Getting Pumped For Indy Racing in Iowa

Chuck Zimmerman

Chuck and Ryan Hunter-ReayIt was great getting to see Ryan Hunter-Reay yesterday while promoting American made ethanol in Des Moines. Thanks to Claire Masker, Iowa Corn Growers Association, for taking the photo.

Ryan is very happy to be driving for ethanol again. He did so for a couple years back when it was known as Team Ethanol and now as Ethanol USA Team Izod. His car sponsorship for the season had run out until the deal was announced last week.

Ethanol USA Team Izod CarSo here’s the car he’ll be driving on Sunday for the Iowa Corn Indy 250. Let’s hope the weather gives us a break. It stormed last night and again this morning. Corn fields really don’t need any more rain in Iowa right now.

I also shot a video clip of Indy Car driver Marco Andretti pulling up in race car driver style to have the Iowa Speedway car filled by Ryan. More interviews from the pump promotion will be posted on Domestic Fuel. Today I’m heading out to the track (after a severe storm passes) to check out the activities so I’ll be coming to you next from there.

Iowa Corn Indy 250 Photo Album.

Ag Groups, Corn, Ethanol, Indy Racing, Video

Organic Acids Benefiting Swine Production & Welfare

Joanna Schroeder

Swine health is of the utmost importance for producers and the use of antibiotics has often been used to keep the pigs healthy. Yet a few years ago, the European Union passed legislation that limited the use of antibiotics for animal health. Since then, many of these producers have been using organic acids to help improve pig health with great success.

Here is the U.S. similar antibiotic legislation is being considered so I sat down with Helen Stebbens, Ph.D. in Pig Nutrition for Novus Europe, to learn more about the pending legislation and what it would mean for American pig producers should it pass. Stebbens has been working on developing organic acids for pig health and she told me right away that in Europe, the producers have not only survived but their levels of production are very good, in part due to the integration of organic acids.

“Many are using organic acids in young pigs,” explained Stebbens. “They are very effective for young pigs where their digestive system is not very mature and organic acids really help to boost the acidity within the stomach of the young pigs and forms a barrier of pathogens toward entry.” Ultimately, she said, this helps to keep the pig’s gut healthy.

Keeping the pig’s gut healthy lessens the needs for things like antibiotics and also improves the ROI for the producer. Stebbens noted that there has been a good adoption of the technique among producers in the U.S. and she believes that they will find it a very cost effective option in maintaining gut health. She also stressed that organic acids do not need to be used all the time but only during critical times of stress such as when the pigs are moving house or units.

There are many Novus nutritional experts that are available to work with producers who are interested in learning more about organic acids, and encouraged them to contact Novus. You can learn more about organic acids at www.novusint.com.

You can listen to the in-depth interview with Helen below. You can also check out all the World Pork Expo 2010 Photo Album.

AgWired coverage of the World Pork Expo 2010 is sponsored by:
Novus and boehringer-ingelheim.

Audio, Novus International, Pork, Swine, World Pork Expo

Research Work In China

Chuck Zimmerman

Zachary Larson, Borlaug Summer Intern, is on location at Nanjing Agricultural University and providing us with updates this summer of his trip. Here’s his latest. You can also find a photo album he’s got started here: Borlaug Summer Intern Photo Album. The internship is being sponsored by the Iowa State University Plant Sciences Institute.

How to become a researcher in a few easy steps, Part 2

As for my actual activities, most of my time has been spent watching and gaining a better understanding of the main techniques in preparation to use them later on when I will do it myself. For example, I have been constantly observing students preforming their own DNA extractions from wheat leaf or root tip DNA, purifying extracted DNA using centrifuges and protein filters, PCR amplification of select DNA samples, PAGE gel analysis of the PCR results, and finally some cytogenetic techniques like the Gene gun, and florescent staining of wheat chromosomes. While it sounds like a lot, these are just the tools that the students use everyday to perform their work in the lab, and part of the continual research that one must use to produce results.

Beyond the use of lab procedures and machines, the lab also has a lot of basic work that has to be done everyday that is just part of the tediousness that comes a long with being a grad student. As the genetic research here is geared towards developing resistant varieties of wheat, the students much take at least one trip per week to a large farm out side of Nanjing in order to inspect their wheat, and (recently) they have all been involved in harvesting their wheat. Once the wheat has been harvested, all the students during their lab time spend at least three hours a day peeling the wheat seeds outside of the specks波小麦, and then taking these seeds and extracting the embryos from the wheat.

While the second and perhaps more time consuming part of lab life here is one that requires little problem solving, it is the most critical in order to continue any other lab work. Without the constant attention to the wheat fields, and a constant supply of healthy seeds, there would be no opportunity for further plant breeding. So, while this is a significant amount of work to be done beyond one’s own research in a lab like this, with out it, your own research would have no material to work with. Read More

Education, International, University

Diane Martin Is President/CEO Rhea + Kaiser

Chuck Zimmerman

Rhea + Kaiser Marketing Communications has announced major changes in the leadership of the agency starting at the top.

