Gary Schulz Raisin The Bar

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast-188 - Raisin California FruitCindy is getting on my case for being late with my ZimmCast again this week. Well I was holding off because I wanted to get in touch with someone special for my interview.

Gary SchulzThat someone is Gary Schulz, Executive Vice President, California Raisin Administrative Committee and California Raisin Marketing Board. He just started his new job about 3 weeks ago and I caught up to him this morning during his travels and learned a lot more about what these organizations do.

In our conversation he explains the difference between the federal marketing order group and the promotional group. Gary says that he’s got a lot of new information to absorb during the next several months before he transitions to the President/General Manager position some time in January. I learned from him that they have outposts in several foreign countries to help promote exports of U.S. raisins.

The California RaisinsI asked him if we’d see a return of the singing raisins and he just said that we should keep our ears open, that you never know. The CRMB outsources public relations and advertising to Fleishman Hillard in San Francisco.

The program this week ends with music from the Podsafe Music Network. It’s a short little piece called “Raisin” from Paul and Storm. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: Listen To ZimmCastZimmCast 188 (15 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:Interview with Gary Schulz - ZimmCast 188

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

Ag Groups, Audio, ZimmCast

Aquafinca Farms Fish in Honduras

Chuck Zimmerman

Honduras Foundation for Investment and Export DevelopmentI just received this story from Laura who visited Honduras recently and is back there now. Her trip was made possible by the Honduras Foundation for Investment and Export Development.

Here’s a novel idea when running a business that manages more than a thousand employees:

Fish Farming in Honduras“We try to do basically everything to make them feel they are like partners not workers. Everybody is on bonus system, everyone can basically gain more from the company’s success, so everybody feels like it’s their project. That’s the kind of environment we like to maintain here with our people.”

Those partners Yedod Snir is referring to are the 1,350 locals that make up the direct workforce of Aquafinca St. Peter Fish, a Tilapia producer based out of San Francisco de Yojoa, Honduras. Yedod is Aquafinca’s production manager.

You can listen to my interview with Yedod here: yedod-snir1.mp3

Central America is a hot spot for cheap labor and, sadly, greedy businesses that cruelly exploit their workers. But, on a trip hosted by FIDE, Honduras’ Foundation for Investment and Development, I, along with a small group of other ag journalists got to tour and learn about businesses based in Honduras who lead with impressive example. Among those model operations we toured, Aquafinca St. Peter Fish stood out from the rest as a world-class facility. In fact, one well-seasoned ag reporter with our group, who wished to remain unnamed, confidently asserted that Aquafinca would put similar production and packaging facilities in America to shame. Certain exemplary standards at Aquafinca, he said, are simply unheard of in the U.S. Read More

Audio, Farming, International

Ag Job Network Launches Friday

Chuck Zimmerman

Ag Job NetworkIt looks like the Ag Job Network social networking site is about to launch according to their latest Twitter feed.

Today is including a lot of preparation for tomorrow’s initial screening of the AgJobNetwork. Its going to be fun.

Here’s The Story:

AgJobNetwork started as a facebook group in August of 2008 as a way to help connect people with jobs in the agriculture industry. Mark Jewell, founder of the AJN has always had a passion for helping people connect in excellent ways that benefit both sides. Quickly exceeding expectations, the network outgrew it’s capacity on facebook! Currently there are more than 1,500 members – and its growing daily! To date, we’ve listed dozens of jobs, facilitated hundreds of connections, and created a whole new way to list and learn about job openings in the agriculture industry.

Agribusiness

All American Beef Battalion

Chuck Zimmerman

Beef BattalionHere’s something you can sink your teeth into. Supplying steaks to our troops is just one thing we can do to thank them.

The All American Beef Battalion is a group of individuals within the United States beef cattle industry dedicated to support the troops fighting the global war on terror. They work to organize and sponsor steak feeds, entertainment, and programs with Service Members and their families.

For more information on the All American Beef Battalion and the Steaks for Troops program, check out www.steaksfortroops.com. Contact Bill Broadie at 620-635-5870 for further details of upcoming events or for ways to donate to this program.

Our Purpose

* To organize and sponsor steak feeds, entertainment, programs, meetings, and projects with Service Members and their families
* To encourage and assist them in any reasonable manner
* To foster among the people of the United States an appreciation, respect, and honor for our Armed Forces Military Service Members whose sacrifices have and will continue to make our freedoms possible.

Ag Groups, Beef

Dairy Impacts Wisconsin

Chuck Zimmerman

Dairy's Economic Impact on WisconsinI really like this graphic from the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. When I saw it today it made me think of next week’s World Dairy Expo. I’ll be there starting on Wednesday morning.

Wisconsin Dairy Impact.com is a new resource for media types like yours truly. You can find lots of graphics like this one and almost 3,000 images.

