Katherine Harmon Wins SPJ Award

Chuck Zimmerman

LPC/AAEA GamesThanks to University of Missouri graduate and former AgWired student blogger, Margy Fischer, Farm Journal
Machinery Editor, Test Plot Assistant Director for the heads up on this. This is from the text of an email announcement from Mizzou professor Bill Allen. He also sent along the picture of Katherine.

I just wanted to let you folks know that Journalism graduate student Katherine Harmon won a major award last weekend for a story she began reporting during the 2007 Sonja Hillgren/Farm Journal Ag Journalism Field Reporting Institute.

In Ames, Iowa, on Saturday (April 5), Katie was awarded first place in the In-Depth Reporting category of the annual Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Awards for Region 7. (Region 7 covers Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska.)

Her story, “Murky Waters,” published Nov. 10 in the Columbia Missourian, detailed the evolving scientific understanding of Missouri River sediment and the impact that understanding is having on resource management, agriculture, public policy and people. (See http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2007/11/10/murky-waters/ to read the story.

Thanks to all of you for helping to make this achievement possible and for strengthening the wonderfully cross-fertilizing partnership of Ag Journalism and Journalism that Sonja represents.

Publication, University

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Protocols for the implementation of E. coli-safeguards have been adopted and implemented by VeriPrime, Inc., of Wichita, Kan. Certification assures traceability of the product to the last ranch of ownership, and use of probiotic feed supplements to protect against the presence of E. coli in cattle. Conformance with the VeriPrime Certified Safeguards is validated by independent third-party audits. There are currently over 3,000,000 head of cattle being fed in conformance with the newly approved VeriPrime safeguards.
  • The largest gathering of plant health experts from around the world will take place during the Centennial Meeting of The American Phytopathological Society (APS). The meeting will take place July 26-30, 2008 at the Minneapolis Convention Center, Minneapolis, Minn. More information, including online registration and full program, is available here. The advance registration deadline is May 1, 2008.
  • Jed Harms, president of Kemin AgriFoods North America, announces the promotion of Kristi Krafka to Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Quality Assurance and Quality Control. In this role Kristi provides strategic and operational regulatory expertise and leadership for regulatory approvals and monitors the quality of Kemin products to achieve our commercial objectives.
Zimfo Bytes

Fun And Games

Chuck Zimmerman

LPC/AAEA GamesI’m not sure what Diane “Vanna” Johnson has planned for us in Johnston, IA tomorrow night but I’ll be there and you can count on learning more here on AgWired.

It’s a social gathering prior to the Midwest Regional Design & Writing Workshop which takes place at Pioneer’s headquarters on Thursday. I’ll be there for a while too.

Prior to and after all this agricultural journalism fun and seriousness I’ll be doing some interviews (ag journalism?) with the John Deere AMS folks and at Iowa Soybean Association for Precision Pays. It’s nice to stay busy don’t you know?

ACN, LPC

Grilling Green Grass Fed Beef

Chuck Zimmerman

The Farmer and the GrillAfter having been to South America and feasting on grass-fed beef, I say, give me some corn fed beef any day. I personally don’t care if the corn was genetically modified or not, treated with insecticides or anything else. So I’m not too sure about this green grilling book.

But, Cindy says she did a great interview with the author today and it’s really interesting. So I’m keeping an open mind. I think that growing grass fed for those who want it is fine but I don’t think it’s any healthier than the “regular” stuff.

So if you want to cook some grass-fed meat then here’s the cook book you need.

Just in time for the summer cookout season, the “green” food movement has a new cookbook/bible, The Farmer and The Grill: A Guide to Grilling, Barbecuing, and Spit-Roasting Grass-Fed Meat, and For Saving the Planet, One Bite at a Time.

The book was written by Shannon Hayes, a farmer who lives in Upstate New York, and runs a sustainable farm that raises and sells only grass-fed meats, including beef, pork, lamb and poultry.

The cookbook is broken down into six chapters, which are filled with both tasty recipes as well as important facts on the difference between factory and grass-fed meats.

Hayes points out that the average person cooking a steak is used to cranking up the gas or firing up the coals, just throwing it on the grill, and not thinking about it. Grass-fed steaks require a bit more thought and attention. Hayes recommends cooking slow, low off heat.

Beef, Publication

NAMA Bomber Update

Chuck Zimmerman

Guess Who This NAMA Bomber IsThe NAMA Bombers are still looking for a few good people to ride with them next week.

Don’t Miss Next Week’s Motorcycle Ride Adventure with the NAMA Bombers!

