Get Your MBA and Promote Beef Today

Jamie Johansen

The Missouri Cattlemen’s Convention kicked off the morning with the popular Cattlemen’s College. NCBA’s Executive Director of Communications, Daren Williams, presented to the group on defending animal agriculture.

We seem to always be fighting an up hill battle in the agriculture industry, so defending our passion and livelihood is vitally important. Beef has recently been under the spotlight and it was interesting to hear what Daren had to say about what the Kansas City Star.

What can everyone in the beef community do to promote their passion? Complete the Master’s of Beef Advocacy program and help share your story. Give presentations in your local community. Get online, comment and share. Maybe even participate in media interviews.

Listen to Daren’s compete presentation here: Daren Williams - NCBA

I also took the opportunity to talk with Kaity Holtman, Director of Communications for the Missouri Beef Industry Council, about what Missouri is doing to promote the Master’s of Beef Advocacy program. I can’t wait to get my MBA and join the other 3,600 graduates from across the country advocating for the beef community.

Listen to my interview with Kaity here: Kaity Holtman - Missouri Beef Industry Council

Check out all the photos from the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association here: 2012 Missouri Cattlemen’s Convention Photo Album

Audio, Beef, Education, Livestock

Season’s Greetings from RFA

Chuck Zimmerman

Season’s greetings from our friends at the RFA. Burn a little ethanol in your tank this season and help out American farmers while reducing our dependence on foreign oil!

Wishing you a happy holiday season and a great New Year from the dedicated staff of the Renewable Fuels Association.

Ag Groups, Ethanol, RFA

By Plane, Train or Automobile?

Melissa Sandfort

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, ” What will expiring biotech patents mean for agriculture?”

Our poll results: fifty-two percent said more options; twenty-one percent said don’t know enough about it; fourteen percent said export concerns; ten percent said nothing and three percent said other.

Learn more about this issue from Cindy’s coverage of last week’s ASTA CSS in Chicago.

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “How do you plan to travel this holiday?” The price of fuel and a plane ticket usually increases around the holiday, so will that change how you travel this year? Or does it really not matter – you’re getting there the quickest way possible! Let us know.

ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.

ZimmPoll

Bohnenkamp Named ANCW Exec. Dir.

Melissa Sandfort

The American National CattleWomen, Inc. (ANCW) promoted “Telling the Beef Story” Program Manager, Sarah J. Bohnenkamp to lead the organization as their Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer. In this role, Bohnenkamp will have overall strategic and operational responsibility for ANCW’s staff, programs, expansion and execution of its mission.

Bohnenkamp has worked in the field of organizational development and leadership for 10+ years and has been with ANCW for nearly two years, leading the Beef Checkoff funded National Beef Ambassador Program and National Beef Speakers Bureau.

Bohnenkamp earned her degree in Speech Communication from Idaho State University and is a certified facilitator for many leadership development and sales programs. She lives in Parker, Colorado with her husband and 6-month old daughter. In her spare time she enjoys cow cutting, blogging about leadership, training and horses, and singing country music.

Agribusiness, Beef

Merck Says Lookout for BRD in Cattle

Chuck Zimmerman

Now that winter is upon us it’s time for cattle producers to take note of BRD (Bovine Respiratory Disease). At the recent NAFB convention I spoke with Dr. Eric Moore, Merck Animal Health, about this subject. He says this disease has plagued the industry since the beginning. “It’s one of the most costly conditions we have within our industry.”

There are multiple causes for BRD and it is often seen at time of stress on the animal like weaning or moving them. The signs are not always easy to see either. Eric says there has been an increase in the instances of the disease this fall and attributes the drought for causing an uptick in the disease this year. So I asked him what cattle producers can do and he says, “We have to prep that calf like we prep our kids.” That includes shots to help the immune system prior to the time of stress.

Listen to my interview with Eric: Interview with Dr. Eric Moore

2012 NAFB Convention Photo Album

Agribusiness, Animal Health, Audio

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • FMC Corporation announced that its Agricultural Products Group has signed a perpetual, global licensing agreement, along with distribution and services agreements with GAT Micro encapsulation AG covering a range ofadvanced crop protection products and proprietary formulation technologies.
  • Leica Geosystems has introduced Virtual Vista, a new web-based platform that delivers a flexible data management solution to farmers.
  • Wilbur-Ellis Company announced the promotion of Troy Johnson to vice president of Midwest Operations.
  • Syngenta broke ground for the expansion of its Clinton, Ill., corn and soybean research and development facility.
Zimfo Bytes

New Communications Director at Animal Ag Alliance

Melissa Sandfort

Animal Agriculture Alliance President and CEO Kay Johnson Smith announced the appointment of Emily Meredith as the Alliance’s new Director of Communications.

