Media Industry News selected one of our own as a Social Media Superstar. He’s John Walter, Successful Farming Executive Editor. John knows where we’ve been when it comes to convincing agrimarketers that farmers are like “regular people” when it comes to new and social media. Congratulations to him for this recognition!
Walter was one of the founders of Agriculture.com, the online community of Successful Farming and the very first website of any Meredith publication. Since then, Walter has constantly strived to create new online resources for farmers that can make a real, and profitable, difference for their operations. Most recently, he helped launch Farmers of the Future (www.farmersforthefuture.com), a social network for young and aspiring farmers.
“A lot of people in ag seem to think the jury is still out on whether or not farmers are going to embrace social media, reminiscent of the debates I heard about farmers and the Internet,” says Walter. “It’s clear that farmers have figured out how to make the Internet an integral part of their operations. And the farmers who continue to incorporate social media tools into their business mix are the real innovators who will be the future of production ag. That’s the audience we’re reaching with both our print and online media properties.”
Pictured are John (left) and Successful Farming’s Jeff Caldwell, Multimedia Editor with their recent MIN Integrated Marketing Awards.
The young and beginning farmers behind the Farmers for the Future project at Successful Farming magazine and Agriculture.com netted the media company two awards at the recent Media Industry News (MIN) Integrated Marketing Awards held in New York. Pictured accepting the awards on behalf of Successful Farming magazine are John Walter, Executive Editor and Jeff Caldwell, Multimedia Editor.
The Farmers for the Future program took home two honorable mention awards. The first came in the Total Integrated Program category that honors projects comprising multimedia editorial content, events and programs.
The Farmers for the Future program includes feature stories in Successful Farming magazine, a microsite and multimedia content on Agriculture.com, a young and beginning farmer conference and a social network site.
The Farmers for the Future social network was awarded in MIN’s Social Media Program category. The network that began in September 2008 has more than 2,100 members and offers members myriad ways to connect with one another, including blogs, forums, chat and video chat. The Farmers for the Future project is sponsored by DEKALB and the Farm Credit Foundation.
AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2009 is sponsored by: and
SFP, formerly Specialized Fertilizer Products, wants everyone to know that wasted fertilizer is wasted money, and naturally, they have products for growers that can help them see a higher return on investment when added to their current fertilizer mix.
The first product is AVAIL, a phosphorus fertilizer enhancer that when added to the fields in the fall before they are plowed, will help plants absorb phosphorus more effectively. NutriSphere-N is a nitrogen fertilizer which is a key component to a successful nutrient management program.
“Both can be added to what you are normally putting on fields,” said Melanie Acklin with SFP. “Blend it in. Mix it in. Farmers can really see added efficiency from these fertilizers and ideally increased in yield potential and increased return on investment.”
The fertilizers can be applied in spring or fall but Acklin noted that as farmers are getting ready to plant winter wheat, adding AVAIL can help the crop in the spring, especially since a lot of things can happen over the winter like early frost.
Growers can learn more about the products by contacting their local fertilizer dealer or on SFP’s website.
Have you ever summited Mt. Everest? I haven’t but Lance Fox has. He is a technical service veterinarian for Alpharma, and his successes both in his job and in his personal life have trained him to become a natural role model for children across America as part of the Reach Teach Learn ag educational program.
“My role is to educate students and make them more aware of agriculture and agribusiness and share some of my personal adventures and experiences,” Fox told AgWired during the Ag Media Summit.
Climbing to the top of Mt. Everest was a 12 year dream for Fox and he has some great advice for our future leaders, “If you have a dream pursue it. Pursue your passion. If you work hard everything is possible.”
In its second year, the Reach Teach Learn program is designed to provide youth with the information they need to ensure that honest, educated decisions are made. The program consists of two main initiatives including a college student video contest and a high school student essay contest. College students will be able to use imagery to depict current ethanol agricultural practices while for the first time, younger students will provide their perspective writing of an essay on agriculture based on the book, “The Man Who Fed The World.” As far as you know, I’m not a high school student but I will be providing my insights about the book as well.
