Category Archives: Social Networking

Putting a Face on CommonGround

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What is not to like about finding CommonGround? National Corn Growers Association Communications Manager Cathryn Wojciki recently did a post on Corn Commentary about how farmers can start a conversation with a simple photo.

From Main Street to MTV, everyone is talking about food. Unfortunately, this conversation does not often include the people who grow it. CommonGround Conversations creates a space for America’s farm families, and the people who support them, to share the story. Here, we have a meeting ground that will let you discover the values and hard work that underlie our nation’s abundant, safe harvest. Help us share our story! By submitting photos of yourself, family and friends waving at the camera, join your voice with like-minded people to open a national dialogue saying, “Hi! I support farmers. Let’s talk about how we grow our food.”

Now’s your chance to join in on the CommonGround movement and let your voice be heard.

Right now, the movement is growing. Help us find the CommonGround between the people who grow food and those who buy it. Start today on CommonGround’s Facebook fan page. Here’s how to join the conversation:

  1. “Like” the CommonGround fan page.
  2. Take a photo of yourself, your friends or your family waving as if to say, “When you want to talk about food, talk to a farmer.”
  3. Click here to submit your story and photo.

Learn More About CommonGround

Meeting The Twittering Farmer

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He’s known as The Twittering Farmer. He’s @Tykerman1 or rather Steve Tucker. You know someone on Twitter by their handle and sometimes it gets difficult to call them by their real name!

I “met” Steve via Twitter and enjoyed how he handled himself on a CNN interview and them talked with him myself. That was over two years ago. But I had not met Steve until the AgChat Foundation’s Agvocacy 2.0 Conference. So I visited with Steve to see what he thinks about the development of “agvocacy.” In the pic I’m sure Steve is busy cranking out a tweet. You can see what happened if you check out the conference hashtag – #ACFC11.

You can listen to my interview with Steve here: Interview with @Tykerman1

2011 AgChat Agvocacy 2.0 Conference Photo Album

AgChat Agvocacy 2.0 coverage is sponsored by The New Holland Boomer 555 Contest.

Tweet Your Farmer To Learn About Food

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ZimmCast 317In this week’s program we get a wrap-up of the AgChat Foundation’s Agvocacy 2.0 Conference. I spoke with Michele Payn-Knoper, founder of the weekly AgChat conversation on Twitter and an AgChat Foundation board member and also Amanda Sollman, who took on the project this summer of helping us put on the conference. Michele says we had 115 attendees which is more than double last year’s inaugural conference. Changes in this year’s conference included extended networking times and beginner and advanced sessions on different breakout topics.

Listen to my conversations with Michele and Amanda in this week’s ZimmCast: Agvocacy 2.0 Conference

While the conference was taking place, local news outlet, The Tennessean, had a crew come by and they did a story about what was going on that I thought you might enjoy. It’s titled, “Got a question about your food? Tweet your Farmer.”

2011 AgChat Agvocacy 2.0 Conference Photo Album

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsor, GROWMARK, locally owned, globally strong, 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.

AgChat Agvocacy 2.0 coverage is sponsored by The New Holland Boomer 555 Contest.

Social Media at AgCareers.com Ag HR Roundtable

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ZimmCast 314This edition of the ZimmCast features a couple of interviews from the AgCareers.com 2011 Ag HR Roundtable held last week in West Lafayette, Indiana where social media in the spotlight – like it is everywhere!

One of the featured speakers at the event was Eve Mayer Orsburn, CEO of Social Media Delivered, one of the largest social media optimization companies in the world. Eve has developed this multi-national company in just three years, serving clients like GM and Sheraton with consulting, training and managing their social media services. Eve also hosts a weekly radio show called “Social Media for the CEO” and is author of a book by the same name.

Eve spoke to the Ag HR Roundtable about how companies can use social media in their recruiting efforts, as well as their marketing efforts. She will get more in-depth on that topic at an AgCareers.com workshop in Des Moines, October 12-13 titled “Implementing A Successful Social Media Strategy to Boost Recruitment.” The first 25 participants to register for the workshop will get a complimentary copy of her book “The Social Media Business Equation.”

