American Ethanol on the Kansas Speedway

Cindy Zimmerman

American Ethanol was prominently displayed at the Kansas Speedway on Sunday for the inaugural Sprint Cup Series STP 400 race.

The American Ethanol logo and paint scheme was on Clint Bowyer’s No. 33 Chevrolet and larger than life along the backstretch wall of the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway to spotlight the partnership between the National Corn Growers, ethanol and NASCAR, which switched to a 15% ethanol blend for fuel in all series this year.

About 1200 farmers and ethanol producers from all over the country were there to cheer on Bowyer, following his first place win Saturday in the Camping World Truck Series, including National Corn Growers Association president Bart Schott (right) of North Dakota and NCGA chairman Darrin Ihnen of South Dakota.

“This is the kick off and we’ve been waiting for it to come,” Bart said on Sunday. “NASCAR has an 80 million fan base that is getting some real positive messages on burning a higher blend of ethanol.”

Darrin says educating fans about agriculture and ethanol is the main goal of the corn growers involvement in NASCAR, especially how it is helping make the country less dependent on foreign oil. “The NASCAR fans, when they were polled, energy security is one of their major concerns,” said Ihnen.

I asked them how the planting season has been so far on their farms and Bart says he managed to plant more corn than he expected and is almost done with soybean. Darrin has been in delay mode thanks to excessive moisture, but he’s not worried. “It’s a long season,” Darrin said.

Listen to or download my interview with Bart and Darrin here: National Corn Growers at Kansas Speedway

This was my first NASCAR race ever and I made it through with only sore muscles and a pretty good sunburn. It was interesting – very loud and very hot! – but I really liked the challenge of taking photos of fast cars on a track and thanks to the National Corn Growers for really making it a great day at the races! There’s more stories from the race on Domestic Fuel and Corn Commentary.

See all the race photos here: American Ethanol at NASCAR Sprint Cup STP 400

Audio, Corn, Ethanol, NCGA

Irish Agricultural Journalism

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 307The ZimmCast takes an Irish turn this week. I visited with agricultural journalist, Damien O’Reilly. Damien works for the Irish National Television and Radio Broadcaster, RTE where he hosts a weekly show called, “Countrywide.” The show is the evolution of “Farmweek” which was very production agriculture focused. The change in the show allows for more rural lifestyle content while still including farm information. Damien is seen interviewing Mandi McLeod, System Insights, Ltd., New Zealand, at the Alltech International Symposium. You can hear my interview with Mandi on our World Dairy Diary website btw.

Damien is just one of the many agricultural journalists I’ve had the pleasure to get to know through my involvement with the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ). I thought it might be interesting to talk with him about what he does and get his perspective on the technology changes in communications today, especially since he’s in the broadcasting business. He shares a good anecdote about an Irish farmer who had an impact on the food discussion in the country all because of one tweet on his Twitter account! He says that there is always a revolution in the media business and a need to keep up with new technology and that is always a challenge. I couldn’t agree more.

Listen in and learn more about agricultural journalism in Ireland: Irish Ag Journalism

You can listen to archived Countrywide shows that Damien has hosted on the RTE Radio 1 website.

This week’s program ends with some music from Music Alley. It’s called “Racing Heart” by Joe Tunon.

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.

Audio, IFAJ, Media, ZimmCast

Customer Videos From John Deere Drive Green Challenge

Chuck Zimmerman

You’ve probably wondered what I was doing at various John Deere dealers this past couple months. Well, now you can see it in action. It is a series of customer video clips for the John Deere Drive Green Challenge promotion that is taking place around the country.

John Deere selected several dealership promotion days and I showed up to collect some video and ask them what they thought about the new compact and subcompact tractors they drove. It has been a very enjoyable experience because I got to meet some very interesting people.

If you’re interested to see if a John Deere Drive Green Challenge event is coming to your area you can search on the Dealer Events Map.

John Deere, Tractor, Video

Put a little *umpf* into it!

Melissa Sandfort

I’m not sure I’ve mentioned this before, but another household chore I absolutely adore is vacuuming. I could do it every day and be happy, if only the trade-off were that I never had to dust. Ever. Now, I’m not one of those who has to have perfectly symmetrical lines, and I don’t actually vacuum every day, but at the very least, once a week.

Now let me tell you what I wouldn’t enjoy. Having to roll up my sitting room carpet every spring, lug it outside, hang it on a clothesline and hammer the dirt out of it with this carpet beater. Yes, that’s what they did in the early 20th century before vacuum cleaners became affordable.

Carpets, rugs, clothes, cushions and bedding were all cleaned with a carpet beater. I guess it might come in handy for getting gravel out of car floor mats or sand out of beach towels before running them through the washer. But carpet? It’s heavy!

I guess women back in the day had a little extra *umpf* in them. They did the wash by hand, canned, ironed everything in sight, beat carpet and cooked homemade meals that would put meat on anyone’s bones. And they probably did this with a baby on their hip. Today, I’ve got a Dyson ball vacuum, riding lawn mower, Walmart and washing machine with 10 cycles. Oh, and a daycare lady I cannot live without.

I feel a little guilty pleasure in my vacuuming now.

