2007 Eat Mor Chikin Calendar

Chuck Zimmerman

2007 Chick-fil-A CalendarI just love the “Eat Mor Chikin” cows. They’ve got their 2007 calendar out just in time for a Christmas present or your office wall. Watch a video clip about the promotion.

Over the years, Chick-fil-A’s “Eat Mor Chikin” Cows(R) have taken on some entertaining roles as stars of the chain’s annual Cow Calendar – from super heroes to secret agents to television stars. For the 10th edition of the Atlanta-based chain’s calendar, The Good, The Bad & The Hairy, the Cows are donning boots, spurs, lassos and 10-gallon hats for some rootin’-tootin’ western-themed fun.

Each month in the calendar depicts a scene in the American West with the Chick-fil-A Cows doing what they do best — trying to save their own hides by fighting for a burger-free frontier. Stars of the 2007 calendar include 12 free-range cowpokes, such as “Bessie James,” “The Porterhouse Boys,” “Gristley Adams” and “Sacowgewa.” In addition to the entertaining images, the calendars also include $28 in monthly food and beverage coupons.

Priced at $5, the 2007 calendar is available through mid January at participating Chick-fil-A restaurants throughout the country (while supplies last) and online at http://www.chick-fil-a.com/.

Food

New Holland and Michael Featured Again

Chuck Zimmerman

Pennsylvania Farm ShowHow would you like to have a state agriculture secretary helping you with your public relations efforts? That’s what New Holland has going for them in Pennsylvania.

Country music recording artist Michael Peterson will perform at the 2007 Pennsylvania Farm Show at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 10, Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff said today. “We’re happy to welcome Michael Peterson to the Farm Show,” said Wolff. “As a musician and a friend to agriculture, he is a perfect fit to entertain Farm Show visitors and we look forward to his performance.” Peterson’s award-winning CD, “Down on the Farm” will be sold during the concert with proceeds benefiting the FFA. Peterson will also greet fans after the show for autographs and photos. This event is free of charge and is sponsored by New Holland and Messick’s Farm Equipment.

I know I keep bringing up the New Holland/Michael Peterson CD promotion but here’s another example of how it’s working for them. How do you put a price on this. This announcement came out as a national news release sent by the PA Dept. of Agriculture.

New Holland is one of our clients here at ZimmComm and I’m looking forward to working with them again in 2007! Happy Holidays Gene and Michael.

Agribusiness, Equipment, Public Relations, Tractor

Great Speakers at Farm Futures Management Summit

Chuck Zimmerman

Farm Futures Management SummitSince Farm Futures is going to do this Management Summit again next year you should really consider getting involved. I am not only impressed with the quality of the speakers gathered here but also the farmers in attendance. I’ve spoken with quite a few of them and these guys and gals are sharp. They want to figure out how to best manage their farm operation and are willing to spend the time it takes to attend conferences like this.

Speaking of speakers, look at this list: David Kohl (pictured leading an all-speaker session late yesterday), recently retired as professor of agricultural finance at Virginia Tech; Danny Klinefelter, professor and Extension economist at Texas A&M University; Mike Boehlje, professor of agricultural economics and an instructor in the Center for Agricultural Business programs at Purdue University; Jay Penick, president and CEO of Northwest Farm Credit Services; Dick Wittman, manages a 17,000-acre dryland crop, range cattle and timber operation in northern Idaho in partnership with three other family members; Bryce Knorr, senior editor of Farm Futures; Arlan Suderman, market analyst for Farm Futures; Kevin C. Dhuyvetter, professor and Extension agricultural economist in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University. And of yeah there was Mike Adams, host of the nationally syndicated radio show “Agri-Talk.” How does he keep getting in posts on AgWired? Probably because we see each other all over the place.

What a group though. You may wonder why no interviews posted here. Well, these fine farmers paid a lot of money to attend this conference. If you want to know what the presenters had to say, then get yourself to the next one! How’s that for a pitch Willie?

Publication

Steve Rhea Immersed in China

Chuck Zimmerman

Steve Rhea in ChinaSteve Rhea, Rhea & Kaiser Marketing Communications, is seated on the right here at the China Marketing Summit. I’m going to interview him about this trip for next week’s ZimmCast. I hope that he remembers how to speak English or I’m going to have to brush up on my Chinese.

