ZimmKids

Cindy Zimmerman January 28, 2009

Are these kids cute or what?

These are the ZimmKids – our Georgia nieces and nephews that I had a chance to spend some quality time with on my first night here in Atlanta. They surprised me by wearing the AgWired t-shirts we sent to them last year. So they’re a little large for them – that just makes it all the more adorable!!!!

From left to right, these adorable ZimmKids are Bayli, Veronica, Luke (our godson), Eli, Mary and Paul Joey. I would give all their ages, but I am not entirely sure about that – let’s just say they range from about 3 to 17.

They are the offspring of Chuck’s little brother Paul and his lovely wife Laura who have been married for 20 years this year. I would add that all these kids are home-schooled and extremely well-behaved – a real joy to be around. They live in a little town about 40 miles east of Atlanta called Newborn with several horses, five dogs, 12 cats, some chickens and a rat. They are really living that rural lifestyle!

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Internet In The WildBlue Yonder

Chuck Zimmerman January 28, 2009

The NCBA Trade Show kicked off with an opening reception this evening at the Cattle Industry Convention. I’m planning on spending some time there during the next couple days.

It looks like the first session went well judging by all the traffic as I wandered around. I took a few photos which have been added to the photo album but couldn’t hang around for long. I thought the WildBlue booth was worth a look for those of you who have limited internet options out in the countryside.

Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

Cattle Industry Conference, Internet

Seventh Inning Stretch

Cindy Zimmerman January 28, 2009

It could be, it might be – it was a home run for Novus International’s Jeremy Lutgen and Michael Whitmer, shown here playing an interactive video baseball game during the Novus reception at the International Poultry Expo.

It was a great seventh inning stretch after a long day in the trade show trenches for everyone. Tomorrow will be the big day at the Novus booth when Baseball Hall of Famer and former St. Louis Cardinals player Lou Brock makes a two hour appearance to sign autographs for the poultry expo attendees. He is sure to be a hit!

International Poultry Expo Photo Album

AgWired coverage of International Poultry Expo is sponsored by:

Novus International, Poultry Expo

Cattle Industry Honors Terry Stokes

Chuck Zimmerman January 28, 2009

The cattle industry honored Terry Stokes today for his service to NCBA. It was a very emotional presentation which included his being joined on stage at the opening session by the staff, including from many state affiliates. A highlight for Terry I’m sure was being presented with an American flag that flew in his honor at an Army post in Iraq for his assistance in providing our soldiers with NCBA logo materials and American made beef jerky, something that meant a lot to them at the time.

You can listen to Terry’s remarks here: cic-09-stokes.mp3

I’ve updated the photo album and there’s a lot in there to see so feel free to browse:Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Cattle Industry Conference

This Ain’t Just Chicken Feed

Cindy Zimmerman January 28, 2009

I have been to quite a few trade shows in my time and the International Poultry Expo could very well be the biggest I have ever seen, with nearly 900 booths. In fact, it ranks 58th out of ALL the trade shows in the United States – not just ag shows, all shows. That’s pretty impressive.

The man who makes it happen is show manager Charlie Olentine, who says the poultry expo has grown throughout its long history. “The show’s been here in Atlanta every year for over sixty years,” Charlie told me. “We’ve kind of grown up with the convention facilities in the city. We got our start in the lobby of one of the local hotels in the late ’40s.”

Three years ago, the poultry expo made a move to diversify by co-locating with the International Feed Expo, which has increased both their number of exhibitors and attendees. This year, despite the economy, Charlie says their numbers are only down about 10 percent from last year’s record attendance. “Last year we had about 20,000 people come through, this year probably about 18,000,” Charlie said. “We have a very strong international contingent, anywhere from 4-5,000, the majority of them coming from Latin America.”

Listen to my interview with Charlie here: ipe-09-charlie.mp3

You can also download the interview here: DHA Interview (mp3).

International Poultry Expo Photo Album

AgWired coverage of International Poultry Expo is sponsored by:

Audio, Feed, Novus International, Poultry, Poultry Expo

Novus DHA Gold is Rookie of the Year

Cindy Zimmerman January 28, 2009

Keeping with the whole baseball theme we have going here, I’m calling Novus International’s DHA Gold “Rookie of the Year” because they have only recently begun to market this product which was developed by Martek Biosciences.

DHA is docosahexaenoic acid – which is way too hard for normal, non-scientific types to say, so DHA works for me! It’s an omega-3 fatty acid normally found in cold water fatty fish and in fish oil that is very healthy for us in a number of ways. So, what Martek did was find a way to get the DHA out of an algae and harvest it like an oilseed so they can put that beneficial omega-3 fatty acid, or “Life’s DHA,” into other foods besides fish – which are called “functional foods.”

I talked with two guys who know all about this product – Jared Hux of Novus (left) and Todd Willis of Martek.

