IFAJ Welcomes New Executive Committee Members

Chuck Zimmerman

The International Federation of Agricultural Journalists welcomes new executive committee members.

Newest members of the IFAJ committee include:

Leigh Radford
Australia

Leigh Radford of Australia is the National Editor of ABC Rural, a special department within the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He primarily covers agriculture and mining issues. In addition to his involvement with ACAJ he is Vice President of his state’s rural press club, Rural Media South Australia.He said, “I’m delighted to join the Executive of the IFAJ and contribute to the international body that represents rural and agricultural journalists. IFAJ can be a powerful vehicle to encourage dialogue between journalists in different parts of the world, exchange ideas, learn from one another and become better educated about the issues faced in other parts of the world.”

Per Henrik Hansen
Denmark

Per Henrik Hansen of Denmark is a journalist and communications consultant for topics including food, agriculture and rural areas. He primarily works with Denmark’s organic sector.Per looks forward to contributing to further developing IFAJ and helping it become a more global organization, including helping colleagues of third world countries gain international contacts, and develop professionally.

Tadashi Murata
Japan

Tadashi Murata of Japan is an editor for the Zenkou Kyoudou Publication Ltd. Zenkou Kyoudou publishes a monthly magazine and the book of business management for the Japan Agricultural Co-operatives(JA) and Small Business co-operatives. He also runs a flower shop in Tokyo and a private business specializing in websites and writing.Tadashi has experienced the community provided by IFAJ members and said he looks forward to another exciting Congress and seeing friends. As an executive team member he’s looking forward to learning more details about agriculture in other countries.

Steve Werblow
United States

Steve Werblow is a freelance writer and photographer in the northwestern part of the U.S.A. He works for John Deere’s magazines, The Furrow and Homestead, as well as a variety of other clients in agriculture and industry.

Steve says he is looking forward to helping IFAJ continually broaden its international network and find new ways to provide professional development opportunities for members around the world.

IFAJ

Name The Egg Man

Chuck Zimmerman

It’s almost time for the International Poultry Expo. The U.S. Poultry & Egg Association is working with the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau to help name their eggman logo for the upcoming trade show. So Atlanta community and beyond. Want to help come up with a creative name and maybe win a cool prize (iPad)?

On-line name submissions open at http://www.atlanta.net/ipe/featherfest_namethategg.aspx on Monday, January 16, 2012 at midnight and close at Midnight, January 19, 2012.

A selection committee comprised of 3 representatives from the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau and 2 from the International Poultry Expo will review the submissions on January 20, 2012, selecting 5 finalists.

Each entry will be time stamped. If a duplicate name is submitted by more than one entrant and chosen as the winner, the person with the earliest time stamp will be chosen as the winner.

Participants can submit more than one name.

Finalists will then be posted online at at http://www.atlanta.net/ipe/featherfest_namethategg.aspx wherein internet voting will be open to the general public beginning at 12:01 a.m., January 20. Additionally, attendees to the International Poultry Expo will be able to turn in written ballots.

Voting will cease at 11:59 p.m. on January 25, 2012. At that time the finalist with the most votes will be declared the winner. The winner will be announced the morning of January 26, 2012.

Prize: One (1) Apple iPad (16 mB, wi-fi) will be awarded.

Ag Groups, Poultry, Poultry Expo

Lunch Meat Company Launches Musical Promotion

Chuck Zimmerman

Here’s a promotional campaign with a lot of meat. Maybe you’re not ready for that Idol show yet? Try the “Be a Star on Broadway” contest courtesy of Land O’Frost and Camp Broadway.

Land O’Frost, the nation’s largest family-owned packaged lunch meat company, wants homes across America to be “alive with the sound of music” by offering young performers a chance be discovered by top Broadway professionals. Beginning January 23, singers and dancers can submit a video to the Land O’Frost “Be a Star on Broadway” campaign for an opportunity to win the trip of a lifetime to New York City to attend Camp Broadway®, Broadway’s leading producer of musical theater programs for theater-loving kids of all ages.

