Rural Lifestyle Info in Ag Census

Chuck Zimmerman

Gene DanekasOne of the sources of a lot of information for anyone needing to research the rural lifestyle market is the USDA Census of Agriculture. You might think it’s just about corn, soybeans, hogs and cattle but you’d be wrong.

According to Gene Danekas, Director of Ag Statistics, USDA-Missouri, (pictured on the left in his booth at the Country Living Olympics) there’s valuable information in there. He says you’ll find information right down to the county and zip code level on all sizes of operations. He says the rural lifestyle farms contribute significantly to the overall U. S. economy as well as local economies. All the data is publicly available via their website.

Gene wants rural lifestyle farm owners to know that they are a vital part of agriculture. He says they’ll be doing an update study at the end of this year when they send out 2 1/2 million questionnaires. The new report should then be available around February of 2009.

You can listen to my interview with Gene here: cla-07-danekas.mp3

Country Living Outlook Conference Photo Album

Audio, USDA

Farm Broadcasters Targeting Rural Lifestyle

Chuck Zimmerman

Bill O'NeillIn just a few short weeks it’ll be time for the National Association of Farm Broadcasting Convention. I’ll be blogging the whole event so hopefully you’ll be looking forward to that. NAFB’s Executive Director, Bill O’Neill (pictured on the right) attended the Country Living Outlook Conference. I spoke to him about what he was getting out of it.

Bill says that all of the information he heard contributes to a growing body of knowledge about the rural lifestyle market. He’s one of the people who calls it a diversified market. That’s something I heard a lot. Bill says he’ll take back ideas for future research that NAFB will do to enhance their study from last year (pdf) for the benefit of its members.

We also talked about the upcoming convention. It’s the 63rd NAFB Convention and I’ve been to a lot of them but not that many. Bill says they’ll have a panel of marketers on the program talking about the rural lifestyle market.

You can listen to my interview with Bill here: cla-07-oneill.mp3

Country Living Outlook Conference Photo Album

Audio, NAFB

2007 World Championship Appaloosa Show

Chuck Zimmerman

World Championship Appaloosa ShowI don’t know where you’re spending your Halloween but I’ll be at the 2007 World Championship Appaloosa Show in Ft. Worth, Texas. I hope they’ve got candy.

This year’s show has some interesting features like a Chocolatey Challenge ATV Giveaway and a free screenings of the award winning short film , “Trail End,” starring Emmy-nominated actor Barry Corbin.

So to get yourself in the mood you can hear all about it from Appaloosa Horse Club CEO Steve Taylor. He covers the whole program.

You can listen to the interview with Steve here: awcs-07-taylor-pre.mp3

Ag Groups, Audio, Horses

Driving Away the Competition

Chuck Zimmerman

Country Living Olympics Steel Post DrivingIf you’ve ever been down in a hollow on a mid summer day pounding posts then you might wonder why anyone would want to do this for fun. However, at the Country Living Olympics is was cool inside the American Royal building where the Steel Post Driving competition took place.

You can see that we were planting a post garden in the middle of the floor. That was some pretty hard packed dirt floor too.

You can watch the action on YouTube if you’d like:

You can subscribe to my YouTube videos so you’ll automatically know when I’ve added a new one by using this link.

Country Living Outlook Conference Photo Album

Video

Counrty Living Cheerleader

Chuck Zimmerman

Teresa HinrichsTeresa Hinrichs is a country living cheerleader (pictured on the right). She even says so in an interview I did with her right before the Country Living Olympics.

Teresa works on a lot of projects related to agriculture one of which is the Country Living Association. She says that just about any group of people who have some kind of interest related to rural life or agriculture has an association but there wasn’t one for people that share a passion for country living. She says that besides members, sponsor companies were looking for this. There may be lots of places to advertise but the Association creates member engagement which really builds relationships and a sense of community.

She says that growth has been great here in the first year and they’re on track for where they want to be.

