RFA Ethanol Podcast

Great Weather For Farm Progress Show

Chuck Zimmerman

Farm Progress Show 2005 Tillage DemoIf I hadn’t been attending the IFAJ Congress last week I would have been at the 2005 Farm Progress Show. Thanks to Willie Vogt, Corporate Editorial Director, Farm Progress and Jacqui Fatka, E-content editor, I have this show followup report and pictures.

Field Demos Prove Popular Spot at FPS
Crowds got a good look at harvesting and tillage equipment at the Farm Progress Show site with the corn – which is at 17% – moving through the newest and biggest machines. The tillage demonstrations, which included dozens of machines, gave producers a look at the latest technology. For a full listing of new products launched at the show, visit www.FarmProgressShow.com under the What’s New “Exhibitor News” section.

Johanns Makes FPS Farm Bill Forum Tour Stop
Sept. 1 at the Farm Progress Show Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns hosted another round of Farm Bill Forums, a series of sessions where interested groups can talk about what should be included in the 2007 Farm Bill.

Over 200 people attended the session that covered everything from renewable energy to rural development and offered up a smorgasbord of ideas for the former Nebraska governor. This was not a dialog, but a listening session with Johanns dutifully taking notes. His aim: “We want to be proactive with the farm bill.”

Soybean Board Continues to Push Quality
Yield is king and that will never change,” says United Soybean Board Chairman Greg Anderson. But instead of just asking dealers about varieties that offer yield and agronomic solutions, one in three farmers in the Upper Midwest are asking their seed dealers which of those varieties will yield the highest protein and oil combination, Anderson reported at this year’s Farm Progress Show. The Select Yield & Quality Initiative started three years ago is helping raise the bar to meet the 19% oil and 35% protein levels desired by China and other Asian markets.

America’s Heartland Debuts at FPS
In an air-conditioned theatre, visitors to the 2005 Farm Progress Show saw the debut of America’s Heartland, a new weekly public television show that celebrates American agriculture. The magazine-style, half-hour program features five different vignettes from around the country highlighting the land, bedrock of American values of family and what life on the farm means to those that live there. The series will premier the first week of September 2005. The first season of the program will consist of 20 original programs, one or more of which will break from the established format to cover a single topic or theme.

Undersecretary of Rural Development Dorr Visits FPS
Undersecretary of Rural Development Tom Dorr shared his vision for rural America with visitors at the 2005 Farm Progress Show. Since starting his work at USDA’s Rural Development department he sees two significant opportunities for rural America: renewable energy and place. The Farm Progress Show is a perfect example of how place was able to add value to rural Decatur, Ill., he explains. The Farm Progress Show landed in Decatur because of the community teamwork to draw the 3-day show to the area as a semi-permanent site over the next 20 years. Growers have played an integral role in getting renewable fuels to the level they are today, and that will continue to provide opportunities in the future, Dorr adds.

Farm Progress Show

On Our Way Back To The U-S of A

Chuck Zimmerman

No picture for this post. I’ve just got a few minutes of access time here in Zurich. It’s travel day home. Cindy and I had to hide out for 2 days and relax. We did some high mountain hiking and ate some great fondue in Lucerne.

I have a lot more to post from the IFAJ Congress and will begin working on it tomorrow. I’ll also have a little summary of last week’s Farm Progress show with some photos as well.

So, lots more to come. I’ll be back in full production Thursday.

Uncategorized

What Do Swiss Non-Ag Journalists Think

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 32 - Claudia WirzFor this week’s ZimmCast I interviewed Claudia Wirz, Neue Zuericher Zeitung, a journalist who covers ag stories for her publication. Claudia spoke at the IFAJ Congress yesterday about “The Media and Agriculture.” She was on the program right after Marcus Rediger and makes a comment in the interview about the consumer campaign that his organization conducts. Claudia was able to offer the group a very different perspective and one I think we needed to hear.

