Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • It is important to farmers and ranchers that the Federal Communication Commission’s review possible interference with the Global Positioning Systems that could be created by a broadband network being developed by LightSquared.
  • T. Joe Robertson has been named product marketing manager for Topcon Precision Agriculture.
  • The Animal Agriculture Alliance welcomes two new team members: Catharine Kuber, who will serve as Membership Services Manager, and Kerry Lynch, who will fill the role of Communications & Membership Coordinator.
  • Novus International has launched the BioOptimized Trace Minerals Program for beef producers.
Zimfo Bytes

Novus International Shares Vision with US Soybean Growers

Cindy Zimmerman

usb soybean exportsThe vision of Novus International is “To help feed the world affordable, wholesome food and achieve a higher quality of life.”

That is a vision this global animal nutrition company shares with the U.S. soybean industry, with exports around the world accounting for more than half of annual production. “A lot of commonality in that and a lot of opportunity to work together and have complimentary efforts to do the right thing, not only for agriculture and livestock production, but for mankind,” said Novus International Director of Product Management Wendell Knehans, who participated in the US Soybean Export Council Animal Utilization Stakeholders meeting in Seattle this past weekend.

Wendell gave a presentation at the meeting to provide an overview of Novus and possibilities of partnership, explain some of the technical services that Novus provides in the livestock industry, and discuss some of the mutual opportunities.

Listen to my interview with Wendell here. Wendell Knehans with Novus International
USSEC First Animal Utilization Stakeholders Meeting Photos

Audio, International, Novus International, Soybean, USB

AgChat Foundation Board Discussion

Chuck Zimmerman

In advance of tomorrow’s start to the AgChat Agvocacy 2.0 Conference, the AgChat Foundation board members are having a discussion. It has been a year and a half since this organization got started. We’ve got a lot to talk about and I’m looking forward to it.

The Agvocacy Conference is larger than last year and if we hadn’t had to cap it I’ll bet we could have even more people here. We’ve got some very interesting sessions and presenters here and I hope to be able to share some of what will be taking place.

I want to thank the New Holland Boomer 555 Contest for sponsoring my coverage of the conference and thank them for becoming a conference sponsor.

AgChat Agvocacy 2.0 coverage is sponsored by The New Holland Boomer 555 Contest.
Uncategorized

What Soybean Stakeholders are Learning at USSEC Meeting

Cindy Zimmerman

usb soybean exportsThe weather is fabulous in Seattle this weekend, but directors of the United Soybean Board (USB) are inside and hard at work learning more about opportunities for exports at the US Soybean Export Council Animal Utilization Stakeholders meeting.

As far as stakeholders are concerned, USB is one of the major ones represented here, since soybean checkoff dollars are used to fund the USSEC’s export promotion efforts. “I’m here to learn more about the world demand for protein for animal feeds,” says David Hartke, USB Director from Illinois. “Sitting on the Production Committee with USB, I’ve been asked to be the lead on the composition of the soybean and felt that I needed to be here.”

Listen to my interview with David here. David Hartke, USB Director

usb soybean exportsWhile all the USB directors I have featured so far are from Illinois, there are directors outside of the Midwest! One of them is Jacob Parker from North Carolina who says the export market for US soybeans is critically important for the industry, accounting for over half the production nationwide.

“We need to maintain that business,” Jacob told me. “We need to also make sure that our domestic crush continues and try to figure out ways to export meal as well as whole beans.”

Listen to my interview with Jacob here. Jacob Parker, USB Director
USSEC First Animal Utilization Stakeholders Meeting Photos

Audio, Feed, International, Livestock, Soybean, USB

USB Helps Direct Soybean Export Promotion Dollars

Cindy Zimmerman

usb soybean exportsThe whole purpose of the US Soybean Export Council Animal Utilization Stakeholders meeting this weekend in Seattle is to evaluate the international marketing program for animal feed use and explore ideas for the future.

One of the architects of the series of meetings that will be held in advance of program allocations for the 2013 budget year is United Soybean Board (USB) International Marketing Animal Utilization Subcommittee Chair Dwain Ford of Illinois. “By gaining the knowledge of the market we hope to be able to invest checkoff dollars more wisely and get a greater return on our investment for the farmers,” he said.

Listen to my interview with Dwaine here. Dwaine Ford, USB Director
USSEC First Animal Utilization Stakeholders Meeting Photos

Audio, Soybean, USB

Around the World at Soybean Export Stakeholders Meeting

Cindy Zimmerman

usb soybean exportsParticipants in the US Soybean Export Council Animal Utilization Stakeholders meeting got a quick trip around the world in about four hours Saturday morning with presentations on global opportunities for soybean exports for animal use.

“We had 11 speakers representing eight different countries or regions,” said Miguel Escobar, USSEC Global Director of Animal Utilization. “We heard from all of them what kind of things they are doing in the marketplace for the future.”

Miguel says they wanted to let the stakeholders who fund the efforts of the USSEC know how their money is being spent. “The main two are the the Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) of the USDA, the United Soybean Board (USB) and all the companies that are members of USSEC who have interest in animal utilization part of the business,” he said.

Miguel is very excited about the stakeholders meeting. “We are breaking the ground for what is going to happen in the future for animal utilization,” he said, noting that it represents an $18 billion segment of the U.S. soybean export market.

