Sharing Media Ideas with Farm Credit

Chuck Zimmerman

Farm Credit Idea ShareHere’s the “Meet the New Media” panel at the 2013 Farm Credit Idea Share. More on that in a moment.

But first, to learn more about Idea Share, I spoke with Leigh Picchetti, Senior VP, Communications, Farm Credit Reputation Management Program. She says, “Idea Share is an annual meeting for Farm Credit System employees who have a responsibility within their Farm Credit organization for marketing, communications, public relations, sponsorship and giving and a variety of different reputation management activities.”

Leigh PicchettiI asked her what reputation management means to Farm Credit and she says, “We can’t take for granted the perception of the publics that we serve and the borrower/owners who are at our foundation.” Leigh says they know that they need to earn and keep the trust of those borrowers and owners as well as members of Congress who are their sponsors and the investors who make it possible to raise the capital to serve their customers and owners.

Listen to my interview with Leigh here: Interview with Leigh Picchetti

Now back to the panel. We had an interesting mix with KayDee Gilkey, Northwest Ag Information Network; Dan Looker, Successful Farming; Emily Zweber, AgChat Foundation and myself and moderated by Becca Yaklich, AgriBank. Thanks to James Shaw for photos.

Our panel provided a mix of perspectives on the media landscape of today and how that impacts Farm Credit and the communications professionals attending Idea Share. You can find a number of ideas in the conference tweet stream and here are my notes for my opening remarks. Read More

Agribusiness, Audio, Farm Credit

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Uniting Partners With One Voice

Jamie Johansen

ncba-logoPartnerships are what the Animal Agriculture Alliance is based on. These partnerships unite the agriculture community, creating one voice. Instead of ‘preaching to the choir,’ attendees at the Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit, heard from outside voices and some challenges were presented that made us all think about how we can join together and address them.

I spoke with Chase Adams, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, about their involvement with the Animal Ag Alliance and how they plan to share the message presented at the summit with their producers from across the country.

“National Cattlemen’s Beef Association has been a longtime supporter of the Animal Ag Alliance. We’ve got a member on the board and we believe, as all the groups do, it’s so important that agriculture puts a unified face against those that really want us put out of business and thats animal rights folks. Animal Ag Alliance allows groups like NCBA to join with other groups like pork and even a lot of grain and agribusiness partners around the industry and put that unified voice together and respond to so many of the things we get attacked on.”

Listen to or download my interview with Chase here: Interview with Chase Adams

Check out photos from the event: 2013 Animal Ag Alliance Stakeholders Summit Photo Album

Coverage of the Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit is sponsored by National Pork Producers Council and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
Animal Agriculture, Audio, Beef, Food, NCBA

Studying Affects of Weather and Climate on Cattle

Melissa Sandfort

USDA-LogoThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded $19.5 million to support research, education and Extension activities associated with climate solutions in agriculture aimed at the impacts of climate variability and change on dairy and beef cattle. USDA remains focused on carrying out its mission, despite a time of significant budget uncertainty. The announcement is one part of the Department’s efforts to strengthen the rural economy.

The University of Wisconsin (UW) in Madison, Wisconsin, received $9.9 million over five years to study the environmental impact of various dairy production systems and develop best management practices for producers to implement at the farm level. The University of Wisconsin is partnering in the project with the University of Arkansas, Cornell University, the University of Michigan, North Carolina A&T University, Pennsylvania State University and the University of Washington, along with four USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) laboratories, the U.S. Department of Energy and the industry-sponsored Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy. Oklahoma State University (OSU) in Stillwater, Oklahoma, received $9.6 million over five years to better understand vulnerability and resilience of Southern Great Plains beef in an environment of increased climate variability, dynamic land-use and fluctuating markets.

Agribusiness, Beef, Research, USDA

A Personal Story of Lessons Learned

Jamie Johansen

aaa-13-158-editedThe past can’t be changed, but we can learn from it. That’s what economist, public speaker, farm girl, wife and mom, Janet Hufnagel Thompson, stressed with her message to attendees at the Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit. The event focused on how we can protect our animals, our farms, the food we eat and the confidence of consumers.

Janet shared her families fight against environmental groups to save their family farm. Unfortunately, her story doesn’t have a happy ending, but her hope is to educate others by sharing the lessons they learned the hard way. Talking publicly is something she thinks would have changed the outcome of their situation. She stated that if at least have of the people who supported them privately, spoke out publicly then they could have saved the business. But the take home message she wants all to remember is the sanctity of private property.

“The most important thing is the sanctity of private property. Private property owners need to decide what happens on their property and with their business. I think this idea that we need to regulate more to keep the bad actors from being bad doesn’t stop the bad actors. It make it hard for good people to do business. So I think we have to go back to the fundamentals that this country was founded upon, the protection of life, liberty and property. And until we do that, until we go back to treasuring private property and what it truly means, I think we are going to continue to see an erosion and deterioration of circumstances for producers and thats producers of all kinds, not just farmers and ranchers.”