Hosted in partnership with Camp Broadway, Land O’Frost’s “Be a Star on Broadway” enables the entire family to get in the act by showcasing their singing, dancing and acting talents in a short musical-theater-inspired video performing one of five iconic Broadway songs: Give My Regards to Broadway (Little Johnny Jones ), Oklahoma ( Oklahoma!), Do-Re-Mi (The Sound of Music), All Shook Up (All Shook Up), and Steal Your Rock ‘n’ Roll ( Memphis , the 2010 Tony® Award-winning Best Musical). From January 23 through March 4, videos will be published on Land O’Frost’s interactive community website, LandOMoms.com, and will be voted on by the public from March 5 through March 25.

Two winners will be selected from the video entries: one by popular vote and the other by Camp Broadway’s panel of Broadway professionals. Videos will be judged on originality and creativity, quality of vocal performance and entertainment value.

Agribusiness, Food

Make Learning Mobile With Float

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 335In this week’s program we’re going to use the M word, as in Mobile, as in Float Mobile Learning. I just had a conversation with Chad Udell, Managing Director, about mobile learning technology and what that means for today’s agribusiness customers.

Float Mobile’s parent company is the Iona Group. Chad says the company has a deep history working with agribusiness companies like GROWMARK, Pioneer and Bayer. He says, “There’s a great amount of demand in the marketplace to put the right information in the right people’s hands at the right time.” He says that when growers need information they’re often away from the computer and out in the field. Examples include working with clients to put mobile and updated information in the hands of sales staff at a farm show. Tablets like an iPad or Android device are very cost effective for this purpose. In fact, Chad says mobile application development is surprisingly affordable. He says these applications are simple and do one or two things very well. Float Mobile uses a S3D Process with their clients which means Strategy, Design, Develop, Deliver. He says they work quickly since the whole mobile device world is changing rapidly today.

To learn more about Float Mobile Learning listen in to this week’s program: Float Mobile Learning

Check out their 2012 predictions for the Mobile Landscape on their blog.

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsor, GROWMARK, locally owned, globally strong, 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.

Agribusiness, Audio, Education, Technology

Social Media is a Great Tool for Cooperatives

Cindy Zimmerman

frontier fsIt has never been easier for cooperatives to reach out to members and potential members than it is these days with social media.

One cooperative that has taken the social media plunge and found it very worth their while is Frontier FS, which covers the area around Jefferson, Wisconsin – right between Madison and Milwaukee. I talked with Becky Wiedenhoeft, who is social media administrator for Frontier, about their experience.

frontier fs“The first platform that we chose to work with was Facebook because of the high level of usage,” said Becky. “It kind of helps build stronger relationships and trust and a feeling of community.”

Becky notes that a good mix of content is important to keep people engaged. “They’re not feeling like they’re being inundated with advertisements, it’s more of a community than a place to post marketing ads,” she said. Frontier started its Facebook page last April and already has nearly 200 “likes” and Becky says they can tell by some of the tracking options for Facebook that there are lots more who check in on the page.

Some of the Frontier FS crop specialists have also branched out into Twitter as a way to keep people informed about conditions in the area such as possible disease outbreaks, and their Twitter feeds are linked to the Facebook page as well. “It’s an awesome way to share information with growers instantly,” Becky said.

You can listen to my interview with Becky about Frontier FS and social media here: Becky Wiedenhoeft Interview

GROWMARK, Social Networking

Reliv Launches LunaRich Soy Powder

Chuck Zimmerman

Government working with private industry can make things happen. The Missouri Plant Science Center would be a good example.

Reliv International, Inc. (NASDAQ:RELV), and Soy Labs LLC today announced the creation of LunaRich™, an exclusive soy powder developed at the Missouri Plant Science Center (MPSC). Reliv is adding LunaRich to one of its nutritional supplements and will reveal that product at the Reliv National Conference in Reno, Nv., Feb. 17.