For the first time since the agency’s founding 32 years ago, a new leader is at the helm of Rhea + Kaiser.

Diane Martin, a 24-year veteran of R+K, has been named president and chief executive officer. She succeeds agency co-founder Steve Rhea, who will remain as chairman of the board. Rhea and agency co-founder Van Kaiser retain full ownership of the agency.

“This was a critically important decision for Van and me, and Diane emerged as the clear choice,” Rhea said. “Diane best understands our agency, our culture and where we have to go in the future as a leading independent agency. In particular, Diane understands what it takes to successfully serve our clients and align with their business priorities.”

Martin said Rhea challenged her to define the new agency model going forward.

“My top priority is anticipating and managing change, while also painting a vision of the agency’s future and empowering employees to get there,” Martin said. “I am fortunate to inherit a rich history in R+K, but I understand that the client service business is about continually looking forward and anticipating the new.”

See more announcements: Read More

Agencies

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The National Milk Producers Federation has a new Vice Chairman and three new board members. John Underwood was elected the Third Vice Chairman of NMPF. The new Board members include: Mickey Childers of Somerville, Ala.; Dan Senestraro of Johnson, Kan.; and Jim Werkhoven of Monroe, Wash.
  • Syngenta Crop Protection announced that Inspire Super fungicide received EPA approval for use on cucurbits.
  • Dairylea Cooperative, Inc., has selected ABC Creative Group as their new agency of record.
  • Dr. Ann Sorensen of the American Farmland Trust has been nominated to serve on the EPA’s Farm, Ranch and Rural Communities Federal Advisory Committee.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Kum & Go Welcomes Indy Car Drivers To New E-85 Location

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Iowa Corn Kum & Go Pump PromotionTeammates Marco Andretti (left) and Ryan Hunter-Reay were on hand to promote American corn ethanol today at the grand opening of another Kum & Go E-85 pump location in Des Moines, IA. For two hours this today you could fill your tank with 85 cent/gallon E-85 and a lot of people came out to do just that.

    Today’s promotional event was the kick off of my coverage of this year’s Iowa Corn Indy 250 race weekend thanks to the Iowa Corn Promotion Board. I’ll be attending various events and reporting here and on Domestic Fuel. The race is scheduled for 1:30pm on Sunday afternoon. I’ve got a photo album started for the weekend which I’ll be adding to periodically: Iowa Corn Indy 250 Photo Album.

    The drivers were signing autographs and doing interviews. I spoke to both of them and they’re very glad to see the support they’re getting from Iowa corn growers. They like the fact that their cars are running on a renewable fuel and after doing so for years now they’ve proved the performance capability of the fuel.

    You can download my interview with Ryan (mp3) or listen here: ia-corn-indy-2010-ryan.mp3

    You can download my interview with Marco (mp3) or listen here: ia-corn-indy-2010-marco.mp3

    Audio, Corn, Ethanol, Indy Racing, Video

    Crop Protection Needed to Feed the World

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Combine increasing global population and decreasing land availability with pests and diseases that like the same crops we do and you get a continued demand for crop protection tools to feed the world.

    BASF ChicagoThe problem is that the public in general views pesticides as unsafe, even though they both safe and necessary, according Dr. Jeff Driver, a toxicologist with George Mason University, who spoke at the BASF Ag Media Summit on sustainability last week in Chicago. “These perceptions or biases exist,” says Dr. Driver. “What consumers need to appreciate further is the risks and benefits of having or not having pesticides, whether in their food or dealing with public health threats like Lyme disease.”

    He gave an example of comparing the toxicity risks of aspirin to peaches. “It’s the dose that makes the poison,” he said. “One could consume 32 aspirins of 325 mg strength and reach an acutely toxic dose. In comparison, to reach an acutely toxic dose of an example pesticide in a conventionally grown peach, one would have to consume over 1,000 peaches in one sitting, which obviously would not happen, not even in the best peach eating contest!”

    Driver says that consumers have little understanding of the rigorous approval process that crop protection chemicals go through, which is even more lengthy and thorough than for a pharmaceutical product, and it is up to the scientific and agricultural community to do more to educate the public, even starting in elementary school.

    Download Driver’s interview     or just listen here basf-chi-driver.mp3

    BASF ChicagoFollowing up Dr. Driver’s presentation, BASF Product Stewardship Manager Andrew Goetz got specific about what BASF goes through to get a crop protection product registered for use and ensure that it is safe for people, animals and the environment as a whole.

    “Just in the pre-development time period, we’ll do 40-50 studies and spend $2.5-4 million,” Andrew said. “We’re as highly regulated as the pharmaceutical area in toxicology. In the environmental fate area, we do more, we look at how it behaves in the environment. And in the eco-tox area we do more than pharmaceuticals. So, overall we are probably more regulated than the pharmaceutical industry.”

    Listen to Andrew’s interview below.

