Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Nominations are open for the Grower Achievement Award and those interested in nominating a deserving grower can do so here. The deadline for nominations is May 30. The Grower Achievement Award honors vegetable growers for excellence in marketing efforts, innovative food quality and safety procedures, industry leadership, and community outreach. The award is sponsored by Syngenta and is presented by American Vegetable Grower® magazine.
  • Trans Ova Genetics has announced the hiring of Scott Metzger as area sales manager, working with dairy clients across the U.S. In his new position, Metzger will work with elite dairy breeders, helping them utilize advanced reproductive technologies such as embryo transfer and in vitro fertilization to create desirable offspring from top cow families.
  • Angus enthusiasts should mark their calendars for the 2008 National Angus Conference & Tour, set for Oct. 7-9 in Oklahoma City, Okla. The conference headquarters is the Clarion Meridian Hotel & Convention Center, where the conference, “125 Years-the Challenges of the Next Decade” will focus on production, marketing and performance. The Oklahoma Angus Association will host “An Angus Gathering,” a two-day tour of Angus operations, along with a museum and reining horse training facility.
Zimfo Bytes

Ethanol Makes a Stand at Roadrunner Turbo Indy 300

Laura McNamara

Team Ethanol Driver Ryan Hunter-ReayTeam Ethanol is at it again. This time at the Kansas Speedway. The Roadrunner Turbo Indy 300 is underway and, prior to the race, Team Ethanol Driver Ryan Hunter-Reay talked about wanting to make this “home” race a top finishing race.

Team Ethanol is hoping to make a big impact on and off the track though. The Ethanol Promotion and Information Council held a press conference earlier today and addressed mainstream media’s recent attention to negative criticism about ethanol. And, while Ryan wants to set a record this race, EPIC and other leading representatives in the ethanol business want to use this race as an opportunity to set the record straight on ethanol and ethanol-blended fuel. You can find coverage of the race and of EPIC’s response to mainstream criticism at energy.agwired.com. Click here to find audio of EPIC’s press conference.

Ethanol, International

Planning to be Live in DC

Chuck Zimmerman

Hello from Washington, DC and the Holiday Inn Capitol. After a nice job around the Mall I tried out a new service I’m planning to use called Ustream.TV. It’s actually a live streaming service and if all goes well I’ll be doing some live video from here, which I’ll record as well.

Here’s an example of a short video that I just recorded. Keep in mind that I’m in a hotel room that doesn’t have a lot of light.

Video

Beautiful Sunday Sunrise

Chuck Zimmerman

SunriseThe sun is shining and I’m at St. Louis airport waiting on a plane. If you do any flying today you know how unpleasant it’s becoming.

For example, I fly out of this airport pretty often. Today security took 25 minutes and I was about 10th in line, meaning that there was almost no line compared to normal. When my bags went through the machine they had to be checked. I sort of expect it but they’ve never been checked here, just breezed on through. Both the x-ray machine dude and the lady who wound up doing the check have passed me through so often I recognize them. Not today. She had to take every single item out of my camera bag and wipe it, analyze it (each wipe in the machine) and then re-run them in multiple plastic bins. When I questioned why she was taking everything out (very unnecessary) she got very huffy and then proceeded to slow down even more. I’d estimate that about 40 people went through in the time it took her to do this. That’s ridiculous.

But so it goes. There’s no way I’m going to check my camera gear which includes audio recorder, computer, etc. I think a visual check, couple of quick wipes ought to be sufficient.

Whatever, so now I’m waiting on my regional jet which doesn’t have sufficient overhead space to put my rolling brief case so that has to be gate checked. Of course that means taking the breakables out of it. Don’t ever watch them take your carry on and load it, it will make you angry since they throw these bags even though you would think they know they often contain sensitive items, which is why we’re trying to carry them on!

See you from Washington, DC.

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Wild Violets

Chuck Zimmerman

Wild VioletsI’ve had these violets planted under my deck for several years and this is the first time I’ve seen them bloom like this. Kind of makes it worth transplanting them from the woods down the hill. I know they’re considered a weed to a lot of people but they work out perfectly where I have them.

It shows that I got out in the sun today and did a little yard work before hitting the road again.

Sunday will be a travel day to Washington, DC. I’ll be doing some media production (images/video/audio) with American Farmland Trust and covering the NAFB Washington Watch. So you’re going to see and hear lots of good stuff this week from the Capitol.

