Feeding America PSA Featuring Voice of Julianne Moore

Jamie Johansen

Feeding AmericaFeeding America has partnered with the Ad Council and McCann New York to launch new public service advertisements (PSAs) designed to raise awareness about child hunger in the United States. Featuring the voice of Julianne Moore, who volunteered her time and talent, the PSAs call upon Americans to help children facing hunger in America by supporting the Feeding America nationwide network of food banks.

Research shows that proper nutrition, particularly in the first three years of life, is critical to a child’s physical and emotional development. Children from families struggling with hunger may be more likely to:
– repeat a grade in elementary school;
– experience developmental impairments in areas like language and motor skills; or
– have more social and behavioral problems.

“Hunger is harmful to people of all ages, yet we know it is particularly devastating for children,” said Diana Aviv, CEO of Feeding America. “We hope that these PSAs serve as a wake-up call on behalf of children in every community in our nation who need our help, whose basic needs are not being met.”


Advertising, Ag Groups, Food

Agrible & The Equity Partner to Offer New GoSmart Tools

Kelly Marshall

agrible-logo Agrible, Inc. and The Equity (formerly Effingham Equity) are working together to offer the predictive analytics tools inside Agrible’s Morning Farm Report to The Equity’s GoSmart Analytics customers. GoSmart Analytics users can now access industry-leading data insights as well as help with on-farm decision making.

By signing up for GoSmart Analytics, growers receive up-to-date weather forecasts, in-season yield forecasts, and the ability to benchmark yield results with other GoSmart customers. They also receive a Morning Farm Report account with access to forecasts and recommendations on pests, nutrient availability, and more. For an additional fee, growers can add the Morning Farm Report Field Logistics AgriBundle, which includes hour-by-hour field conditions, soil temperatures, wind speed and direction, and a pollinator risk guide.

The Equity“The Equity has built a reputation as a leader in innovation and service,” said Chris Harbourt, CEO of Agrible. “Their philosophy is a perfect fit for Morning Farm Report, and we look forward to bringing the power of big data to their GoSmart Analytics customers.”

The new system will allow GoSmart Analytics customers to use the Morning Farm Report’s predictive analytics for planning and data-based decisions. Then at harvest growers can benchmark their return on investment for each field without needing to add their data to another system.

“With GoSmart Analytics, we are looking to turn big data into value for our customers,” said Tim Bence, Agronomy VP at The Equity. “We’re confident that the predictive analytics tools in Morning Farm Report will compliment the GoSmart system and help us accomplish that goal.”

Learn more from your salesperson or find additional details at www.TheEquity.com.

Ag Groups, data

NAMA Professional Development Award Winners

Jamie Johansen

NAMA LogoNAMA announced the winners of the 2016 Professional Development Awards. Each year, NAMA recognizes industry leaders at the very top of their respective fields. These prestigious awards acknowledge excellence in the areas of marketing communications, public relations and sales.

The 2016 Marketing Communications award recipient is Marcy Tessman, President and Partner at Charleston|Orwig. In her tenure with Charleston|Orwig, she has risen from account service to agency partner and president. She works with clients throughout the food system while ensuring that the agency provides flexible, positive career paths for every member of the team. Her specialty is to ensure that client brands are well defined and resonate with their respective audiences. She has led major branding initiatives with clients in production agriculture as well as consumer-facing retail food brands including Arm & Hammer Animal Nutrition and Zoetis. Marcy is active in the Badger NAMA Chapter, having helped organize activities over the years. She has served as a judge for the Student Marketing Competition and advisor to the UW-Madison Student NAMA Team.

The Professional Development Award for Public Relations goes to Bill Brozak, Director of Communications for Colle+McVoy/Exponent PR. Bill is a leader of the agency’s agriculture practice. His expertise has played a vital role in expanding business for some of the agency’s leading agriculture clients, which include the Land O’Lakes agriculture brand, Winfield. Additionally, he has developed successful communications programs for clients such as Granular, Progressive Ag Foundation, Purina Animal Nutrition, DTN/The Progressive Farmer, Schneider Electric, General Mills and others. Bill has been an active NAMA member for five years, serving as treasurer, vice president and active president of the North Central NAMA Chapter. Over the years, he has helped plan events, recruit members and facilitate relationships between the organization’s members and agency clients.

Matt Herman is awarded the Professional Development Award for Sales. As Associate Publisher for DTN/The Progressive Farmer, Matt continues to be the leader in elevating the print, digital, custom publishing and event offerings of the company within the agricultural advertising community. In addition to serving as the strategic lead on key agricultural accounts, Matt has direct sales responsibilities on some of the most impactful ag partners to the media business. He was integral in launching the first ever DTN/Progressive Ag Summit and has been a leader in developing programs and opportunities that combine the integrated offerings of the DTN digital platform with The Progressive Farmer. A long-time member of NAMA, Matt has been engaged as a committed leader in the North Central Chapter, as well as on a national level as a member of the Boot Camp Committee.

