AG Day Essay Contest Winner

Chuck Zimmerman

Ag DayThe winner of the 2008 Ag Day Essay Contest coordinated by the Agriculture Council of America is Katlin Wiest.

ACA called upon seventh- to 12th-grade students nationwide to submit original essays of 450 words about the importance of agriculture in the United States. Under the theme “Agriculture – Bigger Than You Think,” students were encouraged to focus their essays on the broader scope of agriculture, showcasing the diversity of today’s American farms. Though row crops and livestock are still very much a part of the foundation of the industry, agriculture today has multiple touch points in our daily lives and many career opportunities.

Wiest, an eighth-grader at Upper Dauphin Middle School, Lykens, Pa., was named the national winner of the 2008 contest during the Ag Day event held at the USDA Whitten Building Patio. Wiest read her essay to industry representatives, members of Congress, federal agency representatives, media and others at the Celebration of Agriculture dinner in Washington, D.C. The following is an excerpt from her essay: Read More

Ag Groups

AAEA Webinar on Editorial Blogs – Benefit to Publications

Chuck Zimmerman

AAEAJust in case you’ve been putting it off there’s still time to get registered for tomorrow’s AAEA webinar on blogging.

You don’t have to wait for the Agricultural Media Summit to boost your knowledge. The Member Services Committee is offering a one-hour Webinar on editorial blogs – benefit to publications, how to make them valuable to readers, and the ins and outs of blogging. We have lined up two experienced bloggers as presenters – John Phipps of Farm Journal Media and Chuck Zimmerman of ZimmComm. It will take place 1:30 Central Standard Time, Tuesday, March 11; cost, $30.

You don’t have to be a member to participate.

ACN

AgWired Survey Contest Winner

Chuck Zimmerman

AgWired iPod GiveawayI can’t believe all you people who entered our AgWired Survey Contest haven’t been beating me up for not announcing the winner yet. The survey closed on time but with the travel schedule it took a while to get it taken care of (including the ones we ran on our Domestic Fuel and World Dairy Diary sites). But we have drawn the winner.

Congratulations to Jessica Reis with Ag Leader Technology in Ames, IA. Jessica is a regular AgWired reader who I just met by phone when I called to let her know she won. So now she’ll be able to carry the ZimmCast around with her along with all her tunes and other farm podcasts.

I want to thank everyone who participated in our annual survey. It is really helpful and I’ll be sharing the information from it with you shortly.

Agribusiness

Catch An AgBuzz

Chuck Zimmerman

agbuzzWhat do Bret Oelke, George Rehm, Jochum Wiersma and Mark Whitney have in common? They all blog for AgBuzz.com. It’s published by Minnesota Farm Guide in conjunction with the University of Minnesota.

The purpose of AgBuzz is to gain interaction between producers and extension service staff. The benefits of AgBuzz are to everyone, bloggers, readers, and extension services. Comments are a key element in blogs, everyone is welcome to leave their comments, in a tasteful manner.

While you’re at it you might also want to check out what Laura Roti and Cody Wright are doing with the Tri-State Neighbor South Dakota Ag Blogs.

Publication, University

A Binding Way to Find Ag Media

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast-162 - Finding Agricultural MediaThere’s going to be a new publication in the ag communications world coming soon from AGRIpr. It’s going to be the FINDERBINDER Agricultural Media Directory. This morning I had a nice chat with owner Cory Cart. You can listen to our conversation and learn all about it.

Finder Binder Ag Media DirectoryCory is a native of Binger, Okla., and is the marketing and public relations coordinator for the Stillwater Convention and Visitors Bureau and is principal of AGRI Public Relations. He says the initial response to the new directory is extremely positive, perhaps even surprisingly so. He says the directory will be useful for any level of farm or farm targeted company and is being priced to be very affordable. I think it sounds like it will be the most comprehensive directory of its kind. The target is a summer release. You’ll notice that I don’t have a web link here (yet). That’s because the website is in its final stages of development. I’ll update you when that becomes available.

