D&Pl Announce Exansion Facility

Chuck Zimmerman

The Delta and Pine Land Company keeps right on expanding.

Delta and Pine Land Company announced the acquisition of more than 500,000 square feet of warehouse space in Indianola, Mississippi, formerly owned by Modern Tool and Die Products (MTD). This is an extension of the company’s commitment to the Delta, which already includes facilities in Washington and Bolivar counties. The Indianola warehouse will be utilized immediately. The company expects to spend up to an additional $2 million to make necessary upgrades and modifications to the location.

“In the last several years, D&PL has been looking at the best means of managing our supply chain and the Mississippi Delta is a central hub for us,” according to Charles Michell, D&PL’s vice president – U.S. operations (pictured). “The Indianola warehouse will become our primary warehousing and distribution center for the Mid-South.”

Public Relations Tip: It helps get your story considered for posting on AgWired if you send me pictures like Janice at D&PL does!

Agribusiness

Screenshots Made Simple

Chuck Zimmerman

A Webshot ScreenshotI just thought you might be interested to see this. Ever wanted to create a screenshot to send to someone or use in a presentation or for any other reason? It is not always the easiest thing to do.

This little tool makes it pretty easy. It’s Webshots Pro. When you create your webshot it gives you choices on sizes and a url to the picture. Pretty cool tool. This picture is one of AgWired I had made as a test.

via Micropersuasion

Uncategorized

Healthy Agri-Culture

Chuck Zimmerman

Agri-CultureHealth.comWith all the buzz about spinach lately this seems like a timely project. Get you locally grown produce from a healthy sounding source Agri-CultureHealth.com!

In today’s fast paced world, getting a product in front of the public, especially on the web, is a highly competitive proposition. Even produce growers and Farm Markets that sell fresh produce to consumers have a tough time of it—adding another layer of complexity to a busy schedule (create the website, pay for the website, update the website, search engine optimization, more updates, etc.). Even if they already have a website, many farm and/or market operations worry about getting lost amid the web-clutter, but www.agri-culturehealth.com offers Delmarva growers and marketers a chance to either get an initial web presence or enhance the one they already have. The site offers free accounts to populate the site’s database that can be searched by crop, location or market name, a powerful tool that developers hope will spur usage of the site and help get fresh local produce to the consumer.

The website was originally designed by the Mid-Atlantic Consortium, a group of educational institutions and organizations dedicated to promoting healthier populations via local fresh produce consumption. “Our intent was to create a user-driven site,” notes project director Carl German of the University of Delaware’s Department of Food & Resource Economics. “It’s more than just a list,“ he said. “It’s a powerful tool for markets and growers with in-depth information on planning farm markets, links to food safety and health resources, daily and weekly market and crop reports and wholesale auction information.

Internet, University

A Celebration indeed!

Chuck Zimmerman

Harry SiemensLast Sunday I attended an event in the City of Winkler [Manitoba Canada] Park that thrilled me. Why, because I witnessed, participated with, experienced the thrill of celebration like I haven’t seen in a while with over 2,000 new Canadian immigrants, mostly from Germany.

Canadian CelebrationStar 7 International is an immigration consulting firm whose primary goal is to assist skilled workers, business persons, farmers, and professionals from abroad to immigrate to Canada and settle in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Adele Dyck, who started the Winkler, MB firm in 1996, has helped over 1200 families with their immigration to Manitoba, 10,000 people represented by the 2,000 who came together in Winkler to celebrate. “We have gained extensive experience by counseling families from western and eastern Europe and Latin America, to realize their dream of living and working in Canada,” says Dyck on her website. “The immigration process can be a time-consuming and costly undertaking. We encourage those interested in immigrating to Canada to carefully consider this life-changing decision together with family and friends.”Read More

International

A Date Palm Festival in Iraq

Chuck Zimmerman

Iraq Date Palm FarmI really think these reports from Paul McKellips, US Department of State, Public Affairs GO Team on assignment in Iraq, are fascinating. It’s helping provide a behind the scenes look at agriculture in a country where we’re getting almost nothing but political spin news from the mainstream press. This story is about the revival of the date palm farm business in Iraq.

The date palm tree has long been the cherished symbol of Iraq. Dates are the second largest export after oil. During the 1950s, Iraq’s palm orchards produced more than 600 varieties of dates and, by some estimates, accounted for nearly 80% of the world’s supply. During the country’s golden era there were more than 30 million fruit producing trees. But wars, neglect, improper drainage, and the scurvy of the dreaded Dobas bug left the industry in shambles. Particularly hard hit was southern Iraq where 16 million date palm trees were cut down, burned and transformed into battlefields during the Iran-Iraq was in the 1980s.

