Hey Santa – How About Some Green For the Holidays?

Joanna Schroeder

Oh, the weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful,
And since we’ve got no place to go,
Fill Out a Survey! Fill Out a Survey! Fill Out a Survey!

The snow doesn’t show signs of stopping,
And I’ve bought some corn for popping,
The lights are turned way down low,
Fill Out a Survey! Fill Out a Survey! Fill Out a Survey!

When I’ve completed the short questionnaire,
How I’ll hate going out in the storm!
So I’ll daydream about my online shopping spree,
Where I’ll buy a sweater to keep me warm.

I’ve clicked “register me to win,”
And, my dear, I may win $250.
All because it was snowing,
And I Filled Out a Survey! Filled Out a Survey! Filled Out a Survey!

I hope my rendition of “Let it Snow” hasn’t offended you too much to fill out our AgWired survey. If not, those who complete the survey will have a chance to win $250. Happy Holidays and may Santa bring you some extra green this year.

ZimmComm Announcement

Cute Baby Blogging At NAAA

Chuck Zimmerman

I’m taking a cue from my daughter Chelsea and doing a little cute baby blogging. She has it as a regular feature on her website.

In this photo we have cute NAAA Trade Show baby after stopping by the BASF booth. She’s holding one of the corn cob stress relievers that attendees will find when they stop by. Somehow I don’t think this potentially future aerial applicator is under a lot of stress at the moment!

2010 NAAA Convention Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the NAAA Convention is sponsored by BASF.

Ag Groups, BASF, NAAA

NAAA Convention Trade Show Ribbon Cutting

Chuck Zimmerman

The main activity at the NAAA Convention today is the trade show. Association President Brian Rau did the honors with the ribbon cutting. I have already done a quick photo tour and added to the photo album so be sure to check it out.

During the afternoon I’ll be conducting interviews in the trade show with my sponsor BASF and others. I’ll be posting them later and during the next couple days.

You can also see the ribbon cutting almost live on YouTube.

2010 NAAA Convention Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the NAAA Convention is sponsored by BASF.

Ag Groups, BASF

Paulsen Marketing Asks Farmers Directly

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 284In this week’s program we’re going to learn what’s new at Paulsen Marketing. Listen in on my conversation with Greg Guse, Sara Steever and Kristi Moss. The main topic of our discussion was their just completed project titled, “Adoption of Communication Tools in Agriculture.” You can find a project summary that includes video interviews with the farmers themselves on their website.

Ever wondered what actual farm families would say when asked how they use communication technology in their operations? We did, too. This paper outlines the insightful and sometimes entertaining “real world” feedback that every agrimarketer should hear.

The Paulsenites learned some surprising things from the 25 farm families they interviewed. The study is a natural extension of their regular “Continuing Ag Education Program.” In the photo some of the staff is having breakfast with area farmers. Talk about getting to know the audience that your client wants to reach!

Listen in and find out those key takeaways from this project and expect more from Paulsen since they’re already planning the next one. ZimmCast 284 - Paulsen Marketing

This week’s program ends with some music from Music Alley. It’s called “Aqua Aviation” by Miss Pinkers.

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsors, Novus International, and Leica Geosytems for their support.

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

Agencies, Audio, ZimmCast

PRRS Area Regional Control Grows

Cindy Zimmerman

We have talked several times over the past few years with Dr. Scott Dee of the Swine Disease Eradication Center at the University of Minnesota about area regional control (ARC) and elimination of Porcine Respiratory and Reproductive Syndrome (PRRS), since he is one of the early advocates of using that approach to the virus.

Scott was the moderator of last week’s Boehringer Ingelheim (BIVI) Area Regional Control Workshop in Chicago just prior to the start of the 2010 International PRRS Symposium – the third time they have held such an event which has gotten larger with every year. “It’s great to see new faces in the audience, but also a lot of the same people keep coming back and bringing new information,” Scott said. “We heard about projects that are happening throughout our continent, we’re hearing how people are doing it and it’s very similar.” The program featured updates from about a dozen ARCs in Canada and the US, as well as new tools that are being used.

The Minnesota PRRS ARC is one of the nation’s first, started in 2004. “For the longest time, we didn’t know where we were going, what we were doing. Then all of the sudden it turned the corner and before we knew it, the thing was basically PRRS-free in a very large geographical area of Minnesota,” Scott said.