“Biotechnology is vital to Missouri’s economic future,” said former U.S. Sen. Kit Bond. “Our vision for the Missouri Plant Science Center is to unite our state’s scientists, farmers and private-sector job creators to spawn biotech innovation. The collaborative effort between Reliv and Soy Labs is helping us realize that vision by bringing cutting-edge biotech products to market.”

LunaRich is a whole soy powder containing five to ten times more lunasin than the industry standard. Lunasin is a peptide found naturally in soy that scientists have identified as the key to many of soy’s documented health benefits. These include cholesterol management, heart health and weight loss, among others. LunaRich is the first product to come out of the joint biotechnology research and development partnership that Reliv, Soy Labs and the MPSC formed in August 2011.

Agribusiness, Soybean

BASF Wins No-Till Awards Again

Chuck Zimmerman

No-Till Farmer’s readers selected their products of the year which were presented at the recent National No-Till Conference and BASF was a big winner again.

Headline® fungicide and Headline AMP™ fungicide were named top no-till products of 2011 for disease control during the 20th Annual National No-Tillage Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. This marks the sixth consecutive year that Headline and/or Headline AMP have been selected as product of the year, as voted by conservation tillage and no-till growers.

“BASF is committed to providing innovative, effective solutions that help growers get the most out of every acre,” said Paul Rea, Vice President, U.S. Crop Protection, BASF. “Headline and Headline AMP continue to be powerful tools for growers looking to control yield-robbing diseases, maximize yield potential and realize Plant Health benefits.”

You can find a full list of winners here: Read More

Agribusiness, BASF

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Cattle-Exchange.com, a new website connecting cattle buyers and sellers, was launched by Beef Today magazine.
  • Unverferth Manufacturing Co., Inc., manufacturer of Brent Grain Carts, announces the “Why Do You Choose Brent?” video contest finalists. The finalist’s fellow farmers and general public can view and vote for their favorite video here.
  • BASF has unveiled a video highlighting how American farmers are increasing productivity while reducing environmental impact, and encouraging American consumers to join their agriculture industry counterparts in a discussion of food, conservation and sustainability.
  • The Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Tradeshow is releasing a smartphone app for its 2012 show to be held Feb. 1-4 in Nashville, TN. Available for the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry, the CIC&NCBA App will give its users access to everything the largest cattle convention has to offer.
Zimfo Bytes

Evening Colors

Melissa Sandfort

Learning your directions – is it innate or is it something you can truly learn. Some people just aren’t born with a good sense of direction. To highlight this, I have to tell a story of my mother, who on family vacation, was reading the AAA Trip Tick and said we’d be at the ocean in 20 minutes. Forty minutes later, no ocean. We’d gone 20 miles the wrong way and all the while, she thought she was following the highlighted line. She was banned from map-reading from then on.

I have always had an uncanny sense of direction. I can step off an airplane in any city and pretty much find my way. Like my internal mapping feature is always on.

I had to look at this picture to see if the sun was coming up or setting based on where the barn is in location to our house to know this was an evening photo. Now I’m giving away the fact that I have a short-term memory because I just took this less than a week ago.

But during a time of cold weather and bland landscape colors, the warmth of the sun on this leafless tree coupled with the dark red hues in the background made this winter day feel just a bit warmer.

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

Gov’t. Agencies Say LightSquared System Can’t Work With GPS

Chuck Zimmerman

Things are looking bleak for the proposed LightSquared LTE network according to a story in PC World.

A key federal agency involved in testing the proposed LightSquared LTE network has concluded that there is no practical way to solve interference between that network and GPS, possibly dealing a crippling blow to the startup carrier’s hopes for a terrestrial mobile network.

That agency is the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Executive Committee (PNT ExComm). Now that’s a mouthful. The agencies that make up this one have unanimously concluded that none of the LightSquared proposals would overcome interference with GPS.

Here’s an excerpt from the letter to the FCC:

Earlier this week we published results of our ZimmPoll that showed a majority think the LightSquared proposal would be good for ag/rural America. However, most of those positive responses all came at nearly the same time.

Internet