AGMasters Conference Underway

Cindy Zimmerman

AgmastersThe inaugural AGMasters Conference is underway at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana and there is a good crowd on hand, despite the fact that many farmers around the state are still out harvesting corn. This event is a new format for a conference that has a 60 year history at the university. Once upon a time, it was called “Spray School” – but it has evolved into so much more.

AgmastersI talked with one of the co-chairs, Mike Gray, an entomologist with the Department of Crop Sciences. Mike says the organizers of the conference decided to move to the beautiful new I Center this year and have it in December instead of January. “Who would have known with this late harvest that we would have some issues surface because of that,” he said.

They also decided to change the format to a general session the first day and a classroom setting with breakouts on the second day. Check out the AGMasters conference blog for full coverage.

Started a Flickr photo album here – and you can listen to or download my interview with Mike below.

Uncategorized

NAMA Webinar on Emerging Technologies

Chuck Zimmerman

NAMA WebinarsIt’s time for the next NAMA Webinar. This one will focus on Emerging Technologies and take place this Thursday, December 3 at 1:00 p.m. (Central Time).

Mobile and emerging technologies are making it easier for direct marketers to connect with their customers. But this landscape can be intimidating and confusing if you don’t know how to navigate it.

This session will introduce you to mobile marketing and its ecosystem of players. Learn how to launch a mobile marketing campaign from experts who have done it successfully – and see what other emerging technologies are on the horizon.

Angela Ridpath and Pamela Sandler have helped national brands like Payless ShoeSource, Burger King and Beauty Brands adapt and excel in this era of change. And they can help you, too!

To register for this webinar, please visit http://www.nama.org/ConferenceRegistration/Default.aspx?confid=7.

NAMA

Kelsey Pope Joins Nebraska Corn Board

Chuck Zimmerman

Kelsey PopeThe Nebraska Corn Board welcomes Kelsey Pope as their Ag Promotion Coordinator.

In this role, Pope will work on behalf of Nebraska corn producers to expand marketing opportunities, partner with livestock industry groups to develop joint strategies and assist in coordinating animal agriculture welfare programs through education, information and research.

She will also coordinate corn promotion activities at the State Fair, Husker Harvest Days and other events across the state. Additionally, Pope will utilize social media and other communication tools to promote positive messages about agriculture.

Pope recently received her master’s degree in Agricultural Economics from Kansas State University, where she also received her bachelor’s degree in Ag Economics. She is a Limon, Colo., native, having grown up on a cow-calf operation.

Ag Groups, Corn

AGMasters Conference Coverage

Cindy Zimmerman

AgmastersAs Chuck heads out of the country, I am heading out to Champaign, Illinois today to cover the inaugural AGMasters Conference at the University of Illinois. I will be providing coverage here on Agwired and other ZimmComm sites, as well as on the AGMasters Conference blog – with the help of several ag comm and crop science students from the university whose profiles you can read on the blog now.

According to the organizers, “this year’s conference represents a significant transition from a rich history of conferences conducted over a 60 year-span to a new era. Those conferences included the Custom Spray Operators’ Training School, Illinois Agricultural Pesticides Conference, and the Crop Protection Technology Conference. Each of these conferences continues to leave us a lasting legacy of the commitment of the University of Illinois to our agricultural stakeholders and clientele.”

The two-day program is jam-packed with an array of presenters and session covering a variety topics important to agriculture, from the global perspective, to increasing yields, biotechnology, fertilizers and glyphosate resistance.

On-site registration for the event is still possible, and I would definitely encourage you to attend if you can. This conference promises to be a great one. But, if you can’t be there in person, we will be providing wall-to-wall coverage with photos, audio and more. Stay tuned!

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Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Dow AgroSciences Canada announced it is acquiring the assets of Hyland Seeds, a division of Thompsons Limited of Blenheim, Ontario.
  • The AutoFarm ParaDyme System, launched Nov. 3, 2009, is being called the most innovative and advanced precision farming system ever.
  • Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey announced that Steven and Jan Carlson of Stratford are the winners of the December “Gary Wergin Good Farm Neighbor Award.” Northey will present the award to the Carlson family on Friday, Dec 4th. WHO Radio’s Big Show will broadcast live from the awards presentation.
  • Mike Kostrzewa has joined The Context Network and will serve the firm’s clients as a senior associate.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Speaking For Agriculture

    Chuck Zimmerman

    ZimmCast 241Speaking For Agriculture was the title of a joint panel discussion at the NAMA Trends In Agriculture Conference and NAFB Convention.

    nafb-nama-lindsayThe moderator was Lindsay Hill, ABN Radio. The session focused on how consumers perceive farmers and agriculture and what can be done and is being done to communicate a positive message about agriculture in a society that is increasingly removed from the farm, even in light of more people moving to the country for a rural lifestyle. In this week’s program you can hear an interview Cindy did with Lindsay about the session and what the panelists had to say.

