The Hand That Feeds U.S.

Chuck Zimmerman

The Hand That Feeds U.S.I want to shake The Hand That Feeds U.S. Here’s a great example of helping bring the story of today’s American farmer to the public.

America’s farmers are extending an olive branch to the same urban media that have often been critical of agriculture, and some powerful U.S. lawmakers asked the nation’s reporters in a letter today to give them a chance.

“It makes no sense that we’re being demonized by many of the nation’s top newspapers,” said Linda Raun, a rice grower from Texas who is participating in The Hand That Feeds U.S., a new farmer-led project to improve relations with big-city reporters.

“It’s not the newspapers’ fault,” she continued. “We haven’t done a good enough job telling them our story. We’ve been negligent in explaining that farmers and farm policy feeds and clothes every person in this country, employs 20 percent of the nation’s workforce and will be at the center of America’s economic recovery.”

Andy Quinn, a Minnesota corn and ethanol producer agrees. “We’re the best farmers in the world, but we’re far from being master communicators. For too long, we’ve let a handful of environmental extremists and coalitions bankrolled by big business define our industry in the news.”

Ag Groups

First Pork On A Fork Photos

Chuck Zimmerman

Pork on a ForkTrent Loos let me know via Twitter today that the first photos are in for his Faces of Agriculture “Pork On A Fork” contest where you’re encouraged to submit photos of family members, friends, customers, anyone, anywhere eating pork.. This is one from the Flickr set he’s got going to show the entries publicly.

Faces of Agriculture announces the launch “Pork on a Fork”, a contest aimed at raising awareness of the importance of pork to the American diet and economy.

Pork on a Fork“No matter how you refer to it, H1N1 influenza has unfairly devastated the livelihood of the American pork producer, and that puts at risk the health of the American public,” said Faces of Agriculture spokesperson Trent Loos.

As of May 1, American pork producers have lost $17.69 on each hog marketed. For the April 24 through May 1 period, total losses reached $7.2 million a day.

Photos received by May 26 will be judged, and the winner will receive an all-expense paid trip for two to the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa, June 3-5. All submitted entries will be available for viewing during the World Pork Expo and on FacesOfAg.com.

“It is time for every consumer that enjoys a good piece of locally produced pork to step to the plate and show their support for the commitment that America’s pork producers make everyday to feeding the world and protecting our health,” said Loos.

Send your entries to Trent directly.

Ag Groups, Food

Legislative Issues For Corn Growers

Chuck Zimmerman

There are two big issues for corn growers this year in Washington, DC, climate change and higher blends for ethanol. I spoke with two representatives of the National Corn Growers Association at NAFB’s Washington Watch Issues Forum about them.

Unlike the weather, not only is everybody talking about climate change, but they are trying to do something about it – and the concern is that farmers could get caught in the storm. According to National Corn Growers Association Public Policy Director, Rod Snyder, climate change has emerged as one of the top priorities in this Congressional session and pressure is being put to bear to get some kind of legislation passed. “We’re taking a look at the legislation as it’s being drafted now and one of the things that we are closely watching is to make sure that agriculture is not part of the ‘capped sector,'” says Snyder. “We are going to try to ensure that our farmers is not regulated under a cap because our emissions are very diffuse, much like a non-point source situation, and it would be very expensive for the government to try and regulate our sources of greenhouse gas emissions.”

Listen to my interview with Rod here: ww-09-snyder.mp3

NCGA’s Jessica Bennett is actively involved in the regulatory issue of increasing the blend level for ethanol allowed in gasoline to 15 percent. “As corn growers, ethanol is top priority for our association,” Bennett said. “We’re quickly approaching a ten percent blend wall of ethanol that can be blended into conventional gasoline and we need to move beyond that.”

The Environment Protection Agency is currently seeking comments on a waiver that would allow blends of up to 15 percent. “We’re encouraging all of our growers to go to the legislative action center on our website to submit comments to EPA to encourage the granting of that waiver application,” said Bennett. In the first week after the comment period was opened, over 300 comments were submitted to EPA by corn growers.

Listen to my interview with Jessica here: ww-09-bennett.mp3

Ag Groups, Audio, Corn, NCGA

Twitter Farming

Chuck Zimmerman

During the last couple weeks I’ve seen more growth in agricultural interests using Twitter than ever. I’m talking companies, agencies, farmers, ag media. This is a great sign. One of my favorite posts on Twitter yesterday started out, “Tweeting from tractor . . . ” Yes folks, your customers and members are there. Are you? If not, why not? I’d encourage you to go ahead and create an account even if you don’t want to start using it right away. If you don’t know how, email me and I’ll create it for you. Why get one now? You don’t want your competition or someone else to get your ID, kind of like protecting your domain.

