Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Jeff Murphy, vice president of sales for Kemin AgriFoods North America, announces the appointment of Marc Hoopingarner as the Key Account Manager responsible for Kemin sales development in the territory which covers Delmarva, West Virginia, Virginia, North and South Carolina. Doug Macklin, who previously serviced these accounts, will now focus solely on managing the Kemin account managers in the East Region in his role as East Region Sales Manager.
  • Kemin Industries Inc. will host swine veterinarians, nutritionists and decision makers at its second annual swine summit in Des Moines, IA, June 4, 2008, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. The focus of the 2008 swine summit is “Netting More Energy”. Speakers Clifford Adams, Ph.D., Ruurd Zijlstra, Ph.D., Joseph Hahn, Ph.D., and David Meeker, Ph.D., will discuss net energy formulation, how to evaluate new high energy feedstuff options, what options are available, and how to extract more energy with nutricines such as enzymes.
  • Deere & Company has announced it will invest approximately $35 million to increase manufacturing capacity by 30 percent for combine harvesting systems produced at the John Deere Harvester Works in East Moline, Ill. The investment will include machine tooling and fixtures, improved work processes, and improvements to the existing paint system. The project is expected to be completed in early 2009.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Missouri Field Work

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Missouri Field WorkIt was a beautiful day to be out on the Katy Trail today and with that great weather comes a lot of field work.

    Here’s some red and green on the job in the Missouri River bottoms.

    Around here we’re starting to see corn and even some soybeans above ground but there’s still a lot of fields waiting to be planted. In fact, we’ve still got standing water in some areas where we usually don’t see it.

    But it’s a wonder what a few days of sunshine will do. Picture taken by my Blackberry.

    Uncategorized

    Multi-Track Editing With SoundBooth CS4 Beta

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Adobe SoundboothFor you aspiring audio editors or farm broadcasters out there with a Mac, multi-track editing just got easier. I’ve been using Adobe Soundbooth and wondering why they never made a version of Audition for the Mac. Well they still haven’t but they’ve got a new version of Soundbooth in beta and I just edited tomorrow’s ZimmCast with it.

    It’s still not Audition but it’s way ahead of what we had with the CS3 version of Soundbooth. So I suggest giving CS4 beta a try. If you get stuck figuring out how to start a multi-track session give me a call and I’ll guide you the best I can.

    Uncategorized

    Wisconsin Farm Technology Days

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Wisconsin Farm Technology DaysIn this day of precision agriculture you can still go old school at a show like the Wisconsin Farm Technology Days.

    Although the 2008 Wisconsin Farm Technology Days taking place in Brown County will showcase the latest technological advances in agriculture, it will also pay tribute to the technology that helped farmers increase their productivity in the early 20th Century. The farm expo will include a Heritage Machinery area, featuring classic tractors, implements and other machinery, according to John Schmidt, the show’s Tent City chair.

    “This equipment really helped build America’s agricultural industry, making our farmers the envy of the world,” says Schmidt. “That’s one of the reasons why collecting and restoring vintage tractors and machinery is growing in popularity.”

    Farm Shows

    Milk Madness

    Laura McNamara

    Summer marks a season of dairy-related activities and events in Minnesota. Now residents can keep up with dairy and the nearly 5,000 Minnesota dairy families at ExploreDairy.com.

    ExploreDairy.com is designed to provide a complete rundown of summertime dairy activities, and give Minnesotans a closer look at what the state’s farm families are up to. If you’re looking for memorable things to do this summer, if you’ve ever wondered about life on a farm, or if you’d like to learn more about the people who produce the milk, butter, cheese, ice cream and yogurt we enjoy every day, stop by ExploreDairy.com.

    ExploreDairy.com will be updated throughout the season with the latest news and information about all of Minnesota’s dairy-related events. For more information.

    The website will also feature recipes, videos and a ‘Dairy Diary’ blog.

    Ag Groups, Dairy, Farming, Food

    Backing Up and Archiving Pictures, Audio and Video

    Chuck Zimmerman

    A post by Scott Kelby on Photoshop Insider about his photo and computer back-up strategy made me decide to post one too. I get asked this fairly often and I’ve seen several seminars on the topic. I will mainly address photos but will also mention audio and video too.

    To get started on a plan to back up your data (images/audio/video) you have to be committed to doing it and willing to devote some time to it. There are lots of ways you can do this but mine is developed from a long background in filing things so I can find them later and that includes email. With this plan I have multiple copies of all my data and web access to it as well.

    FireLite SmartdiskI’m going to start with pictures since that’s probably of the most interest. I shoot onto either CF or SD cards depending on the camera I’m using. Since I usually have frequent access to my computer, I back up my pictures every chance I get using Adobe Lightroom. I custom name all the pictures from an event, add keyword metadata and load them into client or event folders. Then I try each day to copy those folders and files onto a FireLite SmartDisk (pictured). I’ll also keep the pictures on the memory cards until I get back to the office. This way I’ve usually got 3 copies of each picture with me. I shoot onto 2 GB cards and like Scott, I try not to fill them all the way before starting on another.

