Prima Tech Has Your Yellow Boots

Posted on October 30, 2012 by Chuck

Yellow boots? Yes. And they’re not rubber! They’re polyurethane. Why? Because they last 3-4 times longer.

Now that’s important not only for today’s dairy farmer but anyone who could use some comfortable boots in messy situations. These are Prima Tech boots and they were on display at World Dairy Expo. Besides being longer lasting they are insulated, lighter and very slip resistant. I got my pair and put them on for the first time today. At World Dairy Expo I met Cindy Woodward, Global Marketing Manager, and talked with her about this new product. You can listen to that interview below.

Here’s the Prima Tech Promise:

Prima Tech promises to provide you — farmer, cattleman or hog producer — with durable, reliable, consistent animal health applicators. We have talked and worked directly with you, our customers. We have learned the lessons of the field and offer a line that withstands the daily punishment of farm use. We are dedicated to making the Prima Tech name and seal the quality mark of the animal health equipment industry. We will accept nothing less than to become the standard against which others are judged.

You can listen to my interview with Cindy here: Interview with Cindy Woodward

2012 World Dairy Expo Photo Album

DeLaval New Company Vision

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Chuck

ZimmCast 370 DeLaval has a new vision. I learned about it at World Dairy Expo from Christian Poggensee, Regional President, North America. Simply put it is, “We make sustainable food production possible.” Christian says it’s not a target but rather something the company wants to be perceived as. DeLaval became a sponsor of the U.S. Dairy Sustainability Awards earlier this year.

The company launched their sustainability initiative several years ago. New products development keeps four things in mind: Environment, Animal Welfare, Social Responsibility and Farm Profitability.

One of the more fun products by DeLaval that accomplish this are their Swinging Cow Brushes! These were on display in the DeLaval exhibit at World Dairy Expo.

The DeLaval swinging cow brush SCB is designed to improve cow health, comfort and welfare. The swinging cow brush SCB, which starts to rotate on contact, is a revolution in cow care and cow comfort. The unique brush which rotates at an animal-friendly speed, swings freely in all directions, smoothly up, over and alongside the cow to provide comfort all around.

Listen to this week’s ZimmCast to learn more about what’s new with DeLaval: The New DeLaval Vision

2012 World Dairy Expo Photo Album

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.

Charleston|Orwig Hoofs It for Charity

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Chuck

The company that has been mainly responsible for our ability to cover World Dairy Expo on World Dairy Diary.com year after year is Charleston|Orwig. This integrated marketing and reputation management agency has quite a few clients in the dairy business, including our marquee sponsor, New Holland. I spoke with Charleston|Orwig’s Mike Opperman, Sr. Director, Strategy and Planning, (left on the show lot with his client) to learn how the agency is doing and found out that they have a unique project going on here at Expo.

Charleston|Orwig announces that every step its employees take during this week’s World Dairy Expo will be for a good cause. The company will donate a penny for every step taken by each of its employees to Farmers Feeding the World. Given the massive scale of the week-long event and the dedication of its employees, the company anticipates a sizeable donation.

Every member of the Charleston|Orwig team will wear a pedometer to record how much he or she walks throughout the five days. The companies working with Charleston|Orwig at World Dairy Expo also are invited to participate in “hoofing it” or to match the donation.

You can listen to my interview with Mike here: Interview with Mike Opperman

2012 World Dairy Expo Photo Album

World Dairy Expo Farm Babe

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Chuck

It’s Fabulous Farm Babe time at World Dairy Expo. The Farm Report with Pam Jahnke is in full swing.

I got to sit down with Pam for a few minutes to talk about what she hears from her audience of dairy folks here in Wisconsin. When it comes to the dairy industry she says it is thriving with milk production up even with hot dry weather in the summer. Some southern producers are having to source feed due to the dry weather though. Listen in to our conversation to learn more about what’s going on in Wisconsin agriculture.

You can listen to my interview with Pam here: Interview with Fabulous Farm Babe

2012 World Dairy Expo Photo Album

New Holland Sponsors World Dairy Expo

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Chuck

One of the big “new” things at the 2012 World Dairy Expo is New Holland! New Holland has made a major commitment to support the Expo for several years. Here’s Abe Hughes, VP, North America, for New Holland, with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, during his visit to Expo this morning. We want to thank New Holland for sponsoring coverage of this year’s Expo on World Dairy Diary.com!

New Holland has sponsored a 26,000 square foot Trade Center tent outside the Exhibit Hall to provide room for additional exhibitors and also has a selection of equipment on the lot outside the tent. I visited with Abe outside this morning to learn more about what New Holland is doing for America’s dairy farmers. You can hear all about it in the video interview below. One of those things is the New Holland Value Bonanza, a coupon for $500 off your purchase.

