Let’s put those interns to work. That’s what Illinois Corn is doing. Interns Tim Marten, a student at SIU-Edwardsville, and Elizabeth O’Reilly, a student at ISU, have been tasked with creating short videos that promote corn. The internships are funded by two communications scholarships from the Illinois Corn Marketing Board. Here’s an example of one of them below. You can find others here.
Ninth International Conference on Climate Change
I would love to cover this event. Anyone want to be my sponsor? I have no doubt that I would get some great “factual” information on climate change. Because of course we have climate change. Man-made? Not so much. Changes in our climate are vital to agricultural production. Always have been, always will be. And changes in climate happen. But I get so angry at the alarmist bullcrap we get fed by wacko activists and other power and control hungry politicos. Just like with food misinformation, energy misinformation and all kinds of environmental misinformation, today’s social media world makes it easy for all of that to be spread by the activists and the people who believe everything they read on Facebook. So, I’d love to go and publish a different perspective.
Thirty-two organizations, including several well-known think tanks and advocacy organizations, are cosponsoring an event billed as “the world’s largest gathering of global warming skeptics” in Las Vegas July 7–9. The Ninth International Conference on Climate Change (#ICCC9) features 60 of the world’s leading scientists and policy experts who are skeptical of man-caused global warming.
The sponsoring groups represent a wide swath of organizations working to advance free markets and sound science, including The Heritage Foundation, Competitive Enterprise Institute, and George C. Marshall Institute.
“This is a great show of unity in opposition to the global warming alarmism of President Obama and radical environmental groups,” said Joseph Bast, president of The Heartland Institute, the leading organizer and host of the event. “Having all these organizations endorse this conference means skepticism about man-made global warming continues to spread and gain respectability.”
While looking into this conference I found a link to Blue – For Earth, For Humanity, For Freedom. A documentary by Director, JD King. Thought I’d share it here since from watching the trailer, it has some interesting related content. I look forward to seeing it.
BLUE is more than a film, it’s an idea. Ideas have the power to change the way we think, begin movements, and even change the world. One of the most prominent idea of our time today is the Green Movement, which says that the Earth is threatened by the activity, even the existence, of mankind, and that the noble response is to restrict our freedom in order to save the planet. The movie BLUE challenges that idea. BLUE is an independently funded and filmed documentary by director, JD King.
Bayer CropScience Announces Expansion
Bayer CropScience is investing $29.6 million in the expansion of its North American and global Seeds headquarters in Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina.
The company announced this week that the expansion includes the construction of a 29,500-square-foot greenhouse and state-of-the-art research facility for seed trait research, insect testing, nematode trait research, and plant disease research.
The RTP site has experienced significant operational growth in recent years. This expansion marks the beginning of the development of land acquired in Dec. 2012. Work on the greenhouse, or GH1, is scheduled to begin in the late summer of 2014, with completion scheduled for late 2015. GH1 is the second greenhouse constructed at Bayer CropScience’s North American and global Seeds headquarters in the past two years. The $20 million, 60,000-square-foot Greenhouse 5 was opened in July 2012 to support company sustainability and productivity efforts focused on soy, corn and other broadacre crop research.
“The construction of this greenhouse represents our continued commitment to RTP and to leaving a better world for the industries and communities we serve through advanced agriculture and bioscience research and development,” said Jim Blome, president and CEO of Bayer CropScience LP. “Our new facility will allow our scientists and other researchers to discover innovative solutions to the world’s ever-changing agricultural issues, and will help us feed a growing planet in need of plentiful food sources grown without threat from dangerous insects and other pests.”
Read more here.
Celebrate Food Independence Day
While you are celebrating our nation’s birthday this weekend, take a minute to be thankful that your 4th of July feast is safe, abundant and affordable. Where else in the world can you gobble up hot dogs and hamburgers, ribs, potato salad, baked beans, and more for less than $6 a person?
