Boot Up Your Agri-Marketing Knowledge

Chuck Zimmerman

2007 Boot CampIt’s hard to believe it’s time to look forward to another NAMA Boot Camp. But you can now register online if you’re interested in attending.

Post Update: ZimmComm New Media is now a sponsor of this year’s NAMA Boot Camp. We’re sponsoring the closing session on Thursday at 10 am on “Ethanol – Today and Tomorrow” presented by Robert White, Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.

Join the National Agri-Marketing Association for the 4th annual NAMA Boot Camp, August 21-23 in Kansas City.

What you can expect.
You’ll be able to see the industry in action at the optional Ag Tour prior to the Boot Camp, hosted by the MoKan NAMA Chapter. In addition, you’ll participate in general sessions on Networking, Successful AgriTourism and Ethanol. Learn how to communicate effectively with producers during the producer panel as well as what to expect from clients and agencies during the Client/Agency panel.

Breakout sessions at the Boot Camp will include:

Little Red Writing Hood and the Big, Scary Communications Plan
Maximizing Your Trade Show R.O.I.
BioSecurity
Shifting Demographics in Agriculture
Farm Bill Update
New Media

And don’t forget the networking! We’ve got plenty of chances for you to connect with your peers at the Boot Camp. As an added bonus, all attendees will receive a notebook packed with ag terminology and facts as well as case studies and speaker presentations.

Who should attend?
Agency account executives; Media professionals; Art directors; Copywriters; Marketing professionals; Sales professionals; Previous Boot Camp attendees.

Register here.

NAMA

Rural and Farm Blogs

Chuck Zimmerman

Blog For Rural AmericaWhile I was doing a little online research for one of our clients I came across quite a few blogs I wasn’t aware of. Actually I did know about this one but not that the Center for Rural Affairs had moved their’s. On their site you can find links to other rural blogs.

The first one I actually landed on was for a Montana cattle rancher known as Sarpy Sam. His is called, “Thoughts From The Middle of Nowhere.” He’s got great pictures and posts regularly. He’s also got one on which he writes about his opposition to mandatory animal id. Here’s a farmer showing you how it’s done because he obviously gets it. You’ll also find a number of links to other blogs he likes including his neighbors.

Who says farmers don’t blog or read blogs? Hmm?

Farming

Codex Alimentarius Commission Meeting

Chuck Zimmerman

Codex AlimentariusI had to post this just because I like saying, “Codex Alimentarius.” Of course saying it and understanding it are two different things. If you really want to understand it then get yourself to Rome for the 30th annual meeting of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. I can think of worse places to be.

Simply stated, the Codex Alimentarius is a collection of standards, codes of practice, guidelines and other recommendations. Some of these texts are very general, and some are very specific. Some deal with detailed requirements related to a food or group of foods; others deal with the operation and management of production processes or the operation of government regulatory systems for food safety and consumer protection.

Commission Agenda (pdf)

International

Downloading My Flickr Photos

Chuck Zimmerman

Where to find download sizes in FlickrI’ve been asked this often enough that I thought I’d post it for you. I’ve got lots of photos in my Flickr sets and sometimes someone wants to use one. Well, I’ve made them all publicly available and recently I started uploading them at the highest setting Flickr will allow. This lets you download a photo at a quality that you can print.

Here’s how to do it. Got to my Flickr set which is this one in this case. Find the photo you want in the set and click on it. That will open it up larger on your screen. To the right of the photo will be some stuff that includes the key words I’ve tagged the picture with. Underneath them is a section called “Additional Information.” I’ve highlighted that in yellow. One of the choices is “See different sizes,” which the arrow is pointing to. When you click on that a new page will open with multiple picture sizes of that picture. Choose the one you want and then right click on it and save it to your computer.

In this case the biggest size will give you a picture that’s 300 pixels/inch, 2048×1371 and 632k which should make a nice print. In any case you can always email me and I can send you a full size original if you want. If you use any of them we always appreciate credit if possible.

Uncategorized

On The Tonight Show Set With Jay Leno

Chuck Zimmerman

On the set with Jay LenoI got this photo from Joe Jobe at the National Biodiesel Board while we were in Nashville at the CMA Music Festival and stuck it in a note pad and just found it this afternoon.

This is from when we were on the set with Jay Leno recently before going with him to his garage after the show.

It’s a scan from a print. The Tonight Show photographer will only send photos to one person and we elected Joe to be the photo distributor. Thanks Joe.

Ag Groups, Biodiesel, New Holland

Zimfo Bites

Laura McNamara

  • Mycogen Seeds announces the addition of four new hybrids to its sunflower lineup, with several protection options, including downy mildew and CLEARFIELD® resistance. “We are thrilled to offer these new hybrids in 2008, as they fit the needs of nearly all sunflower growers,” says Keith Porter, Marketing Specialist, Mycogen Seeds. “Because of our market versatility, a match can be made for those looking for advantages in the oil, bird food or confection markets.”
  • FMC Corporation delivers three dependable methods of pest control for rice growers with a comprehensive portfolio of crop protection products consisting of Command 3ME herbicide, Aim EC herbicide and Mustang Max insecticide. Aim and Command work together to control problem grasses and broadleaf weeds in rice. A combination of Command followed by Aim delivers one of the most complete, effective weed control programs available in rice production today.
  • First it was KFC, then New York City restaurants. More recently, Taco Bell, the Wal-Mart deli, Steak n Shake and Hardee’s took a stand. Now, the Indiana State Fair is removing all trans fat-laden cooking oils from its deep-fryers in what is believed to be the first policy of its kind for any fair in the country. “I’m glad this new zero trans fat oil makes the food healthier to eat, but frankly, I switched to this new oil because the food just tastes better,” said John Barto, owner of Barto’s Banquets & Catering, who has been an Indiana State Fair concessionaire for the past 18 years. “It adds to the quality of the food we serve.”
Zimfo Bytes

AEM Announces Winners of Student Ag Engineering Awards

Laura McNamara

Association of Equipment ManufacturersDozens of agricultural engineering students have received awards from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers this year. The awards are meant to honor those students particularly involved in their field.

