World Ag Expo Underway

Chuck Zimmerman

World Ag ExpoWhile the National Farm Machinery Show is taking place there’s also another major show going on in California, World Ag Expo. On the scene is my friend Gary Schulz.

The 41st edition of the World Ag Expo experienced sunny weather in the 60s, large crowds and a record exhibitor count as the show grounds grew to an estimated 2.5 million square feet. The new attendee registration system and the 8 a.m. starting time (earlier from the traditional 9 a.m. start) created the largest share of comments among the exhibitors that I spoke with at the Central California NAMA reception, hosted by Alta Genetics. In attendance at the reception of note were Gary Vorpahl of Hoard’s, Bob Moracewski, Joel Hastings of Holstein World, Sandy Creighton of California Farmer, Megan Pierce of Agribusiness Publications, Dennis Duncan of Ag Alert, and about 70 others.

Primary ag issues creating a buzz at the expo included water supply cutbacks, new water quality and air quality regs, including a “NO on the 2/9” rule that would severly regulate diesel trucks used in California based on their manufactured date. Steve Kost of the Far West Equipment Dealers Association, Manuel Cunha of Nisei Farmers League and Roger Isom of the Cotton Ginners Association are lead proponents of modifying the proposed regulations.

World Ag Expo continues to impress with its large turnout of international attendees and the service provided by the many orange jacket volunteers. They are everywhere and are doing a great job!

Gary Schulz, former General Manager of World Ag Expo
Currently Program Director of the Claude Laval Water and Energy Technology Incubator
and
Senior Strategist for Gary Schulz Consulting

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A Snowy Start To Farm Machinery Show

Chuck Zimmerman

National Farm Machinery ShowThe National Farm Machinery Show is off to a bright white start here in Louisville. They said it was over but they were wrong. I’ve spoken with some exhibitors inside who have apparently been here a while and they didn’t even know it was snowing hard outside.

Hopefully it’s just a short flurry and then we’ll be done. It’s making a mess out of the outside though.

Here inside it’s nice and warm. This is the show that’s entirely indoors and climate controlled, one of the nice things about it.

National Farm Machinery ShowThe wireless access here in the media room is working great and we’re place in an ideal location in the South Hall.

Eager to provide America’s farmers with all the resources they need to sustain any agricultural business, more than 800 exhibitors will showcase a complete selection of farming basics and technological advancements at the 43rd National Farm Machinery Show (NFMS) in Louisville. As a result, approximately 300,000 people are expected to travel from across the country and around the globe to attend the event, recognized as the nation’s largest indoor farm show, when it returns to the Kentucky Exposition Center (KEC) this February 13-16.

National Farm Machinery Show Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the National Farm Machinery Show
is sponsored by Precision Pays

John Deere, National Farm Machinery Show

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • American Farmland Trust (AFT) President Ralph Grossi announced that he would be retiring later this year, when a successor is on board. A national search is underway to recruit the next President of AFT. Grossi has served as president for 23 years; he and his wife, Judy, will be returning to their California ranch.
  • Wheat grower Don Schieber of Ponca City, Okla., was elected Secretary-Treasurer of U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) at the USW Winter Board Meeting in Washington, D.C., Monday, Feb. 4, 2008. Vice Chairman Michael Edgar, Yuma, Ariz., was elected Chairman of the Board. Secretary-Treasurer, Janice Mattson, Chester, Mont., was elected Vice Chairman, while Chairman Ron Suppes, Dighton, Kan. will move to Past Chairman and USW Budget Committee Chair. New USW officers officially begin their one-year terms at the organization’s Summer Board Meeting, to be held July 26 to 28, 2008, in Kansas City, Mo.
  • Algae researchers and producers can come together to exchange ideas concerning the latest developments in Algae production and the products made from Algae. The Association provides an open exchange forum for the publishing of technical papers and the announcement of the results of research into the latest Algae related technologies. The Association also supports discussion and development of new markets that take advantage of the tremendous potential of Algae, not only as a source of renewable energy, but also in the exploration and development of other markets for algae products, such as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and fertilizers. For more information contact:info@biofuelcapital.com or 936.321.1125.
Zimfo Bytes

Nasty Drive to Louisville

Chuck Zimmerman

South Indiana DriveYuck. The drive to Louisville this afternoon got bad once I got into southern Indiana. I think I drove through everything – freezing drizzle, freezing rain, rain, snow, sleet, etc. Off and on, off and on. I passed or was passed by a number of farm trucks so I know I’m not the only one who traveled I-64 today. (Yes I was listening to my iPod).

Reminds me of last year, especially the last 50 miles.

I didn’t see too many cars off the road until then. I came around a curve and a guy had just spun out off the right side of the highway. Then after I passed him I saw a pickup behind me spin out and roll over twice. I called that one in to 911 and while I was talking to them I passed a bad one on the highway going the other way about 2 miles down the road with multiple emergency vehicles already on the scene.

Here in Louisville it’s kind of a light freezing rain right now.

South Indiana DriveIt’s interesting what a flash will do from your camera when it’s snowing.

I’ve already had a voice mail from one person who’s had their flight in here canceled tonight. I wonder how many will be affected. Last year I had to spend the night in a hotel part way and get here late on opening day morning for the show.

I can’t tell you how happy I am to get in tonight! Be careful out there.

National Farm Machinery Show

Kristi Pettis’ Boots

Chuck Zimmerman

Who's Boots?The clues helped and the winner of this edition of “Guess Who’s Boots” is Cyndi Young, Brownfield. She beat out Dave Mehlhaff, American Hereford Association by 14 minutes!

