Farmer Veteran Coalition to Hold Stakeholders Conference

Cindy Zimmerman August 11, 2014

Organizations that support military veterans pursuing food, farming, and agricultural careers will gather in November to hold a stakeholders conference.

The event will be hosted by the Farmer Veteran Coalition (FVC), in coordination with the Drake University Agricultural Law Center (ALC), November 14-15, 2014 at Drake University Olmsted Center in Des Moines, Iowa.

The conference is being held to “empower organizations to collaborate and provide support to veterans engaged in agriculture.”

As the U.S. ends its longest armed conflicts, we are seeing a groundswell of veterans finding new purpose in farming and ranching. Although they have diverse motivations and aspirations, veterans share unique opportunities and backgrounds that set them apart from other farmers. Many organizations are now serving this population creating a critical need for support, coordination, and collaboration of these efforts.

The conference will be the first to convene local, state, and national service providers to facilitate networking, partnering and educational opportunities. FVC is encouraging all stakeholders from the agricultural and veteran communities to attend: government agencies, trade associations, non-profits, philanthropists, businesses, and university and extension personnel.

The conference is supported by Farm Credit Council, American Farm Bureau Federation, and the National Farmers Union. Additional supporters are welcomed.

AFBF, Ag Groups, Events

We Have Cluck’n Mooed

Chuck Zimmerman August 11, 2014

After bringing Cluck’N Moo Burgers to your attention recently I got a chance to try them out on the grill. I had some apprehension based on the description but, hey, I’m willing to give something new a try.

So, I thawed a box of four and Cindy and I tried them last night. I topped them with some seasoning before I put them on the grill.

These burgers are made of beef, chicken and are humanely raised on grass without antibiotics or hormones and several more things you can read about on their website. As you might imagine, they are pretty pricey.

Here are the burgers on the grill along with a few turkey breast cutlets I had that needed to be cooked. I don’t like to waste grill space if I don’t have to!

So the verdict is that they tasted just fine. Not quite as much flavor as a good quality all beef hamburger in my opinion but very edible. I ate mine with some ketchup, a slice of tomato and in between layers of lettuce. I made sure not to over cook them so they did not dry out too much. I can’t say they wowed me as being something I would spend the extra dollars on. However, if you are on a special diet you might want to consider these since they have significantly less fat than a regular hamburger (depending on what type of ground beef you buy).

I appreciate the company giving me the chance to try them out.

Beef, Food, Poultry

Ag Media Summit Takeaways

sara August 11, 2014

My first stop traveling on the agriblogging highway as the ZimmComm summer intern was at Ag Media Summit in downtown Indianapolis. Over the course of three days, I attended several skill building workshops given by professionals in the ag communications field, conducted audio interviews with company spokesmen at the InfoExpo trade show and snapped tons of photos at events that took place.

Aside from this, I had the opportunity to mingle with several college students from across the country and learn more about their Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow chapters. I also got to meet several of Chuck’s long time friends in the field who shared some pretty entertaining stories about him with me.

Looking back on the trip, one of my favorite sessions was the very first session I attended. It was an ACT Welcome and Student Professionalism session, and it focused on teaching students how to become a servant leader. This type of leader naturally assumes the role and always puts others before them. During a group conversation, I thought a student from Tarleton State University gave the perfect analogy on servant leadership. She said, “It’s not about the Grand Champion calf. It’s about the Grand Champion kid.” Growing up in a livestock family, this really hit home for me.

Overall, the trip provided me with a great first glance into the ag communications world, and I look forward to my next trip.

Ag Media Summit Photo Album

Coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by

Ag Media Summit

Traveling with Alltech

Chuck Zimmerman August 8, 2014

In just a few weeks I’ll be on the agriblogging highway to France prior to the IFAJ Congress in Scotland. Thank you Alltech for bringing me to the Normandy region for their annual Global Dairy and Beef Conference and the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

During the Ag Media Summit I visited with Alltech’s Ann Hess about this year’s Global conference. I remember when it was called the Global 500 because that’s how many people attended. However, Ann says that last year in Ireland there were about 760 in attendance and they expect about the same this year.

