Go Bold With Butter

Chuck Zimmerman

Are you bold enough to go with butter? “Go Bold With Butter” is a social media campaign of the American Butter Institute. Here’s how it’s doing. Note the results correlation between increased content on their blog and “fostering increased butter usage.” How about that blogging thing!

ABI’s social media campaign “Go Bold With Butter” was launched on March 19th, just before the Easter holiday. Overall the campaign is continuing to drive momentum and results so far shows that the campaign, which focuses on maintaining levels of positive consumer awareness of butter and fostering increased butter usage, is continuing to improve as content on the blog continues to build. Repeat visitors have increased, reflecting that the site is considered a good resource for recipes and information about butter.

“We are pleased with the results so far with this new emphasis on communicating the benefits of butter in home cooking recipes through social media,” said Mark Korsmeyer, President of ABI. We’re engaging more consumers with this effort and I expect it will help build the category in both the short and long term.”

Blog traffic continues to increase rapidly since the launch of the campaign, outperforming initial goals delivering over 98,000 visits in the month of June. Engagement metrics have continued to improve as content on the blog continues to build. This includes repeat visitors, and reflects that the site is considered a good resource for recipes and information about butter. The campaign’s Facebook page has 33,092 likes, which in an increase of 76% over May numbers. Facebook content has the potential to reach 11.3 million people. 95% of the Facebook page likes are in the key 25‐54 age target demographic.
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Ag Groups, Dairy, Social Networking

FMC Stand & Be Heard Singing Contest Update

Chuck Zimmerman

During the FMC Anthem Field Plot Tour this week I spoke with Rick Ekins, Product Manager, to get an update on the FMC Anthem Stand & Be Heard Singing Contest. There are only two days left to enter the contest. Rick is seen while we were out in the field during the demonstration portion of the tour. I think we should have made him sing the National Anthem out in the field!

According to Rick there are over 130 entries in the contest already. That’s impressive I think. You can see some of those entries on the FMC Stand & Be Heard website. Of course when it comes to voting that’s a lot of singing of the National Anthem to listen to. I already listened to several and they were all good. During my interview he explains how you can vote starting July 23.

STUDENTS: Singing the National Anthem
Could Win You a $10,000 Scholarship

We’re investing in farming’s future with our new Anthem™ herbicide (coming soon – EPA registration pending) and $25,000 in college scholarships as prizes in our Anthem Singing Contest.

Students (ages 13-21): enter by submitting a video of you singing the National Anthem. Videos will be posted online for popular voting to determine four finalists. The four finalists will be interviewed and their performances recorded for airing on national TV. Online voting will determine the grand prize winner.

Videos must be received by July 15. Must be a member of a national ag-related student organization such as FFA, 4-H or student NAMA to enter.

Check back soon to cast your vote!

List to my interview with Rick here: Interview with Rick Ekins

FMC Anthem Field Plot Tour Photos

Agribusiness, Audio, FMC

FMC Anthem Field Plot Tour

Chuck Zimmerman

FMC is holding a series of Anthem Field Plot Tours around the midwest. I had the opportunity to attend the event in Ames, IA this week. To find out what we were going to learn I spoke with BJ Fuhrman, Retail Marketing Manager for FMC.

To start with, the event brings in retailers from across the state to learn about new FMC products and see them in test plots in the field. Of course Anthem herbicide was a big part of the program. BJ says the company is hoping to have full EPA registration of the product by this fall which would allow for some fall sales and of course leading into spring 2013. The field plots we got to see after some opening presentations showcased Anthem in both corn and soybeans. He says they were designed to show Anthem’s strength not only on its residual components but also against some of the competitive products currently on the market. This information is very helpful to their retailers when it comes time to market the product. It is a new active ingredient chemistry which is a broad range herbicide that will have a focus on corn first in 2013 and then soybeans.

List to my interview with BJ here: Interview with BJ Fuhrman

You can find photos from the event here: FMC Anthem Field Plot Tour Photos

Agribusiness, FMC

Wyffels Corn Brings Efficiency to Harmon Farm

Chuck Zimmerman

The Wyffels Corn Strategies event held at Harmon Farms had four generations of Harmon family on hand. Here’s the family receiving a gift of appreciation for allowing the event to be held on their farm by Bill Wyffels, President.

I spoke with Sean Harmon, pictured behind the little cutie in the middle. Sean is the 4th generation on the farm and his Dad and Grandfather were also attending the event. Sean says they’ve gone three weeks without a rain but the soil in his area really holds the moisture well, so his corn crop is in good shape. He says that every year the Wyffels seed he plants makes some of his best corn. The farm has its own grain elevator and he says people were making a lot of comments that there are commercial grain elevators that don’t have as much capacity! He says that efficiency is the name of the game. As he puts it, “We’ve got big fields and we can get a lot of grain in and out of this facility real quick.” He’s looking forward to Wyffels new refuge in the bag. He says, “We can fill the planter clear full and just go plant until we’re out of seed and just fill it up again and keep going.”

Listen to my interview with Sean here: Interview with Sean Harmon

2012 Wyffels Hybrids Corn Strategies Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio

AGROTAIN SuperU to the Rescue

Chuck Zimmerman

The extreme dry weather in the midwest was very evident at this week’s Indian Creek Watershed Project Field Tour. Out in the corn fields we had a nice breeze, but that breeze was blowing a lot of dust! On our first stop, Martin Case, AGROTAIN, was a presenter. This is the second year of this tour and we’ve gone from one weather extreme to the other. As Martin puts it, “We’ve got the tale of two years,” since last year’s weather was abnormally wet and this year is abnormally dry. Maybe comparing nitrogen use data for both those years will yield an average?

