On the Sheep and Goat Radio Hour at NFMS

Posted on February 11, 2010 by Cindy

2010 National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

nfms I happened to be in the right place at the right time to be a guest on “The Sheep and Goat Radio Hour” live with Ray Bowman from the National Farm Machinery Show on Thursday.

Ray is executive director of the Kentucky Sheep and Goat Development Office and does this live internet show every week on America’s Web Radio, which is pretty cool. He is very into social media as a communicator and follows us on Twitter. Ray did his whole show live from the media room on two cell phones, grabbing various guests to interview and talking about the NFMS. It was a really impressive use of the latest technology and he was a pleasure to meet.

AgWired continuing coverage at the National Farm Machinery Show sponsored by:

Stream Live From Your iPhone

Posted on December 19, 2009 by Chuck

Heads up farm podcasters and agribloggers. The new media game just ramped up a notch.

So you’ve got your iPhone and have mastered tweeting photos right? How about streaming live audio/video from it? Now you can thanks to the new Ustream.tv app.

I’ve already tried it and it works great. It uses either your 3G signal or wifi. It also integrates with your Twitter account to notify your followers that you’re now live.

Ustream.tv is the power behind Agwired Live TV. I’m thinking we may be doing even more of this in 2010.

Novus Launches Podcast

Posted on November 18, 2009 by Cindy

Novus International has launched a new bi-weekly podcast series – “What’s New with Novus,” hosted by Novus public relations manager Jeremy Lutgen.

novus The inaugural podcast, featuring Novus executive VP for marketing and sales Dr. Giovanni Gasperoni, went on line today and is available on iTunes, Zune and www.novusint.com/podcasts to subscribe, download or stream.

Gasperoni discusses ALIMET® and Novus’s 30 year commitment to the product and 25 years of production in Texas. Upcoming topics of “What’s New with Novus” will focus on issues facing the global agriculture community today, such as the global food crisis and sustainability, and how Novus is meeting those challenges.

Farmers and Farm Media Use of Internet Tools

Posted on November 16, 2009 by Cindy

ZimmCast 239 This week’s ZimmCast features two interviews done at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting annual meeting last week in Kansas City.

NAFB 2009 We have been attending the NAFB convention since 1985 and some things never change – like Ted Haller, for example. But, other things – like Ted’s hair – do change, and in recent years that has been the emphasis on usage of the Internet and social media. Teddy presented us with findings from Internet Ag Information Usage Study that surveyed farmers and ranchers about their Internet access practices and preferences for agribusiness information, including use of the mobile Web. That study will be available on the NAFB website for members to access.

NAFB 2009 Meanwhile, Dr. Emily Rhodes of THE Ohio State University (who is also a Gator), did a study of farm broadcasters and journalists about their usage of the internet and social media tools like Facebook and Twitter. She had some interesting findings and her main message to the media was that utilizing these tools helps us reach new audiences to get the positive message about agriculture to the general public.

Thanks to AgWired Sponsor, Fluidigm, for their support of the ZimmCast. Be sure to check out the combined NAMA/NAFB Flickr photo album for lots of pictures from both events last week.

You can listen to this week’s ZimmCast below.

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired. Subscribe so you can listen when and where you want. Just go to our a Subscribe page.

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American Meat Institute Unveils New Sustainability Website

Posted on November 2, 2009 by Amanda

American_Meat_Institute_Logo The American Meat Institute recently unveiled a a new website on sustainability. The website opens with its main mission, which states, “A sustainable meat industry is one that takes a long term view of a business’ impact on natural resources, animal welfare, employees, consumers and the communities in which we work and live. The meat industry is proud of its efforts to be responsible coorporate citizens working to sustain our industry’s bright future in feeding our nation and the world.” The website is available for anyone involved in agriculture or the meat industry and for those dedicated to global sustainability. Kudos!

The site was developed by AMI’s Sustainability Committee chaired by Paul Rutledge of Johnsonville Sausage, LLC, and Leigh Ann Johnston of Tyson Foods Inc. Information contained on the site is grouped in key areas that fall under the sustainability umbrella: caring for the environment, caring for livestock, benefiting communities, ensuring safe and nutritious meat and poultry and caring for our employees.