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) honored the latest winners of AEM’s annual Student Engineering and Mechanization Awards during special ceremonies at the recent American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers’ (ASABE) yearly international meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The awards recognize outstanding initiative and accomplishment in ASABE student branch activities. AEM initiated the awards in 1935 as part of its commitment to excellence in agricultural engineering education.

Winners are ASABE student branches which have compiled the most outstanding record of activities during the previous year in areas including membership, meetings, programs and special member activities, including campus and community participation. ASABE helped establish student branches to provide undergraduates interested in agricultural engineering some insight into their chosen profession. Today, student branches are active at most universities offering professional training in engineering related to agricultural, food and biological systems.
Read More

Ag Groups, Education

Dupont and Foss Helping Farmers and Ethanol Producers

Chuck Zimmerman

Foss North AmericaHere’s more proof that our production of ethanol, especially using corn, is becoming a more and more efficient process. I find it amazing how much work is being done by so many companies that you never hear about in the mainstream media. Companies like Dupont/Pioneer and Foss North America are making some real strides in a very short time period.

DupontDuPont and FOSS North America today announced an agreement that will help farmers and ethanol producers better understand ethanol yield potential of grain corn being delivered to ethanol plants. The agreement, announced during the Fuel Ethanol Workshop, provides FOSS rights to technology developed by DuPont. Under terms of the agreement, DuPont business Pioneer Hi-Bred is providing to FOSS proprietary Ethanol Yield Potential calibration technology for use in FOSS grain analyzers. The technology provides estimated ethanol yield in terms of gallons per bushel.

“This technology is a big step in helping increase ethanol output per acre,” said Dean Oestreich, vice president and general manager – DuPont and
president – Pioneer. “When used in FOSS instruments, it gives farmers and ethanol producers nearly instant ethanol yield results on each load of grain
brought to an ethanol plant.” The technology allows ethanol producers to use real-time data to manage the grain feeding their ethanol production process. Farmers will be able to take this information and combine it with their on-farm agronomic performance data to tailor the corn hybrids they plant to maximize their ethanol yield on every acre.

Cindy is attending the Fuel Ethanol Workshop in St. Louis and may have more to add on this later. You can find her posts from there using this link. Post Update: Here’s the audio from the Pioneer/FOSS press conference announcement here: pioneer-foss-media.mp3

Agribusiness, Ethanol, Pioneer

Ethanol Powering IndyCars and Choppers

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast-125 - Iowa Corn Indy 250After spending another week on the road at the world’s largest tailgate party of corn growers, the Iowa Corn Indy 250 you get a ZimmCast about ethanol.

This week’s program starts out with an EPIC update from executive director, Tom Slunecka which we did in the media center at Iowa Speedway. Then you can hear what the Indycars sound like when they blow by you at 180 mph. I recorded that while I was shooting through the cutout in the outside track perimeter fence. What you’ll hear is from the cars only a couple of feet away on the other side of the barrier. Since they’re running on 100% ethanol I think they’ve totally answered any questions there are about the fuel’s performance value.

Next up you can listen to the introduction of the first ever chopper built to run on E85. This is a collaborative effort by Iowa Farm Bureau and Orange County Choppers. One of the OCC dudes did a ceremonial lap on it prior to the race.

The program ends with music from the Podsafe Music Network and a band called moisture fuel. The song is “Collide.” I think it’s appropriate since we’re talking fuel and there were a lot of collisions at the race on Sunday. Be ready to rock.

You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: Listen To ZimmCastZimmCast 125 (20 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:

zimmcast125-6-26-07.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.

Ag Groups, Audio, Corn, Ethanol, ZimmCast

Get Juicy Gossip on Meat

Laura McNamara

American Meat InstituteBeef, poultry, pork… pick your pleasure. The American Meat Institute is launching a new Web Site to demonstrate how the meat industry responds to consumers and constumers.

The American Meat Institute (AMI) today launched www.TheMarketWorks.org, a new web site showcasing how U.S. meat and poultry industry structure and practices are a response to signals from customers and make the U.S. meat and poultry supply the envy of the world. The site details the Institute’s opposition to legislative efforts to ban meat companies’ ability to own or contract for livestock.

According to the site, a number of bills have been introduced in Congress that would force divestiture of livestock by meat companies who own part or all of their livestock supplies; prohibit marketing agreements between packers and processors; require that a certain percent of livestock be acquired on the spot market; and create a ‘special’ duplicative prosecutor at USDA to look even more closely at these issues. Some groups and lawmakers are arguing for a “competition title” in the pending 2007 Farm Bill that would package these bills together.

“Legislative efforts to place restrictions on the marketing of livestock and meat will dismantle the progress that has created the most abundant and affordable meat supply anywhere in the world,” said AMI President J. Patrick Boyle. “Congress needs to let the market work as it has so successfully for so long. We are launching this new web site to help educate lawmakers, producers, consumers and the media about the potential damaging effect of these misguided legislative efforts.”

Included in the new site are 35 studies done over the last two decades that have concluded that the meat industry is dynamic and competitive and that both packers and producers benefit from their ability to enter into contracts.
Read More

Beef, Farm Policy, Food, Pork, Poultry