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Mysterious, New Beef Could Vanish

Laura McNamara

An agricultural research facility in Florida fears the 10 percent reduction in ag research funding will close its doors… and abruptly abort research on a nameless, mixed breed of cattle. The St. Petersburg Times reports:

Indeed, few people have ever seen cattle like these. Unless you’re knowledgeable in bovine research, the cross-bred calves huddled in tall grass of the pastures near the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Subtropical Agricultural Research Station at Chinsegut Hill may appear rather strange.

The animals are so new, in fact, that they don’t even have an official name yet.

Rather, research scientists at the facility refer to them simply as an F1 composite breed, a catch-all name that indicates they are the mixed offspring of several beef cattle breeds — in this case American Angus and Brahma cattle, plus the South American Romosinuanos — that are a product of more than a decade of genetic research.

While Coleman praised the calves’ aesthetic virtues, his hope is that they will someday lead to a tastier, more profitable breed of beef cattle.

Though that result is a long way off, Coleman fears it may never happen at all…

With the Bush Administration calling for a 10 percent cut in agricultural research in its proposed USDA budget for 2009, Coleman said this agricultural research station is one of three targeted for closing.
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Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Animal Health, Beef, Farm Policy, Farming, Livestock, Research, Technology

Kobe Beef iPod Nano Case

Chuck Zimmerman

Kobe Beef iPod Nano CaseI don’t know about you but I like my steak on the grill and that wouldn’t be real good for my iPod. But if you know of some beef lovers with a Nano and want a unique gift then think of the Kobe Beef iPod Nano Case. It’s only $100. Can you imagine what the whole steak costs?

I’m thinking that a nice Angus or Herford case would be okay for me. As they say on Gearlog, “It adds a whole new meaning to Where’s the Beef?”

Beef

Country Living Association Offering Tip of the Week

Chuck Zimmerman

CLA Tip of the WeekThe Country Living Association is now sending out a “Tip of the Week.” The latest one features these little guys and talks about pet care in warm weather. Members also get a free sample of a product to help with the problem of “hot spots.”

It’s just part of how they’re “Making the good life better.”

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Hail to the Hamburger

Melissa Sandfort

May is National Hamburger Month and Beef Month, so it’s a good time to hail to the hamburger and bow to the beef.

It may seem as simple as a food that got its name from Hamburg, Germany. But the original ground beef patty on a bun may have been from the Mongols who brought it to Russia; seafarers that brought the patty idea back to the port city of Hamburg; Louis’ Lunch – the New Haven, Conn., burger joint; “Hamburger Charlie” Nagreen; or, the Menches Brothers. But it seems no matter what the tale, the ending is still the same – consumers love a good burger.

Americans consumed approximately 11.9 billion burgers in 2007. Forty-one percent of Americans eat burgers at least once a week and 85 percent eat burgers once a month. That’s reason to tip your hat to beef producers.

Beef

Texting Is Here and Now

Chuck Zimmerman

PrecisionAg InstitutePaul Schrimpf, PrecisionAg Institute, has an interesting article in his latest PrecisionAg e-news on texting. He writes about an announcement from Jacquie Ream, former teacher and author, on her opinion about kids communicating today:

“We have a whole generation being raised without communication skills,” says Jacquie Ream, former teacher and author of “K.I.S.S. Keep It Short and Simple” (Book Publishers Network). She contends text messaging and the internet are destroying the way our kids read, think, and write.

Say with me, “She sure doesn’t get it.” Kids today are communicating more than ever and texting is just part of it. Maybe she thinks we should get rid of the internet, mobile phones, computers and just get ourselves a bottle of ink and a quill. In fact, if you go to her book promotion site that’s just what you see in the boring introductory flash video (why do people do that?). Interesting ideas from someone who has a book with a title about the KISS principle. I agree with what Paul says in his article.

As for me, I see it as a tool to supplement communication, not one that replaces it. Used to be that we would connect with our friends two ways … call on the phone or show up on the doorstep. My high school daughter can, and does, connect with friends in a half dozen ways I am aware of, and probably more I’m not. Why? Because they can.

If you’re ready to retire then maybe you want ag communications to stay the way it has always been. However, the way we communicate is changing and texting is just a part of how farmers are getting information now. Check out Commodity Update and AgWired Mobile if you want to get on the bandwagon and be on the leading edge.

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