Corn in the Snow

Cindy Zimmerman

cornThe final USDA crop progress report on this year’s harvest released last week showed that 95 percent of the nation’s corn crop was finally harvested, just a few days before Christmas. Illinois was on par with the national total, reporting five percent of the crop left in the field.

I saw some of that corn this week during a visit to northern Illinois, around Kankakee and St. Anne. Some of it is still standing well, but some of it got hit pretty hard by a storm that blew in last week with up to 40 mile an hour winds.

cornThese photos are two different fields I saw along the road between Cullom and St. Anne that showed a pretty stark contrast in standability. No idea of who the farmers are who own those fields, what varieties they planted or plant health products they used, but I’d say the farmer with the field in the left photo has a better chance of salvaging a decent crop, whenever that may be.

The states still running the farthest behind in corn harvest are North and South Dakota and Wisconsin. All three were still below 90 percent complete in the final USDA report last week. That final report, by the way, was two weeks later than USDA ever issued fall harvest progress reports.

Corn, USDA

New From John Deere

Chuck Zimmerman

Matthew ArnoldTo tell us what’s new with John Deere I spoke to Matthew Arnold, Sr. Marketing Representative. Matthew was attending the NAFB Trade Talk to discuss the new 8R and 8RT tractors. These tractors range in horsepower from 225 to 345 with larger cabs and more fuel efficient engines. They also have a new suspension system on the 8RT Track models.

The new tractors were introduced to dealers in August and Matthew says the response has been great. The new cab is a feature that has really caught people’s attention since with the redesign the operator can swivel in the seat and have all the tractor’s command controls move with him.

You can listen to my interview with Matthew below:

See more NAFB and NAMA Trends photos here.

Agribusiness, Audio, Equipment, John Deere, NAFB, Tractor

Chicago Farmers Thoughts On Social Media

Chuck Zimmerman

chic-farmers-fair-10I’m going to be talking about social media and networking at the upcoming Chicago Farmers Farmland Investment Fair. But before getting there I talked about it with Rich Schell, SchellAcres.com, who is a member and committee organizer for the fair. He’s also an Attorney, Author & Agri-preneur, Wagner & Schell, LLP.

Rich says that since the purpose of the Fair is to communicate, they see social media mechanisms as just a new channel to communicate with people interested in farmland and specifically investing. That’s why I’ve helped them create a Chicago Farmers Twitter account and will be assisting with online coverage of the Fair in addition to presenting a session on social media. Rich sees the target audience for the Fair busy on their Blackberry’s and he thinks they’re pretty savvy when it comes to using the internet. My session will help those who haven’t started with social networks and want to.

Please feel free to listen in on my conversation with Rich below:

Ag Groups, Audio

AgChat Wrap

Chuck Zimmerman

AgChatWe had a great holiday week AgChat last night. Thanks to everyone who participated and made my life easy as the guest moderator. Our topic was climate change and there was no lack of opinions on the subject as it relates to agriculture. I would characterize most of the comments to the following questions as being skeptical about the science behind the modeling and policies being proposed and many even questioning the necessity of any legislation dealing with the issue. Perhaps our U.S. Senate has realized that there are way too many questions that need to be answered before creating a massive tax scheme and new bureaucratic nightmare for us to deal with since they’ve put Crap & Trade on a back burner. Too bad the House didn’t do the same.

So, although many seem to agree that we don’t need C&T and that there is too much scientific disagreement on the issue I think most are okay with continued or new research on climate change. From new research we can learn more about weather patterns, find new genes to make plants and animals more adaptable to changing conditions and maybe even new practices that will make farming more profitable.

You can scroll back through the online conversation using Twitter Search. You can also participate with AgChat via Facebook too.

Here are the questions posed in this weeks’ (final AgChat of the year/decade!) session:

Q1: via @lenejohansen Are farmers concerned about climate change and how will Cap&Trade impact the farm economy?

Q2: via @RandolphWriter Is ag better off with C&T that has potential upside for some income, or w/ direct regulation from EPA?

Q3: via @cornguy What are the potential competitive consequences if the U.S. pursues an aggressive C&T agenda and other key players stay on the sideline? via@cornguy

Q4: via @danielschel How can climate change research benefit agriculture?

Q5: via @AFBFMace Are you more concerned about added regulatory costs or climate changes that might impact production?

Q6: via @AgriBlogger What did American ag learn from the COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference?

Q7: via @mpaynknoper How do we translate the science in a way that helps people understand more than the politics of climate change?

Q8: What are executable ideas we can take away from tonight’s chat?

Uncategorized

What’s New At Alltech

Chuck Zimmerman

AlltechWhat’s new with Alltech? That’s a good question and one I posed to Billy Frey at the NAFB Alltech Trade Talk booth recently.

According to Billy one of the things this year is the fact that crops are still in the fields and that means a greater chance of molds and mycotoxins. He says that one of their core competencies is being able to understand how they will affect feed and animal nutrition. He says they’ll continue doing new research, especially since they have their new Nutrigenomics Center. They have a number of new products in the pipeline.

I asked him how the World Equestrian Games are going since Alltech is the sponsor of the games in 2010. He says almost 200,000 tickets have already been sold and it’s going to be a great place for promoting the brand.

You can listen to my interview with Billy below:

Agribusiness, Alltech, Audio, NAFB

AgChat Tonight

Chuck Zimmerman

AgChatIt’s time for another AgChat and I’ll be your guest moderator this evening. AgChat takes place via Twitter from 7-9pm Central.

I’m choosing the topic of climate change since we just finished the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. If you’re an AgWired community regular you know I am more than a skeptic when it comes to man made climate change. I think there’s way too much disagreement in the scientific community to make any policy decisions on this issue. I’m all for doing what we can to be good stewards of our natural resources but I see this whole thing as a political power grab and social engineering experiment by people who wants things their way or no way. I think it’s immoral and criminal how many activist groups, politicians and others are employing scare tactics to feather their own nests. But, hey, that’s just my opinion.

