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Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Cargill, Incorporated’s Nutrena Brand has announced its continued sponsorship of the Appaloosa Horse Club to promote excellence in equine nutrition and performance.
  • This May 5, the late Ato Werqu Mekasha of Ethiopia will be the first international inductee in the U.S. Cooperative Hall of Fame – the U.S. cooperative community’s highest honor.
  • Syngenta announced that it has entered into a partnership with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center to focus on the development and advancement of technology in wheat.
  • Pioneer Hi-Bred has announced several leadership changes designed to further accelerate the company’s ability to respond quickly and effectively to customer needs. Visit the Web site for a complete listing of leadership changes.
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    More HSUS Watchers

    Chuck Zimmerman

    You know, I get pretty tired of pointing out to people that the Humane Society of the United States is not what you think it is. But let’s face it, they deserve all the publicity they’re getting. They want to put farmers out of business. It’s that simple. No farmers then perhaps no animals raised for food. They do just want us all to become vegan like them.

    Okay. So here’s a video clip just posted onto HumaneWatch.org that is well worth sharing. I like this guy. I hope you will too. Just another intelligent, common sense person helping spread the truth about HSUS.

    And you might want to take a look at the Iowa Farm Bureau’s Farm Fresh Blog and a post by Dirck Steimel. Here’s an excerpt about how he was kept out of the HSUS “news” conference last week:

    Why were we kept out? HSUS leader Wayne Pacelle told the Des Moines Register that he shut out ag affiliated folks because he didn’t want “disruptions.”

    But you have to wonder. It appears the tanned and polished Pacelle just doesn’t want to answer tough, and informed, questions. That doesn’t fit into Pacelle’s formula where he parachutes into town, calls a press conference at a downtown hotel and tries to make a splash in the media with undercover videos of alleged animal abuse.

    The folks he accuses don’t get a chance to talk or ask questions. It doesn’t matter that they work 24-7 to care for animals and to produce safe, healthy and wholesome food. Or, that they, too, don’t tolerate the abuse of animals and want to get to the bottom of any alleged abuse.

    Animal Activists, Wackos

    X-Ray Vision For Food Labels – FoodEssentials Scanner

    Chuck Zimmerman

    What do you think will happen in rural America once the iPhone is available on multiple carriers? Yes, that’s right. The percentage of farmers with iPhones will increase. Let’s hope this happens soon since AT&T is not the rural carrier of choice. There are still a lot of farmers with iPhones of course and I know many who want one.

    One of the reasons they want one is because of their functionality that includes apps. There’s an app for almost everything you can think of. A new one I just got info on is the FoodEssentials Scanner. These folks have a number of apps available. I thought this one looked pretty interesting.

    For the first time, consumers can easily access additive, allergen, ingredient and nutrient properties of any food product in-store by scanning food label barcodes with an innovative iPhone application from FoodEssentials.

    Consumers can use the FoodEssentials Scanner to customize their food label view to focus on particular ingredients, food intolerances, or dietary needs and then compare products side-by-side to help them to choose the best products for their family’s needs.

    While food labeling is under increased scrutiny – including Michelle Obama’s push to improve labeling and the FDA’s recent Health and Diet Survey showing a 10% increase in consumers who read food labels – reading and comparing labels remains a confusing exercise for most consumers, not to mention allergy or food intolerance sufferers.

    The aim of the FoodEssentials Scanner is to leverage technology to simplify and personalize the food choice process. ¨Food labels contain a lot of information and everyone has their own specific needs,¨ said Anton Xavier, CEO of FoodEssentials who co-founded the Chicago, Illinois based company in 2008. ¨We’re focused on delivering a personalized label experience for anyone with an allergy, food intolerance or specific need¨.

    The FoodEssentials Food Label Database is at the core of the application. ¨Presently the database contains 160,000 commercially available products and over 30,000 ingredients¨ said Dheeraj Patri, co-founder and COO. ¨In addition, we’re dedicated to collecting product data for scans that return no results, so that the more it is used the better it’ll get¨.

    Food, Technology

    Ag Groups Unite for Estate Tax Reform

    Cindy Zimmerman

    afbfIn a letter to Senate leaders, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) has joined with 27 other agricultural groups in a unified call for permanent and meaningful estate tax relief for America’s farm and ranch families.

