The ZimmComm team was out and about this week with Chuck covering the International Poultry Expo (photos) and Cindy doing duty at the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit (photos). They hit the road again next week for Nashville and the Cattle Industry Convention.

We haven’t mentioned our AgNewsWire service recently but thought we’d bring it back to your attention. We started this service as Talking News Releases almost eight years ago and it’s still going strong. Our idea then was to include sound bites with your releases for the broadcasters or web casters who wanted them but sometimes had difficulty reaching your representatives or were on quick deadline. Our database of agricultural editors has continued to grow and develop with additions from client agencies and our own efforts to keep it current and updated. We keep it real simple. Send us your release and we send it out for a very fair price. If you want to include multimedia files like audio sound bites we can record them for you and include links to them within the release. We’re simple and quick and offer package discounts if you order more than one. Just email Chuck or Cindy with questions or just send your release and send date and consider it done!

Our latest ZimmPoll asked a very timely question since it’s on a topic that is the subject of a cover story on USA Today. We asked, “How will proposed changes to child labor in agriculture regulations affect farms?” Seventy percent said Negatively, seventeen percent said No Effect and only thirteen percent said Positively.

You may know that last fall the Department of Labor proposed changes that many believe could have major impacts on family farms and farm life (proposed rule – pdf). This is just another example of unnecessary government intrusion in private business and lives in my opinion. We don’t need it but . . . as if the government knows better. Riiight. You can find out more from this DOL early news release.

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “Do you agree with President Obama’s call for more clean (renewable) energy?” Let us know what you think. He definitely issued a call during his State of the Union speech last night. Here’s an excerpt:

We have subsidized oil companies for a century. That’s long enough. It’s time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that’s rarely been more profitable, and double-down on a clean energy industry that’s never been more promising. Pass clean energy tax credits and create these jobs.

Here are some interviews that you may have missed this week:
• Gene Gregory, President/CEO, United Egg Producers, on HSUS agreement and proposed legislation
• Scott Carter, Novus International, on IPE Week activities
• Brad Albin, REG, President of Iowa RFA, on their 6th Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit
• Joe Jobe, CEO, National Biodiesel Board, on RFS2
• Iowa Governor Terry Branstad addresses Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit

You can find the full e-Newsletter here and subscribe here.

It is located on Perdido Key, Florida – which is situated between Pensacola and Orange Beach, Alabama – not too far from the infamous Florabama Bar (which is currently being remodeled). We have totally enjoyed our time here and would highly recommend it for a great getaway. While the winter at home in Missouri has been pretty mild so far and the weather here has been fairly cool, nothing beats waking up in the morning looking at the sunrise over the Gulf of Mexico.

We are heading home tomorrow to prepare for a heavy month of travel in February, which includes the Cattle Industry Convention in Nashville, National Biodiesel Conference in Orlando, three GROWMARK events in Illinois and Iowa, the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville and the National Ethanol Conference in Orlando. We hate to say goodbye to the beach, but duty calls!

See you on down the agriblogging highway!

Next up on the agriblogging highway for the ZimmComm team is the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit and International Poultry Expo. Follow along on AgWired and Domestic Fuel!

In our latest ZimmPoll we asked the question, “Do you think there is currently an “Ag Bubble?” It looks like most think so since 66% said Yes and 34% said No. That’s kind of a pessimistic outlook don’t you think? If you think we’re in a bubble please feel free to comment on why. We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “How will proposed changes to child labor in agriculture regulations affect farms?” Last fall the Department of Labor proposed changes that many believe could have major impacts on family farms and farm life. At best it seems like there are some good intentions without careful consideration of the consequences and then there’s always that “how does the Dept. of Labor interpret the rules thing.” A public comment period ended on December 1, 2011.

Here are some interviews you might have missed this week:

• Lyn Cacella, Farm Credit, talks Florida NAMA
• Amy Bradford, GROWMARK, talks about International Year of Cooperatives

You can find the full e-Newsletter here and subscribe here.

Have you considered sponsoring the ZimmComm team at your 2012 event or sponsoring our coverage of an industry event? It’s a good time to get on our calendar since things are booking fast. Think of it like a local radio remote broadcast where the announcer is broadcasting live from a local business and doing interviews with people there. Only in our case we do it on the web and include photos and even video! You get professional photography done in news style along with interviews that are posted on one of our news websites or yours. Lots of ag media utilize the content we produce which just adds value to your sponsorship too.

