Peterson Brothers at Ag Media Summit Once Again

Chuck Zimmerman

The Peterson BrothersSpeaking at the Ag Media Summit was Greg Peterson and Kendal Peterson of the well-known Peterson Brothers. I first met Greg Peterson at the 2012 Ag Media Summit. I interviewed him before a panel we were on and you can still listen to it here. That same year Greg and Nathan attended the AgChat Agvocacy 2.0 Conference and Jamie Johansen was there and she talked to them about their first video which just blew up and they became Ag Stars. You can listen to Jamie’s interview here when that video had close to 7 million views. Now the video has over 12 million views (I’m Farming and I Grow It)!

So, speaking of views and perhaps creating engagement I’m sharing a question asked of Greg during this year’s Summit.

Greg and Kendal Peterson – Excerpt of a question about the changes in online video engagement and stats
Video statistics q&a with Peterson Brothers (2:39)

In case you didn’t know it the brothers published their latest video during the Ag Media Summit. You can find it here.

2024 Ag Media Summit Photo Album

Ag Media Summit, Audio, Farming

Animal Ag News 8/13

Carrie Muehling

  • The National Pork Board (NPB) partnered with the National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA) to convene a group of public health, animal health and swine professionals in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to build relationships and explore opportunities for One Health collaborations. The event was sponsored by the Pork Checkoff with the support of several state pork associations and producers from Minnesota and South Dakota.
  • Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) certification is an easy and effective way to pursue continued education in the cattle business. Cattlemen and women can become BQA certified, or renew an expired certification, on Wednesday afternoon, August 21, 2024, at Hy-Plains Feedyard in Montezuma, Kan. Plus, attendees will hear from Jerome Tang, Kansas State University men’s basketball coach, about how it takes every player on a team to win. The workshop is free to attend and will offer simultaneous Spanish interpretation.
  • Leaders of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and Public Lands Council (PLC) issued statements of concern in response to news of the indictment of Charles and Heather Maude, multi-generational family ranchers in western South Dakota, by U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officers and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota.
  • Partners, collaborators and contractors involved in the Edge Climate-Smart project met in Green Bay on July 17 to share success stories, project updates and begin visioning for the future. The day-long meeting provided an opportunity for cross-sharing of information to strengthen the overall program. Farmer enrollment for year two of the project is now open.
  • The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) announced that Matt Herrick will take on the role of Executive Vice President, Chief Impact Officer. In this new role, Herrick will coordinate efforts across the association to drive policy, advocacy, communications, and social impact strategies in coordination with IDFA’s Executive Team members and subject matter experts. Herrick previously served as Senior Vice President, Public Affairs and Communications. He will continue to oversee public affairs, communications, and manage the IDFA Foundation, in addition to these new responsibilities. He will continue to report to IDFA President and CEO Michael Dykes, D.V.M.
  • In the decade ahead, easy-to-prepare meals will be of priority to Gen Z and younger Millennials who buy fresh chicken. Sixty-seven percent of Gen Z claim fast prep will be a priority in five years. “Beyond speed, Gen Z indicates a future need for advanced meal prep, global flavors and minimal cleanup,” according to new research presented at Chicken Marketing Summit 2024. The 2024 Chicken Consumption Survey results revealed current and anticipated US consumer behavior among different generations.
  • The U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY) announced that nominations are now being accepted for the 2025 Family Farm Environmental Excellence Award. This prestigious award recognizes family farmers who demonstrate exceptional environmental stewardship in poultry and egg production. Eligible nominees include family-owned poultry growers or egg producers who supply products to a USPOULTRY member or independent producers who are USPOULTRY members. The deadline for nominations is Oct. 25.
  • United States Department of Agriculture scientists have identified potential ecological benefits of strategically applied livestock grazing in sagebrush communities across U.S. western rangelands. As recently published in the scientific journal Ecosphere, the collaborative research effort among Agricultural Research Service (ARS) rangeland scientists at Burns, Oregon, and Fort Collins, Colorado, challenged the outdated dogma that livestock grazing in the sagebrush steppe always negatively impacts these ecosystems and, in fact, can convey desirable outcomes, particularly in regard to limiting both wildfire risk and invasive annual grasses.
  • Through the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative, NRCS has awarded $22 million in 29 projects in 36 states that expand access to conservation technical assistance for livestock producers and increase the use of conservation practices on grazing lands.
    • AgWired Animal, Animal Agriculture, Animal Bites

    USDA Forecasting Record Corn and Soybean Yields

    Cindy Zimmerman

    The latest Crop Production report from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is forecasting record corn and soybean yields this year, with higher total production for soybeans and slightly lower for corn.

    Corn production is expected to be down 1% from last year at 15.1 billion bushels while soybean production is forecast to be 10% higher than 2023 at a record high 4.59 billion bushels.

