New Directors For National Cotton Council

Chuck Zimmerman

National Cotton CouncilA new group of leaders is at the helm of the National Cotton Council. The announcement was made today at their annual meeting.

Elected to the NCC Board during interest caucuses were:
Producers – Sam R. Spruell, Mount Hope, AL; Bowen Flowers, Tunica, MS; Rickey L. Bearden, Plains, TX; Don Cameron, Helm, CA; and Jon W. “Jay” Hardwick, Newellton, LA.

Ginners – Richard A. Holder, Kinston, NC; Richard Kelley, Burlison, TN; Sid Brough, Edroy, TX; Barbara L. Haralson, Safford, AZ; and Russell L. Kuhnhenn, Glendale, AZ.

Warehousemen – Donald A. Robinson, Garner, NC; Thomas W. Stallings, Funston, GA; Wendell L. Tucker, Quanah, TX; Robert Weatherford, Corpus Christi, TX; and Rick Willis, Brownfield, TX.

Merchants – W. B. Dunavant III, Memphis, TN; John D. Mitchell, Cordova, TN; Manfred Schiefer, Lubbock, TX; Gary W. Taylor, Cordova, TN; and G.W. Winburne, Phoenix, AZ.

Cottonseed – Gary Conkling, Oklahoma City, OK; Bobby Crum, Harlingen, TX; Larry A. Johnson, La Crosse, WI; Robert L. Lacy, Jr., Lubbock, TX; and Sammy Wright, Tifton, GA.

Cooperatives – Meredith Allen, Greenwood, MS; Wallace Darneille, Lubbock, TX; Tommy R. Funk Jr., Harlingen, TX; Jarral Neeper, Bakersfield, CA; and Michael Quinn, Garner, NC.

Manufacturers – Robert H. Chapman III, Inman, SC; W. Duke Kimbrell, Gastonia, NC; Van A. May, Lubbock, TX; Jerry D. Rowland, Winston-Salem, NC; and Malloy Evans, Cheraw, SC.

Ag Groups

Arnold Tours World Ag Expo

Chuck Zimmerman

The GovernatorOne of the place I couldn’t be this week is World Ag Expo, Tulare, CA. However, the Governator was. The show newsletter says he toured yesterday and made comments, focusing on water issues for one thing.

I like the comment about him growing up, farming in Austria. I didn’t know that.

Commenting that, “Water is at the front and center of our future in agriculture, “ the governor labeled World Ag Expo an
“amazing show.” At the core of the governor’s concern was the state’s century-old levee system. “Our levees were built over 100 years ago by farmers,” he said. “Now we are at risk.”

Farm Shows

Deere At Machinery Show

Chuck Zimmerman

National Farm Machinery ShowThanks to Andy Vance at Buckeye Ag Radio Network for this post. He’s at the 2006 National Farm Machinery Show.

Andy talked with Barry Nelson, John Deere, about their massive display. You can listen to Andy’s interview here: Listen to MP3 File Andy’s Interview (3:17 MP3 File)

Thanks a lot Andy for the audio. Wish I could be there but there’s only so many places you can be.

Agribusiness, Audio, Media

Beltwide Presentations Available Via Confex

Chuck Zimmerman

2006 Beltwide Cotton ConferenceThis is pretty interesting. Now that the 2006 Beltwide Cotton Conference is over, speakers and attendees can still have access to the presentations. The only way you can gain access to the recorded ones is with your registration number though. However, there’s lots of other information available. This is done using The Conference Exchange. The 2006 Confex Podium sponsors are Monsanto and Stoneville.

The 2006 Beltwide Cotton Production Conference continued the tradition of putting leading edge information and innovations into producers’ hands. The 2006 Conferences’ Proceedings are scheduled to be mailed by mid-May. However, reports from the Conferences, gleaned from the Confex Podium presentation management and recording service, are now available online. You can access those presentations by going to http://ncc.confex.com/ncc/2006/techprogram/MEETING.HTM.

Ag Groups

Clean Your Corn At New Dow Site

Chuck Zimmerman

Dow Acetochlor WebsiteDow AgroSciences has a new website. The creative element is a series of road signs that guide you through the information and pages. There’s even video. I guess this is just another sign that the agribusiness companies are investing in the online content tools that require broadband access to function properly. They must believe their customers have it or soon will.

At www.CleanCorn.com, visitors can choose to take a trip down Roundup Ready® Corn Ave. or Conventional Corn Drive to learn about issues that affect weed control in those systems. Each path contains university data from across the Corn Belt; video testimonials from growers, retailers and crop consultants; and examples of available weed control programs.
In addition, an interactive profit calculator is available on Roundup Ready Corn Ave. Growers can plug in their typical corn yields, the price of a bushel of corn and varying rates of soil-applied herbicides to see the potential profit they can protect by making a soil-applied herbicide application in Roundup Ready corn.

