National Soy Foods Month

Chuck Zimmerman

According to the National Soybean Research Laboratory April is National Soy Foods Month. I support soy very much, however, I like mine processed by an animal (poultry, pork, cattle) first.

Soymilk, soy burgers and soy cheese are showing up in consumers’ shopping carts now more than ever. Take a stroll through your local grocery store and you’ll find soy foods front and center. Soymilk can be found in a multitude of flavors in the dairy section and tasty soy nuts show up near sunflower seeds in the snack food aisle. Today, edamame (the green soybean) embellishes salads at fast food restaurants and soy spaghetti is a well-liked entrée on school lunch menus. April is National Soy Foods Month and now more than ever, more and more people are enjoying soy.

“The nutritional benefits of soy may be among the reasons soy is gaining in popularity,” said Stacey Krawczyk, research dietitian at the National Soybean Research Laboratory (NSRL) at the University of Illinois. “Soybeans are packed full of protein. They are the only complete vegetable protein containing all essential amino acids. Soybeans contain no cholesterol, are low in saturated fat, and provide important Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids.”

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DuPont TankMix iPhone/iPod App

Chuck Zimmerman

I guess I just missed the announcement of the Dupont TankMix iPhone app which of course also works fine on an iPod touch.

The DuPont Information Technology’s (IT) Innovation Office, under the leadership of John Puckett, director, IT innovation, sponsored the project.

The TankMix App provides basic math calculations for the amount of product and water needed per tank or area. The current TankMix App does not contain product specific information. However, a link to the DuPont CP website guides users to specific production information and usage guidance. This app calculates spray volumes.

According to John Chrosniak, regional business director, Crop Protection, North America, the team was able to develop the app through the collaboration of a cross-functional team. Team members included John Beitler, Kevin Ego, Bernardo Tiburcio, Chandra Manickam and Mike Hemman. Work on future versions and additional applications that support Crop Protection products are underway.

The TankMix App is available through Apple’s App Store, where it is free to download on any Apple iTouch or iPhone. A simple search for Crop Protection, DuPont or Agriculture will give growers access to the free calculator.

I guess that answers the question of whether or not DuPont thinks farmers use mobile technology!

Agribusiness

Do You Have AgWired Mobile?

Chuck Zimmerman

AgWired MobileIt has been a long time since I’ve reminded you of a great way to keep up with AgWired via your mobile phone. Besides the fact that AgWired is mobile phone browser friendly (it knows what kind of phone you use!) you can put that unlimited text plan to good use with AgWired Mobile. Sign up for free and get a text when we do a new post.

Messages will contain the title of the story and a link directly to it if you’d like to click through and read it right on your phone. It will keep you agricultural marketing professionals on top of your game. Sign up now:

Just text “agwired” to 46786

That’s it. You’ll get confirmation immediately and then you’ll get AgWired updates automatically. News will be sent between 8am-8pm.

If you ever want to unsubscribe (why would you?) then just text “agwired stop” to the same number.

AgWired Mobile is powered by (thank you Joel Jaeger):
Commodity Update

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NAMA Drawings At Booth 412

Chuck Zimmerman

The 2010 Agri-Marketing Conference and Connection Point trade show is getting closer. If you’re a professional agrimarketer attending the convention you’ll be able to enter our booth #412 drawing for a brand new B&N Nook. I like my iPad but I also like all eReaders and I’m a big B&N fan so I hope to see you stop by and visit with Cindy, Joanna or myself. I’ll be getting in during the opening session from the IFAJ Congress in Ostend, Belgium.

Now for students, don’t think we forgot about you. You’ll have your own entry box to win a new Samson Zoom H2. It’s a great tool for the farm podcaster soon to be!

We’ll also have some other cool items to give away for everyone who stops by so we hope to see you in Kansas City, MO.

AgWired coverage of the 2010 Agri-Marketing Conference will be sponsored once again by Successful Farming. I’m sure I’ll be having some pre-conference announcements from SF for you so keep watching your AgWired feed wherever you get it (RSS, Text, Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, Widget, or just plain old visiting the website). Remember that AgWired is mobile phone enabled, meaning you’ll get a great phone browser experience regardless of what phone you have.

NAMA

Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizers Improve Sustainability

Chuck Zimmerman

Charlie WalkerWhen it comes to sustainable food production, enhanced efficiency fertilizers are starting to play a role. At the Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizer Conference Charlie Walker, Incitec Pivot Ltd., Australia was on the program to talk about how they’re using urease and nitrification inhibitors to accomplish this. If you like a good Aussie accent then you’ll enjoying listening to Charlie. He’s a technical and development manager for his company.

