2012 National Beef Ambassador Team Chosen

Melissa Sandfort

John Weber (Minnesota), Kim Rounds (California), Arika Snyder (Pennsylvania), Rossie Blinson (North Carolina), and Emily Jack (Texas) were chosen as the 2012 National Beef Ambassador Team at the annual competition, funded in part by the beef checkoff, held Sept. 30 – Oct. 2 at the Shisler Conference Center and Hilton Garden Inn in Wooster, Ohio. Eighteen senior contestants, ages 17-20, were judged in the areas of consumer promotion, classroom presentation, media interview technique and issues response.

Contestants from throughout the country vied for a place on this elite team of agriculture advocates and $5,000 in cash prizes sponsored exclusively by Farm Credit. Additionally five educational scholarships totaling $5,000 were given by the American National CattleWomen Foundation, Inc. For the past several years, one Beef Ambassador has also been chosen for a prestigious USDA internship in Washington DC.

This year’s contest also hosted a junior competition for youth beef industry advocates ages 12-16. 11 passionate contestants vied for cash prizes, competing in two judged categories: Media Interview and Consumer Demonstration. The first place winner was Austin Gaspard (Louisiana), the second place winner was Abigail Grisedale (California), and the third place winner was Rachel Purdy (Wyoming). They all took home checks sponsored exclusively by Farm Credit for their top scores.

Beef

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Professor Jenks Britt, D.V.M., D.A.B.V.P. from Western Kentucky University Department of Agriculture, received the Mentor of the Year Award from the American Association of Bovine Practitioners and Merck Animal Health.
  • Osborn & Barr has expanded its team of communication professionals to include seven individuals who will support the agency’s growth in account service, public relations, media, production and network administration.
  • The Alltech Global 500, to be held in Lexington, KY Dec. 6-8 will offer dairy and beef producers insight into critical agricultural issues including sustainability and new technology.
  • San Antonio International Farm and Ranch Show to be held Nov. 10-12 will host an ag commodity symposium.
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I Hope They Don’t Mind…

Melissa Sandfort

My neighbors up the road, that is. Since my family planted soybeans across the highway this year, I had to go to the adjacent field to cut down some corn for my outside decorations. I hope they don’t mind. It was only about 8 stalks. And I picked ones that had fewer ears so the squirrels weren’t climbing our overhang all day trying to eat the corn off.

I think this is something I take for granted – the fact that “decorations” are just across the road whereas city folk have to buy dried corn cobs at Hobby Lobby.

Think about all of nature’s resources in our back yard that make for great decorations: leaves, pinecones, corn stalks, pumpkins (if you grew them in your garden this year).

Corn is about $6.50 per bushel. There are roughly 50 ears of corn per bushel. I have maybe 10 ears on my stalks outside, so maybe I’ll pony up the $1.30 I owe my neighbors. Or maybe I’ll call it an even trade for taking Black Kitty off their hands.

(And by the way, I asked my neighbor for permission when I saw him in church on Sunday.)

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

John Deere Opens Olathe, Kansas Facility

Cindy Zimmerman

john deere olatheJohn Deere officially opened a sparkling new LEED-certified sales and marketing center in Olathe, Kansas on Friday with the help of employees, government officials, and other special guests.

“This 126,000 square foot facility has been laid out to enhance the work environment for employees and has the most up-to-date technology so we can communicate and train work groups around the world,” said John Lagemann, Vice President, John Deere Ag & Turf Division.

Dave Everitt, president of the Ag & Turf Division, thanked John Deere employees and dealers for the record breaking performance of the company in the third quarter of this year. “All of our efforts are aimed at rapidly moving in a new global arena to help our customers feed and fuel the world,” he said. “We are investing nearly $3 million a day to get that job done.”

Attending the grand opening ceremony to help John Deere celebrate this additional investment in the Kansas economy were U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS), Governor Sam Brownback and freshman Congressman Kevin Yoder (R-KS).

Check out all the photos from the ceremony here – John Deere Olathe Opening Photo Album

john deere olatheOne of the highlights of the ceremony was the unveiling of the new building’s crowning centerpiece that stands at the main entrance – one of the original John Deere deer statues that were first made some time around the early 1900s. Regional controller Mike Snyder explained that an unknown number of the statues were commissioned by the son of John Deere in 1893 to be made by the W.H. Mullins Company of Salem, Ohio. “The statue is made out of hand stamped copper sheets, riveted and welded together and mounted on a steel frame,” he said, noting that Charles Deere saw the statue at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago and liked it so much he decided he wanted enough of them to be placed at every John Deere branch office and factory in the country. “Over the years, the importance faded and some were lost but recently company CEO Hans Becherer began a program to find and restore as many of them as possible.” The statue at the Olathe office is one of only 14 the company currently has.