Brand globalization is a hot topic, but U.S. companies looking to expand into China must understand some stark differences between the economies, including the distribution of wealth in China vs. the United States. “The majority of wealth in the United States is concentrated among older Americans, which is very different from China where the most prosperous – the country’s first generation of entrepreneurs – are under the age of 35,” said Steve Rhea, president of Rhea & Kaiser Marketing Communications, who recently returned from a five-day summit in Beijing and Shanghai. “Understanding this is imperative to building the right relationships and marketing strategies necessary to break into the burgeoning Chinese marketplace.”

Rhea & Kaiser was one of six U.S. agencies that participated in the China Marketing Summit, which took place Nov. 5 – 9. Participants represented the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, India and France, and a wide range of Chinese businesses including mega-retailers, Internet service providers and hotel chains. “We became immersed in the everyday world of Chinese business,” said Rhea, who also was a featured panelist during the summit. “We walked away appreciating the dichotomy that still exists in China – modernization vs. traditional values, consumerism vs. ideology and individualism vs. collectivism.”

Agencies

Farm Futures Editor In Charge

Chuck Zimmerman

Farm Futures Management SummitThe executive editor of Farm Futures magazine is Mike Wilson. He’s also the emcee for the Farm Futures Management Summit.

Here he is directing traffic at the podium.

I’ll be travelling with Mike next month to the International GreenWeek Show in Berlin, Germany. Mike’s on the Executive Committee of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists. We’ll also be attending the IFAJ board meeting that takes place there every year.

Mike, it looks like you’ve put together a great conference here in St. Louis. Thanks for having me in.

Publication

A Full House At Farm Futures Management Summit

Chuck Zimmerman

Farm Futures Management SummitAs I said in a previous post, this is a full conference. The first ever Farm Futures Management Summit has brought in a great crowd.

An interesting note is how many young people are here, some with their parents. Transitional farm management has already been discussed and it’s obvious that some of these farmers are thinking ahead and looking at conferences like this one as a way to help train the next generation.

We’ll be breaking up into smaller breakout sessions here shortly so although there’s a lot of people here they’ll have plenty of opportunity to interact with the speakers.

Publication

Willie Vogt Explains The Summit

Chuck Zimmerman

Farm Futures Management SummitMany of you probably know Willie Vogt, Farm Progress Companies. He’s helping out here at the Farm Futures Management Summit registration desk (right). Willie is keeping an eye on all the activity and as he describes it, the roller coaster is over the top of the hill and on the down slope.

You can hear that comment and a lot more in my interview with him just a few minutes ago. Willie talks about how and why they’ve put together this event and the re-introduction of Farm Futures magazine just a couple years ago. You can download the full interview with Willie here: Listen To MP3 Willie Vogt Interview (8 min MP3)

Or you can listen here immediately: willie-vogt-interview.mp3

Just in case you might be interested, this is my first interview using my iTalk Pro on my iPod.

Audio, Publication

Farm Futures Management Summit Underway

Chuck Zimmerman

Farm Futures Management SummitHello from the first ever Farm Futures Management Summit in St. Louis, MO. Boy do we have a crowd here. Over 170 farmers are attending this conference.

I’m helping out with some audio/visual stuff for publication owner, Farm Progress Companies. As you can see from the banner here, the Summit is sponsored by the United Soybean Board and AgriGold.

This event has a very intensive program and I’ll have some pictures and some interviews for you before it concludes tomorrow afternoon.

Publication

Free Range Rabbits?

Chuck Zimmerman

Diary of a Small FarmerI have not read the book, just the release. But because the author is from Ocala, FL, I thought I’d post this. We moved to Missouri from Ocala back in late 1991.

Susan G. Mehaffey presents agricultural methods that could create more jobs and produce more food than conventional methods in her new book, “Diary of a Small Farmer” (now available through AuthorHouse). Mehaffey’s book is a summarized journal on her methods and experiences with animal husbandry, free-range rabbitry and force-fed organics. She describes “Diary of a Small Farmer” as a “how-to book with innovative, backyard agricultural engineering and research that sparked worldwide business ideas that may shape the future.”

I’m not sure about “free range rabbits.” I remember raising a few as a kid and thinking that when I got them fattened up they’d make a nice meal sometime but then one of my cousins came over when I was gone and let’s just say they didn’t survive his attention. That was the end of my rabbit raising.

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