IFAJ-45I thought it was interesting to hear Claudia’s perspective and as you can hear her say in the interview she has some strong feelings when it comes to animals. She said in her presentation that she doesn’t see why farmers don’t support legislation here in Switzerland to further restrict pet owners and that she thinks that’s a mistake on their part. I guess that’s because she thinks that animal rights activists will be unhappy with farmers then. However, I don’t think she really understands that farmers don’t want increased animal rights legislation since it will ultimately have an impact on how they can conduct their business.

You can listen to this week’s ZimmCast with Claudia Wirz here: Download MP3 File (4.8MB MP3 File)

The ZimmCast is the weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar.

Pioneer Hi-BredAgWired reports on IFAJ Congress 2005 are sponsored by Pioneer Hi-Bred.

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Cindy’s Comments From Switzerland

Chuck Zimmerman

IFAJ-46I’ve been trying to get Cindy to start writing on AgWired but she has found other ways to help out with content. However, on this IFAJ Congress trip she decided to at least write one article for me to post for her. In the picture you can see her in the little village where we had lunch yesterday. I’ll have more on that.

This is Cindy speaking now instead of Chuck for a change, just providing some of my observations of our visit here in Switzerland.

First of all, it has been a bit surreal being here with all the disaster going on back in the states. Even though we are so far away, our thoughts and prayers are with everyone there. It has been interesting, agonizing and distressing – to watch the coverage on CNN International. I am sure there is just as much “blame game” going on in the US but it seems especially biased here in Europe. People here seem to be intent upon blaming the United States administration for this disaster. It is also interesting that the city where we are staying in Switzerland was flooded just a week or so ago. There is absolutely no sign of it now.

This congress has been just fascinating. It has been so interesting to talk with ag journalists from other countries and to see how well everyone relates to each other. I met ag journalists from all over the world – Ireland, Australia, Albania, Bangledesh, Nepal, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Canada, Spain, Norway….etc. I was just awe-struck last night watching this group all dancing together and singing songs like “Sweet Caroline” and “Twist and Shout”. It was so cool.

All I could think of during this trip was – why are there no NAFB members here? This is a fantastic organization, which includes broadcasters as well as print people, and we all face the same challenges and concerns. The group reminds me of NAFB – they are very close knit and many have been involved in this organization for 50 years. Note to US farm broadcasters….plan to attend this meeting if you can next year. It will be in Norway next year, Japan in ’07, Austria in ’08, and the US in ’09.

It looks like the U-S meeting will be in Texas. I can assure you that it will be worth your time.

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Communicating Ag To The Swiss Public

Chuck Zimmerman

IFAJ-44Next up on today’s program was one of the organizer’s of the IFAJ Congress, Marcus Rediger. Marcus had lots of interesting information. He spoke on “The Communication of the Farmers With Society.” One of the very cool things his organization (Agricultural Information Center) does is an annual National Brunch Day where a consumer can go out to a farm and have brunch. It’s a national holiday now. Now that’s promoting understanding between farmers and consumers.

His group has also coordinated an ongoing campaign (5 million Swiss Francs) to educate the general public about agriculture. He said it was titled “Thank God for the Swiss farmer.” I like that slogan. He does see the bond between the farmer and the public weakening though and efforts like this are becoming more important.

He said that 97% of the public prefer Swiss products. 67% think it’s important to know where their food is coming from. Most think it’s too expensive. He said that 8% of the federal budget goes to subsidizing farmers. He said that farmers only make up about 3 to 4 percent of the population. Sounds like the United States. 3/4 of the Swiss population live in urban areas.

This information campaign his organization is involved in has done surveys to see if it’s made any impact on the general public. 80% say they like the slogan/campaign. You can view elements of the campaign here.

There’s lots more to come AgWired fans. It’s time now to go to the closing ceremony. I’ll have lots more tomorrow.

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Swiss Ag Publications Facing The Future

Chuck Zimmerman

IFAJ-43First up on the program on the final day of the IFAJ was Ruedi Hagmann, BauernZeitung, who spoke on “The Swiss Agricultural Media In Flux.” Right off the bat I’ve got to say that each of the morning’s speakers said things that I think are probably just like you’re going to find anywhere in the world today.

