All About the IFAJ Congress in Japan

Chuck Zimmerman

Masaru YamadaRight after our sushi lunch which did include some of the best sake I’ve ever tasted (really didn’t think I liked sake until now) I got to interview Yamada Masaru who is one of the main organizers for the IFAJ Congress 2007.

If you’re interested in finding out what to expect should you decide to participate this year then take a couple minutes to listen to our interview.

Listen to my interview with the Maz Man (4 minutes):ifaj-berlin-2007-mas.mp3

I’m not sure I mentioned this before but my trip here to Berlin is being sponsored by the American Agricultural Editors Association, Professional Improvement Fund as well as Messe Berlin, the organizers of International Green Week.

ACN, Farm Shows, IFAJ, International

Sushi Lunch in Berlin

Chuck Zimmerman

Sushi ManAfter getting some proposals out and doing a little email catch up this morning I got to the Green Week press center in time for an excellent Japanese box lunch. The IFAJ executive committee was given a presentation on this fall’s IFAJ Congress 2007 which will be in Japan.

Online registration has already started for the Congress with a very detailed agenda available at the end of next month. To obtain early registration rates you need to book your trip before May.

Hey all you American agricultural journalists. I know some of you have travelled abroad but you’ve probably never had an international trip put on by your peers in another country if you haven’t been to an IFAJ Congress. This is looking like a good one and the organizers have put together affordable choices. See if you can get it on your agenda. I especially encourage farm broadcasters to get involved.

I think this was probably the healthiest meal I’ve had since getting to Berlin. No, that’s not true. We had an excellent pork and vegetable soup for lunch yesterday. I’ll be wandering around the exhibit halls later this afternoon and as you’ll see from upcoming pictures there’s going to be the temptation to sample and that’s going to be tough to fight.

Farm Shows, Food, IFAJ, International

Late Night With IFAJ

Chuck Zimmerman

IFAJ BoysIt got a little late out in Berlin last night with my IFAJ buddies. Here’s a few of them. We braved the rain and wind to go out to a very nice dinner.

And then the Prez decided we should stop on the way back to the hotel for “just one more.” That of course turned into a songfest which I’m sure entertained (maybe annoyed?) the local patrons of the fine establishment we stopped off at. I had to document some of the fun for you too which is now on YouTube for the world to see.

Farm Shows, IFAJ, International, Video

Industrial Hemp Farms?

Chuck Zimmerman

Vote HempThe first image that came to my mind when I saw this was of a very relaxed and happy farmer harvesting his crop while listening to some cool tunes on his iPhone. I wonder if it’s going to happen. I wonder how you would market this crop and where. I wonder a lot of things sometimes.

North Dakota’s Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson has accepted the first application from a farmer for a state Industrial Hemp license. The license, which is expected to be granted, will go to farmer and North Dakota Assistant House Majority Leader David Monson, ten years after the first hemp bill was passed in the state. Farmers will make history as North Dakota is the first state to grant commercial hemp farming licenses in the United States in fifty years. It is unclear what the Drug Enforcement Administration will do when they receive requests for the licenses to be effective.

“I submitted my application for an industrial hemp license with the state Department of Agriculture earlier today,” said Representative David Monson, R-Osnabrock. “I expect that the state will grant me a hemp farming license, but I’m not sure that the $3,440 non-refundable registration fee I will send to DEA with my application for manufacturing and importing will get me anything.

Full Release

Farming, hemp

Arab Marshlands Returning To Life

Chuck Zimmerman

Arab MarshlandsHere’s one of the latest reports from Paul McKellips, Global Outreach Officer, US Embassy Baghdad, The Green Room – Public Affairs GO Team. Like a lot of what Paul is finding out, there’s way more good going on in Iraq than our mainstream media would like you to think. I guess that re-building an agricultural industry isn’t juicy news but I think it is.

From 1991 until 2003, Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist Regime nearly destroyed the Mesopotamian Marshlands, one of the largest wetlands systems in the world. Massive drainage structures were used to divert water away from the 8,000 square miles of marshes. The 5,000-year old Marsh Arab society was exiled and nearly annihilated. Thousands and thousands of residents were brutally murdered. With help from USAID, the American military and coalition partners, the new Iraqi government has been working to restore the wetlands at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates in southern Iraq. Reflooding has now covered 25- to 30-percent of the original marshlands. Contractors for USAID have already released 2 million fingerlings back into the marshes.

