A-FAN Asks NAFB To Help Tell Farmer’s Story

Chuck Zimmerman

Roger BerryRoger Berry is Field Director for the Alliance For The Future of Agriculture in Nebraska. He was one of our luncheon speakers here at the NAFB Washington Watch today.

Roger’s presence was very timely when you consider some of the things going on in Nebraska and in Washington, DC right now that are affecting farming. I spoke with Roger after the luncheon, which was sponsored by the United Soybean Board. He says they want farm broadcasters to join with A-FAN to tell the farm story since there are so many organizations and efforts that are working tear down the industry. I think that’s what all NAFB’ers do so he had a very open audience. We spoke about the use of social media which allowing farmers to tell their own story even though it’s not really their nature to do so. He says that if farmers don’t do it they’ll be in trouble in the future. Roger says he’s learning Facebook now and hopes to tackle Twitter next.

You can listen to my interview with Roger here: ww-09-berry.mp3

You can also download the interview with this link (mp3 file).

NAFB Washington Watch 2009 Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio

NAFB Members Speak About Washington Watch

Chuck Zimmerman

NAFB Washington WatchThis afternoon the National Association of Farm Broadcasting is holding an official membership meeting. Broadcast Council members of the organization are required to attend at least one a year to maintain their membership.

Besides discussing NAFB business it’s another opportunity to network with counterparts in the farm broadcasting world. I spoke with NAFB members Ken Root, WHO, and Jeff Nalley, Cromwell Ag Network. I first asked them why they attend. Ken says it’s the best meeting they have to gather news and interact with people in the industry. Jeff says the reality is that “it’s about relationships,” that farmers depend on them to “know” the news and this program helps them do that. They also talk about some of the items on the program like tonight’s dinner remarks from HSUS.

You can listen to my interview with Ken and Jeff here: ww-09-root-nalley.mp3

I now have a photo album started for the event so you can see what’s going on: NAFB Washington Watch 2009 Photo Album

Audio

She found her summer internship on Twitter!

Amanda Nolz

aboutpicholdingpigface-300x253 My friend and colleague Sara Long, works at Michigan State University works in animal welfare/animal agriculture initiative communications at Michigan State. She sent me this email about this Cinderella story about finding her summer intern, Celeste Laurent on Twitter! Celeste Laurent is a student at Western Kentucky University pursuing a double major in Animal Science and News Editorial Journalism.

After responding to a tweet that read, “Searching for paid summer internship/job related to #farm, #agriculture, #journalism, #news-writing. Any suggestions welcome!” Long had found her intern in Laurent. A few emails and phone calls later, this student had found her dream internship. Laurent blogged about her experience on Twitter at her site, Celeste Laurent: From My Side of the Tracks. I think this is a great example of how social networking tools can help launch a career. I also think Celeste’s blog is an excellent way to market credentials. At her blog, she has included a portfolio with work samples, her resume and finally, her writing skills in the blog entries. Congrats, Celeste, and thanks for sharing, Sara! Follow their tweets, @rosamyst and @celestelaurent.

Honestly, I hated twitter for the first week I had an account. I literally forced myself to “tweet,” hoping that I would come to like the set up. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I am a wordy person. Twitter’s 140 character limit took some getting used to but I’ve adjusted.

I quickly fell in love with tweeting when I discovered WeFollow. This site is basically a phonebook for twitter. It lets you register under the “tags” that you feel best identify with your twitter usage and browse other users who share your interests. WeFollow helped me find agriculture news sites from across the country and I began following them and replying to their tweets. Before I knew it, I had people from all over the agriculture world following me, replying to my tweets, and reading my blog.

That’s when inspiration struck. I needed an internship for the summer, why not see if anyone on twitter knows of any available?

Social Networking

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The United Soybean Board and soybean checkoff are proud to serve on the steering committee for Field to Market, the Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture. The soybean checkoff will provide nearly $160,000 in funding to Field to Market.
  • Please join the nation’s top thinkers for a Summit to discuss agriculture, science and new solutions for cultivating a new generation of ag innovation in the field. June 10, 2009 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in St. Louis, Mo. Click here to register.
  • The Colorado Ranching Legacy Program is a two-year program which begins in August 2009 and is designed to equip young and beginning ranchers to be innovative leaders in land management and conservation. Click here for more information or an application. Applications must be received by Friday, July 10.
  • Farm Safety 4 Just Kids has teamed up with Country Living Association to host a Farm Kids Photo Contest. The organizations are asking the public to submit cute photos of their children and grandchildren safely enjoying the rural environment. The winner will receive a FREE DIRECTV subscription from June 1, 2009 to April 1, 2010.
Zimfo Bytes

Fabulous Farm Babe Kicks Off NAFB Washington Watch

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast-217 - Washington WatchThe Fabulous Farm Babe and I spoke about what NAFB is doing in Washington, DC this week just prior to their board meeting. We’re sure here at an interesting time when you consider issues like swine flu, animal rights activism and all the legislative activity that will impact farming in America.

Over the next couple days I’ll be covering the meeting which gets kicked off with a lunch sponsored by the United Soybean Board. Then this afternoon we’ll be talking with representatives of many farm groups at the Issues Forum.

NAFB Board MeetingSo getting back to Pam Jahnke, seen here in the board meeting that’s taking place as I post this, she tells us about the NAFB Washington Watch program. She says this is a great opportunity for farm broadcasters to get face to face with policy makers and obtain good programming material to take back home. I brought up the “T” word and Pam admits that a lot of people are looking to Twitter these days for information. She’s on Facebook now but still hasn’t created a Twitter account. I’ll be glad to help her with that though.