Agribusiness, Internet, Video

Denim Is Made Out of Cotton & Protects It

Chuck Zimmerman

DenimYou’ve gotta love an insecticide for cotton called Denim. Syngenta received registration for use of the product on cotton in California today. I like my blue jeans and I don’t need any pesky critters chewing them up, or the cotton plants they get made out of.

“Denim provides excellent control of all worm pests, especially armyworms, and also suppresses mites with minimal impact on beneficial insects, making it an ideal fit for integrated pest management programs,” said John Foresman, Syngenta crop manager. “Denim is a low use-rate product that offers long-lasting residual control. It is a unique chemistry with no known cross-resistance, and it works through three modes of action – contact, ingestion and ovicidal-like in which larvae are controlled as they chew through egg casings.”

Agribusiness

RFA Blogging The Ethanol Conference

Chuck Zimmerman

RFAI think what we’re doing is starting to catch on. The Renewable Fuels Association announced that they’ll be blogging the National Ethanol Conference. Great idea. The conference comes right after last week’s National Biodiesel Conference in San Diego which was blogged by yours truly for NBB.

The RFA blogger will be staff member Matt Hartwig. Since neither Cindy or myself can attend next week’s conference we’re looking forward to it as a great source of news and information for our renewable fuels news site, DomesticFuel. Way to go RFA! You’re “getting it.”

One of the best things about what I hope Matt will be doing is providing the multimedia content. For example, Matt has a pre-conference sound bite from RFA President, Bob Dineen. You can hear it here.

If your company or organization would like to make use of this most powerful new communications tool please let me know how I can help.

Ag Groups, Audio, Ethanol

Maybe Elizabeth Hurley Has Milk

Chuck Zimmerman

Got Milk AdI’ve always liked the Got Milk campaign. They seem to keep finding the stars to encourage people to drink milk. I’m wondering if this the next “Got Milk” ad? I would call this a rumor for now. I saw a story on Adrants that Elizabeth Hurley will be the new poster child for the campaign. Supposedly it will run in the upcoming Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue and the copy will read, “(Gulp!) Shocked I’m a mom? You should know by now that milk’s nine essential nutrients make for one irresistible body.”

The post mistakenly attributes the campaign to the American Dairy Association, which isn’t the case. The Got Milk campaign is run by “The Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP).” It is funded by the nation’s milk processors, who are committed to increasing fluid milk consumption.

Dairy

The Fall of Advertising & The Rise of PR

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast55-Laura RiesAt the upcoming NAMA convention in Kansas City, Laura Ries will be conducting a general session called “The Fall of Advertising & The Rise of PR.” That’s very important subject material to me and I’m sure you too. Laura works with her Dad, Al Ries, at their Atlanta-based marketing strategy firm.

Cindy did the interview and we’ll feature it on the NAMA blog soon too. I’ll be posting content on their blog for the conference just like I did at last fall’s Agribusiness Forum.

You can listen to this week’s ZimmCast here: Download MP3 File

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar.

You can also now find the ZimmCast on CoolCast Radio or subscribe in iTunes.

Agencies, Audio, NAMA, Podcasts, ZimmCast

NAMA ADS Program Official

Chuck Zimmerman

NAMAHave you heard of the Agriculture Advertising Data Source? Me either. Until now. It’s the NAMA ADS program. Here’s what it’s all about:

The program’s goal is to provide NAMA members a means to obtain advertising placement data through an unbiased source. This source will allow client companies and their agencies to have better market intelligence and a rough estimate of media placement levels without compromising confidentiality.

The first phase of the program is focusing on crop protection products from 2005. If this program is successful it may be rolled out to other areas of media placement. The exchange of information will be mutually beneficial to each company participating and no rate information will be supplied.

What will the participants receive:

Compiled Electronic File of all data sorted by product, crop and publication
Summary reports including:
Percent of Weight by Media Type for Crop Protection as a whole
Percent of Weight by Media Type for individual product type
Percent of Weight by Media Type by Crop
Percent of Weight by Media Type by month for Crop Protection
Percent of Weight by Media Type by month for individual product type
Percent of Weight by Media Type by month for crop

At this time the program is open to any crop protection products seller. Data contributors pay a fee to access the complied data plus summary analysis. The fee is intended to defray the cost of compiling data and generating reports. Note: Under no circumstances will compiled data be distributed beyond the contributing members.

Interesting. I wonder if they’ll get the data they need. This sounds like a tough project to get off the ground. Although I can understand not wanting to divulge rate information, it seems like totals for different media categories would be nice.

Agencies, Agribusiness, NAMA