Listen to or download my interview with Janet here: Interview with Janet Thompson

Listen to or download audio from Janet’s complete presentation here: Janet Thompson - Presentation

Check out photos from the event: 2013 Animal Ag Alliance Stakeholders Summit Photo Album

Coverage of the Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit is sponsored by National Pork Producers Council and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
Animal Agriculture, Audio, Beef, Food, NCBA, NPPC

Purina Launches Cool Cow App

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CoolCow Mobile App_Store Graphic_114x114The Cool Cow mobile app puts the tools dairy producers need to monitor and address heat stress at their fingertips. Research shows that cows can begin to show the effects of heat stress at a Temperature Humidity Index or THI of 68. Reproduction can be impacted at a THI of 55.[1]

Heat stress and an associated 10 percent to 35 percent milk production loss[2] may cost a dairy producer $1.60 to $5.60 per cow per day.[3] These losses can continue to mount when reductions in reproductive performance and increased days open are added into the equation.

The mobile app features an easy to use heat stress calculator for inputting the current temperature and humidity readings. The temperature and humidity is then translated into a THI reading that shows the severity of heat stress, ranging from mild to extreme risk; providing dairy producers insight on the current conditions inside their barn. In addition to the heat stress calculator, the mobile app offers tips on mitigating heat stress from management to nutrition.

The Cool Cow mobile app is available to download for Android phones at: http://bit.ly/AndriodCoolCow and for iPhones at: http://bit.ly/iPhoneCoolCow.

Agribusiness, Animal Health, Apps, Dairy

New Format for Beltwide Cotton Conference

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The National Cotton Council cotton-board.jpgcoordinated Beltwide Cotton Conferences has a new format that no longer includes the production conference component but continues the forum’s technical conferences and adds emphasis to the consultant’s conference.

The 2014 Beltwide Cotton Conferences, set for January 6-8 at the New Orleans Marriott Hotel, will include a half-day Cotton Consultants Conference and the day and a half Cotton Technical Conferences. The 2014 Consultants Conference, set for Monday, January 6, will be more robust, providing technical information desired by consultants and others involved in key production/marketing-related decisions such as Extension specialists/agents, industry sales/support personnel and many producers.

Planned for the 2014 Consultants Conference are new developments from industry, including discussions of new varieties and chemistries. Also included will be special sessions where scientists, from the various disciplines ranging from agronomy to weed science, will interact with attendees to foster a lively exchange of ideas and experiences.

Agribusiness, Beltwide Cotton, Cotton

Roll with the Changes

Melissa Sandfort

I’m a child of the 80s, and I think the best part of the era was the music. It’s the kind of music that makes you want to roll down the window, rest your arm along the edge, let your hair down and cruise. It reminds me of summer evenings, fishing along the river and cutting up my feet from running barefoot in the grass.

As I sat down to talk to Grandpa this week to continue to try to capture what it was “really like” to be a farmer 80 years ago, an REO Speedwagon song kept replaying in my head:

So, if you’re tired of the same old story, oh, baby, turn some pages
I will be here when you are ready to roll with the changes, baby
Roll with the changes
Oh, you know, you know, you know you got to…

Keep on rollin’
Keep on rollin’
Roll with the changes

At a recent appointment, the doctor said, “You don’t look 90.” His response: “What is 90 supposed to look like?” I believe his youthful persona is partly due to rolling with the changes and not fretting about things he couldn’t control. He accepted change as it happened, embraced the opportunities and kept on rollin’.

So this week, listen as grandpa talks more about what it was like working on the farm in the 20s and 30s. I’ll summarize here: IT WAS HARD WORK.

Listen to Grandpa explain

Until we walk again …

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State of Farm Credit System

Chuck Zimmerman

Farm Credit Idea Share 2013The 2013 Farm Credit Idea Share is underway in New Orleans this morning. Our opening general session is a panel speaking about the “State of the Farm Credit System.” This idea share conference is for Farm Credit System communications and reputation managers. Topics of presentations will focus on issues facing the the system today. I’ll be participating in the next session on “Meet the New Media.” That should be an interesting discussion and I’ll share what I heard after getting back to ZimmComm World Headquarters later today.

Farm Credit Idea ShareOne of the panelists this morning is Regina Gill, Vice President, Investor Relations, Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation. I spoke with her before we got started to hear what she wanted attendees to know. Basically, it’s a positive message about a system that is in the best shape she can remember. Regina has worked for the system for 29 years and says, “This is the best market access I have ever seen.”

Listen to my interview with Regina here: Interview with Regina Gill

Agribusiness, Audio, Farm Credit

Wells Fargo Moving Into New Ag Territory

Cindy Zimmerman

ZimmCast 393The name Wells Fargo is forever linked with the image of a six-horse stagecoach thundering across the American West, loaded with gold. The California-based company, founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, also has a rich history in agribusiness. In fact, Wells Fargo has extended more credit to U.S. food and agribusiness than any bank, mostly in California but now moving eastward.

wellsfargoTo lead the expansion into new territories in the Midwest and East, Wells Fargo has named Rob Yraceburu to a new position as head of its National Food & Agribusiness Division. We talked with Rob for this edition of the ZimmCast to find out more about his background, the importance of agriculture to Wells Fargo and what they will be offering for farmers in areas east of the Rockies in the coming months.

Listen to my conversation with Rob here: Wells Fargo's Rob Yraceburu

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsors, GROWMARK, locally owned, globally strong and Monsanto, Roundup Ready Plus, for their support.

Agribusiness, Audio, ZimmCast