AEM Analysis of Ag Equipment Economic Impact

Cindy Zimmerman

aem_logo2The Association of Equipment Manufacturers has just released a new in-depth analysis of of the impact of the agricultural equipment industry on the American economy.

The white paper quantifies the many economic impacts of the manufacturing, distribution, and use of agriculture equipment and machinery from 2011 and figured the total economic footprint of the agricultural industry – including upstream and downstream industries – at $51 billion.

“The purpose of this white paper is to provide a better look at the agriculture equipment industry’s effect on U.S. workers and our economy as a whole, with an eye toward better arming our policy makers in Washington with the information they need to make sound policy decisions that impact this critical sector,” said AEM President Dennis Slater. “This kind of information is vital to accurately assessing the potential long-term consequences of decisions being weighed as we are debating issues such as the renewable fuels standard and international trade agreements that directly impact the future of American agriculture.”

Among the Top Ten Takeaways of the paper:

In 2011, 78,200 people were directly employed in U.S. farm equipment manufacturing, while another 52,300 were indirectly employed in other manufacturing activities to support materials and parts used by the industry.

Overall, the agricultural equipment cluster employed almost 377,000 workers in 2011, representing a footprint of more than half of the total population of Washington, D.C.

View the Top Ten Takeaways and the full Report here.

AEM, Equipment, Tractor

Ag Journalists Meet in DC

Cindy Zimmerman

naajThe North American Agricultural Journalists (NAAJ) annual meeting is wrapping up today in Washington, D.C.

Last night was the NAAJ-Sonja Hillgren Scholarship and Writing Awards Banquet at the National Press Club where the best of the best were honored after a full schedule of hearing from administration officials and lawmakers. Receiving the Agricultural Journalist of the Year award was Shannon VanRaes of the Manitoba Co-operator.

Among the officials the group heard from yesterday was EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy who talked about both the Clean Water Act and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Agri-Pulse has a great story about her comments, as well as those from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Check out the NAAJ photos here.

Media

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Talia Goes

Zimfo Bytes

Corn Growers, NASCAR Making Spring Greener

John Davis

nascarracetogreen1Corn growers across the country are either busy planting or getting ready to plant. A little different initiative also shows their environmental concern. This month, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is joining NASCAR for the second year of the NASCAR Race to Green Campaign.

The goal of NASCAR Race to Green is to highlight the accomplishments of NASCAR Green™ programs like the move three years ago to Sunoco Green E15, a fuel blended with 15 percent American Ethanol, and its massive tree planting initiative to help reduce the sport’s carbon footprint.

“American Ethanol is a key part of NASCAR’s efforts to reduce the sport’s carbon footprint,” said Jon Holzfaster, a Paxton, Neb., farmer and chairman of NCGA’s NASCAR Advisory Committee. “These high-performance cars have put more than five million tough competition miles on E15 in the last three years, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent. Combine this with the massive tree planting effort underway, and the results are phenomenal.”

American Ethanol, which is supported by corn checkoff investments and ethanol plant members of Growth Energy, has committed to plant 50 trees for every American Ethanol Green Flag waved during NASCAR’s national series races in the month of April.

The NASCAR Race to Green program runs through April 25. More information is available at http://green.nascar.com/.

Corn, NASCAR, NCGA

Glass Farming at #NAMA14

Chuck Zimmerman

Bruce RasaStop by the ZimmComm New Media booth at this week’s Agri-Marketing Conference and visit with TekWearAg Bruce Rasa. Bruce will have his Google Glass in action and give you some ideas for how it can be used in agribusiness now. The photo is of Bruce presenting at last year’s John Deere Integrators Conference. I will also have ZimmGlass there to share my experience using it as an agricultural journalist tool this year.

Some other reasons to stop by include some cool giveaways and we’ll also have a short ten question quiz for you to take to get a free ZimmComm Ten Year Anniversary t-shirt. We will have our cake and eat it with you too!

The conference hashtag is #NAMA14. Follow along throughout the week to keep up with all the action. We’ll also be sharing right here on AgWired courtesy of sponsors Brownfield Ag News and Rhea + Kaiser.

NAMA

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Alliance Stakeholders Summit Asks: “Who is Big Ag?”

Jamie Johansen

AAA 2014 Stakeholders SummitGrowing weary of the buzzword bonanza and juxtaposition of jargon, the Animal Agriculture Alliance announced today an interactive panel at Summit that will tackle the myths surrounding “big agriculture.” At the Alliance’s 13th annual Stakeholders Summit, themed “Cracking the Millennial Code,” panelists from Monsanto, Ray-Lin Dairy, Zweber Farms and the Illinois Farm Bureau (ILFB) will discuss how agriculture can move past negative name-calling and drill down to the heart of agriculture: farming.

“For too long we’ve sat idle and let others—who don’t grow crops or raise animals—sling barbs and try and drive a wedge between farmers and consumers by using catch phrases like ‘factory farm’ or ‘big ag’,” said Alliance President and CEO Kay Johnson Smith of the Summit, to be held May 8-9, 2014 in Crystal City, VA. “We’ve gathered panelists with unique perspectives, who can help us move past school-yard-type bullying—both inside and out of agriculture—and determine how we support each others’ production choices while positively advocating for all of ag.”

