Do You Have a Favorite Craft Brew?

Jamie Johansen

New Holland ZimmPollOur latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “What technology is most responsible for rapid planting progress?”

#Plant15 is in full swing and many attribute the rapid progress to auto steering and GPS capabilities. Others commented saying larger equipment, lots of hard work and long hours come into play. I know all are true. Where would we be without technology?

Here are the poll results:

  • Automatic section control (ASC) – 5%
  • Variable-rate seeding – 6%
  • Precision seed metering – 21%
  • Auto steer/GPS – 31%
  • Faster planters – 16%
  • Other – 21%

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, What is your favorite type of craft beer?

The Alltech’s Rebelation is right around the corner and no Alltech event is complete without craft beer. This year Alltech will kick off the educational festivities with the 2nd Annual Craft Brews & Food Fest slated for Saturday, May 16. In honor of that, we want to know what craft beer tops your list. Do your taste buds lean towards an IPA, wheat, stout or do you love them all?

ZimmPoll

College Aggies Online Engage to Advocate

Jamie Johansen

aaa-15-107-editedZach Hollingsworth and Kaylynn Million are part of the Dairy Science Club at Oklahoma State University. Their club was honored at the recent Animal Ag Alliance Stakeholders Summit as the 1st place team in their College Aggies Online (CAO) competition.

COA is an initiative of the Alliance that connects college students from across the country who are interested in promoting agriculture. Participants receive training and instructions from industry experts and engage on social media by posting information about current and emerging issues facing farmers and ranchers and telling personal stories.

Kaylynn said, “The College Aggies Online program is there to train us to engage with consumers. Each week we were given assignments like participating in webinars with industry experts. What they taught us we used to actually engage with consumers and we were judged by our involvement. What we learned throughout the competition, we took back and are still using today.”

On campus they shared “Meat Myths” to fellow collegiates, passed out cheese with dairy facts and executed a number of other things throughout the community and online to advocate for the agriculture community.

Zach said he learned a lot about utilizing Twitter to share news about agriculture. When participating in tweet chats they were taught to act, not react. “You are wanting to promote your cause, not degrade what they are doing.”

Listen to my complete interview with the duo to learn more about the competition. Interview with College Aggies Online Winners

Find photos from the event here: 2015 Animal Ag Alliance Stakeholders Summit Photo Album

Coverage of the Animal Ag Alliance Stakeholders Summit is sponsored by
Coverage of the Animal Ag Alliance Stakeholders Summit is sponsored by Elanco Animal Health
Ag Groups, Animal Agriculture, Audio, Social Media

Farm Bureau’s 2015 Photo Contest to Begin

John Davis

afbf-logoFarm Bureau’s 2015 photo contest begins soon. This news release from the group says it is open to all state and county Farm Bureau members and staff above 18 years of age at the time of entry, including professional photographers.

Photo submissions will be used to accurately portray today’s agriculture and the safe practices of farmers and ranchers, and also for future publications, promotions and social media by AFBF and related companies. All photos submitted must exemplify safe practices on the farm or ranch.

The contest will run May 15, 2015, through March 31, 2016. Photos may be entered in four categories: Farm Families, Farm Labor, Technology and Consumer Outreach. Monetary prizes will be awarded to the top three placing photos from each category. First place winners will be awarded $150, second place $100 and third place $75.

Judges will also select a “Best in Show” winner for the most dynamic photo entered across all categories as well as two runners-up. The Best in Show winner will receive $400, with first runner-up and second runner-up receiving $300 and $200, respectively.

“The timeframe for this competition opens up vast possibilities for members interested in capturing farm and ranch photos throughout the four seasons,” said Kim Baker, AFBF’s assistant director, creative services. “We look forward to seeing a bumper crop of diverse submissions from photographers around the country for this contest.”

More information is available on the contest webpage at http://photocontest.fb.org.

AFBF, Photography

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

Zimfo Bytes

  • Lessing-Flynn reached new heights at the NOVA Awards, hosted by the Iowa chapter of the American Marketing Association on Thursday, May 7, 2015 taking home six awards, including the coveted People’s Choice Award.
  • The American Pulse Association, announced the APA’s 2014-2015 Competitive Grant Program recipients.
  • The Georgia Peanut Commission (GPC) board of directors has approved $357,570 in research project funding for the 2015-16 research budget year.
  • The National Association of Wheat Growers announces the addition of Steve Joehl as director of research and technology to the wheat growers’ team.
Zimfo Bytes

Dealer Involvement with New Holland Next Gen Contest

Chuck Zimmerman

New Holland Voice of the Next GenBefore we meet the rest of the New Holland Voice of the Next Gen Contest winners let’s meet one dealer who really got involved with the promotion. His name is Cory Forrester, Forrester Farm Equipment. He’s pictured with Tyler Hubbard, Florida Georgia Line, and his family. Special thanks to Tyler’s photographer for the image.

Cory ForresterCory is what he calls a “pure” New Holland dealer. He only sells New Holland equipment. Cory says that this contest is “the next step for New Holland.” He’s looking for the next generation customer, the 30-somethings who are buying equipment. He says it’s a completely out-of-the-box promotion involving social media. Cory is very enthusiastic about the value of social media in reaching tomorrow’s customer.

Listen to my interview with Cory to hear more of his thoughts on this New Holland promotion here: Interview with Corey Forrester

New Holland Voice of the Next Gen Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Farm Machinery, New Holland

Organic Trade Association Petitions for Checkoff

Chuck Zimmerman

Gro Organic CheckoffThe Organic Trade Association, along with the GRO Organic Core Committee, has formally petitioned the USDA to begin steps to conduct a vote on and implement a research and promotion check-off program for the organic industry. You can read an executive summary of the proposal here (pdf).

