Engage Energize Empower at NAMA Fall Conference

Chuck Zimmerman

2013 NAMA Fall ConferenceThis fall you can Engage, Energize and Empower at the National Agri-Marketing Association Fall Conference. The conference provides outstanding professional development opportunities to help you take your career to the next level. Registration is now open.

Agri-marketers are always looking for opportunities to learn more … to challenge themselves and get better at what they do. The NAMA Fall Conference does all that and more. Take advantage of this chance to reconnect with colleagues and clients and sharpen up your skill set before the end of the year.

You’ll find presentations on mobile digital strategy and dealing with data storage in the Cloud. The ag topics are also anything but run of the mill. We’ll be talking policy and climate change.

So get ready to engage with high level content and high level leadership … energize your career and amp up your professional development … and empower yourself to take it to the next level.

Sponsorships are now available for the Fall Conference. If you are interested in sponsoring a session, please contact Jenny Pickett at jennyp@nama.org or call 913-491-6500.

Ag Groups, NAMA

MAIZALL Announces Board and Website

Cindy Zimmerman

An organization uniting corn growers of North and South America has elected officers and unveiled a new website.

maizallThe International Maize Alliance (MAIZALL) was formed in May between the corn industries of the United States, Brazil and Argentina with the goal of addressing key issues concerning food security, biotechnology, stewardship, trade and producer image. MAIZALL is composed of MAIZAR, representing Argentina producers and the maize supply chain; ABRAMILHO (Brazilian Association of Corn Producers); the National Corn Growers Association, and the U.S. Grains Council.

Newly elected officers of MAIZALL are Julius Schaaf (United States), President; Sérgio Luis Bortolozzo (Brazil), 1st Vice President; Alberto Morelli (Argentina), 2nd Vice President. The MAIZALL board of directors is composed of three directors each from Argentina, Brazil, and the United States.

MAIZALL also announced its public website at www.maizall.org. The website will provide background information on MAIZALL, including the memorandum of understanding between the organizations; its Board of Directors and the major objectives.

Ag Groups, Corn, Grains, International, NCGA, USGC

Agri-Pulse Open Mic with Rep. Dave Loebsack

Cindy Zimmerman

New on Agri-Pulse this week:

open-micCongressman Dave Loebsack, who recently hosted Rep. Collin Peterson, the ranking Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, in his southeastern Iowa district, explains why he and other Democrats could not support the split farm bill that passed the House a few weeks ago with only GOP votes. Loebsack is quite concerned about failure to get a farm bill through Congress this year and cites his concerns for agriculture if the current one-year farm bill extension expires.

Listen to the Agri-Pulse Open Mic interview with Rep. Dave Loebsack here.

Agri-Pulse

Most Have Some Ag Apps

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zp-nhOur latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “How many ag-related apps do you have?”

Our poll results:

· 1-5 44%
· None 31%
· 5-10 16%
· More 6%
· 10-15 3%

That means that almost 70% of you have at least one ag-related app. And the number of ag-related apps for smart phones and tablets continues to grow – from news and information, to markets and products, you name it. Find out more about what’s out there in this recent ZimmCast.

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “Do you think cellulosic ethanol can be commercialized?” For those of you who may not know, cellulosic ethanol is a biofuel produced from wood, grasses, or the inedible parts of plants. It is a major part of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) with the goal of using more non-food sources to make biofuels. Some recent announcements include a plant in Vero Beach, Florida and a new bolt-on process to allow existing corn ethanol plants to produce ethanol from the cellulosic parts of corn. But some call it a “phantom fuel” that will never come to fruition – what do you think?

ZimmPoll is sponsored by New Holland Agriculture.

ZimmPoll

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  • Farm Market iD announced that the Farm Market iD Database has been updated with 2012 crop year data.
  • Smithfield Foods is on track to complete an industry-leading goal of phasing out individual gestation stalls in favor of group housing for pregnant sows at all company-owned sow farms by 2017.
  • DuPont and Pannar Seed Limited closed on a transaction in which DuPont Pioneer acquired majority ownership in Pannar, a South Africa-based seed company with operations throughout Africa and in other parts of the world.
  • Syngenta is set again to expand its Innovation Center in Research Triangle Park, N.C., USA.
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AgriVisor Helps Market Grain to Maximize Profitability

Cindy Zimmerman

Grain marketing in today’s world means diversification and minimizing risk to maximize profitability, and AgriVisor helps farmers do just that. Account manager Cory Winstead says there are several ways they work with farmers. “We work directly with brokerage services and then since 1973 AgriVisor has been putting out general advice with recommendations,” he said. They also work with elevators, offering different products and services that farmers can utilize.