Listen to my interview with Scott here here: Scott Dee

2010 BIVI PRRS Area Regional Control Workshop photos

Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

Bioportal Could Help Understand PRRS Genetic Diversity

Cindy Zimmerman

One of the challenges of controlling PRRS (Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome) is the diversity in which the disease presents itself.

“We can have several hundred different types of PRRS around and one of our main concerns is that every year we isolate new types of PRRS,” says Enrique Mondaca, a member of the Boehringer Ingelheim (BIVI) PRRS Area Solutions Team. During the BIVI PRRS Area Regional Control Workshop in Chicago last week, Enrique presented work they are doing in creating a bioportal tool that can help understand the genetic diversity of the swine virus. “With the bioportal we can see through time how new siblings of PRRS are coming into the area.”

They are in the initial stages of integrating the bioportal program that was originally developed for Foot and Mouth Disease to adapt it for PRRS. “The more you know, the better you can control it,” Enrique said.

Listen to my interview with Enrique here here: Enrique Mondaca

Check out photos from the BIVI PRRS ARC workshop here on Flickr.

Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

Farming And Flying With Brian Rau

Chuck Zimmerman

Brian Rau is a farmer and an aerial applicator with Medina Flying Service Inc.. He’s also President of the NAAA. Brian welcomed everyone to this record breaking convention and I spoke with him afterward.

Brian says he got interested in flying and aerial application because his dad flew combat missions and did aerial application for their farm. When he got out of college he wanted something more than “just farming” so he worked as an aerial applicator for a couple years before returning to the farm and starting his own flying business. He accepted the position of President of NAAA because he sees some challenges facing the business and those are primarily regulatory. He’s optimistic about the future because conventional agriculture, to which aerial application is very important, will play a key role in helping the environment while feeding the population that is expected to continue growing.

You can listen to my interview with Brian here: Brian Rau Interview

2010 NAAA Convention Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the NAAA Convention is sponsored by BASF.

Ag Groups, Audio, BASF, NAAA

NAAA Executive Director Optimistic About Future

Chuck Zimmerman

The National Agricultural Aviation Association is all about safety, education and common sense legislation. That’s a take away from my interview with NAAA Executive Director Andrew Moore.

Andrew says that things are going well. He expects the 2010 season to be a good one in terms of total aerial application hours flown. The convention is a record in terms of attendance and exhibitors. So that’s making him very optimistic about 2011. He says they will be very active monitoring activity in Washington, DC, in particular in regards to pesticide application requirements. Another concern is the federal budget and maintaining ag research dollars. You can listen to my interview with Andrew here: Andrew Moore Interview

2010 NAAA Convention Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the NAAA Convention is sponsored by BASF.

Ag Groups, Audio, BASF, NAAA

Fire Boss 802F Flyby At NAAA Convention

Chuck Zimmerman

The most exciting part of the first day of the NAAA convention is the flyby done just a few minutes ago. We’re on the Savannah River and attendees were treated to the sight of a Fire Boss 802F make repeated passes in front us, picking up water and then dropping it before pulling up and around before getting to the bridge from downtown Savannah. You can watch one of the passes in the video below.

When it’s your time to put out the fire, the Fire Boss is the aircraft you’ll want to do the job. Built from an 802 Air Tractor, the Fire Boss is an initial attack fire suppression aircraft with scooping capability. It compliments any aerial fleet as a traditional air tanker carrying retardant. However, the unique aspect of the aircraft is that it can scoop water from nearby lakes and rivers.

2010 NAAA Convention Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the NAAA Convention is sponsored by BASF.

Ag Groups, BASF, NAAA, Video

Air Force One Steward To The Presidents

Chuck Zimmerman

At the NAAA convention welcome breakfast we got an inside look at what it’s like on Air Force One. Our speaker was Howie Franklin, 18 year steward of the President’s plane. He served under five Presidents and has hundreds of stories.

I spoke with Howie after his presentation and got him to share one story that includes a situation he had to deal with on one flight that had 3 Presidents involved (past/present). You’ll enjoy him as I did. He also comments on how enjoyable it is to speak with the agricultural pilots gathered here for the convention. You can listen to my interview with Howie here: Howie Franklin Interview

2010 NAAA Convention Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the NAAA Convention is sponsored by BASF.

Ag Groups, Audio, BASF, NAAA