He told the audience that EEF’s can improve environmental quality. However, when he thinks of sustainability he also thinks about profitability and minimizing off-target impacts. He calls it a “double whammy.” It has to not only help the environment but also make sense financially for the farmer. He recommends working with a well informed agronomist since there isn’t a one size fits all when it comes to EEF’s. He says that in Australia EEF’s are in the very early stages of adoption.

You can listen to my interview with Charlie below.

Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizer Conference Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the New Ag International Conference
on Enhanced-Efficiency Fertilizers is made possible by .

Audio, Fertilizer, International, Sustainability

AgChat Nation

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 255If the AgChat Foundation has its way the whole nation will be participating in a weekly Twitter conversation. Okay. Maybe that’s a little grandiose but the goal of the Foundation is to get many more farmers involved with Agvocacy by telling their story and interacting with consumers and each other via social networking.

In this week’s program I’ve got another in my series of interviews with AgChat Foundation board members. You can listen to Kansas farmer, Darin Grimm, talk about his involvement and what we hope to accomplish.

Darin farms with his father and a couple of valued partners raising row crops and feeding cattle in the northeast corner of Kansas. Darin has been involved for a number of years in precision agriculture and using data to help understand and improve agronomic decisions on the farm. “With such a small amount of the population directly connected to growing their food today, social media seems to be a vital component in helping people understand today’s farm business. My personal passion is applying the data skills I have learned from working with technology such as sensors and GPS systems to the world of
social media.”

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, Social Networking, ZimmCast

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The Mosaic Company announced that it entered into an agreement with Vale S.A. and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. related to a proposed joint venture that will own the Bayovar phosphate rock mine being constructed by Vale in Peru.
  • The National Pork Producers Council has hired Chris Wall as assistant vice president for government relations in its Washington, D.C., public-policy office.
  • IRON Solutions, Inc., will consolidate its management and headquarters functions in new offices in Franklin, Tenn.
  • The Oklahoma Pork Council selected Ron Hays, director of farm programming for the Radio Oklahoma Network, to receive the Distinguished Service Award.
    Zimfo Bytes

    First iPad Review

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Here’s my first review of my new iPad. I’m sure I’ll have more to write in coming days after I get accessories and have more time to be on it. If you’ve already got yours send me a photo of you with it and let me know your thoughts.

    I’ve got my extra Apple bluetooth keyboard paired to it which makes typing a lot faster. The built in keypad is very easy to use and a big relief from the iPhone one, especially for those with big fingers.

    This will not replace my Macbook Pro notebook. However, for some people who only want to do email, browse do social networking and consume media (books, magazines, movies, etc.) this will be quite sufficient. I see me using it at home to grab and do the above functions and it’s going to be great for the airports and planes.

    I like the fact that it turns on instantly. So let’s say you come home, sit down in your recliner and want to deal with email or surf the web. Pick it up and boom, you’re online. Read More

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    Happy Easter

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Happy Easter AgWired fans. Today is a day of celebration since it marks the greatest event to ever happen in the history of the world. Jesus rising from the dead.

    Since so many people will be celebrating by coloring Easter eggs and cooking big meals I think we should give thanks to God for our bounty and sending His Son as our savior. And if it’s not too presumptuous, I also want to thank our farmers and ranchers who produce the safest and most nutritious and bountiful food supply in the world. In fact, I would apply that to all farmers anywhere in the world.

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    USDA April Sense of Humor

    Chuck Zimmerman

    USDA does have a sense of humor. At least Mary Ann Leonard at the National Agriculture Library does. Here’s her April Fool’s Day post on the NAL Blog. It’s so good I had to share it. The photo credit is, “by Extraterrestrial Farmers United Intergalactic rights reserved.”

    USDA, the “Every Day, Every Way” Department, made its play for the hearts and minds of visitors to our Nation’s Capital by employing alien crop circle technology to carve the Department’s logo into the grass of the National Mall.

    Tourists lucky enough to be on the observation deck of the Washington Monument on April 1st got a bird’s eye view of the spectacular sight.

    Strangely, however, only one photo of the phenomenon — the one you see above — was released. All other photos were eerily erased without any known intervention.

    Miraculously, the green expanse is expected to be back to normal by Friday, April 2nd, just in time for the crowds that will descend on the Mall and the Tidal Basin area this weekend to see this year’s cherry blossoms.

    USDA