Case IH Sponsoring Great American Wheat Harvest Film

Chuck Zimmerman

Great American Wheat Harvest MovieCase IH has joined the supporting team for the Great American Wheat Harvest documentary film as a Silver Sponsor. “This validates the diversity of combine colors represented by the wheat harvesting machinery featured in the film with their sponsorship,” says film producer Conrad Weaver.

Earlier this spring, the filmmaker joined the more than 200 harvesting crews at the CASE IH ProHarvest kickoff in Frederick, Okla., at the Great Plains Technical Center. The kickoff is a combine safety training program for custom harvesting crews.

“Case IH is proud to sponsor the Great American Wheat Harvest because of our long history with many of the custom harvesting crews featured in it,” says Cy Werda, North American Combine Marketing Manager, CASE IH. “Not only are they important customers, their feedback has helped us build the equipment they need to be ready for almost any harvest condition.” Werda says Case IH is committed to collaborating with its customers to develop the most powerful, productive, reliable equipment – designed to meet today’s agricultural challenges.

CASE IH now joins other Great American Wheat Harvest major sponsors including: John Deere, MacDon Industries, U.S. Custom Harvesters Inc., Association of Canadian Custom Harvesters, Oklahoma Wheat Commission, TMCO/National Manufacturing Company and media partner, AgWired.com, an online media service.

Agribusiness, Case IH, Wheat

Agri-Pulse Open Mic with Brett Stuart

Cindy Zimmerman

New on Agri-Pulse this week:

open-micBrett Stuart is President of Global AgriTrends. He was formerly with the U.S. Meat Export Federation before becoming an independent consultant in the meat trade. Stuart’s view is that China and Russia do not want “cheap” imports of meat and grain because it reduces their ability to be self sufficient in food production. He examines the politics and the economics of China and Russia and the role the United States plays as a producer and exporter of high quality, low cost meat and meat products.

Listen to the Agri-Pulse Open Mic interview with Brett Stuart here.

Agri-Pulse

Get a Gumdrop for your iPad

Chuck Zimmerman

Drumdrop Drop Tech SeriesUsing an iPad for precision agricultural applications is a fast growing use of the most widely used tablets. But it also brings concerns over how to protect the devices as they’re transferred from home to truck to tractor or combine. One way is with a rugged Drop Tech Series case from Gumdrop Cases. Here’s me with one I just got for my iPad mini in orange and blue (Go Gators!). These cases provide maximum protection that includes screen and port protection, shock absorption and drop protection.

So how about a real world ag application. You can look to Precision Planting customers who use iPad to access their FieldView App, which allows them to view real-time planter data as they go through the field and sync to the cloud so other farmers can access the data and monitor the operation. The FieldView app brings the farmer’s field to life on high-resolution maps. Farmers can view spacing and singulation as well as ground contact and row unit weight, making analysis much easier. The Gumdrop cases provided Precision Planting with a case that can withstand weather conditions and protect against any possible damage in the field.

“With the ruggedness of the cases, our farmers are able to take their iPads with them from the tractor and use the device as a crop-scouting tool throughout the season and then put it in the combine to monitor harvest operations in the fall,” said Sean Arians, Product Marketing Manager of Precision Planting.

You can find Gumdrop Cases here. I’m liking mine and will be taking it on the road with me this week to the 2013 Agvocacy 2.0 Conference in Charlotte, NC.

Agribusiness, Equipment, Precision Agriculture

Harnessing Relationships Between Client & Agency

Jamie Johansen

nama-bootcamp-13-053-editedThe 2013 NAMA Boot Camp kicked off last week in Kansas City, Missouri. General sessions brought attendees together to discuss topics and breakout sessions allowed them to specialize their experience.

Michael Berry, Director of Marketing for SPF, talked to attendees about agency-client communications during a breakout session on day one of the event. He provided insight on different perspectives and effective communication. What is interesting about Michael is he has a farming background and worked on both the agency and client side.