The conference will start with dairy and beef farm tours before going into sessions on a number of educational topics. Also on the program will be farmers who participated in a program started last year called EPS, Efficiency, Profitability and Sustainability. They will be reporting case studies of their participation in a panel session.

After talking with Ann, I sat down with Alltech’s Danielle Palmer to get a preview of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games which some call the Olympics of horse sport. I attended when it was held in Kentucky last time and it is a very massive show with a lot of pomp and ceremony and some pretty fierce competition.

Alltech decided to be the title sponsor of the games again this year. Danielle says it looks like it will be one of the biggest games so far and the company has a whole team that has been working on it since the last event. Alltech will also have a music festival as part of the entertainment visitors will be able to participate in.

Listen in to this week’s program to hear my conversations with Ann and Danielle here: Traveling with Alltech

Ag Media Summit Photo Album

Subscribe to the ZimmCast podcast here.

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sponsored by

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Ag Media Summit, Alltech, Audio, Dairy, Horses

Orion Samuelson – The Movie – Auditions?

Chuck Zimmerman August 8, 2014

Okay. This is funny. Good way to end the week with a smile.

From the WGN Radio website:

The gang at WGN Radio held an open casting call for the movie version of Orion Samuelson’s life… who got the callback?

Thanks to NAFB for the heads up.

Media, Video

AgCatalyst Registration Open

Chuck Zimmerman August 8, 2014

Version two of AgCatalyst is going to be happening in Minneapolis on October 15-16. This two day conference brings together marketing and communication professionals to learn how to solve agribusiness challenges with a strong focus on digital social communications tools and strategies. You’re invited according to Josh Lysne, AdFarm. He’s in the AdFarm booth at the Ag Media Summit here talking about it with attendees.

Josh says the theme this year is Content Marketing.

Our theme this year is “It’s All About the Content” and we are not holding back! We have brought together some of the top leaders in content marketing across the agribusiness and food sectors. AgCatalyst will be focusing on all aspects of content marketing, and by attending you will learn how to:

Identify content your audience is looking for

Create content that will grab the attention of your audience

Manage content and responses

Track your content marketing efforts and turn contacts into sales

Measure the outcomes of your content marketing efforts

Thanks to AdFarm I have the opportunity to attend this year and hope to see you there. You can register now on the AgCatalyst website and see the roster of speakers and schedule. Get it on your calendar.

You can listen to my interview with Josh here: Interview with Josh Lysne

Ag Media Summit Photo Album

Coverage of the Ag Media Summit is sponsored by

Ag Media Summit, Agencies, Audio

AgCareers.com’s AgWarriors Program Taking Off

Joanna Schroeder August 8, 2014

During the AgCareers.com HR & Food Roundtable last year the company announced that they were taking over the AgWarrior employment program. The initiative is targeted to helping veterans find jobs in the agricultural and food industry.

Last year, I sat down with Ericka Osmundson with AgCareers.com to learn about the initiative and this year during the 2014 HR & Food Roundtable she gave me an update. She said the program is going really well. They have over 600 resumes from persons with military experience and they have some exciting support from their employer partners. Recently CHS sponsored a free webinar to help veterans along with those still serving in the military to learn how to translate their military experience into laymen terms.

AgCareers has some other initiatives in the pipeline including some videos, continued training and they are continuing their reach to other military organizations to create awareness as well as to other companies interested in hiring veterans.

I asked Osmundson how companies can be more involved. “It’s really simple. We want it to be simple because it truly is to help our military veterans,” she said. “That’s what the whole initiative is about and companies already doing business with us just need to tell us they’re interested this unique talent pipeline and we will get them hooked up with the AgWarriors logo on their postings and on their profile page and on their websites.”

It is free for those with military experience to post a resume on AgWarriors.com and it’s free for companies who are already working with AgCareers to access these resumes.

Learn more about the AgWarriors initiative by listening to my interview with Erika Osmundson: Interview With Erika Osmundson

View the 2014 AgCareers.com HR & Food Roundtable photo album.

AgCareers, Audio, Education

NAMA Fall Conference Reminder

Chuck Zimmerman August 8, 2014

This is a reminder about the NAMA Fall Conference. I’ll be there. Will you?