The site was launched at the close of AMI Chairman Rod Brenneman’s tenure. Brenneman, the president of Seaboard Foods, initiated an effort to enhance the Institute’s sustainability efforts through expanded education, now underway in Chicago at Worldwide Food Expo; through a benchmarking survey and through a dedicated Web site that consolidates sustainability resources for the meat industry’s unique needs.

Each section of www.SustainableMeatIndustry.org details industry guidelines and showcases examples of actual programs that have been implemented by industry members. The site also features a section about communicating about sustainability to various audiences and a resource section for small businesses that are just beginning sustainability programs. On the site’s home page, members of the industry may download a self-inventory to determine what practices they have in place in broad areas and which ones they may wish to explore further and consider implementing.

Immersion In New Media

Posted on October 8, 2009 by Chuck

150px The BlogWorld & New Media Expo is next week folks. Have you registered? I’m serious.

If you work in ag media, agency, company marcomm then you should really consider being there. This is your professional improvement opportunity to be immersed in new and social media for 3 days. That’s where you’ll find ZimmComm.

If for some reason you can’t make it then I will be writing about what I see and hear on ZimmComm.biz and here too. So I can be your new media eyes and ears.

Now if you really want to create some online branding for your company while learning more about today’s communications tools and mechanisms then I will be happy to have you “sponsor” my coverage. Just let Dave Larson or me know and I’m sure we can work out a deal!

Nicholson Kovac Agriculture New Media Usage Study

Posted on August 19, 2009 by Chuck

48% of large acre corn/soybean growers send 5 or more text messages a day! That’s just one of the findings from a survey conducted by Nicholson Kovac. In this week’s program you can hear Sheree Johnson, Nicholson Kovac Senior VP and Director of Media talk about their findings.

Just when I was about to write a post inspired by Jeff Jarvis, on media measurement I received the announcement about the agency survey and it’s a lot more relevant to you agrimarketers out there. Nicholson Kovac took the initiative to survey growers to find out information that is needed by agencies and companies who are having to make decisions on media choices to reach their customers. Well they sure found out that farmers are online and involved socially. Also amazing is how much they depend on and use their mobile phones.

Here’s some more information on what they found.

Sixty-two percent of large acreage, U.S. corn and soybean growers have sent or received text messages during the past year, according to the newly released Agriculture New Media Usage Study (corn and soybean segment focus), conducted by Nicholson Kovac, Inc. (www.nicholsonkovac.com) The Agriculture New Media Usage study is the first-of-its-kind in the agribusiness industry. It provides comprehensive insight on the use of social media and new media among large acreage corn and soybean growers – including Internet usage, social networking and mobile phone activities − for business and social purposes.

“We know that crop producers, especially larger operators, are fairly tech savvy, but nothing exists that we are aware of that validates and confirms their use of new media and social media tools,” said Sheree Johnson, senior vice president, director of media services, Nicholson Kovac. “This new media research provides a number of eye-opening statistics on how corn and soybean growers use their phones and computers, and how they are engaged in social networking.”

In addition to the percentage of growers sending or receiving text messages, the study reveals the high degree of frequency of texting, as well as other mobile phone activities such as taking photos, e-mailing, downloading ring tones, accessing GPS and more. Forty-eight percent of those texting send five or more texts per day, and 63 percent of respondents indicated they have taken pictures with their mobile phones.

The 35-page study also explores in detail the Internet usage of these growers, including how they are accessing their Internet and for what topics they search:

Forty-seven percent spend five or more hours per week online, and 23 percent spend 10 or more hours online

Besides utilizing e-mail, accessing weather and market reports are the highest ranked in terms of Internet use for their business/farm

In addition, 85 percent of respondents indicated that they visit Web sites related to their farm operation, and 76 percent check manufacturers’ Web sites

The study also explored the presence of crop producers on Facebook™, Twitter™ and other social networking sites. It also details growers’ usage of blogs, forums and/or message boards. Search engine usage and preference were also explored.

“While there appears to be some confusion and lack of familiarity about social networking, blogging, etc., when social networking brands (ie., such as Facebook or Twitter) were mentioned, many respondents confirmed they are actively using these sites,” said Johnson. “The early adopters and growers who are influencers in their communities are already engaged in exploring new media platforms.”

You can purchase a full copy of the study on their website. Read the full release here.

So, listen to my conversation with Sheree as she reviews the results of the survey and we discuss what they mean.

