2025 Tech Hub Live

Janice Dahl Starting Anchor Management Group

Chuck Zimmerman

The AnchorageI just heard from Janice Dahl who’s on a little R&R before starting a new venture. Janice has been the executive director for the United Soybean Board for the last 8 years. Here’s what she wrote:

I will be starting a consulting company called Anchor Management Group, specializing in governance and management for associations and not-for-profits. We will be launching in January. It is a great opportunity to work with many associations’ managers and leaders to build their most effective governance models and, ultimately, to make their work as impactful as it can be on behalf of their members.

Congratulations Janice on your new adventure. We look forward to hearing about your progress after the first of the year.

Agribusiness

Nutritional Advertising By The Beef Industry

Chuck Zimmerman

MBIC Report PodcastThe Missouri Beef Industry Council’s weekly MBIC Report this week is with Missouri Beef Council board member John Kleiboeker of California, MO. John talks about the beef industry’s nutrition advertising campaign that will soon be appearing in magazines like Parents, Good Housekeeping, Bon Appetit, Weight Watchers, Shape and Men’s Health.

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

The MBIC Report is an AgWired podcast which you can subscribe to using the link you’ll find on our “Blogs & Podcasts” page or on the MBIC website.

Ag Groups, Audio, Beef, Podcasts

Massey Ferguson 5400SA Series Announced

Chuck Zimmerman

Massey Ferguson 5400SA SeriesIn a first for our new AgNewsWire.AgWired.com service, Massey Ferguson announced their new 5400SA series of specialty tractors. As their release says, “Massey Ferguson’s new 5400SA tractors feature special cab styling for better maneuvering through mature fruit orchards, plus an advanced air filtration and pressurized cab air system that keeps interior air clean for the operator. ”

That’s a nice looking tractor and you can read the whole release as it’s posted for reporters on AgNewsWire.AgWired.com. Thank you AGCO and Massey Ferguson!

Agribusiness

Will The Missouri River Rise Twice

Chuck Zimmerman

CornTalk podcastCornTalk is the week’y interview program of the Missouri Corn Growers Association. The proposed plan by the Army Corps of Engineers to have two spring rises on the Missouri River could create another problem for farmers – crop insurance may not cover any losses as a result. Randy Asbury, Executive Director of the Coalition to Protect the Missouri River, talks about the potential problem and what is being done about it.

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, Audio, Corn, Podcasts

ZimmComm Welcomes Amy Shaffer

Chuck Zimmerman

Amy ShafferThis has been a memorable day in the development of ZimmComm, Marketing & Communications as we welcome Amy Shaffer to our staff. Amy is our first employee and we’re really glad to have found her. Amy has a very strong IT background and will be helping us with the management and development of our various databases, including AgNewsWire.AgWired.com. I’ll add a photo as soon as I get one. I’m on the east coast this week making presentations and hope to have a photo to share by tomorrow.Added

With Amy on board I can spend more time out meeting with you to show you how to use the newest and most unique method of news release distribution to have hit agricultural public relations in a long time. Of course that’s AgNewsWire.AgWired.com and our agriblogging and farm podcasting services.

Remember those words – Agriblogging and Farm Podcasting – because you heard them first right here on AgWired. We are your one-stop shop to take your agricultural communications efforts to a whole new level.

Uncategorized

Trees For Troops Delivers

Chuck Zimmerman

Trees For Troops Camp Pendleton StopJust a week ago I posted an interview about the Trees For Troops program that’s being coordinated by the Christmas Spirit Foundation which is distributing trees that are donated by Christmas tree farmers. That effort is certainly underway and I got some photos, including this one of their stop at Camp Pendleton in California and the following one of their stop in St. Louis, MO.