Kathryn Doan coordinates social media efforts for AgCareers.com from the company’s Guelph, Ontario office. Kathryn grew up on a dairy farm and is now a turkey and cash crop farmer with her husband in Ontario. She talks about the AgCareers.com social media strategy and their goals to create conversation within the agriculture and food industries.

Listen to my conversations with Eve and Kathryn in this week’s ZimmCast: Social Media and AgCareers

2011 AgCareers Ag HR Roundtable photo album.

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsor, GROWMARK, locally owned, globally strong, for their support.

cropNAtion A Virtual Coffeeshop For Farmers

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GROWMARK announced their sponsorship today of a new online location for farmers called cropNAtion. You can create a free account and be in on the start of a new social network for farmers. I’m sure they’re looking for feedback.

Today’s farmers and ranchers are so busy increasing their productivity to meet the needs of a growing world that they don’t have time to sit and visit with their neighbors like they used to. However, there is still great value in building relationships, sharing information, and asking for advice.

A new website and mobile application, cropNAtion, will allow farmers and ranchers to connect with each other whether they are across the country or across the section.

The site, www.cropnation.com, is designed to serve as a one-stop resource for on the go information. After creating a profile, users can share information about their operations, ask and answer questions, upload photos and videos, and access the latest markets and weather conditions.

“We saw a need for farmers and ranchers to have a ‘virtual coffeeshop’ – a place where they could ask questions, share stories and photos, and cultivate relationships,” said Jim Spradlin, GROWMARK vice president, agronomy. “GROWMARK is pleased to sponsor this site, which we hope will be fed by farmers everywhere.”

Anyone with an interest in North American agriculture may register for and use the free site. The mobile application will be available for iPhone and Android platforms in late summer.

Integrating Social Media Into Your Marketing Efforts

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ZimmCast 314Measuring the return on investment of social media is a big challenge. We deal with the question of “how to” all the time. More importantly though is answering the question of what your goal is with social media. This topic was on the agenda at the Agricultural Media Summit.

I spoke with Shelly Kramer, V3 Integrated Marketing, an integrated marketing and social media agency. She spoke to a full house and answered questions for a while afterward.

Shelly says that to measure your social media ROI you need to have a plan. I know that’s tough but if you don’t know what your goal is, then how do you know if you met it? To help her clients better understand digital marketing and especially the social channels she encourages them to act online just like they do in real life. However, that’s not easy for companies to do.

Listen in on my conversation with Shelly in this week’s program and hear more about her perspective and thoughts on using social media in your marketing efforts: Integrating Social Media & Measuring ROI

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsor, GROWMARK, locally owned, globally strong, for their support.

2011 Ag Media Summit Photo Album

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.

AgWired coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by BASF and AgHaven

Marketing Wyffels Hybrids

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The Wyffels Hybrids Corn Strategies greeting committee included communications manager, Jill Loehr (center). I asked her how she’s finding success marketing this independent seed company. She says, “I think one of the things we have to do is stand out. We can’t afford to let someone flip past our ad or not pay attention to our radio or some of the one on one things we’re doing.” She says the company is just trying to get people to take a good look at what they’re doing. Jill says she hopes corn growers leave an event like Corn Strategies with a feeling that Wyffels “truly cares more.”

I asked her how their social media efforts are going. Wyffels has started with Facebook and Jill says, “Our personality comes out on Facebook.” That’s exactly what social media can do for a company and why I recommend using it to put a more personal face on the brand.

You can listen to my interview with Jill here: Jill Loehr Interview

Wyffels Hybrids Corn Strategies 2011 Iowa Photo Album

Some Thoughts on Google+

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How many of you are using Google+? How many of you care? Just what we need, another social network right? I kind of feel that way myself. We’re doing pretty good with Twitter, Facebook, etc. I know many of you are just getting used to using them. So do we really need another one? I’ve had a number of people asking what I think and do I recommend it. Here are some initial thoughts.

To start with, it’s like all things new. Not everyone is there so who are you going to talk to? That will change and is already changing as they allow more and more people in. I think the early adopter have jumped on Google+ and they are writing a lot about it. Reactions are mixed. Some love it and some already hate it. I’ve only been in it for about a week and with relatively little time to get the full experience. At first take it seems a little like Twitter on steroids.