Meredith, formerly of USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, joins the Alliance after receiving her J.D., with a concentration in food and drug law, from Seton Hall University in Newark, New Jersey.

As the Director of Communications, Meredith will develop, oversee and implement all aspects of the Alliance’s communications strategy, including social media initiatives.

During her time at USDA, Meredith served as a speechwriter for several agency officials. She also participated in managing communications relative to recalls, authored congressional testimony and participated in strategy sessions for issues management.

Meredith holds a B.A. in International Affairs and Journalism from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Currently, Meredith is awaiting admission to the state bar associations of New York and New Jersey.

Agribusiness, Animal Agriculture

A Worldly Discussion on Beef

Jamie Johansen

A highlight for my first trip to Alltech’s Global 500 was the discussion dinners. Being a beef producer myself, I was excited to attend one on the beef industry. How often do you get the chance to discuss and share ideas about farming with people from around the world.

After an intimate steak dinner with about 40 Global 500 attendees from various countries, Steve Elliott, Alltech USA, served as our moderator leading the discussion. The general question posed was how to improve efficiencies in the beef industry.

Discussion spiraled from, should we all be seeking an ideal beef animal, to should the consumer drive the demand or do we have an over abundance of beef cattle. I spoke with Steve after the event to get his thoughts on the topics mentioned and what he thought the overall take home message was.

“Tonight we wanted to see how as a group we could improve efficiences in the beef industry. We know tremendous variability is an issue. We had a very lively discussion on various things that the group thought we could do to help improve efficiency.”

“The challenge is how do we bring that variability down a bit and prop up the product that we offer the consumer because the consumer is king and they are going to make decisions on what products they buy.”

Listen to my complete interview with Steve here: Steve Elliott - Global 500

Check out all the photos from this years Global 500 here: 2012 Global 500 Photo Album

Alltech, Audio, Beef

BASF on Becker Underwood Acquisition

Cindy Zimmerman

The acquisition of Becker Underwood by BASF brings together two market leaders in the areas of innovation, crop protection, seed and biological technology, which means a broader range of products for growers to increase yields.

BASF VP US Crop Protection Paul Rea says Becker Underwood technology is complementary to BASF’s existing product portfolio and raises the bar for plant health as a means of increasing yield. “Obviously we have a great foundation with Headline, Headline AMP and Priaxor,” Paul said at last week’s ASTA CSS 2012 and Seed Expo. “The addition of the Becker Underwood portfolio should allow us to look at combining technologies and push that limit even further by using traditional, biological and seed treatment technology to get more from each acre.”

Paul talks more about the acquisition in this interview: Interview with Paul Rea, BASF

BASF Canada Crop Protection Director Scott Kay says the acquisition of Becker Underwood is important for growers in North America. “It’s a great synergy because our pipelines do not overlap so it’s a brand new portfolio for us,” said Scott. “Whether it’s the inoculants or biologicals, they all have a place and it goes along with helping farmers get the most out of every acre and to manage risk throughout the season.”

Learn more from Scott here: Interview with Scott Kay, BASF


ASTA-CSS Photo Album

ASTA, Audio, BASF, Crop Protection, Seed

Claire Celsi Joins Lessing-Flynn

Chuck Zimmerman

Lessing-Flynn announces that Claire Celsi has joined the company as Director of Public Relations.

This newly created position was added due to the steady growth and expansion of the agency. Celsi previously owned and operated her business, The Public Relations Project, LLC, which she founded in 2009.

With category experience in agriculture, biofuels, construction, economic development, financial services, higher education, manufacturing, telecommunications and tourism, Celsi brings immediate value to current Lessing-Flynn clients. In addition, her extensive network of contacts in the community will help to create new opportunities for the firm.

“The timing is perfect to bring someone with Claire’s experience in public relations and marketing to Lessing-Flynn,” said Tom Flynn, President of the company. “Our clients are looking for new ways to tell their stories through both traditional and new media and Claire has been a leader in this – both locally and nationally.”

The Des Moines native is passionate about social media, trying recipes out of fancy-schmancy cooking magazines, and enjoys spending time with her husband, Jim, her children and Trixie the Wonderdog.

Agencies