Kansas Gets Customized

Laura McNamara

Marin Farm PowerCustomized farming equipment is now available for Kansas farmers thanks to Martin Farm Power. The nearly century-old company is now offering Leica Geosystems’ mojoRTK Auto-steer system.

mojoRTKThe mojoRTK is the first auto-steer system that allows farmers to buy a basic system and then upgrade only the features they need, creating a completely customized system at an affordable price.

Martin is the first dealer in Kansas to offer customized upgrades, including the addition of GLONASS satellites, 8- and 16-mile range upgrades, survey grade elevation and other add-ons for the mojoRTK.

Leica GeosystemsAs a premium reseller, Martin Farm Power will also join Leica Geosystems as a pioneer in virtual service and support with Virtual Wrench(TM) — the agriculture industry’s first real-time, virtual service, support and diagnostic tool. With the use of Virtual Wrench, Martin’s technicians will have the ability to support the mojoRTK system in the field with remote technicians. With one touch of a button, farmers can connect to technicians who can view and adjust settings in the cab. They can see exactly what the farmer is viewing, and even “push” the buttons to make adjustments remotely.

Martin Tractor Company, the parent company of Martin Farm Power, has been serving Kansas farmers since 1911.

Agribusiness, Equipment, Farming

AgWired Survey 2008 Contest Giveaway

Chuck Zimmerman

AgWired Survey 2008It’s time once again to survey you dedicated AgWired fans. Well, even if you’re not dedicated we still need to hear from you.

To get you excited we’re going to pick one lucky winner from all the people who participate in our survey for a brand new, personalized 4G iPod Nano. Yes, you’ve wanted one, now you have a chance to win one for taking probably less than 2 minutes to complete our online survey. It’s the AgWired Survey 2008 Contest Giveaway. The questions are simple and we need as many responses as we can get.

AgWired as you know is about as open a source of industry news and information as you’re going to find. We don’t ask you to fill out cards on an annual basis to keep your subscription current, etc. However, the companies and organizations that support us really want some demographic data we can’t provide any other way. It’s really important to us that you take just a few moments sometime over the next month to fill out a survey form.

Even if you already have a Nano they make a great gift for your favorite person who doesn’t have one. Believe me, the odds will be pretty good in this contest compared to the Lottery.

To keep the legal people happy you can find The Official Rules here (Word doc). It’s not rocket science. The Survey Contest starts now and ends at 12pm on February 22, 2008. So you’ve got plenty of time to get it done.

And thank you very much for participating!

Uncategorized

Get Committeed With AAEA

Chuck Zimmerman

AAEAIf you’re a member of the American Agricultural Editor’s Association then you know it only works because of leadership and lots of committees. How about volunteering some of your time if you’re not on the list?

The full list of committees and members has been published. To see who’s who and doing what feel free to check out the list.Read More

ACN

Technorati Ranking For AgWired

Chuck Zimmerman

TechnoratiAccording to David Sifry at Technorati the blog search engine is now indexing 112 million blogs. That’s up from the last time I heard an update from him (35 million). This one was posted on Blogspotting. He also says that there’s about 112,000 new ones each day. You can see the AgWired summary on Technorati.

This is interesting because Technorati ranks blogs so you know how you compare to the others. I was amazed to see that AgWired currently has a rank of 143,900. I’d say that puts it in the top 1 percent of all blogs. Of course most of those blogs are either abandoned or never updated. I’ve heard estimates that there are several million active blogs though. AgWired still comes in pretty good in the top 5 percent of them!

According to Technorati: “A Technorati Ranking relates to the number of sources that point to a particular weblog relative to other weblogs. The more sources referencing a weblog, the higher the Technorati ranking.” I feel lots of fingers pointing at me.

By the way, our Domestic Fuel site currently has a Technorati ranking of 96,541.

Uncategorized

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Ten outstanding students pursuing careers in the beef industry have each been awarded a $1,500 scholarship provided by the CME Group and the National Cattlemen’s Foundation. Each scholarship winner wrote a 750-word essay that identified key issues confronting the beef industry, and suggested possible ways of dealing with those issues. The overall scholarship winner, Rebecca Tokach of Manhattan, Kan., was awarded an all-expense-paid trip to the 2008 Cattle Industry Annual Convention and Trade Show in Reno, where she will be recognized during the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Awards Program Lunch on Feb. 9. Tokach is a junior at Kansas State University in Manhattan.
  • Gov. Matt Blunt continued to build on his reputation as a champion for renewable fuels by announcing his support for a statewide 5 percent biodiesel (B-5) standard in his State of the State address to the Missouri General Assembly. The biodiesel standard would provide that all diesel fuel sold in the State of Missouri shall contain a 5 percent blend of biodiesel when it is the same price or less than conventional diesel fuel. In addition to his support of the historic B-5 standard, Blunt has provided unwavering support for the state’s farmer-owned biodiesel industry by fully funding the Missouri Biodiesel Producer Incentive Fund every year he has been in office.
  • KY-Radio host and agriculture writer Trent Loos and his burning passion to make a difference in animal agriculture will be front and center when he serves as the featured evening banquet speaker at the National Institute for Animal Agriculture’s annual meeting, Tuesday, April 1, in Indianapolis, Ind. Loos is a farmer/rancher whose passionate desire to stand up for agriculture became public knowledge in January 2001 when he launched “Loos Tales” on KMZU Radio in Carrolton, Mo. In seven short years, Trent’s radio career has expanded to include a second program, “The Truth Be Told,” with his programs now airing on more than 100 radio stations across the Midwest.
Zimfo Bytes

