Media Room Leaders

Chuck Zimmerman

The guys who are overseeing the media room again this year are Bob Callanan, American Soybean Association (l) and Ken Colombini, National Corn Growers Association.

I talked them into posing for me this morning with our media room sponsor sign. Thank you New Holland!

The media are starting to trickle in as we get closer to the official kickoff of this year’s Commodity Classic. We’ve got a lot of room for them in about the most spacious facilities I remember us having for the event.

Cindy is out and about on a photo shoot and we’ll get our Commodity Classic photo album started later this morning. It’s going to be a fun and interesting week and we hoped you’ll check in to our live coverage as events happen here in Anaheim.

AgWired coverage of the 2010 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by: BASF and New Holland

ASA, Commodity Classic, NCGA

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Olivia Gonzales of Paso Robles, Calif., competed against 37 other college students or recent graduates to win the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 2010 Collegiate Discussion Meet at the AFBF Young Farmers and Ranchers Leadership Conference.
  • New Holland has adopted SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) technology for machines with engines above 100 hp and CEGR, Cooled Exhaust Gas Recirculation, for engines below 100 hp.
  • Makhteshim Agan of North America, Inc. announced that John Hobson has joined the U.S. agricultural team in the position of national accounts manager.
  • Syngenta Seeds, Inc. has promoted Tracy Mader to head of Product Marketing for its corn and soybean products.
Zimfo Bytes

WTF Is Your T-Shirt

Chuck Zimmerman

Today was the first day I’ve worn my WTF shirt. That is Where’s The Food, Without The Farmer? of course. It was fun seeing the reaction from people in the airport, on the plane and in the hotel today traveling to Commodity Classic. I can’t tell you how many people have said, “I saw that on Twitter today.” Thank you to all who re-tweeted me!

So, to get your t-shirt visit I Love Farmers, They Feed My Soul. Thanks to Tricia Braid Terry for taking this photo.

I Love Farmers, They Feed My Soul.

We may be young, but we are not stupid.

We love farmers. They feed our soul. Together we are working to help our generation understand the importance of knowing where our food comes from and who produced it.

We’re not your typical “who cares” kind of young people from the Millennial Generation. Sure, we all have cell phones and we text like crazy. We have iPods and spend way too much time on Facebook and MySpace, but we care about our planet. We care about our country. We care about the American family farmer.

Few of our friends know how their food is produced. We think that is sad. And, really it is kind of scary. If we are not careful, we will become dependent on other countries to provide our food. That is not good. Who knows what goes on in other countries when it comes to growing our food? We have an idea, and it too is not good.

Ag Groups, Education, University

Farm Foundation Hosts Forum on Finance & Credit

John Davis

If you’re in Washington, DC tomorrow, you won’t want to miss the Farm Foundation’s forum on the finance and credit environment for agriculture and the food system today.

The forum, held in the Holeman Lounge at the National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C., runs from 9-11 am tomorrow and feaures a community banker, a commercial lender and a Farm Credit lender who will provide their perspectives on the challenges and risks ahead in 2010. Plus, they will be joined by a professor of finance and an investment manager working in the United States, Australia and Canada:

* Joe Brasher, a community bank president for First State Bank, a $1.3 billion community bank with 26 banking offices across Tennessee.
* Jeff Conrad, president of Hancock Agricultural Investment Group, which directly manages $1.2 billion of agricultural investments in the U.S., Australia and Canada.
* Paul Ellinger, professor of finance at the University of Illinois.
* Bob Frazee, CEO of Mid-Atlantic Farm Credit, which has about $1.7 billion in agricultural loans in Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania.
* Cornelius (Corny) Gallagher, global agribusiness executive for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and a member of a national team that coordinates management of the bank’s agribusiness and food products portfolio.

This discussion is designed to be a continuation of the Farm Foundation’s November 2008 panel discussion on the impact of the that year’s financial and credit crisis on agriculture and the food industry. Panelists will get to discuss any lessons learned during the 15 months since the previous session.

Now, if you can’t jet-set off to DC at a moment’s notice, you can still listen in on what’s said. Just check out the Farm Foundation’s Web site where the audio from the forum will be posted.

Farm Foundation

My MOJO

Chuck Zimmerman

At the request of several people lately, I’m posting what’s in my MOJO. I haven’t done this for a couple of years. You read the last post and compare what’s different. So here’s what’s in my MOJO (mobile journalism kit).

