AnimalAgNet

Chuck Zimmerman

Okay. Here’s a new social network for animal agribusiness. What do you think? Good idea? It looks like it has internal special interest groups. Is this going to be of sufficient value/benefit to draw in significant participation? Although I’m a big fan of social networking I have wondered how these types of online communities are faring. I’ve seen some that are very active on some very niche topics. Will producers who are involved in Facebook utilize more than one social network? If you’re a producer what are your thoughts? Have you become a member of AnimalAgNet? If so, what do you like/not like?

WATT has announced the launch of www.AnimalAgNet.com, an online social networking community for the global agribusiness industry. The site is created for producers, processors, animal health and nutrition professionals, animal feed manufacturers, marketers and others working in any phase of the global poultry, pig and animal feed sectors.

Animal agribusiness professionals are encouraged to visit AnimalAgNet.com and join a community of their interest, view breaking industry news, ask questions, share ideas, network and/or catch up with their peers, or post photos and videos. Groups exist for poultry production, regulatory issues, animal health, feed trends, environmental issues and pig production. Community members are invited to start their own blog, form their own groups and invite their peers to join.

“AnimalAgNet is designed as a place for animal agribusiness professionals to network and share knowledge in a safe, business-only environment,” said WATT Vice President of Content Bruce Plantz.

Media, Social Networking

Money Farm on MGEX Commentary Call

Cindy Zimmerman

MGEXEvery time the USDA issues an important crop report, the Minneapolis Grain Exchange hosts a conference call for reporters with a market commentator. We have been responsible for recording and uploading that call to their server for the past couple of years now.

money farmToday the call focused on the April Supply Demand report and the commentator was Mike Krueger from The Money Farm, who said that normally this month’s reports are normally not that significant since we had the big prospective plantings report out last week.

He said the reports include the “typical monthly revisions of supply and demand” which all came in well below the range of analysts’ estimates for ending stock numbers.

Listen to this morning’s call here and check out the MGEX website for daily commentary.
mgex-4-9-09.mp3

Audio, Markets, USDA

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Farm Market iD has released two new data files. Due to continued demand, the company has updated its popular Turf & Ornamental Database now representing almost 210,000 companies and facilities who purchase equipment, seed, chemicals, fertilizer and other products and services. For more information about the new Farm Market iD databases, contact Dick Olmsted at 800-313-4778, ext. 202.
  • The 2009 Ag Media Summit which is being conducted jointly with the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists will bring together an estimated 700 agricultural communicators from around the world for workshops, panel discussions, tours and networking opportunities. The meeting will be held Aug. 1 through Aug. 5 at the Renaissance Worthington Hotel in Ft. Worth, Texas.
  • Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA is making more than $17 million in grants available under the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. Vilsack also described recent initiatives, such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), designed to help producers and keep farmers on the land.
  • CoBank has named Mark Yonkman executive vice president and general counsel.
Zimfo Bytes

NAMA Blog

Chuck Zimmerman

NAMA BlogSpeaking of NAMA. I’ll be the NAMA blogger once again this year and you can find posts on the NAMA blog.

As you can see it’s being sponsored by Successful Farming, just like AgWired! Thank you Agriculture.com.

Cindy will be with me and we’ve got help from Michelle Kautz, who is doing free lance writing for us on our Domestic Fuel website. So that’s the ZimmComm crew you’ll find in Atlanta next week.

It’s looking like we’re going to have a great show so rest up. The games begin next Tuesday!

NAMA

Sunrise Soothes My Soul

Chuck Zimmerman

Missouri SunriseIt’s a travel day for the agriblogger. I’m heading east for a couple days work on the Drive Green Utility Tractor Show. These stops will wrap up the east/south route and then the big rig heads west through Missouri.

I had to stop off the highway on the way to the airport this morning for this photo. You can also find one I tweeted from my phone here.

I’ll get home on Easter and have a day to pack for NAMA. You’re all going right? Last I heard the trade show is sold out and we’re on our second overflow hotel. If you’re not there then you’re . . .

Remember that when you stop by the ZimmComm booth you can register to win a very cool giveaway – HP Mini Netbook!

Uncategorized

Quarry Idea Exchange

Chuck Zimmerman

Quarry Integrated CommunicationsWith an alert from the Quarry Integrated Communications Twitter feed I was pointed to their blog: Idea Exchange. It contains “a series of articles examining ways to thrive, not just survive, in 2009.” Here’s an example.

You all know the deal. During periods of economic instability, your organization will focus with laser-like precision on the bottom line, allocating dollars to only those areas they know will deliver positive business results.

While clicks matter, it’s the outcome of the click, not the click itself, that really counts.

