National Biodiesel Conference Blog Announced

Chuck Zimmerman

National Biodiesel BoardIt sure seems like the ZimmComm blog announcements are coming out hot and heavy lately. There’s still more to come too. Today we were able to announce one of our latest projects – the National Biodiesel Conference blog. This site was built for the National Biodiesel Board and I’ll be blogging the conference on it as well as right here on AgWired. I’m pretty sure Cindy will be reporting on activities from the conference on DomesticFuel as well.

“Because there is so much happening at this conference, we were looking for a way to provide information not only to interested parties who are unable to attend the conference, but also for those who are attending and can’t make it to everything,” said National Biodiesel Board CEO Joe Jobe.

I’m very excited to be working with the NBB. They’re doing some exciting stuff and we’re going to bring it all to the blogosphere. Besides the blog though we’ve also set up a podcast series. You can subscribe to it now with this url: http://zimmcomm.biz/nbb/nbb-podcast.xml. There’s an introductory interview already in the series and I’ll be posting new interviews as I get them at the conference next week. In addition, I’ll be recording a live XM Radio broadcast at the end of the conference featuring guest Willie Nelson. It will round out the podcast series.

So as Willie says, I’m “on the road again.”

Ag Groups

Ag Marketing Needs Rural Broadband

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast53-Tim GanschowI know I already did a program with audio from Tim Ganschow. But that was using excerpts from a speech he gave. Last week I got to sit down with him and conduct a more informal interview and ask questions about how rural broadband access will affect agricultural marketing. In this week’s program Tim reviews the current status of rural broadband internet access and talks about what he calls the “pent up demand” that exists on the part of farmers who want to utilize it for the benefit of their agricultural operation.

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 or subscribe in iTunes.

Agribusiness, Internet

Blogging From The Cattle Industry Convention

Chuck Zimmerman

2006 Cattle Industry ConventionIt’s time once again for the Cattle Industry Convention. This week I’ll feature on-site coverage here on AgWired. But in addition to that I’ll also be blogging on the Cattlemen’s Beef Board blog. This first ever effort to use a new media option to more openly communicate Beef Checkoff information to cattle producers should be interesting. I encourage you to visit and let me know what you think.

We’ve created individual pages for each organizational committee that contain the meeting agenda and minutes from the last committee meeting. Like regular posts, these pages also have a comment feature. We are inviting producers to comment and pose questions, ideas and suggestions. They have already started to do so.

I will offer some information in follow up after the conference is over because this seems to be an idea that would have application to many other organizations.

Ag Groups

Retired Journalism Prof Shows Arrogance

Chuck Zimmerman

AAEA ByLineIn the latest issue of the AAEA Byline (you’ve got to be a member to read it) there’s an article on ethics called “Beware The Ethics Swamp.” It’s written by Elaine Shein. I think this is a great subject to do a series of articles on. Perhaps we should invite articles on the topic from multiple authors so we get different perspectives. Why? Because it’s so easy to get a one-sided view of an issue from one source. In this article Elaine writes about a presentation from a Nick Russell, who is apparently a retired professor of journalism ethics in Canada.

I get the impression that Russell is one of those traditional journalist guys who got to the station too late to get on the clue train. For example, here’s a list of the problem areas in journalistic ethics he mentioned in a talk last fall. “Topics included polls, freebie trips, plagiarism, digital images, convergence and online journalism, particularly blogs.” Whoa. Not “the blogs.”

Here’s a selection from the story in a section called, “Web of Lies?,“Journalists should look at who writes information on the Web: what’s their expertise and agenda? Are they “wanna-be writers” in a world where the gatekeepers are gone? “There are no editors so they can do what they like,” warned Russell.” Sounds to me like you’re one frustrated journalist with no gate to keep anymore. That just comes across a little too arrogant for me.

How about this one. “And then there are weblogs or blogs where everyone can be a journalist or a critic. There is a great danger when audiences accept blogs as legitimate journalism. Blogs are not always accountable. Often they are daily, they invite reader input, they’re unedited, they show initiative and they often are easy to create with format templates.” Excuse me. Can you say, “I am so arrogant?” I guess we’re all just idiots and have no way of knowing the truth of what we’re reading. Gee I wish I had a gate keeper to sort out what I need to know for me.

Here’s a final one. “They are an online collection of short stories, Russell said, but he also stressed often they are “egotistic, self-centered” and rubbish.” Yeah. Well let’s look at some magazines, newspapers and look at and listen to some radio and tv. None of that egotistic, self-centered rubbish there, eh?

Sorry Mr. Russell but your ranting about blogs doesn’t leave me with any impression other than how arrogant you are. I’m glad you weren’t teaching at the college of journalism I graduated from. I’ve only been in the business for a little over 20 years but as a blogger I guess I’m just one of the people who left the gate open. Frankly, I accept and like the fact that it’ll never be shut again.

ACN, Media

PETA Is Getting Udderly Ridiculous

Chuck Zimmerman

Milk Gone WildProving once again that they are completely without brains or any moral compass, the folks at PETA have created a website to attack milk. If it wasn’t a good idea to know what the wackos are up to I sould suggest you just ignore it. It would almost be funny if they weren’t so ignorant and just plain disgusting.

