The Outlook on Country Living

Chuck Zimmerman

Country Living AssociationI’ll be getting an outlook on country living today at the Country Living Association Outlook Conference. It all starts later this morning at Replay’s Bar & Gril at Kemper Arena in Kansas City. Here’s what the program looks like:

10:30 – 11:15 Welcome by Betsy Freese, Living the Country Life
11:30 – 12:30 Luncheon, Patrick Gottsch, President & Founder of RFD TV
12:45 – 1:30 Session 1: Panel of Researchers, Susan Spaulding, Market Directions, Scott Downey, Purdue University, Department of Ag Economics, Representative from University of Missouri Extension
1:35 – 2:20 Session 2: From the Country
2:30 – 3:00 Networking Break
3:10 – 3:55 Session 3: Panel of companies actively marketing to this market, Sean Sundberg, John Deere Worldwide Consumer and Commercial Equipment Division, Shari Burgus, Farm Safety 4 Just Kids, Matt Coniglio, National Accounts Manager, Fastline Publications, Daryl Andrews, National Agribusiness, Brad Pline, Allied Insurance
4:00 – 4:30 Closing Session

Then tomorrow stay tuned for the Country Living Olympics. I’ll have coverage of all the activities right here on AgWired.

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Zimfo Bites

Melissa Sandfort

  • Pioneer Hi-Bred is adding 23 new soybean varieties to its lineup for 2008. These new Pioneer® brand soybean varieties offer growers protection against yield-robbing pests such as soybean cyst nematode (SCN), sudden death syndrome (SDS), Phytophthora root rot and brown stem rot (BSR). Twenty-one of the new Pioneer soybean varieties contain the Roundup Ready® (RR) gene and offer impressive performance and yield protection.
  • DuPont has received three prestigious Agrow Awards in recognition of its innovative and industry-leading agricultural product pipeline and technologies. The awards were presented to DuPont’s Crop Protection and Pioneer Hi-Bred businesses at the inaugural 2007 Agrow Awards ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland, on Oct. 16. DuPont Agriculture Nutrition was recognized for the following: Best R Pipeline, Best Novel Agricultural Biotechnology and Most Innovative Chemistry.
  • StollerUSA announced the results of ongoing commercial field trials indicating that HOLD™, a co-pack of ReZist™ and Calcium 5S™, can significantly increase nut retention and yield. In undesirable almond field conditions, the flower to final nut set can be as low as 30 percent. Robert Liptrap of Crop Synergy, an independent researcher and nut grower, says HOLD combats this phenomenon by balancing the levels of growth hormones and countering the effects of growth-inhibiting hormone levels in the flower and post-bloom periods.
  • Deadlines for early registration, poster abstract submission, and hotel reservations are quickly approaching for the 2007 National Soybean Rust Symposium. The 2007 National Soybean Rust Symposium will be held Dec. 12-14, 2007 at the Marriott Louisville Downtown Hotel in Louisville, Ky. The early registration deadline is Oct. 22, 2007 (save $60 on registration fees). Hotel reservations must be made by Nov. 13, 2007 in order to guarantee the low meeting rate of $99 per night.
    Zimfo Bytes

    The Business of California Farming

    Chuck Zimmerman

    The Business of FarmingThe Futures Channel has produced a short movie on California agriculture. They’d love your feedback. Thanks to Jenna who’s in charge of their distribution for the alert to it. It’s meant to be an instructional video for classroom use.

    Do your students know where their food comes from? There are more than 350 different commodities grown in California, including rice, dairy, avocados, meat, strawberries, grapes and lots and lots of almonds. In a state that provides approximately 15 percent of the United States agriculture, statistics are an important tool that agricultural economists use in California to keep up with its supply and demand.

    It’s basically focused on the growth in “organic” acres.

