NAAA Convention Underway

Chuck Zimmerman

Dr. Gary Fellows Welcomes Attendees to NAAA ConventionThe National Agricultural Aviators Association Convention is officially underway after Dr. Gary Fellows, BASF, welcomed everyone at the kickoff breakfast. BASF is not only sponsoring our coverage of the meeting but is also a major sponsor once again of the convention. He told them that BASF is all about “keeping them in the air.”

You can hear Gary’s remarks here: basf-naaa-fellows-welcome.mp3

You can also download his remarks here: Dr. Gary Fellows Welcome Remarks (mp3)

Dr. Gary Fellows Welcomes Attendees to NAAA ConventionOf course I’ve already started a photo album for you too: NAAA Convention Photo Album

BASF continued its support of aerial applicators as a diamond-level sponsor of the National Agricultural Aviation Association’s (NAAA) annual conference, which kicked off today in Las Vegas, Nev.

BASF technical marketing manager Gary Fellows, Ph.D., led the conference’s kick-off breakfast by welcoming attendees and calling attention to the vital role the agricultural aviation industry plays in helping growers succeed.

“The aerial application business contributes significantly to growers’ ability to enhance Plant Health for their crops and maximize yield,” Fellows said. “The critical role it plays in the growing process impacts us all, not simply as business partners, but as people. They help growers produce the food and fibers we all need.” Read More

Audio, BASF, NAAA

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Trimble announced it has acquired the assets of privately-held Rawson Control Systems based in Oelwein, Iowa. Rawson’s products work in conjunction with the Trimble FieldManager Display.
  • BASF announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Sorex Holdings Ltd. The transaction, which includes U.S.-based Whitmire Micro-Gen and U.K.-based Sorex Ltd., will give BASF an increased presence in the United States and Europe.
  • Dec. 15, 2008, will mark a special anniversary for the U.S. wheat industry and its global customers. On that day, 50 years ago, producers from Washington, Oregon and Idaho adopted articles of incorporation in Pendleton, Ore., to form Western Wheat Associates. Those organizations merged in 1980 to become U.S. Wheat Associates.
  • The Minnesota Agri-Growth Council is pleased to announce the addition of Tony Mondry as the association’s program manager. Mondry will assist in all activities of the Council, including policy development, membership recruitment and management, event planning and office management duties.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Multimedia Musings With DTN/The Progressive Farmer

    Chuck Zimmerman

    ZimmCast-198 - DTN/The Progressive FarmerWhile I was in Chicago for the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundations Seminar I also got to stop in at the DTN/The Progressive Farmer 2008 Ag Summit. They’ve been a sponsor of AgWired and some of our collateral material like the ZimmNews and ZimmCast for a few months now. I found publisher, Adrian Blake, and we sat down for a discussion. I learned that this is their second Ag Summit and it has grown from 200 producers last year to 400 this year. The topic for the Summit this year is, “Brave New World, Your Map For Managing Ag Risk.” Adrian says that it is gratifying to meet with their subscribers on a personal level and that the event shows how they’ve not only become a multimedia company but are now incorporating live events into their information strategy.

    I pursued the multimedia aspect of how DTN has evolved since I’ve closely watched the evolution of the company and was even an employee for a short time. Adrian says that expanding their media options is important on two levels. For one thing it’s important to their advertisers to have the most relevant media options and it’s also important for their subscribers as they offer information options to help them solve problems and become more profitable.

    Adrian BlakeBesides DTN and The Progressive Farmer they’re also involved in new media and a project that Adrian is really excited about – The DTN Marketspace. He says, “It’s like eBay for corn.” As he puts it, this new project is for those who thrive on producing commodities and are open to new ways of doing business. He says they’re “the sort of people who have figured out that AgWired is a good place to get information.” I also love another remark he made about AgWired, “It’s Chuck’s world. We’re all just living in it.” I think that speaks to the sense of community that I’ve tried to create here. Thanks Adrian.

    When it comes to blending media outlets like DTN and a magazine like The Progressive Farmer, Adrian says it has gone seamlessly. In our interview he concludes by inviting people to provide feedback to him directly.

    You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: Listen To ZimmCastZimmCast 198 (13 min MP3)

    Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:Interview with Adrian Blake - ZimmCast 198

    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, Media, ZimmCast

    The JackPlot!™ Background

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Jackplot JoshCindy wrote a great post on the JackPlot!™Vegas.com website that provides the whole background of the project. Since this is a great example of creative agrimarketing and integrating the use of new media I just thought I’d share it:

    The JackPlot!™ game is a pretty unique way of reaching out to farmers beyond traditional advertising and trade show exhibiting.

