Vaccinations Make a Difference

Chuck Zimmerman

Dr. Ernest Sanford, DVMDr. Ernest Sanford came to the Boehringer Ingelheim Flex Symposium from Canada. He had some of the hottest new research to present. The title of his presentation was, “Impact of PCV2 Vaccination on Subclinical PCVAD Cases in Canada, France and U.S.”

He says this topic has come up fairly recently and they’ve now got some new research data with some interesting results. For one thing, he says the research showed that “. . . obvious thing would be that you probably need to vaccinate pigs against circovirus whether or not you believe you have a circovirus problem.” Another finding that he says came as a big surprise was regarding carcass characteristics with the vaccinated pigs showing more desirable characteristics compared to the pigs that weren’t vaccinated. He says it was significant enough to pay for the vaccination.

Boehringer Ingelheim Flex Symposium Photo Album

Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Research, Swine

One Dose Is Enough

Chuck Zimmerman

Dr. John Kolb, DVMOne of the speakers at the Boehringer Ingelheim Flex Symposium was Dr. John Kolb. I met him at the company’s Animal Health Seminar last month.

His topic was “Pig Performance with Ingelvac MycoFLEX vs. Two-Dose Vaccines.” At the Flex Symposium he presented research data that compared using this new single dose product vs. some of the competition’s that required two doses. He says the research not only showed that it works well but it also works well over the long run, which had been a question for many veterinarians.

Boehringer Ingelheim Flex Symposium Photo Album

Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Research, Swine

PCVAD Overview

Chuck Zimmerman

Dr. Edgar Diaz, DVMThe opening speaker at the Boehringer Ingelheim Flex Symposium was Dr. Edgar Diaz, DVM. He’s a technical manager for BIVI. His task was to provide a scientific overview of PCVAD (porcine circovirus associated disease).

Dr. Diaz says that they’ve found the focus to be on vaccinations recently so he was on the agenda to talk about some new research in this area. The research, he says, shows that vaccination is a very effective tool to reduce the impact of the disease on the farm.

Boehringer Ingelheim Flex Symposium Photo Album

Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

RuralClassifieds.com

Chuck Zimmerman

RuralClassifieds.comPaul Soli, Web Biz, Inc., asked to bring RuralClassifieds.com to you attention. I have done so. Let him know what you think. They have topic specific shopping sites internally like, BullShop.com.

http://www.ruralclassifieds.com/ offers no cost ads to Farmers, Ranchers, Businesses and Residents of Rural America; and currently, users have over 9,000 ads running on its 5 websites.

Many users say this site is similar to Crag’s List, only it offers many more applicable
ad categories which better serve the advertising and marketing needs of Rural America.

Advertising, Internet

New TV Ads From Renewable Fuels Association

Chuck Zimmerman

RFA Ethanol AdThe Renewable Fuels Association, a ZimmComm client, has some cool new tv ads out.

America’s ethanol industry has a fantastic story to tell. Beginning this week, that story is being told to millions of Americans as the Renewable Fuels Association launches two ads very clearly stating the benefits of today’s domestic renewable fuels industry.

Entitled “Faces” and “Places,” the two 30-second spots feature real Americans from Hereford, Texas who are actively leading America toward a more secure energy future. In “Faces,” local Hereford residents explain why ethanol is critical to America’s energy future. In “Places,” the geographic diversity of America’s ethanol industry is on display as the self-proclaimed “Beef Capital of the World” is also home to two ethanol biorefineries. As the Mayor puts it, Hereford is “the ethanol capital of Texas.”

“America’s ethanol producers are on the leading edge of an energy evolution in this country, but far too often aren’t given the credit they deserve,” said Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen.

Here’s Places:


Places – TV Ad from GoodFuels on Vimeo.

Advertising, Ag Groups, Ethanol, RFA

IA State Grad Receives PCVAD Research Award

Chuck Zimmerman

Brad Leuwerke, DVMThe other winner of the Boehringer Ingelheim PCVAD Research Awards was Brad Leuwerke, DVM. Brad is an Iowa State University graduate. Brad (center) is pictured with Klaas Okkinga, Boehringer Ingelheim (left) and Dr. Edgar Diaz, DVM, technical manager for PCVAD at BIVI (right).

BIVI is providing Brad with a $25,000 cash grant for his research project:

* a study to determine the influence that maternal porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) antibodies have on the interference of circovirus vaccination efficacy in young pigs.