    Media, Organic, Video

    Tom Slunecka Goes Cellulosic

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Tom SluneckaAs you know, the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council is a client of ZimmComm’s and sponsors our coverage of various industry related events throughout the year. At the Cellulosic Ethanol Summit I sat down with Executive Director, Tom Slunecka (pictured second from left with the leadership of KL Process Design Group). I’ve been waiting to do this since he announced that he’s heading on to a new opportunity with KL Process Design Group. Tom will basically be helping KL move into the cellulosic ethanol business. They happen to currently have the only working cellulosic plant in the country!

    Tom is the man who has been the voice of EPIC since the beginning a couple of years ago when he, along with founding members, ICM, POET and Fagen had the vision to start a promotional organization to brand their product and educate consumers in a big way. I remember when Tom walked into the media room at the Commodity Classic with some invitations to attend a press conference in Washington, DC with an IRL car on display. I think I was the only one to take him up on that offer at the time and we’ve been working with EPIC ever since.

    I’d say we’ll miss Tom (I’m sure his staff will) but I know we’ll still be working with him as he ventures into the cellulosic side of the industry. So I guess you can view this as my exit interview with Tom from EPIC to a new chapter in his career. In my interview with Tom you’ll hear him say that EPIC is on very firm footing from a membership and financial standpoint and that there’s a full staff in place to move it forward aggressively in the coming year. I agree and I’m sure you’ll have plenty of opportunity to keep up with EPIC right here as we continue our support for the organization and the industry. We’re excited to find out who will replace Tom once the board completes their Executive Director search.

    You can listen to my interview with Tom here: cellulosic-summit-07-slunecka.mp3

    Audio, Ethanol

    Agrow Awards Honor Dupont Innovation

    Laura McNamara

    DupontDuPont has earned some lofty recognition from the agriculture industry. The science-based products and services company is the recipient of three Agrow Awards.

    DuPont has received three prestigious Agrow Awards in recognition of its innovative and industry-leading agricultural product pipeline and technologies. The awards were presented to DuPont’s Crop Protection and Pioneer Hi-Bred businesses at the inaugural 2007 Agrow Awards ceremony in Glasgow, Scotland, on Oct. 16.

    DuPont Agriculture & Nutrition was recognized for the following products and technologies:

    Best R&D Pipeline. DuPont received the 2007 Agrow Award for “Best R&D Pipeline” in recognition of the broad array of new active ingredients and biotech traits in development across the DuPont Agriculture & Nutrition platform.

    Best Novel Agricultural Biotechnology — Optimum(TM) GAT(TM) Trait. DuPont used proprietary gene shuffling technology to develop the Optimum(TM) GAT(TM) trait that provides tolerance to glyphosate and ALS herbicides, giving growers a new and better choice that maximizes yield potential, improves crop safety and expands weed control options.

    Most Innovative Chemistry — DuPont(TM) Rynaxypyr(TM). DuPont Crop Protection was recognized for its novel insecticide, DuPont(TM) Rynaxypyr(TM). This unique molecule is extremely effective at providing long-lasting control of a broad spectrum of chewing insects and several other important insect species at low application rates in a wide variety of crops.

    Agribusiness, Technology

    Tomato King Will Receive World Food Prize

    Chuck Zimmerman

    2007 World Food PrizeAlthough it was announced in June, Dr. Philip Nelson will formally receive his World Food Prize tomorrow at the Iowa State Capitol as part of the World Food Prize’s Norman E. Borlaug International Symposium. The theme of it is “Biofuels and Biofood: The Global Challenges of Emerging Technologies.” Is there anyone not holding a conference with biofuels and food as the topic this year?

    Dr. Philip E. Nelson of Purdue University was named winner of the $250,000 World Food Prize for his innovative breakthrough technologies which have revolutionized the food industry, particularly in the area of large-scale storage and transportation of fresh fruit and vegetables using bulk aseptic food processing.

    Dr. Nelson has been involved in the storage and packaging of food since childhood. He spent his early years working on his family’s tomato farm and canning factory in Morristown, Indiana and once earned the crown of “Tomato King” at the Indiana State Fair.

