Hello ZimmComm Fans:
It has been an interesting week as we’ve watched animal rights activists in action and showing their complete lack of civility and professionalism. We experienced it firsthand via comments on story posts and observed it during this week’s AgChat Twitter conversation on animal welfare. They probably think they can discourage farmers and those who support the people who are helping feed a hungry world but they would be wrong. We find continued inspiration from the stories and activities of today’s farmers like those recently selected as the Faces of Farming by the USFRA.
The coming week will be a busy one for the ZimmComm team. Chuck will be covering the AG CONNECT Expo while Cindy is in Iowa for the Iowa Power Farming Show courtesy of Ag Leader Technology and the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit. At the same time Jamie Johansen will be covering the International Poultry Expo in Atlanta courtesy of Novus International.
Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “Should we sit down with HSUS in ‘common cause’?”
The results of this poll are skewed due to the hacking by HSUS. In the end, the poll read that eighty one percent voted Definitely, fifteen percent said Never, and four percent thought we Should in some cases. The attempt to affect our poll reflects the HSUS/PETA goal of an end to animal agriculture. They are working to get the livestock industry to make concessions that drastically change production methods. When that happens it becomes a very slippery slope very quickly. It will only be a short matter of time before allowing chickens more room in cages becomes allowing all animals the right to life. Treating animals humanely is not the same as treating them like they are humans – but many activists see no difference.
The hacking we are referring to was having almost 400 poll responses to the Definitely answer come in during a few hours one night last week and none since. If you take them out, the answer Never would have been the highest result by far.
Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “How many machines (tractors, etc.) does your farm own?” Some of the urban folk believe that if you own more than 1-2 pieces of machinery, that would classify you as a large farmer. We disagree with that. So let’s see how many pieces of equipment most farmers/ranchers own. Let us know!
Here are some interviews from this week you might have missed:
• DuPont Pioneer Press Conference on new T-Series Soybeans
• Jessica Robinson, National Biodiesel Board, gives conference preview
• Luke Bozeman, BASF, talks about weed resistance
You can find the full e-Newsletter here and subscribe here.