Next Tuesday, April 15, the NAMA Bombers Motorcycle Club will be hosting a relaxing ride through central Missouri. If you are flying into the Convention motorcycle rental is available through Blue Springs Harley-Davidson in Missouri.

“We have notified all local law enforcement that we are going to be in town. I don’t anticipate any trouble. We just want to be free to ride our machines without being hassled by the man!” says Dave Dibb, NAMA Bombers Sergeant at Arms.

If you are interested in participating in the ride e-mail jeremy@nafb.com. Support your local NAMA Bombers!

Can you guess which member is pictured here?

NAMA

Back to the Ag

Laura McNamara

After five months abroad, to the day, I am back in the USA! I arrived in Kansas City late last night and what a trip it’s been! I’ve had all kinds of adventures: from learning about the latest innovations with John Deere at Agritechnica in Germany, to strange Vietnamese cuisine, to jumping off cliffs and swinging off of bamboo swings in Laos and, literally, almost everything else you could imagine in between.

I must say, I’ve had an adventure of a lifetime… and I have Chuck and Cindy largely to thank. The ZimmComm team sent me to Germany to cover Agritechnica; the event which proved to offer me the amazing opportunity to take off on my 5-month international excursion.

I’m excited and eager to get back into the ag action here in the U.S. though! Chuck, Cindy and I are planning to work together during the upcoming NAMA event being held in Kansas City: The Leading the Charge Conference & Trade Show April 16-18. All of us will be busy little bloggers, learning about the latest trends, technology and issues of the ag industry. If you’re planning on attending the event, be sure to stop by the ZimmComm both to say hello… and to learn more about the agriblogging authority that ZimmComm has become!

In the meantime, you can check out some videos of my adventures below:

Swinging off bamboo swings in Vang Vieng, Laos

Training in Muay Thai (Thai boxing) in Phuket, Thailand

International, John Deere, Media, NAMA

NCGA Starts Podcast

Chuck Zimmerman

NCGA PodcastThe National Corn Growers Association is Gettin’ Jiggy wit It. They’re doing RSS Feeds of their news, they’re blogging and now they’re podcasting. Here’s the file you need in order to subscribe.

Now Hear This: A Better Way to Get Top NCGA News (4-8-08)

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), which has been making audio files of its top news stories available for some time, is now providing another convenient way for listeners to get them – through podcast subscription.

“We’re always on the lookout for ways to improve service and make it more convenient for our key audiences to get our information,” said Fred Stemme, NCGA vice president of marketing. “More and more, people prefer to listen to the news while they are doing something else – rather than having to sit down and read it – and podcasting is a good tool for getting the word out about what we do.”

In the interests of being completely transparent, ZimmComm New Media has provided technical assistance to NCGA in helping them get their podcast started and we can do the same for your company or organization.

Ag Groups, Corn, NCGA, Podcasts

Quality Ingredients Sampling at Budweiser Brewery

Chuck Zimmerman

Busweiser ToursI don’t know about you but a tour of the Budweiser Brewery in St. Louis, MO is a good thing. That’s what the Gateway NAMA and St. Louis Ag Club will be doing tomorrow April 15th after our lunch program.

They’re going to be talking about “Quality Products Start With Quality Ingredients.” There will be product sampling which may have something to do with good advance reservations!

The speaker will be Steve Malin, Vice President, Anheuser Busch Raw Materials.

Thanks to Ken for correcting my mistake on the date!

Ag Groups, NAMA

Brownfield Howling At The Moon

Chuck Zimmerman

Brownfield Okay NAMA fans. There’s lots of places/reasons to party hardy in Kansas City next week.

For example Brownfield will be Takin’ Care of Business at Howl At The Moon. As some I know who have been to AMS have said, “What’s happens at Howl At The Moon, stays at Howl At The Moon.”

Brownfield will be taking the lucky invitees to the venue via H2 Hummer limos. Now that’s cool.

Media, NAMA

Play i Got It! With Farm Progress

Chuck Zimmerman

Farm Progress CompaniesSpeaking of NAMA invites. You’ll be able to play i Got It! with Farm Progress Companies.

Can you tell the NAMA Convention is getting close?

i Got It! is a “popular, fast-paced Q&A game punctuated with ag history and facts.” You need to visit them at their booth (200and 202). You have to play to win and they’re having a drawing for an ipod touch (just like us).

So you’ll have more than one chance to upgrade your iPod hardware (you do have iPod hardware don’t you?).

The game’s questions are pretty difficult like this one:

Q. Who is your favorite Farm Progress sales representative?
(A. There’s no wrong answer.)

NAMA, Publication