I was also able to chat with Jeff Mellinger, Global Leader – Sales & Marketing for Alpharma. “What we’re really trying to do is reach out to young people in the U.S. is to get them to understand the agriculture industry because they will be the spokespersons in the future. We want them to be more informed in making positive choices and viewpoints because they’ll be the future leaders in developing views about agriculture.”
Mellinger also noted that the ag industry is seeing a lot more public opinion that is not accurate and that they are trying to bring accuracy to the conversation. Agriculture, he says, is a positive industry and still important to the United States.
More than 12 states have signed up to participate in the essay contest and others are welcome to join. You can learn more about Reach Teach Learn on their website. BTW – in addition to my essay on the book, I’ll be submitting a video as well, right here on AgWired.com. Now this you won’t want to miss.
AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2009 is sponsored by: and
I sat down with Keith Dunn with the United Soybean Board (USB) during the Ag Media Summit to see what their main initiatives currently are. Dunn explained to me the importance of animal agriculture and how supportive the USB was of this industry.
“Currently in the United States 98 percent of the soybean meal goes for animal feed for poultry, beef cattle and dairy cattle,” explained Dunn. “So we feel that animal agriculture is very important to the industry.”
Other important elements of the USB program include its work with biofuels as well as a responding to a recent request for referendum. Less than 1/10th of 1 percent of the growers requested a referendum on the soybean checkoff and Dunn mentioned that it shows that soybean farmers are very confident in their soybean checkoff and the work that is being done.
Biofuels is a hot topic and one that is very important to USB. “We’re concerned with the new renewable fuels standard and we want to make sure these are based on sound science, factual and will work for the American people.”
AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2009 is sponsored by: and
A little over a year ago Monsanto made a commitment to people around the world to sustainable agriculture. The company is working on products that will produce more than double current yields while reducing the resources needed to grow the crops by nearly one-third. They are so committed that they launched a website to discuss this topic: www.producemoreconservemore.com.
I was curious to learn more about Monsanto’s initiatives in the sustainability department so I caught up with Kevin Eblen, Vice President Public Policy & Sustainable Yield for Monsanto.
“What we’re trying to to get the world and the public to see and know is that we have the capability to produce more food and conserve resources at the same time,” explained Eblen. “So we went on record saying in the core crops that we focus on as a company which is corn, soybeans and cotton, that we can double the yields of these crops by 2030 with the starting year of 2000. And at the same time, through the use of technology we have and others’ have, that we could conserve resources by one-third to produce each unit of corn, beans and cotton.”
Eblen mentioned that the UN has determined that the world will need to produce as much food in the next 50 years that has been produced in the last 10,000 years. That is why Monsanto is working with farmers around the world to help them grow crops that are both sustainable and profitable.
AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2009 is sponsored by: and
As farmers are getting ready to harvest soon, it’s never too late to begin to think about products for the upcoming year. Nufarm is one of the largest crop protection companies in the world and is primarily at post patent company. After another company’s patent expires, Nufarm brings a similar product to market typically at a better value for the end user.
I was able to learn more about Nufarm’s products during the Ag Media Summit when I sat down with Director, Branding & Marketing Services, Brian Rund.
“This year we introduced 13 new seed treatment products for all the major crops,” said Rund. “We have greatly expanded our product line for range and pasture weed control. We’re also in the process of introducing a very broad range of herbicides for small grasses.”
Nufarm would like everyone to know that they are a very committed player in ag business. “We’re post patent but we’re not generic,” said Rund.
AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2009 is sponsored by: and
The Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) would like its producers to get to know them better, says Lynn Heinz, the executive director of communications. The organization serves all the 800,000 beef producers in the country, and is working with ag journalists to help them get their message out. In some cases this is with paid advertising, and in others it is to help them develop story ideas.
Since they are helping journalists come up with story ideas, I thought I’d ask him for a few ideas. So we discussed some of the key issues facing beef producers today.
“One of the things we’ve seen all summer with the economic situation, people have moved away from traditional steaks and those kinds of more expensive product. We’re working with retailers to help them feature those kinds of items. We’re helping consumers understand how to use something like the flatiron were they can still have the steak experience but at a lower cost.”
