Horse Show Blogging

Chuck Zimmerman

National Appaloosa Horse ShowI’m here in Oklahoma City and the National Appaloosa Horse Show is in full swing on Independence Day. This is one big show that takes place over a couple weeks since it’s combined with the World Championship Appaloosa Youth Show. I’m just going to be spending a couple days here at the end.

One of the main reasons I’m here is to post content onto Appaloosa Blog Spot, the blog of the Appaloosa Horse Club. In part I’m doing it to show a way they can use the mechanism we built for them for events like this one. The organization has others throughout the year. I’ll be taking pictures, doing interviews and cross posting here and on their site.

Now, I’ll admit up front that I’m not “horsey” as some people like to call it. It’s not that I’ve never ridden a horse. I have many times but it’s going to be a challenge to talk the lingo. I’ll let you be the judge of how I do.

Of course all my photos from the event are being placed online in a photo album. Be sure to check it out. Shooting a moving target inside from long distance under some less than ideal lighting is a challenge. Hopefully I’ll learn how to handle it.


2007 National Appaloosa Horse Show Photo Album

Ag Groups, Horses

Happy 4th of July

Chuck Zimmerman

Happy 4th of JulyI don’t know about you but I think it’s time to relax and start celebrating our Independence Day.

Cindy and I wish you a very happy and safe 4th of July celebration wherever you are.

Pretty soon it will be time to fire up the barbie here at ZimmComm World Headquarters.

Remember to stay AgWired!

Uncategorized

Zimfo Bites

Laura McNamara

  • Investing in 4-H is good business. With millions of 4-H youth and their families in rural communities, supporting 4-H is a powerful way to gain visibility and communicate your values to key customers, while giving youth the skills they need to enter today’s challenging workforce. Please consider a corporate or individual gift to support our mission and ensure that all young people have the opportunity to reach their full potential through 4-H.
  • DuPont (NYSE: DD) has announced that it has completed regulatory submissions for its Optimum(TM) GAT(TM) trait in corn to the U.S. Food Drug Administration and the U.S.Department of Agriculture. The company also announced it is on track to complete its submission to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency later this year. “We are excited about the strong progress we are making to bring the Optimum(TM)GAT(TM) trait closer to market,” said Erik Fyrwald, group vice president — DuPont Agriculture Nutrition.
  • Mycogen Seeds is pleased to announce the release of a new canola variety in its 2008 lineup. The latest addition to the canola lineup — Nex 845 CL — is adapted for the mid- and long-season zones, offering good early season vigor and very good standability. “Mycogen Seeds is very excited to offer this new canola variety. This product offers growers additional high-yield options to complement their production program,” says Keith Porter, Marketing Specialist, Mycogen Seeds.
Zimfo Bytes

Cook That Meat Right

Chuck Zimmerman

USDAI’ll be doing my holiday grilling this evening since I’ll be in Oklahoma City tomorrow.

USDA wants to remind people about making sure their meat is cooked properly with this story from their audio news service.

Whether summer cooking consists of charcoal, a gas grill, or even wood, the key is still to make sure meat and poultry is cooked thoroughly inside. The report is done by Rod Bain with sound bites from Diana Van of USDA-FSIS. usda-grilling-temp.mp3

Food

Zimfo Bites

Laura McNamara

  • Western bean cutworm will return to Midwestern cornfields this summer. “It has established itself in Iowa; it will not go away,” says Marlin Rice, extension entomologist at Iowa State University. “It is a permanent resident of our corn now.” And with moths captured in Michigan and Ohio in 2007, it appears western bean cutworm is continuing its march east through the Corn Belt. Last year, significant numbers of moths were trapped across northern Illinois and parts of southwestern Wisconsin, meaning extension entomologists in those states are paying close attention to the pest this year.
  • The Wisconsin Soybean Association (WSA) and Kentucky Soybean Association (KSA) will showcase agricultural production in their states this summer as part of the Regional Exchange and Awareness Program (REAP) sponsored by the American Soybean Association (ASA) and EMD Crop BioScience. “This is a valuable opportunity for ASA growers,” said ASA President Rick Ostlie of North Dakota. “The program gives our producers a chance to better understand farming in other parts of the country and to share ideas and build relationships. The knowledge gained by participants on the REAP tour is crucial as ASA develops national policy strategies.”
  • In order to organize customer and consumer efforts and provide an expanded level of service, Pro-Act has created a Consulting and Planning Service. Pro-Act Microbial’s Consulting and Planning Service is headed by Dr. Chuzhao Lin, Pro-Act’s director of research. “Manure options are getting more complex,” explains Dr. Lin. “We find that many of our customers and potential customers need help in sorting out the appropriate technology for their dairy.” Dr. Lin and her staff will be on hand to solve problems or inefficiencies, plan new systems and layouts and more.
Zimfo Bytes

A Free Milkshake From Krystal

Chuck Zimmerman

Krystal MilkshakeHere’s an example of how you can use a MySpace page. It’s called the Krystal Lover’s Lounge. You can download a print a coupon for one of their MilkQuakes from the site.

Since it’s MySpace it’s a blog and they’ve got posts. It looks like they’ve got 630 friends so far.