Brad says he’s going to get started on his new project as soon as possible. He was very impressed with the Flex Symposium that was held in advance of the annual Allen D. Leman Swine Conference and says that he’ll be taking home information from the presentations to use in the field. I’ll have more on those presentations coming up soon.

You can listen to my interview with Brad here: bi-flex-08-leuwerke.mp3

Or you can download the interview here: Brad Leuwerke Interview (mp3 file)

Boehringer Ingelheim Flex Symposium Photo Album

Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Research, Swine

Boehringer Ingelheim PCVAD Double Award

Chuck Zimmerman

Tanja Opriessnig, DVM, PhDThere were several PCVAD Research awards presented at the Boehringer Ingelheim Flex Symposium. A double award recipient was Tanja Opriessnig, DVM, PhD, seen here in front of the attendees.

BI is providing $25,000 cash grants to the winners of the PCVAD Research Awards for their projects. Tanja will be working on two different studies as follows:

* a study to determine the prevalence of PCV2 viremia and persistent infection in conventional piglets at birth.
* a study to evaluate the influence of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus viremia on circovirus vaccine efficacy in conventional growing pigs.

Tanja is from Austria (I just got back from there a week ago!) and is currently working as a veterinary pathologist at Iowa State University in the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. She says she feels “really good” about the awards and hopes to have her work done within the next year.

You can listen to my interview with Tanja here: bi-flex-08-opriessnig.mp3

Or you can download the interview here: Tanja Opriessnig Interview (mp3 file)

Boehringer Ingelheim Flex Symposium Photo Album

Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Research, Swine

A Sweet Surprise From Corn Refiners

Chuck Zimmerman

I love these new ads about high fructose corn syrup from the Corn Refiners Association. The fact that they have to make them shows what kind of an ignorant consuming public we have that doesn’t want to take responsibility for what or how much it eats. Here’s one of them:

Find more videos like this on AdGabber

You can get a sense of where AdGabber stands on the issue from comments they wrote like this one:

The spots have already generated moody debate on YouTube, but their real targets are housewives, in some ways the most influential force in the fight against high fructose corn syrup — which, sure, may be fine in moderation. The problem is, it’s in just about everything: most snack foods, ready-made baked goods, drinks, ice cream, some condiments, and even bread.

You can get the sweet facts here.

From AdGabber via AdRants.

Advertising, Corn

Farm Progress Re-Designs Websites

Chuck Zimmerman

Farm ProgressFarm Progress has re-designed their websites. They’re calling it a new “internet portal.”

Farm Progress has redesigned its state and regional magazines’ Web sites to provide readers with a more feature-packed and flexible Internet portal. The introduction is more than a redesign and its functionality is not found elsewhere in agricultural media Web sites. The sites have a totally different look, feel and experience.

The internet portal thing makes me have to make a comment. Does that term still make sense in today’s new media world? I think it suggests an all-inclusive environment where the visitor never leaves because the site contains all they need. After a quick look, it does indeed contain a lot of information but . . . I think today’s web savvy farmers and ranchers surf all over the place and go to places that are their favorites for various kinds of information. Let’s take weather for example. How about Weather.com or AccuWeather.com? How about sports (ESPN, Sports Illustrated)? How about market prices (CME Group, MGEX)? What do you think about the portal concept?

Internet, Publication

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • More than 500 growers and retailers were at the Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa, on Sept. 3 to learn about innovations in agriculture. The day’s theme was “Race to Innovation.” After a lunch break, growers and retailers participated in informational sessions that reviewed the current agribusiness landscape, as well as specific innovations in the Bayer CropScience pipeline.
  • WATT Poultry announces the release of the 2008-09 Executive Guide to World Poultry Trends. The comprehensive guide, updated each year, takes current economic trends into account for predicting poultry companies’ challenges over the next year, including oil prices, cost of feed and industrial demand.
  • Cantaloupe grower Steve Sumner, Georgia, Attributes Improved Yield and Quality
    to StollerUSA’s Flower Power. A cursory count in one field indicated a harvest of 13,500 to 14,000 premium quality melons per acre. Sumner estimates a 15-20% yield increase over last year’s crop and attributes much of that to Flower Power.
  • Asoyia Inc. will receive a $300,000 grant from the USDA. Iowa City-based Asoyia was one of 144 recipients in 37 states to receive USDA Rural Development assistance under the Value-Added Producer Grant program.
    Zimfo Bytes