Ever wonder what the American Farmland Trust does? Then watch their video.
American Farmland Trust: Saving the Land that Sustains Us from Gretchen Hoffman on Vimeo.
R&D Doubling At Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica
When it comes to R&D at Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Kevin Fowler is a go to guy. He’s seen here showing research labs at the BIVI facilities in St. Joseph, MO to a group of ag media.
The first thing that excites Kevin after BIVI acquired some of the Ft. Dodge Animal Health business is the ability to expand more into the dog and cat vaccine lines of products. He says this is a perfect fit and gives the company a great opportunity for future growth.
At the St. Joseph site they have 80 acres of research, manufacturing and engineering services. They have similar facilities at the Ft. Dodge, IA site they just acquired but it’s much larger at 320 acres.
Kevin thinks that one of the things that sets BIVI apart from other companies when bringing a product to market is their R&D group which is very team-oriented. He’s working on a 10 year plan to grow and integrate in an organized manner.
You can listen to my interview with Kevin below.
Nicholson Kovac Veterinarian New Media Usage Study
Nicholson Kovac has once again documented what agrimarketers know intuitively. This time it’s about veterinarians. The agency just released its Veterinarian New Media Usage Study. It has some interesting findings that should help make marketing decisions using new media easier to justify.
The Veterinarian New Media Usage Study provides comprehensive insight on the use of new and social media among veterinarians – including Internet usage, social networking and mobile phone activities − for business and social purposes.
“This eye-opening research shows that veterinarians are using a number of new tools to communicate with their customers and staff. Many of them send text messages to practice or clinic staff and other veterinarians,” said Sheree Johnson, Nicholson Kovac’s senior vice president, director of media services. “We also found it interesting that text messaging may serve as a customer service tool – a growing number of veterinarians, especially those who work with large animals, are also sending texts to their customers, possibly about the status of their animals.”
For more details read: Read More
AG CONNECT Expo Advocating For Agriculture Awards
Sara Mooney is the Director of the AG CONNECT Expo and attended the National Association of Farm Broadcasting Trade Talk along with my man Rich Jefferson. I had been wanting to talk to them about their Advocating For Agriculture awards program where they will recognize three individuals who support “in a compelling way the work of farmers and ranchers to provide abundant and affordable food and fiber.” There are three categories: Ag Woman of the Year, Community Leadership and Ag Innovation.
The grand prize winner of each of the three award categories will receive a free trip to AG CONNECT Expo 2010, including roundtrip airfare for two to Orlando, Florida, from anywhere in the continental U.S. Nominations are due by the end of this week, November 28. Then online voting will start on December 4. All winners will be announced on December 18 and I’m sure we’ll have them posted here.
“AG CONNECT Expo’s awards are a way for our trade show to put a spotlight on the significant contributions that those in production agriculture make to our quality of life,” said Sara Mooney, the Director of AG CONNECT Expo. “We want the awards to draw attention to those whose work and accomplishments this year exemplify ‘advocating for agriculture.'”
You can listen to my interview with Sara below and read more about the awards by clicking on the “more” link. Read More
Zimfo Bytes
- Tyson Foods has chosen Donnie Smith, currently senior group vice president of Poultry and Prepared Foods, to be the company’s president and chief executive officer, effective immediately.
- Bader Rutter announces Donna Queisser and Amy Graff have been promoted to senior account executives in the agency’s account management group.
- The economics of structural change and competition in U.S. agriculture and food markets is the subject of a one-day conference planned for Monday, Dec. 7. There is a $40 registration fee for the conference. Registration is available online.
- The American Angus Association is launching into nationwide television broadcasting with the airing of its first, hour-long program this coming January. Called “I Am Angus,” the program will profile people from across the country whose lives are defined by Angus cattle and Angus beef. “I Am Angus” will air at 9 p.m. EST, Jan. 4, 2010, on RFD-TV.
Thank A Corn Farmer
This video pretty much sums up one of the things we have to be thankful for this week.
Digital Potatoes
The U.S. Potato Board got some recognition for balancing traditional and digital media recently. Their target?
She’s called “Power Mom.” “Momfluential.” “Chief Purchasing Officer.” Even “Mogul Mom.” She is the United States Potato Board (USPB) Domestic Marketing program’s primary target: women, 25-54 with kids younger than 18 living at home. She makes at least 80 percent of the decisions regarding her household’s spending, and she doesn’t make those decisions passively.
The USPB presented a case study at the “M2Moms Annual Conference”, a professional development conference for marketers.
Meredith Myers, USPB Public Relations Manager, was part of an interactive panel in October, along with the Vice President of Marketing for iRobot and Director of Consumer Public Relations for Hallmark Cards. These professionals came together and discussed, to a packed room, how their unique approaches directly reach “momfluentials” and are generating measurable results.
Some of their digital outreach includes:
Potato Goodness Website
Mom’s Dinner Helper
Facebook Fan Page
YouTube Channel
BIVI Sees Big Jump In Cattle Business
The head of the U.S. cattle business for Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica is Colin Meyers. Colin says the main thing the acquisition of Ft. Dodge Animal Health means to the company is that they now have a much broader range of products to offer. One product in particular, Cydectin, moves them into the anti-parasitic market with a very well recognized name.
When it comes to the cattle market he says that in the vaccine area they’ll have about 20 percent of the market and increases in other areas as well. They’ll have a larger sales and veterinarian force to reach out to customers and a bigger distribution network. They’ve spent the last three weeks bringing in new staff, distributors and others to help enable a smooth transition for customers.
You can listen to my interview with Colin below.
You’ve Got To Love Farmers
Annalisa Clarke manages I Love Farmers, They Feed My Soul. In the AEM AGCONNECT Expo booth at the NAFB Trade Talk I spoke with her about the campaign. She says they’ve started a new media campaign they’ve started to promote agriculture. It’s targeted to individuals 14-24 years old who she calls “digital natives.” She says they’re allowing them to communicate where their food comes from, how it’s produced and who produces it via social media platforms like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, text messaging as well as their website.
Annalisa says progress has been tremendous in the 6 months since the campaign started. They’ve got over 19,000 Facebook page members for example. Support I Love Farmers with some of their great stuff. You can listen to my interview with Annalisa below.
Harvest Photos From U.S. Grains Council
If you’re looking for some photos of the harvest then look to the U.S. Grains Council Flickr set of 2009 Harvest Photos.
The USGC is collecting photos from U.S. farmers all over the country. Thanks to all of you that submitted photos. Remember that we are still accepting photos until Dec. 1, 2009.
This photo is of Dave and Sue Roehm who make farming a family affair in Leesburg, Ohio.