SAVINGS FOR YOU – AND A FRIEND! Simply bring this card to your New Holland dealer and present it at time of purchase – and share the additional card with a friend so you both save. Don’t forget, this offer is in addition to current Value Bonanza Sales Event incentives. See your local dealer for details or visit valuebonanza.newholland.com.

2012 World Dairy Expo Photo Album

Ag Secretary Vilsack at World Dairy Expo

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Chuck

It’s opening day at World Dairy Expo. We’ve got beautiful weather and we’ve got a special visitor.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is holding an open town hall meeting. Here he is being welcomed by Wisconsin Secretary of Agriculture, Ben Brancel.

I’ll update this post with audio from the session here as soon as I can after the meeting is over. It is an hour and a half meeting and then the media will have a chance to visit with him.

The Secretary’s will also be doing a walk through of Expo today as well.

Post Update: You can listen to Secretary Vilsack’s Town Hall at World Dairy Expo or download here: Sec. Vilsack Town Hall

You can listen to and download his presser right after the session here: Sec. Vilsack with Press

2012 World Dairy Expo Photo Album

World Dairy Expo Preview

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Chuck

Let’s get a preview of this year’s Expo which I will be covering this week. Before heading out on an SCR Dairy Farm Tour this morning I spent a little time in the media room and visited with Janet Keller, Communications & Public Relations Manager, World Dairy Expo.

Janet says the show has a very large commercial exhibits increase with over 850 exhibitors! One of the areas that has made it possible is the New Holland Trade Center. This is a tent at the Alliant Center that has 26,000 square feet of space to house new exhibitors. The animals are settled in with over 2,500 dairy cattle registered for showing this year. Opening day has some added excitement with the planned visit of U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. I’ll be covering that and have some audio for you here soon afterward.

You can listen to my interview with Janet here: Interview with Janet Keller

Here’s where I’ll be posting photos: 2012 World Dairy Expo Photo Album

Mobile Technology In Dairy Industry

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Chuck

Mobile app technology is growing fast in the ag industry. Even the dairy sector is seeing more and more of it. Take Select Sires which took their Select Detect activity monitoring system to a new level this year when they introduced the mobile optimized version at World Dairy Expo. I spoke with King Smith to learn more about it. In the photo he’s showing the new mobile app on an iPad.

This new mobile application allows dairy producers to access cow records from the barn, from the field or when they are on the go.

The mobile Select Detect application is optimized for iPhone®, iPod touch®, iPad® and Android™-based phones. It allows for a quick remote review of cows on the high activity list, low activity list and heat expectancy list. Both daily and hourly activity charts can be viewed to determine if and when A.I. should be performed. This removes the need for dairy producers to be in the office to review the software and allows for a quick snapshot of activity that is updated every hour.

You can listen to my interview with King here: King Smith Interview

2011 World Dairy Expo Photo Album

Photos From World Dairy Expo

Posted on October 8, 2011 by Chuck

It is the final day of World Dairy Expo 2011. The ZimmComm team had to return to headquarters but that doesn’t mean we won’t have more stories on World Dairy Diary.

Cindy and I have quite a few interviews to share during the next week so keep your eye on our sister site as we bring you more from this year’s show.

In the meantime, feel free to check out our photos. The colorful fall leaves made a beautiful scene outside between buildings this year and the weather stay just about perfect too.

2011 World Dairy Expo Photo Album

World Dairy Expo coverage sponsored by Charleston Orwig Dairy Business Association Alltech Hoard’s Dairyman Accelerated Genetics

Badger NAMA Meets At World Dairy Expo

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Chuck

Badger NAMA, the local chapter of the Nation Agri-Marketing Association, held its annual reception/meeting during the 2011 World Dairy Expo. Here’s chapter president, Travis Maier, Morgan & Myers. I spoke with him about how the chapter is doing. He says chapter membership steady at over 120 and has actually been growing. This meeting is one of their main ones during the year. I think attendance at the meeting was really good. I don’t know how many were there but it was a large meeting. Students were a big part of the meeting too with a program just for them.

You can listen to my interview with Travis here: Travis Maier Interview

2011 World Dairy Expo Photo Album

World Dairy Expo coverage sponsored by Charleston Orwig Dairy Business Association Alltech Hoard’s Dairyman Accelerated Genetics

Tweeting Up At World Dairy Expo

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Chuck

Here’s a definition of a Tweet Up: “A real world meeting between two or more people who know each other through the online Twitter service.”

Pretty simple. The official World Dairy Expo Tweet Up took place yesterday afternoon. Here are some of our participants. We actually had more show up.