    Audio, BASF

    PureSense Adds Irrigation Manager iPhone App

    Melissa Sandfort

    PureSense Environmental Inc. announced that its Irrigation Manager iPhone application is now available through the iTunes App Store.

    Built as a mobile platform for PureSense subscribers, the PureSense app brings the reporting power growers have come to expect from Irrigation Manager to the iPhone, allowing the grower to be more informed, efficient and mobile than ever before.

    Growers can access timely, accurate data for each monitored irrigation set. With a single tap in the Charts feature, growers can view powerful PureSense charts used to support important irrigation decisions. The Alerts feature enables the viewing and analyzing of all recent moisture or weather related alerts, including frost, heat and wind alerts.

    The app is available through iTunes and is only available to growers with a PureSense login. The Irrigation Manager app can be found here. For more information visit PureSense.com or call 888.882.7873.

    Irrigation, Technology

    International Visitors Enjoy World Pork Expo

    Cindy Zimmerman

    2010 world pork expoMore than 20,000 producers from 30 countries and over 400 exhibitors, including Novus International, celebrated the pork industry’s return to profitability during the 2010 World Pork Expo in Des Moines last week.

    One of the international visitors who stopped by the Novus tent at WPX was Leonardo Cuevas, a consultant from Chile, who said the event provided him with lots of new information to bring back to his country. “I think we have to improve our industry, in nutrition, minerals and vitamins, especially in the sow and breeder aspect,” Leonardo told me. “Also artificial insemination, environmental control and management of mortality, composting, etc.”

    He says this was his third visit to Pork Expo. “I would recommend for everybody to come here. It’s a good investment for producers.”

    Leonardo Cuevas interview wpx10-novus-chile.mp3

    2010 world pork expoIt’s also a good investment for exhibitors who offer products and services to help producers be more efficient and profitable. Novus International Global Marketing Manager Felipe Navarro says Novus is in about 80 countries, so it World Pork Expo is a great place for them to meet with their customers in many countries. “The only two areas we are missing in this show are China and Asia Pacific. This is related to the business situation, they’re not doing very well right now, but hopefully they will get to the same point where we are now in North America and Latin America where people are starting to make some profit again,” Felipe said.

    He says that there are opportunities and challenges for a company like Novus marketing globally, with different regulations, production methods and diseases from country to country, but all producers want to increase performance, which is where Novus is focusing right now. “Especially sow performance,” Felipe said. “Because by working on the sow, which is the source of your revenue at the end of the day, they produce the piglets that you will raise to market weight.”

    Novus representatives spent lots of time visiting with producers about their specific products that include chelated trace minerals, enzymes, mycotoxin technologies and anti-oxidants.

    Listen to or download my interview with Felipe in the player below.

    World Pork Expo 2010 Photo Album.

    AgWired coverage of the World Pork Expo 2010 is sponsored by:
    Novus and boehringer-ingelheim.

    Audio, Novus International, World Pork Expo

    Building Social Media Following

    Chuck Zimmerman

    This week I’ve had the opportunity to speak to different agricultural communications groups about social media. The interest in this subject is very high. If you’re still somewhat skeptical about social media you should watch this video below. You can find statistics from the video here.

    Social Media Revolution 2 is a refresh of the original video with new and updated social media & mobile statistics that are hard to ignore. Based on the book Socialnomics by Erik Qualman.

    As you’ll see in the video it’s not a question of using social media to communicate but how well you’re using social media. Folks, you really don’t have a choice. Of course, if you choose not to participate in the online conversation then I guess you could call it a choice not to be in or have a successful business.

    One of the questions I received most this week was how to get more traffic for your social media efforts with a blog being the specific channel pointed to. Good question and here are some of my thoughts on that:

    1. Write about what you’re passionate and knowledgeable about.
    2. Write regularly.
    3. Write frequently. I can’t imagine having a blog you don’t post on at least 5x/wk.
    4. Write as if you’re having a conversation with someone.
    5. Don’t write only about yourself, company or products.
    6. Point people to information on your subject they may not have known.
    7. Use lots of links to more information, internal and external to your company.
    8. Invite comment with questions. Solicit their opinion, questions, ideas.
    9. Interact via comments or emails with your audience. Don’t ignore them.
    10. Be persistent. Don’t give up. It will take time to develop an audience.
    11. Use social networking to point people to your blog posts.

    These are just a few ideas. There are more. I would also encourage you to create some objectives up front. How are you going to measure success? Realize that this isn’t about big numbers. This is about engaging your customers or members when and how they want. That will never include everyone. Think of social media as a big online cocktail party. Does everyone at the cocktail party get together in one group to chat? No. They are in many small groups. But those people mingle around and move from group to group. Influence your group and realize your audience will then go join another group and take what they learned from you with them.

    The video says there are over 200,000,000 blogs. They’re not dead or no longer relevant. They’re more relevant than ever and I see them as the hub of your social media community. The spokes are Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, etc.

    Podcasts, Social Networking