Some events we are seeking sponsors for include the National Biodesel Conference, National Ethanol Conference, Agri-Marketing Conference, NAFB Washington Watch, Fuel Ethanol Workshop, Ag Media Summit, NAMA Bootcamp, IFAJ Congress, Husker Harvest Days, Farm Progress Show, World Dairy Expo, Sunbelt Ag Expo, NAFB Convention and Ag Retailers Convention.

To get a quote or learn more about our sponsorships please contact Chuck or Dave.

In our latest ZimmPoll we asked the question, “What do you think of the LightSquared broadband internet proposal?” This controversial issue has pitted GPS services and hardware manufacturers against those who want better broadband internet service in their area and agriculture is only one of the industries that could be impacted. Interestingly, our poll results were mostly against the proposal until one afternoon when almost all of the “positive” results were posted. That suggests that there was a concerted effort to impact the results. So here they are. We had 73% say that the proposal would be Good for ag/rural America and 23% say it would be Bad for ag/rural America. What do you think about that?

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “Do you think there’s currently an “Ag Bubble”?” Let us know what you think.

Some interviews you might have missed this week:
• Interview with Beth Burgy, Broadhead and President, NAMA
• AFBF President, Bob Stallman, on policy direction
• Preparing for 2012 cotton season with Gerald Simmons, FMC
• Ag Secretary Vilsack at Pearl Harbor on biodiesel

You can find the full e-Newsletter here and subscribe here.

The ZimmComm team is back on the agriblogging highway this week. Chuck just returned from the Beltwide Cotton Conferences in Orlando. He’s got quite a few more stories and interviews to post. Cindy will be heading off to the American Farm Bureau Federation convention this weekend.

Wild weather was the winner for the biggest ag story of 2011 according to our latest ZimmPoll. We asked the question, “What do you think is biggest ag story of 2011?” Wild weather got 40% or the response followed by Record farm land value – 17%; New free trade agreements – 16%; High commodity prices – 16%; Super committee “no”- farm bill – 11% and Record U.S. farm exports at a big fat 0%. Weather, it’s always on the top of a farmer’s mind and with good reason.

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “What do you think of the LightSquared broadband internet proposal?” This is certainly a hotly debated topic with GPS companies and users very concerned over the implications. If you need more information about it you can find lots of resources online here, here and here.

Here are some interviews from this week that you might have missed:
• Stu Throop, FMC, talks about cotton products
• Berrye Worsham, Cotton Inc., discusses Cotton Life Cycle Inventory & Assessment
• Bob Dinneen, RFA, on top ethanol stories in 2012

You can find the full e-Newsletter here and subscribe here.

It was our eighth year in business and we spent too many days on the road to count. We started the year in icy Atlanta with record winter weather and ended the year relaxing on the beach in Florida, enjoying some rare down time before getting back into it again. We start back on the road on the third day of 2012 with Chuck going to Orlando for Beltwide Cotton Conferences. Cindy will be right behind him, heading to Honolulu on January 7 for the American Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting.

We did over 5000 posts on the four main websites in 2011 with about 1,000 audio files, over 17,000 photos in 70 Flickr photo albums and 120 YouTube videos posted on AgWired, Domestic Fuel, World Dairy Diary and Precision Pays. We also posted on various other client websites including New Holland’s Boomer 555.com; the Biodiesel Conference Blog; the Southern Peanut Growers Conference blog; and National Corn Growers’ Corn Commentary.

Traffic on all of our websites increased again in 2011. Agwired was up 7.5% to almost 198,000 unique visitors; Domestic Fuel was up 3.5% with over 324,000 unique visitors; Precision Pays traffic increased by 3.5% to nearly 50,000; and World Dairy Diary was up 5 percent to over 102,000. Twitter followers total 11,584 between all the websites, and our personal Twitter accounts. Chuck, aka @agriblogger, has almost half of those himself – 5400 followers.

We are looking forward to setting new records in 2012 and hope to see you all on the agriblogging highway in the year ahead.

We sincerely hope you are enjoying your holiday time as much as we are. The ZimmComm team is taking it easy on the Gulf coast right now but gets back into action next week when Chuck goes to the Beltwide Cotton Conferences and Cindy heads to the American Farm Bureau Federation Convention.