Ag Groups, Marketing, NAMA

#IFAJ2016 Bayer Tour – Part 8 – ForwardFarming Initiative

Chuck Zimmerman

Bernd OlligsLet’s turn to the Bayer ForwardFarming Initiative in this episode of my tour during the IFAJ Congress in Germany. We got our look at the concept on Damianshof Farm near Neuss. Our host was farm manager Bernd Olligs. His family has managed the farm for six generations and he inherited ownership from his mother. On Bernd’s farm they grow sugar beets, potatoes, winter wheat, winter oilseed rape and winter barley.

This farm has worked in cooperation with Bayer and the ForwardFarming Initiative for over forty years. Bernd hosts visitors like our IFAJ group to demonstrate the performance and the correct efficient application of Bayer crop protection products. He’s all about combining productivity with biodiversity. Some of the ways that is accomplished include flowering strips by his fields, skylark plots, beetle banks, shrub gardens and nesting boxes for bees, owls and songbirds.

In future episodes we’ll get a closer look not only of Bernd’s farm but other ways Bayer is achieving progress in their ForwardFarming Initiative. I’m going to let the farmer tell you more below.

You can listen to the presentation here or watch below: Bernd Olligs Presentation


2016 IFAJ Congress Photo Album

Coverage of the IFAJ Congress is sponsored by Coverage of the IFAJ Congress is sponsored by Bayer
Agribusiness, Audio, Bayer, Farming, IFAJ, Video, Wheat

Eric Whitley Joins Protect The Harvest Board of Directors

Jamie Johansen

protect the harvestProtect The Harvest is expanding its Board of Directors with the addition of long-time social and political activist Eric Whitley.

Whitley is President and principal of Downforcemarketing LLC, a manufacturing, marketing and consulting firm working with Fortune 500 companies around the world. He is also Director of Business Improvement at Leading2Lean.com, a manufacturing software provider that drives data focused businesses. A keen social services activist, Whitley was originally a Protect The Harvest volunteer and now joins the Board of Directors.

“We are very pleased to welcome Eric Whitley to our Board of Directors,” says Brian Klippenstein, Executive Director of Protect The Harvest. “His marketing expertise will help counter the marketing programs underway by anti-agriculture activists. Eric loves spending his time fighting for American families, especially the poor, by ensuring we continue to have the most plentiful, safest and affordable food supply ever known in history – all provided by American farmers and ranchers.”

Ag Groups

Malaysian Market Resumes Import of US Corn

Kelly Marshall

usgcIt’s been five years since U.S. grain landed in Malaysia.  Member of the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) were recently on hand to welcome the first vessel of corn into the country since the drought in 2012/13.  The grain was loaded from the Pacific Northwest and was sold from one USGC member to another, destined for serval key USGC allies.

“This is an exciting opportunity,” said Kevin Roepke, USGC South and Southeast Asia regional director. “We’re able to build partnerships that help this bit of trade happen, which is a big win for Malaysia and U.S. producers.”

The vessel was seen by the industry as a “trial run” to retest U.S. quality following significant engagement from the Council to encourage readoption of U.S. grains. In particular, USGC’s quality reports issued each year to offer in-depth information to customers about the current year’s crop helped alleviate objections and some nervousness about U.S. corn quality.

According to operations employees, the recently-arrived vessel came in around 1 percent higher in moisture and with similar rates of broken corn as South American origin corn. High moisture has always been a concern for U.S. origin corn in Southeast Asia because hot and humid weather conditions make even short-term storage challenging. The cargo was reportedly loaded at roughly 13.7 percent and arrived at approximately 14.7 percent, close to the threshold of 15 percent.

USCG plans to work in Malaysian buyers to answer questions and help ensure future sales.  “Buyers want the best quality and we work hard to answer their questions and help them have confidence in buying from the United States,” Roepke said.

This is an opportunity for the U.S. to present corn of comparable quality to South America, since their crop is under pressure this year and the United States expect an abundant harvest.  If quality expectations are met the U.S. could see more business from Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries as well.

Ag Groups, Corn, Exports, Grains

Farm Credit System Celebrates 100 Years

Jamie Johansen

ZimmCast 521FCS Financial and the Farm Credit System have spent the last year celebrating their 100-year anniversary. To recognize this occasion, FCS Financial invited all of their member-owners to celebrate with them at the Missouri State Fair. Events for member-owners took place throughout the day along with receiving meal vouchers and admission tickets to the fair.

This was just one festivity FCS Financial held to commemorate a century of service to agriculture and rural communities. I was able to sit down with CEO of the Farm Credit System, Dave Janis, to learn more about the 100-year celebration and what the future looks like as they focus on their customer’s needs.