Martin says that AGROTAIN is trying to evaluate nitrogen stabilizer strategies in this project which can also be used in other areas of Illinois and beyond. It’s all about improving nitrogen use efficiency to not only increase the return on investment to the farmer but also to the environment. He says that last year they saw an extreme advantage to using their SuperU technology. Data for this year is not available yet. Listen to Martin explain more about the two technologies contained within SuperU in my interview with him: Interview with Martin Case

2012 Indian Creek Watershed Project Field Tour Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the CTIC Indian Creek Watershed Field Tour is sponsored by AGROTAIN
Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Audio, Conservation, CTIC, Fertilizer

Mobile Farm Manager App From John Deere

Chuck Zimmerman

How about managing your farm operation from your iPad or Iphone? John Deere plans to make that happen later this year. Tyler Hogrefe, seen here being interviewed by Ken Anderson, Brownfield Ag News, is a Product Manager for John Deere in their Intelligent Solutions Group. He was a presenter at their FarmSight Tech Summit. I spoke to him about John Deere Mobile Farm Manager.

Tyler says the need for more data is increasing and it is very useful in the office but also in the field. That’s why John Deere will be releasing the Mobile Farm Manager App later this year which will be integrated into the iPad and iPhone platform with future platforms planned. The cost of the app is yet to be determined and there are a number of applications that it will work with also still in the planning stages.

You can listen to my interview with Tyler here: Interview with Tyler Hogrefe

John Deere FarmSight Tech Summit Photo Album

Agribusiness, Apps, Audio, John Deere

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

Zimfo Bytes

FARRM Bill Amendments: What Made the Cut

John Davis

More was proposed than adopted, but in the end, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act, better known as the FARRM bill, moved out of the House Agriculture committee with 43 amendments (see a complete list of what was approved, defeated, withdrawn and tabled here from our friends at Agri-Pulse.com).

One of the more significant amendments that passed kills the controversial Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) rulemaking issue that caused so much consternation for the livestock industry. The GIPSA amendment, introduced by Reps. Michael Conaway (R-TX) and Jim Costa (D-CA), reins in what some lawmakers saw as the USDA overstepping its authority from the 2008 Farm Bill in dealings between meatpackers and producers. “The rulemaking went well beyond the intent of the 2008 Farm Bill and threatened livestock and poultry marketing as we know it,” Conaway told the committee. He added that it particularly threatened value-added marketing opportunities. But Conaway found resistance from Ranking Member Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), who said, “You are opening up one huge can of worms with this, and I don’t think it’s smart.” Peterson also pointed out that this is a non-starter in the Senate. Despite his misgivings, the amendment passed by a voice vote.

Listen to the debate on the measure here: Debate in House Ag Committee on GIPSA amendment Read More

AFBF, Audio, Farm Bill, GIPSA, USDA

Committee, Ag Leaders React to FARRM Bill

John Davis

As Cindy already noted, it took nearly 15 hours, but members of the House Agriculture Committee were able to pass their version of the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act (FARRM) Bill. Committee Chair Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) and Ranking Member Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN) praised the bipartisan legislation:

“This is a balanced, reform-minded, fiscally responsible bill that underscores our commitment to production agriculture and rural America, achieves real savings, and improves program efficiency, said Chairman Frank Lucas.

“The House leadership needs to bring the farm bill to the floor for a vote. We should not jeopardize the health of our rural economies which, by and large, have remained strong the last few years. Our nation’s farmers and ranchers need the certainty of a new five year farm bill and they need it before the current farm bill ends,” said Ranking Member Collin Peterson.

But the USDA is not pleased about cuts to the nutrition title of the bill. “Unfortunately, the bill produced by the House Agriculture Committee contains deep cuts in SNAP, including a provision that will deny much-needed food assistance to 3 million Americans, mostly low-income working families with children as well as seniors. The proposed cuts will deny 280,000 children in low-income families access to school meals and reduce farm income across rural America. These cuts wouldn’t just leave Americans hungry – they would stunt economic growth. The bill also makes misguided reductions to critical energy and conservation program efforts,” said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in a statement.Read More

AFBF, Farm Bill, NAWG, NCBA, USDA

Oh, Sweet Pea

Melissa Sandfort

Have you seen the drought map of the U.S. lately? It’s not good to see much dark orange, red or dark red and unfortunately, those are the colors that envelop most of the map. The July 4th holiday news reported that 25 states were in drought alerts and 20 states cancelled fireworks celebrations, and for good reason. It’s just depressing.

The cracks in our front yard have reappeared, my garden burned up and it looks like most people’s sweet corn fields are headed that way. What little corn is there, the coons have scavenged.

But in the midst of the crunchy brown grass when it seems like the only green thing that will grow are weeds, here lies my Sweet Pea bush blooming with purple and white flowers. Against the background is a small, steel wagon wheel and last year, the climbing tendrils barely reached the top of the wheel. This year, I have to move its arms to mow so I don’t cut the ends off!

The good part? I have only watered it twice the entire summer. The bad part? It’s on the west side of the house so the only people who get to enjoy it are people who come to our back door or drive all the way back to our shop. And that’s not many!

Until we walk again …

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