Since social networking is all about having conversations I liken this to looking at a new house and wondering if I want to live there. I kind of like the house I live in now but is this one better? Does it have more room and better appliances? Do I want to have two houses (Facebook and Google+)? Some people are very comfortable with a primary residence and a vacation house at the lake or the beach. I’m not so sure I want that. But since my business is all about using social media I will use them both.

Getting started with Google+ is relatively simple, especially if you are already an active Google user. I am. I use Google for all kinds of things. My first thought was that Google+ might be a good fit and integrate with all my other Google apps (Gmail, iGoogle, Analytics, etc.). Since we’re still in the beta stage of Google+ I’m sure there will be a lot more development work as Google gets the feedback so many users are providing. For example, I’d like to be able to have a Twitter post update Google+. I like that and so do many of my followers on Facebook. However, I’ve seen comments from people wanting to keep Google+ “pure” from apps that allow this to happen.

I think it’s too early for me to provide a point by point comparison between Google+ and Facebook. I don’t see Google+ competing with Twitter that much yet btw. There are too many 3rd party apps for Twitter that make it such a useful tool and Google+ doesn’t have them yet. Emphasis on yet.

Google+ makes it real easy to add friends and group them which is called Circles. Yeah, there’s some new language to learn. I’ve already got around 50 friends and families connected to me but only a few are very active yet. Most of them are already active in Facebook and seem to be staying there most of the time.

So, should you join? Why not? Whey not create an account and at least take a peek? You can even create a nice little vanity url for yourself on Google+. Here’s mine: http://gplus.to/ChuckZimmerman.

Have you joined? What do you think? Feel free to add comments.

Precision Gets Social

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Social media was part of the buzz at the InfoAg Conference this year. The conference is held every other year. This means that since the last one we’ve had a new iPhone, the iPad and Android! I’ve got some interesting stories to post on our Precision Pays website that include how a new company is using the iPad for precision applications.

So this is the stage from this morning when Paul Schrimpf, Croplife Media Group, Jeremy Wilson, Crop IMS and I conducted back to back session on social media. I want to thank all the folks who tweeted in using the conference hashtag – #InfoAg. Click on the link to see what the conversation was all about.


2011 InfoAg Conference Photo Album

Give Chatterbarn Feedback and Sign Up

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Are you ready to Chatter? If so, then Chatterbarn is looking for some feedback during their beta test before going fully “live.” So go ahead and register for your launch day invitation. Feel free to post your comments and thoughts here too and we’ll pass them along. What do you think about the idea and need for this type of social networking kind of environment for agriculture? Is one needed? Would you use it? You know. All those kinds of questions.

Chatterbarn is the destination point for rural living and everything agriculture. The ChatterBoard connects you locally, to your neighbors and community. It connects you around the world to your customers, vendors and business associates. Teams are your own personal groups that can be created to invite those that you interact with the most for quick access to discussion, knowledge sharing, and interaction. Hubs are public information centers sponsored by businesses in the agricultural industry. These information centers provide product information, training webinars, video conferences, and other critical information from companies around the world that impact your life the most.

The Chatterbarn Exchange is a powerful real- time marketplace that not only allows for sellers to post items for sale, but is unique in the fact that it can be buyer-controlled as well. This means that if you need something specific, even in a certain amount of time, you can submit a request with a price range that you are willing to pay, and Chatterbarn will match your request with someone that has what you are looking for and notify you immediately by email and/or text. The Chatterbarn Exchange not only facilitates the exchange of products, but also the exchange of information.

The third component of the Chatterbarn Exchange allows you to submit questions into the network, which can be responded to by others, to facilitate the sharing of knowledge, best practices, and information throughout the industry. You will use the Chatter Button throughout the site to make things happen. It will help you post your comments to the Chatterboard and submit your items to the Chatterbarn Exchange. So, are you ready to Chatter?

Subscribe to the Chatterblog, find ‘em on Facebook and follow on Twitter.

Illinois Farm Families Open Gates to City Moms

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Illinois Farm Families are offering mothers from the Chicago area a chance to see first-hand what farmers do, ask questions and connect with the people who produce food for their families and then share what they learn with others as Field Mom reporters.

