New Holland News From Commodity Classic

Chuck Zimmerman

Chuck, Cindy and GeneDuring Commodity Classic I got to interview Gene Hemphill, New Holland, one of our sponsors. Gene (center) had to have his picture taken with Cindy and me since he so rarely sees us in the same place at the same time.

Gene was very happy with the show this year. At this year’s show New Holland had a training trailer at their location in the trade show and he says, “when a farmer gets out the spec book you know he’s interested.” I think he saw a number of those. New Holland has been sponsoring Commodity Classic since it started and the individual commodity group conventions prior to that. He thinks it’s one of the better run events. One of the things he likes is how Classic interacts with sponsors by holding meetings for them to obtain their input on making changes. As he puts it, “They listen to us.”

When it comes to new products he says that their “size matters” combine has been a real focus for the company in this market. New Holland has introduced the largest combine in North America. He also says that the New Holland name has really gained traction as the company has experienced significant growth in recent years.

You can listen to my interview with Gene here: cc-09-hemphill.mp3

You can also download the interview with this link: Gene Hemphill Interview (mp3)

2009 Commodity Classic Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2009 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by: BASF and New Holland

Agribusiness, Audio, Commodity Classic, New Holland

Corn Farmers Coalition Launched

Chuck Zimmerman

Corn Farmers CoalitionAfter last week’s announcement about the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance and Tom Buis moving from NFU to Growth Energy I thought we now had plenty of organizations promoting not only renewable fuels but corn in particular since it is such an integral part of biofuels production today.

However, we now have another new organization. This time it’s the Corn Farmers Coalition.

When corn prices spiked last year, big food manufacturers and oil companies claimed there wasn’t enough corn to feed everyone and make ethanol.

Corn Farmers Coalition AdNow we know that was not true. There was always plenty of corn to make ethanol, not to mention corn to export and to feed ourselves and the cattle, chickens and pigs we raise on corn. And the federal Agriculture Department says there will be plenty of corn to meet demand for the foreseeable future.

So corn farmers from 10 states, including Illinois, and the industry’s trade group — the National Corn Growers Association — formed the Corn Farmers Coalition (CFC) to educate policymakers in Washington.

The coalition today launches a Web site (www.CornFarmersCoalition.org), an advertising campaign and a statistical abstract on America’s biggest crop.

“Washington needs to know that corn farmers are using some of the most advanced technologies on the planet to do more with less — to grow more corn using fewer resources every year,” said Mark K. Lambert, Director of the Corn Farmers Coalition. “American corn farmers, the majority of them small business people, are among the most productive in the world.”

Advertising, Ag Groups, Corn

Westbrock and Anderson To Recieve NAMA Awards

Chuck Zimmerman

Leon WestbrockNAMA has announced two of their big award winners. The awards will be presented at the 2009 Agri-Marketing Conference, “Hot Ideas, Sizzling Solutions,” April 16, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia. ZimmComm will be there once again and celebrating 5 years btw.

The National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) has named Leon Westbrock (pictured), CHS Inc., Executive Vice President and COO, Energy, as the 2009 Agribusiness Leader of the Year. The award honors outstanding leaders in agribusiness, education, government service or other agribusiness related areas who exemplify excellence in agribusiness by their significant contributions to the industry.

The National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) has honored Jon Anderson, President of OPEN ROADS, with the NAMA Marketer of the Year award. NAMA recognizes its active members with senior management of marketing and/or sales responsibilities with the NAMA Marketer of the Year award. This award is NAMA’s most prestigious honor awarded to active members of the association and honors outstanding accomplishments in the field of agri-marketing

NAMA

American Society of Newspaper Editors Cancels Convention

Chuck Zimmerman

I think it’s a sign of the times. Some might says it’s because of the economy. I don’t. The media has changed and it’s not going to change back to the way it was.

Thanks to a heads up from Steve Drake, Drake & Company, I learned that the American Society of Newspaper Editors has canceled their 2009 Convention. Here are some particularly telling excerpts from their news release. I’ve highlighted some elements myself:

This is only the second time since ASNE was founded that it has foregone holding a convention. ASNE also canceled its convention during the last critical days of World War II in 1945.

In the meantime, Hall said the organization will increase reliance on the Web to help editors share what they are learning as they reinvent their news organizations for multiple platforms.

ASNE had planned votes at the Chicago convention on bylaws changes that would drop “paper” from its name and expand its membership to include editors of online-only news Web sites and leading journalism educators. That, and the annual election of new board members, will now occur electronically.

“We intend to press on with our transformation of ASNE to ensure its relevance in the digital age,” Hall said. “As we broaden our membership, we will aggressively advocate for innovation in journalism, access to public information, First Amendment rights, diversity and ethical standards.”

How are ag communications groups continuing to be relevant to their members? I’ve mentioned that the lines between print, broadcast and web are blurring. If we’re all doing the same things (photos, video, audio, writing, web editing, social networking) do we still need multiple organizations? Are we duplicating efforts? I’m just posing the questions. I’m a member of all the different ag groups and I’m seeing less differences in them all the time, especially when you have a growing amount of crossover membership with companies that are using multiple communications platforms.

I think this concept of media change needs to also be taken into consideration by ag organizations who hold conventions and meetings to which they invite and credential the media. When was the last time you reviewed your policies? How are you keeping the services you offer relevant and useful to the media attending?

