The picture says it all:
Pfizer Animal Health Partners With Michigan State
At the Cattle Industry Convention I attended a Pfizer Animal Health breakfast and interviewed Dr. Dale Grotelueschen. In the picture he’s getting the same treatment from Evan Slack.
Dr. Grotelueschen was there to talk about a partnership between Pfizer and Michigan State University to eradicate BVD (that’s bovine viral diarrhea in case you don’t know). Basically, they’re starting with a regional area which is the upper peninsula in Michigan. It provides a relatively easy area to control for the project. This is a pretty significant disease which costs the cattle industry millions of dollars every year. Hopefully, if the project is successful it can be replicated in other areas.
You can listen to my interview with Dr. Grotelueschen here: cic-09-pfizer.mp3
Zimfo Bytes
- The nomination forms for the 2009 Grower Achievement Award program are open online. All grower operations throughout the U.S. are eligible to enter or nominate. The deadline for entry is May 31, 2009.
- Final preparations are underway towards the opening of the three programs to be held at the Galillee College study centre, Israel between March 19 and April 6, 2009: Water and Crop Production Management; Agribusiness and Export Marketing Management; and The Role of Agro technology in Poverty Alleviation and Food Security. Apply to one of the programs here.
- Don Guy has joined United Phosphorus, Inc. as the Director of Marketing and Field Development.
- The U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) board of directors unanimously elected wheat grower Randy Suess of Colfax, WA, Secretary-Treasurer at the USW Winter Board Meeting in Washington, D.C. Click here for all other board appointments.
Communicating Renewables on YouTube
We told you in last week’s ZimmCast about the Communicating Renewables Summit coming up in Minneapolis this April. This conference is designed specifically for the challenging task of getting the positive message about renewable energy out to consumers, stakeholders, policy leaders and the media.
Conference organizer Joanna Schroeder with 4RCommunications has just released a new promotional video about the summit – now live on YouTube for your viewing pleasure!
Zimfo Bytes
- The members of Cooperatives Working Together voted to fund the self-help program for two full years, from Jan. 2009 through Dec. 2010, to help bring the dairy supply into balance with shrinking demand.
- The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) released the ISAAA annual report “Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops 2008.”
- U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) invites anyone who is part of the U.S. wheat industry to submit photographs for possible use in its 2010 calendar. The winning photographers will receive $100 each from USW. This year, USW is looking for non-commercial photographs that illustrate the theme “The Wheat You Want from Producers You Can Depend On.” Entries must be submitted to USW by Aug. 1, 2009.
- Schillinger Seed has named Tony Nikkel as Operations Manager for the company. In his new role, Nikkel will be responsible for directing the production, manufacturing and logistic activities for Schillinger Seed including eMerge Genetics.
Biofuels Blogging Before Classic
I know a lot of you are looking ahead to Commodity Classic but Cindy and I have a whole lot of event coverage happening before next Wednesday in Grapevine.
To start with, I’m heading on over to Murfreesboro, TN today to get ready for the next Drive Green Utility Tractor Show event at the Miller Coliseum. That’s going to take place tomorrow.
Then Cindy and I head to San Antonio this weekend for the 2009 National Ethanol Conference. We’re going to be biofuels blogging for the Renewable Fuels Association on a variety of web locations, including here on AgWired. We’ll also be live blogging for RFA on their conference blog. We’ll be taking advantage of some our new tools at the event so keep us in mind if you’re interested to see how the ZimmComm team handles an event online. We’re also going to be working with our good friend, Joanna Schroeder, Communicating Renewables, who will be assisting our coverage on our Domestic Fuel site at both the NEC and Commodity Classic.
Another Farm Podcaster Tool
Okay farm podcasters. There is yet a new tool over which you can drool. I have always been a Marantz fan and this one looks to be a great offering. I know I pointed it out before but now you can find it for sale at BSW right now.
The Marantz PMD661 is a versatile, professional handheld PCM/MP3 recorder based on the popular PMD660, offering a streamlined form factor, a superior feature set, and the use of SD flash media. Major new design innovations include a smaller footprint and an improved top facia layout with fewer buttons as well as more highly developed use of multi-functional operation. The PMD661’s compact size, combined with the improved control layout, ensures comprehensive single-handed operation.