So why a tweet up? Because it’s a good opportunity to meet someone face to face that you may only know via 140 character messages. I don’t know how many tweet ups I’ve been to at this point but I’ve always enjoyed the opportunity to meet people who I’ve gotten to “know” electronically. The tweet up is usually organized via tweets. Makes sense and shows the communication power of the channel. BTW. Adding free drink tickets and some munchies never hurts a tweet up!

2011 World Dairy Expo Photo Album

World Dairy Expo coverage sponsored by Charleston Orwig Dairy Business Association Alltech Hoard’s Dairyman Accelerated Genetics

Advertising Messages Everywhere at Dairy Expo

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Chuck

This is one of my favorite photos from yesterday at the 2011 World Dairy Expo. Yes, it’s the men’s bathroom. I had to wait until it was empty to snap a shot.

World Dairy Expo and the sponsors and exhibitors waste no space to get a message out there. In the bathroom we had advertising across the top of the mirrors and as you can see in their reflection, also above the urinals. I just couldn’t resist. It made for an interesting picture.

You can see a full size version in the photo album if you want to read the message.

2011 World Dairy Expo Photo Album

World Dairy Expo coverage sponsored by Charleston Orwig Dairy Business Association Alltech Hoard’s Dairyman Accelerated Genetics

On Site Live at World Dairy Expo

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Cindy

The ZimmComm team is on site at World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. This is the 7th year we have been here at WDX, but the first time the two of us have been here together. We were both here one year but switched off, so not together, and I have been here by myself or with daughter Carly for the past four years. It’s always nice when we get to be somewhere together!

Our great photographer friend Harlan Persinger took this shot for us this morning. The sweet heifer who posed with us is a Guernsey who goes by the name of Safari, owned by Krista Richardson of Ohio. Thanks to Harlan, Krista and Safari!

Photos are being uploaded, the weather is great, and we are enjoying seeing the usual suspects here in the media room. Thanks to our coverage sponsors this year, listed below.

World Dairy Expo coverage sponsored by Charleston Orwig Dairy Business Association Alltech Hoard’s Dairyman Accelerated Genetics

It’s World Dairy Expo Time

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Chuck

This week the ZimmComm team goes dairy as in World Dairy Expo. Most of our coverage will be found on World Dairy Diary starting on Tuesday.

You can find the daily schedule here. You can also follow what’s going on at Expo with the official Twitter hashtag, #WDE11. Use that in your tweets so we can see what you’ve got to say.

Dairy industry enthusiasts will soon be traveling from faraway places to the Alliant Energy Center in Madison October 4 through October 8 to take a virtual trip “Around the World of Dairy in 5 Days”. World Dairy Expo, the destination, is expecting over 65,000 producers and industry professionals to converge from 90 countries for the five-day dairy celebration.

More than 2,500 head of North America’s most beautiful bovines from 37 states and 7 Canadian provinces will parade across the colored shavings within the themed Showring where official judges with a keen eye for cattle will select the champions. Each animal brings along a traveling caravan of professional fitters to make sure that their stay in Madison is clean, comfortable and relaxing.

We’d like to thank the companies listed below for their sponsorship of our coverage of this year’s show. Without them it wouldn’t be possible.

Did you Miss World Dairy Expo?

Posted on October 18, 2010 by Cindy

If you missed the 2010 World Dairy Expo, you missed a lot!

Here’s some of the posts we did on World Dairy Diary – including audio, video and photos that you are welcome to download or link to.

Amazing Results in Boosting Milk Fat Levels – interview with Dr. Scott Bascom, a nutritionist with Cooperative Plus in Wisconsin.

How Lower Protein Rations Can Increase the Bottom Line – interviews with Dr. Larry Chase with Cornell University and Dr. Bob Stoltzfus with Lancaster Veterinary Associates.

Five Star Dairy Wins Environmental Award – first ever award by Wisconsin Dairy Business Association.

RFID at the Speed of Commerce – using ultra high radio frequency (UHF) to tag identify large groups of moving animals.

Interviews with Dairyman and Dairy Woman of the Year – Don Bennink of Florida and Liz Doornink of Wisconsin.

Precision Feeding of Dairy Replacement Heifers – interview with Pat Hoffman from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Award Winning Dairy Credit Scours Protection – Interview with Dave Hartford of Oakridge-Bahler Farm, Connecticut.

Using a Brix Refractometer to Measure Colostrum Quality – $50 investment can be a big help for producers.

Robotic Post-Milking Spray System – See a video of how it works.

New Robotic Feedpusher Video – kinda looks like R2D2!

