Comparing Blogging To Farming

Chuck Zimmerman

Pro BloggerI missed this story from a couple months ago by Wayne Hurlbert about the comparisons between blogging and farming in which he points to the musings on this subject by the Pro Blogger, Darren Rowse. Wayne also links to comments on this subject at Return Customer.

Wayne says, “Darren quotes his friend who farms in Australia. Darren’s friend compares building up a blog, and developing a readership to the business of agriculture. Both businesses require patience along with the necessary inputs of labour and capital. Risks are inherent in both blogging and in agriculture.

Note that the weather and crop prices are out of the hands of the farmer. The search engine algorithms of Google, Yahoo, and MSN are also out of the blogger’s hands. In both cases, planning and research of the markets and environment are necessary to reduce that risk to manageable levels.

Over time, both produce a crop, and hopefully, a profit.”

Well said.

Blogging

Please Take The ARC Survey

Chuck Zimmerman

Agricultural Relations CouncilTo better serve the needs of agricultural communicators, the Agricultural Relations Council would like your input on a few questions. These questions will help the ARC Board plan future professional development activities. Please take a few minutes to visit the following site and provide your input.

ARC Survey

ARC

New John Deere Business For Osborn & Barr

Chuck Zimmerman

Osborn & Barr CommunicationsOsborn & Barr has obviously been doing a good job for John Deere.

John Deere Worldwide Commercial & Consumer Equipment Division has selected Osborn & Barr Communications to serve as the public relations agency for its Compact Utility Tractors. Osborn & Barr has had a long-standing relationship with the Agricultural Division, and last year assumed the role of public relations agency for John Deere Utility Vehicles and Utility ATVs. Osborn & Barr is based in St. Louis, with additional US offices in Kansas City, Missouri, and Des Moines, Iowa.

For more information contact Dan Kirkpatrick.

Agency, Agribusiness

Agro Show Time In Poland

Chuck Zimmerman

Agro Show 2005If you want to sponsor me to cover it for AgWired I’ll go. The Polish Chamber of Commerce for Agricultural Machines and Facilities is trying to get journalists to cover their show this September.

Free board and accommodation is on offer for qualified journalists who attend Poland’s Agro Show from September 23 to 26 at the Bednary airport near Poznan. The show offers something unique among Europe’s many fine farm shows – a chance to see the newest farm machines at work. According to sponsors, the Polish Chamber of Commerce for Agricultural Machines and Facilities, at least 100,000 people attend the event, which began in 1999. Almost 500 exhibitors from a large number of countries will have equipment on hand and at least 100 machines will be working in nearby areas. Show sponsors offer to pay free board and accommodation for qualified journalists who attend the exhibition. Facilities also include a media centre
equipped with computers, internet access, media releases and photos.

For more information contact Anna Orzechoweska.

Farm Shows

Centennial State Bioscience Forum

Chuck Zimmerman

Colorado BioScience AssociationThis is a conference with a price you can’t complain about since it’s free. You can get full registration information here.


Colorado BioScience Association and Biotechnology Industry Organization Jointly Sponsor August 9th Bioscience Forum

Denver, CO (PRWEB) July 21, 2005 — The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA) are jointly sponsoring the Bioscience Forum Tuesday, August 9, 2005, 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., on the Fitzsimons Campus. This educational event focuses on the outlook of the Bioscience Industry in Colorado. The announcement is made by Denise Brown, Executive Director of the CBSA, who says attendees will meet federal and state lawmakers, network with leading life science executives and learn about the major role bioscience plays in job creation and the extraordinary healthcare and agricultural promise for the future.

For more information contact Maggie Holben.

General

Bush Speaks Out On CAFTA-DR At OAS Forum

Chuck Zimmerman

President George BushPresident Bush spoke to a forum organized by the Organization of American States on CAFTA-DR today.

By opening up Central America and the Dominican Republic to U.S. trade and investment, CAFTA will help those countries develop a better life for their citizens. That seems to make sense to me. I mean, if you’re living in a neighborhood, you want your neighbors doing well. If you’re a good neighbor you say, gosh, I hope everybody in the neighborhood is succeeding. And by helping those economies improve, CAFTA will help the nations strengthen their democracies. And that’s in our national security interest. That’s makes us all more secure.

So this bill is more than a trade bill. This bill is a commitment of freedom-loving nations to advance peace and prosperity throughout the Western hemisphere. And that’s important for members of Congress to understand.

CAFTA begins by ensuring that free trade is fair trade. I mean — you know, I traveled the country quite extensively in the recent past and said, I’m a free trader. But I reminded people in our country I’m also for fair trade. It’s one thing to advocate free trade; I believe the government has a role to make sure that trade is fair for all of us. In other words, we want people treating us the way we treat them.

You can see the full speech here.

Government

July 23 Is National Cowboy Day

Chuck Zimmerman

National Cowboy DayI’m sure my old buddy, Derry Brownfield, would like this. A national cowboy day. I never even heard about it until Cindy brought it to my attention. You can find a reference to it on the American Farm Bureau home page, including a series of psa’s recorded by Randy Huston. How many of you have heard these on the radio? If not, it’s probably because stations just don’t play psa’s like they used to!

You can listen to one of the psa’s here Download MP3 File

Ag Group, Audio

It’s Time For A Podcast Network

Chuck Zimmerman

BX Radio NetworkThere’s a new network in town. It’s the BX Radio Network which will brand itself as Coolcast Radio. They’re just in the formative stages right now and looking for podcasters and writers. We’ve submitted the ZimmCast for consideration. I have to say that when I saw that “farming” was a topic they were looking for content on I got really interested!

BX Internet and Lockergnome’s own Matt Hartley have teamed up to form the BX Radio Network. Dubbing themselves as the next big thing in Podcasting, the BX Radio Network is actively seeking Podcasters interested in bringing their show to a live Internet audience.

Selected Podcasts will be prerecorded and then submitted on a regular schedule to the BX Radio Network under the ‘Cool Cast Radio’ brand. Approved programing will then be streamed live via the Internet to listeners interested in discovering new Podcast-based programing.

Unlike other Internet radio brands that simply offer their listeners canned in-house radio talk radio shows, the BX Radio Network believes that there is more than enough amazing Podcast content on the Web for listeners seeking a more engaging, independent talk radio environment. Working with Podcasters from all over the world, the BX Radio Network will empower audio content creators with the ability to offer their work to a brand new audience.

For more information contact Matt Hartley.

Podcasts

Laser Engraved Produce

Chuck Zimmerman

Laser Engraved ProduceNow this is cool. I hate peeling those little labels off fruit and vegetables after you buy them. Sometimes I think they’ve been put on with super glue. Even when you get them off they sometimes leave a sticky residue. This company has got a great idea and I can see this catching on, not only for product labelling but also for advertising!

Durand-Wayland, Inc. has created the process of laser engraving fruits and vegetables after conducting some very interesting consumer research.

A major consumer research study was conducted in four geographically dispersed US markets by Clark & Company, Inc. Clark & Company is a certified, national, independent research firm headquartered in Atlanta, GA. Participants in the study were frequent consumers of one or more hand-held, edible skin fruits and also consumed non-edible skin fruit. The study found that the “laser/controlled light” labeling process is preferred because it eliminates the negatives of the stickers and it can provide much useful information about the origin of the produce. Most consumers want to have as much information as possible concerning where their fruit comes from. The study revealed that consumers see many shortcomings in “stickers” currently being used. These include hard to remove even to the point of removing some of the produce. The glue residue is also seen as a problem.

For more information contact Ray Perry, Vice President of Sales by phone at 1-800-241-2308, ext 127.

Agribusiness