Win Homegrown Fuel on the Fourth

Cindy Zimmerman

A photo of you with your Flex Fuel Vehicle (FFV) could win you up to $185 in free fuel.

Growth EnergyGrowth Energy is encouraging Americans to celebrate Independence Day this year with homegrown “Fuel on the Fourth.”

The ethanol organization has started a new promotion offering nearly $300 in E85 fuel to Flex Fuel Vehicle (FFV) owners through the “Fuel on the Fourth” contest. Through July 1, FFV owners can enter to win one of two E85 Fuel Credit Cards – equal to $185 and $85 respectively – by submitting a photo of themselves with their FFV along with a caption describing why they choose to buy E85 fuel.

The promotion is designed to show the benefits of Flex Fuel Vehicles – which are capable of operating on any combination of conventional and renewable fuels – and recruit additional members to Growth Force, a group that believes in a cleaner, greener America through the use of biofuels.

The contest will run between June 1st and July 1st and is open to FFV owners. Growth Energy will select a first prize winner at random on July 1st in anticipation of July 4th. A second winner will be chosen based on the creativity of the photo and caption submitted. Photos and submissions will be featured on the Growthenergy.org and Growthforce.org websites. To enter, participants must complete a form located at www.growthforce.org/fuelonthefourth.

Ethanol

New Zoom For Farm Podcasters

Chuck Zimmerman

Hey Farm Podcasters. There’s a new Zoom in your future. Samson has announced the Zoom H1 which should be available next month. I’m betting this one goes over very well. Retail price expected to be $99!

If you’d like to learn more about gadgets and how they can be used to make you more productive on the job then consider scheduling me for a presentation. I’ll be doing just this in coming weeks for the Cooperative Communicators Association Institute, Association for Communicating Excellence Annual Mtg. and American Farm Bureau Federation Public Relations Conference. I can conduct a show and tell while providing live examples of how these gadgets can be used to enhance your communications efforts. I think I’ll call it Gadget Goodness.

Features:

* Stereo X/Y mic configuration captures perfect stereo images
* Same frequency and SPL handling as popular Zoom H2
* Records Broadcast WAV (BWF) at 96kHz/48kHz/44.1kHz at 16-bit or 24-bit
* Records MP3 from 48 to 320kbps for maximum recording time
* Hi-Speed USB 2.0 port
* Built-in reference speaker
* Includes 2GB microSD card and one AA battery
* One AA size battery allows 10 hours operation
* Accommodates up to 32GB microSDHC memory cards
* Track marker function
* Low cut filter
* Built-in tripod mount
* 1/8″ external mic input
* Stereo 1/8″ line output
* Auto record level
* Optional accessory package (APH-1) includes windscreen, AC adapter (USB type), USB cable, adjustable tripod stand, padded-shell case and mic clip adapter

Equipment, Podcasts, Technology

Corn Crib is Illinois Field of Dreams

Cindy Zimmerman

corn cribIt’s definitely a field of dreams, but instead of building a ball field in a corn field, Illinois corn farmers are growing corn in a ball field.

As part of the landscaping at the new home for the Normal CornBelters, the Corn Crib has small plots of corn planted under the scoreboard. “We wanted to show as much as we could actually what corn is,” said Illinois Corn Growers Field Services Director Jim Tarmann. “So, we’ve got six different mini-plots of field corn that are already coming up and we planted that ourselves.” Local FFA chapters are growing specialty corn, including popcorn and sweet corn, that will be worked into the as-yet-unfinished landscape in and around the ball park. Pioneer and Syngenta are also part of that project as co-sponsors of the new team and stadium.

corn cribJim says the Illinois beef and pork producers and Prairie Farms are sponsors as well. “We’re all very excited about this new venue to talk about modern production agriculture,” he said during an interview we did in the Illinois Corn office this morning.

Nearly 6,000 fans attended the opening home game Tuesday night against the Windy City Thunderbolts, and even though the Cornbelters lost the game 3-2, it was an exciting game in the end and everyone had a great time. Listen to or download my interview with Jim in the player below and check out the rest of the photos from the event.

Normal CornBelters Corn Crib Opener Photo Album

Audio, Corn, Uncategorized

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

    ICMB Chairman Throws Opening Pitch at Corn Crib

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Interviewing Jim RappThrowing out one of the opening pitches for the Normal CornBelters baseball home game at the Corn Crib was Jim Rapp, Illinois Corn Marketing Board. Cindy took a photo of me interviewing him as we came off the mound and you can find more photos in the photo album.

    I talked to Jim about the ICMB support for this stadium and team. He thinks it’s great and says he wishes he had a chance to do some practice pitches before getting on the mound in front of the crowd.

    Normal CornBelters Corn Crib Opener Photo Album

    You can listen to my interview with Jim here.

