IDairy Announces FAIR System

Chuck Zimmerman

IDairyWith the help of Mary Knigge with the National Milk Producers Federation, we have this picture from the IDairy press conference at World Dairy Expo.

Representatives from the IDairy coalition officially announced the National FAIR system as the database for manageing dairy identification information on Thursday, October 5, 2006 at World Dairy Expo. During the press conference, a memorandum of understanding was signed by the six organizations naming National FAIR as IDairy’s choice to confidentially house dairy and livestock identification data in compliance with the upcoming national animal identification system.

“Dairy producers need a private animal identification database that can ensure confidentiality, while also complying with the needs of USDA, at a low cost,” said Jerry Kozak, National Milk Producers Federation President/CEO. “As the IDairy coalition looked across the industry for such a system, National FAIR was the clear choice. Producers who choose to work with IDairy can be ensured they are leading the charge for a national animal identification system.”

Dairy and livestock producers can visit the IDairy website: www.idairy.org to learn more about the IDairy database system.

Dairy, World Dairy Expo

Barns Not Painted Tractor Colors

Chuck Zimmerman

Bob Evans Barn PaintingI’m not sure what the ROI is on this advertising strategy but it’s sure making some old barns more colorful. It’s Bob Evans way of advertising their new Italian dishes.

Though not quite as enigmatic as Mona Lisa’s smile, there is another Italian painting that has been turning heads recently in Ohio. First, a barn on the Bob Evans Farm in scenic Rio Grande, Ohio, painted like an Italian flag, and now another in rural West Jefferson just like it. But the latex paint on barn siding isn’t meant to be a reminder of da Vinci’s 16th century oil painting on poplar wood, it’s part of a new advertising campaign created for Bob Evans Restaurants. In fact, it is a message to consumers that Bob Evans is introducing a line of new pasta dishes.

The barn will be featured in a new commercial for the restaurant chain that’s going to be filmed next week according to the news release.

Food

Blogging My Reunion

Chuck Zimmerman

Rams Reunion 2006If you listened to a recent ZimmCast you might have heard that I’m going to my 30 year high school reunion. Well, I’m leaving tomorrow for Sarasota, FL and the Riverview High School Class of 1976 Reunion.

What’s that you say? Will you be blogging? Of course. I won’t bore you with all that here but I’ve already got over 100 posts on the Reunion Blog I started last year and I can gaurantee you there will be a lot more before I stop.

You might be interested to know how the blog has helped impact our event. Last I heard we have almost 300 people rsvp’d. That’s way higher than the norm for a graduating class of 700. We’ve got people coming from Italy (found the blog online one day) and people who didn’t bother to come to the 10 or 20 and only decided to come after reading about this one on my blog. I’ve had almost 90 comments posted and received more emails than that from people who have found the website on their own, including a couple of former classmates I didn’t know lived here in Missouri.

So, posting might be a little light the next couple days. They’ve got me emceeing our events for some reason I can’t figure out. I’ll be driving back next week and stopping to do some staff blogging and podcasting training with a client on the way!

Uncategorized

Dairy Council Spots on YouTube

Chuck Zimmerman

It’s amazing what you can find on the internet today. If you like old tv commercials you might enjoy a couple of old animated Dairy Council spots that are posted on AdJab.

If I’m pointing you to them I wonder how many other AdJab readers/subscribers are pointing people to them, or copying them onto their website, or forwarding them by email to a friend. Sounds like a Long Tail way of getting a message out there doesn’t it?

Dairy, Internet, Video

Live Web ChickenCast

Chuck Zimmerman

Sanderson FarmsThe “100% Chicken, Naturally.” folks, Sanderson Farms, will be taking part in a live webcast from the National Chicken Council annual meeting on Thursday. This sure seems like something that makes so much sense today that I don’t know why we don’t see more organizations or companies doing it. It’s a great way to reach the media that can’t attend, your customers who are interested and can’t attend and by recording and archiving it you can use elements of it in news releases, on your website, in your podcasts, newsletters and presentations. I’m guessing Sanderson Farms knows this and will be doing so.

Sanderson Farms, Inc. today announced that the Company will participate in the National Chicken Council Annual Conference on Thursday, October 5, 2006, in Washington, D.C. The NCC represents integrated chicken production and processing companies and its members account for approximately 95 percent of the chicken sold in the United States. Lampkin Butts, president of Sanderson Farms, will join other executives of public chicken production and processing companies in a roundtable discussion “Industry Insights & Outlook” moderated by Mark Hickman, president and chief executive officer of Peco Foods, the incoming chairman of the NCC. Industry analysts Farha Aslam, vice president of equity research for Stephens, Inc., and Michael Piken, research associate at Cleveland Research Company, will also participate in a question and answer session.

