40 years of lean hog futures. That’s the CME celebration this month. They’ve been hedging a lot of hogs for producers over the years.
An important indicator of grocery store prices for items such as pork chops, ribs and pork loin, annual contract volume has grown from just over 8,000 contracts since its launch in 1966 to more than two million contracts in 2005. The CME lean hog contract has evolved since its inception from a contract of physically delivered live hogs into a cash settlement-only contract of lean hog carcasses, which makes this a more viable hedging tool for international producers and pork importers and/or exporters.
Ken Dean Says “Wow”
What a difference a bunch of advocates can make. Ken Dean, High Plains Journal, led an effort to promote and grow membership in the National Agri-Marketing Association this past year. He just sent out a note to all of us which I think shows what can happen when we try:
NAMA Advocates:
Congratulations! Your efforts this past NAMA season, culminating with our recent national conference, contributed to the first positive-growth membership in the past several years, up between 5 and 10 percent.
We proved that more people getting involved with our continual membership growth effort made a solid, on-going impact. Your help made this a great year in new membership!
We couldn’t have done that without King Ken. BTW. Ken received the NAMA “Workhorse of the year” award at the NAMA Conference for his efforts.
New Business Developer For D&PL
Rob Nixon will be joining D&PL as their director of business development. He’ll be responsible for leading business initiatives to grow and expand the company’s U.S. and international business.
Nixon will be working across several groups within the company to expand into new markets, license new technologies and commercialize new products. Nixon has worked in the agricultural industry for more than 10 years, with his focus on seed and trait commercialization. He began his career with Limagrain Canada Seeds, Inc., which was later purchased by Monsanto Company. Nixon has worked in several capacities at Monsanto focusing in the areas of strategic development, licensing and commercialization of traits. His career includes extensive experience in analyzing markets, industries and competitors as well as developing strategic plans based on that analysis.
Double Digit Growth For Internet Use/Access
Internet use in America just continues to skyrocket. The latest Pew Internet & American Life Project report shows that 73 % of adults are online. That’s double digit growth from a year ago and the same holds true for broadband access. What does this mean for agricultural communications?
This is something I discuss on this week’s program. Additionally Cindy reports on some of the ways we’re using audio both on our blogs and for other client projects. I also have some information on the new traffic records set in April by AgWired and Domestic Fuel.
You can listen to this week’s program here: 
ZimmCast 67 11 min 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.
Mootube Let’s You See What Cows See
This is different. Cows with cameras. Actually I’m not sure what category to put this in. Someone has way too much time on their hands. It’s called, Mootube.
You can see cow cams and they even have a blog: From The Pasture
As they say, “Mootube was created to give the world an idea of what things look like from a cow’s point of view.”
Who is this and I have to ask, “Why?”
ARC Is Blogging
I didn’t get to attend the Agricultural Relations Council meeting in Memphis. If you didn’t either you can find out information about the meeting on their website, including powerpoints from presentations made there.
I also noticed that they’ve started a blog.
Propanecast Podcast
Speaking of podcasting. I was actually just speaking of podcasting. Let’s look at (and listen) to the Propanecast by the Propane Education and Research Council. Use this link to subscribe if you’re so inclined. It looks like they’re doing both video and audio versions.
This is being done for Propane Days, which start on May 1. If you’re impatient you can listen to one episode here.
Our PropaneCasts feature real-world success stories about how propane helped survivors of Katrina and continues to aid with reconstruction efforts. You’ll learn how propane is the right energy in emergency situations, what strides are being made in propane technology and how energy issues affect the propane industry.
What a great idea. The PERC is now their own medium. No gatekeeper between them and the viewer/listener.
Farmer iPod Use Growing
According to the latest NAFB eChats they’ve got a new qualitative farmer media use study out that says farmer use of iPods and other digital audio devices has grown to about 5 percent! Actually it doesn’t give an exact number, just says less than 5 percent but I’m sure there’s a plus/minus error factor to consider too. This seems like pretty fast growth to me when you consider that they didn’t even exist just a couple years ago. I guess it’s kind of like radio back when it got started. How many farmer had one in the first 2 years? Was it 5 percent?
This is great to get a benchmark we can use in coming years on farmer use of internet delivered, time-shifted audio and video content. The rapidly increasing availability of broadband and mobile technology will continue to drive this medium shift. This week I’ve discussed this topic with several industry communications professionals. We all concluded that it’s worth investing in this new distribution technology because we believe it will continue to grow. I like this analogy that Cindy brought up. Look at all the investment in ethanol production and distribution when only 5 percent of the cars on the road today can run on E85.
I’m assuming NAFB’ers are seeing the value in this new form of audio and video distribution since they gave an iPod and Bose docking station away at the recent NAMA convention. BTW, the winner was Kate Nelson with Charleston/Orwig. The NAFB study also shows continued strong use of the broadcast medium by farmers.
If you want to learn more about this whole podcasting thing I recommend Spinfluencer. This link is to a post the author, Eric Schwartzman, just wrote on his talk at ad:tech San Francisco Conference on this subject. Here’s a couple of nuggets I like:
Now, for the first time, practical, easy-to-use technologies, applications and services make it possible for anyone to leverage the power of the audio and video without a broadcast network infrastructure, and without buying a single minute of satellite time. With the introduction of audio and video podcasting, the distribution of electronic media becomes a cost-effective and efficient channel for individuals and organizations to engage and communicate with qualified audiences.
NAFB also has its new directory (pictured) available. Listen here to hear the latest NAFB President’s Report.
This Week’s Deere Gear Toy Winner
The winner of the Deere Gear Toy Tractor Contest for this week is Wilmer Myers from Broadway, VA.
He won a 1/16 scale John Deere 4310 tractor with Attachments. They’ve still got a couple weeks left in this promotion if you want to enter..
Play Pioneer Games
You have to have a Pioneer Growing Point login to have access but there’s some new video games in town. The first one is “Max The Protector.”
Sure, you’ve planted in all kinds of conditions, but have you planted on your desktop before? Use your mouse to plant in a variety of conditions, trying to avoid items like fencerows, trees and wet spots in the field. You must also navigate around pests like Soybean Cyst Nematode and Phytophthora Root Rot to score high yields. Help is available if you pick up bonus items from your Pioneer Sales rep and you will find a new level of protection by picking up Pioneer® Brand M-series soybeans.
Then there’s “Herculex I The Defender.”
Herculex I the Defender requires you to shoot wave after wave of destructive larvae. Shoot at the larvae to kill them – and stay behind the Herculex shield to protect you and your crops!
I like it when the bugs get splattered but I think my field was under serious attack and I will have to practice to get better.