AAEA DSA Announced

Chuck Zimmerman

Jim Gerrish - Courtesy of AAEAThe Agricultural Media Summit is approaching real fast. It’s still not too late to register if you haven’t done so yet.

At the event, the American Agricultural Editors’ Association (AAEA) will be presenting its 2006 Distinguished Service Award to Jim Gerrish. The award recognizes “his leadership in revolutionizing beef, dairy and sheep grazing in North America.” The award, which is sponsored by Archer Daniels Midland, will be presented July 25 at the event Portland, OR. Jim spent 22 years at the University of Missouri before leaving in 2003 to found American GrazingLands Services LLC with his wife, Dawn.

I’ll be conducting an agriblogging and farm podcasting workshop on Monday morning, July 24 from 8:30 to 10am. I’m looking forward to a lively discussion as editors who attend will learn about some technology that’s created a whole new generation of “online editors.” I hope to see you there.

ACN, Ag Media Summit

Tweeter Center Farm Aid Location

Chuck Zimmerman

Farm Aid 2007I know I’m supposed to be on vacation today but you are probably sitting on the edge of your seat wondering where Farm Aid will be this year. Wonder no more.

Tweeter Center at the Waterfront, Camden, N.J., Saturday, Sept. 30, 2006.

FarmYard pre-sale tickets will go on sale Friday, July 14, 2006 at 9 a.m. EDT. The concert will feature headliners Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews, plus other top artists to be announced later.

Farm Aid co-founder Neil Young announced at Philadelphia’s Reading Terminal market that Farm Aid 2006 will be held at the Tweeter Center at the Waterfront in Camden, New Jersey on Sept. 30. “Family farmers are our best choice for good, fresh, wholesome foods. When you choose local, sustainable, humanely raised, or organic food from family farms, you are keeping family farmers on the land.”
– Farm Aid Board Member Neil Young.

Ag Groups, Farm Shows

Pea Blogging Expert

Chuck Zimmerman

PeasThis is a picture of a lot of peas. And there’s more where that came from. That’s because Colin Wright is blogging about the pea harvest.

Colin works for Birds Eye in the UK as the Agricultural Manager. His company asked him to keep a “diary” of their annual pea harvest. He also has approval to write his own opinion. Very good idea Birds Eye.

Besides Colin, there are a couple of people on his team who are posting too. Here’s an excerpt from a post Colin did to explain this. “We have two operations producing peas in the UK—one in Hull, and one in Lowestoft. My position is that I’m the head of agricultural for Birdseye, so I look after the whole lot. James is the agricultural manager of the Hull factory so his comments really relate to that operation. We have another agricultural manager, Andrew, who is agricultural manager for the facility in Lowestoft. I’ll make sure we introduce you to him in due time.”

Agribusiness, Farming, Food

Zimfo Bites

Chuck Zimmerman

  • Register here for the 79th National FFA Convention coming up October 25-28 in Indianapolis, IN.
  • Wheat growers now have a new herbicide to use. It’s BASF’s Clearmax which will be available for use on winter wheat this season. (pdf)
  • Missouri’s ALOT program is seeking applicants for their next class. Applications are due by September 15.
  • The Father of the Green Revolution, Dr. Norman Borlaug, is now an honorary member of the CropLife Foundation board of directors.
  • The 2006 Cotton Foundation Producer Information Exchange Tour program for cotton producers is set to get started on July 9. These 4 regional tours allow participants to be exposed to innovative practices in regions outside their own.
  • Read Darin’s Ramblings (blog) to see what he has to say about ag technology. Darin is a farmer and ag technology consultant.
Zimfo Bytes

Agritalk’s Barn of the Week

Chuck Zimmerman

Mike Adams BarnHere’s where AgriTalk host Mike Adams worked when he was growing up (has he actually stopped growing up?). This is good to know because it’s an example of pictures you’ll start finding on the AgriTalk website. It’s a new feature they have called “Barn of the Week.”

AgriTalk’s new program, Barn of the Week, gives listeners the opportunity to tell personal stories about historic barns while celebrating the special nature of rural America. AgriTalk host Mike Adams said the initiative is a great way to help preserve historic barns and create a link to traditional American agriculture for future generations. Read More

Media

Drake & Company Wins Silver Anvil

Chuck Zimmerman

Steve Drake & Stanley CupIt may look like Steve Drake won the Stanley Cup but he really didn’t. He just got his picture taken by it. However, Drake & Co. did win a big award along with their client the National Christmas Tree Association.