Listen to my interview with Miguel here. Miguel Escobar with USSEC
USSEC First Animal Utilization Stakeholders Meeting Photos

Audio, Feed, International, Soybean, USB

Soybean Board Leader at Stakeholders Meeting

Cindy Zimmerman

usb soybean exportsOne of the many United Soybean Board (USB) farmer representatives in Seattle for the first US Soybean Export Council Animal Utilization Stakeholders meeting is Phil Bradshaw, immediate past chairman from Griggsville, Illinois.

Phil has also served on the USSEC board and is on the International Marketing committee for USB and he is pleased to see this meeting taking place and where the USSEC is at today. “I think we’re on the right track and the future’s bright, I just think we’re really going to move a lot of soybeans and soybean meal in the future.”

Phil just announced that he is retiring from the United Soybean Board in December. “It’s been a lot of fun and it was kind of a sad day when I wrote Secretary Vilsack and said I would be resigning as of December 7, but I want to focus on some other areas,” he said. “We got a lot of great new people on the board who can come on and take my place.”

Listen to my interview with Phil here. USB Past Chair Phil Bradshaw
USSEC First Animal Utilization Stakeholders Meeting Photos

Audio, Soybean, USB

Soybean Animal Utilization Stakeholders Meet in Seattle

Cindy Zimmerman

usb soybean exportsThe first ever U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) Animal Utilization Stakeholders Meeting is being held this weekend in Seattle to allow soybean checkoff farmer leaders to brainstorm about projects for the future to increase soybean exports.

“This is the first time we’re doing an animal utilization meeting,” said USSEC CEO Jim Sutter. “We’ve used aquaculture as an example and we’ve done that the past three years.”

usb soybean exportsJim says this the first meeting in a series to plan out projects for FY 2013. “So this is the first meeting to gather industry and regional inputs, then we’ll be working on strategy, and finally we come together and get final approval for all the projects we come up with,” Jim said. “That’s about a six month process and this is step one in the process.”

Presentations on Saturday morning included updates from soybean market representatives in all areas of the world on global opportunities for soybean exports in animal utilization.

Listen to my interview with Jim here. USSEC CEO Jim Sutter
USSEC First Animal Utilization Stakeholders Meeting Photos

Audio, Feed, Livestock, Soybean, USB

iPhone vs. Android/Thunderbolt

Chuck Zimmerman

iPhone or Android? That is the question. It’s pretty easy to answer in my opinion. I’ve had an AT&T iPhone since they came out and earlier this year I got a Verizon HTC Thunderbolt (4G). The iPhone wins this comparison hands down. Even the AT&T network seems improved, which was a major complaint I used to have for it. Here’s a photo of each phone displaying the AgWired App (iPhone on right). Maybe when the Motorola Droid Bionic comes out I will change my mind.

So why do I think the iPhone is better? I think it’s much more user friendly. The camera is better. The size if perfect for my hand. The battery lasts much, much longer. There are more and better apps than you will find for Android. But one of the best things I’ve found is that when I tether my computer or iPad to it the connection seems to be rock solid and it’s not on my Thunderbolt. Maybe that’s a problem still with the Thunderbolt but I can’t use it tethered to my computer for more than about 15 minutes before it no longer provides an internet connection. Even when it is providing one it seems to blip in and out. For example, when I’m uploading photos using Flickr tethered to the Thunderbolt I will often get an error in mid upload. That never happens on the iPhone. I love the speed of 4G on the Thunderbolt when I can find it. However, I’ve had several instances of having a good 4G signal and all of the sudden it disappears and I’ve only got 3G. At that point I might as well be using my iPhone.

Apps seem to crash more on the Android. I use the Weather Channel app a lot. On the Android it will not show me maps. It just crashes with an error report. I’ve uninstalled it and started over with the same problem.

The Thunderbolt eats battery. Even if I don’t use it for a day it will be out of battery and that’s with all services like bluetooth, wifi, etc, turned off. It has to be charged constantly. And you can’t use it tethered with 4G unless it’s plugged in. I can sometimes go two days without charging the iPhone depending on use and I’d call myself a power user.

I like to text on my iPhone with one hand. The Thunderbolt is just too big for that. I’m sure there are other Android phones out there that would be slimmer. I just doubt they’d perform any better than the Thunderbolt when it comes to user friendliness. I like being able to put my apps into folder and not have a lot of screen space to scroll through to find what I want.

I thought this would be a good pre-AgChat Agvocacy 2.0 post since I’ll be on a panel talking about using mobile technology to enhance productivity. When it comes to using apps on these phones the ones I use most are for email, Twitter, weather, camera, music, texting, contacts, calendar and oh yeah, the phone. I also do quite a few of my on location interviews with the iPhone too. I’ve also started doing most of my video clips with the iPhone. Then I can just upload them straight to YouTube when I’ve got a good wifi connection. As a road warrior the iPhone seems to help make me more productive than the Thunderbolt. I hope this helps. Let me know if you’ve got questions.

Equipment

Make a Video Entry For New Holland Boomer 555 Contest

Chuck Zimmerman

There are some great entries in the New Holland Boomer 555 Contest. This social media driven promotion we’re helping with is going well. Who wouldn’t want to win a 5 year lease on a new Boomer 30 compact tractor with front end loader? We’d like to see some video entries. How about it? Got some creative juices flowing? Get out your camera, go on location on your property and tell New Holland what you’d do with a Boomer. All you have to do is upload your video to YouTube (or other video service) and enter the “Share” link in the Official Entry Form. Easy. So easy that I had to make a video just to help get things rolling.

New Holland, Tractor