    Ag Groups, Audio, Corn

    Illinois Corn Growers Present the Corn Crib

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Normal CornBeltersIt’s opening night for the Normal CornBelters baseball team at the brand new Corn Crib stadium. The Corn Crib is presented by Illinois Corn Farmers and the AgWired team is set up in their suite getting ready for the first pitch.

    We’ll be here taking photos and getting some interviews throughout the evening. Of course we’ve already got a photo album started. You can find it here: Normal CornBelters Corn Crib Opener

    We’ll be tweeting @AgriBlogger and @FarmPodcaster so you may want to keep an eye there for photos and other notes while we obtain more content to load here.

    Rod WeinzierlTo get things started Cindy interviewed Rod Weinzierl, Executive Director, Illinois Corn Growers and Illinois Corn Marketing Board. Rod says that the fans in the area selecting the team name and that caught the attention of the Association. They worked out an agreement to name the stadium the Corn Crib.

    You can listen to Cindy’s interview with Rod here.

    Ag Groups, Audio, Corn

    BASF Looks to Register Three New Products

    Cindy Zimmerman

    BASF Crop Protection has filed for registration of three new active ingredients that are expected to influence crop management worldwide.

    basfBASF announced today that it has made multi-lateral, worldwide regulatory submissions for new products — Xemium™ fungicide, and Initium™ fungicide. Both were filed with regulatory authorities in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. BASF also submitted Alpha-cypermethrin™ insecticide to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for review.

    “Ongoing laboratory and in-field research shows these three products will help growers in ways they’ve never been helped before,” said Nevin McDougall, Senior Vice President, BASF Agricultural Solutions, North America. “Xemium and Initium fungicides are the result of the BASF research and discovery process. We are committed to bringing innovative solutions to the market to help growers get the most out of every acre.”

    Xemium, a new mode of action in disease protection, is being studied in a wide range of crops including fruits, vegetables and row crops. Initium fungicide is being researched on a number of specialty crops and will bring growers added disease protection. Alpha-cypermethrin insecticide is being tested globally in several row and specialty crops.

    I did interviews with Paul Rea, Director of BASF US Crop Protection Division, and BASF Technical Service Manager Rick Chamblee at this year’s Commodity Classic where they talked about BASF’s plans to introduce nine active ingredients in the next four years and 28 new products. Listen to those interviews here.

    BASF

    AgChat Foundation Receives Seed To Succeed Grant

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Harvest PR & Marketing has just announced the recipient of its second annual Seed To Succeed nonprofit PR Grant. It’s the AgChat Foundation! The grant is valued at $20,000.

    Harvest PR’s grant will help the start-up nonprofit spread its “agvocacy” message and share news of its core program areas, including Agvocacy Training and Technology Scholarships.

    “The AgChat mission really resonated with our team, as it clearly has with thousands of grassroots supporters across North America that make up the backbone of this farmer-led organization,” said Heidi Nelson, founder and principal of the boutique public relations and marketing firm. “We’re honored to lend our public relations support to the AgChat Foundation through our second annual grant offering.”

    Here at ZimmComm we’re also committed to assisting the AgChat Foundation and have committed an in-kind contribution of our own that totals nearly $10,000 for advertising and promotional services. That’s outside of my own volunteer efforts as one of the current board members.

    If your company or organization can provide some assistance to the AgChat Foundation don’t hesitate to call me or any of the members of the board.

    Ag Groups, Agencies, Public Relations

    Wisconsin Is All About Dairy In June

    Chuck Zimmerman

    ZimmCast 261Since it’s Dairy Month this week’s program is all about dairy with an interview I conducted bright and early this morning. I called up Matt Joyce, Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, and we talked about Dairy Month.

    The WMMB has a lot of online resources for consumers and anyone who wants to know more about dairy and the role it plays in a nutritional well-balanced diet. Some examples I would point you to include, Wake Up With Dairy, which all about good recipes and where you can find the closest dairy breakfast. Another one is Dairy Doing More, where you can meet dairy farmers and learn more about dairy farming. One more I’ll point you to is Eat Wisconsin Cheese, which I do btw. And for you media types they’ve got a whole section of resources which includes information about the impact of the dairy industry.

    So listen to this week’s program and pour yourself a glass of ice cold milk to celebrate!

    Since we’re talking dairy the program ends with a song titled, “Got Milk” by Kingbastard from Music Alley.

    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.

    Ag Groups, Audio, Dairy, ZimmCast

    June Is Dairy Month

    Chuck Zimmerman

    We’re leaving beef month behind to enter into dairy month. Midwest Dairy Association invites you to celebrate and learn how dairy can make sense for you.

    June Dairy Month started out as a promotion to help distribute extra milk when cows started on pasture in the warm summer months. Today, its rich history continues, with communities, companies and people from all over the country observing June Dairy Month in a variety of ways. In the Midwest, dairy farms and families often open their gates to visitors at breakfasts and tours, while stores and other business feature dairy products. We’re excited to share facts and information about June Dairy Month, ones we hope you can use for your own recognition of the observance.

    Ag Groups, Dairy