The American Farm Bureau Federation tallied up the cost for an all-American Fourth of July picnic for ten people – including hot dogs, cheeseburgers, pork spare ribs, potato salad, baked beans, lemonade and chocolate milk. The bottom line is slightly more than last year, but at $5.87, it’s still an all-American bargain.
Farm Bureau’s informal survey reveals the average cost for a summer picnic for 10 is $58.72, or $5.87 per person. That’s about a 5-percent increase compared to a year ago. “Despite some modest price increases over the past year or so – meats, especially – most Americans should be able to find summer picnic foods at prices close to the averages found by our volunteer shoppers,” said John Anderson, deputy chief economist at AFBF.
“Retail meat prices are higher compared to a year ago because the nation’s cattle herd is now at a historically small level,” Anderson said. “The total number of hogs farmers across the nation are raising is also down, which has contributed to higher retail prices for pork products.”
Zimfo Bytes
- The Livestock Production Council (LPC) has announced that four United States agricultural journalism students will be rewarded for their talent with the 2014 Forrest Bassford Student Travel Award.
- Syngenta held a grand re-opening for its newly expanded Clinton, Ill., corn and soybean research and development (R&D) facility.
- July is National Hot Dog Month and as Americans prepare to eat more than 150 million hot dogs during the Independence Day holiday, the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (NHDSC) is setting out to answer the most common hot dog question of them all: how are hot dogs really made?
- Valent BioSciences Corporation (VBC) marked the official opening of its new $146 million biorational manufacturing facility in Osage, IA in a ceremony that included more than 130 international dignitaries, state and local VIPs, and media personnel.
A New Look for Farmers Market Vendors
The popularity of farmers’ markets has skyrocketed in the last decade, but most vendors still use generic, light-weight white canopies that have to be creatively anchored to the ground since stakes are not allowed. That could change someday soon thanks to some imaginative architects with new ideas for farmers markets.
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) just selected the winners of the 2014 Pop Up Project Design Competition, developed to re-imagine the farmers market canopy pop-up booths so vendors can more easily transport canopies and produce while attracting new customers through their sleek designs.
The winning design was the “G Model” (right) designed by Bart Shaw Architect. The simple stable structure “provides a platform for custom printed fabric to be wrapped. When transported it serves as a hand truck, so goods and the canopy can be moved simultaneously.”
The project was built on the expo floor of the 2014 AIA National Convention last week and is now being donated to the local non-for-profit partner, Growing Home Chicago, for use by their clients and program participants.
Honorable mention went to “Box It Up” (left) designed by Robin Osler of EOA/Elmslie Osler Architect. A series of plywood boxes serve not only as canopy weights, but also as table, stool, and multipurpose display fixtures. The simple box shape offers maximum flexibility as the elements can be stacked and arranged in various configurations depending on the needs of each farmer. Finally, a colorful canopy of re-purposed billboard vinyl provides shelter from the elements.
IFAMA Shows GLIMPSE of Africa’s Future
The Agribusiness and Food World Forum by the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association and Corporate Council for Africa has completed. One of the speakers was good friend, Aidan Connolly, vice president, corporate affairs for Alltech. He shared his “GLIMPSE” of the future; A lens through which to view Africa’s rising.” GLIMPSE is an acronym developed by Connolly that identifies the seven biggest obstacles to providing enough food to feed an increased population. The paper places agribusiness alongside governments, non-governmental organizations and charities as important players in addressing the problem of feeding a growing population, and identifies specific areas where agribusiness can make a difference in the world and Africa.
“Although ‘Africa’ is sometimes referred to as a single unit, in fact it is arguably the most diverse of all the continents,” said Connolly. “The GLIMPSE framework, developed to help break down the ‘wicked’ problem of food supply and security, is a useful way to address how to feed one billion more people in Africa.”
