40 Tractors & 5 Million Boxes of Melons

Chuck Zimmerman June 7, 2005

When I buy a melon at the store I’m going to wonder if it was harvested by a McCormick Tractor!

DEL MONTE FRESH PRODUCE ADDS 40 McCORMICK TRACTORS TO FARMING OPERATION

McCormick Tractors Add Value to Produce Market

Pella, Iowa — McCormick International USA, Inc. announces that Del Monte Fresh Produce Southwest recently added 40 McCormick MC105 tractors to its fleet. In May, the fleet of McCormick MC105 tractors was delivered to the Del Monte Fresh Produce Southwest farming operation west of Phoenix, Arizona.

“This is the tractor our drivers wanted. They liked the extra weight of the tractor for pulling equipment through the field and the convenient transmission,” said Frank “Chico” Mejia, general manager for the southwest division. “The drivers were familiar with McCormick tractors and immediately recognized the heritage of the MC105 and its reputation for durability and reliability.”

Mejia expects that the McCormick tractor fleet will be a valuable addition to the Del Monte farming operation throughout the six-year lease. They will be used to help harvest more than five million boxes of cantaloupe and honeydew melons each year.

The company release also says that the McCormick tractors are equipped with four-wheel drive, rollover protective structures, and a standard 16-speed transmission with creep. For more information contact Greg Ehm.

Agribusiness

Blogging 101 Tag Team Presentation

Chuck Zimmerman June 7, 2005

It was a tag team match today at the Missouri Ag Leaders Luncheon. Cyndi Young, farm director for the Brownfield Network and I did a presentation on Blogging 101 (including RSS, Podcasting and webinars) for about 30 people.

As I’ve found over and over now, people have a growing level of awareness and curiosity about blogging and all the features that have been associated with it. We had good questions like “how much memory do you need on your server?” and “Is it real hardware intensive?” and “where can I find blogs about farming?” The answers to those are “very little unless you post lots of graphics, audio and video” “not hardware intensive since all you need is the online computer you already have” “Google for farm blogs”

Ag Groups

Missouri Ag Leaders Meet

Chuck Zimmerman June 7, 2005

Blogging live from the Missouri Ag Leaders Luncheon. This is for my demonstation.

Actually this post was started during today’s lunch presentation of the Missouri Ag Leaders Luncheon group. I just thought I’d come back and add in this photo. I’ll have more later today too.

Ag Groups

MO Governor Blunt and Congressman Hulsof In This Week’s CornTalk

Chuck Zimmerman June 7, 2005

The grand opening of Mid-Missouri Energy (MME) last Friday was a major milestone for the renewable fuels industry in Missouri. State and federal officials, as well as farmers, business leaders and curious onlookers, packed a massive tent to talk about the importance of the ethanol and the impact plants such as MME have on communities. In this week’s CornTalk, I’ve got interviews with Missouri Governor Matt Blunt and U. S. Congressman Kenny Hulshof. Both individuals ask the question, “Why are we continuing to look to the Mideast for our energy needs when we can look right here to the Midwest?”

You can listen to CornTalk here

You can also subscribe to CornTalk using the podcast file found in our sidebar.

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Audio, Podcasts

Missouri Farm Bureau Foundation For Ag Golf

Chuck Zimmerman June 7, 2005

Sometimes you just have to take a little time off for a good cause. Yesterday that was the Missouri Farm Bureau Foundation For Agriculture golf tournament at Sycamore Creek.

I played with Nip Neidert and Steve Taylor in the afternoon session. It rained there all morning but they still got the first round in. Here’s what Missouri Farm Bureau Federation president, Charlie Kruse has to say about the Foundation on their website:

Building a Foundation for Agriculture

The Missouri Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture was established in 1996 to provide a dedicated funding source for a variety of agricultural education and leadership programs. The Foundation has grown each year since its inception and today has assets that exceed $350,000.

I want to extend my appreciation to everyone who has supported the MFB Foundation for Agriculture. With help from individuals and many business partners, the Foundation has contributed more than $140,000 to agricultural education and leadership programs.

I thank all those who have been so generous and encourage anyone interested in maintaining a strong and viable agriculture to consider a tax-deductible gift to the Missouri Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture.

By the way, Nip, Steve and I got second place!!

Ag Groups

CropLife America Featured In This Week’s ZimmCast

Chuck Zimmerman June 6, 2005

In this week’s program I interview Allan Noe, director of communications for Croplife America. Allan talks about soybean rust and other issues his organization is working on. The interview was conducted at the recent NAFB Washington Watch program.

