Cattle Convention News Center

Chuck Zimmerman

Joe and GraceJoe Schuele and Grace Webb, NCBA, say hello from the news center at the Reno/Sparks Convention Center where the Cattle Industry Convention is getting kicked off.

I really didn’t expect anyone to be there working early this morning but there they were with the media room all set up and hot food and coffee. It did start out at a chilly 17 degrees here this morning. Most of the activities will take place at the convention center but some of the Beef Board meetings I’m covering are at the Grand Sierra Resort where I’m staying.

I did a short interview with Joe and Grace to find out what the main issues are and what ag journalists can expect when they attend this year’s convention. For one thing Joe says our new U. S. Secretary of Ag Ed Schafer will be speaking on Friday.

Video

Blogging With Daryl in Orlando

Chuck Zimmerman

NBB conference 08This is the first time since we’ve been biodiesel blogging that I can’t be at the National Biodiesel Conference but Cindy and John are there and boy have they been posting some content. You can see posts like this one on the National Biodiesel Conference Blog.

Green actress and “sustainable summiteer” Daryl Hannah has been a part of every National Biodiesel Conference since the beginning and this year was no different.

“We need to educate ourselves in sustainable feedstocks, production and distribution models,” said Daryl. “We need to take the lead and rebuild the faith and the promise of biodiesel. We need to support the still endangered smaller scale family farmers that are the heart of America, show that garbage can be turned into gold and that we can create a homegrown fuel that reduces emissions and helps preserve the health of future generations.”

Listen to Daryl’s remarks here: nbb-08-daryl.mp3

Check out the Flicker Photo Album of images from the 2008 National Biodiesel Conference by clicking here.

Posted by Cindy earlier today.

Ag Groups, Biodiesel

Arriving In Reno

Chuck Zimmerman

Oakland AirportOn the road again. Here’s Oakland Airport on the way to Reno. It was a beautiful day for flying. On the way out there were plenty of cowboy hats on the plane.

The Cattle Industry Convention is a multi-organizational meeting and I’m not even going to try to cover all of it.

The meeting will feature joint and individual meetings by five industry organizations:

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion & Research Board
American National CattleWomen, Inc.
Cattle-Fax
National Cattlemen’s Foundation

Reno AirportAt the NCBA Trade Show, over 250 companies will offer attendees a chance to see the latest products and services while networking with other cattle producers. In addition, many booths will feature giveaways, games and prize drawings. Whether you are looking for farm vehicles, fencing, feed supplies, animal health products or the latest in technology, you’ll find it right here under one roof.

Once we got to Reno we were welcomed in the airport. Things are kind of quiet here tonight since the main portion of the meeting doesn’t really get kicked off until Wednesday.

You’ll be able to keep track of all the fun and excitement I can find in an online photo album of course. The challenging part of this meeting is moving back and forth from the convention center and the Grand Sierra Resort that I’m staying in which is where the CBB is having a lot of their meetings.

Beef, Cattle Industry Conference

Podcast Audience Growing

Chuck Zimmerman

Podcast NumbersThere’s a new report out from eMarketer that shows a growing podcast audience. You can purchase the complete report from this link. Hopefully those of you who are podcasting or thinking about it will find this helpful. They don’t measure farmers (who does?) but you can pretty much expect that farmers track along with the general public – my opinion of course.

eMarketer estimates that the total US podcast audience reached 18.5 million in 2007. Furthermore, that audience will increase by 251% to 65 million in 2012. And of those listeners, 25 million will be “active” users who tune in at least once a week.

”As the US podcasting industry matures it is unquestionably creating a listening audience,” says Paul Verna, eMarketer Senior Analyst and author of the new report, Podcast Audience: Seeking Riches in Niches, “And along with a larger audience comes increases in advertising spending tied to podcasts.”

A number of factors are driving the growth of the podcast-user base:

* Greater ease of consumption for podcast content
* Growing awareness of podcasting
* Terrestrial radio’s use and promotion of podcasting
* Increased penetration of portable players
* The evolution of smart phones and proliferation of affordable mobile data plans

Podcasts

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • PureSense, recently named a Top 10 New Product by World Ag Expo, has unveiled an upgrade to its Irrigation Manager software. The upgraded Irrigation Manager software takes a cost-saving and money-making product one step further by making the system even easier to use with more powerful analysis in the background. Improvements include access to information simply by dragging the pointer over an icon; easier-to-read trend charts so growers can assess changing conditions quickly and respond more rapidly; and giving different users within one farming operation the ability to tailor the information to fit their personal work style. The PureSense system will be on display in the New Product Pavilion and Pavilion B, in the water and irrigation exhibit area, at World Ag Expo, Feb. 12-14, in Tulare.
  • On June 25 & 26, the 2008 Farm Progress Hay Expo will present the nation’s largest two-day hay event near Ossian, Iowa, on the Knutson and Winkler farms. The Winklers farm 240 acres, milk 60 registered Holsteins and maintain a small beef herd. The Knutsons milk 220 cows, farm 1,400 acres of row crops and feed 500 calves. The Knutsons also operate a custom forage harvesting business, harvesting around 5,000 acres in northeast Iowa each year. 2008 Farm Progress Hay Expo, its 22nd annual show, will be held June 25 and 26 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free; parking is $7 per vehicle. Click here for more information.
  • Exhibitor reservations for the 17th annual Citrus Expo Aug. 20 & 21, 2008 at Lee Civic Center Ft. Myers are well ahead of schedule. More than half of the available exhibit spaces have been reserved months earlier than at anytime in history. Last year’s trade show sold out with more than 150 exhibitors, hosting more than 2,200 attendees for the two day event. The 2008 Citrus Expo is expected to host the largest grower attendance ever. A large portion of Expo proceeds are donated annually to support citrus research at University of Florida’s Citrus Research and Education Center and regional grower association programs.
Zimfo Bytes

Commenting On Corn

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast-157 - Commenting On CornHello on Super Bowl Sunday. I’m trying to get ready to hit the road to Reno early in the morning but am planning on cooking some brats and watching the annual big game in high def.

