A South Dakota Dairy Star

Chuck Zimmerman

Katie NorlingI just love seeing these stories. With all the junk that’s on tv with stars who have no moral compass or sense of personal responsibility it’s good to see young people like this out there who I think are the real stars. There’s a new dairy princess in South Dakota. She’s Katie Norling of Beresford and she’s the 53rd South Dakota Dairy Princess.

Kathryn (Katie) Norling, 18, of Beresford was crowned the 53rd South Dakota Dairy Princess in a ceremony Wednesday night (March 21, 2007) during the Central Plains Dairy Expo in Sioux Falls. Norling was chosen from a field of seven candidates for the title, which carries with it a $1,000 scholarship from the dairy princess program sponsor, Midwest Dairy Association – South Dakota Division.

Norling is the daughter of Jeff and Jane Norling and is a student at South Dakota State University studying dairy manufacturing and nutrition. During the next year, Norling will represent the state’s dairy farmers at events and appearances to help explain dairy farmers’ commitment to good stewardship, animal care and wholesome products.

Norling’s first duty as princess is to assist with the Dairy Kids Zone on Thursday (March 22, 2007), where 115 fifth grade students will learn more about dairy products and the dairy industry during a visit to Central Plains Dairy Expo in Sioux Falls.

Ag Groups, Dairy

Show Time for the NAMA Bombers

Chuck Zimmerman

NAMA BombersHere’s your latest NAMA Bombers update courtesy of Jerry Povenmire.

Members of the NAMA Bombers Motorcycle Club are busy preparing for their national run in Dallas. With the date rapidly approaching, we take a sneak peek at how they are getting ready for their adventure on the road.

Darkness falls over the Minneapolis skyline. Most local residents are headed home for the day. For NAMA Bombers Sergeant at Arms, Dave Dibb, the best part of the day is just starting. It is time for the meeting of the “Fight Club” in the basement of Farm Industry News.

“Bare knuckle boxing has always kept me in good shape. It also improves my sales skills and keeps my mind clear. Being the Sergeant at Arms of a group like the NAMA Bombers is not easy. It forces me to hone my fighting skills to keep my edge,” Dave says. Read More

NAMA

Pioneer Presents FlexFuel Trucks To Winners

Chuck Zimmerman

Pioneer Truck Winner IowaYou’re going to see a lot of smiles in these pictures. Wouldn’t you if you were handed the keys to a new truck?

Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., highlighted its commitment to biofuels recently by presenting three 2007 Chevrolet Silverado trucks to winners of its Technology That Fuels sweepstakes. The national sweepstakes helped Pioneer promote biofuels and their importance in expanding agricultural markets. The winning growers are: Shayne Kogel, Emmetsburg, Iowa; Gordon Mammel, Bay City, Mich.; and Gary Kuesel, Deshler, Ohio. Each winner drove home in a Silverado truck powered by a FlexFuel Vortec 5.3L V8 engine, which develops maximum power from E85 ethanol fuel blend. E85 ethanol fuel, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, is a cleaner-burning, renewable fuel source made primarily from corn.

In the top picture you have Shayne Kogel, Emmetsburg, Iowa, (right) who received the keys to a 2007 Chevrolet Silverado “FuelFlex” truck, at a March 8 presentation at Voyager Ethanol LLC, Emmetsburg. Dean Oestreich, Pioneer President and DuPont Vice President/General Manager, presented the truck to Kogel, one of three winners in the Technology That Fuels sweepstakes, highlighting the company’s commitment to biofuels and their importance in expanding agricultural markets and fuel options.

Pioneer Truck Winner MichiganHere you have Gordon Mammel, Bay City, Mich., (second from left) received the keys to his 2007 Chevrolet Silverado “FuelFlex” truck, at a March 12 presentation at Auburn Fertilizer, Auburn. From left, Bob Weisenberger, Pioneer Account Manager; Todd Schweitzer, Auburn Fertilizer, Pioneer Sales Representative; and Scott Iverson, Pioneer Key Accounts Manager-Biofuels, presented the truck to Mammel, one of three winners in the Technology That Fuels sweepstakes, highlighting the company’s commitment to biofuels and their importance in expanding agricultural markets and fuel options.