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

    STP 300 Winner Justin Aligaier

    Chuck Zimmerman

    The inaugural STP 300 Nationwide Series race is in the books. The winner is Justin Aligaier, Brandt Racing, in the #31 car. He actually ran out of fuel right after crossing the finish line. These guys plan it right down to the end!

    The Family Farmer/Marquis Energy car driven by Kenny Wallace finished 7th. And since all these cars are running on a fifteen percent blend of ethanol I think farmers win and ethanol producers win. Actually the American public wins with this clean burning fuel. Hopefully the efforts being taken by organizations like American Ethanol, National Corn Growers Association and my sponsor for this event coverage, the Illinois Corn Marketing Board, are paying off with better understanding by the public of the benefits and value of home grown fuel.

    After victory lane activities Justin came into the media room and gave a great shout out to America’s farmers. Of course Brandt Racing has some real ties to agriculture!

    Justin Aligaier On Ethanol and Farmers

    I’m going to upload some more photos and hit the road. More interviews will be posted in the next couple days.

    STP 300 Nationwide Series NASCAR Weekend Photos

    Audio, Ethanol, NASCAR

    Master AgVocate Kenny Wallace

    Chuck Zimmerman

    I finally caught up to NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace today during the hospitality event for Illinois corn and soybean growers. Here’s Kenny revving up the crowd before afternoon qualifying.

    I’ve been following some race car advocates for clean burning ethanol for a while but I think Kenny has them all beat. I wish I had recorded his remarks to the crowd of farmers gathered here today for the Nationwide Series STP 300. It was awesome baby. I especially liked his message to America’s Family Farmers that what they do is important and that they are loved and appreciated regardless of any critics out there. Amen to that! They are feeding and fueling America and I’d rather burn ethanol than imported oil based fuel from countries and people who don’t like us!

    Kenny Wallace Interview

    STP 300 Nationwide Series NASCAR Weekend Photos

    Audio, Ethanol, NASCAR

    NASCAR AgriPhotographer

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Who says agriblogging isn’t hard work? I dare them to come out to a 90+ degree race track, strap on some Nikons and a vest and wander around getting the shots you need.

    I love it though. Whether it’s out in a field or at a race track, anywhere, anytime is a great time to agvocate for America’s farmers and ranchers. I’m collecting photos today here at Chicagoland Speedway all the way through the inaugural STP 300 Nationwide Series race tonight. I just got out of the photographer’s meeting which is mandatory if you want to shoot a race. It’s all about safety while still getting the opportunity for a great shot. I’ll be doing my best. I got the #2 vest and keep getting asked who is number 1. I dunno and don’t care. LOL.

    Here’s where my photos are being collected throughout the day and including tonight’s race: STP 300 Nationwide Series NASCAR Weekend Photos

    Ethanol, NASCAR

    Race Day In Chicago – Go Ethanol

    Chuck Zimmerman

    This is why we’re out here at NASCAR this weekend. Every car on the track here at Chicagoland Speedway and tomorrow at Kansas Speedway will be sporting the American Ethanol name around their gas cap. A fifteen percent blend of ethanol will be fueling these cars to help show consumers that the fuel is perfectly safe in their cars and is also good for performance.

    It’s race day here in Joliet. I’ll be attending the Illinois Corn Growers/Iowa Soybean Association hospitality area midday and then back inside the track for the afternoon’s activities. I’ll be posting some interviews and final results too. The STP 300 doesn’t start until 7pm tonight!

    Although ethanol is in all these cars I’m paying special attention to Kenny Wallace in the #09 Family Farmers/Marquis Energy car. In the final practice last night he had the best 10 consecutive lap average speed of 169.577 mph. Not bad Kenny. We wish you and all the drivers a safe race today.

    Here’s where my photos are being collected throughout the day and including tonight’s race: STP 300 Nationwide Series NASCAR Weekend Photos

    Corn, Ethanol, NASCAR

    Marquis Energy Sees Great NASCAR Ethanol Opportunity

    Chuck Zimmerman

    The President of Marquis Energy is Mark Marquis, seen here introducing NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace to the crowd attending yesterday’s event held at the Hennepin ethanol plant. I spoke with Mark and learned that Marquis Energy is a real family type business that he had built after growing up on a family farm in this area and branching out into the grain business. In my interview with him you’ll hear him talk about plans to double the size of the Hennepin plant.

    Mark is a Growth Energy board member. He says the organization saw the long term agreement with NASCAR as a great opportunity to help get in front of American consumers who will feel more confident about putting higher blends of ethanol in their cars after seeing how well it performs in the race cars. They’ve accomplished that through American Ethanol, a partnership with the National Corn Growers Association. The local NASCAR Nationwide Series STP 300 race on Saturday provided his company with an opportunity to make a special contribution to the effort. He says NASCAR is very popular with his employees and the farmers who send in about 150 trucks of corn a day to the plant. Mark Marquis Interview

    I’ll be out on location this morning at Chicagoland Speedway getting my media credentials and checking out the action in preparation for tomorrow’s race.

    You can hear Mark’s introduction of Kenny and Kenny’s remarks in this video clip:

    Marquis Energy Appreciation Day Photos

    Audio, Corn, Ethanol, NASCAR, NCGA, Video