Food Trends

Chuck Zimmerman

What are the trends in food facing a company like Hy-Vee? We found out at the NAMA Trends In Agriculture conference from Rose Mitchell, Senior VP, Governmental Relations. Rose says there are four key trends they are looking at that include health, safety, taste and how to cook. She says they listen to their customers to identify these trends and …

Audio, Food, NAMA

NAMA Professional Development Awards of Excellence Winners

Chuck Zimmerman

This year the National Agri-Marketing Association presented Professional Development Awards of Excellence to four people. Pictured are (l-r) Marvin Kokes, NCBA (Sales), Sue Otten, AGCO (Public Relations), Scott McClure, Brighton Agency (Marketing Communications) and not pictured Elena Lindemann, Land O’Lakes Purina Feed (Product/Species Management). I spoke with Marvin, Sue and Scott about their award and how the theme for the …

Audio, NAMA

AgHaven Beta

Chuck Zimmerman

It looks like agribusiness has a new social networking location. AgHaven is in beta mode. What do you think? Can a stand alone social network make it in ag? AgHaven, LLC is a collaboration of cutting edge search engine technology, social networking, agri- marketplace and agriculture industry expertise. This collaboration provides the agriculture industry with specific content for all stakeholders; …

Agribusiness, Social Networking

Agvocate About Feeding The World

Chuck Zimmerman

Capping off the first day of the NAMA Trends In Agriculture conference was Dr. Jay Lehr, The Heartland Institute. He started out his presentation on feeding the world with a video of him promoting agriculture and fertilizer to consumers on the streets of San Francisco. It was actually pretty funny to see people’s reactions from cab driver to old man …

Audio, NAMA

World Outlook For Agriculture

Chuck Zimmerman

Our kick-off speaker at the NAMA Trends In Agriculture conference this afternoon was Mark Pearson, Market To Market. Mark is a lot of things, including farmer and stockbroker in addition to his hosting of the tv show. He was here to talk about what he sees as trends in agribusiness which means looking forward but also backward. Mark looks at …

Audio, NAMA

Kicking Off NAMA Trends In Agriculture

Chuck Zimmerman

The National Agri-Marketing Association, Trends In Agriculture conference has a big crowd in Minneapolis. Welcoming us was committee chair, Lacy Carroll, Colle+McVoy. She introduced our kick-off speaker Mark Pearson, Market To Market. I’ll have an interview posted with Mark soon. I’m on my Verizon Mifi and it’s not real fast right now, especially since I’m uploading photos to get the …

Audio, NAMA

USDA Gets Input On Proposed GIPSA Rule From Congress

Chuck Zimmerman

It looks like the Obama Administration via USDA is getting some pressure to look into the effect of the proposed GIPSA rule according to a release from the NCBA. You can download the letter here (pdf). You can learn more about this issue by reading our previous coverage of the issue, including interviews with this link. U.S. Department of Agriculture …

GIPSA, Livestock, NCBA

What’s New At Rhea + Kaiser

Chuck Zimmerman

This week I’m beginning an informal series for the ZimmCast to learn what’s new at marketing and communications agencies. To get things started this week I’d like to share a conversation with Diane Martin, President/CEO, Rhea + Kaiser. So let’s start out by asking, “Who is Rhea + Kaiser?” In their words, “We’re an agency of highly collaborative, creative problem-solvers …

Agencies, Audio, ZimmCast

Getting Ready For NAMA Trends In Agriculture

Chuck Zimmerman

If you’re not going to make it to this year’s NAMA Trends In Agriculture conference then don’t despair. Thanks to the folks at Quarry Integrated Communications I’ll be there with coverage right here on AgWired. In case you’re still wondering why the conference is in Minneapolis instead of Kansas City you can get the full story from a recent ZimmCast …

NAMA

AAEA Has New Website

Chuck Zimmerman

The American Agricultural Editors’ Association (AAEA) has a new website and it is a major improvement. “For our members and prospective members, it’s more reader-friendly, interactive and informative, with much of the same content that was in the previous site plus some additions,” said Den Gardner, AAEA executive director. “Behind the scenes, it is much more efficient for the AAEA …

ACN