In Ruedi’s case he told us about the fact that there’s a large number of Swiss ag publications still (196 if my notes are correct). That’s a lot. I thought it was interesting though how he said that the internet won’t ever replace printed publications. I actually agree with that. However, he went on to say that only 5 to 10 percent of Swiss farmers use the internet. When I asked where that number (range) comes from he wasn’t specific so I would question that. It’s over 51 percent now in the U-S. He said it was due to the average age of a Swiss farmer being 55. However, that’s about what it is in the United States too! I’d like to see an “official” study on this in Switzerland.

He also told of declining readership for ag publications and declining revenue which he thinks will mean fewer pubs in the future.

Back on the internet thing. I also thought it was interesting that he said that there hasn’t been any money to be made from the internet when it comes to agricultural information. Perhaps the right model hasn’t been presented to advertisers yet?

Any thoughts you have?

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Final Day of IFAJ

Chuck Zimmerman

IFAJ-42The final day of the IFAJ Congress got started with a morning program on “Agriculture, PR and the Role of Media.” Moderated by Adrian Krebs, this was a panel of 3 people who’ll you’ll meet next who each spoke on a different aspect of this main topic.

Pioneer Hi-BredAgWired reports on IFAJ Congress 2005 are sponsored by Pioneer Hi-Bred.

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IFAJ Awards Presented

Chuck Zimmerman

IFAJ-39One of the highlights of an IFAJ Congress is the awards ceremony for the annual photo contest and Star Prize (writing contest). You can view the powerpoint presentation of the awards from this link: IFAJ Awards

IFAJ-40The photo contest has got to be a difficult one to judge. Kudos to the panel of judges. This year’s first place winner is Adries Gouws of South Africa. You can see the entries in the contest by viewing the powerpoint presentation.

IFAJ-41The Star Prize contest for writing this year was won by Gunilla Ander of Sweden.

The photo contest is sponsored by DeLaval and the Star Prize contest is sponsored by John Deere.

Pioneer Hi-BredAgWired reports on IFAJ Congress 2005 are sponsored by Pioneer Hi-Bred.

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Will NAMA Be In New Orleans In ’06

Chuck Zimmerman

Hyatt New Orleans-AP Photo-Bill HaberAs you no doubt know, Cindy and I are in Switzerland. Since we’ve been here we’ve only been able to see some CNN coverage of the hurricane aftermath in the south. When I saw the damage to the Hyatt I wondered how it would affect the NAMA convention next spring and in the latest NAMA e-News they mention that it is too early to tell. However, they’re looking at possible alternatives. I can’t imaging that the hotel will be ready for us by April but you never know.

According to the Hyatt website: “According to General Manager Michael Smith, minimal flooding is confined to a back, non-public area of the hotel, and the heaviest physical damage to the property was caused by windows being blown in to hotel guest rooms, all of which were completely vacated prior to Katrina’s arrival.

“Despite the wind and water damage to the hotel, the mood of those on property remains positive” he said.

The first convoy of food and supplies provided by Hyatt hotels in Atlanta and Houston arrived at Hyatt Regency New Orleans Wednesday morning, and further relief supplies are en route.

Hyatt is in the process of alerting its customers who have reservations through March 31, 2006 that the hotel will not be able to accommodate them and that all cancellation fees will be waived. In addition, Hyatt’s national sales force have contacted all meeting planners who have programs scheduled at Hyatt Regency New Orleans between now and March 31, and are in the process of assisting these groups with relocation to other destinations.

I have to make a comment on the terrible job (my opinion) the reporters are doing that I’ve seen on CNN. It’s just a non-stop “question the government” harangue. It’s pretty obvious where their bias is. This is the international feed and I can’t say it helps our image in the rest of the world. The situation is a tragedy and questions need to be answered but I can’t help but feel angry at the way these reporters are being allowed to talk about our government!

The photo is courtesy of AP Photo/Bill Haber.

NAMA

View From The Top

Chuck Zimmerman

IFAJ-37Here’s what it looks like at the top of the Schilthorn. There were lots of clouds (below us) and fog but every once in a while we got a peek at the mountains all around us. This picture was taken by Greg Lamp, Corn & Soybean Digest, by the way. He was closer to the window at our dinner table than me.

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