Syngenta Gets BIO Award for Feeding the World

Cindy Zimmerman

BIOSyngenta was honored this week at the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) International Convention in Chicago with an award recognizing achievements in crop productivity innovations that help feed the world.

SyngentaBIO annually honors companies in the categories of “Healing, Feeding and Fueling the World” based on a pre-conference poll of attendees. Syngenta was named the “Buzz of BIO” award winner in the “Feeding the World” category by attendees at this year’s BIO International Convention.

“The Buzz of BIO contest has been a popular part of our pre-convention activities. BIO International Convention attendees voted for their choices and Syngenta was the winner this year in the Feeding category. Congratulations,” said John Craighead, Managing Director of Investor Relations & Business Development, Biotechnology Industry Organization.

Syngenta

Bouncing Back To Alltech

Chuck Zimmerman

Looking ahead, my next big trip will be to Alltech’s 26th International Animal Health and Nutrition Industry Symposium, May 16-19.

In a year when much of the world has been impacted by the economic downturn, Alltech’s symposium will focus on a number of key issues critical to the success of a business. Building on the company’s previous symposia, the 2010 Symposium, ‘A Time for People, Profits, and Planet’ will drill down to the factors crucial to a company’s survival.

Alltech

New Beef Advertising Campaign

Chuck Zimmerman

This looks like it could be what’s for dinner tonight. The Beef Board’s new advertising campaign is premiering this month with a tagline of “29 Lean Cuts. One Powerful Protein.” Print ads like this one include recipes. The recipe for the meal in the photo is posted after the break below.

“This campaign reinforces consumers’ passion for the great flavor beef provides, while helping consumers identify the variety of lean options beef offers,” said Weldon Wynn, rancher from Star City, Arkansas, and vice chair of the industry’s Joint Advertising Committee. Beef farmers and ranchers from across the country direct the Beef Checkoff-funded “Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner.” campaign. “I’m proud to be part of this exciting venture in helping Americans get to know the many great tasting lean beef cuts available,” said Wynn.

The new print advertisements feature plated shots of beef with an homage to each cut’s personality. For example, the T-Bone advertisement zeroes in on a beauty shot of the steak and points out: “When all the steaks get together, they call this one boss.” The ad for the Filet Mignon, also known as the Tenderloin, reassures you that “’mignon’ is just fancy talk for mouthwatering.”

The print advertisements will appear in monthly national magazines with an emphasis on food, health/fitness, parenting, lifestyle and men’s sports. Radio spots on nationally syndicated radio shows and satellite radio, combined with an outdoor advertising campaign in select markets, will follow shortly after the print ads launch. Public relations, health professional outreach, social media and retail promotional efforts round out this integrated effort. Read More

Advertising, Beef

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

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  • Farm Progress Companies is pleased to announce it has been honored with an award from min: the prestigious min’s Most Engaged Media Brand Award.
  • DuPont announced the EPA granted the historic commercial registration of Optimum AcreMax 1 insect protection for Pioneer brand corn hybrids.
  • Bayer CropScience announces a $7.5 million contribution to the Texas Tech University Department of Plant and Soil Science, Lubbock, Texas.
  • DuPont named William S. Niebur as leader of its Pioneer Hi-Bred business in China.
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    Register For Ag Media Summit

    Chuck Zimmerman

    It’s now time to think Agricultural Media Summit. Registration is now available online (pdf). This is the joint meeting of: American Agricultural Editors’ Association, Livestock Publications Council and ABM Agri-Council plus the annual meeting of the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow.

    If you’re looking for the best place to promote your company or organization’s products and services, then you’ll want to be at the 12th Annual Ag Media Summit in St. Paul, MN, July 24-28, 2010. This annual get-together, the largest meeting in the United States of the ag industry’s top writers, editors, photographers, publishers and ag communicator specialists, begins with pre-meeting tours on Saturday, July 24, followed by the AMS program July 25-28. We invite you to participate as a sponsor or an exhibitor at our InfoExpo or both, and be a part of this important agricultural media event.

    This industry-wide gathering of agricultural communicators offers one of the best opportunities for professional improvement and industry networking. More than 600 attend this event each year, and the InfoExpo annually exceeds 75 booths. Check out the sponsor brochure for more information. See you in St. Paul as we go Rolling On The River AMS Style.

    Ag Media Summit

    RFD-TV to Air Fungicide Feature

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Preventative fungicides and plant health will be the topic of RFD-TV’s “Monday Night Live” with BASF on May 10.

    header.jpgThe show will feature an expert panel to discuss how growers are controlling disease, realizing Plant Health benefits and maximizing yield with preventative fungicides like Headline fungicide from BASF. Among those on the panel will be our friend Ken McCauley, a Kansas farmer and former NCGA President, Marc Eads, a crop consultant in northern Indiana, and BASF technical expert Nick Fassler about how Headline fungicide can minimize labor costs and improve ROI.

    During the hour-long show, the panel will discuss grower results using preventative fungicide applications and show you how to get the most out of every acre. Plus, you can call-in and visit with the panel of experts who will answer all of your fungicide questions.

