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

#agchat Session on Twitter

Chuck Zimmerman

#agchatI participated in a very cool use of Twitter tonight. Let’s call it #agchat. That’s the hashtag we used for our tweets to post into the conversation and to reply to each other. As of this post we have 248 tweets posted. Post Update: by ending time we have 331 tweets.

The idea is to do this on Tuesday evenings from 8-10pm eastern. I believe credit for the idea goes to Michele Payn-Knoper, Cause Matters.

She’s already got a Facebook group set up for participants too. You can join by doing a FB search for #agchat.

Questions posed during the online discussion included ones like, “Just to get us warmed up, what do you feel are the most pressing issues in #agriculture right now?” and “So, who does agriculture need to form relationships with to better tell our story? And, how have you done that?”

Responses were flittering (fast twittering). You can still see the posts on Twitter if you search with the hashtag – #agchat. Just go to search.twitter.com.

Maybe we’ll see you there next week?

Social Networking

The Derry Brownfield Show

Chuck Zimmerman

Derry BrownfieldI had a very enjoyable lunch today with my good friend Derry Brownfield. I know a lot of you know of Derry. He’s that farm broadcaster who is rude, crude, obnoxious, politically incorrect . . . (self description). I worked with Derry for almost 10 years and we covered a lot of miles together.

Derry is still hosting his daily Derry Brownfield Show, “the talk show with a country flavor and a common sense point of view.” He’s in some very spacious office and studio space in California, MO and this was my first visit to his new location. After lunch we came back to his studio and had a nice chat which I recorded for you. It contains some of my favorite Derry Brownfieldisms, like, “ignorance gone to seed.”

His show is being podcasted and you can use this link to subscribe. He also publishes the Common Sense Chronicle.

The Common Sense Chronicle is a monthly newsletter published by The Common Sense Coalition™. Each issue includes thought-provoking articles, musings by Derry, thoughts from Beth, witticisms, advice, and more.

Listen to my interview with Derry here: derry-brownfield-interview.mp3

I hope you enjoy it.

Audio, Media

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Analyses for residual feed intake are now available from IGENITY for both Bos taurus and Bos indicus breeds of cattle.
  • AgriCharts announced an initiative with Brock Associates to provide a market focused mobile platform to the agricultural industry and Brock Associates’ clients. The mobile platform, available to the public from any mobile-browser provides market quotes, news, weather and Brock Associates’ leading market commentary.
  • Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association announces a series of educational programs across the state to help provide cattle producers with information on the management of trichomoniasis. The educational programs are being co-sponsored by Fort Dodge Animal Health.
  • Syngenta and Dow AgroSciences announced an agreement to cross license their respective corn events for commercialization within their branded seed businesses.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Rabobank Farm & Ranch Confidence Survey

    Chuck Zimmerman

    RabobankRabobank has released results of its 2009 Farm & Ranch Survey. A couple of highlight include:

    * More farmers are using risk management tools
    * 1/3 of farmers expect crop input costs to decrease
    * More farmers looking to buy used equipment

    Rabobank recently launched a survey to gauge farmers’ confidence, and found that, while farmers’ outlook on the economy generally mirrors that of the overall population, more than half of farmers surveyed are employing risk management strategies to help navigate this difficult economic climate.

    “Our survey demonstrates that U.S. farmers and ranchers are tackling the current economic environment head on by making smart choices to help them weather the storm,” said John Ryan, president and CEO for Rabo AgriFinance. “While many are hurting because of the economy, there is some optimism that the situation will improve next year.”

    According to the Rabobank Farm & Ranch Survey, more than half of U.S. farmers have recently implemented or plan on investing in risk management or marketing strategies. Among those, pre-selling crops/livestock is the most regularly used risk management approach, followed by hedging future commodity sales and lock-in margins.

    Agribusiness, Farming

    Farmer Tweets

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Iowa Farm BureauJust in case you’re wondering if your company should be involved in social media, let me give you another example. This comes from Iowa Farm Bureau. It’s all about a farmer who’s on Twitter to help promote agriculture. I’m really glad to see how Farm Bureau is getting into the online conversation. In fact, I’ll be speaking to their gathering of state public relations directors in June. Not only is AFBF involved but a number of state groups like Iowa!

    Mike Ver Steeg is not only a farmer. He’s also known as a food provider. And it’s @foodprovider, to be exact.

    The title is his handle on the online site called Twitter. At www.twitter.com, users send short messages that are read by their followers. Some folks use it to keep in touch with friends, while others use it to communicate with colleagues.

    Ver Steeg uses it to promote agriculture. After signing onto the site at the end of February, he already has 108 followers that include a global farming organization based in France, a California dairyman, a cattleman in South Dakota and a rural vet in southeast Iowa.

    “I’d just heard about it and thought I’d try it out,” explained Ver Steeg who farms near Inwood. “My wife, Sarah, and I had just ended our term on the American Farm Bureau Young Farmer Committee. That group’s goal was to get ag’s message out.”

    Ver Steeg had been doing just that, visiting local Rotary groups and business clubs. But using Twitter has opened up a global opportunity. All he needs is a few free minutes and his laptop.

    So, if your farmer customers are there then why aren’t you? I see very few ag companies involved in the online conversation yet. Some have jumped in with both feet, many haven’t even taken their shoes off yet. What’s holding you back? Need some help? Let me know and I’ll do my best to ‘splain things.

    Ag Groups, Social Networking

    Indiana Family Farms Debuts

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Indiana Family FarmsGary Truitt, Hoosier Ag Today, has unveiled a new ZimmComm-designed website called Indiana Family Farms.

    Consumers today are interested in knowing more about how their food is produced. Environmental, safety, and welfare issues are figuring more and more in consumer buying decisions. Yet, most Americans know very little about how their food is produced or the men and women who produce it. A newly-launched web site is designed to give people a firsthand look at livestock production in Indiana and the people behind it. Indiana Family Farms (www.indianafamilyfarms.org) profiles Indiana beef, pork, and dairy farmers and lets them, in their own words, tell their stories. With photos, text, and audio, these producers tell the history of their farms, share their approach to meat production, and express their values. Visitors to the site will get a sense of what life is like on a livestock farm as well get an idea of the kind of people that make up the Indiana livestock industry. Visitors can also e-mail any questions to the farm families as well as click on a variety of educational resources on this site to learn more.

    Currently there are 6 farms featured on the site, but this will grow as more producers are added. The site was developed and is administered by The Hoosier Ag Today Foundation with funding from the Indiana State Department of Agriculture.

    Farming, Media

    Are you LinkedIn?

    Amanda Nolz

    pic_logo_119x32 As I prepare to graduate in May and begin my career as a freelance writer, I want to be sure I get started in this field on the right foot. What tools are journalists using, and how do they communicate with each other? Are you on LinkedIn? I have been invited by several people already, but I haven’t taken the plunge. I figure it’s just ONE more profile I would need to keep up, and my Facebook profile is already an outlet for people to find me online.

    If you aren’t familiar with LinkedIn. This is a social networking tool aimed for professionals. Currently, over 35 million professionals login to share ideas, connect with colleagues and share their working profiles. The site boasts that with LinkedIn you can, stay informed about your contacts and industry, find the people and knowledge you need to achieve your goals and control your professional identity online.

    If you are on LinkedIn, what do you like about it? If you aren’t, why have you never joined? What do you think about networking with professionals online? Is this the best way to share your resume or communicate with colleagues? Don’t be counted out; weigh in with your thoughts and ideas! Thanks for your input!

    Internet, Social Networking

    NALJA defines leadership

    Amanda Nolz

    nalja-board I took a 24 hour trip to Kansas City to give a speech to the North American Limousin Junior Association (NALJA) Board of Directors. I spoke on utilizing online media resources to tell the agriculture story. Before my speech, we all took part in a leadership workshop. NALJA Director Cassiday Woodard explained the importance of leadership in agriculture, and she helped us to identify our strengths and weaknesses in that area.

    We started the workshop by taking a short quiz that sorted and rated the responses into five categories. The quiz came from a book by Kouzes and Posner. After taking the quiz and tallying up our scores, she explained the five leadership traits and how we can improve on our weak traits in the future.

    The five leadership traits include:
    1) Model the way. Be the leader that you would want to follow.
    2) Inspire a shared vision. Work in a group towards a common goal.
    3) Challenge the process. Take risks and try something that has never been done before.
    4) Enable others to act. Inspire those around you to follow your lead.
    5) Encourage the heart. Help others help themselves. Be kind and show others you care.

    This was a refreshing course that reminded me how important strong leaders are in agriculture. I don’t want to be lost in a flock of sheep; I want to be the lead horse guiding the cowherd. Does that metaphor make sense? Ha! Anyway, Cassidy left us with some great leadership quotes that really drove the point home. Here are a few of my favorites…

    Every leader needs to look back once in awhile to make sure he has followers. -Kouzes and Posner

    If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. -John Quincy Adams

    Celebrate what you’ve accomplished, but raise the bar a little higher each time you succeed. -Mia Hamm

    Education