American Farmland Trust has launched a new blog called Farmland Report. Here’s an opening statement from President Jon Scholl.
As President of American Farmland Trust (AFT), it is my pleasure to launch the Farmland Report, our new blog. We are excited to continue our role as a vital link among farmers, conservationists, policy-makers and consumers, via the Farmland Report.
Meet Paulsen Marketing
Our sponsor for AgWired coverage of the NAMA Trends In Agriculture conference again this year was Paulsen Marketing. Perhaps you’re not familiar with this agribranding agency located in Sioux Falls, SD. Well, it’s time to get acquainted in this week’s program.
I spoke with Greg Guse and Bryan Bjerke and we had a great conversation about the agency and their thoughts on digital marketing in this new media world we now live in. One of the things that caught my attention the first time I visited their website was their own use of new and social media. They get it and show it. Kind of gives you confidence that they’ll do a good job for your company, eh? You can read Greg’s “On The Road” blog or follow them on Twitter or Facebook or YouTube or Flickr. I’m sure there’s more but you can see they have the bases covered.
Besides talking about how the agency was started in 1951 and how it has evolved I thought it very interesting to hear how they’re working with clients on new communications channels. For example, they say that clients are surprised at how low the costs are to get started with social media. They also offer some good advice for implementing it into a communications plan like making a commitment to it and staying engaged. They also acknowledge the difficulty with measuring ROI for digital marketing campaigns but with a little effort there are ways to judge how well it’s working for you.
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.
Rulon Gardner Speaks At Illinois Commodity Conference
The Illinois Commodity Conference is taking place today in Bloomington, IL. Currently presenting is Rulon Gardner – Dairy Farmer and Olympic Gold Medal Wrestler – on the topic of “Never Give Up, Never Stop Trying: 7 Steps to Success.”
How appropriate since their theme this year is, “Wrestling with Change.”
Thanks to @AgChick for tweeting the photo. I’ve heard Rulon speak and he is great. He’s also someone I would want watching my back anywhere!
Genotyping With Fluidigm
With a title like Director of Molecular Biology you might think that it would be hard for a non-technical person to carry on a conversation with Ramesh Ramakrishna. Not so. Ramesh works for Fluidigm Corporation and is my latest interview in the series we’re doing to introduce the agribusiness world to their break through research technology.
In our interview you’ll learn about SNP genotyping and microsats. What are they you ask? Watch or listen to the interview and learn. Ramesh says his team is responsible for developing applications where the Fluidigm System can be used and one of those areas is genotyping. You can learn more about genotyping in this Science magazine article. If this sounds very technical, don’t worry. Ramesh defines genotyping, SNP’s and microsats for you.
He offers as an example of why this is important in today’s agricultural biotechnology the fact that a farmer or researcher really needs to be sure that something they are planting or working on (plant or animal) is really what it is represented to be. This type of genetic analysis allows for that surety. You can be sure this is important with so many new seed varieties and the desire to be able to track the source for a certain product. The Fluidigm System, unlike other methods to accomplish the above, is extremely flexible and allows for very small volumes and costs.
You can watch or listen to my interview with Ramesh below:
Farm Foundation Focuses on Future
Farm Foundation is a 76 year old organization for agriculture that never stops looking ahead.
Last month’s Farm Foundation “30-Year Policy Conference” drew agribusiness leaders, government officials, and other interested parties. “Because 30 years from now, we’re going to be looking at over 9 billion people on the planet and with rising incomes, people begin to eat more meat and a more varied diet and that means that agriculture has to deliver more,” says Farm Foundation President Neil Conklin. “As we deal with how to make the best use of our increasingly scarce natural resources to produce food, feed fiber, fuel – and even flowers – we need to be sure that we are thinking about policies that will help us in that environment, not the environment we have lived in for the last 30 years.”
Farm Foundation sponsors regular forums on timely policy issues important to agriculture, normally held at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. This month, the topic was “Research Perspectives on Carbon and Climate Change Issues.” Coming up on December 8, they will discuss “The Economics of Structural Change and Competition in the Food System.” Find out more about past and upcoming forums here on the Farm Foundation website.
Neil is pictured here at the recent NAFB Trade Talk with ag economist Barry Flinchbaugh who serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees of Farm Foundation. Listen to my interview with Neil here:
Christmas Tree Farms help Deliver Trees to Troops
‘Tis the season…for giving! That’s exactly what Christmas tree growers are doing in Indiana this year. In a spirited event that should remind us all to step up and help others, this is a charity worth giving cheers to! Check it out!
Indiana Christmas tree growers are kicking off the holiday season with special deliveries of the product they know best, their own Christmas trees. Working together on Trees for Troops, FedEx and the Spirit Foundation of the National Christmas Tree Association are loading trucks Tuesday at Dull’s Tree Farm in Boone County.
Trees all across the country are being donated by the growers and the shipping is a donation from FedEx. In all over 16,000 trees will be delivered to more than 50 military bases in the U.S. and overseas. Volunteers are collecting, preparing and loading the donated trees onto FedEx trucks that will travel to the FedEx Express hub in Indianapolis where the shipment will depart for Bahrain and Kuwait. A second truck will deliver trees to the Great Lakes Naval Air Station in Illinois.
Source: Hoosier Ag Today
Social Media ROI
Since I was just on the subject of social media I thought you might enjoy this video that kind of puts it all into perspective for you unbelievers. You know who you are. You’re probably the same people wondering if farmers will ever use the internet or if it’s just a passing fad.
You’ll find lots of great examples in the video and on the blog.
Via Socialnomics
Teaching Social Media To Soybean Growers
Let’s meet one of the columnists for the United Soybean Board’s Expert Advice. She’s our good friend from AgChat, Michele Payn-Knoper. You can find her first Expert Advice column now on the United Soybean Board website. I spoke with Michele during her recent travels via Skype to learn more about how she got involved in the project and what she will be “teaching” soybean growers. Michele founded Cause Matters Corp., a company designed to give a voice to the people who feed the world using social media. Here’s an excerpt from her first column:
Farming the Online Community: Your Guide to Social Media
Facebook. YouTube. Twitter. LinkedIn. Digg. Farmers. Wait – how do farmers fit with all of these new-fangled tools? Welcome to 2009 and the age of social media. Studies show that four out of five online Americans are active in some form of social content at least once a month. Believe it or not, you’ve been a part of the Web 2.0 social media revolution if you’ve been on e-bay, blogs, photo sharing websites or forums interacting with others. Now it’s time for you to tap into social media to impact your bottom line though access to soybean and other market intelligence, technical expertise, discussions with other farmers and consumer thought patterns about farming.
You can listen to my interview with Michele below.
What American Farmland Trust Does
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.