An Oldie But a Goodie

Melissa Sandfort

At three years old and above average on the height scale, our son still has trouble reaching the pedals on his plastic tricycles. He can reach on one because the seat was adjustable but he can’t quite figure out how to push and keep his shoes on the pedals at the same time.

His Diego trike is decked out with stickers, a seat that opens for storage (you know, for worms and nails and other treasures), and an ignition key. That’s a little different than the tricycle I learned to ride on.

This metal beauty put on a few miles back in the day…through mud puddles, over hills, through my mom’s garden and under the pear tree in the back yard. I’d grab my Cabbage Patch doll and off we’d go on an adventure.

I doubt my son’s plastic bike will withstand the test of time like this red trike did. But, I’m thinking he’ll graduate up to a bike with training wheels in a couple of years and this one will be set aside for when friends come over and they can’t share one ride!

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • David Breiner, Alma, Kan., was recently announced as the new president of the American Hereford Association.
  • Cotton farmers in the Delta and Southeast will have more choices for managing weeds and earning financial incentives under the 2012 Roundup Ready PLUS® Weed Management Solutions platform, recently announced by Monsanto Company.
  • U.S. Custom Harvesters, Inc. will co-locate its 2013 annual conference at the next AG CONNECT Expo which will be held Jan. 29-31, 2013 in Kansas City, Mo.
  • The Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service announced that it is offering a two-day training session titled “Fearless Farm Finances” for farmers interested in learning about farm financial management, December 9-10, in La Crosse, Wisc.
Zimfo Bytes

Successful Smartphones

Chuck Zimmerman

My digital edition of the new Successful Farming magazine just arrived today. I have not read it as of this post but the cover caught my eye. A story headline tease like “Smartphones put all the ag information you need in the palm of your hand” gets my attention, especially when the graphics above contain another phrase, “Hot new tool for your farm,” within iPhone icons!

I just scanned the story and it contains some good information including how farmers are using their smartphones with specific examples, recommended apps and more. Of course I would like to see the AgWired App in those recommendations but . . .

I use the Zinio app on my iPad to read digital magazines btw.

Media

New Website For Swanson Russell

Chuck Zimmerman

Swanson Russell has launched a newly designed website.

“We’re proud to unveil our new site, which is a result of involvement from employees in every department.” said Brian Boesche, partner and chief creative officer at Swanson Russell. “The new design and content represents who we are, what we do, what we’re passionate about and the caliber of work we produce. The site serves as a face to the agency and demonstrates what we’re all about.”

Emphasizing the agency’s Real Connection™ philosophy is a main focus of the website content and design. The new website explains Swanson Russell’s approach to doing business through forging genuine relationships with clients and their audiences.

The new Orange Dot blog features posts from employees on a wide range of topics. Blog categories from each area of focus educate readers on that specific industry, while the “Agency” category provides insight into Swanson Russell activities and general industry tips.

Agencies

Hey John Deere, AgWired “Can Do”

Chuck Zimmerman

AgWired is helping spread the word about John Deere’s Project “Can Do.” You can do it too! Go to the John Deere Facebook page, click on the Project “Can Do” link and create your own virtual can. Here’s the AgWired Can Do of hunger whup-ass.

So let’s learn more about Project “Can Do.” I spoke with Nicole Schneider, Project Manager for John Deere. She’s one of the folks credited with the idea for the project. It’s interesting to hear how they had to strategically purchase cans of food of the appropriate size and colors needed in the sculpture. For example, Nicole says they had to have a certain number of cans of green beans and peas for the green and corn for the yellow, etc. She says that the Facebook page will be updated periodically with pictures of the sculpture being constructed and may even have a live feed of certain events.

You can listen to my interview with Nicole here: Interview with Nicole Schneider
To recognize the vital role that America’s farmers play in feeding the world this harvest season, John Deere is attempting a world-record at constructing a full-sized sculpture of its new S-Series combine from more than 300,000 cans of food at the John Deere Pavilion in downtown Moline, Illinois.

The more than 300,000 cans of food needed to complete the sculpture are donated by John Deere with delivery from Hy-Vee Food Stores. When completed, the sculpture will be 60 feet wide, 80 feet long and 16 feet tall and will weigh nearly 170 tons. The sculpture depicts John Deere’s new S-690 Combine, which is the world’s most powerful combine that can harvest more than 350 acres of grain a day.

After the public display is over in mid-December the sculpture will be taken down and the cans of food will be donated to the River Bend Foodbank.

Agribusiness, Audio, John Deere

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

Zimfo Bytes

Thank You National Beef Ambassadors

Chuck Zimmerman

I recently got to judge a part of the competition for the National Beef Ambassadors. Sure wish I could have been at the event in Ohio. We’ve got a great new crew that will be representing beef producers everywhere and I can’t wait to meet them.

Yesterday I got a great thank you from them (video below). Well, I say, thank you National Beef Ambassadors for stepping up to the plate on behalf of your industry! I can’t wait to see some new posts on the National Beef Ambassador blog.

Ag Groups, Beef

Show Some #foodthanks

Chuck Zimmerman

If you love food and the farmers who grow and raise it and all the companies that bring it to your table then this is the time to show some #foodthanks. This social media campaign via Twitter is being coordinated by the AgChat Foundation again this year. Visit the website and see who is tweeting.

Express your gratitude to those who prepare food.

This Thanksgiving season, we encourage you to use social media to show just how thankful you are for the food we all enjoy every day. In doing so, we will also be thanking those many people and industries who bring food to our tables. Tweet, blog…spread #FoodThanks!

Food

WTF? Where’s the Food. Without the Farmer?

Chuck Zimmerman

Hey farmer and food lovers. Here’s a head’s up about a coordinated effort by college students to help do some agvocacy and reach out to other students to help them better understand food production and where it comes from.

Student volunteers from colleges and universities nationwide have joined the agricultural advocacy group, I Love Farmers…They Feed My Soul to promote the importance American agriculture, Thursday, November 10. Students will be on campuses asking the question, “WTF? Where’s The Food. Without The Farmer?”

Student volunteers at Texas A&M University, Oklahoma State University, University of Arkansas, Fresno State University, UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly State University, Iowa State University, Kansas State University and Woodland College are also involved in advocating on the same day. Students will be using social media channels to share what is going on at the individual campuses. You can follow the activity on the Facebook page “NEW I Love Farmers They Feed My Soul” or on Twitter using the hashtag #WTFILF2011.

Megan Silcott, the president of the non-profit I Love Farmers…The Feed My Soul organization says, “Our goal is to create conversations about American agriculture with college students and to disseminate materials that will lead them to credible sources of information about food and agriculture.”

Ag Groups, Education, Farming, Food, University

Using Smartphones For Broadcast Purposes

Chuck Zimmerman

I like this graphic for next week’s National Association of Farm Broadcasting convention pocket schedule (pdf). The smartphone in a farmer/broadcaster hand tells a story about how things have changed since I first got started in broadcasting way back when. This year’s convention features more professional improvement sessions than I can ever remember and I think this is a good thing. As head of the professional improvement committee again I hope those of you attending will take advantage of the sessions we’re offering. They will have application no matter what your NAFB member status is.

I’d like to invite any of you to email, post in comments here or DM me on Twitter, your questions about using smartphones for broadcast purposes. I’ll be conducting a session on this topic on Wednesday, November 9 at 3:15pm in the Roanoke Room at the Westin Crown Plaza. Other sessions include two presentations by Mark Ramsey, Using Photo & Video to Enhance Your Work and Gadgets and Streaming. You can find them on the schedule. Hope to see you there.

Media, NAFB