Industry reaction to the World Trade Organization decision against the United States on the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) law have been coming in steadily since the announcement was made earlier today. National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson says they believe the situation can be handled by USDA. “Under the guidance of USDA, any changes to COOL to ensure …
2014 GAP Reports Highlights Food Supply Obstacles
The 2014 edition of the GAP Report finds that global productivity is not accelerating fast enough to meet the expected agricultural demand by 2050 through sustainable practices. Published by the Global Harvest Initiative (GHI) and released during the World Food Prize, the trend means a new global challenge is emerging: how to sustainably provide enough food, feed, fiber and fuel …
Become an AgCatalyst
What is an AgCatalyst? In this week’s ZimmCast Roger Reierson, AdFarm, is going to tell us. AgCatalyst is a two day conference where marketing and communications professionals learn how to solve agribusiness challenges and create opportunities by using digital social communications tools and strategies. Presenters include agribusiness and food industry experts and some completely outside the industry. Roger says that …
Talk About Digital Food Fights
The title for this morning’s AgCatalyst keynote sounds daunting, “Exploring Humanity’s Ag Communications History Spanning from Egyptian Emojis to Today’s Digital Food Fight.” How do you pack all that into one session? Well, Susan Beebe, Manager of Social Media & Online Communities, Tyson Foods, is doing just that. I visited with her earlier to get some take-aways from her presentation. …
The Sales Lion Prowls at AgCatalyst
Marcus Sheridan started out his career as a “pool guy.” But today he has a digital marketing agency, The Sales Lion. This guy has lots of energy which you’ll be able to hear in a snippet of his AgCatalyst presentation below. I also interviewed him to get a few take-aways to share with you. First, he says “We have to …
Farmers as AgCatalysts
Dave Frederickson, Minnesota Commissioner of Agriculture, greeted the attendees of the 2014 AgCatalyst event this afternoon. The theme of the event is “It’s All About the Content.” Dave says, “I believe the best way to drive good content is characters. What better way to tell the story about agriculture than through the eyes and actions of our farmers and ranchers …
Why Not Add Beets to Your Cow Ration
For the first time, Feed Beets took advantage of the World Dairy Expo and shared with producers the opportunities with adding beets into their cattle rations. Lisa Butzer, marketing manager for Feed Beets, explained the nutritional elements to feeding beets and it’s benefits to beef and dairy operations. “What we are finding through nutritional surveys and testing is that as …
Florida Farm Bureau Welcomes Conservation Tour
The president of the Florida Farm Bureau welcomed participants on the 2014 CTIC Conservation in Action tour to the Sunshine State Tuesday night as they prepared to visit the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) today. john Hoblick spent some time telling the group, many of whom are from the Midwest, about the EAA and the efforts Florida farmers have undertaken to …
AEM Confident Despite Farm Equipment Sales Drop
Farm equipment sales are down significantly this year, but the head of the Association of Equipment Manufacturer‘s Ag Sector remains optimistic about the industry. “We’re in the business of feeding and harvesting food and you need equipment to do that,” says Charlie O’Brien, AEM Senior Vice President and Ag Sector Lead. “Even though the numbers for this year are down, …
Talking Advanced Biofuels in Minneapolis
Hello from Minneapolis and the National Advanced Biofuels Conference & Expo. This is the first of two stops for me this week before heading back to ZimmComm World Headquarters. The first panel of the conference is moderated by Tim Portz, VP of Content, BBI International. This panel, talking about “Assessing the Health of Federal Biofuels Policy and Its Long Term …