The AgChat Foundation’s 2014 Cultivate & Connect conference was held in Austin, TX, August 21 and 22. In attendance were over 140 farmers, ranchers, and ag communications professionals who hail from the U.S., Canada, and Australia. The resounding theme of the event was to learn more about how digital and social media can assist with cultivating open-minded conversation with consumers …
Biologics R & D at Bayer Crop Science
Biologics are based on materials found in nature. At the Bayer Crop Science booth during the Farm Progress Show I spoke with Head of Biologic Research for Bayer CropScience, Dr. Jonathan Margolis, who is based out of their new facilities in Sacramento, CA. There he works with live microbes like bacteria, fungi and plant extracts. “The difference between those and …
Time for Play at #FPS14
The entire ZimmComm Team was present for this year’s Farm Progress Show and as expected it was packed with interviews, press conferences, photography and of course, lots of blogging. But don’t worry it wasn’t all work and no play. Leah and I took advantage of Farm Progress Show, Iowa State Center and Syngenta’s sponsorship of the first of many to …
Commodity Prices & Farm Equipment Sales
Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “What’s the most important skill set for ag communications?” The tried and true skill of writing still tops the charts when it comes to agriculture communications even though the industry has changed so much over recent years. But the importance of a well-rounded graduate is always the end goal. Not surprisingly, people skills comes …
New Holland Loans Tractors to BioCentury Research Farm
This morning during the Farm Progress Show, New Holland hosted a tour of the Iowa State BioCentury Research Farm. New Holland got involved with the project when they saw a need for the use of some of their equipment and loaned them two tractors, which provided new options for their biomass research projects. The BioCentury Research Farm combines biomass feedstock …
Bayer Kicks Off Farm Progress Show
The 2014 Farm Progress Show kicked off this rainy Tuesday morning, but you simply can’t complain because rain is a good thing. After the opening I spoke with President and CEO for Bayer Crop Science, Jim Blome. He shared about a special donation made during the event and elaborated on Bayer’s mission to ‘Leave A Better World’ for future generations. …
Versatility in Tractors at John Deere
John Deere’s 6 family of tractors is their most versatile tractor yet. They say it has ‘everything you need and nothing you don’t.’ Chuck’s at John Deere’s media product launch and spoke with Brad Tolbert, Division Marketing Manager for John Deere, at the event and they talked tractors. “What we are excited to release here is our large chassis 6R’s. …
New Brand Launches Coming Soon for Koch Agronomics
At the 2014 Ag Media Summit, Koch Agronomic Services was there to share with the media their new brand launches that will be formally announced at next week’s Farm Progress Show. Chuck spoke with Koch’s Wayne Jellinek during the event. “Through our R&D and agronomy team we spend a fair amount of time listening to our customers in terms of …
FMC Talks Pre-Emergent Herbicides at AMS
At the recent Ag Media Summit Chuck spoke with FMC’s, Len Dobbins, about the importance of pre-emergent herbicide technology when looking ahead to next year’s growing season. “FMC has really developed a number of herbicides to be used pre-emergently for soybeans and corn. The interest in pre-emergence has developed because of weed resistance. When we look back a number of …
John Deere Introduces New Commercial Series of Tractors
Besides having the media in for John Deere’s product launch, dealers and others came for information and training on all their new equipment rolling out. Chuck’s first interview for the event was with Dave Guetterman who specializes in John Deere’s 9R and 9RT. “The new 9 family of tractors was designed around three customer values: performance, up-time and cost of …