Corn Blog Wins Gold Award

Cindy Zimmerman

Corn CommentaryGotta admit to being pretty proud of this – the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and the Center for Association Leadership has awarded the National Corn Growers Association with a 2008 Gold Circle Award in the category of “Blogs – Association Annual Budget Greater than $2 Million” for Corn Commentary.

ASAEJohn H. Graham IV, CAE, president and CEO of ASAE, said “These organizations show how successful communication vehicles help associations accomplish their strategic goals and mission. I applaud the skilled communication professionals who have mastered their tools and communications strategies to create these exemplary pieces.”

It is interesting that this organization has categories in their communications awards for both blogs and podcasts – wonder how long they have been doing that?

Corn Commentary is just about to celebrate its first anniversary. We built the site for them last summer and it kicked off August 2, 2007. In that time, there have been 413 posts done – by me and Chuck, as well as members of the NCGA staff, including Ken Colombini and Mimi Ricketts (now with Monsanto). We have also posted numerous audio interviews and videos on the blog.

Congratulations to the NCGA for this prestigious award!

Corn, NCGA

Talking Web 2.0 With My Florida Peeps

Chuck Zimmerman

FFAAHello from the Florida Fertilizer & Agrichemical Association/Florida NAMA Chapter luncheon.

Here with me is (L-R) Debbie Brummel, NAMA, Dave Herndon, Southeast AgNet and Mary Hartney, FFAA. They’re also on our lunch program. I’m using this post as a demonstration post done live for the group of almost 100.

We’re talking Web 2.0 and all that it means, using words like Twitter, Tweet, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube, Blog, Podcast, and on and on and on. . .

We’ve also got a drawing for some cool AgWired/ZimmComm swag.

Post Update: Right before lunch I interviewed Mary Hartney about FFAA. The organization was started in 1932 and changed names in 1985, moving from a research focused group to one that’s more involved in public policy.

Listen to my interview with Mary here: ffaa-08-hartney.mp3

Ag Groups

Farm Foundation Food Prices Report

Cindy Zimmerman

Farm Foundation 75th logoFarm Foundation is holding a forum at the National Press Club at this very moment to release a new study offering a comprehensive, objective assessment of the forces driving food prices.

Farm Foundation president Neil Conklin says what the study shows is that today’s food price levels are the result of complex interactions among multiple factors. “However, one simple fact stands out – economic growth and rising human aspirations are putting greater pressure on the global resource base,” Conklin says. “The difficult challenge for public and private leaders is to identify policy choices that help the world deal with the very real problems created by today’s rising food prices without jeopardizing aspirations for the future.”

Farm Foundation Food Price StudyThe study was written by three Purdue University economists. Lead author Wally Tyner says they basically identified three broad sets of forces driving food price increases – global changes in production and consumption of key commodities, the depreciation of the U.S. dollar, and growth in the production of biofuels.

“We made no attempt to calculate what percentage of price changes are attributable to the many disparate causes and, in fact, think it is impossible to do so,” says Tyner. “But examining the interplay of the forces driving food prices gives a clearer picture of what has been happening.”

Read the full report here. There are some very interesting findings here and worth a read. Farm Foundation hopes this will add some reason to the food versus fuel debate which is running high on emotion and low on facts.

We did the interviews with Conklin and Tyner that are posted on the Foundation website. They are also posted below for your listening pleasure.

Conklin interview (runs 4:30)
conklin-interview-64.mp3

Tyner interview (runs 9:00)
tyner-interview-64.mp3

Also, Farm Foundation will host a free webinar on the report, July 30 at 1 p.m. EDT. More information is available on the Farm Foundation web site.

Farm Foundation, Farming, Food

A Florida Sunrise

Chuck Zimmerman

Florida SunriseThis is one of the things I miss about Florida. There’s nothing like a sunrise over the ocean.

My little Casio Exilim did a pretty good job this morning when I was out on the beach after a nice run. I decided to start my photo album for the Ag Media Summit early and include some scenes like this.

So feel free to see what I see: Ag Media Summit Photo Album

Ag Media Summit

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Gowan Company, LLC has reached an agreement with Dow AgroSciences LLC (www.dowagro.com) to acquire the rights to its global zoxamide fungicide business, marketed primarily under the brand names ZOXIUM™, GAVEL™, ELECTIS™, UNIKAT™ and HARPON™. Zoxamide is a highly active low-use fungicide used to control oomycete fungi infecting potatoes, vines and vegetables.
  • DuPont announced that it has received U.S. regulatory approval of its proprietary herbicide tolerance trait, the Optimum GAT trait in soybeans — bringing the company a step closer to further extending the performance advantage of its Pioneer brand soybean seed.
  • Through the collective efforts of IDairy, the USDA, state governments, and allied organizations, more than 70% of the United States’ 59,000 commercial dairy producers are estimated to have registered their premises as part of the National Animal Identification System. IDairy’s goal is to have 100% of the operations registered in order to enable animal health officials to quickly respond to an animal health emergency.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Driving Through Florida Agriculture

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Florida HighwayI just got in to the Four Seasons Resort in Palm Beach, FL. Here’s the scene through my windshield on the way down the Turnpike. I saw lots of cattle and some citrus. Not nearly as much citrus as I used to see coming out of Orlando though.

