News Briefs

Chuck Zimmerman

What do you think about the idea of “news briefs?” I did this yesterday and once again today. We’re getting a lot of news here and rather than ignore it I’m borrowing on an idea I’ve seen on other blogs I subscribe to. The idea is to give you a headline/tease with a link to the release or the website where you can find more if you want it. Love to have your feedback.

Weather alerts by SKYLERT delivers real-time Weather, Homeland Security, Amber Alerts, Hurricane and Tsunami Weather Warnings instantly to cellphones, pagers, PDAs, Blackberries and email accounts.

New website for “A Self-Propelled, Constant-Speed Spray Vaccinator for Commercial Layer Chickens.”

Rob Robinson has been named operating head of Golden Harvest Seeds, Inc.

You can find an interesting list of public relations blogs over at PR Meets The WWW.

Free Hidden Valley Collection of Kid-Approved Recipes – The Small Bites Cookbook

Uncategorized

Commodity Classic Photo Album

Chuck Zimmerman

Classic DudesAt Commodity Classic last week I took a bunch of pictures and didn’t use them all in my posts. So, in case you want to see more I put a selection of them (57) into a Flickr photo album for you.

You can see the them here: 2006 Commodity Classic Photo Album

Commodity Classic

News Briefs

Chuck Zimmerman

For your perusal:

Codex Alimentarius launches new website on Food Additives

Ridomil Gold Bravo SC Now Available for Use on Vegetables and Potatoes (from Syngenta)

Post a “FREE For Sale Listing” on TractorHouse.com.

Rhea & Kaiser Marketing Communications, an integrated marketing communications agency well known for its leading portfolio of agricultural clients, hosted 10 students from Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences (CHSAS) during February’s Groundhog Job Shadowing Week, a national program that gives middle and high school students a firsthand look at day-to-day life in the workplace.

Trans Ova Genetics has announced the appointment of Chris Sigurdson to the position of Sales & Marketing Director, based out of the corporate headquarters in Sioux Center.

Agencies, Agribusiness

Follow College Students on Domestic Fuel

Chuck Zimmerman

The idea of blogging college students seems to be catching on. Over on Domestic Fuel, we’re getting some daily reports from students who are on a cross country tour fueled by E85. They’re in a Chevy Avalanche. We just got the first reports in today and I’m sure Cindy will have them posted later. You can see the original post on it here.

We found out about it at the last minute and would have liked to have set it up differently but this works. They’re writing about their experience and we’re providing an outlet. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of feedback it generates.

Ethanol

Shamrock Shindig In Missouri

Chuck Zimmerman

Missouri Director of Agriculture FerrellIt’s not St. Patty’s day yet but green soy beer was flowing in Jefferson City this evening at the second annual Shamrock Shindig. This is our Missouri Director of Agriculture’s showcase reception for our legislators. It’s a great party.

In the picture you can see Director of Ag, Fred Ferrell (right), welcoming guests. I avoided the name tags since they didn’t have one made for me. They were ear tags and they had pre-loaded the guests names into a computer. Then when you walked through the entrance the tag was read and you showed up on a computer screen. It was to demonstrate the animal id system that the Department is supporting. I thought it was a little scary that the Department is tracking people!

I interviewed Director Ferrell, although I had to edit out his greetings since he would stop and individually greet each person that came in. You can hear my interview with Fred here: Listen To MP3 File Fred Ferrell Interview (1 min. MP3)

By the way, Missouri’s commodity groups all cook up and serve food. It’s judged and the overall winner this year was the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association with their beef stew.

Audio

Keep Your iPressroom Updated

Chuck Zimmerman

iPressroomI have never used iPressroom but their news release just came in and prompted me to write about a frustration I’m having today. In their release they say “. . . reports a sharp rise in the number of inquiries for “Internet Pressroom Solutions” over the last three months, outpacing the number of incoming requests for “News Wire Distribution” for the first time in the company’s history.”

Here’s how they define an internet pressroom vs. news distribution:

An internet pressroom is the section of an organization’s web site where press materials, publicity photos, corporate facts sheets, video news releases, audio news releases and other corporate communications can be accessed. News distribution refers to the electronic delivery of press releases and other corporate communications.