Twitter has developed into a great online communications tool. Yes, there’s a small learning curve. Yes, it will take time to build connections (followers). You can of course stick your head in the sand and let other people talk about you without your participation. I don’t recommend it.

So, why should you participate in the online discussion? For one thing you’ll be helping tell agriculture’s story in an environment where you’re more likely to interact with consumers who are having a say in how you run your business (think legislation). How many times do we see companies and groups lament that “our story isn’t being told.” That’s because you’re depending on others to do it for you. With today’s social media tools you no longer have that excuse. Additionally, by interacting with your customers, members and the public you can make sure your side of any story is told – by you!

I’ve written about our weekly #AgChat session a couple of times where people interested in agriculture are participating in a live Twitter discussion on Tuesday evenings. We’ve been reaching out to all interests, including those not involved in production agriculture. This past week we saw a growing amount of non-ag participation. Some of them are extremely vocal opponents of animal agriculture or farming as we know it. It was interesting to see how cordial some of them were and how antagonistic some were. Now we’ve just learned that the most antagonistic one has started an alternative #AgChat called #SustAgChat which will be a live Twitter discussion on Sunday evening from 5-8pm Pacific time. Of course the focus is “sustainability.” Something that most farmers are very familiar with and practice with growing effectiveness. We learned last week that many people have extremely different definitions of sustainability. I dare say that some consider it a backyard garden and a meatless diet. I would recommend looking at how USDA defines it as a more reasonable place to start. I like Cindy’s point that “we’ve been farming for how long?”

My point in bringing this up is to show how we’ve made a difference. We’ve touched a nerve with the public sufficient to cause them to take action in response. And this has been done by a small but growing group of people who are taking a few minutes out of their week to use the tools at our disposal. Something to think about, eh?

Social Networking

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Marrone Organic Innovations, Inc., has revised its name to Marrone Bio Innvations, Inc., in a move to more accurately represent the company’s leadership in the discovery and development of effective and environmentally responsible pesticide active ingredients from novel biological sources.
  • Neogen Corporation has acquired International Diagnostic Systems Corp. A part of IDS’s operations will be relocated to and integrated with Neogen’s Lexington, Ky., facilities. The company’s research and development operations, and key IDS employees, will remain in IDS’s Michigan facilities.
  • Olsson Frank Weeda Terman Bode Matz PC, the leading law and lobbying firm in the fields of agriculture, food, drugs, medical devices and health care policy, announced that Gary Baise has joined the firm as a Principal.
  • The Illinois Soybean Association is proud to attend the 11th Annual Global Child Nutrition Forum in Cape Town, South Africa on May 5-6.
    Zimfo Bytes

    What’s Up In Washington

    Chuck Zimmerman

    ZimmCast-218 - What's Up In WashingtonHello and welcome to another ZimmCast. This week I’m going to feature a couple of the interviews I did at last week’s NAFB Washington Watch Issues Forum.

    Mark MaslynUp first after opening comments is Mark Maslyn, Executive Director, Public Policy, American Farm Bureau Federation. He’s seen here getting all fired up in an interview with Tricia Braid Terry, RFD Radio. That’s what we need in our nation’s Capitol these days, passionate spokespersons for agriculture.

    Mark speaks about the mixed results of the opening month’s of our new administration. He says some things are encouraging and some are troubling which you might say about most administrations. On the troubling side he mentions the environment and proposed increased rules and regulations. Climate change regulations are something he thinks should not be ruled on until a lot more questions are answered. On the encouraging side he’s pleasantly surprised at moves on international trade.

    Ken HobbieNext up in the program is an interview with Ken Hobbie, President/CEO, U.S. Grains Council. I hadn’t spoken with Ken in quite a while so I asked him to tell us what’s new with USGC. We started off talking about the potential impact of H1N1 on demand and Ken says he hopes that consumers will listen to the fact and we can move past it. Another thing that Ken says they’ve invested a lot in is distillers dried grain promotion internationally.

    This week’s program ends with music from the Podsafe Music Network. It’s a song titled, “Pearls and Swine”, by Drunken Prayer. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

    You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: Listen To ZimmCastZimmCast 218 (20 min MP3)

    Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:Interviews with Mark Maslyn and Ken Hobbie - ZimmCast 218

    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

    Ag Groups, Audio, Farm Policy, ZimmCast

    Community Chatter on SDSU’s Chicoine-Monsanto Deal

    Amanda Nolz

    chicoinedavid_webcol Monsanto Company announced a few weeks ago the appointment of David L. Chicoine, Ph.D., to the company’s Board of Directors. Dr. Chicoine is currently president of South Dakota State University (SDSU) in Brookings, South Dakota. Dr. Chicoine is also a nationally recognized economist, specializing in public finance, taxation and rural economies.

