Using New Media to Reach Peanut Farmers

Cindy Zimmerman

Joy Carter at SPGCFarmers and others in agriculture are just like everyone else these days. For the vast majority of us, computer usage is becoming a part of our everyday lives, if it hasn’t already taken it over!

That’s why the Southern Peanut Farmers Federation made the decision to use the new media tools of blogging and podcasting to reach out and provide information on this year’s Southern Peanut Growers conference to anyone and everyone who has access to the World Wide Web on spgc.wordpress.com.

Joy Carter with the Georgia Peanut Commission, who is also editor of Southeastern Peanut Farmer magazine and responsible for outreach to media and growers, came up with the idea of using the blog for conference coverage.

“We wanted to open the door for more farmers and industry representatives not able to attend the conference to be able to see who the speakers are, see photos from the conference and hear more about issues within the peanut industry,” Joy said. The website is also being promoted to agricultural media who can download the photos and audio to use.

Joy says the Georgia Peanut Commission has also had great success in educating producers about legislative issues with AmericanPeanuts.com.

Listen to an interview with Joy here: spgc-joy.mp3

Peanuts

Public Affairs Division at Osborn & Barr

Chuck Zimmerman

Osborn & BarrOsborn & Barr has created a public affairs division led in part by Missouri’s just-past Director of Agriculture.

The new group will allow O&B, North America’s largest agency focused on agricultural and rural markets, help its current and future clients manage critical public policy priorities.

Specifically, the public affairs group will monitor key issues as they relate to agriculture, alternative energy and other rural priorities. It will provide strategic guidance for its clients as they manage particular issues, including grassroots communications efforts and community support. The group will do this while working closely with O&B’s public relations discipline in order to maximize all outreach opportunities and deliver the greatest value for its clients.

Co-leading the public affairs efforts for the practice will be Katie Smith, who most recently served as the Director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture. Smith’s strong background in agricultural and energy issues is a natural fit for O&B.

Smith will co-lead the new public affairs group with Neil Caskey, who currently oversees O&B’s growing government client roster. Caskey, who joined O&B almost two years ago, previously served as an association executive and legislative assistant.

Agencies

New Media Musings

Chuck Zimmerman

One of my favorite new media commentators is Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine. Here’s some comments from his latest post.

My most striking realization since getting my iPhone (love it, thanks for asking) is that radio is doomed. Pandora is a wonder, creating my own radio station, live and on the fly without need for a broadcast tower.

And then there’s TV. Comscore just said that Americans watched 12 billion videos in May, up 45 percent over last year. Say that again: 12 billion. It’s a mass medium, still: the mass of niches comes to life.

So what are you doing to make sure your customers see you, hear you, find you? Or are you still one of those who says, “I know a farmer who doesn’t even own a computer”? Yeah. I know one who doesn’t know how to read either.

By the way, I’ve read his comment about Pandora on the iPhone in several places. Free music, no commercials, just the kind you like, in fact, you fashion your own unlimited “stations.” No, you can’t listen to farm programs on it. Not my point though.

Uncategorized

Peanuts on the Beach

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast-179 - Peanuts on the BeachSouthern peanut growers know the place to party and this week that’s Panama City, FL. While I get ready to go west to Denver, Cindy is attending the Southern Peanut Growers Conference. In this week’s program you can hear several of her interviews. We’ve got Randy Griggs, Alabama Peanut Producers, several guys from Trimble and Ag Technologies, the companies sponsoring the conference blog we built and Wesley Powell, past president of the National Peanut Buying Points Association. Wesley talks about grilling peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

The program this week ends with music from the Podsafe Music Network. Since we’re talking peanuts, you get to listen to “Peanuts” from one inch from midget. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: Listen To ZimmCastZimmCast 179 (18 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:Interview With Peanut Growers - ZimmCast 179

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar. You can also subscribe in iTunes

Ag Groups, Audio, Peanuts, ZimmCast

Chris Romas New Burpee President

Chuck Zimmerman

Chris RomasI’ve always loved the name, Burpee. It’s just a cool name for any company. I’ve seen their seeds around for as long as I can remember.

W. Atlee Burpee & Co., the nation’s largest and best-known purveyor of seeds, plants and home gardening supplies, announced today that Burpee’s Chief Operating Officer, Chris Romas, has been promoted to the position of President.

George Ball, who has run Burpee since 1991, announced the promotion today in an employee-wide meeting, saying that much of the success Burpee has enjoyed in recent years can be attributed to Romas’ “dynamic leadership.” Ball calls Romas’ leadership of the Retail Division team “outstanding,” adding that he is confident Romas will serve as a capable leader, taking the company to new heights.

In his new position Romas will be responsible for all aspects of managing the Pennsylvania-based company and all managers will report to him.