Big Mac – 17″ Macbook Pro
HP Mini 311 – Netbook
Apple iPhone 3GS
Nikon D300 D-SLR
Nikon SB-900 – Flash
Nikon 18-200mm VRII – Not pictured but included are: 70-200mm VR f2.8, 17-55mm f2.8, Sigma 10-20mm
Canon HG20 HD Video Camera – Kit includes Azden Shotgun Mic and Audio Technica Lav Mic
Kodak Z18 – Video Camera
Canon SD100 IS – Point/Shoot
Edirol R-09 – Digital Audio Recorder
Sony PCM-M10 – Digital Audio Recorder
ThinkTank Photo Airport Security rolling bag
LowePro Nova 170 AW camera bag
Verizon MiFi – mobile hotspot
AT&T Laptop Connect Card
Sennheiser PCB 141 – USB headset microphone
Heil PR-20 – Microphone

Not pictured items include:

Manfrotto self standing monopod 682B
Zacuto Zgrip iPhone Jr. #Z-ZG-IPJ – mounts on tripod/monopod
Many assorted microphone cables, battery chargers, rechargeable AA batteries, lens cloths, memory cards, memory card reader, mini tripod, full size Manfrotto tripod, USB memory sticks, Seagate Free Agent 500GB external hard drive, Lynksys WRT54GC 4 port wireless router, Flip Mino HD and Marantz PMD620 digital audio recorder.

Now I don’t carry all this gear with me on all trips. I generally configure my pack according to what I’m going to need to do while on location. Having these items gives me lots of options and backups. For example, with an app like Speakeasy on my iPhone I can and do conduct high quality interviews without even having to use a special digital audio recorder. I’m sure you’re now going to ask what software I use. Okay, here’s a partial list that doesn’t include other apps I use on my iPhone:

Adobe Soundbooth CS4 – edit audio
Adobe Photoshop Elements – edit photos
Final Cut Express – edit video
iMovie – edit video
Transmit – FTP software to upload stuff
WordPress – the only name you need to know in blogging

I also use countless web apps for all kinds of things like Twitpic for Twitter, etc.

Equipment

Missourians For Animal Care Launched

Chuck Zimmerman

A new coalition has been formed to protect the rights of animal owners in Missouri. It’s called Missourians for Animal Care. Here are representatives of some of the organizations that support the coalition who were meeting today in the Missouri State Capitol. The group is supporting a bill titled HCS/HJR 86 that would protect the right to raise animals in Missouri. Why? Because there are animal rights extremist groups like the Humane Society of the United States trying to get a ballot initiative going on that would put severe limitations on the ability of anyone to own and raise animals.

It’s great to see a diverse group of agricultural groups coming together on an issue but this is one that would affect all of them. It’s also sad that they have to fight a completely unnecessary ballot initiative. Dog breeders in Missouri are licensed and regulated and are great caretakers for their animals but wacko groups like HSUS are using a very derogatory and emotional term to try to gain support which would supply them with money and a foothold for future legislative actions. Their initiative is called The Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act and you need to be aware of it.

To learn more about what’s going on I spoke with Karen Strange, President, Missouri Federation of Animal Owners. Her group has filed a lawsuit challenging the ballot initiative summary which they believed is inadequate to describe what is in the measure itself. They’re challenging the use of the term “puppy mill” which they do not use and is very prejudicial against anyone who breeds dogs. She says, “It’s very, very offensive to the good breeders of Missouri.” They have formed a PAC to raise funds to fight the ballot initiative.

Karen says they see this ballot initiative as just a “first step” to them coming after other agriculture interests. She says they want to help educate the public about this issue so they don’t unknowingly pass something they don’t understand the detrimental effects of. She says this is “nothing but a money making venture by an animal rights organization.” She says we need to just enforce the rules we already have.

If you’d like to have a good resource to use for good information about what the H$U$ is doing then I recommend HumaneWatch.org. You’ll find links to information about this issue there already.

You can listen to my interview with Karen here:

Ag Groups, Animal Activists, Wackos

NAMA Marketer & Agribusiness Leader Announced

Chuck Zimmerman

The National Agri-Marketing Association has announced major award winners who will receive their awards at the convention in April.

The National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) has named Dave Seehusen, Executive Vice President, Ag Business Development for Land O’Lakes, Inc., as the 2010 Agribusiness Leader of the Year. This award, which is NAMA’s highest honor, will be presented at the Opening General Session of the 2010 Agri-Marketing Conference, “From America’s Heartland to the Rest of the World,” April 22, 2010, in Kansas City, Missouri. The award honors outstanding leaders in agribusiness, education, government service or other agribusiness related areas who exemplify excellence in agribusiness by their significant contributions to the industry.