If you would like a great 2012 calendar of major agricultural events featuring a lot of our photos from many of those events during 2011 please get your order in for one of our ZimmComm 2012 Agricultural Events Calendars. The cost is $22 which included shipping.

Happy New Year!

You can find the full e-Newsletter here and subscribe here.

To start with, the average number of responses is 110. I’m not sure about you but I think that’s a pretty good number. The total varies widely each week and I think that has a lot to do with the question itself and the particular week and activities that might draw attention elsewhere. So the swing in number of responses goes from highest for the question, “What do you think of USDA’s proposed GIPSA rule?” at 446 to lowest for the question, “With net farm income up this year, how is your income?” at 32. I’ve also noticed that the number of responses varies to some extent by how aggressively we promote it via social media channels like Twitter and Facebook.

Some other questions that generated a higher level response include: “Which biofuel feedstock do you think has best future?”; “Do you believe in man made climate change?”; “What’s Your Favorite Meat?”; “What mid-term grade would you give Ag Sec. Tom Vilsack?”; “Will higher cost (13%) of Thanksgiving dinner affect your meal?” and “Which Republican Candidate for President is best for Ag?.”

So with question choice being very important I’d like to ask what questions you’d like to see us ask. Please post your ideas in comments. Is there something you’d like to ask the agricultural marketing community? What would it be? Thank you and I look forward to another year of checking the “pulse” of the community.

ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.

Cindy was thinking to herself one day, “I wish there was a calendar that had all the ag events for the year on it.” We’ve never seen such a thing, so she decided to make one.

It was not an easy task, taking her about a month to get it the way she wanted it, including photos from events throughout this past year and getting as many dates for the major ag events included. Not sure how it would actually look in person, we ordered a limited quantity to give as Christmas gifts to some of our clients. We think they actually came out pretty sweet and now we are wondering if there is any interest among ZimmComm/AgWired fans to get their very own copy. The cost is $20 each plus $2 shipping/handling.

If you’d like to purchase your copy please visit this link: Purchase 2012 ZimmComm Ag Events Calendar

Gadgets – 28%, are tops on the Christmas gift list according to our latest ZimmPoll, followed closely by Paying Bills – 25%. Those choices were followed by Clothes, 19%; Other, 14%; Farm Equipment, 9% and Tools, 5%. It’s very interesting that no one chose Food! Wow. Food makes a great gift don’t you think? Maybe we’re all so well fed that our focus has turned to other things? What do you think?

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “Is Ethanol production good for ALL of Agriculture?” There’s a huge amount of on-going rhetoric about this subject and it seems to be a very divisive issue within the ag community. Let’s put it this way, the most heated arguments/debates We’ve heard or participated in this year were on this subject! What do you think?

Here are some interviews from this week that you might have missed:

• First AgChat Foundation Exec. Dir. Emily Zweber and President Darin Grimm
• Patrick Westhoff, FAPRI, on farm markets outlook
• Rick Tolman, CEO, NCGA, on receiving St. Louis Agribusiness Leader of Year Award
• Chuck Spencer, GROWMARK govt. affairs director, on farm bill
• Chris Waram, BASF Service Tech, on working with custom applicators in North Dakota

You can find the full e-Newsletter here and subscribe here.

This was not an easy task. It took me about a month to get it the way I wanted it, including photos from events throughout this past year and getting as many dates for the major ag events included. Not sure how it would actually look in person, we ordered a limited quantity to give as Christmas gifts to some of our clients.

We think they actually came out pretty sweet and now we are wondering if there is any interest among AgWired readers to get their very own copy.

You can order your calendar here: Order 2012 ZimmComm Ag Events Calendar.

The cost is $20 each plus $2 shipping/handling.

As you may be noticing, the ZimmComm team has been back on the agriblogging highway. We’re getting a break at the end of the year but things will heat up fast after the first. Which prompts us to ask if you’ve got the team scheduled for your event or locked in your sponsorship of our coverage of an industry event. You’ll get professional photographers and farm podcasters who will provide you with significant “content” you can use in a variety of ways – newsletters, websites, posters, brochures, magazines, broadcasts and just about anything you can imagine. And that doesn’t include online exposure on some of the most search engine optimized websites in agriculture starting with our flagship, AgWired.com! How about getting on our calendar. It is already filling up pretty fast. Some industry events we don’t have on our schedule yet include Beltwide Cotton Conference, World Ag Expo and the Agricultural Relations Council annual mtg. Please contact Chuck or Dave Larson for a proposal.