    “We support permanently raising the exemption to no less than $5 million per person and reducing the top rate to no more than 35 percent,” the organizations stated. “It is also imperative that the exemption be indexed to inflation, provide for spousal transfers and include the stepped-up basis.

    “Family farmers and ranchers are not only the caretakers of our nation’s rural lands but they are small businesses too,” the groups stated. “The 2011 change to the estate tax law does a disservice to agriculture because we are a land-based capital-intensive industry with few options for paying estate taxes when they come due. The current state of our economy, coupled with the uncertain nature of estate tax liabilities make it difficult for family-owned farms and ranches to make sound business decisions.”

    The groups urged Congress to immediately pass permanent estate tax reform, which they stated “provides the greatest relief and certainty for agriculture” and helps “strengthen the business climate for family farmers, ranchers and growers while ensuring agricultural businesses are passed to future generations.”

    In addition to AFBF, the letter was signed by: American Farmland Trust; American Mushroom Institute; American Sheep Industry Association; American Soybean Association; American Sugar Alliance; Farm Credit Council; National Association of Wheat Growers; National Cattlemen’s Beef Association; National Corn Growers Association; National Cotton Council; National Council of Farmer Cooperatives; National Farmers Union; National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry; National Milk Producer Federation; National Pork Producers Council; National Potato Council; National Turkey Federation; Northwest Dairy Association; Public Lands Council; Southeast Dairy Farmers Association; Southeast Milk Inc.; United Egg Producers; United Fresh Produce Association; United Producers; U.S. Apple Association; U.S.A. Rice Federation; Western Growers Association; and Western United Dairymen..

    AFBF

    Zimfo Bytes

    Melissa Sandfort

      Zimfo Bytes

    • Pioneer Hi-Bred announced Bill Even, South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture, has accepted a key role in its Biotech Affairs and Regulatory Department as senior manager, Government, Community and Industry Relations.
    • StollerUSA is looking for amazing crop photos and Stoller success stories for entry in the 2011 StollerUSA calendar contest. Judges will select a total of 12 stories/photographs from the 2010 growing season to be published—one for each month. The Grand Prize winner will receive a $500 cash prize.
    • Cheryl Koompin of American Falls, Idaho, was elected chairman of the United States Potato Board.
    • An international team of scientists publicly released the peach genome sequence, the first genome completed for crops in the Rosaceae family. The data that comprises the peach genome is housed at Washington State University on the USDA-funded Genome Database for Rosaceae.
      Zimfo Bytes

      Passionate Pressure At IFAJ Congress

      Chuck Zimmerman

      ZimmCast 256The Chair for this year’s International Federation of Agricultural Journalists 2010 Confress is Jef Verhaeren. I spoke with him via Skype to get a preview of the conference before I get there later this week. I’ll be rolling in to Ostend, Belgium on the weekend. I first met Jef years ago at the Green Week event in Berlin and we’ve stayed in touch ever since.

      One of the things I asked him about was the opening “beach animation.” The hotel we’ll be in is on the beach and apparently this event involves very large horses. I’ll know more on Saturday evening!

      Jef says the theme of this year’s Congress, Between Passion and Pressure, is to reflect the fact that agriculture all over the world is facing a lot of pressure and that you have to be passionate to stay in it and keep at it. He says that’s especially true in difficult times.

      My coverage of this year’s IFAJ Congress is being sponsored once again by Pioneer Hi-Bred and Novus International. Thank you sponsors for making it possible.

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

      You can listen to this week’s ZimmCast below.

      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, IFAJ, Media, ZimmCast

      Growth Energy Launches National Ethanol TV Ad Campaign

      Chuck Zimmerman

      This is interesting. Growth Energy (a ZimmComm client) has just announced via live web stream that they’re also launching a national ethanol tv ad campaign. “For too long, we have allowed our opponents to define who we are. That ends today,” said Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy.

      America’s ethanol supporters launched the industry’s first national TV ad campaign today to promote the only renewable, domestic fuel that is an alternative to imported oil, which makes up nearly 60 percent of the nation’s fuel supply.

      “Ethanol is America’s fuel: it’s made here in the U.S., it creates U.S. jobs, and it contributes to America’s national and economic security. This ad campaign is designed to reach beyond the Beltway to communicate those facts about ethanol to the broader American public – people who until now have only heard one side of the story,” said (Ret.) Gen. Wesley K. Clark, Co-Chairman of Growth Energy, the coalition of U.S. ethanol supporters that is airing the “America’s Fuel” campaign.