“Our mission for the last 100 years has been to provide a reliable source of credit and financial services to our members. As we look forward, we want to continue that mission for the next 100 years. We think agriculture and rural communities are specially important. We want to do our part to support it through our programs.”

Learn more in this week’s program: ZimmCast with FCS Financial

Subscribe to the ZimmCast podcast here.

The ZimmCast

sponsored by
The ZimmCast podcast is sponsored by GROWMARK
Locally owned, globally strong.
Agribusiness, Audio, Farm Credit, ZimmCast

Agribusiness TV is Mobile in Africa

Chuck Zimmerman

Agribusiness TVDuring this year’s IFAJ Congress I met again with Inoussa Maïga, an agricultural journalist from Burkina Faso. This young entrepreneur brought my attention to a big project he’s involved with called, “Agribusiness TV.” This is the first web tv channel designed for mobile phones and dedicated to youth who succeed and innovate in the agricultural sector of Africa.

You can get their mobile app here: Google Play – Apple App Store

Agribusiness TV is starting with video reports in 4 countries in West and Central Africa: Burkina Faso, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon.

In each of these countries, a multimedia journalist works on the production of video reports on successful young entrepreneurs along the value chain. Agribusiness TV aspires to gradually cover other African countries.

Agribusiness TV is an initiative of MEDIAPROD, supported by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) through its Agriculture, Rural Development and Youth in the Information Society (ARDYIS) Project.

Take a look at the video below and let me know what you think about this project. Do we need one in the USA?



Caroline HIEN, 25 years, did not know how to read or write. But this did not stop her from creating her own enterprise and succeed in her business of making local fruit jams.

Caroline used to go to the market in Cote d’Ivoire and see that fruits were rotting there. For her, this is not acceptable and it has motivated her to transform these fruits, make it a business and create jobs for others.

Today, through her enterprise “Carol’s Confiture – homemade”, Caroline has won the first prize of the Challenge “Startupper 2016” and is planning to expand her business.

2016 IFAJ Congress Photo Album

Coverage of the IFAJ Congress is sponsored by Coverage of the IFAJ Congress is sponsored by Bayer
IFAJ, International, Media, Video

New Poll Shows Strong Support for TPP Agreement

Jamie Johansen

farmbureauA new poll from Morning Consult shows most voters favor fair trade. Which is something the American Farm Bureau Federation said all candidates should keep in mind as a congressional vote on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement comes closer to reality.

“Most Americans support free trade,” American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said, “and most farmers do, too. Exports account for almost a quarter of American farm receipts, so opposing fair trade agreements like TPP doesn’t make a lot of sense to rural America.”

Among other things, the August poll found:
· Fifty-seven percent of registered voters have a favorable view of “fair trade.”
· Fifty percent said they would be more likely to support TPP if they knew it would provide new markets overseas for U.S. farm products.
· After Americans were told TPP would increase net farm income by $4.4 billion and agricultural exports by $5.3 billion, 52 percent said they would be more likely to support TPP. More than half (51 percent) say an estimated increase of 40,100 jobs resulting from the agreement would make them more likely to support TPP.
· Fifty-two percent of voters say they would be more likely to support TPP if they knew the deal would increase annual income in the U.S. by $131 billion.
· Sixty-nine percent of voters support trade policies that will open new markets for U.S. products and U.S. farmers while less than one in 10 (8 percent) oppose.

“Most trade deals start out with loud opposition, only to fade away once the details become known,” Duvall said. “We are convinced TPP is no different: The more people know, the more they will support this vitally important agreement.”

AFBF, Ag Groups, Trade

Immigration/Farm Labor – Important in Upcoming Election?

Jamie Johansen

zp-nh1Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “Is agriculture still relevant at state fairs?”

I won’t disclose my age, but I will say I have never missed a Missouri State Fair. No, I am not a carney. I was there with my dad as he managed FFA shows and exhibits, I have exhibited my own cattle and more recently have attended as media. No matter the exact reason, they were all centered around agriculture. And luckily, our pollers agreed that agriculture does and should play a large role at state fairs across the county. I hope your memories of state fairs are as memorable as mine and you do your part to make sure agriculture isn’t lost at future fairs.

Here are the poll results:

  • Yes, plays a big role – 65%
  • Yes, but minor – 11%
  • No, should play larger role – 16%
  • No need for ag – 5%
  • Don’t know – 0%
  • Other – 3%

Our new ZimmPoll is live and asks the question, How important is immigration/farm labor to election?

One of the hot topics in this year’s presidential election has been immigration. Both sides of the line have mentioned it’s impact, but few can agree on a solution. Farmers and ranchers are in a constant struggle to find farm labor and immigration laws play a big part. Let us know how important immigration and farm labor are in our upcoming presidential election.

ZimmPoll