    I miss palm trees and humidity. They think it’s humid in Missouri but . . .

    Tomorrow I’ll be speaking at a lunch meeting for FFAA and the Florida NAMA chapter. I was a charter member of the Florida Chapter and am a past President. It was while I was a member down here that I got a NAMA award from Rex Parsons. For those of you who know of him, you’ll understand why I cherish that award.

    NAMA

    Talking Web 2.0 at FFAA Annual Meeting

    Chuck Zimmerman

    FFAAThe Florida Fertilizer and Agrichemical Association is holding it’s annual meeting this week in Palm Beach, FL. I’ll be there on Wednesday doing a Web 2.0 luncheon talk. It’s a pre-conference event that includes NAMA members. I’ve been told we’ve got over 100 people registered for lunch so far. I wonder how many of them have a blog or know what Twitter is.

    The Florida Fertilizer & Agrichemical Association is a not-for-profit trade organization of fertilizer, limestone, agrichemical manufacturers, formulators, distributors, and dealers.

    The Association was formed in 1932. The founding members advocates strong standards for improving agriculture through science and furnishing the Florida growers with dependable and proven agriculture production facts. For decades, FFAA has been committed to this goal and will continue to strive to meet the challenges of the agriculture industry.

    Ag Groups

    Let’s Have a Successful Ag Media Summit

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Agricultural Media SummitAgricultural Media Summit mania is in full swing. My in-box has been busy today. So I thought I’d add to the news by letting you know that Successful Farming is sponsoring AgWired coverage of the AMS, along with BASF. I asked Jana Rieker, Sales Development Manager for Successful Farming and Agriculture Online to fill me in on what’s new and how they’re involved with AMS this year.

    We have a tremendous presence at the show with John Walter, Agriculture Online Multi-Media Director serving as the current President of AAEA, and Laurie Potter, Successful Farming New Products Editor serving as the Committee Chairperson for the InfoExpo Trade Show.

    Successful FarmingWe have seen increases of 30-35% in our online impressions each month over last year. Among them are “CropTechTour” which is sponsored by John Deere, and delivers an interactive field reporting system with maps, video, and commentary from Certified Crop Advisors and Certified John Deere AMS Dealers who post agronomic tips and information about their area. We also have a successful series called Farmers for the Future which is sponsored by DeKalb and the Farm Credit System Foundation.

    Agriculture Online was launched in May 1995, with a vision to be a community for farmers to connect with one another to discuss the business of Agriculture. Today, John Walter, and his team of experts continue to lead Agriculture Online into the social media world. We have always delivered tremendous community engagement through our discussion groups, and we continue to grow our site by utilizing other social media tools to enhance the user experience on our site. We have an editor, Mike McGinnis, who has a desk on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade and is able to get immediate reaction and reporting to provide to our audience in video, audio or email communications. By also tapping into the expertise in interactive media within Meredith Corporation, we are able to deliver our audience more reasons to choose Agriculture Online as their source for information online.

    Now that John Walter is a professional blogger I’m sure he and I will be talking at AMS and I’ll share the conversation with you then.

    AgWired coverage of the Agricultural Media Summit is sponsored by:
    BASF and Successful Farming

    Ag Media Summit, BASF

    Lunch and Learn Blog

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Missouri Lunch and LearnInternet? No one’s ever going to use that! Blogs? Fad, not going anywhere.

    Four years ago I heard that a lot. Rob Cook and I talk about it in this week’s ZimmCast.

    Well, here’s another blog just to show you another example of how the platform can be used. This time it’s Missouri Agriculture’s Lunch & Learn Series.

    The goal of Missouri Agriculture’s Lunch and Learn Series is to spread knowledge about Missouri agriculture and the impact livestock and crops have on our rural economies. This series also highlights the important connection between livestock and row crops, as well as the relationship between the growing biofuels industry and the state’s animal agriculture industry.

    Ag Groups

    CAPC Tails from the Road

    Chuck Zimmerman

    CAPC Road BlogRoad blogging for pets and parasites is what the Companion Animal Parasite Council is doing this week. The folks at BCS Communications are figuring out this thing called new media.

    The CAPC parasitologists and veterinarians are traveling the country this summer between July 24 and August 6 to bring you the latest information on protecting your pets and family from parasites, vector-borne diseases and zoonotic risks.

    Animal Health