    RFD-TV “Monday Night Live” with BASF will air at 8 p.m. Eastern (7 p.m. Central) on Monday, May 10. RFD-TV is available on most rural cable television networks. Find out where in your area by going to the RFD-TV schedule on line.

    BASF

    Honest Honey

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Honestly, the name is great. What do you think of when you first hear, “Honest Honey”?

    Four North American honey marketing companies and importers – Golden Heritage Foods, LLC, Burleson’s Inc., Odem International, and Dutch Gold Honey – today launched the Honest Honey Initiative and pledged to help protect the quality and reputation of the U.S. honey supply, as well as the sustainability of U.S. beekeepers and honey businesses. The initiative seeks to call attention to illegal sales of honey in circumvention of U.S. trade laws, a practice that the organizers estimate cost the United States up to $200 million in uncollected duties in 2008 and 2009 combined and threatens a vital segment of U.S. agriculture.

    The group unveiled a website, HonestHoney.com, an educational resource providing information about where honey comes from and ways consumers, honey companies, food manufacturers and retailers can take action to eliminate illegally imported honey.

    Food

    iPad Review Part Two

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Since “ag geek” Willie Vogt just wrote an iPad review I figured it was time for me to provide you with another one. You really can’t have enough geek gadget information can you? I know a lot of you are trying to decide if you should get one now that the 3G version is out. I don’t have a 3G iPad because at this point I am content to use wifi only. So here goes.

    To start with, I use this device quite a bit. It is great for taking to Coffee Zone in the morning where there is good wifi. I can take a productive 30 minutes to enjoy some Rocket Fuel, read my email and perhaps respond to some, check my Twitter feeds and all my news feeds. The apps I’m using for this are the built in email app, NetNewsWire, AP, NYT, Reuters, USA Today and Twitterific. I have Tweetdeck but I fell out of love with the desktop version since it’s such a memory hog and actually locked up my computer at times. I never liked the desktop version of Twitterific but the iPad app is excellent. If they come out with an iPad version of Tweetie though I will probably be switching since that’s my favorite for the iPhone and desktop. So for all you farm folks you might think of this as your tool that allows you to keep your fingers clean at the coffee shop when you catch up on news and do some online work. No more ink stains from the printed word. Apologies to my publications friends.

    At home I mostly keep the iPad in the living room. I can grab it and sit in my recliner and do all the above in addition to reading books with the iBooks app (iTunes book store) or Kindle app. No Barnes & Noble app out yet but I’ll get it when it is. I’ve read several books now and both iBooks and Kindle are excellent reading experiences.

    Web browsing with the built in Safari browser is fun. With good wifi you can pretty much do most of the same things you can do on your computer except anything that requires Adobe Flash. This hasn’t been an issue with me since I just reserve those things for when I’m on my iMac or Macbook Pro.Read More

    Equipment

    Seed Company Loyalty Drops According to New Seed Study

    Joanna Schroeder

    While most of the seed decisions have come and gone for the 2010 growing season, farmers are always thinking about the next year and marketers are always thinking about how to encourage farmers to buy their seed. This year, Successful Farming (SF) conducted a seed study, (and they also do a Farmer Insight Study each year) one that they have done every two years for the past 12 years. This year, there was a pretty big surprise.

    What wasn’t a surprise said Curt Blades, the Director for Sales and Marketing for SF, is that farmers continue to have a favorite seed company and this has remained consistent for the past six years. But what has changed is the loyalty to that seed company. SF’s research has shown that in the past, a farmer’s favorite seed company mirrored the farmer’s loyalty to that seed company. Yet this year’s research has shown that company loyalty has fallen sharply in the last three studies.

    So what does this mean? “In the past six years there’s been some pretty phenomenal advancements in the technology and there have been some wide swings in the genetics some companies have had, explains Blades. “Also, in the same token, there have been some ownership changes and changes in the way seed has been brought to market.”

    It will be interesting, continued Blades, to see how it all plays out.

    Another interesting element of the Seed Study was that for the first time SF asked if the price of seed was justified and 40 percent said yes. This is good news for the seed companies said Blades.

    To learn more about the Seed Study, listen to my interview with Curt below. Still want to learn more? Current SF advertisers have access to the study for free.

    Research, Seed

    Zimfo Bytes

    Melissa Sandfort

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    • Join the American Agricultural Editors Association for a Webinar on Tuesday, May 11, 2 p.m. CST — Headline Writing Creativity vs. Practicality: One sings on the printed page, the other draws readers to the Web. Contact Linda Smith (lsmith@farmjournal.com) for more information.
    • The Agribusiness Association of Iowa has donated $100,000 to Iowa State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences for scholarships.
    • FalconScan, LLC, is collaborating with the AgJunction division of GVM Inc. to offer standardized work order and data delivery solutions for aerial imagery services to growers and agricultural service providers.
    • Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced USDA’s plan to purchase $161.4 million in a wide variety of foods for federal food and nutrition assistance programs.
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