Dave Seehusen is known for his unique approach to individual and organizational leadership. He is a hands-on motivator on an individual level, while at the same time adept at building multi-functional teams and effective, often innovative, partnerships.

The National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) has honored Stephanie Liska, CEO of Beck Ag, Inc., with the NAMA Marketer of the Year award. The award will be presented during the Second General Session of the 2010 Agri-Marketing Conference, “From America’s Heartland to the Rest of the World” on Thursday, April 22 at 11:00 a.m. in Kansas City, Missouri and is sponsored by Agri Marketing magazine.

NAMA recognizes its active members with senior management of marketing and/or sales responsibilities with the NAMA Marketer of the Year award. This award is NAMA’s most prestigious honor awarded to active members of the association and honors outstanding accomplishments in the field of agri-marketing

Stephanie Liska is a marketing pioneer who was instrumental in the refinement and widespread use of Word of Mouth Marketing in the ag industry. She has led ag marketers to leverage positive customer experiences into market share gains. Liska joined Beck Ag in 1998, shortly after the company’s 1997 formation and grew to become the organization’s leader. Liska has been instrumental in guiding Beck Ag to become a company focused solely on agriculture and committed to helping ag professionals succeed. She was raised on a family farm and has close to 25 years of successful experience in ag sales and marketing.

NAMA

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Dow AgroSciences recently donated $10,000 to the Citrus Research and Development Foundation to help fund research for the control of citrus greening.
  • Cermetek Microelectronics presented a preview of its AquaMon wireless soil monitoring system at the World Ag Expo.
  • Livestock and poultry groups hosted educational briefings on Capitol Hill to share the facts about the importance of tools like antibiotics in raising healthy food animals.
  • MANA Crop Protection introduces Ironclad nicosulfuron plus rimsulfuron herbicide and Adapt nicosulfuron herbicide for control of many tough broadleaf and grass weeds in corn.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Exposing HSUS

    Chuck Zimmerman

    ZimmCast 251In this week’s ZimmCast you’ll hear my conversation with David Martosko about HumaneWatch.org. This awesome and growing compilation of information about the Humane Society of The United States is a great resource for everyone involved in agriculture. H$U$ may be targeting animal agriculture for extinction but if successful consider the impact on all areas of agriculture, most especially in row crop production. I’m going to write my elected officials and point them to HumaneWatch.org since Missouri is currently one of the states these wackos at H$U$ are targeting with their completely misguided attack on dog breeders. Of course if you believe dog breeders are their only target then I might have some (swamp) land in south Florida to sell you.

    hsus watchdogIn my conversation with David you’ll learn more about him and why he’s become so passionate and involved on this issue. His background includes working with the Center For Consumer Freedom. David and I have a great conversation and I hope you enjoy listening.

    Almost a year ago I met Wayne Pacelle, CEO of HSUS. He was speaking at the NAFB Washington Watch (I still don’t understand why they even let him in the door) and in my opinion issued a challenge to American farmers. You can still read that post or listen to his remarks (mp3).

    Since the H$U$ says it’s all about dogs and cats (er, make that money) the program ends with some music from Music Alley. It’s a song called, “Dogs and Cats” by Colie Brice.

    Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsors, Novus International, and Leica Geosytems for their support.

    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.

    Animal Activists, Audio, Wackos, ZimmCast

    New Holland’s Rustler is a Workhorse

    Cindy Zimmerman

    New Holland debuted the new Rustler utility vehicle at the 2009 Farm Progress Show, but the 2010 National Farm Machinery Show was really this baby’s “coming out” party, since commercial production of the Rustler just started in January and they are really just hitting dealer lots this quarter. I talked with Jared Godfrey of New Holland at the NFMS about the Rustler and what makes it different from other UVs on the market.

    “What really makes it different is that our models are really more of a utility workhorse versus other brands that are more of a sporting kind of use, where ours are more on the farm, kind of weekend warriors,” said Jared.

    The Rustler also has so many options it can be customized for just about any taste. “We have three models, the smallest one is the 115 which is a gas, 2 wheel drive option. Then we bump up to the 120 diesel option,” Jared said. The biggest model is the 23-hp 125 gas option. There are 2 passenger or 4 passenger options, cabs, aluminum wheels, all terrain tires and more.

    Jared says they believe New Holland’s strong brand identity will attract farmers and rancher who buy blue to the Rustler.

    Listen to my interview about the Rustler from NFMS here:

    Audio, National Farm Machinery Show, New Holland