Your CFO doesn’t care about how many clicks you generated on your Web site. Neither likely does your CEO. And your VP Sales doesn’t want more leads. They want better-quality leads. The bottom line? While clicks matter, it’s the outcome of the click, not the click itself, that really counts. In 2009, your organization will want you to “show them the money” – that is, prove to them not only your impact on demand creation, but importantly, your impact on revenue creation.

Continue reading →

Agencies

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • StollerUSA announced university research results on the effect of Root Power on onion crops. The research was performed by Dr. T X Liu, professor of entomology, Texas Agri-Life Research, at the Texas A&M University System Weslaco site.
  • The American Soybean Association celebrated more than a decade of diligent and persistent work on behalf of U.S. soybean farmers to advance global acceptance of new biotech soybean traits after LibertyLink soybeans (A2704-12) from Bayer CropScience received food safety approval from the Korean Food and Drug Administration (KFDA).
  • Bayer CropScience announced that it acquired certain assets and technology related to biological development products of Agrogreen, Ashdod, Israel.
    Zimfo Bytes

    AdFarm Fargo Assists With Flooding

    Chuck Zimmerman

    AdFarm Flood WorkI know that the flooding in North Dakota may have subsided but I’m sure the results are going to be felt for some time to come. I have been meaning to post this but hadn’t really had a chance to until this morning. The folks at AdFarm’s office in Fargo were certainly in the thick of it. For example, the photo is of AdFarmer Leah Brakke taking a break from sandbagging with the Red River creeping up behind her on a day when seven inches of snow fell on Fargo.

    For the past week, the AdFarm Fargo employees have been busy helping their community with sandbagging efforts to slow down the flooding across the region.

    Fargo-based AdFarmer Carina Emil wrote in company-wide email yesterday: “It was one long week of sandbagging at our housing developments and throughout the City of Fargo. Thankfully, each of our homes are dry and we are praying that they stay that way until the Red River falls to 37 feet or lower. As you may have heard, the Red River crested on Saturday at 40.82 feet which is a new record for Fargo.”

    Now, as the snowstorm that covered Bismarck with more than two feet of snow hits Fargo, all AdFarmers are hopeful that the quickly constructed sandbag levees and earthen dikes hold and continue to protect the city.

    AdFarmer Katie Pinke, who lives in Wishek near Bismarck, passed along these links to videos depicting the courageous efforts of the City of Fargo.

     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZ6X4Vc8KaY
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMun8i7b768
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcMZ_0guIgE
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdxtwROYTgE
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKlK1bnkHNs
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvkE_F0LXp0
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=851tKxPaOXc

    Agencies

    Layoffs At Des Moines Deere

    Chuck Zimmerman

    John DeereI hope this isn’t a trend we’ll be seeing in the industry. It’s a very short announcement sent out today by Deere & Company:

    Deere & Company said today that 160 employees of the John Deere Des Moines Works will be placed on indefinite layoff later this month due to reduced market demand for the factory’s products.

    Deere said the layoffs affect production workers with the least seniority and that employees were told of the plans in meetings today at the factory. The layoffs are effective April 27th. The John Deere Des Moines Works manufactures tillage, planting, spraying and cotton harvesting equipment for agriculture.

    Agribusiness, John Deere

    Farm Foundation to Host Ag Research & Productivity Workshop

    John Davis

    farmfoundationlogo2A workshop examining the relationship between public- and private-sector research and agricultural productivity growth, both in the United States and worldwide, takes place later this month at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

    Farm Foundation has teamed up with the the National Agriculture Research Extension, Education and Economics Advisory Board for the April 28th workshop, entitled Agricultural Research and Productivity for the Future.

    Growing demand for food in developing countries, expanded use of agricultural crops for biofuels and increased feed demand are changing the landscape of U.S. agriculture away from commodity and food surpluses and low prices. “This challenge to increase productivity comes at a time of increased pressures on natural resources,” says Farm Foundation President Neil Conklin.

    Historically U.S. agriculture’s competitiveness in global markets has been driven by a combination of public- and private-sector investments in research, education and technology transfer. In recent years, the growth in U.S. agricultural productivity may have slowed. While funding for agricultural productivity enhancing research in the United States has slowed and in some cases declined, other nations, such as Brazil, have increased their investments agricultural research.

    The workshop cover a variety of subjects, including a discussion of economic returns to public agriculture research, productivity trends and prospects for future returns to agricultural research. In addition, in true Farm Foundation fashion, there will be lots of give-and-take as both sides get their voices heard in coming up with solutions for some major challenges facing agriculture, such as climate change, food safety in a global economy, livestock production issues and options and strategies for public- and private-sector funding.

    Register at www.farmfoundation.org by April 21st. Make your room reservations by April 13th, since the host hotel, the Doubletree Hotel, 1515 Rhode Island Ave. NW, Washington, D.C., has a limited number of rooms at $189 per night plus tax.

    Farm Foundation