Illinois Farm Families (IFF) will equip the “Field Moms” with video cameras so they can record and share what they see and learn. Their videos, stories, and photos will be available to everyone on the IFF website WatchUsGrow.org. The Field Moms will also be participating in media interviews and offering insights about their experiences on Twitter and Facebook.

Chicago-area Moms can apply for the opportunity to become a Field Mom at Watch Us Grow. To be eligible, a Mom must be an Illinois resident at least 18 years old, with at least one child under the age of 13 living at home. Applications will be accepted until August 21, 2011.

Field Mom applicants should have a strong interest in learning more about their food and where it comes from. They are expected to be honest, willing to ask questions among peers and farmers, and able to attend up to five day-long farm tours over the next year. Most tours will leave the greater Chicago area at 8 a.m. and return about 6 p.m. More information about Field Mom expectations is available on our website.

Even if you can’t commit to being a Field Mom, you can subscribe to follow the Field Moms on their farm tours, and communicate with them online. Illinois Farm Families will send you email alerts when the Field Moms are on the move, posting thoughts, pictures or videos, or when there’s other news to share.

Sounds like a great way to address that disconnect that non-farmers have with the people who feed them.

Alltech Discussion Dinners Get Social

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Damien and BillyDiscussion dinners on a variety of topics were held last night at the Alltech International Symposium. I attended the Communications dinner which had a focus on social media. Pictured are our discussion moderators (l-r) Damien O’Reilly and Billy Frey. I will be sharing an interview with Billy in next week’s ZimmCast.

Our dinner discussion provided an interesting insight into what people in agribusiness know, or think they know, about social media. Most of those in the room were either personally involved or professionally in their business. Some comments that caught my attention included:

A European participant said that not many farmers are involved in social media. I don’t know what the environment is across the pond but here in America I would disagree with that to a certain extent. So many farm companies and member organizations have been conducting training programs and encouraging farmers to get involved in the online discussion that I believe we have “a lot” of farmers involved in social media.

Another participant wanted to know how you “control” what people are saying about your company or products. Control is a red flag word to me. You have no control! No matter what your desire is, you can’t control what people are saying. However, Billy made a good point about how you can “manage” the conversation by being involved and engaging people even if they write something negative about you or your company. I always say that they’re going to talk about you whether you join the conversation or not.

A student participant startled everyone by telling us to “get off Facebook.” She said there’s no way you can believe anything you read on it and she didn’t like the idea that a company would check up on an applicant by looking at their Facebook page. Sorry, young lady. Facebook along with other social media channels are open to everyone and I highly encourage you to be careful about what you post anywhere. On the point of believing what you read, I agree to a certain extent. You need to be careful about what you read and that includes product reviews. One participant was sure that his competition was paying people to write negative comments about his products online. He didn’t have proof though. But I certainly believe it does happen. I’m just not sure how much.

It was a very good discussion but showed me that there is a long way to go when it comes to companies integrating social media into their marketing communications mix. One other comment that I appreciated was on the subject of ROI for social media expenses. He asked why it is that companies don’t have a clue what the return is on their advertising expenses for traditional media and yet want to know exactly how many widgets they sold by investing some dollars in social media. Good question. It’s kind of like a double standard. Several participants said that their use of social media had positive returns for their business.

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

wiffiti Screen Projected During Alltech General Session

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wiffiti screenThe Twitter stream for the Alltech International Symposium is being projected on the wall here in the general session using wiffiti. You can follow along with the #AlltechSymposium hashtag. I’ll be we’ll see more of this at ag conferences! That’s why we’re the “Game Changers.”

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Cattle Farmer And Social Media Expert

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Debbie Lyons-BlytheCattle rancher Debbie Lyons-Blythe talked social media at the Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit. We follow each other on Twitter. Find her @DebbieLB. She was here to encourage people not to be afraid of social media and make some suggestions on how to use it to advocate for agriculture. She starting blogging and considers her blog, Life On a Kansas Cattle Ranch, the center of her social media universe with Facebook and Twitter being some of the planets revolving around that center. She does think there is fear out in the country to use these mechanisms but believes more and more farmers are starting to use social media.