According to Todd, DHA has numerous health benefits, including brain development, visual acuity and cardio-vascular health. “Life’s DHA can already be found in many different products such as functional beverages, milk, yogurts, and baked goods from companies like Coca-Cola, General Mills and Dean Foods,” he said. In addition, almost all infant formula sold in the United States contains Life’s DHA.

Jared says Novus saw the potential for Life’s DHA to be marketed to poultry producers under the DHA Gold brand to create value-added eggs and meat that have additional health benefits for consumers. “Last year, Novus and Martek entered into an exclusive global distribution agreement,” Jared says. “It’s an opportunity for the egg and protein community to expand into functional foods.”

This is really an interesting story and you can listen to that interview here: ipe-09-dha.mp3

You can also download the interview here: DHA Interview (mp3).

International Poultry Expo Photo Album

AgWired coverage of International Poultry Expo is sponsored by:

Audio, Novus International, Poultry, Poultry Expo

Producers Support Checkoff and Concerned About Economy

Chuck Zimmerman January 28, 2009

The activity is picking up here at the Cattle Industry Convention. More media are showing up in the news room and I’ve been doing a little Beef Board Blogging. I think that from a Beef Board perspective the financial outlook is really the main conversation in the hallway and meetings I’ve sat in on so far.

This morning I interviewed both Dan Dierschke, Treasurer and Lynn Heinze, Executive Director of Communications for CBB.

Dan says they’re finding that collections are down considerably from expectations. He says that after looking at all the data available they’ve concluded that revenue will be down about $2.5 million. So, he says they’ve chosen to cut the current budget to compensate rather than move forward on a deficit basis. He does want producers to keep in mind that even with a pessimistic financial outlook there are still a lot of dollars being spent in support of Checkoff programs that are attempting to raise demand for their product.

You can listen to my interview with Dan here: cic-09-dierschke.mp3

Lynn discussed the new producer attitude survey in which he says that the survey shows that the current economic situation is impacting a lot of people. He says that support for the Checkoff has drifted down a little but that still almost 7 out of 10 producers know about and approve of the Checkoff. More importantly he says, the survey shows that producers continue to feel that the Checkoff has contributed to the overall advancement of the industry and to their bottom lines.

You can listen to my interview with Lynn here: cic-09-heinze-survey.mp3

Cattle Industry Convention Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference

MINTREX is Poultry MVP

Cindy Zimmerman January 28, 2009

The 2009 International Poultry Expo is officially underway here in Atlanta at the World Congress Center where about 900 companies representing all aspects of the poultry industry have their products and services on display at the huge trade show. According to IPE, the show is the world’s largest display of technology, equipment, supplies, and services used in the production and processing of poultry and eggs and for those involved in feed manufacturing. All segments of the industry are represented here from feed milling, hatchery, and live production to processing, marketing, and support activities.

The cost of feed and minerals is one of the top concerns for the poultry industry right now – and that is where Novus International hits a home run for producers. I talked with Jim Richards (center), manager of cell biology research for Novus, about one of their all-star products for poultry – MINTREX, which is a highly cost effective source of organic trace minerals designed to optimize productivity and health and is the only mineral product on the market that provides residual methionine for nutritional use.

“We’ve been quite successful in lowering total trace mineral inclusion rates in diets and still see really good performance,” Jim says. “So you can feed less and the animal still does well.”

And if you can cut your mineral inclusion by 50 percent Jim says, “That’s a really good thing, for the producers to save money, a good thing for the environment – it’s a win-win all the way around.”

Listen to that interview here: ipe-09-richards.mp3

You can also download the interview with this link (mp3).

IPE/IFE Photo Album

AgWired coverage of International Poultry Expo is sponsored by:

Audio, Feed, Novus International, Poultry, Poultry Expo

CBB Budget Decreases

Chuck Zimmerman January 28, 2009

The Cattle Industry Convention is in full swing with NCBA Cattlemen’s College going on this morning in addition to other meetings. One of them that took place yesterday was the Beef Board Operating Committee:

This committee has directed staff of the Beef Board to implement an approximate 5% cut in the budget due to projected lower income this year. That’s about $2.5 million! It’s one of the top issues on the minds of cattlemen here in Phoenix.

Ag Groups, Beef, Cattle Industry Conference

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort January 28, 2009

The readers of No-Till Farmer have weighed in on the products that performed the best in their no-till operations in 2008, citing Headline fungicide from BASF as the “No-Till Product of the Year.”
Successful Farming magazine and the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) announced that Successful Farming is combining forces with AEM’s AG CONNECT Expo to promote the new international agricultural event.
Asoyia announced the appointment of Bob George as the company’s chief financial officer.
DTN and The Progressive Farmer announced the launch of CattleLink, a new section in The Progressive Farmer publication.

Zimfo Bytes

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