Each FINDERBINDER® Agricultural Media Directory will come with six updating newsletters. Frequently provided with these newsletters are new pages for the directory. These pro vide readers with information on new media or media which have had major changes. Each year the number of changes in the me dia will make past issues obsolete.

The listings include names of editors, advertising managers, media owners, addresses and phone numbers, circulation figures and open rates for print media, public service announcement data for radio and television stations, radio and television talk show and interview format programs, and much more.

Publications, radio and television stations must direct a majority of their efforts toward an agricultural or rural audience to be included. Publications must produce two or more issues a year and newsletter format publications will not be included.

This week’s program ends with music from the Podsafe Music Network. It’s called “Traveling Song” by the Ryan Meyers Band. I picked this song since I’m in the traveling mode. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: Listen To ZimmCastZimmCast 162 (34 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:zimmcast162-3-10-08.mp3

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

Audio, Media, Publication, ZimmCast

Another Magazine Goes Mobile

Chuck Zimmerman

AgriMarketing MobileIn another showing of how mobile information is getting you can now get your AgriMarketing Magazine daily update via mobile phone. It’s interesting to see how traditional magazine companies are finding ways to distribute their content in ways other than the printed page. AgriMarketing Magazine is also distributing each issue in online digital form.

We could really see this coming and that’s why AgWired has been available electronically since the beginning. Of course you know you can subscribe to AgWired via your mobile phone by just using our RSS feed (http://agwired.com/feed/rss2/) with Google Mobile or any other service like NewsGator Go (Which I use on my Blackberry Curve).

AgriMarketing announces its daily news service that is posted at its www.AgriMarketing.com website can now be viewed on most wireless mobile devices such as Web-enabled cell phones, Blackberries, SmartPhones, iPhones, etc. “This free service allows those who are away from their computers to stay abreast of the news as it occurs,” says AgriMarketing Publisher Lynn Henderson.

The service also includes access to a robust weather site as well as to the Farm Progress FRIDAY e-newsletter from the service’s sponsor, Farm Progress Companies, Carol Stream, IL. “Farm Progress is delighted to team with the AgriMarketing staff and bring this useful service to the ag marketing community using a popular and portable electronic delivery system,” says Rosemary Schimek, Farm Progress corporate marketing director.

To utilize the service, first accesses your device’s browser and then enter www.AgriMarketingMobile.com. To obtain additional information or Frequently Asked Questions, users can go to http://agrimarketingmobile.com/info.aspx.

Publication

Commodity Update Hires Beth Winters

Chuck Zimmerman

Commodity UpdateCommodity Update has hired Beth Winters as Direct of Sales – Middle Market Segment. Sounds like things are good in the markets to your mobile phone business.

Beth brings extensive experience in the agribusiness industry with her to Commodity Update. A native of South Carolina, Beth began her career in Charleston in 2002 as an Account Executive for QuickFarm, where she managed key accounts to help the company become a leading provider of customizable Websites and real-time quotes for the Ag industry worldwide. In this position, Beth worked extensively with grain handlers and other agribusinesses focused on developing or expanding their reach online.

“Beth was our account executive when her prior company was one of our vendors,” explains Commodity Update founder Joel Jaeger. “We were very pleased with the way she handled our account so when the need arose for us to fill a position internally we were excited about the opportunity to bring Beth on board.”

As Director of Sales Beth will play a pivotal role working with agribusinesses to help them provide a value added service to their customers through our customized solutions and leading messaging service.