OTA’s action reflects three years of dialogue with the entire organic sector and comes 25 years after Congress authorized USDA’s National Organic Program. Marking the first time in the 49-year history of U.S. agricultural check-off programs that organic could be recognized as a distinct commodity class based on production practices, it could have significant and game-changing ramifications for the burgeoning organic sector.

Unlike any other check-off program, the proposed organic check-off has been designed to solve what hasn’t worked in other research and promotion programs, emphasizes what has worked, and creates an innovative program tailor-made for organic.
After USDA completes its review of the application, an official proposal for an organic research and promotion check-off program will be published in the Federal Register, followed by a public comment period. The final step will be a referendum on the proposed check-off, with all certified organic stakeholders eligible to vote. Approval by a majority of the organic stakeholders voting is required for implementation.

Ag Groups, Organic, USDA

Speedy Spud Competition

Chuck Zimmerman

Speedy SpudPotato Lovers Club bloggers are participating in the second Speedy Spud Challenge. This recipe competition has seven competitors. I picked the photo of this entry because it is one of the entries that contains bacon! The competition is being held by the United States Potato Board.

Bloggers were asked to create an original, yum-worthy potato recipe that can be made in 30 minutes or less, and share it on their blog for the chance to win a trip to Chicago to act as potato ambassadors at the annual Eat, Write, Retreat food blogger conference. Bonus points were also offered to bloggers who helped promote the USPB’s #TopTater hashtag campaign and shared their recipes on their respective social media properties.

Seven bloggers opted into the challenge, sharing deliciously creative potato recipes, many of which utilized convenience potato products. From Hash Brown Tostadas to Buffalo Chicken Poutine, here is a peek at entries from “The Speedy Spud Challenge.” After a recipe tasting and judging session, two winners will be crowned in mid-May.

Ag Groups, Food, Potato

Nationwide Efforts of Protect the Harvest

Jamie Johansen

aaa-15-61-editedProtect the Harvest is an advocacy group that started in Missouri five years ago to fight back against animal activists groups. During the Animal Ag Alliance Stakeholders Summit, policies impacting the future of animal agriculture was an important issue discussed. Brian Klippenstein, Executive Director, Protect the Harvest, spoke on how they are helping farmers and ranchers nationwide provide for a growing world.

“We have to double the worlds food supply using fewer resources. Less land, less water, less energy, smaller carbon footprint and it’s going to take lots of work. It’s going to take a lot of technology, modernized practices and unity. Unfortunately, technology is made out as the enemy. Hunger is the enemy, not technology.”

After a narrow farming rights amendment victory in Missouri, Brian said a similar amendment is on the ballot in Oklahoma. Protect the Harvest is also very concerned with what is going on in California. “You essentially have California state government dictating farming practices, not just in California, but all across the country. It’s probably unconstitutional which is the reason (Missouri) Attorney General Koster is leading a bi-partisan group of seven attorney generals suing California.”

We are constantly getting better and Brian reminded us that “tomorrow is going to be better than today.” We are doing more with less and consumers have never had it better. They can find high-end items on one aisle and then lost-cost on the next. “We have a wonderful story that needs to be told. We are serving consumers from top to bottom, world-wide.”

Check out my complete interview with Brian to learn more about Protect the Harvest’s fight for animal agriculture. Interview with Brian Klippenstein, Protect the Harvest

Find photos from the event here: 2015 Animal Ag Alliance Stakeholders Summit Photo Album

Coverage of the Animal Ag Alliance Stakeholders Summit is sponsored by
Coverage of the Animal Ag Alliance Stakeholders Summit is sponsored by Elanco Animal Health
Ag Groups, Animal Activists, Animal Agriculture

Agri-Pulse Open Mic with Collin Peterson

John Davis

Agri-Pulse Open Mic this week features the House Ag Committee Ranking Member Rep. Collin Peterson.

open-micThe Minnesota Democrat discusses his position on Trade Promotion Authority for the Obama administration and the dangers of change to the nation’s crop insurance program. He also believes environmentalists have control of the White House and favors congressional action to thwart implementation of the new EPA Clean Water definition.

Click here to listen to Agri-Pulse Open Mic with Rep. Collin Peterson.

Agri-Pulse, Audio

Lots of Jobs in Ag for New Grads

John Davis

USDAMay is graduation month, and a new survey shows that agriculture is a great place for those new college graduates. This article from the U.S. Department of Agriculture says the information from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and Purdue University shows there are nearly 60,000 high-skilled agriculture job openings expected each year in the U.S., there are only about 35,000 graduates available to fill them.

“There is incredible opportunity for highly-skilled jobs in agriculture,” said [Agriculture Secretary Tom] Vilsack. “Those receiving degrees in agricultural fields can expect to have ample career opportunities. Not only will those who study agriculture be likely to get well-paying jobs upon graduation, they will also have the satisfaction of working in a field that addresses some of the world’s most pressing challenges. These jobs will only become more important as we continue to develop solutions to feed more than 9 billion people by 2050.”

The report projects almost half of the job opportunities will be in management and business. Another 27 percent will be in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) areas. Jobs in food and biomaterials production will make up 15 percent, and 12 percent of the openings will be in education, communication, and governmental services. The report also shows that women make up more than half of the food, agriculture, renewable natural resources, and environment higher education graduates in the United States.

The survey also found that good employment opportunities for the next five years are expected, although they could be uneven from area to area in ag.

AgCareers, Agribusiness, University, USDA