World Ag Expo Going Mobile Via Smartphone Apps

Chuck Zimmerman

Now there’s an app for the World Ag Expo. I have never had the opportunity to attend but might have to get there via mobile!

For the first time in 44 years, World Ag Expo is going mobile. Available for both the iPhone and all phones with the Android Market, World Ag Expo’s Application gives its users access to everything the expo has to offer.

“World Ag Expo 2011 is themed Tools for Agri-Business, and our new app is just that – a tool for success at the expo,” said Lee Coito, 2011 Chairman. “Our app adds another free option for our attendees, building on our success in providing tools to help attendees identify in advance the exhibitors and seminars they want to see.”

By coupling with the Digital Show Grounds feature on worldagexpo.com, the app provides a mobile option for attendees to use to search products by category, explore the exhibitor directory, learn more about the seminars, view the Top-10 products and more. The MyShow Planner feature helps users organize and plan an agenda, making sure that they get the most out of their trip to World Ag Expo.

In addition the app allows users to search for hotels and nearby restaurants, check the weather and more in the resources portion of the app.

You can find it in the iTune App Store and Android Market.

Apps

Growmark Sponsors AgWired and Precision Pays

Chuck Zimmerman

We’d like to introduce you to the newest sponsor of AgWired – Growmark, a regional cooperative, marketing products and services from the Rocky Mountains to the East Coast and in Ontario, Canada.

Growmark picked the unique online community that ZimmComm New Media has built to enhance awareness about their brands. The community includes both the on-line publications and the social media channels associated with them. We’re thrilled to be able to provide Growmark with significant search engine brand optimization, as well as work with Growmark in developing its own social media channels.

In addition to Growmark’s sponsorship of AgWired, their FS Green Plan Solutions is also a sponsor of our Precision Pays. So over the coming months we’ll be learning all about the full range of products, services offered by this unique agribusiness.

Amy Bradford, Growmark corporate communications manager, says the sponsorship offers a unique opportunity. “ZimmComm is a well-respected company with publications and relationships that include key audiences we want to touch. And, as we enter the social media venue, we want to take advantage of the experience and knowledge ZimmComm has across media channels, and especially in new media, to increase awareness about the Growmark System.”

While visiting Growmark headquarters in Bloomington, IL this week I spoke with Brian Koenig, Member Services, about the company. He gave me a good overview of all the different things Growmark is doing. The first thing I learned is that Growmark has 219 members in 12 states and Ontario. He works with these member cooperatives on business processes as well as IT and technology needs. So I guess you could say that Growmark is a regional cooperative of local member cooperatives. That means that they are still ultimately owned by farmers. Growmark allows its members to focus more on their territory while taking care of business opportunities on a more national level. I asked who their competition is and it includes other regional cooperatives and entities within the industry. Brian says that right now some of the work they’re focused on includes some tax issues and the upcoming planting season.

You can listen to my interview with Brian and learn more about Growmark here: Brian Koenig Interview

Audio, GROWMARK, Precision Agriculture

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

    Do We Have Enough Farm Groups Or Too Many?

    Chuck Zimmerman

    The results are in for ZimmPoll #5. The question: “What do you think about the number of farm groups?” Our readers are not shy about letting us know their opinions and we appreciate that. The results: 33% say there are too many, 28% say the more the merrier, 25% say some are not needed but most are and 14% say there are just enough for everyone to have a voice. What do you think? Got a different answer?

    Our next ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “What does “sustainability” really mean to the public? This ought to be interesting. Let us know what you think and thank you for participating.

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

    ZimmPoll

    Keynote Speakers for Animal Ag Conference Announced

    John Davis

    Leaders in research and industry will headline the upcoming 2011 Annual Conference of the National Institute for Animal Agriculture, April 11-14th, 2011, in San Antonio, Texas, as they talk about how to feed a world that’s expected to need nearly twice as much food in 2050 than what is needed today.

    To discuss this issue (and more), NIAA will feature Dr. Terry Barr, Senior Director of Industry Research, CoBank, Washington, DC; Dr. Frank Mitloehner, Agriculture Economist, University of California, Davis, CA; Mr. Charlie Arnot, Center for Food Integrity, Kansas City, MO; Dr. Peter Groot Koerkamp, Professor Biosystems Engineering / Agrotechnology & Interim Professor in Animal Production Systems, Wageningen University, Netherlands; Mr. Ian Reece, Rabobank, New York, NY (Invited); Dr. Molly McAdams, H-E-B Foods, San Antonio, TX (Invited); Mr. Mark Anstoetter, Shook Hardy & Bacon, Kansas City, MO; and Mr. Clint Hickman, Hickman Family Farms, Buckeye, AZ … plus, plenty of input and ideas from the folks attending the four days of seminars and meetings.

    If you’re involved in animal agriculture, it’s definitely an event you won’t want to miss.

    Register before March 1st and save 50 bucks off the $450 registration fee. More information is available here.

    Animal Health, Events

    BASF Headline and Kixor Named No-Till Products of the Year

    Cindy Zimmerman

    BASF Crop Protection products Kixor® herbicide technology and Headline® fungicide were named top no-till products of 2010 for weed and disease control at the 19th Annual National No-Tillage Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio last week. This was the first time that Kixor was eligible for the award, and marks the fifth consecutive year Headline has been selected as a product of the year.

