Visit ZimmComm and Enjoy Some Google Juice

Chuck Zimmerman

You are probably picturing your hand holding that iPod touch. Aren’t you? Well it is a possibility if you are selected in our drawing next week at the conclusion of the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference Connection Point. You have to stop by booth #412 and get your entry in but don’t have to be present to win when we pull names. We’ll be awarding one to a professional member and one to a student member. These are 32GB models so there’s lots of room to store your music and apps.

Speaking of apps, these iPod will be pre-loaded with the AgWired App. That’s just to make it easier for you to have one of the first and coolest ag apps on your device. Of course it’s not hard to get and it is free anyway. If you’ve got an iPhone/iPad/touch all you have to do is click on this link or got to the iTunes Store to search for it. Once you have the app on your device you’ll find that you can select any of our ZimmComm News Network websites to read the latest news and of course that includes AgWired. There’s more there too. Feel free to stop by our booth if you need help or have questions. And for you Android folks, don’t worry. The Android Market should have a new app in it by next week!

We’ll have some other cool items at our booth besides these beauties. Please stop and visit the ZimmComm Team and learn about Google Juice.

NAMA, ZimmComm Announcement

Mid-term Grades for Ag Sec. Vilsack Mixed

Chuck Zimmerman

What grade did you give U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack for his mid-term? I think the results of our last ZimmPoll show how difficult it is to please everyone. We asked the question, “What mid-term grade would you give Ag Sec. Vilsack?” The votes for an A and an F were the highest and equal. 24% give him an A while 24% give him and F. Those grades are followed by 20% giving him a B, 19% a D and 13% a C. If you feel strongly about a certain grade feel free to leave a comment about why. We love getting your opinions and comments lets you freely express them!

So, let’s look at our newest ZimmPoll question, “How should farmers respond to critical documentaries such as Food Inc.?” The results of this question will be published at the start of the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference next week and I think the results will be of real interest to agrimarketers attending. If you have a different idea than one of the choices we’ve presented then please feel free to comment. Thanks your your participation.

And if you have any questions you want to suggest for future ZimmPolls please let us know.

ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.

ZimmPoll

NAFB President Lindsay Hill Joins Farm Journal Media

Chuck Zimmerman

National Association of Farm Broadcasting President Lindsay Hill has a new job. She’s the new Agribusiness Director for Farm Journal Media with duties on AgDay and U.S. Farm Report and did her first broadcast last Friday which you can watch in the archives. I’ll let you guess which one is Lindsay and which one is Gary Wilhelmi in the screenshot (LOL).

Lindsay also mentions her new job in her latest NAFB President’s Report which you can listen to here: NAFB President's Report

Audio, Media, NAFB

Congress Repeals Stupid 1099 Provision

Cindy Zimmerman

Put this in the “who thought this was a good idea in the first place?” file.

By a vote of 87-12, the U.S. Senate voted Tuesday to repeal the idiotic health care reform provision that would have required businesses to file a 1099 form with the IRS any time they spend more than $600 a year with another business, sending it to President Obama to sign.

Granted it has a lot of competition, but this has got to be one of the dumbest things included in Obamacare. As the ZimmComm bookkeeper (among my many hats), I can tell you that this would have been a nightmare for me. I try to keep our taxes as simple as possible, which is why we have freelancers instead of employees, and 1099s are already a pain. You have to buy special forms that come in packs of 25 for dot matrix printers, which hardly anyone uses anymore, but only packs of 50 for regular printers – when I only need about 10. If I had to send out a 1099 for every piece of equipment over $600 that Chuck buys …. let’s just say that the 50 might not be enough! We’d probably have to file one just for his morning trips to Coffee Zone – I’m sure he spends at least $600 a year there!

Anyway, just about everyone (except maybe the 12 senators who voted against it) is cheering the repeal of this stupid provision, including agriculture. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Vice President of Government Affairs Colin Woodall called it “an enormous victory for U.S. farmers, ranchers and small businesses …. Commonsense scored a victory today.” That in itself is a miracle for Congress!

