Here’s a reminder about the 2006 Soybean Rust Symposium which is going to take place this week in St. Louis, MO on Wednesday and Thursday. Judging by their website, The American Phytopathological Society has just about everyone involved as a sponsor.
PERC Yourself Up
It’s back to work after a very nice Thanksgiving weekend. So let’s jump right into it with this week’s program. One of the interviews I did at the recent NAFB Convention was with Mark Leitman, Director, Agriculture Programs, Propane Education & Research Council (PERC). Thanks to Sarah Robinett, Osborn & Barr Communications for helping set me up!
There’s a lot of familiarity with checkoff programs like beef or pork but not as much with some others. PERC is funded through a federally mandated law which provides some significant funding which is used for research and promotion programs. I interviewed Mark to learn more about how his organization is structured and what they do with all that money.
New WFC Board
There’s a new leadership group at the Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives. If it’s a two state organization why does it have a one state name? The Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives (WFC), a two-state organization representing more than 800 Wisconsin and Minnesota cooperative businesses, elected a new board of directors this week at its annual meeting in La Crosse. Replacing outgoing …
New American Angus Leaders
Here’s a picture of the new leadership of the American Angus Association. I don’t know who’s who though. A fine looking bunch don’t you think?
Mid Missouri Ag Club Website
Cindy and I finished our turn voluntarily running the Mid Missouri Ag Club this past summer and it’s in new hands.
These folks have put some more effort into it and now it has a website!
That’s a lot of Soybeans
Here’s Kip and Dale (Kip Cullers and Dale Ludwig – l-r). I have to post this since Haley Wansing sent a picture and I’ve received about a half a dozen news releases on it. You see, Kip has a world record soybean production record. He farms in Purdy, MO. If you read this segment from MSA’s news release you can figure out where the other news releases came from.
FEMA Past President
I finally caught up with Jim Wessing, Kondex Corporation this afternoon after our session.
Jim is the immediate past president now of the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association. I spoke with him about what FEMA is and what benefits it offers its members. There’s a lot of work this very small staff does out of St. Louis!
Jim said that in the last year the organization has added 84 new member companies and that 31 of them had representatives here at the convention.
Connect With Your End User
The guy who really got the panel put together here at the FEMA convention today was Connor Flynn, Lessing-Flynn.
Connor was our emcee but started out talking about how flat marketing communications has become. He stressed the need for companies to use all the channels available to connect with their customer base.
Your Website Should Make Sales
Another of my fellow panelists this afternoon was Dale Bentlage, Global Reach.
Dale talked about having a well-planned web strategy for your company. He told our audience how important a company website can be in generating sales.
Who Are Your Customers
On our panel this afternoon here at the FEMA convention was Joe Baitinger, FarmMarketiD.
Joe was here to talk about database marketing. He talked about the importance of developing your customer database and using it. Too often companies tend to collect data and let it sit unused. I like the way he called it a perishable commodity. What good is having thousands of prospective client contacts if you don’t use them. Joe talks about how important it is to know who your customers are in a very segmented industry.