Cory says the grain markets continue to be volatile. “Last year we had the drought which really created volatility in the market,” he said. “This year we still had weather issues like the wet spring … a weather market always creates a lot of volatility.”

The biggest rule for marketing grain is don’t put all your eggs in one basket. “Have a diversified plan,” said Cory. “Know your cost of production so you can make an educated sale at a profitable level.”

Check out the different products and services offered by AgriVisor on agrivisor.com and listen to my interview with Cory to find out more: Interview with Cory Winstead, AgriVisor

Audio, Farming, Grains, GROWMARK, Marketing

New Holland Dealer Training

Jamie Johansen

new-holland-ag-13-116-editedNew Holland Agriculture has spent a good part of the summer in the great state of Texas training their dealers from across North America. The training has taken place in Houston, where the temps are high and the humidity is even higher. But that hasn’t stop dealers from taking advantage of the two-day training opportunity.

The dealers rotate through six checkpoints where each new product line is announced. Details are given about changes and additions, but the most important part of the training is the chance for dealers to get behind the wheel and actually run the equipment themselves.

I spoke with Abe Hughes, Vice President of New Holland, North America, recently when they invited ag media to their training facilities in Houston, TX. Abe shared with me how growth, creating smart products and continuing partnerships are the three most important avenues New Holland has set out to accomplish.

“I’m just really excited to be sharing our seven product launches that we’ve got for the dairy and beef segments. It’s really exciting being here in Texas with you guys from the media so you can see them and hear from our experts. Then get in the field and use the equipment. We are also sharing this with all of our dealers. We have been here for five weeks training dealers and employees.”

“What I find amazing is 89 million cattle are actually out there being raised for beef and dairy. New Holland is probably providing feed for most of those cattle every single day. The more we can train people in making better hay, the better nutrition that forage is going to have for the farmer and that means better beef and dairy we are going to have on our table.”

Listen to my interview with Abe from here: Interview with Abe Hughes

2013 New Holland Ag Media Event Photo Album

Audio, Beef, Dairy, Hay, New Holland

GROWMARK FS Websites Get Updates

Cindy Zimmerman

fs-growmarkThe 35 FS member cooperatives of the GROWMARK system are getting updated websites to better serve their customers and farmer-owners.

“Technology’s changed so much we really wanted to be able to give our members as much of an advantage with their websites as possible,” said Jana Kiefer, GROWMARK Electronic Communications Coordinator, who noted that they have been in the website business with member co-ops for over 15 years now.

Jana says the new platform for the websites allows for both continuity and individuality for the cooperatives. “We like our members to have the same type of theme but at the same time to be able to individualize their sites to fit their customer base,” she said. “So with that we’ve developed templates that members can choose from to build their site.”

The websites will be retaining the important information they have had for the past decade, including weather and markets, while adding the latest social media components like Facebook and Twitter. “Many members have their own Facebook pages that they populate and some are tweeting,” said Jana. “It’s becoming more popular, it’s becoming easier.”

Gold Star FS and West Central FS have already gone live with their new sites and more are on the way.

Find out more about the GROWMARK FS website update in this interview with Jana: Interview with Jana Kiefer, GROWMARK

Agribusiness, Audio, Cooperatives, GROWMARK

New Multi-Channel Meredith Agrimedia Group

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meredithMeredith Corporation announced the creation of Meredith Agrimedia, an innovative new marketing and media service for the agricultural community. The new group encompasses popular existing brands, including Successful Farming magazine, Agriculture.com, Living the Country Life, the Successful Farming Machinery Show and Ageless Iron Almanac.

Meredith Agrimedia offers farmers and other agriculturalists expanded multimedia services tied to Meredith’s industry-leading distribution platforms. It will provide multi-channel engagement to help marketers better understand and reach their agricultural and rural lifestyle clients.

“The information needs of rural and farm families are diverse and changing,” said Scott Mortimer, Publisher and General Manager of Meredith Agrimedia. “Together, our portfolio of brands can fulfill those needs and provide our marketing clients with access to 4 million agricultural touch points.”

These brands enable Meredith Agrimedia to reach a wide range of consumers—from commercial farmers to people who live on an acreage. Most recently, Living the Country Life was integrated into the portfolio to provide marketers with a full spectrum of agricultural consumers.

The group also specializes in research on consumer behavior to help farmers and marketers act on trends in food production and demand. Meredith Agrimedia connects with Meredith’s database of 100 million American consumers to share farmers’ stories. For example, Successful Farming recently paired with Midwest Living to create “Our Farm to Your Table,” a celebration of farm families.

Advertising, Agribusiness, Media

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