As they say, “Downloadable news resources to report on Wisconsin, America’s Dairyland.”

Ag Groups, Dairy

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Farm Progress Companies announces its leading state and regional farm and ranch publications will deliver IRON Search used machine listing advertisements in a new and innovative format – via the newly re-designed IRONsearch.com Web site – which brings used equipment listings into an easy-to-find, used equipment print section included in Farm Progress publications. Within the sections, used equipment for sale is listed by manufacturer, equipment type and model number, making it simple for buyers to find equipment quickly.
  • Monsanto has launched a multifaceted communications initiative. The effort builds on the company’s pledge to work with other businesses, citizen groups and governments on needed changes to meet growing food production demand while conserving key resources. The initiative includes the launch of a Web site and a print ad. This communication initiative reinforces Monsanto’s three-point commitment announced in June of this year.
  • Now available — the new KINZE Cobalt planter display — a convenient full-color display system that monitors seed population and accuracy, controls the planter’s variable rate drive system using simple touch-screen manual controls and allows the operator to turn planter sections on and off, on the go, using a manual switchbox.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Helping The Chorti Maya

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Chorti Maya ManYou may remember that Laura McNamara went to Honduras this summer and met with the Chorti Maya and a man who is working to help them increase their agricultural production, Billy Collins.

    There is a group of indigenous people in Honduras that live off an average of $300 a year… less than one dollar a day. At least two months out of every year they starve. That’s the reality as Billy Collins sees it. Billy has been working with the Chortí Maya, the direct descendants of the Mayan Indians, for five years.

    Well, she’s going back to help out and is seeking donations to take with her. So, I thought I’d let you know in case you’d like to help out. Cindy and I have. You can find instructions for using PayPal to make a donation on her blog.

    International

    Technorati Releasing Annual State of Blogosphere

    Chuck Zimmerman

    TechnoratiTechnorati, the blog indexing authority, is releasing its annual “State of the Blogosphere” in 5 installments. The first one is out and it’s got lots of interesting information, focusing on who is blogging.

    Technorati Blogger ChartBloggers Self-Identified as Personal, Professional, or Corporate

    Bloggers are not a homogenous group. One way of segmenting bloggers is by their blog type:

    * Personal: blog about topics of personal interest not associated with your work
    * Professional: blog about your industry and profession but not in an official capacity for your company
    * Corporate: blog for your company in an official capacity

    Four out of five bloggers are personal bloggers who blog about topics of personal interest. About half of bloggers are professional bloggers — blogging is not necessarily their full-time job, but they blog about their industry or profession in an unofficial capacity. 12% of bloggers blog in an official capacity for their company.

    Of course, these groups are not mutually exclusive. More than half of professional and corporate bloggers are also personal bloggers. This could be on a separate blog, or they may blog about personal interests within their professional blog.

    In case you’re wondering, AgWired is currently ranked at 144,722 with an authority of 48 (means that 48 other blogs have linked to AgWired in last 180 days). Where do you fit in?

    Uncategorized

    Urban Farmer Receives MacArthur Fellow Award

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Will AllenAn “urban farmer” has received one of the MacArthur Fellows awards.

    The MacArthur Foundation today named 25 new MacArthur Fellows for 2008. This past week, the recipients learned in a single phone call from the Foundation that they will each receive $500,000 in “no strings attached” support over the next five years. The new Fellows work across a broad spectrum of endeavors and include a neurobiologist, a saxophonist, a critical care physician, an urban farmer, an optical physicist, a sculptor, a geriatrician, a historian of medicine, and an inventor of musical instruments. All were selected for their creativity, originality, and potential to make important contributions in the future.

    You can learn more about him and what he does in this video:



    Will Allen is an urban farmer who is transforming the cultivation, production, and delivery of healthy foods to underserved, urban populations. In 1995, while assisting neighborhood children with a gardening project, Allen began developing the farming methods and educational programs that are now the hallmark of the non-profit organization Growing Power, which he directs and co-founded. Guiding all is his efforts is the recognition that the unhealthy diets of low-income, urban populations, and such related health problems as obesity and diabetes, largely are attributable to limited access to safe and affordable fresh fruits and vegetables. Rather than embracing the “back to the land” approach promoted by many within the sustainable agriculture movement, Allen’s holistic farming model incorporates both cultivating foodstuffs and designing food distribution networks in an urban setting.

    Farming

    Georgia Peanut Tour Blog

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Georgia Peanut TourI am so lame. I was supposed to alert you to the Georgia Peanut Tour before the tour. But guess what? This is the great thing about a blog. It’s archived!

    So take a look at what agriblogging professional Joy Carter did. I think she’s raising the bar for you ag group communications managers. I think Joy has been drinking some of that new media Kool-Aid.

    Can you say, “Joy gets it?”

    Here’s a link to her photo album.

    Ag Groups, Peanuts