I think you’ll enjoy my interview with Teresa here: cla-07-hinrichs.mp3

Country Living Outlook Conference Photo Album

Audio

Zimfo Bites

Melissa Sandfort

  • Producers interested in “Going For The Green” at this year’s Illinois Commodity Conference can save some green by signing up early, with a lower registration fee. “Going for the Green: Seeing Agriculture’s Future” is the theme of this year’s conference, which will be held Nov. 20th at the DoubleTree Hotel and Convention Center in Bloomington. The one-day event begins at 8 a.m. with registration, continental breakfast, and association business meetings followed by the opening session at 10 a.m. The day’s schedule will conclude at 3:30 p.m. Registration brochures are available from each of the sponsoring organizations, or can be obtained here. Registration fees prior to November 8 are $65 per person. Hotel reservations may be made directly with the DoubleTree at 309-664-6446.
  • The American Butter Institute (ABI) elected a new slate of officers at its annual meeting in Arizona. ABI’s new President is Rich Stammer of Agri-Mark in Methuen, Ma. Vice President is Deborah Van Dyk of Schreiber Foods, Green Bay, Wisc., and Second Vice President is Kris McFarland of California Dairies, Inc., Artesia, Calif. ABI’s immediate past President, Jim Bleick of Graf Creamery, was presented a plaque for his two years of leadership.
  • The USDA announced contracts with three manufacturers to produce 1.5 million radio frequency identification ear tags that are compliant with National Animal Identification System standards. The ear tags will be used specifically for USDA state-federal cooperative disease control and eradication efforts, such as bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis and will be distributed in geographic areas which are determined to be of increased risk for disease outbreak or spread. The ear tags will use radio frequency identification device technology, which will allow producers and animal health officials to electronically identify and store information contained on a tag that is attached to an animal. Three manufacturers are under contract to produce the radio frequency identification ear tags: Allflex USA Inc., Digital Angel Corp., and Global Animal Management. The average cost per unit to USDA for the bulk purchase is approximately $1.13 per tag.
  • Quality reports on the 2007 U.S. hard red spring wheat and northern grown durum crops are now available through the North Dakota Wheat Commission. The reports detail physical attributes and milling performance plus dough mixing and bread baking properties for the spring wheat crop and pasta processing traits for the durum crop. Reports are available online or in hard copy upon request at 701-328-5111 or by emailing ndwheat@ndwheat.com. Please include mailing address in email.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Center For Food Integrity Summit

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Center for Food Integrity SummitThe Center for Food Integrity is about to kick off it’s 2007 Summit in Indianapolis. The theme is “STATE OF CONSUMER TRUST AND THE FOOD SYSTEM.” It’ll be at the Hilton tomorrow.

    You can find the agenda here. It looks like a lot of people will be there talking on subjects including:

    Consumer Trust in the Safety and Security of Food
    The State of Consumer Trust – Where are we?
    2007 Food and Health Survey
    2007 Consumer Attitudes on Food Animal Well Being
    2007 CFI Consumer Trust Study – Who Consumers Trust
    Earning the Social License to Operate around the Globe
    Creating Sustainable Outcomes for Contemporary Food Production
    Health and Nutrition
    Food Safety
    Worker Care
    Environment
    Food Animal Well Being
    Different Perspectives on Contemporary Food Production

    The Center for Food Integrity is a combination of The Grow America Project and Best Food Nation, two national initiatives established in 2006 to increase public understanding about the food system.

    Ag Groups, Food

    A Country Living Way of Life

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Alan BrendIf you want to know what people who live the country life think then just ask them. That’s what we did at the Country Living Outlook Conference. I can assure you that these folks are passionate about where they live.

    Take Alan Brend who was on the panel of rural lifestyle practitioners. He says that he does not view how he lives as a lifestyle but rather a way of life. Alan says that he will live no other way and the country way of life is good for kids. He says that having them raise animals and do chores teaches them self confidence and responsibility.

    Alan says that when it comes to buying stuff he does all his research on the internet and then buys local. He thinks the Country Living Association has a great deal of potential, especially if it can provide him with resources on its website that would save him time. When I asked him if he thinks the marketers attending understood his needs he says that he could see the light in their eyes as they would nod like they finally understood.

    I think you’ll enjoy my interview with Alan here: cla-07-brend.mp3

    Country Living Outlook Conference Photo Album

    Audio

    Let’s Move That Feed

    Chuck Zimmerman

    If you’ve ever had to move a pallet of feed then you have an idea of what it was like to compete in the Country Living Olympics Feed Bag Moving competition.

    Imagine having to run with them for a short distance and stack them on another pallet. That’s why we had some worn out competitors. 10 bags and a short run. Whew!

    You can see the winning style and form in this video:

    Country Living Outlook Conference Photo Album

    Video

    A Revolutionary Cotton Picker

    Chuck Zimmerman

    John Deere Cotton PickerJohn Deere says that their new 7760 Cotton Picker will revolutionize harvesting the crop.

    This machine was on display in action at last week’s Sunbelt Ag Expo. Southeast AgNet’s Randall Weiseman was on hand to obtain interviews for me. He spoke with Jamie Flood, Deere’s Cotton Marketing Manager, who worked with the 7760 development in Iowa. You can listen to Randall’s interview here: 10-17-07%20John%20Deere-Jamie%20Flood.mp3

    John Deere Cotton PickerHere’s what makes the machine special:

    The 7760 Picker will build a round module on the machine while harvesting cotton. Then it will wrap the cotton module in a protective film to preserve fiber and seed quality, and minimize any crop loss during handling and transport. Without ever stopping the machine during picking, the operator can then carry the module to the end of the field to be transported later to the gin. This efficient, non-stop harvesting system eliminates unloading into a boll buggy and processing in a module builder. Ultimately, the producer saves time, fuel and manpower when harvesting and processing the cotton.

    Besides Jamie, Randall also spoke with Barry Nelson, Deere’s Manager of Public Relations.

    You can listen to Randall’s interview with Barry here: 10-17-07%20John%20Deere-Barry%20Nelson.mp3

    Agribusiness, Audio, Cotton, John Deere