NAMA Professional Development Awards Nomination Deadline

Chuck Zimmerman

National Agri-Marketing AssociationFor those of you just waiting for a chance to nominate me for a NAMA Professional Development Award of Excellence, now is you time. LOL. Seriously though, the deadline for nominations is approaching – July 20.

I’m sure you can think of a client, customer or a co-worker who deserves the recognition of his or her peers for their outstanding work. Awards are given in each of the areas of (1) marketing communications, (2) product/species management, (3) public relations, and (4) sales. You can nominate someone for one of these areas, or different people for each area.

Nominees for these awards must be an active NAMA member and have direct responsibility in the area being nominated.

The nomination process is quite simple. Go to the following link to download the nomination form in a pdf format.

http://www.nama.org/awards/2010PDAapplication.pdf

Or if you prefer, use the online nomination form located at:

http://www.nama.org/awards/pdaonlineform.htm

These awards will be presented during the 2010 Trends in Agriculture program, October 5-6, in Minneapolis.

NAMA

Wisconsin Cheese Cupid

Chuck Zimmerman

Do you love cheese? Love wine? Want to know which ones go with which? There’s an app for that and it’s called Wisconsin Cheese Cupid. Get the app here.

What cheese goes with your wine? What beer goes with your cheese? These questions can finally be answered with Wisconsin Cheese Cupid. With this handy dandy iPhone and iPod Touch application, pairing a cheese with a like-minded beverage has never been easier or more fun. Bon appétit.

FEATURES
• Pairs wine, beer, and liquor with appropriate cheeses.
• Filters by beverage category (e.g., Red Wine) and beverage style (e.g., Merlot).
• Offers correct pronunciation of every cheese, beer, wine, and liquor.
• Cheese selector spotlights appropriate Wisconsin Cheese.
• Includes culinary information about selected Wisconsin Cheese.

Ag Groups, Dairy

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Alltech has made its equine supplement LIFEFORCE Formula available for online purchase.
  • CHS Inc. announced it has named David Christofore vice president, chief operating officer for the company’s European grains operations.
  • Monsanto Company announces the launch of a new encapsulated formulation of acetochlor designed for cotton and soybean acres: Warrant Herbicide.
  • Sodrugestvo Group, a fast-growing agro-industrial company headquartered in Kaliningrad, Russia, has entered the U.S. market by acquiring a minority stake in North Dakota Oilseed Mills, LLC.
Zimfo Bytes

Indy Racing Photo Pro

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 266Happy holiday from ZimmComm. I hope everyone is enjoying a little time off before getting back to work. In this week’s program I’d like to introduce you to the man who is Indy photography. He’s Ron McQueeny, Indy Racing League, Director of Photography. That’s Ron in the picture providing pre-race direction to all of us photographers who were shooting the Iowa Corn Indy 250.

Ron McQueenyI’ve had the luck to be an accredited photographer at quite a few Indy races and Ron was one of the first people I met. After I realized I was not equipped to shoot cars going 200 mph he gave me some advice on equipment and shooting tips that proved to be invaluable. Ron has been working in photography with Indy for a long time and in our discussion you’ll hear him talk about how he got his start. I think it’s good inspiration for anyone interested in a career of professional photography.

The reason you see Ron giving pre-race directions to photographers is because of the serious nature of the job. It is a dangerous one and the goal is to minimize danger while still getting the shots needed. If you’ve wondered what it’s like to shoot race cars then give this program a listen.

For me, one of the best parts of our discussion was a story Ron tells about working with Paul Dana, Indy Car driver who was killed in a pre-race accident in March, 2006. I got to know Paul who is credited with making ethanol the fuel of the IRL. Ron was asked by Paul to shoot some photos that were used in the effort to bring home grown fuel to the League.

ZimmCast 266

The program ends this week with Independence Day by Life Has Teeth from Music Alley.

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 page6

Audio, Ethanol, Indy Racing, ZimmCast

Fallout from Ohio HSUS Deal

Cindy Zimmerman

Two days after it was announced, the consensus in the animal agriculture world seems to be that Ohio farm groups made a “deal with the devil” in the agreement with the Humane Society of the United States to drop its animal rights ballot initiative in the state.

Initially, the HSUS watchdog website HumaneWatch was jubilant about the agreement and called it a victory. Upon further research, however, editor David Martosko changed his mind, finding that the “devil was in the details” of the deal.

animal agThe Animal Agriculture Alliance puts it succinctly in a press release. “The only group to benefit from this agreement is HSUS,” they say. “This “compromise” is only the beginning. HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle has indicated that the agreement is “not legally binding,” meaning that while HSUS will not be pursuing a ballot initiative this fall, the future is still uncertain.”

