AgCareers North American Ag HR Roundtable Starts Today

Cindy Zimmerman

I will be finding out more about AgCareers this week at the 9th AgCareers.com Ag HR Roundtable, in West Lafayette, Indiana, which is being hosted this year by ADM and Purdue University.

The event brings together agribusiness employers, professional organizations and college career counselors “to talk about issues facing the recruitment and retention of entry level and professional level talent in our industry.”

This year for the first time, the HR Roundtable will be followed by the 2011 National Academic Programs Summit with the theme of “Creating Change: Reforming Curricula for a 21st Century Education” where participants will be able to receive input from the agribusiness employers at the roundtable on what changes they would like to see in preparing young people for careers in the industry.

I talked with AgCareers president Eric Spell recently about the event for a ZimmCast – listen to it here – and stay tuned to find out more this week.

AgCareers

NCGA and Pioneer Offer Growers NASCAR Dream Day

Cindy Zimmerman

Start your engines, NASCAR fans, because the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and Pioneer HI-Bred are offering NCGA members a chance to win a NASCAR dream day to the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tenn., on Saturday, Aug. 27.

The dream day race package includes access to the DuPont-Pioneer hospitality tent, a pit tour, and a visit with racing legend Jeff Gordon. To enter, just visit www.ncga.com/racing and sign up for NASCAR-NCGA’s Fuel for Members Program before 12 pm central time this Friday, Aug. 5. The winner will be randomly selected from those NCGA members who have signed up for the Fuel for Members program.

Fuel for Members is one of the benefits of belonging to NCGA and state corn grower associations, providing exclusive access to discounted NASCAR tickets and merchandise and insider access to America’s most popular sport. Plus, members receive discounts on goods and services from a wide range of NASCAR partners including: UPS, DirecTV, Office Depot and MGM Resorts.

NCGA is part of the American Ethanol partnership with NASCAR, which began racing on 15% ethanol this season.

Don’t delay – sign up today!

Corn, Ethanol, NASCAR, NCGA, Pioneer

Black Kitty

Melissa Sandfort

Her name used to be Fuzz but now it’s just black kitty. It was just easier that way.

She ran out a month ago and found herself a nice boyfriend and wound up pregnant with her first litter of kittens. Like any new mom, I can relate. She’s probably not happy about all the wiggling and pushing going on in there, not to mention the fact that it’s been over 110 with the heat index the past four days. July/August isn’t a great time to be pregnant. I guess I forgot to tell her that.

We’re not sure when she’ll deliver the kittens but our best guess is sometime in early August. I’ve tried moving her inside to the garage but she seemed a bit lethargic and unhappy as her bird-catching gets put on hold while she’s inside. However, I don’t want to have to go digging through the grass and weeds to find where she hid the kittens so I can tame them down.

Given that it’s her first time though, she might just leave them at the back door for me to help with – she’s left everything else at the door as a prize – mice, birds, you name it.

For a husband with cat allergies, he’s not too excited about having a few more running around. At least he still has his prized garage (or man space) where he can work sneeze-free. For now.

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • U.S. distributor Kubota Tractor Corporation announces it has retailed 1.5 million Kubota units in America.
  • Valley Irrigation has expanded its Valley GPS product line to include compatibility with Trimble GPS products.
  • Osborn & Barr is further expanding its digital offerings with four new hires in St. Louis: Chris Feix, Kim Bracey, Gary Schrader and Stephanie Phillips.
  • PureSense Environmental Inc. was presented with the “2011 Game Changers of the Year” award in the category of Water and Irrigation Management at the recent 2011 California Agriculture Innovation Conference held at UC Davis.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Cattle Industry Summer Conference

    Chuck Zimmerman

    The next stop on the agriblogging highway for me is the Cattle Industry Summer Conference. I’ll be Beef Board Blogging once again for the Cattlemen’s Beef Board.

    With me in Kissimmee, FL will be Joanna Schroeder who will be focusing on the activities of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. We sure appreciate their support.

    If you are wondering what happens at a CISC then check out the online brochure here. Here’s what the meeting is all about.

    The cattle industry comes together twice a year to discuss current issues as a group, to work on programs and initiatives, and to set the course we should take with our various projects for the betterment of the beef cattle industry. The Cattle Industry Summer Conference features meetings of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion & Research Board, American National CattleWomen, Inc. and National Cattlemen’s Foundation.