    Ag Groups, Food, University

    Mike Wagner is BRFA’ing a New Baby

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Map of Ohio Ethanol PlantsWhen I ran into Mike Wagner here at the Cellulosic Ethanol Summit I was with a group and got introduced to him. I said “I bought a water bed from you in 1983.” He blinked and said that I sure did. That’s been 24 years ago. At the time he was leaving Florida Farm Bureau Federation and I had just been hired. Let’s not dwell on the water bed thing.

    Anyway, Mike is a mover and shaker in the corn and ethanol industry and he’s not sitting still. There will soon be a number of ethanol plants in operation in Ohio. To help them and the biodiesel industry as well, he’s formed a new group called the Buckeye Renewable Fuels Association. Mike says the Ohio Corn Growers are playing a key role in the development of this organization.

    Mike and I sat down to talk about BRFA. He says they’re just getting started and that there was a real need for an organization like this. BRFA will work on regulatory, legislative, promotional and educational issues of behalf of the industry. He says they’ve got 5 ethanol plants coming on line in the next 90 days with 2 or 3 more soon after that. Right now he encourages anyone wanting more information to contact the Ohio Corn Growers office. The new organization will hold it’s first board meeting later this year.

    You can listen to my interview with Mike here: cellulosic-summit-07-wagner.mp3

    Ag Groups, Audio, Ethanol

    Novus Launches Headquarters at Missouri Research Park

    Laura McNamara

    Novus International Inc.The construction of new headquarters for Novus International Inc. broke ground at Missouri Research Park in St. Charles, MO last week. The producer of animal nutrition and health products says its expanded headquarters adheres to sustainable design.

    “Novus believes in creating environmentally sound, sustainable programs that enable health through nutrition for people and animals.” explained Thad Simons, President and Chief Executive Officer of Novus International, Inc. “Delivering on the Novus vision ‘To help feed the world affordable, wholesome food’ becomes possible when we look at each of our programs as a way to improve our business and world simultaneously. The Novus global headquarters will be our symbol to the world and an expression of our sustainable efforts.”

    Recognized as a leader in the animal health and nutrition industry, Novus is expanding their current research facility with a $20 million investment. When complete, the 90,000 square foot structure will consolidate Novus’s headquarters and the Novus International Research Center. The structure is being designed within the environmentally-focused framework of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. The highest level of LEED certification is platinum, and the Novus facility is designed to achieve this status.

    Designed by Forum Studio, Inc. and Clayco, the St. Louis areas premier construction company, the global headquarters will accommodate many established and forward-thinking elements of sustainable design and construction.

    Progress on the Novus International global headquarters may be viewed at www.clayco.com and clicking on webcams.

    Agencies, Animal Health, Environment

    American Farmland Trust Says “Pick up the Phone”

    Chuck Zimmerman

    American Farmland TrustSpeaking of viral campaigns, Jimmy Daukas at American Farmland Trust wants you to pick up the phone today and call your Senator.

    Today thousands of people representing 30 conservation and environmental organizations are contacting their Senators demanding funding for conservation in the 2007 Farm Bill.

    Take 1-minute to call your Senators now!

    Thanks for your commitment! Please forward to at least five friends, family members and colleagues to help make sure conservation needs don’t get ignored in the farm bill.

    Sincerely,

    Jimmy Daukas
    Farm and Food Policy Campaign Director
    American Farmland Trust

    Ag Groups

    Blog Action Day Results

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Blog Action Day GraphYou might remember my post on Blog Action Day earlier this week. Now that’s it’s past the organizers have a pretty comprehensive summary of what they accomplished. Remember that the theme was “environment.”

    For example:

    20,603 Blog Participated
    23,327 Blog Posts (Google Blog Search)
    14,631,038 RSS Readers

    That RSS Readers number doesn’t count visitors to the respective websites which is a much bigger number generally speaking!

    The graph below shows the frequency of terms appearing in the blogosphere courtesy of BlogTrends. Additionally “Blog Action Day” was the top Technorati search term AND tag for the day.

    Pretty impressive showing for the blogging community if you ask me.

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