You can listen to my interview with Debbie here: Debbie Lyons-Blythe Interview

Animal Ag Alliance Stakeholders Summit Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference is sponsored by NCBAAgWired coverage of the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference is sponsored by United Soybean

College Aggies Online Awards Announced

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Jacob NyhuisThe winner of the College Aggies Online scholarship competition is Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, represented at the Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit by Jacob Nyhuis. In the photo Jacob is accepting the school’s $750 award. The award also included his costs to travel to the Summit. I interviewed him after the presentation and you can hear him talk about participating in the program below.

College Aggies Online is a joint program between the Animal Agriculture Alliance and the American National CattleWomen, Inc. The goal is to help college students utilize social media tools to share agriculture’s story. The program was started last fall and has attracted 600 college students from more than 50 universities

Members have earned points by posting blogs, photos and videos related to agriculture and by participating in Aggie Homework agriculture advocacy challenges via Twitter, Facebook, and e-mail.

With 765 total points, the individual high score went to Jessie McClellan of the Casper College Ag Club in Wyoming. She will receive a $250 scholarship. Jacob Nyguis of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Georgia came in second place with 655 points and will be awarded $100.

Members of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College’s Cattlemen’s Club formed the top-scoring club with 3,030 points. The group will receive a $750 scholarship and a trip to Washington, D.C. for one representative to attend the Alliance’s Stakeholders Summit in April. Casper College’s Ag Club came in second place with 2,525 points and will receive $300. Other high-scoring schools included Pennsylvania State University, Western Kentucky University, and the University of Missouri.

You can listen to my interview with Jacob here: Jacob Nyhuis Interview

Animal Ag Alliance Stakeholders Summit Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference is sponsored by NCBAAgWired coverage of the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference is sponsored by United Soybean

An App That’s United And Fresh

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The United Fresh App is now available just in time for the United Fresh Produce Association conference taking place this week in New Orleans. It will be on my iPhone at the next iTunes sync.

The United Fresh app is available for Android, BlackBerry and iPhone users and can be downloaded free of charge at www.UnitedFresh.org/apps. The apps feature United Fresh 2011 schedules, exhibitor information and product listings, as well as convention news. Users of the app can access customized United Fresh 2011 content for each of the four United Fresh Market Segments: Grower-Shipper, Wholesaler-Distributor, Fresh-Cut Processor and Retail-Foodservice.

“We’ve come to a point at which, in a modern industry like ours, business leaders expect to be able to connect with their association in multiple ways,” said Ray Gilmer, vice president of communications for United Fresh. “The United Fresh app enables its users to quickly and easily get the information they need about the United show, in order to stay current, plan their days, and make the most of their United Fresh 2011 experience.” Users of mobile devices other than the Android, BlackBerry and iPhone can visit m.unitedfresh.org on their mobile browsers to experience the same customized features.

Follow along with their social media channels:

UniteFresh.TV
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
Foursquare

Use #United2011 for the conference Twitter hashtag.

Amazing Social Media Coverage of Royal Wedding

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The official social media coverage of the Royal Wedding is impressive and word is that the event set records for an online streaming audience.

dukemobileWhen I saw on Twitter that the Royal newlywed getaway car was an Aston Martin converted to run on 85 percent ethanol, I was first amazed that there was a biofuels angle to the wedding. When I went searching for official photos and releases, I was totally amazed by the wall-to-wall, immediate social media coverage provided on the official level. The official Royal Wedding site includes links to constantly updated videos on YouTube and photos on Flickr, in addition to frequent posts on Facebook and tweets on Twitter. I have to wonder how many people were involved in this effort – and how much it cost! It takes the kind of event coverage we do to a whole new level! Wondering if Pope John Paul II’s beatification on Sunday will be as impressive. They do have an official Vatican Facebook page for the beatification and the events reportedly will be live-streamed at many of the sites.

Getting back to the Dukemobile, as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge left Buckingham Palace for the royal residence Clarence House, they drove off in a “convertible Aston Martin Volante DB6 MKII in Seychelles blue is owned by his father HRH The Prince of Wales” that runs on 85 percent ethanol. That according to the official update on the Royal Wedding website, adding that in “June 2008, at the specific request of The Prince of Wales, who is keen that his cars should be run on sustainable fuel, the Aston Martin was converted to run on E85 bioethanol, made from English wine wastage.”