It’s hot outside. And summer doesn’t “officially” begin for 3 more days. But never fear, because we here at Krystal have made it our mission to keep you cool all summer long. In fact, we’re going to start today by offering all Krystal Lovers a coupon for a FREE MilkQuake – our new line of premium milkshakes made only from real ice-cream.

And because we just couldn’t stop there, we’re going to help you “Chill Out” all summer by providing you with earth-friendly tips that you can use to keep your home cool without having to crank the AC (see, we care about the earth’s well-being as much as we do yours – plus, by saving $$ on your energy bill, you’ll have more $$ for MilkQuakes). One tip will be included in our Krystal Lover VIP emails (if you don’t receive these, you’re missing out – so sign up at www.krystal.com) – and of course, they’ll be posted here on our MySpace page.

So here goes, our first “Chill Out” tip of the summer:

· Turn off the hot stuff. Switch off your computer (only after you’ve finished downloading the free coupon of course) and any lights not in use. In fact, try to avoid incandescent and halogen lamps all together if you can. Go around your home and conduct a “touch test” – if it feels hot, turn it off – that simple.

And, if you have any earth-friendly summer survival advice, do tell by posting your tip in our comments section.

Now, click here for your coupon – good for one free MilkQuake. Oh, and feel free to share this post with your Krystal-lovin’ friends so they can download their own coupon.

Food

New FFA Middle School Website

Chuck Zimmerman

Garfield's Middle School DiscoveryGarfield the cat is now an FFA spokesperson or rather cat. Find him on Garfield’s Middle School Discovery.

The National FFA Organization launched a new Middle School Discovery website dedicated to middle school FFA members and their teachers. And Garfield the cat serves as FFA’s Spokescat, revealing his “catitude” about the wonders of agriculture and FFA.

Garfield and friends also introduce concepts of leadership, personal growth and career exploration through FFA activities and fun interactive resources for middle school members. There is the Komiczone that lets members’ creativity soar by creating their own comic strips about FFA, agriculture, careers and much more. Then there is Ag Witz—a trivia game which challenges young people on FFA, U.S. history, agriscience and current events. The teacher section offers information and promising practices to successfully engage students with the new website.

Here’s where you can create your own Komic (isn’t that spelled wrong?). Or you can play some ag trivia on Ag-Witz (what’s with the spelling?).

Ag Groups, Education

A Look Forward To Boot Camp

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast-126 - NAMA Boot CampI think this is one of those lazy kind of weeks. We’ve got a national holiday in the middle of it! Either you’re getting ready for it or you’ll be recovering from it afterward. But some of us are working at it. One of those people is Jenny Pickett, Chief Operating Officer for the National Agri-Marketing Association.

I talked with Jenny on the phone about the Boot Camp program coming up August 21-23 in Kansas City. Jenny reviews the program with me and talks about who should attend.

If you’ve never attended a Boot Camp or even if you have you are welcome. ZimmComm New Media is a sponsor of this year’s program too.

The program ends with music from the Podsafe Music Network and a band called The Vinyl Strangers. The song is “Patriotic Girl.” Just in time for your 4th of July celebration.

You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: Listen To ZimmCastZimmCast 126 (12 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:

zimmcast126-7-2-07.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, NAMA, ZimmCast

Appaloosa Blog Spotting This Week

Chuck Zimmerman

National Appaloosa ShowI have a niece who would probably love to go to this show which is taking place right now in Oklahoma City. I emailed her yesterday that she will be able to see a lot of what’s going on here on AgWired later this week. I’ll be covering activities there starting Wednesday. Yep. Independence Day. I guess it’s because the Appaloosa Horse Club is an international organization maybe? Why else be conducting a show on July 4th here in America?

Besides posting here on AgWired I’ll also be posting onto Appaloosa Blog Spot, their blog. If you’re curious about what’s taking place there you can find the schedule here and they have a live webcam going in the ring.

Horses

I Scream You Scream For Dippin’ Dots

Chuck Zimmerman

Dippin DotsHave you ever tried Dippin’ Dots? They are awesome. How about winning a year’s worth?

Kicking off the summer season with “cool” news for ice cream lovers, Dippin’ Dots today announced a call for entries for the “Adventures of Packy Movie Mash-Up Challenge” — the company’s first-ever, user-generated online contest.

Contestants are invited to create an animated short film starring Dippin’ Dots’ mascot, Packy, via an easy-to-use, web-based game tool located at www.dippindots.com/contest. The grand prize winner will receive $2,500 and Dippin’ Dots for a year; and a wildcard winner will take home $1,000 and a six-month supply of Dippin’ Dots ice cream.

Entrants will be able to produce a 15 to 90-second movie using the all-in- one director’s tool. No cameras or audio/video uploads are required. The tool allows easy selection of various background scenes, animations, props and soundtracks provided by Dippin’ Dots, as well as the ability to add bubble- text dialogue similar to a comic book.

A panel of Dippin’ Dots judges will select the top five movies based on website visitor ratings and views, plus creativity and originality. The selected movies will advance to the finals where contest members will vote for their favorite as the grand prize winner. The top five movies will also be posted on YouTube where the most viewed entry will win the wildcard prize.

Notice how they used the “Y” word here (YouTube).

Food