Full Report (Word doc)

Listen to his report:

arab-marshlands-returning-to-life.mp3
Audio, International

Freebairn Agency For MANA

Chuck Zimmerman

MANAIt’s good to see the Freebairn name again in my inbox. They just received a new client for their services – Makhteshim Agan of North America Inc.

MANA, based in Raleigh, N.C., is the North American subsidiary of Makhteshim Agan Industries, Ltd., the world’s leading provider of generic crop protection products. MANA currently offers over 45 branded insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, plant growth regulators and harvest aids to improve the bottom line of agriculture production.

Freebairn & Co. will assist MANA with development of advertising, public relations and interactive programs to support product use across the agricultural areas of the U.S. “Following a lengthy search, we were ultimately impressed with the Freebairn team’s experience in agriculture, their range of services and the agency’s broad involvement with global marketers similar to us,” explains Troy Bettner, MANA senior marketing manager.

Agencies, Agribusiness

EU Commissioner of Ag Mariann Boel

Chuck Zimmerman

Mariann Fischer BoelWe heard from a lot of politicians today but the one I think who had the clearest message was the EU Commissioner of Agriculture Mariann Fischer Boel. She’s a pretty straight talking lady and I recorded her whole press conference for you. Later in the afternoon I got to interview her personally too.

She really likes to emphasize quality in production agriculture as you’ll hear from her remarks. She wants American farmers to know that she’s going to go to the United States later this year to meet and talk with farmers. She spoke a lot about the potential of biofuels in her press conference too. Just like in the U.S., biofuels is the hot topic here right now.

Listen to my interview with Commissioner Boel (1 minute):ifaj-berlin-boel-interview.mp3

Listen to the complete press conference with Commissioner Boel and note that some parts are done by an interpreter although she speaks English throughout (49 minutes):ifaj-berlin-2007-boel.mp3

Audio, Farm Shows, IFAJ, International

German Minister of Agriculture

Chuck Zimmerman

Green Week Press ConferenceThe biggest press conference of the day is taking place right now in the ICC center next to the press rooms. Just finishing up is Germany’s Federal Minister of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture, Horst Seehofer. He’s seated second from the left.

There are hundreds of media representatives here. It’s the most I’ve ever seen for an agricultural related event. The Minister spoke in German but we have translators and I listened in for a few minutes before heading to the computer room to get online. The first questions asked of him had to do with animal welfare which seems to be a big topic here in Europe.

I’m uploading all my photos to an online Flickr photo album for you too. You can find it using this link: IFAJ Meeting- Berlin – International Green Week. I’ll keep adding to it each day.

Farm Shows, IFAJ, International

I’m Thinking Japanese

Chuck Zimmerman

IFAJ Members From JapanThe IFAJ Congress 2007 will be held in Japan this year. We have representatives here from that country. The man on the left is Yamada Masaru with the Japan Agricultural News and to the right is Tadashi MURATA. We ate supper together last night.

Cindy and I are planning on attending. It will be our first visit to that part of the world and we’re looking forward to it.

If your company would like to find out how to become more involved with IFAJ or if you’re interested in sponsoring my coverage of the organization’s 51st annual meeting this year please let me know.

IFAJ, International

Getting Caught Up On The Latest Plans

Chuck Zimmerman

IFAJ MembersHere’s a fine looking group listening to IFAJ President David Markey get our meeting started.

Right now IFAJ Senior Vice President, Mike Wilson, is talking about our next organizational meeting which will take place in Lexington, KY and hosted by Alltech, Inc. I hope I can make that meeting too.

One of the great things about IFAJ is how diverse the membership is not only in terms of nationality but also types of media the members are involved in. You’ve got broadcasters, publication editors, web editors and yes, even bloggers here.

Mike’s also giving us an overview of our professional improvement session which will take place on Saturday. We’ll learn more about “How Public Relations people can work more effectively with agricultural media – vice versa.” I think a representative of each of the IFAJ corporate sponsors will be in attendance. That ought to be interesting.

IFAJ, International