Farm Journal Media Publishing has a new Vice President and head of their Livestock Group. He’s Bill Newham.
In his new position, Newham will oversee the company’s livestock operations, including managing the Elite Producer Business Conference. In making the announcement, Farm Journal Media Senior Vice President, Allen Moczygemba, said: “We’re extremely fortunate to have someone with Bill’s experience and abilities join Farm Journal Media. I’m confident that under his management and leadership the Farm Journal Livestock Group will demonstrate continued growth while at the same time introducing new and innovative products that contribute to the profitability of Farm Journal Media. ” In his new role, Newham will be looking to staff two new sales positions, both reporting directly to him. Newham, who lives in Kansas City, will establish a regional office in the Kansas City metropolitan area and report to Farm Journal Senior Vice President, Allen Moczygemba.
Roundup This Hall of Famer
The man who discovered glyphosate, or as most of us know it, Roundup, will be honored this coming May as he well should be. I don’t know about you but when it comes to weeds Roundup has always had a place in my arsenal.
In 1970 John Franz, Ph.D., discovered that a chemical, later named glyphosate, had the amazing ability to block the growth of vegetation. Because of his discovery, glyphosate soon became the active ingredient in Roundup herbicides, now the world’s most effective and top-selling herbicides.
This monumental discovery will be formally recognized on May 5, when Dr. Franz is inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio. He joins other leaders of the agricultural industry, including Eli Whitney, John Deere, and George Washington Carver, who were previously inducted to the Hall of Fame, which honors the women and men responsible for the great technological advances that make human, social and economic progress possible. Read More
Garst BYG Winners
Here’s putting your promotional money where your research mouth is. If you’re going to promote products that help in the production of ethanol, or biofuels in general, then what better way to promote it than by using the end result – the fuel. That’s what Garst did.
. . . the company is driving support for biofuels by giving the keys and free one-year leases for new Chevy 1500 Flex Fuel pickup trucks to 11 growers who were grand prizewinners in its Blue + Yellow = Green (BYG) sweepstakes. The BYG initiative highlights Garst’s continued efforts to support growers and the biofuels industry. In addition to the 11 grand prizes, Garst awarded 110 first-place prizes of $100 ethanol certificates. Growers had the opportunity to register for the prizes by contacting a Garst sales representative or by attending a Garst field day or other company event in 2006.
Grand Prizewinners
Ten of the 11 grand prizewinners of the one-year truck leases from Garst are growers from across the United States. The eleventh is a Garst dealer and producer from Indiana. The winners include:
Clint Ashbaugh of Dunlap, Ill.
Bob Brock of Monument, Kan.
Mark Brookhouser of Brunswick, Neb.
Dave Felt of Adel, Iowa
Melvin Frei of Lott, Texas
Steve Kane of Summit, S.D.
Todd Manke of Bangor, Wis.
Ken McDonald Sr. of Chesapeake City, Md.
Dale Quiring of Lohrville, Iowa
Brian Waier of McLeansboro, Ill.
Ed White of Kewanna, Ind.
“Congratulations to all the growers who won the BYG sweepstakes. This has been an exciting program for our employees and our customers to kickoff Garst’s stepped-up commitment to the biofuels industry,” says David Witherspoon, head of Garst. “This initiative is part of our continuous efforts to provide seed and traits that help our customers be more productive and meet the increasing demand for corn that’s being driven by renewable fuels.”
Farm Progress Show Iowa Biennial Location
Looking past this year’s Farm Progress Show to next year, the location has been set and it’ll be the permanent biennial site in Iowa. The dates for 2008 are set for Aug. 26, 27 and 28. The location is east of Boone, Iowa.
This long-term facility for the nation’s largest outdoor farm show will be developed on nearly 600 acres at the intersection of U.S. Highway 30 and Iowa Highway 17. Extensive site construction will begin this spring and is scheduled to be completed in time to host the 2008 show. The show will be held every other year on this site, with alternate years at its other permanent biennial facility in Decatur, Ill. The developed Iowa site will also be known as the Central Iowa Expo. It will host other events and activities when it is not occupied with the Farm Progress Show.
“We are very excited to establish the nation’s greatest ag showcase in central Iowa and make this Central Iowa Expo site a permanent biennial Farm Progress Show location,” says Don Tourte, Farm Progress national sales and events director. “The communities of Boone and Ames have been exceptional to work with, and we look forward to the next 20-plus years together.”
This year’s show is schedule for August 28 -30 in Decatur, IL.
FarmerFeeds For Farm Podcasts
My friend Dwayne Leslie, from north of the border just announced a new website that you should visit. It’s Farmer Feeds. I was one of the people he had look at this when it was in beta and I like what I see here of the finished product.
FarmerFeeds.Com has been launched as the first website designed to help the farm media communicate better with farmers and the agriculture industry. “Farmers spend more time with the radio than they do with any other form of media. ” says FarmerFeeds.com creator Dwayne Leslie. ” Listening to audio content on their MP3 player is the natural progression so they can listen to the daily markets and news regardless of what time it is or where they may be. Having the opportunity to listen to specific programming from outside their regular listening area is also a huge benefit.”
