Unleash Your Creativity

Chuck Zimmerman

Josh LinknerThe second general session at the 2013 Agri-Marketing Conference was all about “Unleashing Creativity” with Josh Linkner. Josh just happened to be walking by the ZimmComm booth in the Connection Point when I had a chance to visit with him to get a take-away message from his keynote presentation.

Josh told me that we are often faced with what seems to be an insurmountable problem. He says, “History shows us that by taking a path less traveled, by doing something that’s never been done before, we can often solve a problem in a unique way that drives far better results than the traditional and obvious solution.” He “encourages courage,” and says that companies should develop a culture that celebrate new ideas rather than punishing them.

Listen to my interview with Josh here: Interview with Josh Linkner

2013 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

Audio, NAMA

What Consumers Want

Jamie Johansen

13cms-60The National Chicken Council was one of the sponsors for the recent Chicken Media Summit held in New Bern, North Carolina. The event opened the doors for media to tour the complete life of a broiler and ask questions from experts from the poultry community.

I sat down with Senior Vice President of the National Chicken Council, Bill Roenigk, after he moderated a panel with chicken company executives. He shared why this event was so important to not only chicken, but to the food industry as a whole.

“We think this event is important because we are hearing from consumers and people who follow the industry that you need to be more open and more transparent. You need to show people where their food comes from. It’s a criticism, but not a criticism just in chicken. It’s the entire food industry. We need to understand better where are food is and what is in our food. So, it finally registered with us that we need to find an opportunity to be more transparent, more open. And Sanderson Farms was very gracious and agreed to do that. They have a wonderful facility and I not only enjoyed seeing the people going through the tour, but also the questions they asked. We sit in our offices and think we know what people know, but we discovered that there really is a lot more people would like to know.”

Bill also hit on issues concerning sustainability, what our global market is demanding and the world’s outlook for the future of the poultry industry.

Listen to my interview with Bill here: Bill Roenigk

Check out photos from the event here: 2013 Chicken Media Summit Photo Album

Audio, Chicken Media Summit, Food, Poultry

Why GROWMARK Loves NAMA

Cindy Zimmerman

nama13-amyAt the National Agri-Marketing Conference last week I had the chance to catch up with Amy Bradford, GROWMARK manager of corporate communications, to find out why NAMA is important to them.

Amy says the opportunity to network with others in the industry, but even more important is the support of future agri-marketing professionals. “NAMA is very supportive and committed to developing youth leaders,” Amy said, noting that both Illinois State University and the University of Illinois student NAMA chapters took part in this year’s student competition. That is an important component for GROWMARK, which has a very strong internship program that helps them recruit future employees.

GROWMARK is active in NAMA on the chapter level in the Heartland chapter and Amy says they do enjoy being able to receive recognition for good work through the awards program, but it also gives them a chance to get new ideas. “I was involved in judging the NAMA awards this year and you do get to see new ideas, new products, new ways to communicate those products and services,” she said.

Amy adds that she strongly encourages young professionals getting into the agri-marketing field to get involved in NAMA. “Because it does connect them to other people in the industry where they can build friendships and relationships and share ideas and grow themselves personally and professionally,” said Amy.

Listen to my interview with Amy here: Interview with Amy Bradford, GROWMARK

2013 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, GROWMARK, NAMA

Let’s Have a Digilogue

Chuck Zimmerman

Anders Sorman-Nilsson“Digilogue — Where High Tech Meets High Touch” was the title of the opening keynote presentation at the 2013 Agri-Marketing Conference. Our speaker was Anders Sorman-Nilsson, Thinque. Anders spoke to us about three major trends impacting the agricultural economy now and into the future. Those include the idea of digital disruption, that even though everything is being digitized we can’t forget that our hearts are still analog and that consumer demands of farmers are now shifting.

Anders wanted attendees to leave with the idea that “You need to find the balance in your marketing between tradition and technology, between the old school and the new school ways of reaching your farmers.” He also says, “Don’t throw the analog baby away with the digital bath water.”

Listen to my interview with Anders here: Interview with Anders Sorman-Nilsson

2013 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

Audio, NAMA

Update on BASF Becker Underwood Integration

Cindy Zimmerman

Becker Underwood and BASF hosted ag media representatives on Friday for a tour of the plant facility in St.Joseph, Missouri with an update on inoculant and polymer technology, as well as progress on the integration of Becker Underwood into the new Functional Crop Care division of BASF.

becker-peterBASF officially closed the deal to acquire Becker Underwood last November and announced some of the integration logistics during the Seed Expo in December. Becker Underwood president and CEO Peter Innes says they have made steady progress to make that happen since that time. “We’ve been dealing with the most important aspect of the business, which is the people,” Peter said. “We’re now focusing on this new Functional Crop Care business and the components of that business which are seed solutions, biological solutions and solutions beyond crop protection, which deal with abiotic stresses and challenges of that nature.”

