Charleston|Orwig Hires Pinke, Bryant

Melissa Sandfort

pinkeCharleston|Orwig recently added two veteran food industry communicators to its growing team. Katie Pinke (pictured right), a former marketing and information director for the North Dakota Department of Agriculture, was named business director. Lisa Bryant (pictured below left) brings nearly 20 years of communications and integrated marketing experience, with an emphasis in the beef industry, to her new role as public relations senior account executive.

bryantPinke’s previous experience in agriculture, food marketing consultancy and in markets close to consumers will help C|O grow its business across the food chain. Bryant’s expertise in the beef and dairy industries add even more depth to C|O’s animal agriculture team.

Agencies, Agribusiness

Crop Insurance Reporting with SMS

Melissa Sandfort

Insights WeeklyIt’s that time of year again and as the crop insurance reporting deadline nears, farmers may find that using precision ag data can simplify the process. During planting season, growers are encouraged to use their Integra display from Ag Leader to record accurate planting data and then import this information into SMS software.

Once in SMS, reports can be created that include important insurance field details such as acres, dates and crops planted. With SMS, that planting information can be directly exported to a crop insurance provider. The insurance provider can then import this data directly into their reporting system, often times pre-populating some of the required reports. Using SMS for crop insurance reporting is simple and saves time.

Listen to more as Ag Leader’s Luke James, Software Sales Manager, explains.
Listen to James explain

Or you can watch more here.

Become a fan of Ag Leader on Facebook today, and get the latest precision ag videos on the YouTube channel. For more information about Ag Leader products and services, or to visit the blog site, go to www.agleader.com.

Ag Leader, Agribusiness

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The National Soybean Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign welcomes you to the 2013 INTSOY Short Course June 2-7.
  • The eighth annual Power of Meat: An In-depth Look at Meat through the Shoppers’ eyes webinar will be held Wednesday, June 5th at 2pm.
  • The MEAT INDUSTRY HALL OF FAME has announced the results of voting by its more than 70 Members and Trustees, in which six new Inductees were named to the Class of 2013.
  • Shawna Weis joined Lessing-Flynn as a Marketing Coordinator at the end of April.
Zimfo Bytes

New Flickr Creates Agriblogging Photo Benefits

Chuck Zimmerman

Flickr is certainly the best online photo management and sharing application in the world! At least we think so. Last week Flickr unveiled a whole new look and features that we know AgWired fans will love. Let me explain.

The biggest change is that we’ll now be uploading our full size photo files. That means you don’t have to email to get them. Just click on the photo you want, then right click on it to choose the size you want, including “original.” Now it really is the original. Of course, if you have a problem you can always contact us for the original. We love to share.

ZimmComm Flickr

Another change is the way Flickr displays photos now. No more little tiny thumbnails. They’re a lot bigger making it easier to pick photos you like or want to use for whatever purpose.

So, since we started using Flickr in 2005 we’ve uploaded almost 92,000 photos that are in 418 event sets (average of 52 sets/yr). And we’ve got almost 4.4 million views of these photos. That’s just the views in Flickr. Many of them are shared and see in many other places. That just seems like a lot of views to me. One thing is for sure. We’ll keep taking photos and we’ll keep sharing them.

Media

Most Important New Tractor Features

Talia Goes

Before we get to our new ZimmPoll let’s look at the results of our latest one which asked the question, “ Is agriculture doing a bad job of marketing?”

Our poll results: Sixty-five percent said Yes, Consumers Losing Trust, twenty-one percent said Yes, Industry Thinks It’s Not Needed, twelve percent said No, Consumers Trust Food Supply, and three percent said No, Industry Is Doing A Great Job.

Wow. That’s a huge percentage thinking we’re doing a bad job of marketing. Do you agree with these results? If so, why? What is wrong with the way marketing is being done in the ag sector? Do you think that some sensationalized stories in the media are contributing to a feeling that we are doing a bad job of marketing? If we are doing a really bad job of marketing is it hurting any farmer or company bottom line?

Untitled

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “What is MOST important when buying a tractor?” Today, it seems like tractors come with as many options as a new car or truck. Many of these options are for comfort and flexibility. When you are shopping for a new tractor are you just looking for the basics or do you want and need all the new bells & whistles? Let us know.

ZimmPoll is sponsored by New Holland Agriculture.

ZimmPoll

GROWMARK Getting Into Multimedia Spirit

Cindy Zimmerman

gmk-spiritLook for some cool new multimedia additions to the on-line version of GROWMARK Spirit magazine coming this year.

