Dairy Farm Makes a Difference

Amanda Nolz

My new friend, Annie Link, spoke at the Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference in Grand Rapids, Mich. today during the Partners Program. Annie is part of a multi-generational dairy operation called SwissLane Dairy Farms that is dedicated to their cows, the community and the environment. The dairy operation consists of 2,500 cows and 23 family members living within a two mile radius, working hard together every day to produce a high quality dairy product for consumers.

website20pics2000420mediumRecently, Annie and her family established the Dairy Discovery Tour, an agri-tourism venture that opens up their farm for tours. Schools, churches, foreign travelers and the media have come to tour the farm and learn more about food production. Recently, the Oesch family even hosted a neighbor night, with over 600 attendants at the farm. The event included a meal, a guest speaker and guided tours. The tour is so popular that during the summer months, Annie and her family welcomed over 75 groups and 3,000 visitors to their operation. These are true advocates for agriculture, and they are doing a great job of incorporating a new marketing approach to their thriving business.

wesjamison_tnInterestingly, Dr. Wes Jamison, a professor of animal welfare at the University of Florida, thinks that farms shouldn’t clean up before visitors arrive to the farm. Jamison spoke last night, and his topic was titled, “Animal Producers from Mars, Animal Lovers from Venus: Directing Agriculture through the curves of ethics, attitudes and expectations.” Dr. Jamison’s speech entered us into the minds of our opponents to better understand the reasons for this movement that is progressively changing the face of food production. Although Jamison gives props to operations like the Oesch family’s, he thinks the industry needs more transparency and openness to survive the animal rights movement and gain the trust of consumers, once again.

“Don’t just show them the pretty side of the farm,” said Jamison in his keynote speech. “Show them death; show them dirt; show them the rough side of food production. If we try to hide these things, the animal rights activists will expose and exploit these things for us. We need to be open and honest and tell our own story.”

So, what do you think? Should I start posting dehorning, castrating, vaccinating, weaning and calving videos on YouTube? Will this transparency backfire, or is it the secret to ending this movement before it’s too late? Curious minds want to know…

Events, Farm Policy

Energy Secretary Wants Us To Be Very Afraid

Chuck Zimmerman

Since I did a post on FarmPolicy.com I guess I can do another policy one on something that Joe Cornely brought to my attention via Twitter. He pointed to a story in the Los Angeles Times from an interview with our new Energy Secretary. If you look at the category for this post you’ll see where I place this guy. I just thought I’d point you to it since he’s one of the people who will be affecting policies and administrative decisions for at least 4 years and they could significantly change the way we do business in this country and especially in farming. Here’s a couple of Chu’s statement excerpts that might give you some pause for thought. California is his home state btw.

‘We’re looking at a scenario where there’s no more agriculture in California,’ Steven Chu says . . .

California’s farms and vineyards could vanish by the end of the century, and its major cities could be in jeopardy, if Americans do not act to slow the advance of global warming, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said Tuesday.

“I’m hoping that the American people will wake up,” Chu said, and pay the cost of rewiring.”

I thought our new administration promised hope not fear. If this isn’t fear mongering then I don’t know what is. I personally don’t believe in man made global warming or that we can change natural climate change simply by making lifestyle changes. I do believe in climate change. We have these things called the seasons for one thing. I think we had an ice age once, actually more than one. I do believe that we should practice good environmental care and that farmers are some of the most environmentally friendly people on the planet. Air and water quality in big cities can be improved and renewable fuels is a good way to work on that besides relieving our dependence on foreign oil from countries that are not our friends. I think the bottom line is that we’ve got people in power now who have a goal of re-shaping society into their personal vision of it. Since the majority of Americans would never agree to it they have to have a very scared public in order to get their policies enacted and they have to push very quickly before people wise up.

We’ve got some challenging times ahead and I don’t think it’s just the economy.

