Blogging Break

Chuck Zimmerman

FishingIt’s been really difficult to get motivated to do much today. We’re having some gorgeous weather here in Missouri, although I think corn and soybean growers would like it a little hotter.

It was nice enough to just wander down to the pond for a little fishing from the bank. Fishing is what I was doing since I wasn’t catching.

I’ve got one more office day before hitting the agriblogging highway again. This week you’ll find me at NAMA Boot Camp and then I’ll be off to North Carolina with Boehringer Ingelheim. Cindy will be in Omaha for the American Coalition for Ethanol convention.

See you from there.

Uncategorized

Wacko Ad From HSUS

Chuck Zimmerman

HSUS AdI noticed a story in the latest issue Missouri Cattlemen’s Association, Prime Cuts, e-newsletter about a stupid (my word) ad from the Humane Society. Yes, we know these wackos have been trying to connect animal agriculture to global warming. Of course, there is no global warming issue, especially not a man made one. You’ll notice that most environmental wackos have quit using that term and have now gone to “climate change” as their term of choice. This way it can be getting colder, warmer, dryer, wetter and it’s all bad and they’re covered.

According to the newsletter story the HSUS is running the ad this month in national magazines targeting teen girls. If you read the copy of the ad you find out the true goal of the HSUS which is to reduce meat in our diets by using scare tactics based on complete lies. These wackos are definitely a huge enemy of anyone involved in animal agriculture. It’s one thing to have an opinion but to deliberately deceive people with lies to get their money so they can lie to more people is really tragic and sad. Unfortunately, the HSUS is using false data from the FAO, which has turned into a wacko group too. I used to think FAO actually was a credible organization, but not anymore.

It’s too bad that so many people are willing to believe what they see and hear without even bothering to think about it and look for real science based facts. But that’s why it’s very important for any of us involved in agriculture to be involved in efforts to present the truth and reach consumers using the same tactics as these wackos.

Advertising, Wackos

From the Cullers Family to 2000 Growers

Cindy Zimmerman

Cullers FamilyI have to give Michelle Cullers a lot of credit for the Kip Cullers’ Record Breaking Field Day event this week on the family farm. Her mother and sisters also helped out with the event, including making some absolutely delicious homemade ice cream for the BBQ.

Kip is blessed with a wonderful family – including sons Noah and Naamen, who were exceptionally well behaved. I’m sure it was an effort for everyone to host this event, which lasted three days this week. I am still waiting to hear the final numbers of those who attended – but it was somewhere over 2,000 – with visitors from as far away as Canada and Brazil!

Be sure to check out this AP story about Kip’s field day and expo. He even wowed the mainstream media!

Kip Cullers Record Breaking Field Day photo album

BASF, Farming

Consistent Worldwide Numbering System

Chuck Zimmerman

New John Deere Numbering SystemThere’s a lot of news coming out of John Deere this week. In fact, it’s 23 news releases worth! You can find links to all of them in their media center or on AgWired in my previous post.

I thought the new numbering system was very interesting and called Barry Nelson, John Deere Public Relations Manager, just now. He’s dutifully working until the end of the day on a Friday. Aren’t we all?

Barry explains that as the company has grown globally they were finding that products had different names and numbering depending on what country you’re in. So they got a group together to come up with one consistent name/number system which can be used worldwide.

You can listen to Barry explain the new system here: john-deere-numbering-nelson.mp3

Agribusiness, Audio, International, John Deere, Tractor

Download First NAMA Webinar

Chuck Zimmerman

NAMA WebinarsIt looks like NAMA’s first webinar was a success. It’s now available for download in case you weren’t able to participate.

PLEASE NOTE: YOU MUST DOWNLOAD THE WEBEX PLAYER PRIOR TO DOWNLOADING THE DIRECT BRANDING WEBINAR. PLEASE VISIT HTTPS://NAMA.WEBEX.COM/CLIENT/T26L/ATRECPLY.MSI TO DOWNLOAD THE PLAYER FIRST.

You can download the webinar by visiting http://payment.nama.org/playback.htm. (If your link is not live, you may have to cut and paste the link in your web browser.)

Thank you and we hope you can join us for our upcoming Webinar, The Confluence of Social Networking and Mobile Marketing: The Value Proposition for Agribusiness, on October 9 at 1:00 p.m. (CENTRAL TIME). For all webinar information visit http://www.nama.org/programs/webinars.htm.

NAMA

Field Day Headliner

Cindy Zimmerman

Kip Culler’s Record Breaking Field Day photo album

Gary FellowsOne of the main secrets to Kip Cullers’ record breaking yields is BASF Headline fungicide and it was definitely one of the stars of the show this week at Kip’s Record Breaking Field Day in Southwest Missouri.

I spoke with Dr. Gary Fellows, Technical Service Manager for BASF, who says that Headline just fits with Kip’s goals for plant health and high yields. He was pleased that the field day that allowed growers from all over the United States and Canada to see what can be done on a real working farm and how that can be applied to their own operations.

Listen to my interview with Gary here: basf-kip-fellows.mp3

AmberHeadline has been such a great success story for BASF and growers of a huge variety of crops, not just corn and soybeans. I also talked with Technical Marketing Manager Amber Shirley who was on hand at the field day to discuss some of the many other crops the Headline has registration for, including sunflowers, potatoes, peanuts and cotton – as well as new registrations for oilseeds such as canola and planned registration for sorghum and alfalfa. Is there any crop Headline can’t help?

Listen to my interview with Amber here: basf-kip-amber.mp3

Audio, BASF, Farming

Dow AgroSciences to Acquire Dairyland Seed

Cindy Zimmerman

Dow AgroSciencesDow AgroSciences announced today it is acquiring Dairyland Seed Company and affiliate Bio-Plant Research.

Dairyland SeedAccording to a company release, the addition of Dairyland Seed will build upon Dow AgroSciences’ current seeds business and will expand its broad range of product offerings.

The agreement includes all crop genetics, brands, plant breeding programs in hybrid corn, soybeans and alfalfa as well as Dairyland’s research, processing and production locations. Dow AgroSciences will continue to independently market Dairyland Seeds under the Dairyland brand. Dairyland Seed will continue to be headquartered in West Bend, Wis.

Agribusiness, Seed

August ZimmNews

Chuck Zimmerman

August ZimmNewsThe latest edition of ZimmNews has now been pumped out into the world wide web.

In case you didn’t get it or just want to look at it online then you can find it here: August ZimmNews

Some highlights include:

I hope you enjoy it and thank you for reading.

ZimmNews

Fred Myers is For Ag Journalists

Chuck Zimmerman

Fred MyersIf you’re an AAEA member you probably know Fred Myers. If you’re not, then you can get to know him online via his new website, For Ag Journalists.

This website is the latest of many contributions I have made to agricultural journalism, much of it through the American Agricultural Editors’ Association (AAEA). Take a few minutes every month to look at what I have prepared. I hope you will enjoy the reading as much as I enjoy the writing.

But this isn’t only about me. It’s about all of us and about our profession and our lives. So I encourage you to share with me your thoughts, comments and any news you believe others should know. I will then post them. You can either be identified with them or contribute in anonymity. I will honor your choice.

ACN, Education, Internet