Go All Out! at the 87th National FFA Convention

Jamie Johansen

The streets of Louisville, KY are flooded with FFA members from across the country here to attend the 87th National FFA Convention & Expo. The largest youth organization currently have over 600,000 members and their mission of Premier Leadership, Personal Growth and Career Success is modeled in all the organization does for the future of the agricultural industry. Day one …

Ag Groups, Audio, Education, FFA, FMC

Welcome New AgWired Intern

Jamie Johansen

We would like to formally welcome Taylor Truckey to the ZimmComm Team this fall. She will be traveling to the National FFA Convention with me this week and also attending the National Association of Farm Broadcasting conference in just a few weeks. Taylor is currently studying Crop and Soil Sciences at Michigan State University; she will be graduating May 2015. …

Education, ZimmComm Announcement

FMC Invests in Farming’s Future Via FFA

Jamie Johansen

Illustrating its commitment to investing in farming’s future, FMC Corporation is helping youth education through support of FFA. “To continue America’s leadership in agriculture, we need to engage students now,” said John Kasper, FMC Agricultural Solutions North America commercial business director. “FFA prepares students for more than 300 careers and reaches more than 600,000 members. Our support can make a …

Agribusiness, Education, FFA, FMC

Georgia Ag Leadership Program Graduates Inaugural Class

Jamie Johansen

After spending two years learning about Georgia’s largest industry and developing leadership skills, the inaugural class of Advancing Georgia’s Leaders in Agriculture and Forestry has graduated from the program. University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences faculty launched Advancing Georgia’s Leaders in Agriculture and Forestry, or AGL, in 2012. The program is designed to educate and empower Georgia’s …

Ag Groups, Education

Farm to School & Cooperative Efforts

Jamie Johansen

In celebration of the United Nations’ 2014 International Year of Family Farming, this month National Farmers Union (NFU) is highlighting the importance of family farmers and local communities, as well as some of the tools available to help family farmers increase their economic footprint and clout. A great deal of emphasis is placed this month on cooperatives and farm to …

Ag Groups, Education, Farming

Support Your Local Student NAMA Chapter

Chuck Zimmerman

Hopefully all you members of the National Agri-Marketing Association are finding ways to support your student chapter. Here’s an example of how Florida NAMA just got involved at an event to support our students, Gator NAMA. Gator NAMA is tied in with the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Ag Econ Club. They set up a promotional booth during …

Education, NAMA, University

Los Alamos Nat’l Laboratory Ag Innovations

Joanna Schroeder

I recently had the opportunity to spend some time at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). While the federal lab’s main mission is military defense, many innovations can be reimagined to work well in agriculture. To learn more about going from the lab to the field, I spoke with John Mott, technical writer for LANL. Mott first started at LANL …

Agribusiness, Audio, Education, Fertilizer, Herbicide, Verdesian

Dupont Pioneer CASE Grants

Chuck Zimmerman

Once again Dupont Pioneer is stepping up to work with the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE) to award grants to teachers who are implementing the Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (pdf) but need resources. Grants of $2,500 to $5,000 are available to help train teachers and supply equipment and resources to prepare students for careers in agriculture and food. …

Agribusiness, Education, Pioneer

Waitrose Educating Supermarket Customers

Chuck Zimmerman

One of the largest employee-owned businesses owns Waitrose, their supermarket division. Representing them as a sponsor of the 2014 IFAJ Congress was John Gregson, Sr. Director of Public Relations. I met him during one of our tour stops and talked about his business and how important it is to communicate and educate their customers. John says education is really important …

Audio, Education, Food, IFAJ