Energy, Wackos

FarmPolicy.com Lands New Sponsor

Chuck Zimmerman

FarmPolicy.comI want to congratulate Keith Good, FarmPolicy.com, for his new sponsor, McLeod, Watkinson & Miller. Keith is a shining example of the new media entrepreneur. He exhibits the classic traits of what can make you successful including, knowledge of his subject, passion and persistence. Here’s what his new sponsor has to say about him and his product:

We have come to rely on the daily email reports of FarmPolicy.com as the best way to keep up with the many developments in American and global agriculture. There is no other report, either paid or free, that does as good a job as Keith Good does in FarmPolicy.com. Therefore, we were alarmed by the announcement that the reports would end on February 17th. We immediately called Mr. Good and worked out an arrangement for McLeod, Watkinson & Miller to fund the continuation of FarmPolicy.com after his arrangement with the German Marshall Fund ceases. Additionally, the daily emails of FarmPolicy.com will be posted on www.Agriculturelaw.com.

Keep it up Keith!

Farm Policy

Social Media 101

Amanda Nolz

“Social Media 101: What you wanted to know but where afraid to ask,” was the title of the afternoon session today at the Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference. The interactive session was given by Staci Garcia, Public Relations for United Dairy Industry of Michigan and Sara Long, Michigan State University Communications Manager. The session was given to dairy partners of all ages, who had varying experience in technological use. Needless to say, despite the basics that were presented in the session, I learned a few fresh ideas. Here is what they had to say…

Did you know 6 in 10 Americans younger than 30 say they get most of their news online? New media is redefining journalism, entertainment, education and networking. In addition, 90% of consumers consider word of mouth as the best way to spread ideas. Did you know 1.4 new blogs are created every second? Did you know that 13 hours of YouTube videos are posted every hour? Not a big shock, but Facebook has been listed as the seventh most popular website in the world. LinkedIn has more than 30 million users, and Twitter has more than five million “tweeps.”
dairy20farming20today20logo
This is only the tip of the iceberg as to the contents of the entire presentation. These dairy producers are working hard to promote a positive image of their industry, and their efforts can be viewed at Dairy Farming Today. Also, they will soon be introducing myDairy, a social media program for dairy advocates. I couldn’t be more proud of these energetic promotional efforts on behalf of animal agriculture. Great job, guys!

Technology

Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference Kicks Off

Amanda Nolz

gldcheader_09 Greetings from Grand Rapids, Mich. I’m attending and speaking at the 2009 Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference, a conference that has been serving the needs of dairy producers since 2003. The conference center is packed with producers who are seeking solutions to the rising challenges facing them in 2009. I’m happy to be a part of the equation, and I hope I bring some fresh ideas to the table over the next couple of days.

Today, my speech was titled, “CSI: Activist Chants, Mythical Media and Confused Consumers.” I spoke to the farm partners about how these three groups will cause us to change our production practices in the future. I shared stories, and I challenged them to take an active role by serving as dairy advocates. I told them that I understand that the daily worries of food production: paying the feed bill, maintaining low input costs, getting the heifers bred, fighting the poor markets and battling winter storms, were much BIGGER issues on an everyday basis than worrying about animal rights groups, the falsified information in the media and the disconnect between pasture and plate. However, I told the group that these weren’t problems we could ignore, and I dared them to do more about it on a daily basis.

By the way, I’m thinking about starting a support group on this very idea. It will be called the Food Mafia, and it will be tailor-made for people that truly care about the integrity and the future of food production. Members of the Food Mafia would actively work together to discover exciting and original ways to share the food production story with the world. So, how about it? Do you want to be the pilot members? How could we market this to the appropriate audience? Let me know what you think?

Ag Groups

Meyocks Group Adds Brower and Liljegren

Chuck Zimmerman

Liz BrowerIt’s nice to see companies adding staff these days. I guess that means they’re “Brave Enough.”

Liz Brower has joined The Meyocks Group as a public relations account executive. Brower had worked at ITAGroup as a marketing strategist. Other experience includes a position as a public relations account manager at Hanser & Associates. Brower earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communications/public relations at Grand View College. During her college career she interned at the Iowa Events Center and Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield. She is a native of Red Oak, Iowa.