Thanks to our sponsors this year:
and

Charleston|Orwig Gets Social At World Dairy Expo

Posted on October 11, 2010 by Chuck

ZimmCast 276 Let’s meet the President of Charleston|Orwig, Mark Gale. In this week’s program you’ll hear a conversation that Cindy had with Mark at the recent World Dairy Expo. Charleston|Orwig, along with several of their clients were sponsors of our coverage of the annual dairy extravaganza once again.

Mark Gale Mark told Cindy that the agency business has made some dramatic changes in the past few years with the advent of social media and he is proud that Charleston|Orwig has been on the forefront of using these new tools to communicate.

Mark is also one of the founding members of the AgChat Foundation, which is dedicated to helping farmers and ranchers use social media platforms to connect with each other and advocate for agriculture.

So please enjoy this week’s program: ZimmCast 276 - Interview with Mark Gale

This week’s program ends with some fun music from Music Alley. It’s a song titled, “Chocolate Milk” by The Two Man Gentlemen Band. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsors, Novus International, and Leica Geosytems 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 a Subscribe page

Fabulous Farm Babe at Dairy Expo

Posted on September 29, 2010 by Cindy

world dairy expo 2010 The weather has been fabulous so far this week for the 2010 World Dairy Expo and Wisconsin’s own Fabulous Farm Babe (Pam Jahnke) has been hard at work as usual. She was the first person I saw when I walked in the door yesterday morning, so I figured she would make a great first interview for the expo since she has been the local farm broadcaster in Madison for over 20 years.

I talked with Pam about her background, her career, covering the expo as a reporter and judging cattle as a kid, how the show has changed and how the dairy industry in Wisconsin is doing these days.

Enjoy my interview with the Fabulous Farm Babe here: Pam Jahnke Interview

Check out the 2010 World Dairy Expo Photo Album and the rest of our coverage of #wde10 on World Dairy Diary sponsored by Alpharma, Arm & Hammer Animal Nutrition, Charleston-Orwig, Novartis Animal Health and Novus International.

Hoards Dairyman Celebrating 125 Years

Posted on September 29, 2010 by Chuck

world dairy expo 2010 hoards birthday Cindy is on location at World Dairy Expo so I thought I’d share one of her posts from World Dairy Diary:

The World Dairy Expo exhibitor party sponsored by Hoard’s Dairyman is always a special event, but this year it was extra special because they are celebrating 125 years!

To mark the anniversary, the publication called in the University of Wisconsin marching band as surprise entertainment for the event. It just happened to be at the exact time that President Obama was speaking on the UW campus just a few miles away, so there was a little concern about whether the band would make it or not. But they made it right on time, giving up their opportunity to see the president visit their school to pay tribute to the dairy industry.

Watch the video of the band here:

world dairy expo 2010 hoards birthday Instead of getting presents, Hoard’s was giving presents to celebrate their milestone. They presented World Dairy Expo with artist Bonnie Mohr’s updated “Foster Mothers of the Human Race” featuring all seven dairy breeds. The original Foster Mothers print was created in 1957 followed by updates in 1963, 1991, and 1993 — all of which were painted by former Hoard’s Dairyman Art Director James Baird. Bonnie was commissioned by Hoard’s to paint the new version specifically for the 125th anniversary and it was unveiled officially in June. You can order prints online from Hoards.

2010 World Dairy Expo Photo Album

Thanks to our World Dairy Expo sponsors:
and by

Alpharma’s Reach Teach and Learn Program

Posted on October 8, 2009 by Cindy

WDX
Alpharma Animal Health is reaching out to teach young people more about agriculture through a grassroots educational program called “Reach Teach and Learn.”

The company launched the program earlier this year at the 2009 Agriculture in the Classroom Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. The program supports local school districts and colleges through initiatives that encourage students to learn more about agriculture and how their food is produced, and to share their insights and knowledge about what they learned. I talked with Dr. Lance Fox, Alpharma’s Director of Technical Services, at their exhibit during World Dairy Expo about the purpose of the program.

WDX “Essentially the program is designed to reach out to our youth – elementary, high school, college-level students – our future leaders of tomorrow, to promote agricultural awareness,” Lance told me. “It’s not about products, it’s just about reaching out to the youth.”

It’s also about motivating young people to reach their own personal and professional goals, something Lance has done in his own life and he shares that story when he talks with young people of all ages. He grew up in the Wisconsin dairy industry, became a veterinarian, joined Alpharma as a technical services manager, and earlier this year achieved the personal goal of climbing to the top of Mt. Everest. “If you believe, you can achieve,” Lance says.

Find out more about the Reach Teach and Learn program, which features an essay and video contest for different age level students, at reachteachlearn.com.

Listen to or download my interview with Lance here.

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