American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman says the repeal is great news for America’s farm and ranch families. “This was a costly, burdensome and unnecessary tax compliance requirement that was counterproductive to job creation and economic growth,” Stallman said. “Farmers, ranchers and small businesses are overloaded with paperwork, and we are pleased that our leaders in Washington took steps to provide relief. Farm Bureau commends the Senate for passing H.R. 4, and we urge President Obama to sign it.”

Obama apparently supports the repeal and is expected to sign. The unanswered question is, as I said at the top, who thought this was a good idea in the first place? And who are those 12 senators who voted against it?

POST UPDATE – Got the answer to my second question anyway. Akaka (D-HI) Durbin (D-IL) Harkin (D-IA) Inouye (D-HI) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Mikulski (D-MD) Murray (D-WA) Reid (D-NV) Sanders (I-VT) Schumer (D-NY). No real surprises there, I guess.

AFBF, NCBA

The Real Farmwives of America & Friends

Chuck Zimmerman

Meet some Real Farmwives of America and Friends. RFOA is blogging and you should visit to meet them and find links to all their social networking profiles!

RFOA & Friends is a growing group of women across the nation who blog about life on and off the farm. Our members either currently live on family farms, grew up on the farm and/ or work in the farming community. Our blogs focus on many different topics from humor to life to recipes to DIY projects to our families.

Follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Farming, Food, Social Networking

Republican Budget Would Cut Farm Spending

Cindy Zimmerman

The FY 2012 Budget Resolution unveiled by House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan (R-Wis) includes reforming current farm programs.

The Republican budget plan would cut farm program spending by $30 billion over the next decade to “reflect the economic reality of record-high farm income by restructuring farm programs, saving taxpayers money and increasing farmer independence.”

Net farm income this year is forecast to be the second-highest recorded in the past 35 years. Production costs have risen, but income has risen faster as prices for major commodities such as corn and soybeans have outstripped even the rising cost of energy. The top five earnings years for farmers in the last 35 years have occurred in the last decade.Yet, at the same time, numerous overlapping government programs exist to provide income support to farmers.

With crop prices – and deficits – hitting new highs, it is time to adjust support to this industry to reflect economic realities.This budget proposes two major reforms to achieve this: First, reduce the fixed payments that go to farmers irrespective of price levels, to reflect that soaring commodity prices are reducing the need for high levels of farm-income support. Second, reform the open-ended nature of the government’s support for crop insurance, so that agricultural producers assume the same kind of responsibility for managing risk that other businesses do.

Corn growers say they are willing to take a proportionate share of budget cuts to get the deficit under control.

“These cuts are significant, but so is our nation’s out-of-control budget deficit,” said National Corn Growers Association President Bart Schott in a statement. “What is important is that farmers are not singled out — the cuts proposed for agriculture are proportional to those proposed for other areas of the federal budget. We know this is just the beginning of the budget discussion. No matter the outcome, we are committed to working with the House and Senate Agriculture Committees to fashion a farm bill that provides farmers with risk management tools that are there when they truly need them.”

Corn, Farm Policy, NCGA

World Agriculture Investment Conference Asia Announced

Chuck Zimmerman

If you can’t make it to the World Agriculture Investment Conference USA in May then you might consider the newly announced World Agriculture Investment Conference Asia which will be held in Singapore.

In June this year, leading investment groups from across SE Asia and Australia are coming to Singapore to discuss the opportunities and risks in agricultural markets. With the latest market insight and global case studies, anticipation is high.

On June 29-30, a unique forum will bring together institutional and private investors with top Ag fund managers, to debate strategies for participating in agriculture and surrounding investments.

Confirmed participants already include: Macquarie, 21Ventures, Duxton Asset Management, InvestAg Savills, Emergent Asset Management and many more.

This is a unique chance to network with investors and Ag managers, and to effortlessly catch-up on where allocations are being made and how best to develop the ideal Ag portfolio.

To see the latest information and to book you place at a discounted rate please visit: www.aginvestconference.com/asia

For additional information, registration assistance or questions, please contact George Kiley by email on gkiley@aginvestconference.com, or call on +44(0)207 3757 545.

