Small Numbers But Growing Market

Jamie Johansen

nafb-13-22-editedHerd numbers are down this year in the beef community, but enthusiasm is high. Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) Chairman, Weldon Wynn was on hand at this year’s Trade Talk during the NAFB Convention. There is no doubt that the checkoff dollar is slim, but Weldon said they are making that dollar stretch.

Weldon went on to discuss our international market, how successful it has been and how much better it could be if we had the numbers. With the demand present, all we need to do now is grow our herds.

“Today in the foreign market with USMEF, one of our contractors, anytime we sell a calf we are getting back $234.00 in return for every head we are sending abroad. It’s really working in the foreign marketing end of it.”

The CBB has also put a lot of research into marketing to the millennial generation. And it seems social media marketing is key to educate this group of techies. They are sharing recipes online, answering questions via social media outlets and remembering the power of photo sharing.

The CBB and NCBA are also making final arrangements for this year’s Cattlemen’s Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show. Music City will play home to the coveted event held February 4-7, 2014. Mark your calendars and plan your vacation to Nashville where you can have your voice heard on decisions that will shape your beef community.

Listen to my complete interview with Weldon here: Interview with Weldon Wynn

Checkout photos from NAFB Convention: 2013 NAFB Convention Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference, Media, NAFB, NCBA

MFA, Inc. Annual Mtg. Livestream

Chuck Zimmerman

Face of MFAI’m calling him the face of MFA. He’s the man in the cold (one of many) who directed me to my parking spot for today’s MFA, Inc. annual meeting and 100 yr. Celebration. MFA, Inc. is the oldest farmer owned cooperative in the United States. I learned that today.

MFA Annual Mtg.I’m going to try to livestream today’s program which starts at about 10am central. Hopefully the internet will cooperate. It’s kind of a spur of the moment thing but why not. I’ve already got several interviews to share with you as soon as I can. MFA expects up to 2,000 people here today at the Missouri State Fairgrounds. It’s going to be a party! With a little business thrown in….

Post Update: Thanks to all of you who tuned in for today’s livestream. Wish we could do more of them!

You can find my photos from today’s event here: MFA, Inc. 100 Yrs. Annual Mtg. Photo Album

Agribusiness

Raven’s Commitment to Innovative Tech

Jamie Johansen

nafb-13-24-editedRaven Industries is always working on something. During the recent NAFB Convention’s Trade Talk, I met up with Raven’s Marketing and Business Development Manager, Ryan Molitor. He expressed Raven’s desire to continue to add new technologies to the precision marketplace as well as improve on their existing products.

“One of the things we really invest a lot in is training our dealers on not just supporting and servicing our equipment but helping them better educate growers on the benefits of precision ag technology. It’s pretty diverse from a technology standpoint. There is a lot of different technology out there. Growers and producers have a lot of diverse needs also. It is important to talk to them and understand their individual operations and where the technology can fit for them.”

Raven introduced many different technologies earlier this year. Ryan said the feedback they have received from their beta testers has been great. In my interview he discusses their direct injection technology, data management for ag retailers and producers and their multiple hybrid planter control. Their newest precision equipment to hit the marketplace is their yield monitoring system and Ryan shares what growers have said about it’s acute accuracy.

Listen to my complete interview with Ryan here: Interview with Ryan Molitor

Checkout photos from NAFB Convention: 2013 NAFB Convention Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Media, NAFB, Precision Agriculture, Technology

State Ag Directors Visit NAFB 2013

Leah Guffey

_DSC2671 copyFive State Ag Directors took part in a panel discussion with farm broadcasters Friday in Kansas City at the 70th Annual National Association of Farm Broadcasting Convention. California Secretary Karen Ross, Kansas Secretary Dale Rodman, Louisiana Commissioner Michael Strain, Nebraska Director Greg Ibach and North Dakota Commissioner Doug Goehring spent about an hour and a half discussing the differing issues that each of their states are facing and how they are working to combat individual challenges. In addition to what challenges they face together and how they are teaming up to solve them.

