2025 Agri-Marketing Conference

Missouri Producer Wins Gator

Melissa Sandfort

In partnership with Sydenstricker Implements, the Missouri Corn Growers Association (MCGA) awarded one lucky corn grower a new all-terrain vehicle as part of a recent membership promotion. Winning the 2010 John Deere TS 4×2 Gator was Carl Landewee, a grain farmer from Chaffee, Mo. The “Gator Give-A-Way” was part of MCGA’s summer membership drive designed to help raise awareness of …

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The Smell of Harvest

Melissa Sandfort

Our house sits at the bottom of a hill, near a small creek. Ever notice as you’re driving through the country, how, when you get to the bottom of a hill, the temperature drops about 5 to 10 degrees? It just “feels” different. We were sitting outside the other night when the cool breeze mixed with the smell of harvest, …

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High Valley is On The Combine

Chuck Zimmerman

Are you looking for some good music for your iPod this harvest season? Look no further than High Valley in iTunes. They might just make you smile while you’re “On The Combine!” They’re a Canadian country band and thanks to Penny Brown, Centricity Music, for bringing it to my attention. It’s downloading in iTunes on my computer now.

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It’s Green, It’s Bumpy, It’s…

Melissa Sandfort

Not a pickle. It’s a hedgeapple. We used to (incorrectly) call them hedge balls, and one year, I even used it for an elementary pumpkin-decorating contest and took first place. Maybe there is a creative bone in me somewhere. Here are a few little-known facts about the Hedge tree: The hedge tree has several names, Osage Orange (most popular) and …

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2011 Beef Ambassadors Named

Melissa Sandfort

Madlynn Ruble, Albert Lea, Minn., Jessica Sweet, Livermore, Calif., Austin Joyce, Pearland, Texas, Kelli Fulkerson, Burlington, Mich., and Kristen Stufft, Lewistown, Pa., were chosen as the 2011 National Beef Ambassador Team winners at the annual competition, funded in part by the beef checkoff, held Oct. 1-3 in Rapid City, S.D. Contestants were judged in the areas of consumer promotion, classroom …

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Everything But The Squeal

Melissa Sandfort

About 20 years ago, my grandfather wrote a book about our family history. He had it printed, and as we unpacked at our new house, I came across that family story, neatly bound and stored amongst my set of office books. I later sat down with him to hear about one such experience contained in the book, and am now …

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Find Farmers Markets On Your Phone

Chuck Zimmerman

Joining the ranks of the ag apps, like the AgWired iPhone App, is the Farmers Market Finder iPhone App. Apptika Inc. has just released a new version of its popular Farmers Market Finder app which now includes over 2,500 farmers markets across the U.S. Fresh food lovers and locavores in California, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, …

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A Year In The Life

Melissa Sandfort

A couple of weeks ago, we had a major storm blow through with straight-line winds of almost 90 miles per hour. It knocked over power lines, corn, blew off shingles and took down hundreds of old trees. It was a mess, and for miles, you could see farmers with loaders and forks carrying off piles of branches. My nieces, on …

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Blogging Rising

Chuck Zimmerman

Blogging continues to grow in spite of all the naysayers who have thought it wouldn’t “go anywhere.” In fact, I’d dare say that many people who read online content don’t even know they’re on a blog and don’t really care. As you’ll see in a comment from the author of a new eMarketer report (The Blogosphere: Colliding with Social and …

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The Evolution of Online Agvocacy

Chuck Zimmerman

While in Chicago I finally got to meet Kelly Rivard who I’ve been connected with via AgChat for some time. She was a participant in the first ever AgChat Foundation Agvocacy 2.0 Training Conference and produced a great video for it. Kelly is also a student at North Central College in Naperville, IL. Farmers have a story and are learning …

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