to bring attention to agriculture globally. So they did a lot of research and talked with groups like USFRA, AFBF and American Farmland Trust. They found that there was a need to address the average American’s view of agriculture and that it needed to be brought down to the personal level. “And that’s what we decide to focus on achieving in Agriculture in America, establishing a stronger relationship between farmers and ranchers, ag industry leaders and their customers. All of us Americans.”

Hailey says about 600,000 copies of Agriculture in America were distributed as an insert in USA Today in San Francisco, Washington D.C., Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Kansas City, and Minneapolis. That readership totaled about 1.5 to 1.7 million readers. The publication was also made available online and so far has been downloaded (clicked on) over 8,500 times. Of course there are a lot of other impressions achieved when you take into account the social media channels used too. This week Hailey was a guest on the weekly AgChat Twitter Conversation for example. She says there may very well be a follow up or new project in the future. You can hear her describe what some of her thoughts are on that in the program.

Bob Stallman was very pleased that USFRA had the opportunity to work with MediaPlanet on the project. As he put it, “It’s a great chance to reach out and touch a whole bunch of people in this country that probably don’t know a lot about agriculture and that may have some questions.” It ties right in with the mission of the USFRA.

Listen to this week’s ZimmCast here: MediaPlanet Agriculture in America Publication

By the way. MediaPlanet is currently conducting a Facebook Agriculture in America contest with a prize of $1,000 of Stihl products. They’re looking for you to submit your favorite photo of ag in America.

You can find the contest page on Facebook here. Entry deadline is January 4, 2013.

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsors, GROWMARK, locally owned, globally strong and Monsanto, Roundup Ready Plus, 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.

ASTA Looking Toward the Future

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Cindy

The American Seed Trade Association is looking ahead to the future of the seed industry and developing a new long range plan.

“We’ve always had a five year strategic plan which gives us direction for where we want the association to go and it was time to refresh that,” said ASTA immediate past chairman Mike Gumina of DuPont Pioneer. To do that, they got input from membership across the board and identified several key issues to address. “The areas that were identified by the membership were: intellectual property rights protection, having our impact on domestic policy as it influences the seed business, state and local issues that influence the seed business, our international programs and our communication programs,” Mike said.

Under the communications banner, Mike says they are really reaching out to a number of audiences including ag media and grower organizations, as well as general media and government. “Getting the story out on seed, the importance of seed, the value of seed, the value of technology and the value of the productivity it brings to all of humanity is really an important message to get out,” he said.

Also important to the future is people and Mike says DuPont Pioneer has started a program to bring young industry professionals to ASTA events so they can get a broader view of the industry. “It’s an opportunity for them to see the broader picture of what’s going on in the seed industry, to understand how ASTA is engaged in policy setting and helping to eliminate issues that are creating barriers to business success in the industry,” he said.

Listen to my interview with Mike here: Interview with Mike Gumina

ASTA-CSS Photo Album

MediaPlanet USA Insert in USA Today

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Chuck

There is a very nicely done insert in today’s issue of USA Today. I got mine in Kansas City, MO this morning on my way back to ZimmComm World Headquarters. It is put together by MediaPlanet USA. Here’s what they say about it on their Facebook page.

Rise and shine and enjoy our Agriculture in America publication over breakfast this morning! The publication lands on USA Today newsstands starting today in San Francisco, Washington D.C., Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Kansas City, and Minneapolis and we are thrilled to share this day with all of our partners. Many thanks to the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance, Case IH, Bayer CropScience, National FFA Organization, AgCareers.com, I Love Farmers They Feed My Soul, AgLocal, Meyer Hatchery, Stihl and many others for your partnership, support, and passionate contribution through this campaign!

If you don’t have the paper or can’t get it then download the insert here. You’ll find a number of articles, ads and lots of photos. What do you think about this effort?

LPC Professional Development Stipend App Deadline

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Chuck

If you’re a member of the Livestock Publications Council and could use some help with expenses for professional development then now is the time to apply (deadline is Dec. 15) for the LPC Professional Development Stipend Program (pdf). Here are the details:

LPC will offer up to 3 stipends of up to $1,000 each to LPC members to help cover expenses to a professional development class, seminar or workshop, which includes Ag Media Summit or IFAJ congress. The LPC board of directors believes that expanding knowledge and excitement in one’s profession will keep dedication and commitment to that job.

Stipend criteria:

- Open to any LPC member.
- Fill out application.
- Submit the information on the conference you wish to attend.
- Provide an estimated budget for your expenses to the event.
- In 250-350 words describe why you should receive this stipend, your professional goals and how you will use this award for
professional development.
- Write a short piece for the LPC Actiongram after you have attended the professional development event, telling how you
used the stipend and how it will help you become a better ag communications professional.
- The stipend funds should be used within a year of when it is awarded. If it is not used because of an emergency, please
contact the LPC executive director.
The application must be postmarked or received electronically by December 15, 2012. Stipend recipients will be contacted by January 10, 2013.

The stipend recipients will be selected by a group of three judges.

Send application to: Jennifer Carrico 24338 G Avenue Redfield, IA 50233 515-833-2120 jcarrico@hpj.com