You can listen to his report about what’s being done to revive these farms here: Listen to MP3 Iraq Date Palm Farms (4 min MP3)

Audio, International

There’s Joy At The Pork Board

Chuck Zimmerman

National Pork BoardShe’s too new to have a picture available yet in case you’re wondering. She’s Joy Johnson who has joined the National Pork Board as vice president of marketing.

She brings more than 17 years of marketing experience, serving most recently as vice president of market strategy for Osborn and Barr Communications, one of agriculture’s largest marketing agencies, and also was head of their Des Moines office. Johnson’s responsibilities will be focused on domestic marketing. She will manage the National Pork Board demand enhancement staff, which promotes pork to a wide variety of audiences through market and consumer trend research, the Don’t be blah campaign, the work of the Pork Information Bureau and activities in the retail, foodservice, niche and culinary markets.

Ag Groups, Pork

I am Addicted to Cheese Too

Chuck Zimmerman

Nadia CheesaholicThanks to my man Leon The Milkman, I found Nadia the Cheesaholic. Nadia Muna Gil has an excellent blog on cheese and she’s got a very interesting personal story. Here’s an excerpt:

Nadia lives and works in New York, but travels frequently to California, London and other locations to teach people about artisan cheeses. She believes that there is a cheese for everyone, and that it is a matter of falling in love once and getting hooked. This is one addiction you can feed!

I must confess too Nadia. I am a cheesaholic. I ate two different kinds for lunch today and a broccoli cheese soup for supper.

Dairy, Food

Beef Checkoff Turning 20

Chuck Zimmerman

Jo Ann SmithJo Ann Smith is one of my favorite people. Boy does seeing this picture make me miss Florida. Jo Ann was the first Chairman of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board back in 1986. It’s been twenty years. My how time flies when you’re eating beef. The CBB is a client for ZimmComm as I think most of you know. The Beef Checkoff holds a very special place in Cindy and my hearts because of that and because back when we were partnered with Gary Cooper in our first business venture the Florida Beef Council was one of our first clients. Florida had one of the highest approval ratings for the original Checkoff referendums in the country.

The CBB just sent out a great multi-media kit (CD) which is why I’m posting this. It’s the 20th anniversary and there’s some great stuff on here. I’ll be sharing it with you over time. Now back to Jo Ann. The CD came with some sound bites that you might want to hear. If you listen close you’ll hear the crickets and cows in the background. I’m assuming the interview was taped in Wacahoota. Ever been there?

Before the beef checkoff got off the ground 20 years ago, leaders were doing their homework on the ingredients needed for a successful checkoff program. Jo Ann Smith, who served as first chairman of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board from 1986 to 1988, says a lot of valuable research came from other commodity programs. Listen To MP3Jo Ann Smith Cut 1 (MP3)

Producers had specific requirements on how they wanted their checkoff to operate. Listen To MP3Jo Ann Smith Cut 2 (MP3)

Smith says producers also had expectations about the efforts their money would buy. Listen To MP3Jo Ann Smith Cut 3 (MP3)

The beef checkoff earns a passing grade over the years in Smith’s book. Listen To MP3Jo Ann Smith Cut 4 (MP3)

Smith’s son, Marty, now operates the family’s cattle business in North Central Florida.

Ag Groups, Audio, Beef

Truffle Media Networks Launched

Chuck Zimmerman

Truffle Media NetworksThere’s a new “new media” company in the biz and it’s Truffle Media Networks. The company has just launched officially. Truffle Media is based in Indiana and headed up by former farm broadcaster, Ned Arthur.

I interviewed Ned via Skype this morning. You’ll be able to hear our conversation on next week’s ZimmCast so this is just to tease you. In it you’ll learn more about why us former traditional media guys have made the bold move into the new media world. In the meantime you can listen to one of Truffle’s regular podcasts. There’s the Swinecast or the Poultrycast. Both are currently sponsored by Elanco Animal Health.

Podcasts

SRA Handling MarComm For Land O’Lakes Purina Mills

Chuck Zimmerman

Swanson Russell AssociatesSwanson Russell Associates will be providing communications and marketing services for the swine division of Land O’Lakes Purina Mills.

With its combined assets, Land O’Lakes Purina Mills has 75 feed mills, making it the largest feed company in the country. The swine division’s feed programs provide swine producers with research-proven, quality feeds that make it a leader in swine feed production technology. SRA will provide Land O’Lakes Purina Mills with marketing communications services for both brands of swine feeds, including literature and brand development.

Agencies, Agribusiness