Successful Crop Tech Tour

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast-155 - Successful Crop Tech TourThe folks at Successful Farming are getting more involved in online multimedia and their Crop Tech Tour is a good example of how they’re doing so. Basically, they’re trying to document how farmers are using new technologies like precision ag. To do it they’re using audio, video and pictures on their website in addition to regular updates in the magazine.

To learn more about how their “tour” works I spoke with Agriculture Online Editor and Director of Multimedia, John Walter. He says that new communications technologies are allowing them to do more current, up-to-date news in almost real time and out on the farm. We both agreed that while farmers are dealing with new technology so are those of us in the media!

Crop Tech TourJohn says they kicked off the Crop Tech Tour in 2007 and have several tours planned for this year around the corn belt. He’s also very happy about their involvement with Certified Crop Advisers who are playing a key role in their information documentation.

I’m still looking for the John Walter blog but with all he’s got to do to keep up with things like the Crop Tech Tour I’m sure he’s not looking for another mouth to feed (the blog monster).

This week’s program ends with music from the Podsafe Music Network. It’s called “Out of The Cold” by Awry. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: Listen To ZimmCastZimmCast 154 (19 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:zimmcast155-1-21-08.mp3

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

Audio, Publication, ZimmCast

Fish n’ Milk

Laura McNamara

KempsDon’t worry. It’s not as bad as it sounds. Kemps Dairy in St. Paul, MN is promoting better health with its new milk product that contains Omega-3 fatty acids derived from fish oil.

The new line of premium half-gallons, Kemps Plus Milk, is now available in grocery stores throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin. Omega-3 fatty acids provide a variety of health benefits, including maintaining cardiovascular health and supporting brain growth and development.

“Kemps created the new line of Plus Milk in response to some of the most prevalent health problems facing people in the United States today,” states Rachel Kyllo, Kemps’ vice president of marketing. “For example, one in three American adults have some form of cardiovascular disease. New Kemps Plus Healthy Lifestyle Milk can help consumers maintain their cardiovascular health.”

Kemps Plus Milk is a Kemps Select product — made with milk from cows that have not been treated with rBST growth hormone.

Agribusiness, Dairy, Food

International Harvester

Chuck Zimmerman

This video has been out for a while but just in case you’ve missed it. . . I can only link you to the video version for some reason. First time I’ve seen that. The comments are worth a read. You can watch this YouTube clip which has the song:

If you’re just interested in the lyrics you can find them here.

Equipment, Video

Colorado Cooks Up Sustainable Dishes

Laura McNamara

Culinary School of the RockiesMore chefs are unleashing the tasty zest of American produce. The Culinary School of the Rockies is responding to the market for “sustainable cooking” with more courses involving the local flavor.

Call it farm to table, seed to fork, farm to fork, or sustainable kitchen — by any name, diners in today’s top restaurants are demanding locally grown seasonal food.

Whether in response to increasing concern for the environment or simply a desire for the delicious, restaurants around the country are finding ways to source local ingredients, even in bustling urban areas such as Manhattan, Houston, Seattle, Cleveland, Atlanta and Denver.

As the trend grows, so do help-wanted signs in these “sustainable” restaurants. Culinary education, primarily focused on classical training, has not kept up with the trend that requires chefs to know more than just the “back of the house.” Today, chefs are routinely unloading vegetables fresh from the farm — rinsing off dirt rather than unwrapping cellophane. Culinary School of the Rockies (CSR), located in Boulder, Colo., is the first private culinary school in the country to organize a culinary externship dedicated to the sustainable food movement. Called “Farm to Table,” the experience gives aspiring cooks and chefs the chance to gain both culinary know-how and a deep understanding of ways to source and use local ingredients.Read More

Agribusiness, Education, Environment, Farming, Food

eXtension Has Cotton

Chuck Zimmerman

extension.orgYou are probably familiar with the eXtension website but you may not know that there’s now a whole section on cotton.

eXtension is an interactive learning environment delivering the best, most researched knowledge from the smartest land-grant university minds across America. eXtension connects knowledge consumers with knowledge providers – experts who know their subject matter inside out.

Internet, University