I know you’ve got an opinion of your own and AgChat tonight will be an opportunity to present it and “chat” about it and how the issue affects farming and agriculture in general. Of course, what affects ag affects consumers so let’s keep that in mind.

There are a lot of different applications you can use to participate. Here are a few:

Twubs – Highly recommended. Just use your Twitter ID to login.
TweetChat – Usually works great for me.
Tweetie – For Mac or iPhone – My Twitter app of choice.
TweetDeck – Full featured for Mac/PC or iPhone.
Seesmic – For PC, Blackberry and Android.
Open Beak (formerly Twitterberry) – For Blackberry.
ÜberTwitter – For Blackberry.
Search Twitter – The Twitter search engine.

There are certainly more than these. If you’d like to share your favorite feel free to post it in comments.

See you in AgChat.

Uncategorized

NAFB Internet Usage Study

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 244The National Association of Farm Broadcasting recently released its latest Internet Usage Study. Cindy spoke with Ted Haller at their convention and I thought I’d have a chat with him about it too since the organization sent our a release on it last week. You can download a pdf with some of the key findings of the study on their website (pdf).

nafb-internet-usageThe survey explores producer activity and preferences in accessing the Internet for agricultural business information, as well as use of texting and social media. Specific to broadcaster interests, it also probes interest in e-newsletters and the preferred content of agribusiness-focused Web sites.

Among key findings noted by Haller in the new research:

  • the Internet is revealing “quintiles” of usage — a sign of what Haller calls “settling,” with indications of core usage in the low range of 20 percent and the high range of 50 percent, depending upon the specific online behavior/activity surveyed
  • those producers using the Internet are very active, for the most part, with e-mail, weather, markets, and futures the top draws
  • unlike other media, “what I do not do” is still a larger number than “what I do;” but the “I do’s” appear to be in normal quintiles and represent an attractive target

Agribusiness marketers and agencies interested in specific demographic detail or a customized presentation should contact Ted Haller at teddymedia@live.com. Association member broadcast organizations interested in learning more about how the NAFB Internet Usage Study© may benefit their cross-media programming strategies and local business development can contact Mike Parry at mike@nafb.com.

As you’ll hear Ted say in our conversation, traditional media options like radio will not go away. However, the use of the internet by farmers will only continue to grow and these numbers are proof of that. He also describes how useful the internet is now to companies with a limited budget and those who have a “big budget” and are now spreading it across more media options.

Thanks to AgWired Sponsor, Fluidigm, for their support of the ZimmCast.

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, Internet, Media, NAFB, Social Networking, ZimmCast

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Growers planting Pioneer brand sorghum hybrids recently won 11 of the 15 national categories in the 2009 National Sorghum Producers Yield and Management Contest. Eight of these growers won with Pioneer sorghum hybrid 84G62.
  • Brandt Consolidated, Inc. announced the acquisition of Monterey AgResources, headquartered in Fresno, Calif.
  • Proceed Concentrate, a second formulation of new Proceed seed treatment fungicide, has been registered by the U.S. EPA.
  • A new Web site has been designed to guide people of all ages through the process of launching a farming career. The site is supported by an alliance of five agricultural organizations: Ohio State University Extension, the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association, Cuyahoga Countryside Conservancy, the Ohio Department of Agriculture, and the Organic Food and Farming Education and Research Program.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Social Networking Rising

    Chuck Zimmerman

    PC World has an article out titled, “2009: Year of the Social Network.” In it the point is made that we saw social networks like Twitter and Facebook show that they aren’t just for techies but everyone who wants to be connected with others who share their interests. The growth in these networks has been phenomenal.

    Perhaps most significant is that companies in various industries started to see how social networks can help boost business even in a recession.

    That’s even true in agribusiness as we’ve seen the rise in the number of farmers and companies employing social media channels to communicate. I would describe a lot of it on the company side as experimental and in some cases perhaps just a token effort as if by having a Twitter account they “get it” and can now get back to “the way we’ve always done things.” It’s my opinion that when a company doesn’t think social media is worthwhile it’s because they don’t have a commitment to it and have internal skeptics who go out of their way to portray any effort at utilizing social media as a poor use of resources, often dredging up statistics that are in reality comparing apples to oranges.

    But there are a growing number of companies (I include ad agencies here) who are finding social media mechanisms enhance their overall communication strategy. I think we’ll see a lot more do so in 2010 and by the end of next year we’ll have a lot more data to show how well these channels are working, even in agribusiness.

    ZimmComm has had the honor and pleasure to consult with and help in the creation and production of social media for many agribusiness organizations. We’re ready to do so again in 2010. Keep us in mind if you need help or would like to include us on your communications team.

    Social Networking

    New From Novus For Beef

    Chuck Zimmerman

    NAFB Trade TalkNovus International is new to the beef market and at the NAFB Trade Talk session their focus was on preparing for winter feeding and early spring calving. With them to talk about research he’s done on their products was Dr. Monty Kerley, University of Missouri.

    Dr. Kerley says that he’s had a special interest in “strategic supplementation” which means putting the nutrients the animals need with the forage they’re consuming to maximize performance, increase average daily gain and enhance reproductive development and to do it with less feed. With Novus he says they’ve focused on bypass methionine products. He says that these products help the sustainability of beef producers by increasing their bottom line while making for efficient use of resources. In my interview with him he also discusses some of his latest research.

    You can listen to my interview with Dr. Kerley below:

    See more NAFB and NAMA Trends photos here.

    Agribusiness, Animal Health, Audio, Beef, NAFB, Novus International