Agribusiness, Markets

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Kemin announced receipt of U.S. patent #7,247,299 covering Bacillus subtilis PB6, the active organism in its CloSTAT™ brand direct-fed microbial being introduced into the U.S. market. CloSTAT is a new nutricine that helps to maintain healthy gut microflora in poultry and livestock.
  • The Association of Equipment Manufacturers will conduct its annual product safety seminar April 21-23, 2008, followed by its yearly product liability seminar April 24, both at the Hilton Dallas Lincoln Centre in Dallas, Texas. The seminars are designed by and specifically for manufacturers of agricultural, construction, forestry, mining and utility equipment. A special roundtable session will focus on the research agenda of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
  • The U.S. pork industry achieved its 16th consecutive record-setting year of exports in 2007, according to statistics compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation. Overall, pork exports increased 3 percent in volume over 2006, surpassing 1.3 million metric tons, nearly 2.9 billion pounds. Japan remains the top destination for U.S. pork.
Zimfo Bytes

James Dean Memorial

Chuck Zimmerman

James Dean BillboardI’ve got a number of things to post here on AgWired but I think that too many time zones, time changes and meetings are catching up to me this weekend. So here’s all you get today. Actually a lot got done here on the home front including some office catch up work.

This post is ag related in that I stopped along California Hwy. 46 at Blackwell’s Corner to buy some almonds and pistachios. As I pulled in this is the sign that greeted me. I didn’t realize that I was on the James Dean Memorial Highway. Apparently this is where he gassed up his race car on September 30, 1955 before his fatal crash. This is what it says on Wikipedia:

Dean was driving west on U.S. Route 466 (later State Route 46) near Cholame, California when a black-and-white 1950 Ford Custom Tudor coupe, driven from the opposite direction by 23-year-old Cal Poly student Donald Turnupseed, attempted to take the fork onto State Route 41 and crossed into Dean’s lane without seeing him. The two cars hit almost head on. According to a story in the October 1, 2005 edition of the Los Angeles Times,[10] California Highway Patrol officer Ron Nelson and his partner had been finishing a coffee break in Paso Robles when they were called to the scene of the accident, where they saw a heavily-breathing Dean being placed into an ambulance. Wütherich had been thrown from the car, but survived with a broken jaw and other injuries. Dean was taken to Paso Robles War Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 5:59PM. His last known words, uttered right before impact, were said to have been “That guy’s gotta stop… He’ll see us.

So there you have it. I learned something new and interesting thanks to California agriculture.

Uncategorized

Hondo Group Team Grows

Chuck Zimmerman

Van ArtiagaThe Hondo Group has added two people to their team, Traffic Manager Van Artiaga and Public Relations Director René Smith.

As traffic manager, Artiaga will be responsible for project management and maintaining the flow of jobs for all clients. As public relations director, Smith will be responsible for raising the level of awareness of their clients and The Hondo Group.

“I’m enjoying the work and the people,” said Artiaga. “Everyone here is very creative so our work product is absolutely a result of outside-the-box thinking.”

Artiaga started her career as an account director for Lowe Worldwide in Vietnam, working on clients including Coca-Cola and Unilever. After moving to the United States, Artiaga continued her career as an account executive and project manager for two local companies before joining The Hondo Group. She holds a bachelor of arts in English from the University of Sciences and Humanities in Vietnam and a bachelor of arts in business administration from the University of Economics in Vietnam. In addition, Artiaga has extensive training in specific disciplines including e-mail marketing, campaign planning, brand communication and direct marketing through various workshops and seminars.

Rene SmithPrior to joining The Hondo Group, Smith was a senior account executive at a communications firm in Houston, Texas where her responsibilities included the development and execution of public relations campaigns. She specializes in industries such as technology, healthcare, real estate, transportation and consumer goods. Smith holds a bachelor of arts in public relations and journalism from Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.

“I’m excited to be here,” said Smith. “With so much growth and opportunity at The Hondo Group, this is a great time for me to be tasked with increasing our visibility.”

In conjunction with expanding the team, the company is planning a celebration for its newest office located in Darlington, Wisconsin. The office helps to better serve The Hondo Group’s many clients in the agricultural industry. The opening celebration for the Darlington office is planned for May 1, 2008.

Agencies