Panelists will include two dairy farmers: Emily Zweber (Zweber Farms) and Ray Prock (Ray-Lin Dairy). Zweber and her husband are raising their three young children on their fifth generation organic dairy farm, while Prock is a 2nd generation dairy farmer from Denair, CA where he and his family milk 550 cows. Both Zweber and Prock are actively involved in sharing their families’ stories on social media; Zweber serves as the Executive Director of the AgChat Foundation, while Prock is a member of the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board and the Dairy Management Inc. Board of Directors.

Janice Person (Monsanto) and Tamara Nelson (ILFB) will round out the panel. Nelson, who currently serves as the Senior Director of Commodities for the Illinois Farm Bureau, will provide attendees with insights from the ILFB’s recent media tour of farms in the United Kingdom—and the U.K.’s perspective on farm size, best practices and sustainability. Having grown up a city girl, Person became involved in agriculture through cotton and still carries a passion for it. Person is now a member of Monsanto’s corporate engagement team doing outreach both within agriculture and broadly with society.

All four panelists will help answer the tough questions about “big ag” versus “family farm” and how farm size impacts animal care and public perception.

To learn more about these, and other Stakeholders Summit presenters and panelists, be sure to visit the Alliance website. Early registration for the Alliance’s Stakeholders Summit ends April 8th, 2014—so register today to take advantage of discounted rate.

Ag Groups, Animal Agriculture

Celebrating an Anniversary

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmComm Ten Golden YearsTen Golden Years. That’s what we’ll be celebrating next week at the Agri-Marketing Conference.

Cindy and I started out with Talking News Releases before moving on to blogging, podcasting and social networking. Being the very social kind of people that we are it all made sense. An online conversation in which you can communicate and share all kinds of information with people all over the world was easy to adapt to. We did our first online coverage of an event at the February, 2005 NRECA convention at which we produced and distributed news releases with audio files and also did posts on AgWired. It has just grown from there to where we are today.

We officially launched the company at an Agri-Marketing Conference so next week’s conference is a special one for us. If you’re attending please stop by our booth for some anniversary cake and other goodies as well as ZimmGlass Demos.

Bruce Rasa TekwearActually, Chuck will be doing ZimmGlass demos while Bruce Rasa, TekWearAg, will be demoing his Google Glass. If you don’t know Bruce you need to. He’s THE Glass pioneer for agriculture. If you have not seen Glass in action and are wondering what this new thing is then we’ve got the opportunity for you to get an in-person look at the coolest new wearable technology. How can this apply to agribusiness and ag communications? Stop by and we’ll give you some ideas.

NAMA Agri-Marketing Conference week is going to be a big one with professional development, awards, networking and some Brownfield Honky Tonk and Rhea + Kaiser After the After Pancake Ray breakfast thrown in. We’ll be seeing you there.

ZimmComm Announcement

Deputy Sec. of Ag Stresses Need for Communication

Jamie Johansen

ag-day-14-hardinThe Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Krysta Hardin addresses the crowd during the Ag Day banquet. Her words push us to communicate beyond ourselves and connect the dots for those across the country who have yet to hear the good news about agriculture.

“Most of you who know me, know that I am a farmers daughter. That is my first identity. That’s where I get everything, my motivation, my inspiration. It comes from that farm in Southwest Georgia. We do a good job talking about agriculture I’m afraid to often with each other. We have great dinners and great programs with each other, which is great. But we also need to branch out. This is something I have learned so well from Secretary Vilsack. I think most of you know he does an hour of press everyday and it’s not just agriculture press. He talks to other people. People who don’t know they should be interested in agriculture.”

She shares Secretary Vilsack’s passion for wanting people to understand why it is so important that we all support farmers and ranchers nationwide. Deputy Hardin also issued a challenge to all present for the banquet. That challenge was for everyone to bring someone not involved in agriculture to next year’s Ag Day creating an overflow room for the banquet. A neighbor, an allied industry, a friend, a young person who does not yet have the appreciation for agriculture that has been instilled in so many of us for years.

Listen to the Deputy’s complete speech here: Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Krysta Hardin's Address

Ag Day, Ag Groups, Audio, USDA

Today’s Youth Promoting Agriculture

Jamie Johansen

ag-day-14-essay-winnerYoung agriculturists from across the country entered this year’s National Ag Day Essay Contest in an effort to help promote the importance of agriculture throughout our country.

Clara Knipp is from Tipton, MO and her essay titled, “Agriculture: 365 Sunrises and 7 Billion Mouths To Feed,” was selected as this year’s written winner. Clara presented her essay as part of National Ag Day activities in Washington, D.C. You can listen to it here: Clara's Ag Day Essay

Brackston McKnight of Jacksonville High School in Jacksonville, TX submitted a video essay winning that category. You can view his creative ag promo video below.

Ag Day, Ag Groups, Audio, Video