No More Complaining

Melissa Sandfort

Seems that the longer the winter drags on and the more days the kids spend inside, the more complaining I hear. The latest list includes:
• I don’t want to clean up the toys.
• I don’t want to take my dirty dishes to the sink.
• Does your coat go in the middle of the floor? No.
• I don’t know how to make my bed.

The list goes on. For a 5-year-old, these simple “grown-up” tasks seem like awful chores. But I remember summers growing up when my mother had a job outside of the home, each morning she’d leave a “to-do” list which usually included dusting something. I never understood how so many things in the house could get dusty, and my theory on cleaning was to just push aside the decorations and dust around them. That never passed the white-glove test.

Compared to the kinds of chores my grandfather used to have, these are mundane tasks. In this story he’s a bit older at 10, but picking up a coat off the floor pales in comparison!

Listen to Grandpa explain

Maybe I should have my son listen to this story next time he feels like complaining.

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

Ag Weather Advisor Keeps Farmers Up to Date

Jamie Johansen

Screen Shot 2014-01-08 at 1.27.45 PMThe “polar vortex” seems to be a hot topic the last couple of days and that means farmers have to work extra hard to stay updated on what to expect while they prepare for planting. The NCGA-FMC Ag Weather Advisor, prepared by Blue Water Outlook, is a special free member benefit that can help growers stay a step ahead.

“The weather that is occurring this winter are setting the stage for spring and summer growing conditions,” said John Feldt of Blue Water Outlook. “The NCGA-FMC Ag Weather Advisor provides valuable insight, analysis and information not easily found elsewhere on the key factors shaping the weather right now and well into the future. This information can help growers make critical weather-related decisions throughout the entire year.”

Subscribers to this free service receive each week the BWO Agriculture Weather Outlook that will help farmers understand how much rain to expect, days in advance. BWO is a 10-minute video briefing discussing precipitation and temperature trends for the up-coming week. Subscribers will also receive a pre and post-event analysis of precipitation events.

Ag Groups, Corn, Farming, FMC, NCGA, Weather

Innovations From a Small Island

Chuck Zimmerman

2014 IFAJ CongressThe British Guild of Agricultural Journalists will be the host for the prestigious IFAJ World Congress this year for an unprecedented sixth time. The Congress is titled, “Entitled Innovations from a Small Island” and the event will showcase British food and farming to the global media. The ZimmComm team hopes to be there and is seeking sponsors at this time. It’s a great place to interact with agricultural journalists from around the world.

You can find an overview of the agenda for this year’s Congress here.

IFAJ, International, Media

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  • Farm Journal Media announced Mark DePrez as its new Vice President and General Manager for its radio business.
  • Darrin Dodds, associate Extension professor at Mississippi State University, has been announced as the 2014 Extension Cotton Specialist of the Year, an award sponsored by Bayer CropScience since 2008.
  • Florida Department of Citrus and Food Network Star Aarti Sequeira join forces; help Americans explore taste adventures in their own kitchens with zesty grapefruit-infused recipes
  • The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced speakers for the 2014 Agricultural Outlook Forum, “The Changing Face of Agriculture,” to be held from Feb. 20-21 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel, Arlington, Va.
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Kruskopf Coontz Adds Two Ag Marketers

Jamie Johansen

DeanHuffKruskopf Coontz Advertising (KC) announced their new president, Dean Huff. Huff was previously working for Padilla/CRT, MN, where he led the agribusiness practice and was responsible for leading integrated communications. He has also worked for The Martin Agency, Colle McVoy and Saatchi & Saatchi.

KC has also hired Duncan Salyer as their new Accounts Manager. Salyer comes from Broadhead + Co., MN, where he worked primarily on their crop nutrition and government clients.

Both new hires have worked for many different agricultural clients. Including, BASF, Case IH, New Holland, DeKalb, Honda, Nestle Purina, Cargill, Glastron, USDA-APHIS, The Mosaic Company and the list continues.

DuncanSalyer

“This is a key strategic move for us as we continue to grow and expand,” said Sue Kruskopf, CEO and founder, Kruskopf Coontz. “Our B2B experience coupled with the knowledge these two bring of the ag industry, puts the agency in a position to foster future partnerships within this sector,” Kruskopf added.

