John Deere Has New Names and Numbers

Cindy Zimmerman

Katie Sheets is a John Deere marketing representative out of the Waterloo, IA factory and she has been at the National Farm Machinery Show this week introducing a brand new tractor name and numbering system.

“We have extended this tractor line up from two tractors to four tractors,” Katie told me. “The one we are standing in front of a 6100D, a 6 series tractor, 100 engine horsepower and the D stands for the specification level – this is a lower, mid-spec tractor.”

Katie says this tractor is perfect for those small ag customer using it for loader work or light hay or cattle operations.

Listen to an interview with Katie here nfms09-jd-katie.mp3

You can also download the interview here: Katie Sheets (mp3).

NFMS 09 Photo Album

Audio, John Deere, National Farm Machinery Show, NFMS, Tractor

Farm Machinery Show Tweet Up

Cindy Zimmerman

Several Twitter-heads met up in the media room at the National Farm Machinery Show on Thursday for a Tweet Up.

Among those in the photo – the folks from ABN, John Blue with Truffle, Susan Crowell with Farm and Dairy, Julie from Purdue and Dave Russell with Brownfield Network.

I know that sooner or later I will become Twitter savvy myself, but for now Chuck is the official ZimmComm Twit. As I write this, he is at Southeast Agnet introducing Gary Cooper to the ways of Twitter.

NFMS 09 Photo Album

National Farm Machinery Show, NFMS

FinOvation Awards

Cindy Zimmerman

Farm Industry News presented their 2008 FinOvation Awards Thursday night at the National Farm Machinery Show. The awards went to the 16 most innovative products coming to the market, based on reader interest.

Two of this year’s awards went to the two company partners who sponsored coverage of the NFMS on Agwired this week.

Katie Sheets with John Deere picked up their award for the 7030 Premium and 7030 Mid-Spec tractors. They range from 100 to 140 PTO hp and are loaded with new features that include a glass hatch roof for increased visibility, a higher transport speed of 25 mph, and cab suspension on the premium model.

Ed Barry with New Holland received the Finovation award for combines. Both Case and New Holland are claiming to have the largest combines in North America, so rather than argue the point, they both got the award. You can read more about the New Holland big boy in yesterday’s post where Ed tells us all about how size matters!

The lovely and talented FIN senior editor Jodie Wehrspann was the award presenter. Thanks to editor-in-chief Karen McMahon for a great awards dinner and ceremony honoring the best of the best! Read about the other FinOvation award winners here.

NFMS 09 Photo Album

Equipment, Farm Machinery, John Deere, Media, National Farm Machinery Show, New Holland, NFMS

New Holland Makes the Old New Again

Cindy Zimmerman

This ain’t your great-grandaddy’s tractor – even if it might look like it!

This is the New Holland Boomer 8N, a new and improved version of the classic Ford 8N tractor originally made in the late 1940s. New Holland’s Rory Chisholm says the tractor features a modern drive line with the latest innovations. “So its a marriage of two things that results in quite a stunning looking tractor,” Rory said. “We realized that we had this tractor in our history that’s a link to our past so we decided to put a little of the new and a little of the old together and the end result was the Boomer 8N.”

Comfort and safety are features in the new tractor, with a shiny rollover bar and a cushioned seat modeled after the much less comfortable steel pan seats of the original.

Over 500,000 of the original Ford 8N tractors went into production and many of them are still in existence and hold a sense of nostalgia for lots of people who grew up on farms. The Boomer 8N will be going into production later this spring. The tractors will not necessarily be a limited run, but they will be numbered, and our friend Gene Hemphill is in negotiations right now with a certain celebrity vehicle buff to get serial number one in his garage.

Listen to an interview with Rory here nfms09-cnh-rory.mp3

You can also download the interview here: New Holland Boomer 8N (mp3).

NFMS 09 Photo Album

Audio, Farm Machinery, National Farm Machinery Show, New Holland, NFMS, Tractor

New Holland’s Big Combine

Cindy Zimmerman

Size definitely matters at the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville and New Holland is proud to be showing off the largest combine in North America – the new CR9080 with 523 maximum horsepower.

I spoke with Ed Barry, cash crop marketing manager for New Holland, and he told me that it’s not just horsepower that makes it the biggest. “It’s the largest cab, largest threshing area and largest cleaning area,” Ed said.