    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, ZimmCast

    Blog – Twitter – Not Versus But And

    Chuck Zimmerman

    It’s just natural for people to look for the next big thing and in media it’s no different. I’ve been asked a number of times by clients and friends “Is blogging still relevant?” or “With Twitter, do I still need my blog?” My answer is that a good blog is as much or more relevant than ever. Here’s one reason IMHO. Ideally, you are trying to create a community of followers/friends/customers/members. For the AgWired community I believe that revolves around the blog AgWired.com. This is my online publishing platform. I can’t say this much in 140 characters. I think Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and all the others enhance the center of the community – AgWired.com. They’re like spokes on the wheel. They help me promote the blog and have side conversations with specific community members who favor one mechanism over another.

    Matt Mullenweg, creator of WordPress, our blog platform, agrees and says, “new forms of social media, including micro-blogging, are complementary to blogging”

    One of the many uses of Twitter is to link to and promote your blog posts. (And other people’s blog posts.) As we grow, so do they, and vice versa. I blog when I have something longer to say, like this. I tweet when it’s the lowest friction way to talk to my friends, or get distribution for something longer I did somewhere else.

    It’s not really a “versus,” it’s an “and.”

    Via Podcasting News

    Would you agree or disagree? Feel free to post how you think your blog fits into today’s communications plans.

    Uncategorized

    Following The USGC With New Media

    Chuck Zimmerman

    U.S. Grains Council 1998 Pioneer MissionThis is the U.S. Grains Council Pioneer Mission group I traveled with back in 1998. Our fearless leader then was Rick Tolman (pictured in the center), now CEO of the National Corn Growers Association. We toured Brazil, Columbia and Mexico. It’s hard to believe that just eleven years ago I didn’t have a digital camera and website to post onto. I had to scan this photo from my photo album that sits on a shelf in my office. I did have a Sony recorder though as I recall that let me record onto a disk and I could send audio reports back via phone line. That was when I managed the Brownfield Network.

    Times have changed. Beginning tomorrow I’ll be leaving on a USGC Corn Mission to Morocco, Egypt and Jordan and hope to document it digitally. In doing so, I’ll be sharing information with an international audience via the web. Let’s just say I’m hoping for good internet access opportunities and the time to use it. As I recall, we keep up a pretty brisk pace during these trips.

    I just did a little bit of online searching and found very little about that trip back in 1998. I’m just guessing that won’t be the case for this trip by the time we’re finished!

    USGC

    Mapping The Swine Genome

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Gene NemecheckThe Vice President of the National Pork Board is Gene Nemecheck. I met him at the NAFB Trade Talk session in Kansas City, MO. Gene is a veterinarian with Tyson.

    I asked him “What’s new with the Pork Board?” and he says that the swine genomic project just recently reached completion. He says that after years of work by a team of international researchers, the genetic code for domestic swine was uncovered. That should lead to a host of new insights in agriculture, medicine, conservation and evolution.

    Or course I had to ask about the impact of H1N1. He says he just wants people to know that pork products are safe to eat and they’re nutritious. Looking forward he says the Pork Checkoff has benefited producers greatly and points to the Pork Quality Assurance Program in particular.

    You can listen to my interview with Gene below:

    See more NAFB and NAMA Trends photos here.

    Ag Groups, Audio, NAFB, Pork

    Overview of Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Steve PetersonTo get a complete overview of Boehringer Inghelheim Vetmedica Dr. Steve Peterson, DVM, Senior Manager, spoke to the media gathered in St. Joseph, MO recently.

    Steve started out his presentation showing us a Flomax commercial as an example of how diverse the parent company is. BI is a family owned company that was started in 1885 and he calls the animal health side of the business “the tip of the dog’s tail.” It is the largest family owned pharmaceutical company in the world with sales last year of $17 Billion. On the human side of the business you might also recognize OTC products like Dulcolax and Zyrtec. With the acquisition of the Ft. Dodge Animal Health products he expects the animal health annual sales in the range of $1 Billion.

    When it comes to the BI commitment to animal health Steve says the family owns animals and is very committed to this side of their business. He says that although the past year has been tough economically in some industries, BIVI has seen increases in its business and that “products have continued to grow beyond budget.”

    You can listen to my interview with Steve below.

    Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Media Day Photo Album

    Agribusiness, Animal Health, Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim