Administration Achievements and IFAJ 2009/AMS Update

Chuck Zimmerman January 12, 2009

U. S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer held a conference call with reporters to discuss accomplishments of the Bush administration. We were on the call and I thought I’d share a segment with you in this week’s program.

I’ve been pointing out the increased investment in rural broadband through the Rural Development department here on AgWired since we got started and the Secretary mentioned it in his remarks.

Since 2001 this administration has shown its commitment to rural America by investing an average of $14 billion a year in rural development, 36 percent higher than the level of spending when we took office. Those investments have created 2 million new jobs, they’ve expanded broadband service, upgraded health care and emergency response services, and supported renewable energy and energy efficient projects.

I hope we’ll see continued investment in rural broadband with the new administration.

In this week’s program I’ve also got an update on the IFAJ 2009 Congress/Agricultural Media Summit from Greg Lamp, Corn & Soybean Digest. There are updates to the schedule, including post-Congress tours on the Congress website and according to Greg plans are moving along smoothly.

You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 203 (13 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:Interview with Greg Lamp - ZimmCast 202

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, IFAJ, USDA, ZimmCast

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort January 12, 2009

MetaFarms, Inc. announced the launch of Report Manager, a new application within i-Production that enables users to customize, schedule, email and fax reports.
Pfizer Animal Genetics has made new advancements in Arthrogryposis Multiplex diagnostics to improve its testing capacity. Investments in equipment and an improved testing methodology enable Pfizer to run larger numbers of samples more efficiently.
Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. announced that its Chilean subsidiary Soquimich Comercial S.A. and Anagra S.A. signed a memorandum of understanding oriented to implement the merger of the two companies.
The USDA informed the American Soybean Association that Secretary Schafer has signed a memorandum recommending that USDA’s Office of Inspector General conduct an audit and, as appropriate, investigation of the National Soybean Checkoff Program based on the petition filed by the ASA on Dec. 10, 2008 to ensure that soybean checkoff dollars are being managed and invested as prescribed by law.

Zimfo Bytes

Driving Green in 2009

Chuck Zimmerman January 12, 2009

Welcome to another week in the world of agribusiness. To kick it off I thought I’d share one of the latest video clips on the John Deere Drive Green Utility Tractor Show blog. I’m really having fun with this project and it’s going to keep me busy. I’ll be in Houston later this month as we kick off the “Year of the Utility Tractor.” After messing with Final Cut Express export settings I think I’ve finally landed on the ones that work best with the new YouTube HD. It sure looks better than anything I’ve been able to post onto YouTube before.

This is a short video presentation by Jim Stoffregen on the new 5E Limited Series Tractors.

You can listen to Jim’s presentation here: drive-green-5e-limited-series-tractors.mp3

Or watch him here:

Agribusiness, Audio, John Deere, Video

Satellite TV For Your Car (or Tractor?)

Chuck Zimmerman January 10, 2009

Kurt has a great post on our Precision Pays website that I thought I’d share with you.

How about this for an extravagant non-ag precision gizmo? Among the many high-tech product launches at the recent SEMA (automotive specialty products) show was this AT&T Cruisecast satellite TV for your car–through a unique roof-top antenna developed by AT&T and RaySat.

For a list price of $1,299 and a monthly fee of $28, the current system will offer 22 channels of satellite TV and 20 satellite radio channels–but the sky is the limit on this technology (and I imagine Internet access may be in its future). It’s designed for rear-seat auto video screens, but I wouldn’t put it past some techies to make it work for anything from tailgates to tractor uses.

AT&T says it will available this spring at auto dealerships and in auto aftermarket channels.

Equipment, Precision Agriculture

More About U.S. Soybean Federation

Chuck Zimmerman January 9, 2009

I just got off the phone with Missouri soybean grower, Warren Stemme, who is the Vice President of the newly formed U.S. Soybean Federation. I wanted to learn more about the USSF so I could share with you.

Warren says the USSF is just getting started so there is no staff yet although they plan to put a lobbyist in Washington, DC as soon as possible. For the time being, the organization is being handled by the Minnesota Soybean Association office with Jim Palmer, MSA Executive Director, as the acting CEO. Warren says a very positive element of the new organization is equal representation for each state association that joins. He also says that the American Soybean Association’s recent call for an audit of the United Soybean Board has caused “strained relationships between those two groups.” He says the USSF supports the current soybean checkoff. He says their goal is to “move forward in a positive manner.”

You can listen to my interview with Warren here: ussf-stemme.mp3

You can also download the interview with this link: Warren Stemme Interview (mp3)

Ag Groups, Audio, Soybean

iPhone Apps I Like

Chuck Zimmerman January 9, 2009

It seems like a growing number of people I run in to have an iPhone. So I’ve been getting some questions about the apps that I’m using. I thought I’d just list them for you and invite you to post your own. These are links to the apps in the iTunes Store.

