Interest in Liquid Feeding

Chuck Zimmerman

Harry SiemensA swine nutritionist with the University of Guelph credits a dramatic increase in liquid byproducts from biofuel and food processing for an increased interest in liquid feeding in Ontario. With liquid feeding systems, feed is prepared in a central mixing tank then pumped through lines to individual troughs where the pigs can consume it.

While considered new in North America, countries like the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark they feed up to 50 percent of market pigs using liquid feeding systems and in Ireland that figure is close to 90 percent. Dr. Kees De Lange told delegates to the Western Swine Nutrition Conference in Winnipeg this week, in North America the pockets of liquid feeding are in Ontario. He estimates producers raise 20 percent of the finishing pigs in southwestern Ontario on liquid feeding systems. Read More

International

Peace On Earth

Chuck Zimmerman

Derry BrownfieldI admit to taking a beautiful afternoon off and spending it with my good friend, Derry Brownfield.

Derry is a cattleman and long time farm broadcaster. I’m sure many of you know him or have heard him. You like him or maybe you don’t. But you pretty much always know what’s on his mind and where he’s coming from.

Derry's PondI think one of the prettiest places on Earth is a cabin on a pond that Derry has. I took out some barbeque and we had a nice evening.

The weather couldn’t be more beautiful. You could see how far behind on rainfall we are in Missouri though by how low the pond was.

Derry's CabinMeanwhile the cabin looked great.

I’m guessing we could find this on Google Earth but as far as I’m concerned no one needs to know where it is but Derry and me.

I hope to have a spot like this someday where I can sit on the front porch swing and watch the sun set and listen to the crickets and just forget about all the worries and cares of the world.

Uncategorized

Get Some New Media Attention

Chuck Zimmerman

In case you’re wondering about how you can get noticed in the new media world you might want to get yesterday’s Wall Street Journal. I’m sure this is archived online too if you’re a subscriber. It’s called, “How to get attention in a New-Media World.”

According to my man Mays, “That’s the headline on a story in today’s Wall Street Journal. I won’t bother posting any of the many nuggets in this piece. You can read them yourself. And if you spend anytime online, you know a lot of this already.

Here’s what I want to know: How can any intelligent, semi-educated, reasonably well informed, man or woman entrusted with running a business (or some division or department of that business) not have at least heard about the things referenced in this story (blogs, podcasts, RSS, etc etc)?”

He goes on to answer his own question.

Media

6,000 Podcasts At K-State

Chuck Zimmerman

TegrityI’m going to make an assumption that ag classes at Kansas State University are included in the 6,000 classes that will soon be available to students as podcasts. You heard it right, 6,000 of them. K-State has been having a company called Tegrity record classes for a while now and they’re converting them to podcasts. Very cool idea and something that can apply to anything your business is doing that lends itself to training or demonstration.

K-State plans to have all 6,000 class podcasts available to its students this year, making it by far the education realm’s largest podcasting implementation worldwide. “We’re excited to be partnering with Tegrity to drive podcasting in education to a new level,” said Beth Unger, Vice Provost for Academic Services of Kansas State University. “When developing a podcasting program, there are two essential components – the technology and the content. Tegrity has made reaching our goal of creating quality content for podcasting possible.”

Sounds like Tegrity has a happy client.

Podcasts, University

Eller New USDA DUS for MRP

Chuck Zimmerman

Burton EllerBurton Eller has been appointed USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs. Whew that’s a title and I’m sure a challenging job.

“Burton has spent his career working as an advocate for agriculture producers and related industries,” said Conner. “His knowledge of agricultural issues and dedication to farmers and ranchers is exceptional. Burton’s vast experience and knowledge will be a tremendous asset to USDA as we move forward on many important marketing and regulatory issues.”

Eller will assist Under Secretary Bruce Knight and work with Deputy Under Secretary Dr. Chuck Lambert to oversee the management of USDA’s MRP mission area. MRP agencies are active participants in setting national and international agricultural standards. USDA agencies that make up the MRP mission area include the Agricultural Marketing Service; Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; and Grain Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards Administration.

USDA

MO Ethanol Run By Missourians

Chuck Zimmerman

Robin VennThe General Manager of Missouri Ethanol is Robin Venn. He’s currently in the process of getting his house sold in Kansas City so he can move to the Laddonia area.

I interviewed Robin after the grand opening festivities were winding down. He says that all the employees of the ethanol plant are from Missouri which he thinks is unusual but shows that central Missouri has the technical talent for a plant like his and that the plant is keeping those people near home.

Listen to our interview: Listen To MP3 Robin Venn Interview (3 min MP3)

Audio, Ethanol

MO Ethanol Now Open

Chuck Zimmerman

Missouri Ethanol Squadron FlyoverI arrived at the Missouri Ethanol grand opening this morning just in time to take a quick shot of the Vanguard Squadron of Sioux Falls doing their ceremonial flyover.

I didn’t count heads but I’m guessing there were at least 600 people on hand in Laddonia, MO (population 620). The plant is expected to begin production by tomorrow.

Ethanol

Trufflecasting

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast86 - Truffle Media NetworksI want to welcome Truffle Media Networks to the new media world of agribusiness. The company just announced itself and to learn more about them I interviewed one of the founders, Ned Arthur.

I’m sure we’re going to see lots of creative work done by this company. They have started out with a couple of regular podcasts, Swinecast and Poultrycast. Both are currently sponsored by Elanco Animal Health.

I guess you’d have to say that farm podcasting is coming along. Ned discusses how his company is helping clients and sponsors reach very targeted audiences using tools like podcasting. As a fellow farm podcaster I’m happy to welcome TMN to the fold and we’ve already discussed several ways our two companies can assist each other and our clients.

Listen to this week’s program: Listen To ZimmCastZimmCast 86 (27 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.

Audio, Media, Podcasts, ZimmCast

The Agrisure Online Media Kit

Chuck Zimmerman

Agrisure Online Media KitSyngenta has created an online media kit for reporters who want information about Agrisure corn traits. Great idea. Well done and I sure wish more companies would do this. If you just don’t have the resources to create one or don’t know where to start, then consider giving little old ZimmComm a call.

Now, having said that an online media kit is a wonderful thing let me add a challenge to companies like Syngenta. Don’t stop there. If you’ve had audio, video, and documents created put them to further use with the new media tools that let you package it for your CUSTOMER. Don’t forget them. Target them directly and you’ll be getting more bang for your buck. In this fractionalized new media world you can’t depend on the old channels exclusively (doesn’t mean you don’t need them). You need to think creatively and invest in some alternative ways to reach your farmer customer today.

Agribusiness, Media

Ice Cream for a Dairy Blog

Chuck Zimmerman

Mayfield Dairy BlogScottie Mayfield at Mayfield Dairy Farms would love to hear from his customers so what did the company do? Start a blog.

You can visit The Dairy Blog to learn “about Mayfield Dairy Farms, the dairy industry and our extended Mayfield family.” And Scottie adds, “We welcome you to join our discussions.”

That’s blogging in the corporate world. I congratulate them and hope it’s a success.

Dairy