The program began in Columbus, Ohio, when FedEx picked up about 200 trees from the Ohio Christmas Tree Association’s “Operation Evergreen.” FedEx provided international transport to Qatar from FedEx Express’s Indianapolis Hub. In addition to the international transport, the Trees for Troops program will collect and deliver about 3,500 freshly harvested trees to military bases in the United States along three regional routes (Western, Central, and Eastern) between Nov. 28 and Dec. 9. FedEx Freight will provide the pick-up and delivery service for the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation, the philanthropic branch of the National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA).

Trees For Troops St. Louis Stop“During a time of year when friends and family gather with loved ones, we must also remember the servicemen and women stationed overseas this holiday season,” said Douglas G. Duncan, president and chief executive officer, FedEx Freight. “With this small gesture, we want to extend a special thank-you to our brave troops and their families.”

Ag Groups

International Pressure On Domestic Farm Programs

Keith Good

FarmPolicy.comThe long awaited sixth W.T.O. Ministerial Conference will be held in Hong Kong, China, next week (Dec. 13–18).

According to the W.T.O. webpage, “This sixth conference will be vital for enabling the four-year-old Doha Development Agenda (D.D.A.) negotiations forward sufficiently to conclude the round in 2006.”

Embedded within the trade talks is the increasingly controversial issue of American and European farm subsidies.

Recently, in separate individual cases before the W.T.O., the world body issued decisions finding that some U.S. cotton support programs, as well as parts of the EU’s domestic sugar policy, violated certain aspects of international trade agreements.

The outcome of these cases has under girded the current round of multi-party trade talks. As added negotiating leverage, some countries may imply that insufficient movement in current trade talks may result in other commodity specific litigation that could bring additional pressure for domestic farm policy reform.

In a report released last Wednesday, Oxfam International noted that programs impacting corn, rice and sorghum could potentially face a similar fate as cotton in a W.T.O. litigated process if the programs are not changed.

Similarly, the Cato Institute noted in a report released this week that, “U.S. farm programs for a variety of commodities may be suppressing market prices in violation of the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures.”

And just yesterday, DTN writer Chris Clayton reported that, “The United States runs the risk of domestic farm programs getting ‘picked apart’ by trade cases from other countries challenging U.S. ag subsidies if a deal isn’t struck in the Doha Round of World Trade Organizations talks, USDA’s chief economist said Monday.”

Legal and political pressure placed on U.S. domestic crop programs from abroad seems certain to be a key factor in the 2007 Farm Bill debate.

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. For more information, go to www.FarmPolicy.com.

Farm Policy

USDA’s NASS Offering RSS News Feed

Chuck Zimmerman

National Agricultural Statistics ServiceUSDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service unveiled a newly designed website today. I went there wondering what’s new.

Technological enhancements include a new Google-powered search engine, an SVG interactive mapping application, an RSS news feed and XML technology. To complete the redesign effort, the site mirrors the look and feel of the official USDA web site. At the same time, the site continues to provide comprehensive statistical data on every facet of U.S. agriculture. Features such as the Quick Stats Agricultural Statistics Database offer the ability to search for data by commodity, state(s) and year(s). National, state and county level data can then be downloaded for easy use in a database or spreadsheet.

I was impressed to see RSS. They don’t have everything set up as an RSS feed yet but they’re working on it. You can bet I’m already a subscriber. Government agencies like NASS really need to get on the RSS bandwagon. It sure makes it easier to keep up to date with their reports without having to depend on email or other forms of communications distribution.

Way to go USDA – NASS.

Uncategorized

AGCO Orange Doing Well

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast45 - Todd StuckeIn case you’ve wondered how those orange tractors are doing this week’s ZimmCast is an interview with Todd Stucke, General Marketing Manager, AGCO. I caught up to Todd at the recent NAFB convention.

I remember going to the first AGCO media event in Georgia. I actually drove a big Fendt. That was a fun event and I’m glad to hear that things are going well for the company. Todd talks about what’s new and why the brand is doing well.

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.

Agribusiness, Audio, Podcasts, ZimmCast