Sitescore Gives AgWired A 7.5

Chuck Zimmerman

Silktide SitescoreI just found out about this website ranking tool from Silktide called Sitescore. You enter your website’s URL and it runs over 100 tests in just a few moments and then gives you a report.

AgWired scored a 7.5 overall which is very good. In some categories we ranked very high such as Design (how well built the website is) and Experience (how satisfying the website is likely to be). One thing that I found very good to know is that it found that we’re well linked to: “About 2,840 other websites were found linking to this website. (484 quality links, out of 2840). The website is extremely well linked to.”

It also found that AgWired is a very fast website (I’m feeling better about HostGator all the time) and of course that when you Google for AgWired we’re number 1!

Internet

Biotech Issues On The Ballot

Keith Good

FarmPolicy.comBiotechnology continues to be an issue that generates a high level of passion among farm policy observers as well as citizen voters both internationally and domestically.

The biotech issue has tremendous implications for agricultural trade and development.

This month, two separate votes on biotech ballot initiatives provide an interesting snap shot into the current nature of the debate.

On the international front, Sunday’s International Herald Tribune reported that, “Swiss voters today supported a five year-ban on the farming of genetically modified crops, offering a further sign of widespread distrust in Europe of scientifically enhanced foods.”

In addition to noting that the vote is an issue for “biotech companies like Syngenta, Bayer and Monsanto as they try to overcome consumer doubts about safety,” the article also pointed out that, “many nations say further tests are needed before allowing widespread farming of genetically modified crops.”

Meanwhile, a similar political action regarding biotechnology was the subject of recent debate here in the U.S.

Voters cast ballots on an initiative known as “Measure M” earlier this month in Sonoma County, California.

According to a Sacramento Bee article, “Measure M supporters said banning biotech crops for 10 years in Sonoma County represented a reasonable response to the spread of genetically modified foods. The moratorium was based on Europe’s so-called ‘Precautionary Principle,’ which says a new technology must be proved safe before it can be deployed.”

On the other hand, “[T]traditional farmers said Measure M would elevate fear above science and deprive them of tools necessary to improve the county’s two big agricultural industries – the $309 million wine-grape business and the $100 million dairy industry.”

In the end, voters rejected the proposed ban on genetically modified crops in Sonoma County.

These two votes demonstrate that the high octane debate regarding biotechnology is far from settled and will continue to have overarching implications for agricultural trade.

Keith Good writes The FarmPolicy.com News Summary, an Email newsletter containing a summary of news relating to U.S. farm policy which is published most weekdays. To learn more about this publication, go to www.farmpolicy.com.

Farm Policy

The Growing Popularity of Ethanol

Chuck Zimmerman

CornTalk podcastCornTalk is the week’y interview program of the Missouri Corn Growers Association. This week MCGA President, Terry Hilgedick, talks about how the ethanol industry has already surpassed next year’s Renewable Fuels Standard production quota. He describes how grower-owned ethanol plant production is increasing in Missouri and looks forward to next spring’s legislative session and Missouri Governor Matt Blunt’s pledge to support a statewide 10% ethanol/gas blend requirement.

You can listen to this week’s CornTalk here: Download MP3 File

CornTalk is a weekly AgWired podcast which you can subscribe to using the link you’ll find on our “Blogs & Podcasts” page.

Ag Groups, Corn, Ethanol, Podcasts

2 New FAO Websites

Chuck Zimmerman

FAOWhen we hear about new websites it always gets our attention. Today, the FAO announced not just one, but 2 new websites.

Ask FAOA new web-based FAO information service launched today, “Ask FAO,” lets users pose questions directly to experts in the Organization and also includes a searchable “knowledge base” of answers to frequently asked questions covering issues as varied as how to ask FAO for technical assistance to controlling bird flu to finding out national rates of deforestation.

FAO Best PracticesSimilarly, FAO’s new “Best Practices“ website, also launched today, serves as a one-stop source of technical information on recommended practices and techniques in food production, rural development, natural resource management and other areas.

Internet

Today On AgWeb E-Pub

Chuck Zimmerman

AgWebThere’s a new entry into the world of e-delivered farm news and this time it’s Farm Journal Media’s Today On AgWeb. They claim that it’s “Delivered to the inbox of more than 72,000 farmers.” The new e-pub offers 4 primary sections:

Today’s Top Picks
Money & Markets
Weather
Ag on the Net

Today on AgWeb is distributed Monday through Thursday, with the more comprehensive weekly AgWeb NewsBrief distributed each Friday afternoon. To sign up for AgWeb’s free daily email services, go to www.agweb.com/email.

Internet, Publication

2 Beefmobiles 3 Wranglers

Chuck Zimmerman

BeefmobileI wonder if they include blogging in the Beefmobile wrangler training program. If not, I’ll offer to teach it. Where there once was just one Beefmobile now there will be 2 and instead of just one lonely wrangler there will be 3. Tracey Orsburn has been the lone wrangler but she’s now got company.