    Average corn yield is forecast at record high 183.1 bushels per acre, up 5.8 bushels from last year. NASS also forecasts record high yields in Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, South Dakota, Washington, and Wisconsin. As of Aug. 4, 67% of this year’s corn crop was reported in good or excellent condition, 10 percentage points above the same time last year.

    Soybean yields are expected to average a record high 53.2 bushels per acre, up 2.6 bushels from 2023. If realized, the forecasted yields in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio will be record highs.

    All wheat production is forecast at 1.98 billion bushels, up 9% from 2023, and in the first NASS production forecast of the season for cotton, all cotton production is forecast at 15.1 million 480-pound bales, up 25% from last year.

    Corn, Cotton, Soybean, USDA, Wheat

    EPA’s Ag Office Head Steps Down

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Snyder addresses ethanol stakeholders in Washington DC, March 2024

    The head of EPA’s recently-created Office of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced he was stepping down this week, after only five months in the new position.

    Rod Snyder became senior adviser for agriculture at EPA in October 2021 after serving as president of Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture for seven years. EPA Administrator Michael Regan announced the new office and Snyder as head of it at Commodity Classic in March. “With Rod’s leadership and with the establishment of this new office, we will ensure agriculture and rural stakeholders have a continual seat at the table at EPA for many years to come,” said Regan.

    In an exclusive interview with Agri-Pulse, Snyder said he had no “specific plans for his next career move” but will be focusing on his family and personal life. There has been no statement from EPA yet regarding a replacement for Snyder in the ag office.

    EPA

    ACN Awards at Ag Media Summit

    Cindy Zimmerman

    So many awards are presented at the Ag Media Summit it gets hard to keep track of them all!

    The Agricultural Communications Network presented awards for writing, design, photography, MarComm and digital & social media. All of the photos can be found here.

    Of the Year Winners:
    Communicator of the Year: Katrina Huffstutler, Grant Company
    Designer of the Year: Rachael Davis, Noble Research Institute
    Story of the Year: Mike Wilson, Farm Progress
    Writer of the Year: Mike Wilson, Farm Progress
    Photo of the Year: Steve Werblow, The Furrow
    Photographer of the Year: Katie Knapp, The Furrow

    Service Award Winners:
    Distinguished Service Award – Posthumously awarded to George Rehm, University of Minnesota (U of M) Extension Soil Fertility Specialist
    Lifetime Achievement Award – Kelly Schwalbe, Retired PR Professional

    Andy Markwart Horizon Award Winner:
    Wyatt Bechtel, broadhead.

    For a complete list of all the winners, click here.

    ACN, Ag Media Summit, Journalism

    Industry Ag News 8/12

    Carrie Muehling

  • Agri-Pulse is pleased to announce Hannah Fonseca has transitioned to the Agri-Pulse sales and marketing team as the digital media firm’s Eastern sales representative. Looking to expand Agri-Pulse’s reach along the East Coast, Fonseca will be based in Durham, North Carolina.
  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced changes to the Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Farm Loan Programs, effective Sept. 25, 2024 — changes that are intended to increase opportunities for farmers and ranchers to be financially viable. These improvements, part of the Enhancing Program Access and Delivery for Farm Loans rule, demonstrate USDA’s commitment to improving farm profitability through farm loans designed to provide important financing options used by producers to cover operating expenses and purchase land and equipment.
  • U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Alexis M. Taylor will lead 24 U.S. agribusinesses and organizations on a trade mission to Bogota, Colombia, Aug. 13-15, to boost American agricultural exports and build upon the successes of the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement.
  • The Renewable Fuels Association welcomes Enerflex Ltd. and Skyven Technologies as its newest associate members. These companies share RFA’s dedication to promoting sustainable energy solutions and fostering the growth of the renewable fuels industry.
  • National FFA Organization, a nationally-recognized school-based student leadership development organization, announced that it reached a record-breaking milestone of having more than one million FFA members: 1,027,273. States that have shown the largest membership percentage growth this past year are Utah, Florida and Alaska.
  • The United States Postal Service has announced it will make available on August 22, 2024, a Pictorial Postmark, commemorating ANTIQUE TRACTOR PRESERVATION DAY in the State of Kansas, as proclaimed by Kansas Governor Laura Kelly. The Postmark will be available August 22, 2024. Learn more at: Talking Tractors.com.
  • “A Voice for Agriculture” is the theme of the 81st convention of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. Don’t miss this annual event that brings together farm broadcasters and other leaders and decision-makers from the agriculture industry for three days of educational events, networking and collaborating on common issues and trends facing our industry. From the Trade Talk and Newsmaker sessions to the NAFB Hall of Fame and Young Professionals programming, and more – it’s all in Kansas City from Nov. 13 – 15! Click here for additional convention information.
  • North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum joined local, state and federal officials and community members this week for a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new North Dakota Soybean Processors plant near Casselton, lauding the project as a “breakthrough” in an ongoing shift toward processing more of North Dakota’s raw farm commodities in the state. Construction on the state-of-the-art facility started nearly two years ago, and it began accepting soybeans in July. During its first year of operation, the plant is expected to process up to 42.5 million bushels of soybeans into soybean oil, soybean meal and soybean hull pellets. The facility employs about 75 people.
    • Zimfo Bytes

    2024 Ag Media Summit Awards

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Ag Media Summit - AwardsA big part of the Ag Media Summit are the awards. There are many of them from each organization represented including Livestock Publication Council, The Ag Communicators Network, and National Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow. There are photos of all of them in the online summit photo album.