    During an event I’m also editing photos to use in posts. These I keep in a separate folder along with the raw pictures on my hard drive and then on the Smartdisk. I also upload a high percentage of the photos into my Flickr account where they’re publicly available right away. This allows client to look at them and use them even before I send them a disk with all the raw photos after the event.

    When I get back to the office, one of my first priorities is to transfer all my pictures onto our office server. We’re using an HP MediaSmart Server. It’s simple and expandable. I’ve got 1.5TB of available storage and have it set up to duplicate my data folders. This means that all my photos are backed up onto 2 different hard drives on the server. Periodically, I will back up the data files onto another external hard drive (Maxtor) which I keep in another location. Sound paranoid? I am.

    Since we produce so much audio and video I’ll just say that I handle archiving these files the same way. I normally will keep an unedited version of each audio and video file and save the edited versions with file names related to the event and date. This way I can easily access either in the future when the need arises. While on location I transfer everything to my Mac and the Smartdisk before archiving at the office afterward.

    Once I’ve got all my data from an event archived onto my server then I will erase the memory cards and delete the files from my Mac.

    Uncategorized

    Erin Malewicki Joins Bader Rutter

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Erin MalewickiI’m really glad I’m going through my email. Somehow I missed this when I took my Mac in.

    Erin Malewicki has joined Bader Rutter & Associates as an assistant account executive in the agency’s Account Management Group. Malewicki comes to the agency from GMR Marketing where she was an account coordinator.

    She will be working on the firm’s animal health account, Merial. A native of Elm Grove, Wis., Malewicki graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee with a bachelor’s degree in marketing.

    Agencies

    Kemin Hosts Swine Summit

    Laura McNamara

    Swine Summit attendees can look forward to playing a game of P-I-G and 3-point with members of the Iowa Energy D-League NBA team organization this year. Of course, the summit will be getting down to business too with a host of speakers that will focus on “Netting More Energy” in pork production.

    Kemin Industries Inc. will host swine veterinarians, nutritionists and decision makers at its second annual swine summit in Des Moines, IA, June 4, 2008, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. The focus of the 2008 swine summit is “Netting More Energy”.

    Speakers Clifford Adams, Ph.D., Ruurd Zijlstra, Ph.D., Joseph Hahn, Ph.D., and David Meeker, Ph.D., will discuss net energy formulation, how to evaluate new high energy feedstuff options, what options are available, and how to extract more energy with nutricines such as enzymes.

    P-I-G and 3-point will follow the summit in Kemin’s Got Game?!” reception in the 4-H building on the fairgrounds.

    Ag Groups, Energy, Pork

    The Water is Rising at John Deere

    Laura McNamara

    Deere & Company has acquired a new water technologies company. San Diego-based T-Systems International, Inc is now apart of John Deere’s growing Water Technologies operation.

    “T-Systems International is a highly regarded global company with premier products,
    experienced talent, strong distribution and established operations in key agricultural irrigation
    markets,” said Michael McGrady, president of John Deere Water Technologies. “The addition
    of T-Systems expands John Deere Water Technologies’ manufacturing footprint to three
    countries with marketing in over sixty.”

    Established in 1977, T-Systems International manufactures and sells products for
    agricultural, nursery, landscape, mining and greenhouse applications, with manufacturing
    facilities in Australia, France and the United States.

    John Deere Water Technologies, headquartered in San Marcos, California, manufactures plastic micro and drip irrigations products for agriculture, landscape, nursery and greenhouse markets.

    Agribusiness, John Deere

    Pfizer Animal Genetics Selects Charleston|Orwig

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Charleston-Orwig LogoThe agency will be their marketing and communications firm.

    Charleston|Orwig will assist Pfizer Animal Genetics with introducing and establishing its new brand as the global leader in livestock genomics. Initially, the agency will help develop new public relations and customer advocacy strategies to effectively position Pfizer as a leader in this category.

    “Our goal in finding a partner to help us enter into livestock genomics was to identify someone whose business acumen could provide strategic insights and campaign development and then execute them globally,” says Doug Ricke, Director of Marketing for Pfizer Animal Genetics. “We found that experience at Charleston|Orwig.”

    In March Pfizer announced the purchase of two genetics companies, Catapult Genetics and Bovigen, and the creation of Pfizer Animal Genetics as a business unit of Pfizer Animal Health. The product offerings include genetic markers for traits leading to greater management efficiencies, and improved meat and carcass quality. More product offerings are currently in development.

    Agencies, Agribusiness, Animal Health