Joining Orsburn as Wranglers in 2006 will be Holly Branecky and Stacy Loutzenhiser.

Holly BraneckyBranecky grew up in rural Texas, the daughter of a vocational agricultural educator. She attended Clarendon College where she was on the 2001 National Junior Collegiate Champion Meats Judging Team and was honored as the 2002 Female Agricultural Student of the Year. Branecky is a December 2005 graduate of Texas Tech University with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural communications.

Stacy LoutzenhiserLoutzenhiser grew up on his family’s cow-calf operation near Flagler, Colo., with responsibilities that included animal husbandry, range management and dryland farming. He served in various officer positions in FFA including Colorado State FFA President. Loutzenhiser is a December 2005 graduate of Colorado State University (CSU) as an Honors Scholar with a bachelor’s degree in animal science & ag business.

Branecky and Loutzenhiser have been undergoing Wrangler training since October 1, and will officially begin their duties after the first of the year. Packets explaining the Beefmobile program and its benefits are being distributed to state beef councils and others who may wish to use the service.

Ag Groups, Beef

Mycogen Seeds Knows Sunflower Oil Is Good For You

Chuck Zimmerman

Mycogen Sunflower VarietiesI knew I should have deep fried that Thanksgiving turkey in sunflower oil. Then I would have been lowering my cholesterol while chowing down. I wonder if you can use it as a dipping oil for bread with a little balsamic vinegar. Something to check on. Anyway, the American Dietetic Association has certainly made sunflower growers and seed companies happy. You can read more about it on the National Sunflower Association website.

BTW, the Mycogen Seeds sunflower lineup has five new NuSun hybrids for growers that are available for the 2006 growing season.

Sunflower growers have one more reason to be excited about growing NuSun™ sunflower hybrids from Mycogen Seeds, a retail seed company of Dow AgroSciences. Diets with NuSun sunflower oil have been demonstrated to lower cholesterol, according to a recent Penn State University health study published in the July 2005 Journal of the American Dietetic Association. “We have known about and believed in the benefits of NuSun oil for some time,” says Larry Kleingartner, President, National Sunflower Association. “We are pleased that this research has now been published. This finding establishes that NuSun is a healthy, viable alternative to other types of oils.”

Ag Groups, Agribusiness

Listen To Podcasts With John Deere Headphones

Chuck Zimmerman

John Deere HeadphonesNow granted you might not need these if you’re in a climate controlled tractor cab with a surround sound music system. However, if you’re not and you want to listen to your weekly ZimmCast without noisy interruptions then ask Santa for a set of John Deere noise cancelling headphones. I know you’ve got your iPod or are getting one for Christmas so you can subscribe to the latest farm podcasts. You need to listen on some quality headphones.

These are a great gift idea. They will be sold at John Deere dealers and Lowe’s Home Improvement stores by January. I hope they beat that deadline so they can be a Christmas gift. They also should be showing up in the online John Deere gift shop. These “cans” are manufactured for John Deere by Outside the Box, Inc. and have a suggested retail price of $89.99.

Ideal for operating lawn mowers, agricultural equipment or other machinery, the headset features Outside the Box’s proprietary noise canceling algorithm for blocking ambient equipment noise. By identifying and silencing these distracting sounds, users can focus on the task at hand, helping ensure their safety. “Noise cancellation is a need for our customers who regularly operate equipment around the home or on-the-job,” said Dean Hamke, manager of licensing for John Deere. “Working with Outside the Box, we have created a unique headset that will benefit both the safety and enjoyment of our customers.”

Agribusiness

RFP For Outreach Program On Pierce’s Disease

Chuck Zimmerman

PRWeek reports that the California Department of Food & Agriculture that could be worth up to $500,000 in the next year for “outreach and education on Pierce’s disease, which can devastate grapevines, and the glassy-winged sharpshooter, the insect that carries it.” You need a paid subscription for the full story, which I don’t yet have.

I think we’ll submit a blogging proposal. I don’t know of any better way to get the word out.

Uncategorized

Real Christmas Trees For Troops

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast44 - Pam HelmsingTis the season to be jolly and support our troops. That’s the theme of a holiday promotion by the National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA). It’s called Trees For Troops and my guest on this week’s ZimmCast is Pam Helmsing, who works for Drake & Company, that manages the NCTA. Pam talks about the program and how tree growers are working to help provide some seasonal spirit to our troops and their families.

Oh, and BTW. On the NCTA website it says they have a blog. Nice idea but I have to question calling it that. There are none of the features of a blog that I can see except that there are a couple “entries” that are written in a personalized style in answer to a question. I recommend that they create a real blog because all this feature of the website is doing is creating confusion about what it is, which is just a traditional website feature.

You can also still play the very popular “Attack of the Mutant Artificial Trees” game. Remember these are the “real” Christmas tree people!

You can listen to this week’s ZimmCast here: Download MP3 File

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar. You can also now find the ZimmCast on CoolCast Radio.

Ag Groups, Audio, Podcasts, ZimmCast