This Milk Gone Wild website is a crude takeoff on the even more filthy and perverted Girls Gone Wild trash videos. They have women exposing themselves but endowed with bovine mammary appendages. There’s just too much trash to even discuss. In fact, I saw an alert to it on Ad Jab and only visited long enough to get a sense of this crap that this group has once again put out.

Dairy

AgraQuest Acquires Codena – Bugs Tremble

Chuck Zimmerman

Agra QuestSoft bodied insects had better watch out. AgraQuest has you in their sights. They’ve got a new biopesticide from their Codena acquisition and they’re ready to rock your soft little squiggly world.

AgraQuest, Inc., has acquired Codena, Inc., a Quebec-based company that specializes in the research and development of insecticides derived from plant extracts. AgraQuest, well-known in the large and rapidly growing biopesticide market for its strong research, robust pipeline, and commercialization capabilities, gains a new natural insecticide for controlling soft-bodied insects.
>/i>

Agribusiness

Snacking At The Food Safety Summit

Chuck Zimmerman

Food Safety SummitWith food safety such a big issue right now, going to Las Vegas in March for the Food Safety Summit (March 22-24, Las Vegas), is an option. It was just acquired by Stagnito Communications which is an Ascend Media Company.

SNAXPO 2006I personally think food safety sounds kind of boring but I know how important it is to people in today’s world and how much companies and organizations are investing in it. To get someone like me to attend they had to add an extra feature. That extra feature this year is having the Snack Foods Association hold SNAXPO at the same time and place. Now that would help I’ve got to believe. In fact, I want to know that my snacks are safe while we’re at it!

Food, Publication

Triple Nickel Comfort For Military

Chuck Zimmerman

Cotton For ComfortIf you’re going to wear Kevlar for protection add a little cotton for comfort. At least that’s what I think Dr. Seshadri “Ram” Ramkumar of Texas Tech University’s Institute of Environmental and Human Health is doing for our military. He’s also doing it with the “triple nickel.” What’s the triple nickel? Good question. From a D&Pl release:

As the old saying goes “it is better to be lucky than good” which could certainly be the case in this research as the best fabrics tested so far have been developed from DP 555 BG/RR, the country’s number one variety for three years running. Although much work remains to be done before DP 555 BG/RR can be making soldiers lives a little bit more comfortable, consumers of U.S. grown cotton are already benefiting from enhanced comfort since approximately 25% of the bales grown in the U.S. last year were DP 555 BG/RR. With highly popular fabrics treatments like permanent press and stain resistance negatively impacting cotton’s comfort, use of U.S. grown cotton in these fabrics should increase their comfort value to consumers.

Yep, good old DP 555 BG/RR. That’s the “triple nickel.”

Agribusiness

Some Sweet Varieties of Corn

Chuck Zimmerman

Sweet CornThis announcement made me think of Florida sweet corn boils and especially the Zellwood Sweet Corn Festival. It’s nice to know that new varieties are still coming out.

NK Brand dealers are providing a portfolio of 11 sweet corn hybrids for farmers planning to produce the traditional summer delicacy in 2006. In cooperation with ROGERS, a Syngenta Seeds brand that provides vegetable seeds to commercial growers, NK Brand dealers are offering sweet corn choices that include the new BC 0805, an ATTRIBUTE insect protected sweet corn with TripleSweet eating quality, and Avalon, the first white TripleSweet corn.

“Sweet corn seed is a popular add-on when growers purchase their corn and soybean seed, making these new hybrids another reason to contact your NK Brand dealer soon,” said Eric Brown, NK Brand marketing programs manager. “We are very excited that our dealers will be providing these sweet corn offerings because they include hybrids usually only available for commercial production. Most importantly, both BC 0805 and Avalon offer outstanding eating qualities and superior taste.”

I like that part about “outstanding eating qualities and superior taste.” Back in my Florida Farm Bureau Federation days I helped our field staff cook and serve boiled sweet corn at lots of events. We had it down to a science. Boil, peel back, dip in melted butter, sprinkle with salt and serve!

Agribusiness, Corn

Doane Looking For Director

Chuck Zimmerman

DoaneDoane is looking for a new “head.”

Grant Cooper & Associates has been retained to recruit the new head of Doane, a long-standing leader in agricultural and commodities information and advisory services, headquartered in St. Louis. Doane was recently acquired by Vance Publishing which is a closely-held, family-owned company in business and information communications, headquartered outside of Chicago. The diverse audience for Doane’s services ranges from individual, family-owned farms to mega-Fortune 500 companies who have vulnerability to food commodity price fluctuations.

The successful candidate will have a background in agricultural economics and commodities, and be known for their ability to convey sometimes complex theory into practical reality. They will also be a dynamic, creative, forward-thinking marketer with unquestioned sales and managerial skills. A knowledge of publishing and in particular digital media is a strong preference.

You can see a list of specifications for the job here.

Publication