Pioneer Truck Winner OhioAnd finally here’s Gary Kuesel, Deshler, Ohio, (second from left) who received the keys to a 2007 Chevrolet Silverado “FuelFlex” truck, at a March 20 presentation at Mason Seed Sales, McClure. Jeff Mason, Pioneer sales representative, (far left) presented the truck to Kuesel, one of three winners in the Technology That Fuels sweepstakes, highlighting the company’s commitment to biofuels and their importance in expanding agricultural markets and fuel options. Additionally, Cathy Kuesel and Kevin Smith, Pioneer area sales manager for northern Ohio, attended the presentation.

Agribusiness, Pioneer

Certified Hereford Beef Website

Chuck Zimmerman

Certified Hereford BeefYou’ve got to love the reference to the midwest as the Napa Valley of Beef on the new Certified Hereford Beef website.

Naturally better beef. Every steak sizzles on the grill, but only Certified Hereford Beef backs it up with each naturally tender, juicy and flavorful bite. Our beef is USDA Certified and from Hereford and specific Hereford crossbred cattle genetically proven superior in taste and tenderness. Certified Hereford Beef is fed in the Midwest, the Napa Valley of Beef.

If you want to know where to buy it then check here.

Ag Groups, Beef

BASF & Monsanto Announce R&D Collaboration

Chuck Zimmerman

BASF An agreement that calls for over a billion dollars in investment is pretty big news. That’s the kind of joint investment BASF and Monsanto are pledging to make together over the coming years with their new R&D agreement. They say the agreement is effective immediately.

Monsanto Over the life of the collaboration, the two companies will dedicate a joint budget of potentially $1.5 billion/euro 1.2 billion to fund a dedicated pipeline of yield and stress tolerance traits for corn, soybeans, cotton and canola. The joint pipeline will include the companies’ existing and planned yield and stress tolerance programs and be comprised of projects generated by independent plant biotechnology discovery and research from each company. The first product developed as part of this collaboration is expected to be commercialized in the first half of the next decade.

Agribusiness

Tom Ramey New CEO For Cattlemen’s Beef Board

Chuck Zimmerman

Tom RameyI can’t believe the Cattlemen’s Beef Board found their replacement for retired CEO Monte Reese so fast. I guess though that if you’ve already got who you need, why waste time? Makes sense to me. So Tom Ramey here is the new CEO. He’ll take over on May 1.

“We talked about undertaking a search for a new CEO, but after extensive discussion, we determined that we had just what we needed right on the existing Beef Board staff,” said CBB Vice Chairman Dave Bateman, who chairs the Board’s Executive Committee. “We talked a lot about the types of competencies that we need in a new chief executive officer to keep leading the Beef Board and our staff in the right direction during the coming years, and we agreed that Mr. Ramey had the right combination of the administrative abilities, communications skills, integrity and character that we need.”

Monte ReeseRamey has served as CFO for the Beef Board for about 13 years, whereby he has been responsible for all accounting and financial functions of the Board. Prior to his work for CBB, Ramey was an audit manager with a major accounting firm and was director of operations and director of worldwide internal audit for an international software company.

Reese, who announced his plans to retire early this year, said he is very pleased with the Executive Committee’s selection. “I am 100 percent supportive of the Executive Committee’s decision to move Tom into this position,” Reese said. “He has the knowledge, skills, management ability and, most important, the personal integrity to lead this program in the direction that best benefits the cattle producers and importers who fund this self-help program.”

Ag Groups, Beef

Center For Food Integrity Launched

Chuck Zimmerman

Center For Food IntegrityA new organization has been launched to increase consumer trust in our food supply. The Center For Food Integrity is actually a combination of two existing projects and has a lot of organizational backing.

