McCormick Company Seeking New Opportunities

Chuck Zimmerman

I just spoke with Mark Perrin, President, McCormick Company, who says the agency is looking for a new opportunity. Post Update: The Pioneer account will be transitioning to the Ogilvy & Mather operating unit in Minneapolis, The Lacek Group LLC.

Here’s why:

McCormick Company announces that it will no longer be the agency of record for Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business. Instead, the agency will focus on new opportunities in the agriculture industry as well as other core practice areas.

The move results from a DuPont corporate decision to shift the account to its agency of record. McCormick will continue to support Pioneer as needed to allow for a smooth transition.

“McCormick is proud of its 43-year history with Pioneer,” said Mark Perrin, president of McCormick Company. “During that time, we’ve worked together to help deliver solid marketing campaigns that ultimately resulted in increased market share and growth for Pioneer. We are grateful for the opportunity to have worked so well together for so many years.”

McCormick will continue to focus on its existing portfolio of clients, as well as new opportunities this change presents. New business always has been a hallmark of the agency, with McCormick posting 10 percent growth in 2011. Read More

Agencies

Then vs. Now — Planting

Melissa Sandfort

In this post comparing farming “then” to farming “now”, and in honor of the quickly approaching planting season, I interviewed my grandfather about his check-row planter that they used in the ‘30s. Back then, the typical farm size was 80-160 acres and they started planting corn around May 10th.

Grandpa says, “We started planting corn when the hedge leaves were the size of squirrel ears.”

Today we have technology to farm faster, more acres, more hours, and more yield potential through the use of guidance systems and 24, 36 or 48-row planters. And I doubt if anyone watches how big the leaves are on the hedge trees.

Here’s my interview about planting with my grandpa. Listen to more here

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

Zimfo Bytes

2012 Golden ARC Awards Presented

Chuck Zimmerman

The 2012 Golden ARC Awards were bigger and better this year as the number of entries increased significantly. Here’s Mace Thornton, ARC President, presenting one of the many awards won by Osborn Barr and being accepted by Keri Geffert English. I hope to add a link to the full list of award recipients shortly.

In addition to these awards I will be sharing interviews with the first inductees into the Agricultural Public Relations Hall of Fame, Lyle Orwig and Don Lerch. You can their photos along with many others from this year’s meeting in the photo album.

Post Update: You can find the complete list of winners here:

Golden ARC Award Winners (pdf)
Merit Award Winners (pdf)

2012 ARC Annual Meeting Photo Album

ARC

ARC Tours Tea Plantation

Chuck Zimmerman

Here’s the happy farm tour group for the 2012 Agricultural Relations Council Annual Meeting. We’re touring Charleston Tea Plantation in this photo. I learned a lot about tea production today and since they have a nice gift shop, I’ve got some American made to take home with me.

I’ve got interviews to share in the coming days. We were on a bus all day and I’m hoping to get today’s photos uploaded before our awards dinner this evening. If that doesn’t work then I’ll finish up after getting back to ZimmComm World Headquarters tomorrow.

2012 ARC Annual Meeting Photo Album

ARC

BASF Personality Profile – Luke Bozeman

Cindy Zimmerman

BASF Herbicide Technical Market Manager Luke Bozeman has only been with BASF Crop Protection for a short time now, but he brings a wealth of experience, knowledge and enthusiasm to the company for helping growers get the most out of every acre.

In this BASF Personality Profile, we learn more about Luke, who was born and raised on a diversified farm in northwest Florida and received a degree in entomology from Auburn University. His first job was with Sandoz (remember them?) where he spent 13 years, “starting at their research farm in Mississippi and then the last seven years in Chicago as a product manager for Dicamba,” he said. Afterward, he spent several years in contract research working with several different clients, including BASF, and then spent 10 years with Monsanto working on seed traits.

Wanting to get back into the crop protection side of the business, Luke was happy to get the opportunity with BASF 18 months ago. “I am very excited about bringing new tools to the growers for controlling weeds in their crops,” Luke said.

A couple of up-and-coming products that he is particularly excited about are Zidua® herbicide and Engenia™ herbicide. Zidua will first be labeled for use in corn this year to deal with difficult weeds like waterhemp and pigweeds. “Zidua has a very long-lasting residual, up to two weeks longer than products commonly used now, and it’s also going to be very flexible,” Luke said. “Engenia is our latest dicamba innovation and has been developed specifically for use in the dicamba-tolerant cropping system being developed by Monsanto.”

Learn more about Luke, Zidua and Engenia in this interview: BASF Technical Market Manager Luke Bozeman

Audio, BASF

AgChat Foundation Photo Contest Winner

Chuck Zimmerman

The AgChat Foundation just announced the winner of their Facebook Cover Photo Contest.

Congratulations to Judi Graff for having the top pick and winning $100.00. Her photo titled “Posts Smell Tweet” earned the honor of being AgChat Foundation’s first ever cover photo! Go check it out on our Facebook page now.

Ag Groups

ARC Elects New Officers

Chuck Zimmerman

The Agricultural Relations Council held its business meeting this morning. New officers were elected that include:

Mace Thornton, President, Mike Opperman, First vice President, Janice Person, Second Vice President, Rebecca Colnar, Secretary/Treasurer, Deron Johnson, Immediate Past President, Erik Ness, Director, Amy Keith McDonald, Director, Daren R. Williams, Director, Keri Geffert English, Director.

Congratulations to all of them.

The organization is nearing 100 members as it continues to rebuild. If you have not become a member, please take time to fill out the membership form and send it in. The focus is agricultural public relations and I know a lot of you work in that area. Your participation and support would be greatly appreciated!

Next year’s ARC Annual Meeting will be in Austin, TX at about this same time of the year. More on that later as plans get made.

2012 ARC Annual Meeting Photo Album

ARC

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Wyffels Hybrids rolled out 27 new products, including 12 new base genetics, for 2013.
  • Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc., announces the three recipients of its annual Advancement in PRRS Research Awards.
  • Thousands of FFA members from 856 FFA chapters in 12 states have finished a huge effort to connect with local farmers, and many of those members dedicated to agricultural education are celebrating this week.
  • The prices being paid for farmland across Illinois continue their upward spiral with the tops being in the $10,000 to $13,000 per acre range across the state.
Zimfo Bytes

Then vs. Now — Cultivation

Melissa Sandfort

I thought I’d take advantage of some of the technology sitting on my desk and change it up a little this week. I have the pleasure of listening to stories from my grandfather and thought maybe you all would like to hear them too, so I put grandpa on the spot and recorded snippits of our interview.

Today we’re going to get a lesson in field cultivation, a farming practice not many growers use because of successful weed control by applying herbicides to row crops.

So in my grandfather’s own voice he explains his lucky day. Listen to Grandpa explain

It’s history coming alive.

Until we walk again …

Audio