Betsy’s Perspectives on the Rural Lifestyle

Chuck Zimmerman

Betsy FreeseThe first person on the program at the Country Living Outlook Conference is Betsy Freese, Editor-in-Chief of Living The Country Life. Betsy talked about who these rural lifestyle people are and based her comments on research her company has done as well as her personal contact with her audience. Some quick facts she gave came from the magazine’s subscription cards and includes:

Average Age: 51.9
Average Income: $81,911
Average Home Value: $116,479
Married: 89%

When it comes to reaching people living in the country she says they take a 360 degree approach using their magazine, a tv show on RFD-TV, a radio show and their website on which she’s now got a blog started. She says it’s a growing audience. From direct feedback with her audience she says they want a lot of information on various types of projects with questions about ponds being at the top of the list.

You can listen to my interview with Betsy here: cla-07-freese.mp3

Country Living Outlook Conference Photo Album

Audio

Country Living Outlook Conference Underway

Chuck Zimmerman

Country Living Outlook ConferenceThe Country Living Outlook Conference is underway here in Kansas City at Replay’s in Kemper Arena. We’ve got 60 people attending from a pretty broad range of company types including real estate, media, research and agribusiness.

There are a number of speakers as you can see from my earlier post with the agenda. I’m going to try to have interviews posted with them all by the end of the weekend.

Uncategorized

Zimfo Bites

Melissa Sandfort

  • Penton Media’s BEEF® magazine will host its second annual BEEF Quality Summit, Nov. 7-8, 2007 at the Holiday Inn Centre in Omaha, Neb. This year’s conference will focus on “Beef Quality in the Ethanol Era” and explore the impact of increased ethanol production on beef carcass and retail product quality; beef industry infrastructure and economics; and key related business issues for producers. Full conference details are available here.
  • Although setting up disease protocols is extremely important, prevention management can be the best medicine with fresh cows. When fresh cows get sick, dairies start losing money. Veterinary service and treatment costs, lost milk production, increased culling rates and prolonged days open add up to thousands of dollars of lost profit. Mark Kirkpatrick, DVM, Manager, Dairy Veterinary Operations, Pfizer Animal Health says early diagnosis and treatment are critical to preventing serious fresh cow health problems and avoiding economic loss. A list of simple steps used when evaluating fresh cow health can be found here.
  • Dow AgroSciences has been recognized internationally for its innovation and stewardship. Dow AgroSciences was recognized as a winner in one category and as a finalist in four other categories in the AGROW Awards competition, which honors corporate and individual excellence in the crop protection and production industry.
  • Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc., (BIVI) swine division announces the following additions to its U.S. swine team: Thomas J. Fangman, DVM, has joined the BIVI swine division as a professional services veterinarian; Dennis Swalheim has joined as sales representative, responsible for the Wisconsin and Illinois sales region territory.
Zimfo Bytes

Filling Room in the Mushroom Council

Laura McNamara

Mushroom CouncilThis time, it’s four new members and the new appointees are filling in the gaps in the Mushroom Council.

Acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner appointed four members to serve on the Mushroom Council.

Newly appointed producer members who will serve three-year terms beginning Jan. 1, 2008 and ending Dec. 31, 2010 are: Fletcher Street, Region 1,Tacoma, Wash.; Kathleen K. Lafferty, Region 2, Landenberg, Pa.; and Joe Caldwell, Region 3, Knoxville, Tenn.

Virgil Jurgensmeyer of Miami, Okla., the newly appointed member for Region 1, will serve a two-year term beginning Jan. 1, 2008 and ending Dec. 31, 2009.

Authorized under the Mushroom Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act of 1990, the Mushroom Council — composed of fresh market producers or importers who average more than 500,000 pounds of mushrooms produced or imported annually — administers a national promotion, research and consumer information program to maintain and expand markets for fresh mushrooms.

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Food

Blueberry Boost

Laura McNamara

U.S. Highbush Blueberry CouncilThe mango industry isn’t the only fruit getting some new representation. Acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner has appointed six producer members, including one first handler and alternates to the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council.

The members will each serve three-year terms of office beginning Jan. 1, 2008 and ending Dec. 31, 2010.

Newly appointed producer members are: H. Neil Moore of Ivanhoe, N.C.; Dennis G. Doyle, New Lisbon, N.J. and Douglas A. Krahmer, St. Paul, Ore. Reappointed producer members are: Adair Chambers Peterson, Homerville, Ga.; Robert Carini, West Olive, Mich. and Rod Cook, Olympia, Wash.

Newly appointed alternates are: Ralph C. Carter Jr., White Lake, N.C.; Tim Wetherbee, Hammonton, N.J.; Ryan L. Brown, Hillsboro, Ore. and John V. Bennett, Alma, Ga. Reappointed alternates are: Kathryn A. Clemons, Pullman, Mich. and Bryan Sakuma, Bow, Wash.

Paul Macrie III of Hammonton is a newly appointed handler member and Guy P. Cotton, Stockton, Calif., is a newly appointed handler alternate.

The Blueberry Promotion, Research and Information Order, which became effective on July 17, 2000, authorizes the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council to conduct a coordinated program of promotion, research and consumer andindustry information in order to maintain and expand the market for cultivated blueberries.

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Food

New Members for National Mango Board

Laura McNamara

National Mango BoardThe acting Agriculture Secretary is swiftly exercising his authority. Ag Secretary Chuck Conner has named six new officials to the 20-member National Mango Board.

These six appointees were nominated by the Board to fill three importer positions and three foreign producer positions. The members will start their three-year terms beginning on Jan. 1, 2008 and ending Dec. 31, 2010.

Newly appointed members are: Caleb “Cliff” Cavazos, Rio Rico, Ariz., importer, District III; and Flavio Muranaka, Brazil and Yamil Farah, Ecuador, foreign producers.

Reappointed members are: Ismael Diaz, Rio Rico, Ariz., importer, District III; Larry Nienkerk, Woodside, Calif., importer, District IV and Paul Barclay, Peru, foreign producer.

The National Mango Board is an industry-funded, national generic program of research and promotion, industry and consumer information conducted to maintain, expand and develop domestic markets for fresh mangos. USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service monitors the operations of the National Mango Board.

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Citrus, Food

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.

Uncategorized

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