    Prior to joining SDSU in 2007, Dr. Chicoine held various positions of increasing responsibility with the University of Illinois, most recently as Vice President for Technology and Economic Development. His higher education administrative experience at the University of Illinois also includes service as Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Dean of the College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the Urbana-Champaign campus.

    This appointment has caused quite a stir at South Dakota State University. While many think that this partnership with Monsanto could bring advanced research opportunities to students and faculty, many are concerned about the politics of President Chicoine serving on the Monsanto Board of Directors. While he makes $300,000 as SDSU’s president, Monsanto will give him $400,000 compensation for his time on the board. I have listened intently to both sides of the story, and I can see why there are differing views. If you haven’t read up on this scenario, I have included some of the “hot button” articles in the news for you to read. Let me know your thoughts in this situation. Should a president of a university sit on a company’s board of directors? Are people overreacting, or is the community outburst warranted? What needs to change at land-grant universities, or what could be improved upon in the future? Looking for your thoughts and opinions today.

    Some question Monsanto-Chicoine relationship

    SDSU president’s dual role as head of Monsanto concerns some

    SDSU’s ‘cozy’ deal questioned

    Students and faculty concerned Chicoine’s ties to Monsanto could “taint” SDSU research

    Collegian Questions Chicoine Monsanto Board Appointment

    Uncategorized

    Search engine optimization and YOU

    Amanda Nolz

    Can SEO’s and Journalists Really Be Friends? This was the question asked by Rachelle Money at CyberJournalist.net. Because journalists often shy away from “stuffing” key words into their articles to gain online traffic, Money explains the art of using SEO’s and how journalists can use them to improve their writing.

    The SEO mantra: ‘content is king’ is one shared by journalists. We’ve always believed writing to be incredibly important. The SEO wants to create great content and the journalist wants to write a good news story. Both SEO and journalist want their articles to be read by as wide a readership as possible. It’s important that they appeal to readers and generate some debate. Maybe it’s the journalist’s ego but we want our stories to cause a stir, we want people to respond to them through comment sites, forums and blogs. That means our stories need to be found on the internet in the first place, and that’s why SEO has to become our new best friend. Put simply, we can use SEO to make sure that many more people read our stories.

    So, when you are compiling blog posts, updated your twitter or writing an article for publication, do you think about using keywords to reach a wider readership? If so, what are those key words, and how should a person identify them and use them correctly? The world of journalism is certainly evolving, and those not willing to change might be left in the dust. I thought this article might stimulate some dialogue, so let’s compare notes!

    newcj4

    Internet

    Trucking The Agricultural Highway

    Chuck Zimmerman

    American Trucking AssociationLet’s practice a little safe trucking out there guys. Okay?

    The American Trucking Associations’ Agricultural and Food Transporters Conference (AFTC) recently released the Manager’s Guide to Safe Trucking During Agricultural Planting and Harvest Season. Available free for download at AFTC’s webpage, this guide provides educational resources for truck drivers and their managers in the agricultural industry, encouraging active strategies to improve safety during peak times of production.

    “Promoting safety is important in all agricultural operations but especially critical in the case of truck driving,” said Russell Laird, ATA’s Agricultural and Food Transporters Conference Executive Director. “Our members are glad to share their expertise and best practices with the whole agricultural industry to give them practical strategies they can implement to help improve safety.”

    The guide focuses on active strategies for hiring decisions, communicating with drivers, and monitoring and managing fatigue.

    Ag Groups

    United Soybean Board Supporting Animal Agriculture

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Rick StearnRick Stearn is chairman of the production committee for the United Soybean Board. He was attending the NAFB Washington Watch Issues Forum.

    The United Soybean Board was a major sponsor and had people on hand like Rick to address issues like animal agriculture and the impact of animal rights groups. The reason for this Rick says is because domestic animal production agriculture is the number one customer for domestically produced soybean meal (over 96%). He agrees that if animal rights groups who want to end animal agriculture are successful it will change the whole industry since many elements are very interdependent.

    Some other issues important to USB from a production standpoint include soybean rust, soybean quality and soybean yield.

    You can listen to my interview with Rick here: ww-09-usb.mp3

    NAFB Washington Watch 2009 Photo Album

    Ag Groups, Animal Health, Audio, Soybean, USB