Katherine LiljegrenKatherine Liljegren has been hired as a creative generalist after completing a graduate internship with the agency. Liljegren earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication at Drake University in 2008, where she served on the Board of Student Communications and the Student Activities Board. She is a native of Kansas City.

“During what has become a severe economic downturn for most of the U.S., we are fortunate to be adding talented and energetic people like Liz and Katherine to our team,” said agency President Doug Jeske. “We continue to build our talent pool so we can help our clients build their brands.”

Agencies

Wesley Clark Speaks For Ethanol

Chuck Zimmerman

Wesley ClarkLong time AgWired fans know that we worked very closely with the former Ethanol Promotion and Information Council. The organization has now been remade into Growth Energy with a completely different mission as it goes through a major transition. Today a Co-Chairman was announced and retired General Wesley Clark embraced his new role as a leader in the growth of renewable energy. Cindy was on a conference call and reported on our Domestic Fuel site:

Clark was named co-chairman of Growth Energy during a Thursday morning press conference in Washington DC. “Every gallon of ethanol that we put in our fuel system today is a gallon of imported gasoline that we avoid,” Clark said. “This country is importing 15 billion gallons of gasoline, refined product, a year. We don’t need to do that.”

Clark talked about some of the challenges facing the ethanol industry, such as the indirect land use issue. He said that the land use issue is being based on the GREET (Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation) model, which he says is based on outdated assumptions about the ethanol industry and agriculture. “I think if you look at the fundamental issues you can see that our best environmentalists are the American farmers and what they have done is pretty remarkable in terms of strengthening the environment, protecting the land and being able to bring in crops more efficiently.” He thinks that when the model is updated it will show a much more favorable picture relating to land use.

Listen to some of General Clark’s comments from this morning’s press conference here:wesley-clark.MP3

Ag Groups, Audio, Energy, Ethanol

Ervin Group Hires Francesca Faber

Chuck Zimmerman

Francesca FaberThe Ervin Group is getting more creative.


Ervin Group, an Omaha-based agency focusing on advertising, branding and public relations, announces the addition of Francesca Faber as Graphic Designer.

Faber is responsible for producing creative concepts and graphic execution for Ervin Group’s growing list of agricultural, health care and financial services clients.

A native of Dubuque, IA, she graduated magna cum laude from Creighton University in Omaha with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Graphic Design and a minor in Spanish.

Agencies

New BASF Leadership

Cindy Zimmerman

BASF leadershipBASF Corporation this week announced the appointment of Markus Heldt as President, Crop Protection, BASF. Heldt, who held the position of Group Vice President, North America for the past three years, will relocate to the company’s global headquarters in Limburgerhof, Germany.

Heldt is pictured here (right) with Michael Heinz, the man he is succeeding as president of crop protection, during a 2007 BASF media tour to Germany. Heinz has been promoted higher up on the BASF corporate ladder.

BASF leadershipIn turn, taking Markus’ previous role as BASF group VP for crop protection is Nevin McDougall. Most recently, McDougall was Vice President, US Business Operations, Crop Protection. McDougall has spent the last 16 years with BASF and its legacy company (American Cyanamid) working in Canada, Asia and the United States, where he has served in a variety of sales, marketing and management roles. McDougall has also led BASF operations in the Asia Pacific region as Group Vice President for Agricultural Products.

We look forward to working with Nevin and hopefully seeing him at Commodity Classic in a few weeks. Congratulations to all!

BASF

Weed Sciences Going Web

Chuck Zimmerman

Weed Science Society of AmericaThe agriblogging highway runs to Orlando, FL next week and the Weed Science Society of America annual meeting. I’ll be speaking on the subject of “Agricultural Communications in a New Media World.” Here’s part of my program abstract:

What do today’s web savvy growers do when in need of information? Just like most anyone else they go online and search for it with services like Google. So how do you join the online conversation so your message gets through the clutter? One of the best ways is with frequently updated topical blogs and podcasts and participating in online social networks. The investment in creating your own blog or podcast is minimal other than your time. If you’re passionate about your subject and like to write or talk then let your inner voice out through new media tools.

Yes, we’ll be letting our inner voices out in the Sunshine State.

Ag Groups