“The expertise and resources of agribusiness firms, brought to bear on the GLIMPSE factors, can be an important part of the transformation of agriculture across the continent,” Connolly said. “Working with the best asset any country can have- its people- creates stronger economies that are resilient through commodity booms and busts.”
The cases presented during the conference focused on opportunities for discussions on topics such as the impact of technology for African farmers and future projections for African markets, and described a wide range of businesses currently at work in Africa, including:
Small holder livestock farms
Indigenous plant products
Tropical fruit snack products
Trade, import and export businesses
Here’s a video clip from the IFAMA website from the conference opening:
USDA Acreage Report Released
More soybeans and less corn planted this year, according to the USDA planted acreage report released today.
USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is estimating a record high 84.8 million acres of soybeans planted in the United States for 2014, up 11 percent from last year, while corn acreage planted is estimated at 91.6 million acres, down 4 percent from last year, representing the lowest planted acreage in the United States since 2010. Cotton planted area for 2014 is estimated at 11.4 million acres, 9 percent above last year.
NASS today also released the quarterly Grain Stocks report to provide estimates of on-farm and off-farm stocks as of June 1. Soybeans stored totaled 405 million bushels, down 7 percent from last year, corn stocks totaled 3.85 billion bushels, up 39 percent from the same time last year, and all wheat stored totaled 590 million bushels, down 18 percent from a year ago.
The Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX) hosted its regular Crop Report Conference Call for the media on the Acreage and Grain Stocks reports with Jonah Ford of Ceres Hedge providing commentary.
MGEX crop call on Acreage and Grain Stocks reportsWhat Will Be On Your Independence Day Grill
Summer is heating up and it’s time to celebrate our Independence Day! So, what will be on your grill? Need some ideas? How about these?
Pictured is Spicy Grilled Ribeye Cap with Avocado-Mango Salad. You’ll find plenty of beef ideas at Beef It’s What’s For Dinner.
How about some Beer Grilled Chops from Pork, Be Inspired?
Maybe some Curry-Lime Chicken Thighs with Tomato-Lima Bean Salad from EatChicken.com?
Here’s a good one. Thai Grilled Shrimp from AboutSeafood.com.
You can’t beat some Venison Osso Buco from Outdoor Life.
One more. Grilled Lamb Loin Chops with Orange & Olive from American Lamb.
That ought to give you some ideas to get your Independence Day grill on.
Measuring Social Media Effectiveness
This story from eMarketer titled, “Finally, Most Brands Measuring Social Content Effectiveness,” got me motivated to write a few words about the subject. Social media in all of its forms and definitions has become a staple in company marketing plans. It has moved beyond just creating a brand Twitter account or Facebook page. Sponsored content on influential blogs now includes sponsored tweets and FB posts in addition to “traditional” banner advertising. My most current example has been the MyNewHolland.com launch here in North America. New Holland has seen significant value in their on-going sponsorship of AgWired and this project included sponsored tweet and FB schedules as well as blog posts and interactively posting and sharing onto New Holland’s FB page. And like with all sponsored projects we have to report regularly on this activity. This includes their own internal analysis and mine which I send for inclusion in the final report.
So, how do you measure social media effectiveness? The sales guys want to know how many leads or sales were generated. I honestly don’t know how accurately you can measure that. But there are some “soft” metrics you can fairly easily measure. Here’s an excerpt from the eMarketer article.
According to the research, 80% of US client-side marketers measured the effectiveness of their social content, with social media metrics such as “likes” the most common. . . Nearly two-thirds of US content marketers said they used social shares and “likes” to determine success, the second most popular metric.
I can create a spreadsheet that lists the number of tweets along with retweets and favorites, number of FB posts along with likes and shares, number of blog posts along with comments and traffic for them and more. One of the reasons these metrics are important is because they show a level of engagement that is all about brand awareness and the content that is associated with that brand. That is more like public relations which has always been a key element of any marketing campaign.
So, how do you measure social media effectiveness? Do you use a service or special software?
The word cloud above is from AgWired using Wordle.