Fun And Games

Chuck Zimmerman

LPC/AAEA GamesI’m not sure what Diane “Vanna” Johnson has planned for us in Johnston, IA tomorrow night but I’ll be there and you can count on learning more here on AgWired.

It’s a social gathering prior to the Midwest Regional Design & Writing Workshop which takes place at Pioneer’s headquarters on Thursday. I’ll be there for a while too.

Prior to and after all this agricultural journalism fun and seriousness I’ll be doing some interviews (ag journalism?) with the John Deere AMS folks and at Iowa Soybean Association for Precision Pays. It’s nice to stay busy don’t you know?

AAEA, LPC

Grilling Green Grass Fed Beef

Chuck Zimmerman

The Farmer and the GrillAfter having been to South America and feasting on grass-fed beef, I say, give me some corn fed beef any day. I personally don’t care if the corn was genetically modified or not, treated with insecticides or anything else. So I’m not too sure about this green grilling book.

But, Cindy says she did a great interview with the author today and it’s really interesting. So I’m keeping an open mind. I think that growing grass fed for those who want it is fine but I don’t think it’s any healthier than the “regular” stuff.

So if you want to cook some grass-fed meat then here’s the cook book you need.

Just in time for the summer cookout season, the “green” food movement has a new cookbook/bible, The Farmer and The Grill: A Guide to Grilling, Barbecuing, and Spit-Roasting Grass-Fed Meat, and For Saving the Planet, One Bite at a Time.

The book was written by Shannon Hayes, a farmer who lives in Upstate New York, and runs a sustainable farm that raises and sells only grass-fed meats, including beef, pork, lamb and poultry.

The cookbook is broken down into six chapters, which are filled with both tasty recipes as well as important facts on the difference between factory and grass-fed meats.

Hayes points out that the average person cooking a steak is used to cranking up the gas or firing up the coals, just throwing it on the grill, and not thinking about it. Grass-fed steaks require a bit more thought and attention. Hayes recommends cooking slow, low off heat.

Beef, Publication

NAMA Bomber Update

Chuck Zimmerman

Guess Who This NAMA Bomber IsThe NAMA Bombers are still looking for a few good people to ride with them next week.

Don’t Miss Next Week’s Motorcycle Ride Adventure with the NAMA Bombers!

Next Tuesday, April 15, the NAMA Bombers Motorcycle Club will be hosting a relaxing ride through central Missouri. If you are flying into the Convention motorcycle rental is available through Blue Springs Harley-Davidson in Missouri.

“We have notified all local law enforcement that we are going to be in town. I don’t anticipate any trouble. We just want to be free to ride our machines without being hassled by the man!” says Dave Dibb, NAMA Bombers Sergeant at Arms.

If you are interested in participating in the ride e-mail jeremy@nafb.com. Support your local NAMA Bombers!

Can you guess which member is pictured here?

NAMA

Back to the Ag

Laura McNamara

After five months abroad, to the day, I am back in the USA! I arrived in Kansas City late last night and what a trip it’s been! I’ve had all kinds of adventures: from learning about the latest innovations with John Deere at Agritechnica in Germany, to strange Vietnamese cuisine, to jumping off cliffs and swinging off of bamboo swings in Laos and, literally, almost everything else you could imagine in between.

I must say, I’ve had an adventure of a lifetime… and I have Chuck and Cindy largely to thank. The ZimmComm team sent me to Germany to cover Agritechnica; the event which proved to offer me the amazing opportunity to take off on my 5-month international excursion.

I’m excited and eager to get back into the ag action here in the U.S. though! Chuck, Cindy and I are planning to work together during the upcoming NAMA event being held in Kansas City: The Leading the Charge Conference & Trade Show April 16-18. All of us will be busy little bloggers, learning about the latest trends, technology and issues of the ag industry. If you’re planning on attending the event, be sure to stop by the ZimmComm both to say hello… and to learn more about the agriblogging authority that ZimmComm has become!

In the meantime, you can check out some videos of my adventures below:

Swinging off bamboo swings in Vang Vieng, Laos

Training in Muay Thai (Thai boxing) in Phuket, Thailand

International, John Deere, Media, NAMA

NCGA Starts Podcast

Chuck Zimmerman

NCGA PodcastThe National Corn Growers Association is Gettin’ Jiggy wit It. They’re doing RSS Feeds of their news, they’re blogging and now they’re podcasting. Here’s the file you need in order to subscribe.