Here is the audio from the opening ceremony, which includes remarks from Barry Nelson, Lagemann, Everitt, Snyder, the congressman, senator and governor. It’s only about 30 minutes long and there’s some pretty good stuff here our farm media friends might like to use: Opening of new John Deere Olathe Facility

See a video of the statue unveiling and ribbon cutting below:

Audio, John Deere, Video

It’s World Dairy Expo Time

Chuck Zimmerman

This week the ZimmComm team goes dairy as in World Dairy Expo. Most of our coverage will be found on World Dairy Diary starting on Tuesday.

You can find the daily schedule here. You can also follow what’s going on at Expo with the official Twitter hashtag, #WDE11. Use that in your tweets so we can see what you’ve got to say.

Dairy industry enthusiasts will soon be traveling from faraway places to the Alliant Energy Center in Madison October 4 through October 8 to take a virtual trip “Around the World of Dairy in 5 Days”. World Dairy Expo, the destination, is expecting over 65,000 producers and industry professionals to converge from 90 countries for the five-day dairy celebration.

More than 2,500 head of North America’s most beautiful bovines from 37 states and 7 Canadian provinces will parade across the colored shavings within the themed Showring where official judges with a keen eye for cattle will select the champions. Each animal brings along a traveling caravan of professional fitters to make sure that their stay in Madison is clean, comfortable and relaxing.

We’d like to thank the companies listed below for their sponsorship of our coverage of this year’s show. Without them it wouldn’t be possible.

World Dairy Expo

National Beef Ambassador Program Competition

Chuck Zimmerman

The National Beef Ambassador Program (NBAP) competition is taking place this weekend. Sure wish I was in Wooster, OH! But I’m judging remotely and really enjoying the tweets and pics I’ve seen.

Here’s one courtesy of Sarah Bohnenkamp, Program Manager. NCBA President, Bill Donald, is interacting with a NBAP contestant during the consumer portion of the event.

You can find more photos on Facebook.

Ag Groups, Beef

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Monsanto Company announced it has acquired Beeologics, which researches and develops biological tools to provide targeted control of pests and diseases.
  • Syngenta consolidates U.S. Communications with Martin Williams Advertising, Gibbs & Soell.
  • FFA New Horizons relaunched in September to rave reviews from the magazine’s sponsor, the National FFA Organization, and its more than 500,000 members.
  • Osborn & Barr has added Lisa Bocklage as account supervisor to its team of marketing and communication specialists
    Zimfo Bytes

    Applications Sought For Seed to Succeed PR Grant

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Does your nonprofit need some free public relations assistance? If so, get your application if for the 2012 Seed to Succeed PR Grant, valued at $25,000, from Harvest PR & Marketing.

    Any U.S. nonprofit organization connected to the production and/or marketing of food, commodities, or committed to the cause of promoting agriculture, is encouraged to apply by Oct. 31, 2011.

    The idea for Seed to Succeed materialized in 2009 when Harvest PR team members expressed interest in annually committing to a nonprofit focused on food and farm, and whose goals were limited mainly by resources. “We are firm believers that big ideas can sprout from small places,” says Heidi Nelson, principal. “Coming alongside a nonprofit that shares our values and commitment to the betterment of the industry has been a tremendous experience for our team. Our Seed to Succeed work thus far has been quite meaningful and successful.”

    Organizations interested in 2012 pro bono marketing services can download more information at www.harvest-pr.com. Applications are due Monday, Oct. 31, at 5 p.m. PST. The recipient will be announced Dec. 1, 2011.

    The AgChat Foundation has been a recipient of the grant and as a board member I can say we have truly appreciated the work done for the Foundation by Harvest PR & Marketing. They played a key role in the early development of the organization.

    Agencies, Public Relations

    Strong Winds Making Harvesting Hazardous

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Strong winds, dry weather and heat all combined to create some treacherous harvesting conditions in Iowa yesterday. Here’s an interesting video I found on YouTube that shows one fire and gives you an idea of how extensive these can be. Our sales manager, Dave, sent me a note yesterday that they had 160 acres burn on their family farm. Fortunately no one was hurt and it didn’t get to their homestead.

    Be careful out there!

    Corn, Farming, Video

    Giant Views In The Seed World

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Seed World magazine has produced a series of video interviews that are now available on their website. These are part of their Giant Views of the Industry series and contain interviews taken at the International Seed Federation World Seed Congress, the American Seed Trade Association annual convention and the National Association of Plant Breeders annual meeting, as part of its Giant Views of the Industry video series.

    Topics discussed by top industry executives from the American Seed Trade Association, Pioneer Hi-Bred, Applewood Seed, HM Clause, Monsanto Company, Syngenta and more include plant breeding, intellectual property, regulatory updates, seed trade issues, trends in the flower and vegetable industry and much more. Given today’s highly evolving business landscape, these interviews provide valuable insight and information to everyone involved in the U.S. seed trade.

    Here’s an example of one of the clips you’ll find. North Carolina State University watermelon and cucumber breeder, Todd Wehner, talks about why more funding is critical moving forward.

    Media, Seed, Video