They correctly guessed that these boots belong to Kristi Pettis, Northern Ag Network. She was proudly displaying them at the Cattle Industry Convention during Sec. of Ag Ed Schafer’s speech last Friday.

So Cyndi will get a ZimmComm logo speaker for her iPod.

Keep an eye here for more editions of “Guess Who’s Boots” in the future. I’m off to the National Farm Machinery Show and maybe a new set will catch my eye.

Why does this show have to start in icy weather by the way? Last year we had an ice storm the night before and from what I’ve seen the weather between here (St. Louis right now) and there is not great. Oh well.

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World Ag Forum Empowering Agriculture

Chuck Zimmerman

Ray CescaOn my way to the National Farm Machinery Show I stopped for the combined meeting of the Gateway NAMA and St. Louis Agribusiness Club. Our featured speaker is Mr. Raymond Cesca, President of the World Agricultural Forum. His presentation is “The World Agricultural Forum: Empowering Agriculture to Drive Economic Growth” He’s actually in the middle of it right now. Of course I brought my Mac inside.

Ray focused his comments on this idea of how agricultural production can be the mechanism that developing nation countries can use to grow their economies. He believes that for-profit companies can get involved and not only help overcome the problems of poverty and starvation but still make a profit doing so.

He issued an invitation to anyone who would like to learn more to attend this year’s World Ag Forum Regional Congress which will be held in Kampala, Uganda, September 3-5. You can find the agenda for the Congress here.

Prior to the meeting I did a short interview with Ray on the topic which you can listen to here: gateway-cesca.mp3

Ag Groups, Audio, NAMA

Broadband Opportunities for Rural America

Chuck Zimmerman

Broadband Opportunities for Rural AmericaThat’s the title on a new joint website of the Federal Communications Commission and USDA Rural Development. Pretty soon we won’t see any disparity in rural vs. urban broadband accessibility.

“Broadband technology is a key driver of economic growth. The ability to share increasing amounts of information, at greater and greater speeds, increases productivity, facilitates interstate commerce, and helps drive innovation. But perhaps most important, broadband has the potential to affect almost every aspect of our lives… The United States and the Commission have a long history and tradition of making sure that rural areas of the country are connected and have the same opportunities for communications as urban areas.”

— FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin

Thanks to a heads up from Mary Ann Leonard at InfoFarm, the USDA NAL Blog. She points to some current information that shows that rural broadband is growing at a faster pace than it has and that’s certainly being fueled by the government.

According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, rural Americans still lag behind their urban and suburban counterparts in high-speed Internet connections. As of March 2007, just under one-third (31%) of those in rural areas have broadband connections at home (pdf), compared to 47% of the non-rural types.

The good news: the numbers for rural communities are growing at a faster pace than average. Pew data shows broadband adoption stood at 18% in 2005 and 25% in 2006, on its way to the current 31%. That last period, 2006 to 2007, translates to a 24% growth rate for rural Americans, compared to 18% for urban and 7% for suburban residents.

Internet, USDA

Michael’s Real Life Tour

Cindy Zimmerman

Michael Real Life TourIt sounds kind of like a new reality show and in a way it is.

Country singer Michael Peterson’s “My Real Life, Strong For America Tour” is about spending several days in each town getting to meet lots of members of the community and sharing stories, music, motivation and great ideas about how we can all work to build better communities.

Instead of just coming in to a town and playing a concert and then leaving, Michael will be spending time at each tour stop really getting to know the people in the community.

Michael Peterson at Biodiesel ConferenceMichael was just at the National Biodiesel Conference in Orlando and I had the chance to visit with him about the tour, which kicks off February 18-23 in Knoxville, Tennessee. He is really excited about the opportunity to spend time with people all over the country – especially young people – in a week long celebration of community at each stop.

Stops on the tour include Greenville, SC; Charlotte, NC; Dothan, AL; Columbus, GA; Evansville, IN; Midland, TX; Waco, TX; Lawton, OK; and Lincoln, NE. Among the tour’s sponsors are the U.S. Army, American Legion, and our good friends at New Holland.

Find out more at myreallifetour.com.

Listen to my interview with Michael here: peterson-tour.mp3

Audio, New Holland

Feeder Handles Your Feeds

Chuck Zimmerman

FeederI know some of you are farm podcasting or thinking about it. Here’s a handy looking little program that you might find helpful.

I’m currently doing a trial with Feeder by Reinvented Software and it looks promising. I’ve tried several of these over the years (can’t believe I’ve been doing this for years now) and never been happy with the results.

I’ve imported the existing feed file for my weekly ZimmCast. I used the built-in forms in the software to add and change some elements of the feed, saved it and uploaded it to our server. I haven’t tried the automatic ftp feature yet but intend to.

With this first effort it showed how easy it is to create and manage your feed. The software will even upload your media file via ftp for you.

If you’re still intimidated by the whole thing then you can always just hire the experts at ZimmComm New Media.

Post Update: I didn’t notice but this is only available for Macs. Sorry PC users.

Podcasts

AgWired Survey 2008 Contest Giveaway

Chuck Zimmerman

I know I’ve mentioned this before but it’s your weekly reminder to take the very short AgWired Survey.

We did this a couple years ago and just need to update our records which will really help us out when it comes to working with new sponsors and supporters.

So, if you haven’t done it yet then go ahead and Git ‘er Done.

Thank you.

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