      The six-month, $2.5 million campaign will air six separate spots on four cable networks: Fox, MSNBC, CNN and HLN (formerly Headline News). More than half of the spots are in primetime, with the rest airing on shows – such as Larry King Live, Morning Joe, and Fox and Friends – that attract influential viewers, including political officeholders and the press.

      The spots began airing at 6 a.m. today on all four networks. Each of the six spots focuses on a particular message about ethanol: Independent, Clean, Renewable, Peace, Sensible and Economic.

      Ag Groups, Biofuels, Energy, Ethanol, Video

      POET Launches National Ethanol TV Ad Campaign

      Chuck Zimmerman

      A part time farmer and a full time POET. He’s featured in this new ad campaign by POET. You can see all the ads at POET TV and vote for your favorite on their Facebook page.

      POET launched a national advertising campaign today aimed at highlighting the hard work done by Americans to wean our nation off foreign oil through the production of clean, homegrown ethanol.

      The campaign includes three ads, each representing a different aspect of ethanol production. A farmer, a scientist and a plant manager recite free-verse poetry explaining their role in helping solve our nation’s fuel crisis.

      The ads refer to the inspiration for POET’s name: ordinary people using common ingredients and creativity to create something powerful and beautiful. The farmer uses sun and rain to produce crops for food and fuel. The scientist makes fuel out of waste. And the plant manager creates jobs here in America. They were shot in New York at locations including Times Square.

      Here’s one of the spots. My favorite!

      Biofuels, Ethanol, Video

      Ag Media Convergence

      Chuck Zimmerman

      Media convergence is defined as: “phenomenon involving the interlocking of computing and information technology companies, telecommunications networks, and content providers from the publishing worlds of newspapers, magazines, music, radio, television, films, and entertainment software. Media convergence brings together the “three Cs”—computing, communications, and content.” Source: Encyclopedia Britannica

      We’re really seeing this in agricultural communications today. New media is not just happening somewhere else. Take the brand new Angus Report, produced by the American Angus Association. Here’s a cattle breed association with a publication that’s now producing a very nicely done television “broadcast.” Are they an ag group? Are they public relations people? Are they ag editors? Are they farm broadcasters? Hmm. Which ag communications association should they belong to? AAEA, LPC, NAMA, ARC or NAFB? All of the above? That does start to get expensive. Just planing seeds folks. Takes time for them to grow. Gotta water and fertilize the field every now and then.

      The American Angus Association® has debuted its first-ever online news program, offering busy Angus cattlemen and women the opportunity to catch up on important industry issues while learning more about management tools and value-added marketing opportunities.

      “We understand how busy producers are these days,” says Eric Grant, Association director of public relations. “This program encapsulates the week’s top stories into as short a time frame as possible — squeezing the information ranchers need into the little time they have available.”

      The weekly web-based news program will cover a variety of topics in a traditional television news format and complements additional resources available at www.angus.org.

      Ag Groups, Media, Public Relations, Publication, Video

      Ethanol “FlameDisk” Demo

      Cindy Zimmerman

      “Drink the best and burn the rest” has been the unofficial motto of the ethanol industry – but you can literally do that when you grill with the FlameDisk® charcoal alternative.

      flamediskAccording to their promotional material, “the FlameDisk® is much more eco-friendly than charcoal and lighter fluid because it features renewable ethanol. Ethanol is extremely clean burning and generates 90% fewer pollutants than charcoal. The FlameDisk®’s aluminum casing is also recyclable.”

      When they sent me an email asking if I wanted to do an interview, I had to take them up on it – since their hook is that “each FlameDisk utilizes one pint of ethanol that comes from corn grown locally in the Midwest.” Gotta love that. The interview couldn’t be set up until Monday afternoon, but in the meantime they sent us a couple of the FlameDisks to try out ourselves. Since Chuck loves to grill, we did our own demo over the weekend and found it worked pretty well. It looks kind of like a Jiffy Pop popcorn tin, but it lights easy, heats up fast, it’s convenient, – and it’s new use for corn ethanol. What’s not to like? Not to mention that it’s commercially available at places like Ace Hardware, Home Depot, and True Value with a suggested retail price of $4.99.

      Anyway, here is our little video demo of the FlameDisk ethanol-powered charcoal alternative. Enjoy!

      Corn, Ethanol, Video