He stressed the importance of relationship building, but reminded us that all client/agency relationships are different. The key to creating strong relationships is partnership, communication and trust.

“I think the biggest thing about my background is it’s kind of prepared me for the real world. There is a lot of fluff and stuff we can put into advertising and messaging that we send out to our growers, but being a grower myself allows me to see what good, usable information needs to be put out there for the grower for them to make good purchasing decisions.”

Listen to my interview with Michael here: Interview with Michael Berry

Here are photos from the event:2013 NAMA Boot Camp Photo Album

Advertising, Audio, Marketing, NAMA

National Beef Educator of the Year

Jamie Johansen

cisc-13-bartholomayAdvocating seems to be the all buzz here is agriculture, but the key to advocating is education. Recently, during the 2013 Cattle Industry Summer Conference, the National Beef Educator of the Year Award was given to a woman who has gone above and beyond to talk beef wherever she travels.

Michelle Bartholomay, from southeastern North Dakota, operates a farm and ranch with her family. She told Chuck in an interview that she was honored to be recognized for doing something she absolutely loves to do. She has spoke to elementary and high school classes, Rotary groups and other organizations, seat mates on planes and anyone else who will listen to her wonderful story about beef.

She said, “The education on the beef industry isn’t a job, it’s a passion and a calling.” Information she shares is all fact based. She was selected to be on the National Beef Speakers Bureau, which utilizes USDA information and seeks NCBA and Beef Board resources as she prepares to educate consumers.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Michelle here: Interview with Michelle Bartholomay

Here are photos from the event:2013 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference, Education, NCBA

Pork Production and Profitability

Cindy Zimmerman

bivi-nc13-dennisEconomist Dennis DiPietre shared his insights on the cost of production and profitability in the U.S. pork industry during the Boehringer Ingelheim North Carolina Health Seminar last week. Dennis is a frequent guest speaker at this event because he always entertaining and enlightening.

His main point this time was “all the world is a distribution” which he used to illustrate the need to look at averages rather than single point prices when making economic decisions. “Today’s price isn’t any good after today, it’s bound to change,” Dennis said. “As you’re thinking about the future, you have to ask yourself…do I expect the pattern of the last year to repeat itself, the last five years, or will we be going back to a longer term sort of pattern?”

Dennis does believe that the hog industry is coming into a period of pretty good profits in the next year. “But people … should really begin to think in the long run about seeing prices of corn, bean meal and hogs as distributions, not as annual averages,” he said. “The most important thing you can do to try to ensure profitability is to try to manage margins by using a good hedging program.”

Listen to my interview with Dennis here: Interview with economist Dennis DiPietre


BIVI NC Swine Seminar Photo Album

Animal Health, Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

    Zimfo Bytes

  • broadhead, the leading agency in the United States specializing in the business of rural America, will help Dutch cattle genetics giant CRV grow its brand stateside.
  • Nigeria has released two extra-early maturing maize hybrids with combined resistance/tolerance to Striga, drought, and low soil-nitrogen developed by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).
  • The National FFA Foundation Board of Trustees announced that it has selected a highly experienced and accomplished fund-raising professional to serve as its next president.
  • Drugmaker Merck announced it had suspended sales of the animal supplement Zilmax, one week after Tyson Foods halted purchase of the product after discovering weak and disabled cattle at its factories.
Zimfo Bytes

The Business Value of Social Media

Jamie Johansen

nama-bootcamp-13-100-editedEach year the National Agri-Marketing Association brings you NAMA Boot Camp. A conference on marketing and agriculture basics, for those just entering the agri-marketing industry and veterans just wanting a refresher.

Today anyone with Internet capabilities is considered media. Thus, the ability for anyone to serve as your marketing and PR team. The ability for instantaneous information has lead businesses into the field of social media. And the term social business is coined. The first general session to start off day two of the event was lead by Justin Goldsborough, Senior Vice President at FleishmanHilliard, on the Evolution of Social Business.