Speaking of the agriblogging highway, Cindy just returned from the National Agricultural Aviation Association Convention in Las Vegas courtesy of BASF and Chuck returned the end of last week from the Boehringer Ingelheim 2011 PRRS ARC&E Seminar in Chicago. You can full coverage from them including photos on AgWired.

In our latest ZimmPoll we asked the question, “With net farm income up this year, how is your income?” The idea for the question came from the recent USDA Economic Research Service Net Farm Income Forecast that showed a 28% increase over 2010. The responses to our question were Higher – 34.4%; Lower – 31.2% and Same – 34.4%.

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “What’s tops on your Christmas gift list?” If your income is the same or higher than last year perhaps you have a little more in the disposable category for holiday shopping. What categories are tops for you this year?

Here are some interviews from this week that you might have missed:
• NAAA/BASF Scholarship Winner Jordan Loewen
• NAAA/BASF Scholarship Winner Brad Taylor
• NAAA President Rick Richter
• PRRS North-Central Illinois control project update from Dr. Joel Garbes

You can find the full e-Newsletter here and subscribe here.

It’s back to the agriblogging highway for the ZimmComm team this week. Chuck started off by attending the AgChat Foundation planning and board meeting in Milwaukee. It’s hard to believe that over two years have passed since farmers started communicating weekly via an online Twitter chat session. The Foundation is going on two years old itself and has plans to continue to grow and help engage more and more farmers in the online conversation so they can tell their own story. If your company or organization would like to become involved or assist financially please let Chuck know.

From Milwaukee Chuck travelled to Chicago for the Boehringer Ingelheim PRRS ARC&E Seminar. This annual seminar takes place just prior to the International PRRS Symposium. The theme of BIVI’s seminar this year is “Change the Game.” Eliminating or at least controlling this swine disease is the end goal and progress is being made. Chuck took photos and conducted interviews for BIVI with many of them being posted onto AgWired.

Cindy hits the road this weekend for the National Agricultural Aviation Association convention courtesy of sponsor BASF. She’ll be in Las Vegas providing coverage on AgWired so please check it out!

It looks like Facebook is still the big dog with this community. In our latest ZimmPoll we asked the question, “Do you use Facebook or Google+?” 50% of you said Facebook while only 7% said Google+. However, 20% said Both while 23% said Neither. Interesting. Looks like Google+ has a ways to go.

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “With net farm income up this year, how is your income?” USDA’s Economic Research Service released it’s Net Farm Income Forecast update yesterday showing a 28% increase over 2010. The report also states, “Net cash income, at $109.8 billion, is forecast up $17.5 billion (18.9 percent) from 2010, and $34.2 billion above its 10-year average (2001-2010) of $75.6 billion.” Wow. How about you? How’s your income doing this year compared to last?

Here are some interviews from this week that you might have missed:
• Iowa Corn Caucus Press Conference
• Mike Hofer, BASF, talks about grower incentives
• GROWMARK’s Tim Piper talks about AgGateway
• Don McLean, FS GreenPlan Solutions, talks about field trial results

You can find the full e-Newsletter here and subscribe here.

We’ve got a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. For starters, we can’t say enough how much we appreciate our clients and sponsors. Your support means more than we can say. We also thank everyone in the ZimmComm community. We’ll continue to strive to bring you our best. We’re also thankful to America’s farmers and everyone involved in the production/processing/distribution of food. For that we give #FoodThanks!

The ZimmPoll is one year old! And you can re-visit all of them since they are all archived right here on AgWired. Thank you Rhea+Kaiser for your sponsorship and support.

In our latest ZimmPoll we asked the question, “Will higher cost (13%) of Thanksgiving dinner affect your meal?” Apparently it won’t for most of our respondents. 64% said, No, same as usual; 22% said Yes, Fewer items on table; 9% said Yes, Planning smaller portions and 5% said No, Bigger dinner this year. A story in yesterday’s USA Today seems to reflect this response. It says that some will be cutting back.

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “Do you use Facebook or Google+?” Google+ now allows company pages but so far they don’t seem to have attracted the kind of audience found by companies using Facebook. Which “house” do you live in? Feel free to chime in. We appreciate it.