This week’s program ends with music from the Podsafe Music Network. It’s a song titled, “My Babe”, by The Brymers. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: Listen To ZimmCastZimmCast 217 (13 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:Interview with Pam Jahnke - ZimmCast 217

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar. You can also subscribe in iTunes

Audio, ZimmCast

Swine Flu Links

Chuck Zimmerman

Our Nation's CapitolIt is a beautiful day in Washington, DC. Glad to make it finally. The Potomac River was lined with people out biking, walking, boating and having a picnic. I couldn’t resist a short run out on the Mall in front of our Nation’s Capitol.

The WX Channel said 92 degrees when I landed. That’s hotter than I’ve been in since last summer.

I’m ready to meet up with some NAFB peeps to see what all is on everyone’s mind. Swine flu sure popped up on the radar fast. Already lots of rumor floating around and I’ve heard more than one reporter call it a “crisis.” I hate that word.

As Tricia Braid-Terry, RFD Radio Network, pointed out in an email, you can find the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention tweeting about it. You can search the Twitter hashtag #swineflu for a lot more. The CDC has a “What’s New on Swine Flu” site up too.

The National Pork Board has issued a statement about the subject too:

Amid public concern about the reports of swine influenza in humans, the National Pork Board wishes to reassure the public that pork is safe and will continue to be safe to consume. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has posted this statement on its Web site (cdc.org/swineflu):

“Swine influenza viruses are not spread by food. You cannot get swine influenza from eating pork or pork products. Eating properly handled and cooked pork products is safe.”

The CDC and other health organizations continue to caution that the virus is contagious and is spreading from humans to humans. The CDC has said it has not found any evidence to indicate that any of the illnesses resulted from contact with pigs.

Nonetheless, the National Pork Board is encouraging pork producers to maintain strict biosecurity procedures on their farms.

Ag Groups, Pork

AgClassifieds.com Re-Launches

Chuck Zimmerman

AgClassifieds.comDwayne Leslie above the border from us has re-launched AgClassifieds.com. He says it will incorporate many new marketing services for farm equipment dealers and farmers wishing to advertise individual items.

“Farmers have 3 traditional ways to purchase equipment” says AgClassifieds.com owner Dwayne Leslie “We wanted to bring the same effective and economical advertising options to farm equipment dealers and farmers as we have to the auction industry. Our Farm Auction Guide.com platform has been the industry leader for not only farm auctions but for online advertising for the auction industry in general since 2001 and we plan on building on that success.”

AgClassifieds.com is not just one site , but a growing network of ag related sites. In 2008 this network attracted 3 million visitors and 17 million pageviews looking for ag equipment . Many savvy marketers have been asking us for the ability to promote their inventory to these same farmers and after careful consideration for a long time, our new business model was launched. Read More

Advertising, Agribusiness, International

Heading To Washington Watch

Chuck Zimmerman

Hello from Lambert Field, waiting on an already delayed flight. Beautiful weather here so who knows why. For all you NAFB members and farm tweeters, please use the #NAFB hashtag in your tweets this week. If you search it you’ll find that the conversation has already started.

I posed the question “Will HSUS or new USDA admin/budget or Issues Forum be most interesting?” These are some of the items on our agenda this week. I’m betting on the HSUS thing. As may have read in my earlier post, we’ve got an HSUS dude speaking tomorrow evening. It’s kind of tempting to boycott it though. If you’d like a flavor for why this animal rights terrorist organization is so inflammatory check out the comments on Amanda’s post about them being in Nebraska. I just got caught up on the latest ones.

BTW. Completely unrelated to the above, a guy I follow on Twitter posted a link to a Google map where they’re tracking Swine Flu. Kind of interesting.

NAFB

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The United Sorghum Checkoff Program is pleased to welcome new Director of Western States Field Services, Dusti Fritz of Wamego, Kansas.
  • Honored with the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Institute’s Golden Bullet Award, National Biodiesel Board CEO Joe Jobe pointed out that biodiesel is among renewable energy solutions that, when combined, pack a powerful opportunity to lead America towards energy independence.
  • Charleston|Orwig, Inc., has added Christine Rudella as an account supervisor in its agricultural business. In her position Rudella will help lead the Pfizer Animal Genetics business and assist in strategic planning for Charleston|Orwig’s agricultural clients.
  • Angus veteran Jim Shirley announced his retirement from the American Angus Association, effective July 31.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Watching Washinton With NAFB

    Chuck Zimmerman

    NAFB Washington WatchHey you NAFB’ers who will be attending the National Association of Farm Broadcasting, Washington Watch. You may know that we’ll have Wayne Pacelle, CEO, HSUS, speaking at dinner on Monday evening. Good thing we have a reception first. I think I’ll need some fortification to listen to his remarks. Maybe it will be entertaining though (in a sick, twisted sort of way).

    If you’d like to get a little flavor for just one situation these folks have gotten involved in you might want to check out Amanda’s post, “HSUS In Nebraska” and the comments posted so far. Feel free to weigh in btw.

    I’ll be getting in to DC late on Sunday and the program will get started on Monday. Our annual Issues Forum session is that afternoon, where we get to meet with representatives of most of the ag groups with local offices. Then on Tuesday we’re off to USDA where we’ll meet with Secretary Vilsack and other departmental leaders. On Wednesday we’ll meet at the House office building with a list of senators and representatives.

    I’m planning to live stream our USDA session which will start at 8:15am. So check in here at that time to get a Washington Watch viewpoint.

    And for you tweeters, please remember to use the #NAFB hashtag in your tweets!

    NAFB