There is a great lineup of speakers coming to Chicago. Here are a few of them:

Steve Hughes, founder and President of Hit Your Stride, LLC., has made it his mission to help people look and sound smart when they talk. He will give you great tips to take your presentation from boring to brilliant! Hughes is the author of Dazzle Me: Captivate and Win Over Any Audience and he has appeared on NPR, BBC Radio and BusinessWeek.

Jon Petz, engagement expert, will teach you how to make the most out of every meeting, phone call and basically any daily activity. His clients include the US Air Force, IBM, ABC, Marriott – the list goes on! He is also the author of several books including Boring Meetings Suck: Get More Out of Your Meetings, or Get Out of More Meetings and The Best of the Best.

Bob Langert, Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability at McDonald’s Corp., will close out your Fall Conference experience with a look at the major issues facing the agriculture industry in today’s world. Get a forecast for what lies ahead from an extremely experienced ag veteran.

So, what are you waiting for? Get registered and let’s get together and make this the biggest NAMA Fall Conference in history. You like making history don’t you?

Ag Groups, NAMA

Minnesota Congressman at Ethanol Conference

Cindy Zimmerman August 8, 2014

The American Coalition for Ethanol meeting in Minneapolis this week honored Congressman Collin Peterson of Minnesota with its highest award for supporters of ethanol, the Merle Anderson award. Anderson, known to many as the Father of Ethanol, presented Peterson with the award, as well as an ethanol lapel pin and a big five dollar contribution for his campaign.

Peterson says ethanol has been great for agriculture and he continues to fight for it in Congress. “It’s just been a tremendous success story in agriculture because it’s changed the marketplace so farmers can get a decent price for their corn,” he said. “We do have our opponents and they are still working to undermine things,” he continued, noting that just last week Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) attempted to bring up a bill to get rid of the RFS. “They want to go back to $1.85 corn and I tell them if they are successful they will rue the day because nobody can grow corn for $1.85.” Peterson says the only way farmers survived when prices were $1.85 a bushel was because of the government subsidy “and that’s gone.”

Peterson remains hopeful that the EPA will eventually come out with a better final rule on the 2014 volume obligations for the RFS. “I think the fact that they delayed this for now a third time shows they are listening,” he said. “It appears to me that they realize they made a mistake here and they’re trying to figure out how to undo it.” He thinks it could be next year before the rule is final, but “a delayed decision is better than a bad decision.”

In this interview, Peterson also comments on WOTUS, farm bill implementation, immigration, and more. Interview with Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN) at ACE Conference

27th Annual Ethanol Conference photo album

ACE, Audio, Corn, Ethanol

2014 Pre-Harvest Prep

Melissa Sandfort August 8, 2014

It wasn’t long ago the focus was on getting the crops planted, fertilized, and sprayed. Hopefully the hard work is paying off and yields are looking good for the fall. With cost of inputs remaining high and a dip in most crop prices, it is very crucial to know what practices were successful and which did not have a good return on investment. Most growers that have diverse operations are curious on where the best yields are so they can know which seed, chemicals, and fertilizers worked best for their operation. By having the Ag Leader yield monitoring systems calibrated and ready for fall, growers will be able to know which practices made the most money.

For some, fall might seem too far away to think about but it will be here sooner than you know. We all know how busy fall can be while trying to get into the fields, so Ag Leader recommends taking a few simple steps before the busy season arrives to prepare for harvest.

Nick Hageman, Ag Leader Hardware Technical Support Representative, briefly explains how to proceed with taking care of the first six steps on the pre-harvest prep check list.

Listen to Hageman explain

Hageman explains what needs to be done by way of calibrations.

Listen to Hageman explain

All told, these 10 steps should be able to be completed in three to four hours. Once completed, your combine should be prepared for harvest. Remember, after beginning harvest, weight and moisture calibration still needs to be done. These are two very important calibrations. Once all the calibrations are complete, the system will be very accurate.

We hope that your hard work and time will be rewarding this harvest season! Remember, if you have any questions you can contact Ag Leader Technical Support at 515-232-5363.

Become a fan of Ag Leader on Facebook today, and get the latest precision ag videos on the YouTube channel. For more information about Ag Leader products and services, or to visit the blog site, go to www.agleader.com.

Ag Leader, Agribusiness

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