    Here cattle industry members will meet in both NCBA Policy committees and subcommittees and Joint committees and subcommittees to discuss current developments, to work on initiatives developed at Convention, and to make plans for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins October 1st. Issues Forums will be open to all registered attendees at the Summer Conference, and will include hot topics. Everyone is encouraged to participate. A CBB Meeting and NCBA Board of Directors Meeting will also be held.

    Cattle Industry Conference, NCBA

    Case IH Web Press Room

    Chuck Zimmerman

    During InfoExpo at the Ag Media Summit I visited with Case IH to learn what’s new. I spoke with Kristina Hopkins.

    Kristina says that they are promoting their Web Press Room to ag media. It’s where you can find news releases as well as video, images and a media kit. So ag journalists make sure you bookmark this website.

    You can listen to my conversation with Kristina here: Kristina Hopkins Interview

    2011 Ag Media Summit Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by BASF and AgHaven
    Ag Media Summit, Agribusiness, Audio, Case IH

    Ag Media Summit Professional Development

    Chuck Zimmerman

    The Ag Media Summit is all about professional improvement for both students and professionals. I wish I could have interviewed all of our session leaders but that’s not possible for one agriblogger. However, I did get some interviews conducted.

    One of our presenters was Brandon Souza, AdFarm. He spoke to students about finding the best fit for your first job. He recommended they find out early what they want to do, hone those skill sets and talk with people in the industry. He spoke to professionals about social media etiquette. He pointed out that everything is public in social media. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but he recommends defining what you want to get out of social media.

    You can listen to my conversation with Brandon here: Brandon Souza Interview

    2011 Ag Media Summit Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by BASF and AgHaven
    Ag Media Summit, Audio

    Zimfo Bytes

    Melissa Sandfort

      Zimfo Bytes

    • FMC Corporation announced the company has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the European persulfates business of RheinPerChemie GmbH from Unionchimica SpA.
    • Microsoft Corp. has donated nearly $1.9 million of software, training and support to the National FFA Organization for the creation of a new online network to help students track educational successes, pursue awards and scholarships and ultimately obtain careers in the agriculture industry.
    • Alltech has partnered with global online network iHigh for the creation of a web portal and streaming video channel specifically devoted to agriculture.
    • Bratney Companies is pleased to announce a new and improved website to improve navigation and provide enhanced education and decision tools in a simplified format.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Beta Testing AgHaven

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Have you ever been a beta tester? Beta testers are vital so a company gets real user feedback. That’s the mode AgHaven has been in.

    I met AgHaven beta tester Phil White during the Ag Media Summit. Phil is a reporter at KFDI in Wichita, KS. So far he says AgHaven has come a long way and is becoming a valuable tool for producers or reporters like him. The search engine built in to AgHaven is providing more specific ag information than the big search engines. He recommends getting an AgHaven account. AgHaven is still looking for feedback and ideas.

    You can listen to my conversation with Phil here: Phil White Interview

    2011 Ag Media Summit Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by BASF and AgHaven
    Ag Media Summit, Audio

    BASF Talks What’s New at Ag Media Summit

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Meet three of my amigos from the Ag Media Summit. This is the BASF team that greeted us, prepared to talk “what’s new.” They are (l-r) Nick Fassler, Dr. Scott Walker and Dr. Dan Westberg. I spoke to each of them and thank BASF for sponsoring my coverage of this year’s event.

    Let’s start with Nick Fassler, Technical Market Manager, Fungicides. He was here to talk about research plots to get the “most out of every acre.” He says they’ve doubled the size of their research program this year. Results should be coming in within the next couple months.

    You can listen to my conversation with Nick here: Nick Fassler Interview

    Next up is Dr. Scott Walker, Biology Project Manager, Fungicides. Scott covered Xemium fungicide performance data. Xemium is a new fungicide active ingredient that has been submitted to the EPA for registration. It was announced earlier this year at Commodity Classic. Scott says that field data will be presented to the scientific community at the upcoming American Phytopathological Society Annual Meeting.

    You can listen to my conversation with Scott here: Scott Walker Interview

    And next is Dr. Dan Westberg, Technical Market Manager, Herbicides. He covered new Zidua herbicide. This new class of herbicide for corn and soybeans has performed well in summer research trials and registration is expected by the end of the year in time for the new season in 2012.

    You can listen to my conversation with Dan here: Dan Westberg Interview

    2011 Ag Media Summit Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by BASF and AgHaven
    Ag Media Summit, Audio, BASF