    I want to highlight two of our best friends that received awards starting with Cindy Cunningham, Public Relations Managing Supervisor at Woodruff. Cindy received the LPC Ed Bible Distinguished Service Award. Like a lot of these awards it can be very emotional not only for the recipient but also many, many of us in attendance.

    Ag Media Summit - AwardsAlso, receiving an award is Kelly Schwalbe, Retired PR Professional. Kelly received the Ag Communicators Lifetime Achievement Award.

    Cindy (Zimmerman) and I have made so many friends over the years and we’re very blessed for that. We’ve not only worked with these two professionals but we’ve spent lots of other social time from trips to the Lake of the Ozarks to pheasant hunting in South Dakota. Congratulations to them and all who have received awards.

    You will be able to find the full lists of winners on the organizational websites.

    2024 Ag Media Summit Photo Album

    ACN, LPC, Media

    Talking Retirement at Ag Media Summit

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Dr. Chris Kuehl, Armada Corporate IntelligenceDuring this year’s Ag Media Summit I talked to a variety of folks about retirement. This included members who have retired, members who retired and went back to work, people who are considering retiring (asking me, “When are you going to retire?”), and one of our keynote speakers, Dr. Chris Kuehl, Armada Corporate Intelligence. He is an economist who not only had great information but a sense of humor that kept us laughing. I would recommend him as a speaker anywhere.

    I picked out an excerpt of his talk since it was about extending retirement. He says, “If we use the same demographics that we used in the 1930’s when we set 65 as retirement age, the retirement age now would be 85.” Yeow!

    You can listen to him here:
    Dr. Chris Kuehl Excerpt on Retirement

    2024 Ag Media Summit Photo Album

    ACN, Ag Media Summit, Audio, LPC

    The Greg and Gregg Show at AMS

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Greg Henderson and Gregg Hillyer at AMS

    The 25th anniversary of Ag Media Summit was celebrated this week and it was interesting to take a walk back through the history of the event with a couple of guys who have been around for awhile – Gregg Hillyer, Editor In Chief at The Progressive Farmer, and Greg Henderson, Editorial Director at Drovers/Farm Journal.

    Henderson says AMS basically began when the ag publishers got together and decided not to send their editors to two separate meetings. “They were going to the Ag Editors meeting in October, and they were going to the Livestock Publications Council meeting in July. And so the idea was, let’s bring these two together,” and it became his job to make that happen.

    Hillyer says it was a little tricky to start. “Even though we had some cross membership between the two organizations, we both kind of had different viewpoints in terms of sponsorships and code of ethics and things of that sort, so there was really a lot of originally disagreement in those earlier discussions,” he said.

    Listen here:
    Gregg and Greg Show - Look back over the years of Ag Media Summit

    2024 Ag Media Summit Photo Album

    ACN, Ag Media Summit, Audio, LPC

    Alltech Honors Young Leaders at Ag Media Summit

    Cindy Zimmerman

    (right to left) Breanna Selsor, Iowa State; Hannah Hudgens, Texas Tech; Allie Herring, Texas Tech; and Ryan Hess, Texas Tech; with Jenn Norrie (far left), Alltech

    Four students currently studying agricultural communications were honored for their excellence, professionalism and leadership earlier this week at Ag Media Summit (AMS). The Livestock Publications Council (LPC) Student Award Program, sponsored by Alltech, provides travel scholarships for four students to attend AMS.

    “Alltech is proud to support the next generation of agricultural communicators as the ambassadors and voice of our industry,” said Jenn Norrie, Alltech’s communications manager for North America and Europe. “These young leaders are playing an instrumental role in sharing stories of farmers and ranchers and are helping to educate the urban population on where and by whom their food is produced.”

    Three of the four finalists for this year’s Forrest Bassford Student Award, presented by the LPC, were from Texas Tech University – Allie Herring, Ryan Hess, and Hannah Hudgens – with the fourth, Breanna Selsor, from Iowa State University.

    Following a competitive application and interview process, the award was presented to Herring, a senior studying agricultural communications and agri-business at Texas Tech.

    The Forrest Bassford Student Award was established in 1992 to honor Bassford’s contributions to the Livestock Publications Council and his passion for supporting young people in the field of agricultural communications.

    2024 Ag Media Summit Photo Album

    Ag Media Summit, Alltech