“We have a strong history in combines,” he said. “Model year 2010 will be our 35th year in the rotary combine business and our heritage has led us to the future.”

This evening, Farm Industry News will officially present a FinOvation award to New Holland’s CR9080 as one of the best innovations of 2008 designed to help producers farm more efficiently and more profitably.

Listen to an interview with Ed here nfms09-cnh-combine.MP3

You can also download the interview here: New Holland Combine (mp3).

Watch Ed’s presentation on New Holland combines at a Farm Industry News seminar:

NFMS 09 Photo Album

Audio, Farm Machinery, National Farm Machinery Show, New Holland, NFMS, Video

Chicago Farmers Farmland Investment Fair

Chuck Zimmerman

Chicago Farmers Farmland Investment FairIt sounds like things went very well at the Chicago Farmers Farmland Investment Fair. Michelle Fowler sent me this picture of Andy Holstein with Tim Smith, center of Cropsmith Inc., and Dale Lutz, extension specialist with the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois Extension.

I was also very happy to receive this recommendation from Rich Schell, Wagner & Schell, L.L.P.:

I was on the committee for The Chicago Farmers Farmland Investment Fair and we availed ourselves of Chuck’s new media skills. Getting ZimmComm in the game helped tremendously. With his help, we were able to effectively implement the new media strategy that Jeff Martin and I had developed. Despite an uncertain economy and a rough year for some farm investing sectors, we had very good attendance, picked up new members and may have interested folks in becoming corporate sponsors. In this economy, that is a very successful event indeed.

You can find Rich on his blog.

Ag Groups

Social Weed Communications

Chuck Zimmerman

WSSA Annual MeetingAfter my presentation this morning on ag communications and the new media world we had an informal session with some university researchers and teachers who are actively working on ways to employ online strategies for archiving and making educational presentations available.

It’s interesting to hear a different perspective from the university side of the industry. It seems like every sector has its own challenges when it comes to sharing information publicly and online. However, there are still common concerns such as, “how much will it cost?” “can I make it private?” “will this take up too much of my time?”

I couldn’t believe the amount of money WSSA was quoted by a local production company to create a video of a presentation here. The number is almost unbelievable. One of our participants suggested putting my Flip camera on a tripod and shooting it ourselves. That’s good thinking. Doesn’t get any easier than that. The other presenters suggested using some of the software options that are out there to include your slide show.

Ag Groups

Farm Machinery Show in the Dark

Cindy Zimmerman

Ever wonder what it would be like if the electricity went out at a major trade show in a huge expo center? I never did, but we found out yesterday evening and this morning here at the National Farm Machinery Show. Here are a couple of little videos I shot when the lights went out.

Yesterday evening, 5:30 pm:

This morning, with Andy Vance and Barry Nelson:

NFMS 09 Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the National Farm Machinery Show
is being sponsored today by: John Deere

Farm Machinery, John Deere, Media, National Farm Machinery Show, NFMS, Video

Tractor Pulling

Cindy Zimmerman

Went to my first-ever tractor pull last night here at the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, which left me wondering who ever came up with this idea and how much had they been drinking?

I witnessed the 8,200 lb super stock tractor division competition, where the Renegade Deere driven by David Siefert of Ohio placed third. Watch my video of his pull here:

NFMS 09 Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the National Farm Machinery Show
is being sponsored today by: John Deere

John Deere, National Farm Machinery Show, NFMS, Tractor, Video

United Fresh Virtual Marketplace

Melissa Sandfort

logoThe United Fresh Produce Association is proud to announce the launch of the United Fresh Virtual Marketplace, the first 24/7 search engine for produce industry products and services associated with a North American produce event.

The United Fresh Virtual Marketplace lists detailed product information in hundreds of categories from over 220 companies, including exhibitors at the upcoming United Fresh 2009 convention in Las Vegas, April 21-24. While the Virtual Marketplace was launched to coincide with United Fresh 2009, the site will continue to add new products and companies all year long.

The new database is built on a state-of-the-art product search platform, allowing visitors a completely free service to search for products of interest in a variety of ways. For example, visitors can search by product category for food safety equipment, packaging materials or new fresh produce items, or they can search for specific companies to see the array of product offerings from each.

The site also provides for an interactive user experience, allowing visitors to send messages to companies requesting additional information or personal meetings, and to create personalized lists of products and companies of interest.

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