Second Chinese Joint Venture For Pioneer Hi-Bred

Chuck Zimmerman

DupontActually Dupont made the announcement for it’s subsidiary, Pioneer. The first joint venture was back in 2002 – Shandong Denghai Pioneer Seeds Co., Ltd. This one was just announced.

DuPont today announced that its subsidiary Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., has formed a joint venture with one of China’s largest seed production companies, Dunhuang Seed Co. Ltd., to provide top-performing corn hybrids to Chinese farmers in the spring market.

“I’m excited about the opportunities for the Pioneer business in China and the increased productivity that we can bring to Chinese farmers,” said Paul Schickler, vice president, Pioneer International Operations. “This partnership brings together two strong seed companies and combines their strengths to benefit the agricultural industry.”

Dunhuang Seed contributes extensive local field seed production experience. Pioneer’s strengths are in developing products that meet farmers’ needs, providing agronomic advice to its customers, and post-harvest seed conditioning expertise. With this unique combination of strengths, the JV is poised to offer Chinese farmers the highest quality seed and some strong new hybrid corn products for the spring corn market.

Wang Da-he, chairman of Gansu Dunhuang Seed Co. Ltd., said, “The comprehensive cooperation between the two parent companies is a complementary one, which will upgrade China’s corn seed sector and its commercialization process, and meanwhile lay a solid foundation for further development for both Dunhuang Seed and Pioneer.”

Agribusiness, Seed

Time For a New Web Host

Chuck Zimmerman

Hello AgWired fans. You may have noticed that AgWired has been down periodically over the last several days. This was originally caused by an attack last week that hasn’t stopped. I guess that once you have a website with the level of traffic we have you become a target. If you want all the gory technical details I’ll be happy to share them sometime but it would probably bore most of you.

I am in the process of seeking alternative hosting solutions. I’ve been with HostGator for a couple of years and for the most part they’ve been a good company. However, this situation shows their weaknesses and the alternatives they offer are pricey and I’m not sure they have the support that understands web publishing, etc., etc.

I’m writing this just to let you know that if you see us down temporarily, you’ll know why. I am hoping to have the situation resolved within the next week. Thanks for your patience and for your support!

Uncategorized

Communicating The Syngenta Message

Chuck Zimmerman

SyngentaI spoke with Travis Dickinson, Vice President of Marketing for Syngenta Crop Protection, at the recent NAFB convention. He was there to talk about their AgriEdge and AgriSure products.

As usual I wanted to talk about how the company is communicating their message to farmer and dealer customers. In particular I asked him about their website strategy and how well that was working: nafb-syngenta-dickinson-soundbite.mp3

Travis says that the company plans to continue to utilize the communications mechanisms available to it and do so more efficiently and effectively. You can download the full interview with Travis here: Listen To MP3 Travis Dickinson Interview (5 min MP3)

Or you can listen here immediately: nafb-syngenta-dickinson.mp3

Agribusiness, Audio

IFAJ 50 Year DVD

Chuck Zimmerman

IFAF 50th Anniversary DVDYou can still obtain copies of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists DVD. It commemorates 50 years of the organization. We celebrated that birthday in Norway earlier this year. Thanks to IFAJ Treasurer Marcus Rediger for the reminder.

I know they’re free to members but maybe if you ask them nicely they’ll let you have a copy even if you’re not. It’s all about trying to help create awareness and interest in this great organization. I’ve got a copy and think it’s very well done.

The IFAJ has launched a special DVD to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Material for the DVD was gathered during the 2005 congress in Switzerland and provided by member countries. It features national delegates and agricultural journalists talking about globalisation and important issues from their viewpoint. “All stress the meaning of a world-wide network for the exchange of information, opinions and questions,” said producer and IFAJ treasurer Markus Rediger. He hopes the DVD will help promote the IFAJ and share its vision as an organisation striving towards a more professional approach.

IFAJ

Nothing Common About Common Thread

Chuck Zimmerman

FFA UnlimitedHere’s a Christmas gift for the serious FFA supporter and anyone who wishes they had made it to the FFA Convention, or even if you did. It’s the Common Thread: Convention Souvenir DVD and Proceedings.

Own the brand new convention souvenir video and revamped convention proceedings! Did you see the cameras? We were everywhere! The DVD features all the best highlights covering the entire week of convention with great interviews, fun footage, session clips and more. With nearly an hour of coverage, you will want this DVD whether you attended convention or not!

