FarmChat.com Is Now Live

Chuck Zimmerman

The Global Auction Guide Media Group family is growing. My friend, Dwayne Leslie, just sent this announcement.

After several years of planning we are proud to announce that www.FarmChat.com is now live and available to farmers to interact with other farmers.

FarmChat.com is a sister site to FarmAuctionGuide.com, AgClassifieds.com and PrairieLinks.com.

Dwayne Leslie, the founder of this network and an Internet entrepreneur for over 15 years, felt that this was the right time to launch a new site.

“As an active farmer and forum participant, we have seen the quality of other ag forums stagnate over the past few years” says Leslie. “There are so many new features that allow farmers to customize their experience and allow easy sharing of videos, photos and Twitter and Facebook feeds.”

The first thing farmers will notice is that the Combine Talk Show has been brought back to life. As one of the oldest ag forums online at Harvesting.com, the Combine Talk Show is full of evergreen information about combines, settings, and problem solving. This huge database of information has been upgraded and integrated into the FarmChat.com website. Users will once again be able to easily search for past answers and interact with new questions about Combines and Harvesting Equipment in the 20,000 threads and 125,000 posts that go back as early as 1997.

Unique Twitter integration also allows farmers to be immediately notified every time there is a new thread started. You can follow the new site on Twitter @farmchat

FarmChat.Com is also looking to work with other forums, ag websites and media companies to make for a better user experience and build the largest database of content for farmers.

Dwayne Leslie can be contacted at dwayne@farmauctionguide.com or @ 204-267-2730.

Agribusiness

Seasons Greetings From Gibbs & Soell

Chuck Zimmerman

I’m not getting tired of these seasons greetings. Hope you’re not either. This one comes from our friends at Gibbs & Soell.


Seasons greetings from everyone at Gibbs & Soell. As we look back on our 40th anniversary we are grateful to our clients, employees and friends whose support makes our existence possible. We salute everyone who helped celebrate this milestone by giving back. Please visit our Facebook page to read our stories.

Agencies

2011 National Corn Yield Contest Winners Announced

Cindy Zimmerman

Despite a challenging growing season, winners in the 2011 Corn Yield Contest still averaged well over 300 bushels an acre – some over 400!

Advanced production techniques, informed growing practices and improved seed varieties helped corn growers achieve high yields in the National Corn Growers Association 2011 National Corn Yield Contest. Despite the challenging weather conditions that plagued the Corn Belt throughout the year, entrants continued to far surpass the national average corn yield, even doubling it in some circumstances.

The National Corn Yield Contest is in its 47th year and remains NCGA’s most popular program for members. With 8,425 entries, the 2011 NCGA National Corn Yield Contest set a new participation record again this year. This is a 18 percent increase over 2010 (7,125) and an incredible 70 percent increase over 2007 (4,932). The 18 winners in six production categories had verified yields averaging more than 313.107 bushels per acre, compared to the projected national average of 146.7 bushels per acre in 2011.

While there is no overall contest winner, yields from first, second and third place farmers overall production categories ranged from 277.5 to 429.0 bushels per acre.

See a list of all the winners.

Corn, NCGA

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The 2nd Annual Beginning Farmer and Rancher Conference will take place Feb. 18-20, 2012, in Grand Rapids, Mich.
  • BRANDT announced they are returning to Turner Motorsports as the primary sponsor of the No. 31 BRANDT Chevrolet driven by championship contender Justin Allgaier.
  • An arbitration panel has ruled in favor of DuPont in a dispute filed by Monsanto where they alleged that Pioneer Hi Bred’s PROaccessSM genetics distribution relationships breached Pioneer’s Roundup Ready corn and soybean licenses with Monsanto in May 2009.
  • DuPont and Rosetta Green Ltd. have entered into a strategic research agreement to identify drought tolerance genes in corn and soybeans.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Majority Say Ethanol Production Good For All Of Agriculture

    Chuck Zimmerman

    A significant majority believe that ethanol production is a good thing. In answer to our question, “Is Ethanol production good for ALL of Agriculture?” 64% said yes and 36% said no. That still shows a large group who aren’t on board the ethanol bandwagon. If you’re in the “no” group let us know why by posting a comment.

    Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “What is your Christmas/Holiday entree?” The holidays are almost here and I’ll be you’ve got plans made already. We sure hope you have a happy holiday time with family and friends.

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

    Ethanol, Food, ZimmPoll

    Match Up With Your Grill

    Chuck Zimmerman

    There’s a reason why I like Ace Hardware and it’s all about grilling. They’re my go-to store for grill supplies. For example, if you’ve got a Weber Smokey Joe and need a new grill or other parts then this is the store where you’ll find them. Here’s another thing I like about Ace. The idea of grilling year round! Why stop when it gets cold?

    As the winter months set in, most of us put our grills away and say goodbye to bar-be-que until spring. Most of us, but not everyone. In fact, a growing number of grill enthusiasts are grilling year-round.

    Enthusiasts like grillmaster Scott Drawbaugh of Westlake Ace Hardware. The first thing he does when it snows is shovel a path to his four grills. At holiday feasts, he is famous for his grilled turkey.

    So, I’m right there with Scott. Grilling, it’s not just for summer anymore. So, if you need a grill and don’t know which one is right for you, Ace has a Grill-Match quiz you can take to find it. What are you waiting for? Find yours now.

    Food

    LPC Says Merry Christmas

    Chuck Zimmerman

    From the Livestock Publications Council comes some holiday greetings:

    Merry Christmas from your LPC board of directors and executive committee!

    (front row) Scott Vernon, Kathy LaScala, Christy Lee, Don Norton, and Andy Atzenweiler

    (back row) Diane Johnson, Mike Deering, LeAnne Peters, Scarlett Hagins, Jennifer Carrico, Cindy Cunningham, Stephanie Hoult, Amy Bader, Carey Brown, Beverly Moseley, Shelly Sitton, Jay Carlson

    LPC