ZimmComm At The NAMA Connection Point

Chuck Zimmerman

Here’s your first look at the layout of the Connection Point at the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference. I just wanted to make sure you knew where to find us. It’s not hard. We’re booth number 412.

So what’s your incentive to stop by and say hi? Well, first of all we’re going to be giving away two iPod Touches, one to a professional NAMA member and one to a student NAMA member. They’ll be 32GB units pre-loaded with the AgWired App of course. We thought a lot about what to give away and think these are very useful tools in today’s socially networked world. With the Skype app you can even make phone calls!

That’s not all that you’ll find at the ZimmComm booth though. There will be the friendly ZimmComm team to answer your questions. Feel free to ask me anything you want to know about gadgets or social media. All questions are important and I’ll do my best to provide or find an answer. Sure hope to see you there!

NAMA

USFRA Picks Ketchum

Chuck Zimmerman

Ketchum has been chosen by the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance to be its primary communications agency.

The announcement represents the next strategic step driving the USFRA mission to strengthen the image of agriculture and enhance public trust in today’s best production practices.

The Alliance, currently composed of more than 30 of the nation’s foremost farmer- and rancher-led agricultural organizations, chose Ketchum to begin immediate development of its strategic communications plan. Ketchum is partnered with Zócalo Group, its full service word of mouth and social media agency, and maslansky luntz + partners, a research-driven communication strategy firm that specializes in language and message development.

“The USFRA decision to partner with Ketchum comes as the result of an extensive and deliberate decision-making process conducted by our Communications Advisory Committee, and the full support of the USFRA Board of Directors,” said Forrest Roberts, chairman of the USFRA Communications Advisory Committee and CEO of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. “A nationwide review of agencies possessing the best business acumen, agricultural expertise and creative talent led us to this significant step forward.”

With the planning process moving forward immediately, USFRA and Ketchum will create an integrated campaign to address the critical communications issues surrounding U.S. agricultural production practices and its role in providing a safe and plentiful global food supply. USFRA plans to launch the communications campaign in July 2011.

Ag Groups, Agencies, USFRA

FMC Puts Authority XL on Display

Chuck Zimmerman

FMC Commodity ClassicHere’s what’s new from FMC. At the Commodity Classic I spoke with Matt Foster, FMC, about Authority XL which was just recently launched. This is the fourth brand in the Authority portfolio which he says is a nice fit in the “I-70 corridor.” We’re at planting time so hopefully weed management decisions have been made but it’s not too late to contact FMC about this new option.

FMC Corporation announces the introduction of Authority® XL herbicide, part of the Authority® herbicide line of products for soybeans. This new product offers best-in-class pre-emerge and burndown chemistries to control a broad spectrum of summer and winter annuals. When used as a spring pre-emergent herbicide, Authority XL gets fields off to a clean start by providing long-lasting residual control of troublesome summer annuals. Authority XL also helps growers get a head start on planting by controlling tough winter annuals after a fall application. Growers can improve their yield and crop quality with a timely application of Authority XL.

You can listen to my interview with Matt here: Interview with Matt Foster

Agribusiness, Audio, Commodity Classic, FMC

Happy National Teach Ag Day

Chuck Zimmerman

It’s National Teach Ag Day. What is it you might ask?

National Teach Ag Day is a day to celebrate school-based agricultural education and to encourage agricultural education advocates, especially current agricultural educators (middle school, high school, post-secondary, pre-service programs, etc.) to share with others the great career opportunities in agricultural education.

WHO IS IT FOR?

National Teach Ag Day is for anyone who wants to celebrate school-based agricultural education, share the story of agricultural education’s importance and effectiveness in the United States, and encourage students to consider careers as agricultural educators. Anyone who wants to participate can find a variety of resources to help them talk about agricultural education at www.naae.org/teachag.

National Teach Ag Day is a component of the National Teach Ag Campaign, an initiative to bring attention to the career of agricultural education, get students thinking about a possible career in agricultural education, and to support current agricultural educators in their careers.

The Teach Ag Campaign is an initiative of the National Council for Agricultural Education, led by the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE). It is sponsored by Landmark Nurseries as a special project of the National FFA Foundation and by Delmar Cengage Learning.

You can find the A Day In The Life Of An Ag Teacher Blog here.

Education

A Catalog of All Catalogs

Melissa Sandfort

I do a lot of shopping online. You can browse thousands of items, pay online, and have it delivered right to your doorstep. But I also remember the thud-factor Sears catalogs mom used to get every year, filled with the latest styles and clothing trends.

These are replicas of 1908 Sears Roebuck and 1895 Montgomery Ward catalogs. As you flip through the pages, you can find anything you want: tools, household items, clothes, furniture, appliances, dishes, carriages, stoves (as in cooking ovens), guns, knives and even a 6-room cottage package selling for $725 (build, paint and ready to live in = 6 months). Items were delivered through regular mail, and I’m sure they didn’t have overnight priority mail.

(However, I did find that UPS started in 1907 as a private messenger and delivery service company. What an interesting history on how the company got started.)

If you can find an original copy of one of these catalogs, it would be worth buk-o bucks. Why? Because when the catalog was outdated, it was carried to the outhouse to be reused as toilet paper. No joke. I guess they also didn’t know what double-ply was!

