No Guy Wire Left Behind Contest

Chuck Zimmerman

NAAA 2008 ConventionA new destination on the ZimmComm agriblogging circuit this year will be the National Agricultural Aviation Association convention which will take place in Las Vegas. We’re looking forward to getting to know these brave souls.

While checking out their website I noticed their “No Guy Wire Left Behind” contest that will pay $1,000.00 to the best design for a guy wire marker. The need for this appears to be significant and makes sense since we still have so many wires above ground around our farm fields.

Solution

The NAAA Safety/Federal Aviation Regulations Committee went to work at their February 2008 meeting in Washington DC to develop a solution to this problem. The committee recommended two plans, which were then approved by the board of directors for implementation.

Plan 1 is to sponsor a contest to design a guy wire marking device. The device must be low cost, high visibility, weather resistant and have high design appeal. The marker should be able to easily attach to the guy wire approximately 10 feet above the ground. The proposal for the winning design will be manufactured in large quantities and distributed on a local level to groups such as the 4-H, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts in the hopes that they will sell them for their charitable causes. These groups, after receiving an order, would sell the guy wire markers to companies who placed the order. The order would result from a letter generated from Plan 2. Read More

Ag Groups

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Eli Lilly and Company announced that Covance Inc. will buy and operate Lilly’s Greenfield Laboratories located in Greenfield, Ind. In addition, Lilly is finalizing plans to lease a new worldwide headquarters for its animal health division, Elanco, in Hancock County, Indiana. The announcement is part of a series of actions the company is taking to restructure its research and development organization in order to compete in a dramatically changing environment. To support Elanco’s business needs, the company plans to lease a new, expanded headquarters in Hancock County, Ind. The facility is scheduled to be completed in late 2009 or early 2010.
  • Monsanto Company announced that it is pursuing a divestiture of its dairy product, POSILAC bovine somatotropin, in the upcoming months. A recent study conducted by several researchers at Cornell University highlighted the role of POSILAC as an on-farm dairy tool that can effectively reduce the environmental impact of dairy operations. The Cornell study can be accessed here.
  • Mike Gustafson, Mgr/Parts Marketing Communications, John Deere ag division, has announced his retirement effective Dec. 31. Gustafson has been with Deere’s ag advertising department for 25 years. Gustafson was the 2003-04 President of the National Agri-Marketing Association and is currently serving as VP of its AgriBusiness Educational Foundation. He is also an active volunteer for FFA and 4-H. His last day in the office is August 29.
    Zimfo Bytes

    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