Now Hear This: A Better Way to Get Top NCGA News (4-8-08)

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), which has been making audio files of its top news stories available for some time, is now providing another convenient way for listeners to get them – through podcast subscription.

“We’re always on the lookout for ways to improve service and make it more convenient for our key audiences to get our information,” said Fred Stemme, NCGA vice president of marketing. “More and more, people prefer to listen to the news while they are doing something else – rather than having to sit down and read it – and podcasting is a good tool for getting the word out about what we do.”

In the interests of being completely transparent, ZimmComm New Media has provided technical assistance to NCGA in helping them get their podcast started and we can do the same for your company or organization.

Ag Groups, Corn, NCGA, Podcasts

Quality Ingredients Sampling at Budweiser Brewery

Chuck Zimmerman

Busweiser ToursI don’t know about you but a tour of the Budweiser Brewery in St. Louis, MO is a good thing. That’s what the Gateway NAMA and St. Louis Ag Club will be doing tomorrow April 15th after our lunch program.

They’re going to be talking about “Quality Products Start With Quality Ingredients.” There will be product sampling which may have something to do with good advance reservations!

The speaker will be Steve Malin, Vice President, Anheuser Busch Raw Materials.

Thanks to Ken for correcting my mistake on the date!

Ag Groups, NAMA

Brownfield Howling At The Moon

Chuck Zimmerman

Brownfield Okay NAMA fans. There’s lots of places/reasons to party hardy in Kansas City next week.

For example Brownfield will be Takin’ Care of Business at Howl At The Moon. As some I know who have been to AMS have said, “What’s happens at Howl At The Moon, stays at Howl At The Moon.”

Brownfield will be taking the lucky invitees to the venue via H2 Hummer limos. Now that’s cool.

Media, NAMA

Play i Got It! With Farm Progress

Chuck Zimmerman

Farm Progress CompaniesSpeaking of NAMA invites. You’ll be able to play i Got It! with Farm Progress Companies.

Can you tell the NAMA Convention is getting close?

i Got It! is a “popular, fast-paced Q&A game punctuated with ag history and facts.” You need to visit them at their booth (200and 202). You have to play to win and they’re having a drawing for an ipod touch (just like us).

So you’ll have more than one chance to upgrade your iPod hardware (you do have iPod hardware don’t you?).

The game’s questions are pretty difficult like this one:

Q. Who is your favorite Farm Progress sales representative?
(A. There’s no wrong answer.)

NAMA, Publication

The Colle+McVoy PheNAMAnon

Chuck Zimmerman

Colle McVoy PhenamanonNAMA invites are coming in.

This one’s from Colle+McVoy promoting their 6th Annual Agri-Rock Fest called Phenamanon.

There’s a game involved along with some animal sounds and some rock and roll of course. I’ve got the t-shirt, tats and ear ring and have put it on the calendar.

Want your NAMA event promoted here on AgWired?

You know who to call (or email).

You can expect to get one from ZimmComm in the near future too.

Agencies, NAMA

PR Open Mic For You PR Practitioners and Students

Chuck Zimmerman

PROpenMicSince a lot of you AgWired fans are involved in public relations I thought you’d want to know about PROpenMic. It’s a social networking site started by Robert French, one of the people who inspired me to move forward in this whole new media world.

He used Ning to create the site. Ning? What’s Ning you may ask. Ning is the only online service where you can create, customize, and share your own Social Network for free in seconds. It’s the software equivalent of Home Depot. Unlike other services that offer a “one-size-fits-all” offering, your social network on Ning runs on a programmable platform.”

Now that sounds interesting. But let’s get back to PROpenMic.

PROpenMic? A metaphor. Step up and speak your mind. Our goal is to be the social network for PR students and faculty worldwide. We have common interests, goals and certainly can learn from one another. We welcome PR pros, too. Hey, you can find your next great intern or new hire right here. Also, faculty always love to interact with practitioners.

PROpenMic isn’t a podcasting network, although we’d love to see those here, too. Think of it as a digital place to step up to the microphone and share your views. Please tell your friends. Once you sign up, there is an easy “Invite More” link in the top right hand corner of the page.

I know I don’t have very many network connections online (yeah, right) but I did create a page of my own on the new PR network.

Public Relations