With the explosion of personal MP3 players and Ipods, many producers of farm radio programming have adjusted their online offerings to allow others to download their audio files in a standard MP3 format to their computer so that it can be listened to when it is more convenient. This is known as “podcasting” Read More
Charlie O’Brien VP of Ag for AEM
Charlie O’Brien will be boosting an “expansion of services” for the agriculture-related members of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. He’ll be the new Vice President of Agricultural Services.
“Agriculture is a vital industry segment and AEM has a long history of representation,” stated AEM President Dennis Slater. “The agriculture sector faces increased business challenges and opportunities, and we are broadening our activities to most effectively meet the needs of our ag equipment members. Charlie has solid management and leadership credentials to help us achieve this goal.”
O’Brien’s responsibilities include directing AEM’s ag-specific member work groups, and acting as chief staff liaison to the AEM Board of Directors for ag-related issues. He will also serve as primary liaison with ag-specific industry organizations, customer groups and government agencies. And, he will lead AEM initiatives related to the forestry sector as well as renewable energy.
LPC/AAEA Midwest Regional Workshop
The Livestock Publications Council and American Agricultural Editors’ Association are teaming up to offer a workshop in Des Moines next month. It’s the LPC/AAEA Midwest Regional Workshop on the “Nuts & Bolts of Ag Communications.”
It’s about design and writing. To find out more about the program and to register contact Diane Johnson. The program is on March 29 and the deadline to register is March 22.
Plant Pathology Journalism Award
I wonder why websites are not eligible for this journalism award. I guess that would exclude bloggers wouldn’t it? This shows how change is coming slowly to some as new media keeps moving forward.
The Plant Pathology Journalism Award, sponsored by The American Phytopathological Society (APS), recognizes outstanding achievement in increasing public awareness, knowledge, and understanding of plant pathology. Eligibility is limited to science writers and journalists of information concerning the science of plant pathology or issues related to plant health appearing in mass media, including print (newspapers and periodicals only) and broadcast media readily available to the general public. Books, websites, and institutionally sponsored publications are not eligible. Individual items and series are both eligible.
The award consists of a $1,000 cash prize, a commemorative plaque, and travel expenses to attend the APS Annual Meeting for presentation of the award. All nominations must be received by March 31, 2007 for work published or aired in 2006.
Read More
Agriblogging and Farm Podcasting
Those are two of my favorite terms and what’s becoming the largest part of our business.
If you’re a regular AgWired reader or subscriber then you know I’ve been cross posting onto multiple blogs over the last 9 days. They include two websites which offer a good example of how you can use this platform as a unique, effective and “cool” channel of communication with your clients and members.
Example number one: Beef Board Meeting. This producer-targeted website now has 30 new posts from the Cattle Industry Convention that all contain pictures and most of them contain interviews or audio files of press conferences and speeches. The posts were done while the event was taking place and traffic is 5 times higher than last year when the site was introduced. Additionally, all my pictures were placed into an online photo album for anyone to find and view (241 pictures).
Example number two: Biodiesel Conference Blog. This consumer/industry-targeted website now has 37 new posts from the National Biodiesel Conference that contain all the same type of content (pictures, interviews, speeches and press conferences). Additionally, 21 of the audio files were placed into a podcast series for people to subscribe to and download to their computer/iPod. And all my pictures were placed into an online photo album (296 pictures).
Now while I was doing that I was also cross posting onto AgWired, Domestic Fuel and World Dairy Diary which places the content in another highly search engine optimized environment. I don’t know about you but I think this beats a printed daily conference newsletter any day!
The fun doesn’t stop here though folks. Next up is next week’s Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, KY. This will be my first time attending and my sponsors are John Deere and Syngenta. Then it’s on to the National Ethanol Conference in Tuscon, AZ. And after that I’m sure I’ll see a lot of you at Commodity Classic in Tampa, FL.
Biodiesel Store Online
The National Biodiesel Board has launched a one-stop marketplace for biodiesel interests to do business over the Internet. It’s AllThingsBiodiesel.com, and was introduced at the National Biodiesel Conference.
AllThingsBiodiesel.com takes its place as the world’s largest biodiesel marketplace, focusing on products, services and industry-related companies. A variety of services assembled within it include online ads and classified ads, the biodiesel store and a biodiesel directory, in which companies can be listed for free.
Additional features on AllThingsBiodiesel.com include:
• A biodiesel store with offerings that range from apparel to books and promotional materials.
• A continually-updated biodiesel directory that is searchable various ways, including by name or category. Businesses can sign up now at www.AllThingsBiodiesel.com for a free spot in the directory.
• Services include real estate listings, business services, feedstock purchases and shows and meetings, to name a few.
• Banner ads and other levels of advertising are available. For more information, contact Doug Whitehead, NBB Project Manager (pictured), at dwhitehead@biodiesel.org. Advertising space is limited.
“AllThingsBiodiesel.com is for companies who want to get the word out on their product on a large scale,” said Whitehead, “to companies who need to know where to turn for services and products helping their biodiesel business, to consumers wanting to make biodiesel-related purchases.”
I interviewed Doug while I was in San Antonio yesterday. Download and listen to him explain how it works: 
Doug Whitehead Interview (3 min MP3)
Or listen immediately here: nbc-07-whitehead.mp3