    One of the minds behind the development of the game was Josh Krenz, marketing manager with Winfield Solutions on the Croplan Genetics brand – who is also serving as one of the game show hosts here in Vegas.

    “The concepting of the game began in the fall of 2006,” Josh said. “The game itself was finally complete in February 2008.”

    Josh says they wanted the game to be educational and fun. “We actually did a survey here a couple weeks back of folks that had played the game or received it in the mail and 75 percent said that it was fun and educational, so we achieved our goal.”

    The game was sent to 25,000 growers nationwide who were close to one of the Answer Plot® events this year and 16 of them were randomly selected to become high rollers here in Vegas for the first-ever JackPlot!™ National Competition.

    Listen to an interview with Josh about the game: jackplot-josh.mp3

    Audio

    The Women of DTN/The Progressive Farmer

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Girls of DTN/The Progressive FarmerAfter today’s BI PRRS Foundations Seminar I went upstairs at the Marriott to the DTN/The Progressive Farmer 2008 Ag Summit. After all they’re our sponsor. So before I left to the airport I visited with a number of my DTN friends including Adrian Blake, Publisher, who will be the subject of tomorrow’s ZimmCast.

    Here are the friendly faces of the girls of DTN/The Progressive Farmer. Actually, professional women! According to Adrian they doubled the attendance at this year’s Summit. You can learn all about it tomorrow.

    I’ve also got a number of posts to do still from the BI event so look for more on PRRS too.

    Uncategorized

    Combination of Control Options Works Best on PRRS

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Dr. Dale PolsonThe whole focus of today’s BI Foundations Seminar is on area and regional control of the PRRS virus. One of our presenters did some research on just how well applying control techniques works on a wide area basis. He’s Dr. Dale Polson.

    He presented findings from a project that applied the principals of control to a large production system over a wide geographic area. I asked him what they found and he said, “We found that if you make mistakes you pay.” He says they also found that it takes a combination of control methods like closure, mass vaccination, linear pig flow and bio-security which he compares to a multi-legged stool. You need all the legs or you’ll fall over!

    You can listen to my interview with Dr. Polson here: bi-foundations-08-polson.mp3

    Boehringer Ingelheim Foundations Photo Album

    Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

    Vaccines in PRRS Control

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Dr. J. P. CanoThe first presentation at the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundations Seminar was on the “Impact of a modified-live PRRS vaccine intervention on a population of pigs infected with a heterologous isolates.” Presenting was Dr. J. P. Cano from Venezuala.

    His presentation was on the results of 2 different studies that showed an increase in clinical response to a virus challenge. He says, however, that besides vaccination producers need to consider other options for PRRS control at the same time since there isn’t any silver bullet solution.

    You can listen to my interview with Dr. Cano here: bi-foundations-08-cano.mp3

    Boehringer Ingelheim Foundations Photo Album

    Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

    Time Is Right For PRRS Control

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Dr. Bob MorrisonThe man who is keeping the program running here today at the BI Foundations Seminar is Dr. Bob Morrison. He’s our emcee and right now as I post this, our panel leader.

    I spoke with him on our break to learn more about what BI is trying to accomplish. He says that by bringing together presentations on various aspects of PRRS control like vaccine use, applying maps and diagnostics, they are showing that the tools are available to control the virus on a regional basis as opposed to an individual farm approach. Information sharing is at the essence of this he says and producers are going to need to be willing to share information. He says we’re just at the beginning of this process to create area and regional PRRS control but that the time is right.

    You can listen to my interview with Dr. Morrison here: bi-foundations-08-morrison.mp3

    Boehringer Ingelheim Foundations Photo Album

    Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

    BIVI Foundations Seminar Underway

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Boehringer Ingelheim PRRS SeminarThe Boehringer Ingelheim Foundations Seminar is underway and we’re already on the second speaker in the program today.

    At our break and after the meeting I’ll be conducting one-on-one interviews with each presenter to bring you up to date on the latest research in PRRS Virus Control.

    I’ve got a photo album started for your viewing pleasure already: Boehringer Ingelheim Foundations Photo Album

    Boehringer Ingelheim

    JackPlot!™ Winners

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Jackplot WinnersIt looks like Cindy made it through the National JackPlot!™Finals in Las Vegas. I’ll be joining her there later on today after the BIVI Foundations Seminar I’m attending in Chicago. So here’s her post on who won:

    It got down to a Husker vs. Husker contest in the Final Four with the two Nebraska teams taking first and second place.

    But in the end at the elevator it was Gene Wollenburg and Larry Edgar who will be watching the Super Bowl on a 48-inch plasma television!

    Congrats to everyone for playing JackPlot!™

    Here is an interview with the winners: jackplot-winners.MP3

    And here is a video of the winners:

    Official JackPlot!™ National Competition photo album

    Audio, Video