Many individual farmers and ranchers feel the same way, as well as pet breeders and others who feel they were “thrown under the bus” in the agreement. Time will tell, but an old Irish proverb says “the devil never grants long leases” so we are likely to find out sooner rather than later if this was a deal that Ohio agriculture will live to regret.

Animal Activists

Alltech Pleased With Dairy Symposium Success

Chuck Zimmerman

Alltech Dairy Solutions SymposiumThe Dairy Solutions Symposium, sponsored by Alltech has come to an end. The theme of the conference was Rumen Health: A 360 Degree Analysis. I think we did look at the subject from just about every angle possible.

I started my coverage of the conference with a preview interview with Sylvie Andrieu, European Ruminant Technical Manager, Alltech. So what better way than to wrap it up in the same way?

Sylvie says it was a wonderful symposium, especially the discussion opportunities and interaction between people from a large number of countries. She also notes how interesting it was that some of the researcher presenters questioned the SARA concept and think that it should perhaps be renamed. It was clear that what is called SARA is more diverse than was thought. I concur with Sylvie that the feedback I heard from attendees has been very positive. Hopefully this means the symposium goals were achieved.

For complete coverage of the symposium please visit World Dairy Diary.

Sylvie Andrieu Closing Interview

Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010 Photo Album

Alltech, Audio, Dairy

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The 5th annual North Carolina Leadership Award in Industrial Biotechnology was presented to BASF Plant Science LP during the World Congress for Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing.
  • Soybean growers in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin now have a new fungicide option to treat Sclerotinia stem rot: Proline fungicide from Bayer CropScience.
  • World Ag Expo has officially launched its search for the newest and most innovative products for 2011 World Ag Expo. For the sixth year, a panel of World Ag Expo Top-10 judges will select 10 new products to highlight at the expo, scheduled for Feb. 8-10, 2011.
  • The U.S. Soybean Federation announces two new state affiliates — the Minnesota Soybean Federation and the Oklahoma Soybean Federation. The USSF Board of Directors also announces recently elected new officers.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Dairy Solutions Symposium Via Alltech Continues

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Alltech Dairy Solutions SymposiumThe Dairy Solutions Symposium, sponsored by Alltech, is not only technical presentations on rumen health but an opportunity to network with fellow dairy industry professionals and have some fun. Our gala dinner last night took place at the DierenPark Amersfoort, a very nice zoo. We ate very near the elephant exhibit. I sat with participants from Brazil and Poland and we had a great time.

    Today is the final day of the symposium. I’ll continue posting interviews on various topic over on World Dairy Diary so head over there if you want more specific information from the presenters and participants.

    Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010 Photo Album

    Alltech, Dairy, International

    Eating Rural Home Grown 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.

    It has been been two weeks since I last sat down and wrote a blog post and these last 2-3 weeks have had their share of incredible, awkward, and sometimes down right boring moments.

    A short time ago I had the enlightening experience of traveling to a rural village in Southern Jiangsu Province that was the hometown of my Teacher (Xing Laoshi). This village, and its people, have been here for a long time, and as far as its history goes, it has changed little until recently (1980s). As for the village itself, there is a main road that stretches through a central shopping district, and smaller roads extending out fro m this main road. At about half a mile down one of these roads, the road gave away to a series of small fields, and from there on lay a small series of houses together, and more fields.

    The houses and road makeup themselves make one suspect that this area has changed little in the past decades, but more and more, the entire area is ringed by different series of factories, and so despite some buildings having stood for centuries, the area around the village has quickly changed and shows the incredible development of Jiangsu Province.Read More

    Education, International, University

    Georgia Peanuts named best in America

    Melissa Sandfort

    Georgia peanuts have been named the best peanuts in America through an online poll – The Great American Peanut Debate. The poll was conducted by Congressional Quarterly Roll Call in Washington, D.C. as part of the 49th Annual Congressional Baseball Game. Georgia received first place with 43% of the total votes.

    “Peanuts and baseball have been part of America’s national past-time for years,” says Armond Morris, chairman of the Georgia Peanut Commission. “Georgia farmers are honored that consumers voted Georgia as the state growing the best peanuts in America.”

    During the annual congressional baseball game on June 29, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., Congressmen Jim Marshall, D-Ga. and Jack Kingston, R-Ga., accepted the trophy at Nationals Park on behalf of Georgia’s peanut farm families.

    There were 13,097 votes cast in the online poll and Georgia received 43% of the votes with Virginia in a close second at 41% of the votes.

    Uncategorized