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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

MGEX is Tweeting

Posted on July 18, 2009 by Cindy

MGEX The Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX) is the latest ag-related biz to go Twitter.

According to a news release: With the creation of the MGEX site, anyone subscribing to view information on MGEX can receive up to date information in a timely manner. The page can be accessed at: http://twitter.com/MGEX1.

MGEX will use Twitter to distribute press releases and share Exchange information and services.

“Twitter provides us with a tool to stay connected with our members and market participants and gives us the opportunity to reach out to a larger audience,” Rita Maloney, Director of Marketing and Business Development, MGEX said. “We are always looking for ways to build brand identity and enhance existing relationships. Twitter offers that in an extremely convenient, cost-effective way.”

5 Years After Global PR Blog Week

Posted on July 16, 2009 by Chuck

It was in January of 2005 that I mentioned Global PR Week 1.0 here on AgWired. The conference was over at that point of course but it was one of those learning tools for me that let me see the power and effectiveness of new media. There was a Global PR Week 2.0 later that year but we haven’t had any since.

I was reminded of this from Steve Rubel’s Lifestream when he pointed us to an article about where we are in media and public relations 5 years after that first event. The article is on Bastien Beauchamp’s Blog. Here’s an excerpt from his conclusion:

The shift from advertising to PR will simultaneously mean a shift from PR to human resources.

The last word goes to Alice Marshall reflecting afterward on the Global PR Blog Week:

“Our single most important contribution (during that event) may have been to shift our industry from the idea of controlling the message and manipulating public opinion to that of presenting the message and cultivating public opinion. This change of metaphor is crucial to successful public relations in a world of increasing transparency. Those who fail to make transparency their friend will find it a formidable enemy. We offer(ed) readers many ideas on how to make transparency their friend.”

You can find Global PR Week 1.0 archived here.
You can find Global PR Week 2.0 archived here.

New Media Advice For Everyone

Posted on July 11, 2009 by Chuck

This is just too good to pass over. The following is new media advice from Trent Reznor, Nine Inch Nails, to artists about ways to market themselves. It’s for anyone though regardless of what industry you’re in. He just plain gets it and says it better than I can. He sure hits the nail on the head about removing flash from your website. I guess web designers just like to show off and don’t really care about the user experience.

Have your MySpace page, but get a site outside MySpace – it’s dying and reads as cheap / generic. Remove all Flash from your website. Remove all stupid intros and load-times. MAKE IT SIMPLE TO NAVIGATE AND EASY TO FIND AND HEAR MUSIC (but don’t autoplay). Constantly update your site with content – pictures, blogs, whatever. Give people a reason to return to your site all the time. Put up a bulletin board and start a community. Engage your fans (with caution!) Make cheap videos. Film yourself talking. Play shows. Make interesting things. Get a Twitter account. Be interesting. Be real. Submit your music to blogs that may be interested. NEVER CHASE TRENDS. Utilize the multitude of tools available to you for very little cost of any – Flickr / YouTube / Vimeo / SoundCloud / Twitter etc.

If you don’t know anything about new media or how people communicate these days, none of this will work. The role of an independent musician these days requires a mastery of first hand use of these tools. If you don’t get it – find someone who does to do this for you. If you are waiting around for the phone to ring or that A & R guy to show up at your gig – good luck, you’re going to be waiting a while.

Thank You Podcasting News.

YouTube As Your Home Page

Posted on July 2, 2009 by Chuck

ZimmComm YouTube Stats Could you use your YouTube channel as your website homepage? Of course you can. Take BooneOakley, a full-service ad agency in Charlotte, NC as an example.

Want to know about their agency? They’ve got a video for that. Want to know how to contact them? They’ve got a video for that. And so on. The videos have links in them to each other. I need to learn how to do that.

I’ve upgraded our YouTube channel to the new theme viewer and notice that you not only have email built in but you can now do posts in the Recent Activity section. This is really adding new and useful functionality to the site. The image here is from the Insight statistics that are now available to you which give you a lot of information about your video downloads including some basic demographic information. As an example, it shows that we’re getting about 500 views of our videos a day on average. That’s over the 267 videos we currently have archived.

Looks like you’ve now got another great option for starting your own website without a lot of $’s invested! Would you do it?

Inspiration via Smays.com.