Host of AgriTalk, Mike Adams, moderated the discussion. Listen to or download all the comments of these state directors here: State Ag Directors Panel Discussion

2013 NAFB Convention Photo Album

Audio, Media, NAFB

NAFB Horizon Award and Farm Broadcaster of the Year

Leah Guffey

awardsA prior NAFB Scholarship Winner and past president, Pam Jahnke aka The Fabulous Farm Babe, has taken home this year’s Farm Broadcaster of the Year Award. Pam is in her 25th year as a NAFB member and has had a career in radio, television, and social media in her market. Pam figures she’s logged about 25,000 miles to her 17 affiliates from the Illinois/Wisconsin border all the way to the northern regions of Wisconsin.

“I approach the farm department at Midwest Family Broadcasting very much like it’s my own business. In that regard, I work every day on any area that can improve my relationship with my audiences, clients and workmates.”

Pam was also just recently awarded the Honorary American FFA Degree and UW-Madison’s College of Agriculture has given her its Honorary Recognition for “leadership, integrity, and unselfish services, making significant contributions in the areas of agriculture, life sciences, natural resources and social science.”

NAFB’s 2013 Horizon Award is Rob Winters of WOWO Radio, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Rob hands out six daily doses and a mid-day market report over the airwaves reaching more than 40,000 listeners in portions of three states. Throughout the year Rob will attend about 30 farm events.

He’s created a very successful weekly program called “Midwest Ag Matters” which allows him to dig deeper into stories about family farmers. He is the founder, producer, and host of this extremely popular and profitable endeavor. Rob also functions, like many farm broadcasters do, as the local sales manager for WOWO. His local sales have risen 30% over last year.

2013 NAFB Convention Photo Album

Media, NAFB

Iowa Corn Growers “Fill Up on Me’ Sweepstakes

Jamie Johansen

iowa-corn-growers-association-77948544A new multimedia campaign features four Iowa corn farmers called ‘Fill Up on Me’ Sweepstakes. The statewide campaign from the Iowa Corn Growers Association and the Iowa Corn Promotion Board includes TV, online, print and radio advertisements focusing on ethanol/economic development, products from corn to ethanol process and conservation practices found on the farm.

“We are proud of the outstanding farmers we have in Iowa,” said Shannon Textor, Market Development Director for Iowa Corn and the staff person responsible for ethanol marketing. “We picked just four Iowans for the campaign, but we have thousands more great Iowa farmers that we could have chosen to feature.”

The campaign is already underway and will continue through December 14th. The farmers range in age, experience and have different farming techniques, but their passion for agriculture is clearly the same.

Meet the farmers:
– Mark Recker, Arlington, IA
– Brent Drey, Sc City, IA
– Pam Johnson, Floyd, IA
– Bill Couser, Nevada, IA

The ‘Fill Up on Me’ Sweepstakes includes a fuel giveaway and other ways to get involved on the issue of ethanol. For more information on the campaign check out IowaCorn.org.

Ag Groups, Corn, Ethanol, Media, Video

NAFB Night of Honors

Cindy Zimmerman

The National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) bestowed honors on many deserving individuals last week – the best of the best.

nafb13-johnnieWe’ll start with the new members of the NAFB Hall of Fame. Johnnie Hood was one of our very first friends in NAFB, back in the day when he served as president in 1985 at the midpoint of his career as a radio farm broadcaster on WPTF in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was so great to see him and wife Peggy again last week, it’s been a long time! He and Peggy retired in 2002 and moved to Land O’Lakes, Florida where they live a quiet and happy life driving school buses and playing Santa Claus.

nafb13-wey1The second Hall of Fame inductee was Wey Simpson, radio and television pioneer in the great Northwest. Wey served three terms as NAFB regional vice president, edited the organization’s magazine CHATS for two years and served three years on the Sales/Marketing board. He hosted the NAFB Summer Meeting in 1974, the year of the World’s Fair in Spokane, the same year he was named Farm Broadcaster of the Year.

nafb13-lynnThe NAFB Meritorious Service Award was presented to Agri-Marketing Magazine publisher and industry leader Lynn Henderson. This award, named after NAFB advocate and volunteer leader Dix Harper, annually recognizes outstanding support and leadership to the broadcasting industry and association by a member of the Management & Sales Council or the Allied Industry Council.