Proceedings is our version of the convention yearbook! It features award winners, keynote speaker and national officer addresses, an American FFA Degree recipient listing and much more. Buy them together to receive the best deal.

Ag Groups

Gibbs & Soell Has I Power

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast97 - I Power at Gibbs & SoellLast week Gibbs & Soell announced a branded service they now offer not only to clients but to anyone who’d like to take advantage of it. It’s called I Power.

I PowerTo learn just exactly what I Power is I interviewed agency vice president, Steve Halsey. I was particularly intrigued by his statement, “It is amazing what can be accomplished when you bring the right people to the table, turn off the computers and wireless phones and have a thorough, well-structured and strategic discussion.” A meeting without computers or wireless phones? Sounds like it would be way too productive to me. But that’s the point he says.

Gibbs & SoellUsing a proprietary process developed by the agency, I Power helps organizations maximize their return on communications investment by creating concise, credible and audience-relevant messages. Originating from the agency’s media training program, I Power has quickly evolved into a stand-alone service for developing communications strategy. It is currently available to existing clients, as well as other interested parties, on a project basis.

So to get the full scoop on this new service from Gibbs & Soell you can download the ZimmCast: Listen To ZimmCastZimmCast 97 (13 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:

zimmcast97-12-11-06.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.

Agencies, Audio, ZimmCast

Have Your-elf a Happy Holiday

Chuck Zimmerman

I'm an ElfIt’s time to start getting into the holiday spirit so I thought I’d offer you some (strange) holiday cheer to perk you up when you get into the office on Monday morning.

OfficeMax has some really wacky little online stuff to help us all out. So without further ado here’s where you get your morning fun.

I didn’t want to leave Cindy out so you can watch her doing the elf dance here too.

Thanks Steve.

Uncategorized

Sell Your FarmRanchHome

Chuck Zimmerman

FarmRanchHome.comDo you have some real estate you’d like to sell? Are you wondering how you’re going to market it? Here’s a place you might want to check on. I don’t know who this is behind it but I’m sure I can find out.

Your FREE Real Estate listing and photo will reach thousands of potential customers who visit FarmRanchHome.com every day. FarmRanchHome.com allows you to create listings based on a variety of criteria, which quickly directs visitors to your home, farm, ranch, land, or commercial property listing. It’s quick and easy! Simply visit www.farmranchhome.com/create.php and create a free account. Then you can begin adding an unlimited number of listings, absolutely free.

So there you have it. An absolutely free commercial post for FarmRanchHome.com. They also have a couple of other sites: WesternEvents.com and Cowboy.com.

Uncategorized

Farm Futures Management Summit

Chuck Zimmerman

Farm FuturesThis week I’ll be attending the first Farm Futures Management Summit in St. Louis. The conference is full so I guess they’re on to something. I’m going to help create a significant amount of multi-media content for them which they’ll be using in follow up to the conference. However, don’t be surprised to see some posts from this event.

The Summit is titled, “Winning in Turbulent Times: How to build a high-performance farm business in a changing global market place.” They’ve got a great lineup of speakers and presentations. If you weren’t able to attend this year I’m sure they’ll be doing it again next year.

It takes place Wednesday and Thursday. This is going to be fun. Farm Futures is part of the Farm Progress Companies.

Publication

Meeting Season Cranking Up

Chuck Zimmerman

AFBF LogoAlthough the next two weeks seem very busy, they’re nothing like what the schedule will be like after the holidays. It’s winter meeting time and I’m sure a lot of state organizations are actively meeting. Our annual Missouri Governor’s Conference on Agriculture is kicking off today at Lake of the Ozarks.

On the national level one of the first ones to get things going in the new year is the American Farm Bureau Federation annual convention. I won’t be attending this one but I’ve got a number of others I’m working on. If you’re in the media and haven’t registered for AFBF yet you can find the form to do so here (Word doc).

Some of the ones I’m confirmed to attend include International Green Week, Cattle Industry Annual Convention & Trade Show, National Biodiesel Conference and Commodity Classic. Others I may be attending include Beltwide Cotton Conference, National Farm Machinery Show and National Ethanol Conference. Do you have one you’d like to have covered personally on AgWired? If so give me a call and let’s get it on the schedule.

Uncategorized