Become a Master of Social Media at UF

Chuck Zimmerman

UF Master of Social MediaThink you’re a master of social media? If not, you can become one at the University of Florida, College of Journalism & Communications, my alma mater.

I wonder if they’d like a guest lecturer? Think I’ll pursue that idea.

The University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications is pleased to announce the launch of our online Master of Arts in Mass Communication with a specialization in Social Media. As a UF graduate, we thought you’d be especially interested in this first-of-its-kind program and the ability to continue your education as a Gator no matter where you reside.

This innovative program provides a specialized focus in social media for the professional who is seeking knowledge in the advanced uses, communication techniques, business opportunities, and trends from the growing realm of social media. As a student, you will learn to adapt, craft, and deliver customized social media content and determine its effectiveness through a diverse range of social media metrics and data.

Designed for working professionals, this degree provides a flexible route to acquiring new skills and implementing them in your current career through online course delivery.

We invite you to learn more about this unique opportunity.

Education, Media, Social Networking, University

New Format for Beltwide Cotton in 2014

Cindy Zimmerman

bwcc12-hoodOnce upon a time, there were as many as 750 producers who attended Beltwide Cotton Conferences, but now it’s down to about 200 – so it’s time for a change.

Producer/ginner Kenneth Hood of Mississippi has attended 32 Beltwides over the years and he was on the steering committee that made the decision on how to update the meeting for today’s world. “We felt it’s better to keep the Beltwide for the technical conferences, for our research papers, and for our consultants,” he said. “Then we’ll have regional meetings to help me address particular problems in my area.”

Listen to my interview with Kenneth here: Kenneth Hood interview

Check out photos from the conferences here: 2013 Beltwide Cotton photo album

beltwide-fmc

Audio, Beltwide Cotton, Cotton, FMC

Book Review – The Year God Forgot Us

Joanna Schroeder

Pssst…I have the secret recipe for renewable fuel. Want to know where I found this recipe that will take down big oil? In the novel, “The Year God Forgot Us,” by Dennis Nau. Ok, so I don’t really have some super duper secret renewable fuel recipe, but this week’s book was a fictional look at 1936, during the Great Depression, where the town of Bernadotte, North Dakota believes they have met the man who will revolutionize fuel by stealing a secret recipe developed by the Mormans.

The Year God Forgot Us Book CoverA stranger drives in to town and fills up his tank with water, shakes his truck, and drives off. This leads to town gossip and eventually the driver begins frequenting the local cafe when he comes through town and begins planting the idea of the secret fuel recipe and how the town can “buy” the recipe and become rich. Al, the leader of the pack” says, “The Mormons are the devil. Satan. Satan with a suit on. That’s the Mormons. They discovered the secret formula of how to turn water into gasoline, the Mormans did.”

Eventually Al unveils the catalyst as wheat flour, a dream for struggling wheat farmers. As the town gets excited about the gasoline venture, Johnny, the proprietor of the cafe says, “A lot of money would stay in this area, wouldn’t do out east to people in Boston and New York. It wouldn’t go west to Los Angeles. The money wouldn’t be parked in banks in Chicago. We grow wheat here. Think of what this would do to the demand for wheat. Why, every farmer in North Dakota would be able to make enough money for a decent living. This would benefit all our neighbors…”

While I’m not going to spill the beans on what happens, the narrative is colorful and I could almost imagine sitting on the bar stool eating breakfast at the cafe and watching and participating as the events unfold. While the book isn’t about “biofuels” per se, it does lay out the foundation for the future fuel as American farmers – exactly what is happening today as farmers grow energy crops. I would be remiss if I didn’t say the language could be offensive to some, but Nau means no disrespect to Mormans or others. The scam in the book is perpetrated on Americans of all race and creed and the tale is told true to its time – 1936 during the Great Depression.

Biofuels, Wheat

Don’t Forget Golden ARC Award Entry

Chuck Zimmerman

Here’s a reminder that the Agricultural Relations Council has issued a “call for entries” (.doc) for the 2013 Golden ARC awards. The annual competition includes 36 categories for agricultural public relations activities conducted in full or partially in the year 2012.

Entries in the 2013 Golden ARC awards are due to contest headquarters on or before Jan. 31, 2013 at 5 p.m. Early entries postmarked by Dec. 31, 2012 will receive a $25 discount per entry.

The Golden ARC awards contest honors the stellar work created by professionals in the agricultural industry.

Categories fall into two divisions – Campaigns and Tactics. A student category is also available, free to student ARC members. The 36 categories reflect the broad scope of public relations and public affairs activities today, including campaigns and a range of tactics, from traditional media releases to social media. The Golden ARC de Excellence award for the best all-around entry in the campaigns division will also be awarded.

The winners will receive their honors at the ARC annual meeting, March 20-22, 2013 in Oklahoma City, OK.

Ag Groups, ARC

Harvest Masters Unveiled New Mirus Software at ASTA

Jamie Johansen

asta-mirusJust last month at the ASTA Seed Expo in Chicago, Harvest Masters by Juniper Systems, announced the release of their new harvest data collection software system they call Mirus.