International

AgChat Foundation Celebrates First Anniversary

Chuck Zimmerman

AgChatIt’s hard to believe but true. The AgChat Foundation is one year old today. And that means we’ve been AgChatting for two years! I remember when I’d ask someone if they had heard of or participated in AgChat. Most didn’t and I had to explain a “Twitter Conversation.” Now it’s getting harder to find someone who doesn’t know what it is. So read the release and learn how farmers are mastering the art of social media.

Americans may have noticed a new social media trend this past year: more Facebook posts from the farm, more tweets from the tractor and more blogs from the back forty.

The timing of this social media “stampede” couldn’t be better, says Jeff Fowle, president of the AgChat Foundation. Celebrating its one-year anniversary today, the AgChat Foundation is a 100-percent volunteer organization formed to empower farmers and ranchers to effectively tell their stories using social media. He says in one 2010 study1 conducted by the Hartman Group, 59 percent of consumers purchasing local said they wanted a “connection to the farmer.”

In just 12 months, AgChat Foundation has successfully inspired farmers to add tweets and posts to their daily chores. It even earned a coveted spot on the 2011 SXSW® Interactive Festival program, last month, presenting alongside the country’s brightest in emerging technology.

Yet, its greatest achievements, Fowle says, are the hundreds of farmers it has inspired to “agvocate” for agriculture, and the thousands of consumer conversations it has spurred.

“Increasingly, urbanites are tuning in to the rural lifestyle and talking directly to the folks raising their food,” says the fourth-generation rancher with more than 33,000 Twitter followers, and author of Common Sense Agriculture’s Blog. “Our job is to step up farmers’ social media skills and help them find their authentic voice.”

It’s up to the farmers what stories or information they share: “Some opt for human-interest farm life stories, while others have tackled tough topics, such as animal welfare. We’re working with farmers young and old, representing organic and conventional farms of all sizes. It’s a diverse bunch with ranging levels of skills and stories. What they all have in common is a desire to connect with their urban counterparts.”

Read the full release and find “Five Ways to Follow a Farmer.” (Word Doc)

The AgChat Foundation invites consumers to learn more about agriculture and food production by joining the live #AgChat Twitter conversation each Tuesday at 8 p.m. EST.

Uncategorized

John Deere Unlocks Augmented Reality

Chuck Zimmerman

Want an early preview of the John Deere 7R Tractor? Then visit the John Deere Unlock website.



As part of its launch of new large agricultural equipment for 2011, John Deere has created an innovative, interactive new website – johndeere.com/unlock – to give growers an early preview of the new John Deere 7R Tractor, combines and other new equipment for 2011.

The Unlock website features regularly updated webisodes depicting key features of the new 7R Tractor and combines over the next several months. The first webisode introduces the Guetterman farm family of eastern Kansas and the features they look for in a new row-crop tractor. Another highlight of the website will be the augmented reality program that allows viewers to sync with a webcam to have the equipment come to life with animation and sound on their computer.

According to David Pauli, John Deere advertising manager for large ag equipment, the website is intended to help generate excitement for the new products in a way that gives viewers a highly informative experience. “We wanted to create a continually fresh, novel platform that is entertaining and gives growers unique insight into our new equipment over several months leading up to launch. Every week they’ll get a chance to see something new and different about the products.”

The Unlock website will host information on the new John Deere 7R Series Tractors, combines and other equipment that will be introduced later this summer.

For an early inside look at this new equipment, visit www.JohnDeere.com/unlock.

I’m glad to see that the video is also being posted to the John Deere YouTube channel! I’ll be interested to see how this “augmented reality” program works when ready.

John Deere, Tractor

I Am Angus Spotlights Temple Grandin

Cindy Zimmerman

temple grandinTemple Grandin is a doctor of animal science and professor at Colorado State University, bestselling author, and consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior. She is also widely noted for her work in autism advocacy and is the inventor of the hug machine designed to calm hypersensitive persons.

Her autism advocacy has made her famous in the general population, thanks to the HBO movie starring Claire Danes, but she’s a hero in the cattle industry for her groundbreaking work in animal welfare and reforming livestock handling practices in beef industry. She is the focus of this episode of “I Am Angus.”

Beef, Livestock, Video