Kruskopf Coontz is a Minneapolis agency whose clients include 3M, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, United Healthcare and Cargill.

Advertising, Agencies, Marketing

2014 AFBF Convention Coming Up

Chuck Zimmerman

2014 AFBF ConventionIt’s almost time for my first venture out on the agriblogging highway of 2014 – The American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention. It’s off to San Antonio this weekend and it looks like the weather is going to cooperate for most of the U.S.

This is the most media friendly farm convention I know of. In fact, I was on the AFBF staff helping other media once upon a time when I worked for the Florida Farm Bureau. Those were the days (what does that mean btw?).

The ZimmComm team has a growing list of locations to visit this year. Before February gets here we’ll be in San Antonio, Des Moines, San Diego, Atlanta and Austin. It’s going to be a great year. I can feel it. I hope you do too.

The Twitter hashtag for the convention is #AFBF14. In case you missed it, Cindy interviewed Mace Thornton (.mp3) about the upcoming meeting.

AFBF, Ag Groups

Farm Bill Might be Making Progress

Cindy Zimmerman

leahy-floorFarm bill conference committee member Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) says they worked on the legislation during the holiday break and are making progress.

“The conference committee is making steady progress,” Leahy said during a speech on the Senate floor Tuesday. “Chairwoman Stabenow, a Democrat, and Chairman Lucas, a Republican, deserve credit and our appreciation, for working closely together to bridge the wide differences between our two bills.”

Calling the current Farm Bill limbo “part of a string of artificial made-by-Congress dilemmas,” the senator criticized proposals for further extensions of the farm bill. “Farming is a business,” he said. “You can’t have Congress say ‘sorry, we’ll extend it for a couple weeks – bye, bye we’re going home on recess.'”

Leahy added that “saddling farmers with this needless uncertainty makes their difficult work even more difficult” and that continuing to extend the current bill prolongs direct payment subsidies which “senselessly costs taxpayers untold millions of dollars.”

Listen to or download Leahy audio here: Sen. Leahy floor speech

Audio, Farm Bill

ZimmGlass in the Woods

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmGlassThis past weekend I had another Crystal Pig Hunt Club woods experience. I did not see any deer but the time in the woods is always wonderful.

This year I carried along my new Glass from Google to keep learning it and thinking about ways to incorporate into my agriblogging work flow. Here’s my Glass being recharged with a Monsanto Ground Breakers mobile charger. I have noticed that the Glass battery doesn’t last as long as I’m used to with my phone. That’s why these mobile chargers come in so handy.

Earlier in the day I shot a video clip with my “ZimmGlass” as a test. It presents some issues like the need to keep your head still since it is not on a tripod and it’s so easy to move your head around without thinking.

Several of you have already contacted me about our ZimmGlass Project and I will continue writing about my experience with it. So far, I am positive and will be taking it on the road with me this coming weekend to the American Farm Bureau Federation convention in San Antonio.

Hunting, Video

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

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Where did you see the Golden Mic in 2013?

Cindy Zimmerman

gold-micStarting with the Beltwide Cotton Conferences in January and ending with the American Seed Trade Association CSS and Seed Expo, the ZimmComm golden microphone was seen at 73 different events in 19 states and 4 countries in 2013.

We covered meetings about general ag, crop protection, equipment, machinery and precision ag; cattle, dairy, hogs, livestock, poultry and meat; cotton, corn, grain marketing, peanuts, seeds, sorghum, and wheat; equipment, machinery and precision agriculture; ethanol, biodiesel and advanced biofuels; ag advocacy, agri-marketing, ag media, farm broadcasting – and more.

We hit 100,000 photos in our Flickr account included in a total now of 468 sets dating back to May of 2005. We did just shy of 5,000 total posts on all of our own websites plus others like Corn Commentary, Biodiesel Conference, Beef Board Meeting, and Southern Peanut Growers.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank our wonderful clients, fabulous freelancers and various industry supporters for making 2013 a great year. It’s been nice to take a holiday break from the Agriblogging Highway, but we’ll be back at it again soon. See you down the road in 2014!

Events