For the second year in a row, the National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA) has earned a top national public relations award. The Public Relations Society of American (PRSA) presented a Silver Anvil Award of Excellence to NCTA, the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation, FedEx, Ketchum Public Relations and Drake & Company for the 2005 Trees for Troops program. Read More

Ag Groups, Agencies

Rhea & Kaiser Recognized for CAT Work

Chuck Zimmerman

Rhea & Kaiser AEM AwardI suppose having to spend some time on a sailboat in Baltimore harbor would be okay in order to receive some awards. It looks like that’s what Rhea & Kaiser had to do.

Rhea & Kaiser Marketing Communications, a leading integrated marketing communications agency, was recently recognized by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) during the annual Publications in Construction Association “Measures of Success in Communications” awards in Baltimore. For the second year, R&K was the most recognized agency at the competition for equipment marketing by winning an unprecedented four awards for its efforts on behalf of Caterpillar General Construction and The Cat Rental Store. In 2005, the agency also brought home four awards, including AEM’s first ever Best of Show. Read More

Agencies

First Dairy Podcast

Chuck Zimmerman

Pioneer Hi-Bred Forage Forum PodcastIt’s always fun announcing a first and here at ZimmComm New Media we’re having fun!

Announcing the first podcast for dairy producers.

Pioneer Hi-Bred introduces a regular podcast called “Forage Forum.” This twice a month program will feature news and information important to dairy professionals working for successful animal nutrition. The program is hosted by my award winning partner and wife, Cindy. She’ll be bringing dairy producers information that will help them become more efficient and profitable.

Bill MahannaDr. Bill Mahanna is the featured expert on the program. He’s coordinator of global nutritional sciences at Pioneer Hi-Bred. His responsibilities include providing technical leadership in how Pioneer nutritionally profiles and develops corn, alfalfa and forage and grain additive products to meet the needs of the livestock industry.

I think it’s kind of fitting that we announced the new podcast today on World Dairy Diary since it’s also a form of new media itself. Pioneer is an appropriately named company since they are one of the first in agribusiness to move into the new media world. They are also making Forage Forum available to Pioneer customers who are registered on their GrowingPoint website.

Agribusiness, Pioneer, Podcasts

Cross Country Event Blogging

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast74 - Cross Country BloggingAfter a week off, the ZimmCast is back. I am glad I got to travel coast to coast as part of a historic interstate convoy but it sure took up way more time each day than I imagined. I got a little behind in some things like posting here on AgWired and getting a new program for you last week.

This week’s program talks about the trip and includes my interview with Andrew Firestone while we stopped in at Firestone headquarters in Akron, OH late one evening.

There’s going to be a lot of event blogging going on here in coming months but none of them will have the same effect that getting behind a wheel each day for 2 weeks and driving all day had. Thanks for your patience and I hope you have a great 4th of July week!

Listen here: Listen To ZimmCastZimmCast 74 (9 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, ZimmCast

Got Grain Basis Blues

Chuck Zimmerman

Cash Grain BidsFarmers looking for the best grain deal have a new tool from Cash Grain Bids. It’s a mapping interface where you just plug your zip code in and it will show you a local Google-powered map with local markets and pricing to decide where to go.

“Basis levels are as low as they’ve been in five years,” said Kevin McNew, president of Cash Grain Bids. “We look for things to improve with this fall’s 2006 crop. But that doesn’t help farmers trying to market their grain right now.” “There are still premium markets out there,” McNew said. “But it can be difficult for farmers to find them quickly.” With that in mind, McNew’s company is offering a free online price and map service through the end of the marketing year. Farmers who use this service can enter their zip code and review 100 different markets in their area on a map and find the one with the best price for them.

“On a table, everything looks the same and a farmer has no concept of how far away that market is,” McNew explained. “A map is an intelligent tool that helps farmers really use the data presented to them. It’s not just a list of numbers.” To use this free service, log onto www.cashgrainbids.com and follow the link to the basis map.

Agribusiness