Media

Future Ag Journalists

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast-210 - Monsanto Student BloggersIn this week’s program you get to meet Brooke Hoelscher and Megan Ott. They’re the Monsanto Future Ag Journalist Fellowship students who were set up to cover the Commodity Classic on blogs created by Monsanto – Brooke’s Commodity Insider and Megan’s Classic Chronicle.

We had a nice chat in the media room at Commodity Classic. Brooke is a junior ag communications and journalis major at Texas A&M University and Megan is a Sophomore at the University of Illinois and also majoring in ag communications. They were taking photos, recording audio interviews and shooting video clips during their stay which are posted on their blog. I think that, like me, they’ve still got stories to post too. They’re really grateful for the opportunity they have to attend Classic and see and learn what’s going on in the industry. I’m sure this will help them in their careers.

Both of them are quite familiar with Facebook. I thought it was funny when Megan said she was a little scared when her Mom got on Facebook. Both agree that the internet is where communication is today. They had never heard of Twitter before coming to Classic but found out right away how many people in ag communications were tweeting away.

This week’s program ends with music from the Podsafe Music Network. It’s a song called, “Answers From Me” by Classic Tragic Hero. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: Listen To ZimmCastZimmCast 210 (19 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:Interview with Brooke Hoelscher and Megan Ott - ZimmCast 210

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, Commodity Classic, ZimmCast

Self-Improvement with Dale Carnegie

Amanda Nolz

Dale Carnegie (1888-1955) is widely recognized for his best-selling self-help books including: How to Win Friends and Influence People, The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking and How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. What started as a night job teaching adults at the YMCA turned into a national phenomenon as Dale Carnegie dedicated his life to teaching others the power of self-improvement.

bumsted For animal and meat science students from across the country, the opportunity was available to take part in these legendary training sessions at the American Meat Science Association Student Leadership Conference held on Feb. 23-25, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nev. Five South Dakota State University participants competed in a meat product development contest during the event with chocolate, peanut butter, cinnamon bacon rolls. I know…intense. I had the opportunity to try these bacon rolls, and I can assure you that they were delicious (calorie count aside). Pictured here is SDSU team member, Jarrod Bumsted, with his bacon rolls.

Anyway, the conference offered three days of Dale Carnegie Training, and I wish that I could have been there as they learned about effective public speaking, conflict management, leadership, teammwork and effective decision making. I have read Carnegie’s books, and I have found them incredibly inspirational and moving. Have you read his books or gone through his training courses before?

Uncategorized

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Novus International is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Joyce Cacho as Chief Sustainability Officer. Dr. Cacho’s primary responsibility will be managing, planning and implementing Novus’s global Corporate Social Responsibility Program and initiatives.
  • Veteran marketing and communications professional Hugh Whaley has joined Broadhead + Co. as director of the Minneapolis-based agency’s growing association and federal government practice.
  • Commodity Wrap, a new prime-time weekly “live” television broadcast designed to further inform and advise farmers and ranchers during these times of large price swings and market fluctuations in commodity prices and inputs will premiere on RFD-TV tonight, March 2, beginning at 7pm (eastern).
  • The DuPont Crop Protection Plus herbicide cost replacement program, which had been available to growers purchasing DuPont herbicides in the western United States, has been extended to provide extra peace of mind to cereal growers throughout the continental United States.
    Zimfo Bytes

    A Classic Event

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Commodity ClassicEveryone at Commodity Classic this year seemed to be impressed that attendance was as good or better than ever, despite the economy.

    “As I understand it, we are either right at the record or over it, so that is phenomenal,” said National Corn Growers Association CEO Rick Tolman. Unofficial numbers I heard were about 4500 total registration with 1500 of those actual corn, soybean, wheat and sorghum farmers.

    Rick TolmanRick says he was pleased to see the producer organizations for four different commodities coming together for the first time under one banner. “We’re too small in agriculture to be fighting among our selves,” Rick said. “Things like Commodity Classic bring us together and help us realize how much we have in common.”

    Concerns about potential changes to the 2008 Farm Bill surfaced at Commodity Classic this week, as the Obama administration unveiled its budget proposal which calls for cuts in farm program spending. “The farm bill is a five year program and we just went through a whole two years of discussions to get that done and finally we get it signed and it hasn’t even been implemented yet and they’re talking about changing it,” Tolman said. “That’s a principal I think is wrong.”

    Listen to an interview with Rick here: cc-09-tolman.mp3

    2009 Commodity Classic Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the 2009 Commodity Classic
    is sponsored by: BASF and New Holland

    Audio, BASF, Commodity Classic, Corn, Farming, NCGA, New Holland, sorghum, Soybean, Wheat

    IFAJ and AMS Planning Meeting

    Chuck Zimmerman

    IFAJ-AMS Planning MeetingThe IFAJ/AMS planning committee got together since so many of us ag media types were in town for Commodity Classic. Yesterday the group went to Billy Bob’s and the Stockyards before heading to the upcoming conference hotel, the Worthington Hotel in downtown Fort Worth.

    Cindy and I joined the group for a reception meeting last night. The local convention and visitor’s bureau and hotel provided a tour and hosted our reception. We covered the program, which is mostly set now, including speakers. I’ll have more information about this shortly here on AgWired and I’ve got quite a bit of new information to get posted this week on the IFAJ 2009 Congress website.

    For those who don’t know, this year the Ag Media Summit is overlapping with the IFAJ Congress for the first time. It’s going to be a big meeting and I’m looking forward to a great program.

    2009 Commodity Classic Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the 2009 Commodity Classic
    is sponsored by: BASF and New Holland

    ACN, Ag Media Summit, IFAJ, LPC