Ball was clear in his announcement that he is not retiring, and that he will remain as Burpee’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. In stepping back from day to day operations, Ball will focus on acquisitions, planning and new product development.

Agribusiness, Seed

Grilled PBJ on the Beach

Chuck Zimmerman

Grilled PBJSounds like a drink almost, doesn’t it? Cindy’s lounging around on the Gulf of Mexico at the Southern Peanut Growers Conference, eating grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Can you imagine?

I tried something new today that I had frankly never even thought of eating before – grilled peanut butter and jelly. Don’t know why I never thought of it – after all, I like toast with peanut butter and jelly. But, grilling gives it a much richer flavor that, as Wesley Powell of Bainbridge, Georgia says goes great with a tall glass of cold milk for breakfast. Add some sliced bananas and you have yourself an “Elvis” sandwich!

Powell is past president of the National Peanut Buying Points Association, which grills up these tasty morsels every year at the SPGC. He shares his secrets to making the perfect grilled PB and J in this interview: spgc-wesley-npbpa.mp3

You can see these delicacies on display at the conference.

Southern Peanut Grower Conference Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Peanuts, Video

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Novus International, Inc. announces the appointment of Bob Buresh as Technical Manager of Poultry for North America. Buresh joins Novus from Tyson Foods, where he served as the Director of Poultry Nutrition and Research for 18 years. He has also held positions with Eastern Minerals, Inc. and Purina Mills, Inc.
  • The National FFA Organization has selected 40 outstanding young people to participate in the 2008 New Century Farmer Program. This exclusive, highly competitive program develops young men and women who are committed to pursing a career in production agriculture. Participants representing 21 states will take part in an intensive five-day seminar July 28 through August 1 in Johnston, Iowa.
  • The Wisconsin Dairy Products Association (WDPA), sponsor of the annual World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest, has finalized an agreement with Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board (WMMB) regarding contest entries. The WMMB is sponsoring a contest reimbursement program for all Wisconsin dairy processors. Wisconsin companies that enter a new cow’s milk dairy product in the 2008 World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest will receive from WMMB a 50% reimbursement on the $50 contest entry fee. Click here for more details.
    Zimfo Bytes

    BASF 2009 Hot Topics Survey

    Chuck Zimmerman

    BASFWe’re happy to announce that in partnership with BASF, AgNewsWire.AgWired.com is the official online news room of the Agricultural Media Summit (AMS). What this means is that during the upcoming event we’ll be distributing news releases for various exhibitors and sponsors of the AMS. More information on this will be sent to them in the coming week.

    agvert_survey.jpgYou’ll also notice that we’ve got a link for Ag Journalists to take the 2009 Hot Topics Survey. BASF would like ag journalists to take their survey to help them formulate information that will be valuable to them.

    What do you think the hottest agricultural news topics of 2009 will be? Crop disease prevention? New seed traits? Floods and drought?

    Give us your ideas and you could win some great prizes from BASF. As an industry insider, your input is very valuable. This survey will take less than five minutes to complete, and individual responses will not be identified, so please share your opinions freely.

    If you will be attending the upcoming Agricultural Media Summit you will automatically receive a special gift tied into this year’s theme “It’s a Family Reunion!” Follow the instructions on the completion page and bring the printout to the onsite press room at the Summit.

    If you’re not attending the Summit, you can still enter the drawing by filling in your contact information at the end of the survey. (Your answers will remain anonymous).

    BASF

    Blog From Your iPhone

    Chuck Zimmerman

    iPhone 3GWhile we’re still celebrating iPhone 3G release day I thought I’d point out something that may make it a more desirable choice for agribloggers. If you’re a WordPress user like me then there will be an application which allows you to post directly from your iPhone.

    The WordPress for iPhone App is nearly ready to go. It supports WordPress.com blogs as well as self-hosted WordPress.org blogs running version 2.5.1 or newer.

    Timing wise, with the launch of Apple’s iTunes App store this morning, we expect to see this showing up very soon.

    While we wait, here is a brief video showing the App in action. (It’s high quality, so may take a moment to kick off.)

    Equipment

    Joe Schuele Moves to USMEF

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Joe and GraceHere’s a sight we won’t be seeing anymore. That’s because Joe Schuele has started a new job at the U.S. Meat Export Federation. This means he won’t be at the media room desk.

    I just spoke to him and will miss him in the media room at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference next week. But, we’ll be in good hands with Yard-O-Beef Spokesmodel, Grace Webb, also pictured.

    Joe says that he’ll have similar duties at USMEF. He’ll be working with ag media and national media helping fulfill requests for interviews. He’ll also be producing news releases including audio releases. He does admit to having to get up to speed on the pork side of things though. But, all in all, he’s happy to still be able to work with a lot of the same people he has been.

    You can listen to what Joe’s up to here: Interview With Joe Schuele - USMEF

    Ag Groups, Audio