Okay. Not having any idea how good their internet pressroom solutions are, I do want to encourage companies to pay more attention to them. My frustration is receiving a release and not finding it on the company or organizational website. One of the reasons I’d like to find it is so that I can link to it, which I hope the company or public relations staff would want. You may be surprised how often a company sends out a timely news release and then waits days, weeks even, before posting it on their website. I just tried to find 3 different releases on 3 different websites that I’ve had for over a week and none of them showed up in the “current news releases” section of their website. Why?

Back to iPressroom’s release. Here’s an excerpt that I completely agree with:

“The web is now the first place journalists, investors and stakeholders turn for information and PR people know it. The press release actually has more value today from an archival stand point, than as a news breaking tool, as long as people can find them when they want them online,” said iPressroom founder and president Eric Schwartzman.

By the way, you can find the iPressroom release from a direct link on their homepage.

Public Relations

News Briefs

Chuck Zimmerman

Here’s some things I’ve been meaning to bring to your attention:

Boehringer Ingelheim Sells Insecticide Products, Manufacturing to KMG Chemicals

BEEF CHECKOFF ENJOYMENT CAMPAIGN RETURNS TO NATIONAL MAGAZINES, RADIO

Garst Seed Company Offers 20 Additional New Corn Hybrids and Eight New Soybean Varieties Available for 2006 Planting Season

Stoller Marks 35 Years of Increasing Crop Production Through Improved Plant Health

Ag Groups, Agribusiness

American increases in peas and lentils hurt Canadian producers

Chuck Zimmerman

Harry SiemensAmerican production of field peas and lentils has risen dramatically in response to government support under the Loan Deficiency Payment program. My colleague Kevin Hursh in Saskatoon, SA says back in 2002, the U.S. placed pulse crops under the LDP effectively guaranteeing producers a floor price. A report just released from Agriculture Canada shows the subsequent acreage and production increases.

On lentils, the seeded area in the U.S. has more than doubled since 2001 hitting 450,000 acres last year. Most of the growth has been in North Dakota and Montana. American lentil acreage could increase again this year, even though market prices are badly depressed. Saskatchewan produces far more lentils than the U.S., but it isn’t helpful to have a competitor that has returns guaranteed by a government program.

On peas, the U.S. acreage increase is even more dramatic. In 2001, the U.S. had only 227,000 acres of peas. Last year, the acreage hit 850,000 and this year could surpass 1.1 million.

According to Ag Canada, the Loan Deficiency Payment has sometimes accounted for more than a quarter of the total price received by producers for peas. Market prices for lentils and peas are very low, but when you get an extra dollar or two per bushel from the government, they’re suddenly much more attractive.

That’s how government programs in one country hurt producers in another country. Let’s say for a minute, the Canadian government would provide the same support. We don’t have to imagine very long how that would completely distort the marketplace

Siemens Says

International

Back to the Real World

Chuck Zimmerman

Mary Irelan It’s back to the real world after a great stay in California. I got home around 10pm. Had a midterm at 9 the next morning and my first article do by Noon. Ahh the life of a busy college student. I hope everyone enjoyed the coverage on the Commodity Classic. I know I really enjoyed it and got a lot out of the whole experience. A big thank you to Tami Schilling, Mica DeLong, and everyone at Monsanto for sponsoring my trip. Also, thanks to Chuck Zimmerman for allowing me to blog on AgWired. I had a great time doing it. To everyone I met during Commodity Classic, thank you. You made my experience all the better for knowing you. I hope everyone has a safe and productive spring. Goodbye!

Commodity Classic

Press Conference Headline

Chuck Zimmerman

RIck ChambleeAt the Commodity Classic last week BASF held a press conference to talk about Headline fungicide. One of the presenters was Rick Chamblee, Technical Services Manager. I think the primary message he had to provide for us media types to communicate to growers was the recommendations BASF makes for using the product on corn and soybeans.

You can listen to Rick’s recommendations here:

Listen To MP3 File Corn Recommendation (2 min MP3)
Listen To MP3 File Soybean Recommendation (1 min MP3)

Agribusiness, Audio, Commodity Classic