Cindy spoke with Allen Wilson, Ag Marketing Manager for Harvest Masters, during the event. Allen shared how the two year long process to develop this software resulted in a brand new generation. Not simply a new addition to the previous version.

“The Mirus software that we just released works with our harvest data collection for research combines. It’s a Windows based platform. We have been using Windows mobile, but this is a Windows so it will be running on tablets, Windows XP and Windows 7 & 8. We are in that Windows environment. It is a next generation software to work with our hardware that we previously put out. This is a lot more flexible and easy to use. The operators are now able to see four different screens at one time about their system statues and yield levels. A lot more information available for the operators.”

“The feedback we got back from our beta testers, which were about 20 people that have run our previous software, all said it’s intuitive, it’s easy to use and they don’t have to go struggling through a bunch of different screen to find the information they need or settings to change. It’s a precision piece of equipment so they have to be monitoring it and watching to see if there are changes occurring. It was really over-whelming to hear these people that have used our software say we have made a step forward.”

You can find more information about the release of this new software on a previous post on sister site Precision Pays.

Listen to Cindy’s complete interview with Allen here: Interview with Allen Wilson

Check out photos from ASTA here:
ASTA-CSS Photo Album

ASTA, Audio, Harvest, Precision Agriculture, Seed

ZimmComm Blogging Team Expands

Melissa Sandfort

taliaHave you been noticing a new name appearing on the ZimmComm websites? That’s right – Talia Bang has joined the ZimmComm blogging team working in Nebraska alongside Melissa. Talia was raised on a polled Hereford farming/ranching operation in North Bend, Neb. She hails an Animal Science degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and has worked for Pfizer Animal Health and Heartland Farm Partners in Lincoln. While she’s not in the office on the agribusiness blogging highway, she has a small AQHA breeding program raising cow-bred horses and does team penning with her fiancée, Tanner Goes. So join us in welcoming the newest ZimmComm team member!

Agribusiness

Learn About Fresh From Florida with Florida NAMA

Chuck Zimmerman

Susan NardizziWant to get a “fresh” update on the Florida Dept. of Agriculture’s Fresh From Florida marketing campaign? Then join Florida NAMA (my new NAMA chapter) in Melbourne on January 17.

You are invited to join us for this special luncheon in Melbourne, January 17, 2013. FDACS Marketing Director Susan Nardizzi (pictured) will share for the first time publicly some exciting new marketing initiatives that will soon be underway for Florida Agriculture. Please see the program flyer (pdf) for details.

Hosting the luncheon program, the Florida Chapter of the National Agri-Marketing Association (FL NAMA) is comprised of individuals who join to help support the Chapter and agri-marketing curricula, including “Gator NAMA” team activities at the University of Florida.

There is a $40 luncheon charge to help defray meal and meeting costs. RSVP is simple, see the information at the bottom of the flyer. Payment can be made at the door, we can bill you before or after, or take a credit card over the phone or at the door as well. The main thing is we want you to join us if you can. We think you will find it time well spent.

NAMA

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

Agribusiness, Zimfo Bytes

Passing of George Logan

Chuck Zimmerman

George LoganCindy and I were very saddened to hear of the passing of George Logan. George was one of the people we got to know well through the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. He was always willing to talk and offer advice over the years and always seemed to kept a pretty level head. We have memories of visiting him at his Lake of the Ozarks place when our daughters were younger and wish we could have done that more often. Here’s the announcement from the NAFB office.

Dear NAFB members,

Once again, our association finds itself saying goodbye to one of our long standing members. We received notice this morning that George Logan passed away.

George served our organization in so many ways–he was President in 1972, served as NAFB’s first Executive Secretary, honored as the Meritorious Service Award recipient in 1985 and was inducted in the NAFB Hall of Fame in 1995. George was also instrumental in helping set up the NAFB Foundation and served as Treasurer of the Foundation until just a few years ago. His impact on NAFB is evident and his friendliness and sincerity will be missed.

Services are currently pending. NAFB will provide details when they become available.

Tom Brand
Executive Director
National Association of Farm Broadcasting

Post Update: You can find a full biography of George Logan, details about services and more using this link.

Media, NAFB

Looking Back at Agri Marketing in 2012

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 378To take a look back at the most viewed stories in the agricultural marketing world Lynn Henderson, Publisher, Agri Marketing Magazine, and myself did a run through of the top stories and posts on our websites. This is the first time we’ve done this and we had a lot of fun. Enough fun that we think we should do it more frequently. What do you think about that?

AgrimarketingYou can find find the AgriMarketing.com TEN MOST COMMONLY VIEWED AGRI MARKETING NEWS ITEMS IN 2012 here. You can find the Top Posts in 2012 on AgWired.com here. Very different lists and some surprises on each of them.

Listen to this week’s ZimmCast here: The Year in Agricultural Marketing

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.

Audio, Media, ZimmCast