“We’re looking at taking Spirit magazine to another platform,” said editor Cassie Becker, noting that it is currently available in an eReader format “where you turn the pages and that’s about it” but they are moving to the ZMags platform which provides more opportunity for interactivity. “This software allows us to input video, photo albums, hyperlinks, any kind of ‘clickability’ in the document that you can,” Cassie said.

The main launch date for the complete Spirit overhaul is December, but Cassie says some of the changes will be implemented before that time. “We’re looking to introduce some of these new features slowly over time,” she said. The magazine is published every two months and you can find it by going to the GROWMARK media center and clicking on the Spirit tab.

Find out more in my interview with Cassie here: Cassie Becker, GROWMARK Communications

Audio, GROWMARK, Media

Beef Ambassadors Helping Fuel the Team

Chuck Zimmerman

Team Beef members compete in a variety of activities like the Boston Marathon which demonstrate the value of beef as a nutrition source. In addition to Team Beef members competing in Boston this year, the National Beef Ambassadors were also on hand. I was very glad to learn that our Ambassadors had left shortly before the tragedy that happened there this year! The Ambassadors were also in town to participate in the John Hancock Fitness Expo where they handed out beef sticks and talked with attendees. Here’s a report on how healthy, nutritious beef is fueling the team.

Ag Groups, Beef, Video

Snakes in a Backpack

Melissa Sandfort

snake(Another article from Aunt Jeanette….and so many thanks for sharing these stories)

Maybe garter snakes are good for something – but they scare the living daylights out of me. I even get these “feelings,” kind of like ESP, when I am about to run over a snake with the lawn mower.

I mentioned before that I was a teacher, third grade to be exact. One day I had stayed in the classroom during lunch to check papers and prepare for the afternoon, when my class returned from eating. I was busily working at my desk, but noticed some activity by the coats and backpacks. Finally, I heard a little boy’s anxious whisper, “I think we had better tell her.” I replied, “Yes, you had better tell me – and fast!”

A girl’s voice said, “Mrs. Shaw, there are two garter snakes in my backpack and they aren’t very happy.” Using all the courage and self-control I could muster, my reply was, “I don’t think I would be very happy if I had been in a backpack all morning either! And, just why are there snakes in your backpack?”

This was a business deal and the little girl was selling the snakes to someone after school. Needless to say, the snakes had to go to a nearby cornfield, and the business deal was off. I hope I didn’t end her hopes of a career in either business or reptiles. It really was quite a creative venture.

I still wonder where my “feelings” were that morning…..

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

NAMA Presents Blogging Webinar

Jamie Johansen

webinars_headerThe National Agri-Marketing Association has planned a blogging webinar on strategizing, executing and impacting target markets, presented by Adrian Blake, CEO fo Social Media Contractors.

His company, based out of Omaha, outsources social media and creates, manages blogs for clients from Massachusetts to California. Adrian is also the former publisher of The Progressive Farmer and understands the agriculture industry and the people involved in it.

In the increasingly noisy marketplace, every organization needs to state its messages clearly. A blog is one of the cornerstones of a modern communications strategy, but not like an ad, a newsletter, or an email. Blogging requires a different set of skills, a different publishing cadence, and a different messaging strategy from traditional media.

Join NAMA on Thursday, June 13 at 1:00 pm central time for this great learning opportunity. Click here to register.

NAMA

Shuanghui International to Purchase Smithfield Foods

Chuck Zimmerman

Smithfield FoodsWe’re talking a lot of pork in this deal. See the full release here.

Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NYSE:SFD) and Shuanghui International Holdings Limited today announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement that values Smithfield at approximately US$7.1 billion, including the assumption of Smithfield’s net debt. Shuanghui International is the majority shareholder of Henan Shuanghui Investment & Development Co. (SZSE:000895), which is China’s largest meat processing enterprise and China’s largest publicly traded meat products company as measured by market capitalization.

Under the terms of the agreement, which has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, Shuanghui will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Smithfield for US$34.00 per share in cash. The purchase price represents a premium of approximately 31% over Smithfield’s closing stock price on May 28, 2013, the last trading day prior to today’s announcement.

“This is a great transaction for all Smithfield stakeholders, as well as for American farmers and U.S. agriculture,” said C. Larry Pope, president and chief executive officer of Smithfield. “We have established Smithfield as the world’s leading and most trusted vertically integrated pork processor and hog producer, and are excited that Shuanghui recognizes our best-in-class operations, our outstanding food safety practices and our 46,000 hard-working and dedicated employees. It will be business as usual — only better — at Smithfield. We do not anticipate any changes in how we do business operationally in the United States and throughout the world. We will become part of an enterprise that shares our belief in global opportunities and our commitment to the highest standards of product safety and quality. With our shared expertise and leadership, we look forward to accelerating a global expansion strategy as part of Shuanghui.”

Agribusiness, International, Pork