This week you can listen in on a discussion I had last week with Mimi Ricketts, Communications Director for the National Corn Growers Association. We talk about Corn Commentary, the blog about corn farming and American agriculture. It’s a project we developed with NCGA and we continue to write and produce content for the site although Mimi and others also write.

Mimi says they started Corn Commentary as an experiment 6 months ago but now she’s convinced that the website is helping the organization reach a new and different audience than they do with NCGA.com. She also likes the “freedom” of writing on the blog.

This week’s program ends with music from the Podsafe Music Network. It’s called “Thank God For The Super Bowl” by the mydols. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: Listen To ZimmCastZimmCast 157 (15 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:zimmcast157-2-3-08.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

Ag Groups, Audio, Corn, ZimmCast

Bayer’s Laudis receives EPA Registration For Corn

Chuck Zimmerman

Laudis HerbicideIt’s been a while since I’ve received an old fashioned printed media kit in the mail without some kind of CD or link to more web information. That’s why I was interested to see the announcement about Laudis herbicide for corn receiving it’s EPA registration via snail mail.

Laudis™ Herbicide is a new systemic herbicide that provides postemergence control of grass and broadleaf weeds in all corn including weeds resistant to glyphosate and other chemical classes. Laudis delivers crop safety and rotation flexibility to soybeans and many other common rotation crops.

Agribusiness, Corn

Beef and Biodiesel Blogging

Chuck Zimmerman

Reno is for Cattlemen and WomenI’ll be Rushing off to Reno early on Monday to attend the Cattle Industry Convention once again. You’ll be able to follow all the action right here on AgWired.

I’ll also be the Beef Board Blogger on Beef Board Meeting.com. This will be the third year that the Cattlemen’s Beef Board has blogged their activities at this major national event which includes interviews and copies of all their committee activities. It’s transparent communications at its finest.

2008 National Biodiesel ConferenceWhile I’m in Reno, Cindy and John Davis will be in Orlando for the National Biodiesel Conference. I’ve been the Biodiesel Blogger for a couple years for them but this year we’ve got a conflict so Cindy and John will be taking care of the duties there.

They’ll be posting onto our Domestic Fuel website but also on the National Biodiesel Conference Blog. It’s also the third year for the National Biodiesel Board to be blogging their main annual event and we’re just happy to be a part of the action.

So, get your feed readers ready for some fast-paced activity this next week as we take agriblogging and farm podcasting on the road.

Ag Groups, Beef, Biodiesel, Cattle Industry Conference

Are You a Wired Journalist

Chuck Zimmerman

After having just visited an ag journalism class at the University of Missouri I thought I’d share a link to Wired Journalists. The group I spoke with was already familiar with it but not all of you budding online journalists may be.

Wired Journalists is a social networking site for those of us involved in making a living out of the new communications platforms. I’ve got a page started and will know more about it after I’ve had more time with it. Part of their mission statement is:

WiredJournalists.com was created with self-motivated, eager-to-learn reporters, editors, executives, students and faculty in mind.

Our goal is to help journalists who have few resources on hand other than their own desire to make a difference and help journalism grow into its new 21st Century role.

I’m guessing there’s not a lot of agricultural journalists involved yet but there could be!

Uncategorized

CNH Tractor Building in Iraq

Chuck Zimmerman

CNHIt sounds like things continue to progress in Iraq. This isn’t the kind of news you’ll see on the evening news.

CNH International announced today the completed purchase of equipment that has restarted tractor assembly operations at the State Company for Mechanical Industries (SCMI), an agricultural machinery manufacturing facility in Iskandiriyah, Iraq. The U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) Task Force to Improve Business and Stability Operations in Iraq purchased 200 New Holland tractor kits paired with training on the equipment. CNH competed and won the contract to provide the tractor kits as part of a partnership to revitalize industry in Iraq.

“New Holland has historically been and continues to be a leader in agriculture in Iraq. We are excited this project allows us to continue this tradition,” said Franco Fusignani, CEO of CNH International. “We are pleased to help the U.S. Department of Defense successfully provide agricultural equipment in Iraq and provide training to local Iraqis.”

The DoD Task Force to Improve Business and Stability Operations in Iraq supports the United States’ security interests in Iraq by revitalizing the Iraqi economy and reducing unemployment of the Iraqi population.

CNH will continue to provide training for 40 Iraqi technicians throughout the four Iraqi New Holland dealerships in Mosul, Erbil, Baghdad, and Kut. CNH also will provide advanced training for five Iraqi technicians at CNH’s plant in Ankara, Turkey.

Agribusiness, International, Tractor