You can listen to the ZimmCast here

You can also subscribe to the ZimmCast using the link in our sidebar.

Agribusiness, Audio, Podcasts, ZimmCast

Sirius Satellite Radio In Ford Cars/Trucks

Chuck Zimmerman June 6, 2005

I’m kind of serious (Sirius) about my music and my radio. I doubt I’m a normal kind of listener because I dial around on tradtional radio and satellite. I’ve tried the other one (XM) and am glad I chose Sirius. I just like their music line-up better I guess. I wrote to both companies asking if they’d work with me on creating a full time farm news & information channel. I only heard back from Sirius with a politely negative answer. The two satellite radio vendors are developing though and I see what they offer as an attractive alternative to farmers who are always on the go.

Let me know if you’re a satellite radio subscriber or post a comment. Do you like it? Would you like to hear farm news on it?

FORD MOTOR COMPANY AND SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO EXTEND EXCLUSIVE RELATIONSHIP

– All Ford Brands Included
– Expanded Factory Installation Programs Expected
– Factory Installed Volumes Expected To Significantly Increase

NEW YORK and DETROIT, MI – June 6, 2005 – SIRIUS Satellite Radio (NASDAQ:
SIRI), and the Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), today announced an agreement that extends SIRIUS’ exclusive relationship with Ford through September 2011, on certain terms and conditions. All Ford Motor Company brands in the U.S. — Ford, Lincoln Mercury, Land Rover, Jaguar, Volvo, Aston Martin and Mazda — are covered by the agreement.

“Subscriptions to SIRIUS have increased dramatically over the past several years,” said Phil Martens, Ford’s Group Vice President of Product Creation. “So, it’s only natural that Ford would want to continue to make SIRIUS’
unique mix of programming available to Ford buyers in the future. Our relationship provides customers with the best of both worlds – innovative technology, style and driving experience.”

“We are delighted that Ford has decided to extend its exclusivity with SIRIUS, enabling future Ford buyers to experience the best programming in satellite radio,” said Mel Karmazin, CEO of SIRIUS. “Ford and SIRIUS are both dedicated to providing our customers with the best quality possible. Now, Ford buyers can be assured that our two companies will continue to work together in the future to make their driving experience even more pleasurable.”

For more information contact Jim Collins.

Media

Oscar In Agriculture Call For Entries

Chuck Zimmerman June 6, 2005

The 2005 call for entries is out for the Oscar In Agriculture awards. This award competition is sponsored by New Holland in conjunction with the National Association of Farm Broadcasters (NAFB). Although the award competition has a long history and used to be given in many different categories, it’s now just one award given to a farm broadcaster who has demonstrated excellence in broadcast reporting.

AgWired’s own Cindy Zimmerman won a prestigious Oscar In Agriculture award in 1991. The award looked very different then.

To find out how to enter please contact Kristina M. Boone, 301 Umberger Hall, Dept. of Communications, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66505-3402, 785-532-5804. Entries must be postmarked by July 31, 2005 and be for work that aired on or after August 1, 2004.

Agribusiness

Talking News Releases RSS Feed

Chuck Zimmerman June 5, 2005

I’ve been asked too many times by people who want to subscribe to our Talking News Release service to ignore it. In fact, I’ve got folks who want to use them as content on their websites! So . . . I’m in the process of adding the following RSS feed of the Talking News Releases we produce and distribute. It’ll show up as a permanent feature soon. I posted it here to alert you and to test it with my favorite news aggregator – NewsGator (I use the Outlook version). Works like a charm. Subscribe to the XML file signified by the button image and you’ll receive any new ones I post to it. I intend to post them all!

Uncategorized

Mayo To Bader Rutter For Summer

Chuck Zimmerman June 5, 2005

Welcome Wendy Mayo to Bader Rutter. Wendy will be interning in the public relations department over the summer. I’m a big fan of internships and have had the pleasure of working with many of them over the years. You’ve got to love a PR department that sends out a release on their intern though!

Here’s what the release says about Wendy: Mayo, a senior at Kansas State University, is majoring in animal science and agricultural communications. A native of Garden City, Kan., she previously held communications internships with Certified Angus Beef LLC and the American Hereford Association. Mayo has served as an editor for Agriculturist Magazine, a publication of Kansas State University. On campus, she’s an ambassador for the College of Agriculture and a member of the livestock judging team.

For more information contact Greg Nickerson, President, (262) 784-7200.

Agencies

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