No, Cindy, I’m not ordering one (not that I’m tempted or anything). BTW, BSW also has the Tascam DR07 on sale too.
Agriculture for a Democratic Workplace Formed
A pretty broad coalition of ag groups has launched a campaign to oppose the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) also known as the “card check” bill. This looks like the perfect opportunity for a Twitter feed, blog and podcast.
Led by co-chairs Western Growers, the California Farm Bureau and the California Grape and Tree Fruit League, Agriculture for a Democratic Workplace (ADW) unveiled its Web site (www.coalitionforagriculture.org) with information and tools coalition members may use to contact legislators and voice their opposition to the EFCA.
Labor is making the EFCA a top priority in Congress this year. The EFCA would radically alter 75 years of labor law governing the rights of employees by, among other things, effectively eliminating NLRB-supervised secret ballot elections in favor of “card check,” thereby enabling unions to organize employees merely by convincing or coercing a majority of them to sign cards.
Along with national partners like the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, ADW intends to let the nation’s leaders know that agricultural workers, employers, associations and organizations will fight to protect the right to a federally supervised secret ballot when workers are deciding whether or not to join a union.
“These are tenuous economic times,” says Tom Nassif, President and CEO of Western Growers. “We need to make small businesses, including domestic family farms, more competitive and incentivize the growth of new business which will encourage job creation. Passage of the EFCA will result in just the opposite.”
Surviving The Digital Information Transition
I’ve just got to point you to Steve Rubel, Micro Persuasions, once again. He works for Edelman Digital and one of his fellow digerati (Dave Coustan) will be on my breakout session panel at the upcoming NAMA Conference. Steve just did a couple of posts that anyone in communications and marketing ought to read. I’m going to take the liberty of pointing you to a couple of his remarks. I’m also going to include a remark from a recent Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine, post that ought to give you pause as well.
In a post titled, “Five Digital Trends to Watch for 2009:”
The Power of Pull – Where push once ruled, it’s now equally important to create digital content that people discover through search
How hard is this for the traditionalist (public relations and journalism) to understand? Very! The objections include things like, “I can’t control it” and “The numbers are small.”
In a post titled “The Newspaper Reporter of the Future is Here Today,” Steve points to the work of Peter Abraham, who is covering the New York Yankees for a local newspaper. Abraham is blogging, including live with CoveritLive, podcasting, posting pictures. Here’s what Steve says about it:
Now imagine for a moment that Abraham wasn’t a Yankees beat writer but instead covering your company or industry for the business section. Or imagine she is the newspaper’s food columnist. This multi-platform method of engaging is right for all of them. If every reporter did this on staff they can build not only a more engaged audience, but also redefine local media since it’s all potentially global.
For PR professionals, this is a boon. More content creates more opportunities for us to tell our stories and to also engage journalists using these same channels. If we’re not there as individuals and companies then we won’t be top of mind.
What Abraham is doing represents not only the future of journalism but also what PR professionals themselves need to do to build connections in the years ahead.
Now, keeping in mind what Steve says above, read this comment from a recent post by Jeff Jarvis. His post is titled, “TV’s Next,” in which he writes about the demise of newspapers and explains why he believes broadcasting is next.
It’s a failure of distribution as a business model. Distribution is a scarcity business: ‘I control the tower/press/wire and you don’t and that’s what makes my business.’ Not long ago, they said that owning these channels was tantamount to owning a mint. No more. The same was said of content. But it’s relationships (read: links) that create value today.
The local TV and radio business, once a privilege to be part of, is next to fall. Timber.
How is your company or media outlet making sure you survive the digital information transition? Do you agree with Steve and Jeff or disagree? Do you still think you can control your customers or subscribers and force them into your “domain?”
Zimfo Bytes
- Charlie O’Brien of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) has been named to the Farm Foundation’s Round Table, which is an invitational discussion forum of leaders from agribusiness, government, academic and agricultural-related interest groups. O’Brien is AEM’s vice president of agricultural services.
- Agri-Inject, Inc. now offers Mister Mist’r Ultra, a new generation of their injection check valve for injection systems.
- Challenger introduces the most powerful and innovative row crop tractor in North America — the Challenger MT600C Series, offering four models with maximum gross engine horsepower from 270 hp to 350 hp.
- Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) was presented with one of the wheat industries most prestigious awards, The Wheat Advocate Award.