The live webcast of the session will begin at 2:15 p.m. Eastern time and will conclude at approximately 3:45 p.m. A link to the event may be found at the investor relations section of the Company’s website, www.sandersonfarms.com.

Ag Groups, Agribusiness, Internet

Map Them Soybeans

Chuck Zimmerman

Soybean Genome Facility AnnouncementBefore we get to the story, here’s who’s in this picture: U.S. Senator Kit Bond explains the importance of the new Soybean Genome Mapping Facility, along with Dale R. Ludwig, MSA executive director/CEO; U.S. Congressman Kenny Hulshof; U.S. Senator Jim Talent; MU Chancellor Brady Deaton; Tom Payne, MU Vice Chancellor and Dean of College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources; MU President Elson Floyd; and Henry Nguyen, Endowed Professor for Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council. Courtesy of Missouri Soybean Association. I resized the picture. It was bigger but you could see a couple of sets of closed eyes (not mentioning who). Kit, I wonder if you were going a little long.

Today the Missouri Soybean Association applauded the opening of the Soybean Genome Mapping Facility, an expansion of the National Center for Soybean Biotechnology at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo. NCSB scientists play a national leadership role in developing improved soybean varieties to keep U.S. producers competitive in the marketplace.

The NCSB is a collaborative program among scientists at MU, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service Plant Genetics Unit in Columbia and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Mo. There are currently more than 25 researchers working together from diverse fields including agronomy, microbiology and plant pathology, biochemistry, animal science, food science, molecular biology and agricultural economics.

Thanks Haley for the picture. See, they really do help get you posted!

Ag Groups, Soybean

Wheatgrass Nationally, Naturally I’m Sure

Chuck Zimmerman

USFarmsWhat is Wheatgrass? This is a new one on me. I’m just trying to picture a bottle of Wheatgrass juice and having a hard time with it. Here’s a website where you can learn more about it. Here’s another one. My gosh, a Google search brought up 84,700 results. Maybe these guys are on to something.

US Farms, Inc. announced today that it has entered the Wheatgrass market with plans to grow, market, and distribute Wheatgrass on a national level. Production growing for Wheatgrass is scheduled to begin later this month.

Yan K. Skwara, President of US Farms, Inc., stated, “We are very excited to be entering the Wheatgrass market as it is a very popular health product with many Americans today. Wheatgrass juice is considered one of nature’s most nutrient rich plants and has demonstrated exceptional health promoting and healing qualities. Wheatgrass is consumed in one form or another by thousands of Americans and animals across the US on a daily basis. Everything from selling wheatgrass shoots to health consumers to offering different natural juices that have Wheatgrass mixed into the juice blend are some of the many uses for Wheatgrass today.

Agribusiness, Food

Better Late Feed Than Never

Chuck Zimmerman

National Agricultural Statistics ServiceI thought it was interesting that in my USDA/NASS news feed today I got one for a report that was published on August 18. Kind of took a while to update the feed, eh?

Issued August 18, 2006 by the National Agricultural Statistics Service, Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Agricultural Prices 2005 Annual Summary, has been published and is available at: http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/
viewDocumentInfo.do?documentID=1003. This publication contains multiple years of price data for NASS estimated commodities.

USDA

Water Buffalo Man

Chuck Zimmerman

Water From ice cream to water buffalo milkman, he’s David Rachlin and he’s the new CEO of The Woodstock Water Buffalo Company.

How do you milk a water buffalo? “I’m told my first milking assignment already has been posted — in bold ink, underlined and with two explanation points — on my first week’s schedule at the dairy,” jokes David I. Rachlin, the newly tapped president and chief executive officer of The Woodstock Water Buffalo Company.

The company, headquartered in bucolic South Woodstock, Vt., is the nation’s first and only farmstead dairy whose herds consist exclusively of — yes –water buffalo. The dairy staff members, as well as premium-dairy aficionados, proclaim that The Woodstock Water Buffalo Company offers healthy and indulgent, mild-flavored yogurts and fresh buffalo mozzarella like none other in America. And, according to the incoming president and CEO, his early agenda includes increasing production of the super-premium yogurts and fresh mozzarella, expanding their availability at retail and in foodservice, and creating new offerings. “Feedback from consumers on Woodstock Water Buffalo Company’s yogurts is so passionately positive, that it’s thrilling to consider how high and how broadly our team can build the business,” Rachlin says.

Dairy, Livestock

New Design Coming

Chuck Zimmerman

I just thought I’d give you a heads up that we’re working on a new design for AgWired which will be unveiled within the next couple weeks. I think you’re really going to like it. We’re adding some features that you’ve requested that will make the coolest even cooler.

I just didn’t want you to log on after we make the switchover and do a “Whoa, what’s going on here?” thing. Well, you might anyway but I hope you’ll like it. So stay tuned as we evolve in the new media world.

Uncategorized