They even have a Royal Wedding YouTube video of the couple leaving in the car:

Foursquare Show Down at United Fresh

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Here’s an idea for your next convention or farm show. Wish I was going to United Fresh 2011 to compete in the DMA Solutions, Foursquare Showdown. DMA Solutions, Inc., is a marketing firm focused on the produce industry. I assume you all know about and use Foursquare by now right?

United Fresh 2011 attendees that have GPS-enabled mobile devices can download the foursquare app, connect with the contest and “check in” with The Core Blog at various points of interest throughout the week to win prizes.

“The fresh produce industry as a whole is finally starting to see the opportunities that social media marketing has to offer,” says Dan’l Mackey Almy, president. “We are hosting this contest to engage the industry at one of our most well attended events and to give our peers the opportunity to experience first-hand how social media marketing vehicles work to connect.”

United Fresh 2011 attendees that enter the contest should follow these simple steps to enter and win:

Download the foursquare app to their mobile phone
Login or create a foursquare account
Add The Core Blog as a friend in foursquare
Follow The Core Blog’s “check in” status on foursquare for tips and information throughout the Convention
Play to win one of several gift card prizes

To top it off, each of The Core Blog’s foursquare friends will be entered into a drawing for a $250 VISA gift card. For every new friend of The Core on foursquare, DMA Solutions will also give $10 to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans, up to $500. DMA Solutions will host a booth at the Global Conference on Produce Technology and Innovation on Thursday, May 5, 2011 at the Hilton Riverside Hotel. The booth will feature DMA Solutions’ new PLUG IN campaign designed to help fresh produce companies plug into consumers utilizing social media marketing.

CAMA Ontario Webinar On New Media and Farmers

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The Ontario chapter of the Canadian Agri-Marketing Association wants to help you come to grips with the new and social media of today and how that connects to farmers.

CAMA Ontario will be hosting a one-hour webinar on Wednesday, April 27, 2011 at 2:30 p.m. eastern time.

“Engaging Farmers in the New Media Platform” – Join speaker Shaun Haney, owner of Real Agriculture, farm operator, and cereal and canola seed distributor from Picture Butte, Alberta for CAMA Ontario’s webinar. Shaun will discuss why agriculture has a fit in social media, and its future in how farmers communicate. He will also touch upon the discrepancies between U.S. and Canadian social media, and explain why producers identify with certain platforms, including his site, RealAgriculture.com.

The cost is $30. To register, click on the following link: http://cama.org/Default.aspx?tabid=262&ModuleID=788&ItemID=63&mctl=EventDetails.

Shaun is a founding board member of the AgChat Foundation.

Farmers Speaking Out On Social Media

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ZimmCast 298You should know by now that the AgChat Foundation has turned one year old this week and the weekly AgChat Twitter conversation is two years old. I’ll bet even Michele Payn-Knoper (founder) would not have predicted that! So the baby is growing up and there’s lots of interesting things going on as this farmer led organization continues to plough new ground in agricultural communications.

I spoke today with Jeff Fowle, President, AgChat Foundation and California farmer (that’s him under the hat probably tweeting away) to get an update on where we’re at and where we’re going. I also serve on the board of the Foundation and we had a very well attended and exciting board meeting by conference call last night.

Americans may have noticed a new social media trend this past year: more Facebook posts from the farm, more tweets from the tractor and more blogs from the back forty.

The timing of this social media “stampede” couldn’t be better, says Jeff Fowle, president of the AgChat Foundation. Celebrating its one-year anniversary this week, the AgChat Foundation is a 100-percent volunteer organization formed to empower farmers and ranchers to effectively tell their stories using social media. He says in one 2010 study conducted by the Hartman Group, 59 percent of consumers purchasing local said they wanted a “connection to the farmer.”

Bring yourself up to date on what’s going on with the AgChat Foundation by listening to this week’s program: ZimmCast 298 - AgChat Foundation Turns One

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsor, Growmark, locally owned, globally strong, for their support.

The program ends this week with a song from Music Alley called “Chatshow Queen” by Stuart Willmott.

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