Nice Things Said To Us

Chuck Zimmerman

“I really enjoy reading your blog. Great job. I really enjoy the racing coverage.
Keep up the good work. By the way, are you ever home long enough to get clean clothes? Man, you’re on the road more than rock stars.’

“It has been 10 years since I attended a national NAMA convention. I just finished your Convention Blog Summary, and it was great to see faces I still recognized and read about the activities of the convention. Great Job. Thanks.”

“Great seeing you at NAMA. I love what you are working on!!“

“Man, you have done a hell of a job with your site. Your images are very well done. Your content is dead-on and plentiful. I think you have one of the best ag related websites online. I’m convinced that what you’re doing is the future of communications and marketing. I’m delighted to have a front-row seat.”

“I think what you’re doing is great. And there is a need for this innovative electronic schooling in our industry.”

“Very well done, Chuck. Thanks for the opportunity to speak my opinions!”

“Thanks so much for doing the great blog on my E & Y award. That was very thoughtful of you.”

“Congratulations, Chuck! AgWired Rocks!”

“Thanks Chuck. I subscribed to AgWired last week and enjoy reading the new posts each morning. I really like the format.”

Uncategorized

South Asia Farmers Need Help Too

Chuck Zimmerman

FAOWhile we’re still seeking ways to help hurricane Katrina victims here in the United States there’s also tremendous need for the victims of the Pakistan earthquake. I don’t know if you’ve seen much coverage of this tragedy but it’s immense.

The Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has just issued a call for $7 million to help farm families in the region.

FAO has launched an appeal for $7 million to help farm families affected by the earthquake in northern Pakistan resume their agricultural activities over the next six months. Following the immediate rescue and relief activities and as soon as conditions permit, FAO will field assessment missions to determine the impact of the earthquake on agriculture and to work with the Government to prepare a plan for reconstruction of the agriculture sector, the U.N. agency said.

There are a number of organizations who are accepting donations for relief efforts for earthquake victims. Please keep them in mind as you consider your charitable giving this fall. If you’re unsure of where you can provide help I recommend a Google search and you’ll find lots of choices.

Update to this post:
Network For GoodIt was just brought to my attention by the folks at U. S. Wheat Associates that there is a very good web resource that provides links to many organizations that are responding to this disaster. It’s called Network For Good.

Uncategorized

Henderson Communications Acquires Agri Marketing

Chuck Zimmerman

Agri Marketing MagazineJust a few days ago we asked, “What happens to Agri Marketing magazine?” Like many, we had heard about this but it wasn’t officially announced until today.

Henderson Communications L.L.C., a newly formed agricultural communications company, announces that it has purchased AgriMarketing magazine and its related communications activities from Vance Publishing Corp. Vance Publishing had acquired AgriMarketing as part of their purchase of Doane Agricultural Services of St. Louis, MO, on October 7 and immediately sold it to Henderson Communications.

“I am very pleased to announce this acquisition,” said Henderson Communications LLC President Lynn Henderson. “It has been my honor to have been associated with AgriMarketing since 1977, first serving as its Publisher while I was employed by its founder, Century Communications Inc. (CCI), and later while serving as President of Doane when it acquired it from CCI in 1993.”

Henderson reports there will be few changes in AgriMarketing. “It’s frequency, circulation, and editorial content will remain the same” he said. “Judy Knoll, long-time Ad Sales/Customer Service Manager of AgriMarketing will continue in that role. Also, Audrey Evans who has been affiliated with the magazine for several years will be its Managing Editor.”

I remember receiving my first issue of the publication when I became a NAMA member many years ago. We wish Lynn much success in the future.

BTW. You can read another great article about blogging as a business tool in this month’s issue. Man, that guy can write!

Publication

Over 10,000 Visitors To AgWired & Counting

Chuck Zimmerman

Sleepy Hollow, ILOver 10,000 visitors have made their way to AgWired! It’s a milestone. Hey, some may say it’s a miracle. We say, thank you and stop by again. We’ve now had more visitors than the population of Sleepy Hollow, IL, a suburb of Chicago. Pretty cool, huh? Why did we pick Sleepy Hollow. Absolutely no good reason except they were the first city of that size (10,104, 2004 U.S. Census) I found Googling around.

The exact number of “unique” visitors as of this posting is 10,212. That’s since our launch March 15 of this year. Not bad for a little ole blog about the business of agrimarketing. Who would think that so many people want to know about our business? Who would think that there are that many people in the business? There are and that number grows daily.

Want to know more about our visitors and traffic? Want to promote your company to these people? Just give me a call. You know where.

BTW. The map is courtesy of Expedia.

Uncategorized

Krause Corporation Selects Swanson Russell

Chuck Zimmerman

Krause CorporationKrause Corporation has selected Swanson Russell Associates to develop its marketing and communications services. The work will be handled by the Omaha office.

Krause Corporation manufactures and distributes soil management equipment. That includes tiller, drillers and rippers. Some pretty serious sounding equipment. In fact, if you look at their home page today you’ll see their “Dominator.” And what I find even more interesting is that you can “hear” what growers have to say about it!! Check it out.

Agencies, Agribusiness

Chef’s Chili Challenge Results

Chuck Zimmerman

MBIC Report PodcastThis week’s MBIC report from the Missouri Beef Industy Council is with Marketing Director, Dawn Thurnau. Dawn tells us all about the Chef’s Chili Challenge and fundraiser that was held last week in Columbia, MO.

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 in our sidebar or on the newly designed MBIC website.

Ag Groups, Audio, Beef, Podcasts

Harvest – Why Growers Are Hard To Reach

Chuck Zimmerman

USDAThe corn and soybean harvest is in full swing and I know that’s important to many of you, especially if you’re trying to reach a grower.

In case you didn’t know it you can find reports on crop harvest progress like the one released today from USDA’s NASS website. As you might imagine there’s a wide difference in how much progress has been made from state to state. For example, here in Missouri corn is about 77 percent done but in Minnesota it’s only 8 percent!

I suggest you bookmark their calendar of reports page and go there to find the most recent report when it comes out.

Uncategorized

Julie DeYoung Moves To Perdue

Chuck Zimmerman

Julie DeYoungI remember watching tv commercials for Perdue chicken during the couple of years I lived outside Baltimore. They featured Frank Perdue, who passed away this year. They were funny and you just believed him so we cooked a lot of it on the grill. You can see a nice tribute to Frank on the Perdue website. Now they’ve got a new spokesperson.

Julie DeYoung is moving to Perdue Farms Inc. as Vice President of Corporate Communications. DeYoung will oversee Perdue’s Communications and Public Affairs Department. She will be responsible for media and community relations, internal and external communications, corporate contributions, and will be the primary spokesperson for the corporation according to Jim Perdue, Chairman.

Julie started her career in 1983 after graduating from Iowa State. Perdue is the No. 1 brand of fresh chicken in the Eastern United States.

Agribusiness

BASF Agency of Record Official Announcement

Chuck Zimmerman

BASFAs was previously reported right here on AgWired, BASF has chosen a new agency of record for crop business in the United States. The agency is Quarry Integrated Communications.

Joy Watson and Kaye Iftner, communications managers with BASF Agricultural Products, said they are looking forward to building on Quarry’s relationship with BASF with this new assignment. “In Quarry, we have found a partner to help us further our BASF brand building efforts,” Iftner and Watson said. “Quarry’s strategic capability combined with their agribusiness, business-to-business and business-to-consumer experience, make them a great fit for our organization. As an organization, we have significant opportunities ahead and we look forward to working with Quarry to pursue them,” Iftner and Watson said.

Agencies, Agribusiness

How We Eat In America From NPD Group

Chuck Zimmerman

Since so many companies (and farmers) depend on consumer food habits and choices the information contained in the latest NPD Group’s, 20th Annual Eating Patterns in America report should be a must read. There’s some very interesting information in it. Some of it what you would expect and some of it surprising.

For example:

The number of meals eaten in a restaurant annually has decreased from 93 meals per person in 1985, to 80 meals per person today. However, the number of meals purchased at a restaurant and eaten in the car has increased from 19 meals per person in 1985, to 32 meals per person today. Ninety-two percent of take-out lunches come from fast food restaurants today, and 92 percent of individuals consume some form of “ready-to-eat” foods in the home on a daily basis. Americans are more likely to take out from a restaurant than to eat there. Whether traffic is the driving force, or simply impatience, we cannot wait to get home to eat our meals.

We use our stovetops less (down 18% from 1985), and our microwave ovens more (doubled from 10% in 1985 to 20% today).

The usage of fresh products in our main meals at home has decreased today, as compared to 1985. Back then, 56 percent of inhome main meals included a fresh product. Today, 46 percent of in-home main meals include a fresh product.

NPD FoodWorld’s Harry Balzer has an interesting viewpoint you might want to read too.

Agribusiness