NetNewsWire: Great news feed reader which syncs with your online and computer accounts.
Facebook: Pretty much a full service mobile version.
WordPress: Let’s me post onto my blogs from anywhere I have a connection!
12seconds: Let’s you post a 3 picture slide show with audio to your 12seconds.tv account.
Pandora: My music whenever and wherever I want.
Speakeasy: Audio recorder. Great quality. You’ll be seeing me use in on location.
iBreviary: Provides the Liturgy of The Hours, daily prayer of the Church. Updated daily.
The Weather Channel: Better weather than built in wx app on phone.
Darkslide: Let’s me upload photos to my Flickr account (including into sets).
Twitterific: Where I tweet from most often.
AIM: Not using this much but a great IM app.
Google Mobile: Quick access to all my Google accounts/services.
Google Earth: You have to see it to believe it.

Equipment

Soybean Farmers Form U.S. Soybean Federation

Chuck Zimmerman January 9, 2009

I don’t know if you saw the release about USDA recommending that their Office of the Inspector General conduct an audit and perhaps investigation of the United Soybean Board but the allegations are serious. Apparently all is not well in soybean grower organization land. This is evidenced even more by this morning’s announcement of the U.S. Soybean Federation (USSF). I wonder how this will affect Commodity Classic, if at all. It seems like a lot of questions need to be answered. I’ve got a call in to learn more about the newly formed USSF and hope to have more to report soon.

With a sole mission of representing the voice of U.S. soybean farmers through advocacy and policy, the new U.S. Soybean Federation (USSF) was announced by founding farmer-leaders today.

“This is a challenging time for everyone in our country and soybean farmers are no exception,” says newly elected USSF President Lance Peterson, a soybean farmer from Underwood, Minn. “We need an organization like USSF that will have no other focus than to fairly, vigorously and effectively represent the voice of all U.S. soybean farmers in the federal legislative process.”

Peterson also pointed out actions by the American Soybean Association have triggered the need for this new organization. “It’s clear to us that ASA’s continuing actions are not in the best interest of soybean farmers as ASA is jeopardizing the national soybean checkoff,” says Peterson. “We need both a strong checkoff organization and a strong policy and advocacy organization that can work independently but cooperatively. USSF stands in total support of the current national soybean checkoff and the farmer-leaders appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to oversee checkoff investments.” Read More

Ag Groups, Soybean

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort January 9, 2009

Israel invites you to register for one of the following International Agricultural Training Centre programmes from March 19 – April 6, 2009: Agribusiness, Export and Marketing Management, Water and Crop Production Management or The Role of Agro-technology in Poverty Alleviation and Food Security.
Monsanto announced the names of the high school seniors being awarded Deltapine Class of ‘09 scholarships to pursue agriculture-related studies in college. Students wrote an essay themed “My Future in Cotton” and the winners were announced during the Deltapine Class of ’09 reception at the 2009 Beltwide Cotton Conferences in San Antonio, Texas. View the list of winners here.
The American Corn Growers Association, announced that its coming 22nd Annual Convention will feature discussions with industry experts including several new additions to its speakers line-up. Opening with a “public invited” one day workshop covering the opportunities for developing and producing renewable Alcohol and Ethanol Fuel, led by BioFuels expert David Blume, the Convention runs Jan. 15-16 at the Marriott Hotel in Coralville, Iowa.

Zimfo Bytes

Promoting Welfare of Animals

Chuck Zimmerman January 8, 2009

Animal welfare is a hot topic right now in the agribusiness world and anyone involved in animal agriculture should know that they’ve got a friend in Washington, DC called the Foundation For Biomedical Research. FBR has a new voice as I mentioned recently and that’s Paul McKellips. He’s bringing his multimedia skills to the organization to help get out good scientific information on this issue. One of the first things we talked about is the difference in animal welfare and animal rights. I spoke with him this morning not only about the mission of FBR but how they’re using various new and social media platforms to accomplish their communication objectives.

Paul says that FBR is using Facebook and podcasting and has plans for additional social communications efforts. According to him, “New media is the future of communications.” I can’t agree more. That doesn’t mean that FBR isn’t working with traditional media outlets though. The very same elements of new media like podcasts can also be used by traditional media and FBR is making sure that they continue to develop relationships with those media representatives. Paul encourages broadcasters and podcasters to make use of their new Animal Research Minute program for example.

Instead of ending the program this week with music I’m going to let you hear the latest Animal Research Minute. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast 202 (22 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:Interview with Paul McKellips - ZimmCast 202

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

Animal Health, Audio, ZimmCast

A Blog For Foodies

Chuck Zimmerman January 8, 2009

I never came across the Farm Bureau Foodie News Blog until this morning. It looks like the staff is into it. I think I would describe myself as a foodie. How about you?

The preferences of foodies, who generally are more discriminating than other consumers, continue to influence the food grown by America’s farmers and ranchers. With this trend in mind, we hope you enjoy the Foodie News blog.

Ag Groups, Food

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