“Social business is about managing online relationships effectively by managing internal stakeholder relationships.”

Justin was able to thoroughly explain the business value of social media and give first-hand examples of ways to do it right. His company has adopted a Social Engagement Lifecycle to help them and other companies take steps into creating a social media plan that works. The bottom line is the importance of content that is engaging.

He left us with five things we should do today to jump start our social business plan.

1. Find where you are on the Social Engagement Lifecycle.
2. Think about what social media channels you want to use and how you want to use them.
3. Search to see how people are talking about your company.
4. Define objectives. Are they measurable?
5. Subscribe to Content Marketing Institute for email newsletters.

Listen to my interview with Justin here: Interview with Justin Goldsborough

Here are photos from the event:2013 NAMA Boot Camp Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Marketing, NAMA, Social Media

NJ Christmas Tree Grower Wins National Honor

Melissa Sandfort

xmastreeA Warren County Christmas tree farm, which in the past has honored U.S. troops by donating trees to the families of servicemen and women, was itself honored on Aug. 10 as its 8-foot Blue Spruce was named the Grand Champion in the Tree of the Year contest held by the National Christmas Tree Association. As winner of the national award, Wyckoff’s Christmas Tree Farm in White Township, Warren County, will provide the White House Christmas Tree for the coming holiday season.

John Wyckoff, who represented New Jersey by winning the state’s Christmas Tree Grower of the Year award, said, “It was an honor to represent the New Jersey Christmas Tree Growers Association at the national level. The award is a credit not only to our farm, but to the quality of the products being grown in New Jersey.”

On Aug. 1, the New Jersey Christmas Tree Growers Association selected Wyckoff’s Christmas Tree Farm’s Blue Spruce as the 2013 Grand Champion in their annual Christmas tree contest. The Wyckoff family also earned the title last year with a Canaan Fir. In total, the family has won the state contest nine times.

Last year, Wyckoff and his family donated 100 trees to the Trees for Troops campaign, a charity program that donates real Christmas trees to service members and their families, sponsored by FedEx and the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation. They were taken to Fort Eustis Army Base in Virginia to help lift the spirits of military families stationed there. At the same time, they donated 20 trees to the NORWESCAP Family Success Center in Phillipsburg for families facing hard times in that area.

The 172-acre farm in White Township, outside of Belvidere, has been owned by the Wyckoff family since 1839 and is now being farmed by the sixth and seventh generations of Wyckoffs. They have 55 acres of Christmas trees with 5,000 trees available this season. They grow Fraser, Douglas, Concolor, and Canaan Firs, Norway, Blue, and Serbian Spruces and White Pine.

Agribusiness

Why Share Your Beef Story

Jamie Johansen

cisc-13-bankheadDuring the 2013 Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Denver cattlemen and women gathered to discuss current issues, work on programs and initiatives to better the beef community. Committees met and workshops were attended too.

Chuck covered the event and spoke with former beef ambassador and current intern for the American National CattleWomen, Malorie Bankhead. Malorie hails from California and is a recent graduate of California Polytechnic State University, where she majored in agriculture communications. During the conference she held a workshop for cattlewomen on advocating their beef story and the importance of gaining consumer trust.

“We know that sharing our beef story is very important because if we don’t do that, others will share our story for us and chances are they won’t get it right. We have that opportunity to really step up and really be the advocates we wish to see in the beef community. Today I shared a little bit about utilizing facts and numbers and all these great statistics we have in the beef industry and kind of form that into a message. We are learning at this conference that the millennial generation is the kind of generation that we are really trying to go after and target with our beef messaging. We have learned that they really only accept short, sweet and to the point. So we can’t dump them with knowledge, we have to convey our message in short bits for them. Twitter is a great example of how to utilize that.”

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Malorie here: Interview with Malorie Bankhead

Here are photos from the event:2013 Cattle Industry Summer Conference Photo Album

Audio, Beef, NCBA, Social Media