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

Bayer CropScience Agrees to Purchase Hornbeck Seed Company

Chuck Zimmerman

Yesterday Bayer CropScience held a press conference via web and phone to announce its agreement to purchase Hornbeck Seed Company Inc., a privately-held company headquartered in DeWitt, Arkansas, USA. The seed company supplies soybean, rice and wheat varieties to the southern U.S. market. I was dialed in to the call and am sharing it below for your listening pleasure and use.

Bayer CropScience will acquire the seed businesses and gain access to quality soybean germplasm for future variety and trait development. Financial details were not disclosed.

Since its founding in the early 1980s, Hornbeck has grown into one of the Mid-South’s most reputable seed suppliers. The company is known for providing high-quality seed and excellent service to customers across Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

For Bayer CropScience, the acquisition is a logical step in a series of investment decisions addressing the needs of southern growers, and in particular soybean growers. Further milestones were the Stoneville Pedigreed Seed acquisition in 2007, the M.S. Technologies collaboration in soybeans in 2007, the launch of LibertyLink® soybeans in 2009 and the Athenix Corp. acquisition in 2009.

You can listen to or download the press conference here: Bayer-Hornbeck Press Conference

Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer, Seed

Living The Country Life On An iPad

Chuck Zimmerman

Living The Country Life magazine is now available by subscription for the iPad! The cost is currently $7.95 for four issues.

Ideas and inspiration for your place in the country.

Living the Country Life magazine is America’s leading rural lifestyle magazine designed to provide ideas and inspiration to people who enjoy living in the country. Readers are passionate about their place in the country. Each issue features a beautiful place in the country and covers a wide variety of topics.

As an iPad person I am all for publishers making content available for our favorite consumption device. What do you think about the concept? The price? Would you like to see more ag publishers make their magazines available this way?

Post Update:

Sister publication Successful Farming is now also available electronically for the iPad. Subscription price is $15.95 for 13 issues. I have not viewed it but my understanding is that the March digital edition is sponsored exclusively by John Deere and features a number of interactive articles, videos, and enhanced advertisements.

Successful Farming magazine serves the diverse business, production, and family information needs of families who make farming and ranching their business. Our passion is to help readers make money, save time, and grow their satisfaction in the farming business. True to its name, Successful Farming magazine is all about success. Every issue is packed with ideas readers can take right to the field, barn, shop, and office to increase their profit and to position their farming business for growth and success in the competitive and global industry of agriculture.

Media

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • World Dairy Expo’s Board of Directors elected eight individuals to the Executive Committee at their annual meeting.
  • Fresh mushrooms, one of the top 20 best-selling produce items in 2010, outperformed produce retail sales as a whole in terms of both dollars and pounds sold.
  • The United States Potato Board grower membership recently elected new leadership during its annual meeting.
  • Merck and sanofi-aventis announced the mutual termination of their agreement to form a new animal health joint venture by combining Merial, the animal health business of sanofi-aventis, with Intervet/Schering-Plough, Merck’s animal health unit.
Zimfo Bytes

Marketing and Risk Management With AgriVisor

Chuck Zimmerman

Here’s the latest installment of our “Getting To Know GROWMARK” series. We’re going to talk risk management with Cory Winstead, AgriVisor, a joint venture between GROWMARK and the Illinois Farm Bureau.

AgriVisor is a full service Agricultural Advisory firm that works closely with you, to provide a complete set of Agriculture Risk Management tools and Marketing services that are unique in the industry.

Cory says their main focus is “to provide producers with an opportunity to get assistance in their marketing needs and market information.” The company offers a variety of services that includes Crossover Solutions, MaxVisor, Brokerage Services, E-Visor and Cash Strategist. He says that the advice they provide depends on which area you’re working with. For example, on the Cash Strategist side where you would be talking about cash sales it’s about basis risk but on the Crossover Solutions and MaxVisor side it’s more of an all inclusive thing that looks at markets and factors like input costs and a lot of other variables that would affect a sales decision. In our interview he offers some other examples of how AgriVisor works with customers. Basically, it’s a full service, “one-stop” suite of services. It’s also worth pointing out that some of their Crossover Solution products are offered directly to GROWMARK customers who can then offer them to their farmer customers which allows them to be more competitive in the marketplace. He also points to their new Crossover Solutions Insight website which you can find at www.graininsight.com.

You can listen to my interview with Cory here: Cory Winstead Interview

Agribusiness, Audio, GROWMARK

Green Floyd is Willin’

Chuck Zimmerman

For your entertainment pleasure Green Floyd will now perform their ethanol version of Willin’. This was recorded at the recent National Ethanol Conference and I hope you enjoy it. Apologies to Lowell George but I think he would have loved it!

Green Floyd lyrics include:

I’ve been kicked by the press
Shunned by Wall Street
Got my margins caved in,
But I’m still on my feet
And I’m still – Willin’

We make it from corn
That started a fight
If we make it from stover
Hope that’s all right
Cause we’re still – Willin’

Cause I’ve been from Benson to
Winnebago, Madera to Omaha
Drivin’ every grain and fuel
rig that’s ever been made
Drivin’ on the backroads
so I wouldn’t get weighed

An if you bring me . . .
Heat, Yeast (and) En-zymes
(and) Feed-stock of some kind
then I’ll be Willin’
to keep Brewin’

Energy, Ethanol, National Ethanol Conference, RFA