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.

According to Andy Miller, Indiana Agriculture Director, the organization’s primary mission is to engage with stakeholders, model practices that build trust with consumers, and share accurate, balanced information about the U.S. food system.

“The Center for Food Integrity will be a resource where consumers and other stakeholders can find information about the food system and discuss important issues,” Miller says. “We are providing leadership in building consumer trust and confidence in the contemporary U.S. food system.” Miller said the new entity has support from more than 20 organizations representing each segment of the food chain, including farmers and ranchers, processors, and companies that deliver food products under local, regional and global brand names, and government.

You might remember me pointing you to Best Food Nation last year and suggesting they start a blog. Well they did. The only thing is, there’s only 2 posts and they’re both from last year, once in June, once in November. This effort needs a full time blogger working for it and I know an award winning ag reporter (jpg) who can do it. In fact, she started her career working for Florida Farm Bureau and producing a consumer-targeted radio program called Consumriculture.

Ag Groups, Food

Me And My Mighty Mouse

Chuck Zimmerman

Me and Mighty MouseIt’s been an interesting day. Activities included getting ready for the NAMA convention and our ZimmComm/Truffle booth as well as numerous client calls and new project discussions. The first quarter here at ZimmComm has been record setting and a benchmark for the future.

Even with all the calls and activities though I had a chance to get in a little Mac lesson. My good friend, Steve, said he just couldn’t handle the Apple Mighty Mouse so he said I could have it if I liked it. Well I do. This is a mouse without a tail and there’s nothing protruding from the Mac either since it’s connected via Bluetooth. It took almost 1 minute to plug in the batteries and connect. Then maybe another 2 minutes to set the buttons the way I want and there’s one less cord to deal with. This little dude isn’t shaped quite like a “regular” mouse. The little scroll button on top lets you navigate 360 degrees, not just up/down or right/left. There’s only one button on the front but it knows the difference between a left and a right click. And finally, if you give it a gentle squeeze on the sides it kicks in a function called Expose which allows you to see all your open windows at once. When you have as many windows open as I usually do this is very handy. I don’t think a PC can do that can it?

So, I’ll have some more posts coming soon but in the meantime I thought I’d give you a Mac update.

Uncategorized

World Water Day

Chuck Zimmerman

World Water DayThursday is World Water Day and the Food & Agriculture Organization is having an event. The theme is: Coping with Water Scarcity.

This year’s theme highlights the increasing significance of water scarcity worldwide and the need for increased integration and cooperation to ensure sustainable, efficient and equitable management of scarce water resources, both at international and local levels.

Jean-Marc Faurès, an FAO expert in Water Resources, Development and Management Service and one of the Day coordinators says: “Need to adapt to local problems and situations.” You can listen to Jean-Marc here: fao-faures-water-day.mp3

Audio

NAMA Turns 50

Chuck Zimmerman

NAMA 50I guess NAMA is now 50. That’s the National Agri-Marketing Association for those of you outside the United States who haven’t been reading AgWired for long.

As the Agri-Marketing Conference & Trade Show gets nearer I’m sure we’ll hear more about this. I just happened to be on the NAMA website today and noticed the milestone logo.

If you haven’t registered for the NAMA convention yet, what are you waiting for. Here’s why you should get a move on.

The early registration deadline and hotel cut-off date for the 2007 Agri-Marketing Conference, “Think Big!”, is March 21.

Make your reservations before March 21 to ensure the early registration rate and secure a hotel room. Registration rates will increase after March 21 and hotel reservations made after that same date are subject to higher rates and potential unavailability.

Register now for the agri-marketing event of the year at http://www.nama.org/amc/register.html or call the NAMA office to register at 913-491-6500.

Do not forget to stop by the ZimmComm/Truffle booth for some good stuff!

NAMA