Innes has headed up Becker Underwood for over a decade and has now accepted the position of global senior advisor to the Crop Protection Division with BASF. “This has been my life’s work, particularly biologicals,” he said, noting some of the difficulty in letting go but that he believes that Becker Underwood is in good hands with BASF.

Listen to my interview with Peter here: Dr. Peter Innes, Becker Underwood chairman & CEO

Get more audio and photos from the Becker Underwood plant tour on AgNewsWire.AgWired.com.

Audio, BASF, Crop Protection

Changes in Agricultural Marketing Agencies

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 392We’re back in the swing of things at ZimmComm World Headquarters. Actually, make that in post-Agri-Marketing Conference recovery mode. Cindy and I have a number of interviews to share with you this week from the conference and I’ll get started in this week’s program.

Best of NAMAI sat down with Lynn Henderson, AgriMarketing Magazine, toward the end of the conference and talked about changes we’ve seen in agricultural marketing agencies. You’ll hear some names you may remember and some you may not depending on how long you’ve been involved the industry. This conversation is part of an on-going series that we plan to do periodically on different subjects. Do you have a topic you’d like to see us cover? If so, please let us know or post in comments.

Besides looking at some of the trends in agricultural marketing agencies over the years we also review some of the winners of the Best of NAMA who let their “plume fill the room” last week. We also go over the list of student marketing competition winners.

Listen in on my conversation with Lynn in this week’s ZimmCast: Changes in Marketing Agencies

Don’t forget to check out our 2013 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album.

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

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired. Subscribe so you can listen when and where you want. Just go to our Subscribe page.

Ag Groups, Agencies, Agribusiness, Audio, Media, NAMA, ZimmCast

New Resources Available for Dairy Producers

Talia Goes

UsDairy_LogoThe Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy announced new science-based resources available for dairy producers, processors, industry partners and stakeholders. The resources help the industry act on the unprecedented scientific research commissioned as part of the U.S. Dairy Sustainability Commitment — a collective effort of the dairy value chain to measure and improve the sustainability of U.S. dairy from farm to table.

As part of this commitment, the dairy industry initiated a series of scientific life cycle assessments of fluid milk, cheese and whey. With this body of work, the U.S. dairy industry is striving to create the most transparent and documented dairy LCA database available. Due in part to its rigorous science-based approach, it was chosen to be the pilot industry participating in the National Agricultural Library of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide an open-access, prototype LCA database and tools.

The three new resources available include:

Agribusiness, Dairy, Environment, Publication

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Agriculture data and marketing solutions company Farm Market iD, announced it has launched a new website in conjunction with new branding.
  • Paulsen Marketing has discovered just how influential online contributions are to purchase decisions for rural lifestylers.
  • This year Ukraine will launch a line of high-performing harvesting combines Tucano-440 jointly with the German company CLAAS.
  • The National FFA Convention & Expo has been named one of the top-growing expo events in the country by Expo Magazine.
Zimfo Bytes

Chicken Media Summit Panelists

Jamie Johansen

13cms-75editedDay three of the Chicken Media Summit gave attendees the opportunity to listen and get their questions answered. The National Chicken Council and US Poultry & Egg Association brought together executives, researchers, vets and other experts to serve on panels to address industry trends, challenges and other hot topics.

Bill Roenigk, Senior Vice President for the National Chicken Council, served as the moderator for the first panel of chicken company executives.

Panelists:
Lampkin Butts, President & COO of Sanderson Farms
Bill Lovette, President & CEO of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation
Jim Perdue, Chairman of the Board for Perdue Farms

Each panelist addressed issues and challenges they all face to ensure a wholesome, nutritious product consumers will want. Each also stressed the need for transparency and the desire to be a sustainable company. Other topics discussed were global markets and the need for more protein worldwide.

Listen to Chicken Company Executives panel here: Panel One

13cms-87editedJohn Starkey, President, USPOULTRY, served as the moderator for the second panel on issues in the news.

Panelists & area of interest:
Poultry Welfare
Yvonne Thaxton, PhD., Center for Food Animal Wellbeing, University of Arkansas

Modernization of Poultry Inspection
Kendra Waldbusser, Senior VP, Food Safety & Quality Assurance, Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation

Chicken Labeling
Doug Smith, PhD., Associate Professor, Poultry Science, North Carolina State University

Role of Vets in Modern Poultry Companies
John Glisson, DVM, MAM, PhD., Director of Research Programs, USPOULTRY

Listen to Issues in the News panel here: Panel Two

Check out photos from the event here: 2013 Chicken Media Summit Photo Album

Audio, Chicken Media Summit, Poultry