CBB is also working with exporters to meet the increased demand of Russia, Europe and Asia for middle meats. But this is the tip of the iceberg in terms of what CBB is doing to promote its beef producers. To hear more, listen to the full interview with Lynn.
AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2009 is sponsored by: and
There are a lot of agricultural policy concerns today and the Farm Foundation is taking an active role in helping DC adopt better legislation. The organization notes that agriculture is important and ag policy is important, and their role is to bring divergent views together and provide a forum for discussion. During these discussions, The Farm Foundation lets the best policies arise and then provides the outlet for policy makers to take advantage of these ideas. However, the organization does not lobby, but simply provides the best information for policy makers to use.
I asked Sheldon Jones what key issues they have been dealing with and he mentioned two: food prices and the agriculture’s role in feeding and fueling the world.
“A year ago when food prices were increasing and there were food riots around the world, we commissioned a study from three economists at Purdue on what are the real drivers to food prices. They reviewed literature, assessed the global demand for food and what were the driving factors including fuel, petroleum prices, world stocks, supplies of grain and more.”
AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2009 is sponsored by: and
Several student and young professional awards were given during the IFAJ/AMS summit and one of the most coveted awards, the Forrest Bassford Award was given to Whitney Wallace and is sponsored by LPC. Whitney will be a senior at the University of Missouri this fall and she is an active member of ACT – the AG Communicators of Tomorrow. She will be graduating next May with a degree in Agricultural Journalism with an Ag Economics minor.
I had the opportunity to spend a few minutes with Whitney, and she is a talented and well spoken woman who has already taken the ag communications industry by storm. For those companies looking for a rare talent, you’d better get in line now, because I suspect that Whitney will be off the market in a blink of an eye!
As such an active and young member of the journalism community, I asked her to give her fellow students some advice.
“Just like I tell the other students at Mizzou, you just gotta jump in an try everything you can. Because we have so many opportunities that we can pick and choose and find so many great little niches of places we can succeed.”
Now that everyone is home safe and sound from Ft. Worth, you’ll have a little time to read the new books by the IFAJ/AMS lunch speakers. Participants were first treated to a presentation by Julie Wainwright, who is the owner of Smartnow.com. She worked her way up to found Pets.com (how can you forget the sock puppet) and then undergo a very public bankruptcy right as the Internet bubble burst.
But after a few false starts and five big mistakes, she is now back on her feet and spreading encouragement to others. I can’t speak for everyone who attended, but her message definitely resonated with me which is why I’m looking forward to reading her new self-published book, ReBoot My Five Life Changing Mistakes and How I Have Moved On, available on Amazon.com.
While Wainwright’s presentation was fairly serious, on Tuesday we were thoroughly entertained by Scott McKain, who is the vice president of Obsidian Enterprises and the co-founder and principal of The Value Added Institute, a think tank that explores client loyalty. Speaking of which, how do you maintain client loyalty? Through being distinct. McKain has written exhaustively about this topic and is a best selling author.
There are Four Cornerstones of Distinction according to McKain including clarity, creativity, communication and customer experience focus. I don’t have time to go into details but his presentation was not only extremely funny, it was even more insightful. McKain very much believes in the mission of ag journalists, so much so that he has done two things. First, he has made his presentation available; and second, he has made the audio and e-versions of his new book, Collapse of Distinction: stand out and move up while your competition fails, available for free.
It’s been an amazing week here in Ft Worth for the largest ever IFAJ Congress and Ag Media Summit. We’ve had some fun times and made long-lasting new friends from around the world but its time to ride into the sunset and say goodbye.
Thanks for letting AgWired be a part of your celebration with special thanks to Novus International, Pioneer and Successful Farming for sponsoring our coverage. You can check out pictures from all the events in our IFAJ/AMS 2009 Photo Album, and come back to AgWired.com often as we’ll be posting stories about the events during the next few weeks.
We’ll see you next year in Belgium. Cheers!
AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2009 is sponsored by: and
AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2009 is sponsored by: and
There’s been a lot of stampeding and kicking it up on the dance floor here in Ft. Worth this week during the IFAJ Congress and Ag Media Summit. And one company that is really kicking it up is BASF with their new product Kixor. Kixor is currently under development and is being designed for broadleaf weed control. Once it is perfected and available for producers, farmers will able to apply the herbicide prior to crop emergence for burndown or for season-long residual broadleaf control.
To learn more, I spent a little time at the campfire with Dan Westberg, Technical Services Manager for BASF.
“Kixor herbicide technology is a unique chemistry that is specifically designed by BASF to solve the toughest broadleaf weed control problems facing growers today,” explained Westberg. “If you look across the board there are a little over 70 broadleaf weed species. Many of those are resistance or hard to control.”
When the technology comes to market, it will have a wide range of crops it can be used on including corn, sorghum, soybean, wheat, all of the cereals, cotton, follow, treat fruit, and more.
One of the best attributes of Kixor will be the short amount of time for it to take effect – three to five days.
“Kixor herbicide technology will be very unique in that it has both burndown activity and also soil residual activity. So, depending on which crop it will have a very effective burndown and for some crops we can provide a very effective residual effect especially corn,” said Westberg.
AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2009 is sponsored by: and
Small grain farmers and agricultural researchers were taken by surprise this year due to a huge outbreak of head scab. But many farmers were spared to much damage through the application of various fungicide products including those who used Caramba. Caramba is a fungicide developed by BASF and now for the first time this year available to producers and its benefit is to increase yield protection and reductions of DON levels in grain.
Dr. Gary M Fellows was able to sit down with me during the Ag Media Summit and tell me more about Caramba and Twinline.
“Caramba is the number one product worldwide for the control for head scab in small grains, and we launched it this year which was a good thing because this was the worst year for head scab that we’ve seen in the past 25 years,” said Fellows.
“The neat thing about Twinline is that its powered by Headline. What we’ve done is taken Headline and moved it up to the next level and that’s Twinline. And so we’ve actually increased it activity its given it a little longer in curative control as well as preventive control we’ve always had. In the trials that are starting to come off, the wheat harvest in the south is almost done, we’re seeing great yields in Twinline compared to all the other competitive products and compared to untreated.”
Although Twinline is only for small grains such as wheat they are working on a comparative product for corn but we’re going to have to wait to get the details.
We had several fellow journalists here at IFAJ and Ag Media Summit from Australia with us and they are not expecting a great wheat harvest. However, although not a record breaking year, the United States, says Fellows, should have a good harvest.
AgWired coverage of IFAJ 2009 is sponsored by: and
Time flies when you’re getting close to an event as exciting as the AG CONNECT Expo, who just celebrated its one year anniversary of “existence”. What does that mean you wonder? Last year the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) announced the first ever AG CONNECT show on January 13-15, 2010 in Orlando, Florida. This international show is designed for agriculture industry professionals to share global agricultural ideas and management trends. Participants will be able to interact with exhibits of the latest industry innovations, products and technology as well as a participate in a comprehensive education program and extensive networking opportunities with industry experts worldwide. And what better time for producers to head to Florida then just before they begin to prepare for Spring planting.
The Ag Media Summit was a perfect place for me to catch up with Charlie O’Brien, V.P. of Ag Services for AEM and find out the latest news about AG CONNECT and to learn why everyone should be there.
“It’s really an opportunity to bring agriculture together in one place. They have an opportunity from a trade show perspective to see the latest and greatest innovations and technologies that are available in agriculture. We also have a full complement of education that’s going on. We have more than 50 educational sessions that are available to the attendees. Those are trying to bring out the latest and greatest of what’s happening in agriculture. Agriculture is used whether its precision farming or farm management or succession farming. And we also have the opportunity for networking.”
Everyone who participated in A Media Summit had the opportunity to meet hundreds of journalists from around the world and AG CONNECT will be a great place for them to learn more about global agriculture. You can get more information about AG CONNECT and register at www.agconnect.com.