In addition, the National Farm Medicine Center and agency Broadhead received the Plambeck Award Best Series for their campaign, “You’re a Parent First, Farmer Second,” and BASF Crop Protection agency Mullen was recognized for Best Single Ad for Verdict herbicide. The Plambeck award is named after NAFB legend Herb Plambeck, second president of the organization.

Our sincere congratulations to all!

2013 NAFB Convention Photo Album

Agencies, Audio, BASF, Media, NAFB

NCBA’s Government Affairs Advocating for Beef

Jamie Johansen

nafb-13-19-editedThe National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) attended this year’s NAFB Trade Talk event and I spoke with Colin Woodall, Vice President of Government Affairs, while stopping by their booth. Colin voiced that it is an exciting time to be part of the beef community. He admits herd numbers are down, but that it means people are making money. Beyond cattle numbers he discussed a few other hot topics he and others on Capitol Hill are tirelessly working on to ensure beef production in the United States continues to grow and thrive.

The Farm Bill was a hot topic everywhere you went during Trade Talk, but Colin focused on one aspect of the bill that is front and center for NCBA.

“Country of Origin Labeling is one issue that we have to get fixed because right now we have a retaliation that is looming from both Canada and Mexico where they could should us out of their markets or add a surtax our markets probably sometime in late summer or early fall of 2014.”

Colin also brought up Federal Lands Grazing. Many farmers and ranchers utilize permits to graze federal lands in the western part of the U.S. Activists groups are pressuring for the removal of these permits.

“We have two pieces of legislation we are working on right now. One is to try and change the way the federal government approaches wildfires. To make sure we are managing federal lands in a way to mitigate the severity of wildfires. Then also we are trying put in place a Grazing Improvement Act that would make the process to get these permits a little bit more expedited and try and cut out some of the bureaucratic red tape we have to deal with right now.”

The beef industry relies heavily on international trade. On this topic Colin shared news on the Trans Pacific Partnership and what it means to producers and consumers alike. Read More

Audio, Beef, Farm Bill, Farm Policy, Media, NAFB, NCBA

ASFMRA Speaker Interviews

Chuck Zimmerman

Last week I posted podium remarks from Monsanto’s Dr. Robert Fraley and from California Secretary of Agriculture, Karen Ross at the Agronomics Vision 2014 conference in Reno, NV. After their presentations I sat down with them for a short interview which focused not only on their presentations but in more personal detail about what they see for the future. Feel free to click and watch or listen.

You can listen to my interview with Dr. Fraley here: Interview with Dr. Robert Fraley

You can listen to my interview with Karen here: Interview with Karen Ross

Agronomics Vision 2014 Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the ASFMRA Agronomics Conference is sponsored by Halderman Farm Management.

Ag Groups, Audio, Video

Big Bucks for the NAFB Foundation

Cindy Zimmerman

nafb13-lakeThe NAFB Foundation auction raised over $20,000 last week, thanks in a big way to the now-traditional boys and girls fight over the Agri-Pulse Lake Trip, which was responsible for nearly ONE THIRD of that amount!

Sara Wyant and Al Johnson’s generosity means they will once again host two NAFB groups next summer at their beautiful home on Lake Ozark. The dorky boys club ran up the bid again to a record $3100 – and the fabulous farm chicks met their price for a second trip. It’s a friendly rivalry for a very worthy cause.

We were happy to welcome a few new members to the girls club this year – including Pat Morrow of BASF and Haylie Shipp of Northern Ag Network. They will be a great addition to our group, which will celebrate our fifth Lake Girls Trip next year. Oh yeah – and our own Leah Guffey will be joining us as well.

2013 NAFB Convention Photo Album

BASF, Media, NAFB