    “BASF is committed to providing solutions that help growers protect – and even increase – yield potential by controlling tough broadleaf weeds, addressing yield-robbing diseases, and improving Plant Health,” said Paul Rea, Vice President, U.S. Crop Operations, BASF. “Kixor was widely successful in its first year as it offers growers a great resource for battling resistant weeds. Headline continues to offer growers the excellent disease control needed to provide Plant Health benefits and help maximize yield.”

    BASF

    Growmark Getting Social

    Chuck Zimmerman

    I’ve been spending a wonderful day at Growmark. Do you know who Growmark is? If not, don’t worry. In coming weeks and months we’re going to get to learn about them together. We’ll be making a more formal announcement tomorrow as Growmark becomes a major new sponsor of AgWired and Precision Pays!

    This morning we talked all about social media. Growmark has just launched a new website and is in the process of setting up and deciding how to manage social networking accounts like Twitter and Facebook. How to gauge effectiveness has been a big part of the conversation. Feel free to let them know what you think either here in comments or on Twitter. They would appreciate it.

    GROWMARK

    AGROTAIN Hosts Corn Yield Expert at AGCONNECT

    Cindy Zimmerman

    According to University of Illinois professor Dr. Fred Below, there are “Seven Wonders of the Corn Yield World,” and one of the most important is nitrogen.

    Dr. Below developed the “Seven Wonders” as a tool to teach farmers the relative importance of management factors that can impact corn productivity, ranking the top seven factors that can positively impact corn yields. “In our quest to grow 300 bushels and to improve crop management, we need to know those management factors that have the biggest impact on yield and make sure we manage those correctly,” he told me during an interview at the AGROTAIN exhibit during AGCONNECT Expo.

    Fred ranks weather and nitrogen as the top two corn yield world wonders. “These wonders interact with each other so that every single thing about nitrogen application and use by the plant is affected by weather,” he says. So, while farmers can’t control the weather, they can control nitrogen loss due to the weather. To that end, Dr. Below included SUPERU® (with AGROTAIN technology) as part of a high tech fertilizer package in his studies. “The AGROTAIN technology like SUPERU is designed to mitigate weather-induced nitrogen losses. This lets the plant respond to the nitrogen, rather than have it be lost,” he said. “So preventing nitrogen loss is number one on the list for achieving high yields.”

    The other five “wonders” on Dr. Below’s list include: hybrid selection, previous crop, plant populations, tillage and chemicals.

    Listen to my interview with Dr. Below here: Dr. Fred Below

    2011 AG CONNECT Expo Photo Album

    Fertilizer

    Western Farm Show Gearing Up

    Chuck Zimmerman

    ZimmCast 288In this week’s program we’re going to look ahead to the Western Farm Show by talking with Jeff Flora, CEO, Southwestern Association (owner of the show). The show will be held February 25-27 at the American Royal Complex in Kansas City, MO. This is the 50th annual show and ZimmComm New Media is happy to be a part of it. We’ll be exhibiting and I’ll be conducting two of the educational sessions, one on “Becoming an Agricultural Agvocate” with AgChat Foundation on Friday and one on Saturday on “Social Media – Tips & Tools.”

    In my conversation with Jeff he describes the Southwestern Association which owns and manages the show. It was founded in 1889 and represents equipment retailers in a multi-state area, working in the areas of legislation, communication and education. Jeff says they’re expecting a potentially record crowd this year since he’s seen so much interest, especially from exhibitors. There are going to be more than 500 exhibits which he says is higher than recent years.

    A first time highlight at this year’s show is the Friday/Saturday night Championship Tractor Pull which will be held in Kemper Arena. I’m planning to be there! Tickets for it are available here. So it sounds like a good time will be had in KC, MO. We hope to see you there.

    Listen to this week’s ZimmCast with Jeff Flora here: ZimmCast 288 - Western Farm Show

    The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired. Subscribe so you can listen when and where you want. Just go to our a Subscribe page

    Audio, Farm Shows, Western Farm Show, ZimmCast

    Personifying Nature

    Melissa Sandfort

    Jack Frost
    Mother Earth
    Father Time
    Old Man Winter

    Nature is real and alive. It breathes its wintry breath on us, it heats up our souls, it’s the world’s eternal calendar. Fortunately, I live in an area where I get to enjoy all four seasons: I witness the growth of spring blooms, heat waves reverberating off the pavement in summer, the pallet of colors on fall trees, and right now, a man of nature more commonly known as Jack Frost.

    He typically is personified as nipping on our nose, but this week, he only made it as far as the front window of the house. His omnipresence tells me he’s just around the corner, waiting for the coldest of mornings to strike again.

    I recently returned from a winter Iceland also known as Atlanta, where daytime temperatures reached a balmy 31 degrees. When the plane landed in Omaha, it was 2 degrees with a wind chill of -10 and there were 12 inches of snow on the ground.

    I’m reminded again how alive and real nature is as I walk down to the mailbox the next day and Old Man Winter literally takes my breath away.

    Until we walk again …

    Uncategorized