This year IFAJ and AMS brought an all-day photography school to the conference. The photography school was taught by Michael Schwarz of the Blue Pixel Group. We started the day off at the historical Fort Worth Stockyards, where we were free to roam the grounds and take pictures that inspired us. Our assignment was to capture old time Texas and anything that would represent that. Participants shot photos of everything from long horns to cowboy hats. At 11:30 the daily cattle drive was taken through the main street of the Stockyard and was a great photo opportunity for us as well as something new to see.
After the cattle drive we headed back to the hotel for the critique session. Each participant picked out their favorite 5 pictures and as a group we reviewed all of them to share our thoughts. The best 50 were chosen and we made our own storytelling slide show of our days adventure. Apart from being a little hot the day was a fun filled learning experience.
You can check out my photos from the Stockyards on our photo album here:
We’re less than an hour away from the opening of the InfoExpo Grand Opening and Reception. I took at sneak peak at the booths, food and beverages and people are going to be treated to a great time.
There are a few companies adding the final touches…and a few companies already getting down to business!
There is a lot of discussion around the best way(s) to sequester carbon but the biggest discussion involves the issue of what is the best way to do this and what will be the long term effects. Several people took the stage during one of Sunday’s afternoon sessions called: Carbon Sequestration – The Path to the Promise.
Theodor Friedrich with the Crop and Grassland Service of the FAO, along with Nathan Rudgers, with 25×25 Carbon Work Group, shared the podium to discuss the ability of farmers to capture and store atmospheric carbon in their soils as a way to reduce carbon emissions. This practice to be both a boon to the air and the soil as this could provide a new financial stream for farmers.
Friedrich focused on the role of soil in carbon sequestration noting that when soils are put into production they lose CO2. However, he said, this also makes them a big carbon sink and warned that a key element to the success of this process would be agricultural management of the soils. In the end, he cautioned that in regards to climate change, “agriculture must be a part of the solution, not part of the problem.
From there Rudgers took the stage to focus on how forestry can play in important role in carbon offset programs (cap and trade). He noted that under the cap-and-trade, regulated entities must reduce emissions or purchase offsets to cover them. He commented that his organization is looking at woody biomass which, “can be a robust contributor to energy solutions.”
As I mentioned in the first part of my post, I had the opportunity to tour around Ft. Worth with journalists from around the world during the IFAJ conference. After leaving the Rocky Top Therapy Center we headed to the Texas Motor Speedway for a little fun on the track.
I’ve been to the speedway before and actually enjoyed watching the awe of our international friends more than anything. The speedway seats nearly 200,000 fans on a race weekend and is the host of two Nascar races and an IndyCar race. I could hardly believe this, but the speedway was completed in 1997 and in April ‘97 had their first Nascar race. After the weekend was over, the owners made so much money they were able to pay off the speedway. Amazing!
After watching some participants of the Richard Petty Driving School (a program where people can pay to learn how to drive a one of the race cars that compete in the Nascar Sprint Cup Series) with much jealousy, we headed to Superior Livestock Auction located in the historical Ft. Worth Stockyards. From the information that I can gather, they actually auctioned off livestock and other animals in the stockyards until the mid to late 90s. Now, many livestock auctions are handled online and Superior Livestock Auction is the company that pioneered the online auction. You can also watch the actions live on RFD TV and they will also soon be broadcast on cable. Nothing like the ability to buy a lot of Angus without leaving your couch.
One of the coolest parts of the IFAJ/AMS Big Ol’ Western Welcome Party was pretty hot – branding boards with personal brands. Dozens of ag media types, both American and international, took the branding iron in hand and left their marks.
Our buddy Harlen Persinger – photographer extraordinaire – really got into it and designed a nice brand for himself. Check out the photo album for lots more photos.
There were at least 600 people who attended the party last night at Fort Worth Stockyards that included great music and dancing, as well as some good ol’ Texas barbeque. It was really a fun time for all!
Commodity Classic took place in Anaheim, CA. You'll find all of Chuck, Cindy and Joanna's photos here.
Happy Ag Week
It's time to thank our farmers and ranchers for all their hard work to feed us.
In this week's program I interview Linda Tank, CHS, Inc., who is Chair of the Agriculture Council of America, the group coordinating National Ag Day. Learn more about their activities, especially this week in Washington, DC.