Here are some interviews from this week you might have missed:
• Heather Covrig/Sara Steever talk about new Paulsen Marketing though paper
• Garry Niemeyer, NCGA President, talks farm bill
• Bob Young, AFBF Economist, talks farm bill
• Robert White, Renewable Fuels Association, on status of E-15 waiver

You can find the full e-Newsletter here and subscribe here.

In our latest ZimmPoll we asked the question, “Will higher cost (13%) of Thanksgiving dinner affect your meal?” Apparently it won’t for most of our respondents. 64% said, No, same as usual; 22% said Yes, Fewer items on table; 9% said Yes, Planning smaller portions and 5% said No, Bigger dinner this year. A story in yesterday’s USA Today seems to reflect this response. It says that some will be cutting back.

Some are holding potluck dinners instead of springing for the entire feast. Others are staying home rather than flying. And a few are skipping the turkey altogether.

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “Do you use Facebook or Google+?” Google+ now allows company pages but so far they don’t seem to have attracted the kind of audience found by companies using Facebook. Which “house” do you live in? Feel free to chime in. We appreciate it.

ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.

We wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving Day week in advance. Feel free to add your #FoodThanks thoughts to the online conversation taking place right now.

During the last year we’ve conducted an informal series of interviews with leadership at agricultural marketing agencies. If your agency is looking at how to market its brand in 2012, now is the time to contact Chuck for proposals to utilize the AgWired community to achieve your goals. The same goes for you ag media companies as well as agribusinesses and farm member organizations. Leverage our community to help you promote your brand!

It looks like there are a lot of Ron Paul supporters out there. In our latest ZimmPoll we asked the question, “Which Republican candidate for President is best for ag?” The big leader was Ron Paul at 41% followed by Newt Gingrich, 16%; Herman Cain, 13%; Rick Perry, 8%; Rick Perry, 8%; Mitt Romney, 7%; Jon Huntsman, 6%; Michele Bachmann, 5%; Gary Johnson, 3% and Rick Santorum, 2%. Does this surprise you?

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “Will higher cost (13%) of Thanksgiving dinner affect your meal?” The increased cost of a traditional Thanksgiving meal comes from an announcement by the American Farm Bureau Federation last week.

AFBF’s 26th annual informal price survey of classic items found on the Thanksgiving Day dinner table indicates the average cost of this year’s feast for 10 is $49.20, a $5.73 price increase from last year’s average of $43.47.
You can find the announcement here.

Here are some interviews you might have missed this week:
• Katie Dierker, John Deere, talks about Project “Can Do”
• Matt Roberts, Ohio State University, talks about trends in energy/alt fuels
• Pat Morrow, BASF, loves NAFB
• Jeff Trinca, Coalition for E85

You can find the full e-Newsletter here and subscribe here.

In good company, Chuck was honored with Stephanie Gable (left) of Novus International for Product/Species Management and Margaret Fogarty, Farm Credit for Marketing Communications. The fourth winner in the Sales category was Sue Lee of Farm Journal Media who is not pictured because she was attending another meeting. All are well deserving of the honors.

Here’s what NAMA had to say about Chuck:

From on-line photo album development for key industry events, to news reporting and media liaison activities for various commercial clients, to ‘blogging’ his way across the land, Chuck has become a common sight at just about any type of meeting or event in the agriculture industry. He has also done a great deal to get many others involved in new media endeavors.

Chuck has been active in NAMA throughout his career and he continues his membership in a very active way now in his role representing his own company, ZimmComm, Inc. He has given countless hours and days to NAMA service in many, many ways over the years. He has always been active in his local chapters, and has been involved in program planning and leadership at local levels. He is currently a nominee to the Executive Committee.

Stephanie turned the tables on Chuck and interviewed him about his award. Listen to that here: Stephanie Interviews Chuck

2011 NAMA Trends in Agriculture Photo Album

It has been an awesome week for the ZimmComm Team. Chuck and Cindy have been attending the 2011 NAMA Trends in Agriculture conference and NAFB Convention. You can follow coverage on AgWired. NAMA Trends Photos – NAFB Convention Photos

Chuck received some very special recognition from the National Agri-Marketing Association on Wednesday. He was announced as this year’s recipient of the NAMA Professional Development Award of Excellence for Public Relations. Chuck says, “I am very honored and humbled to be selected for this award by my peers in the agrimarketing community. It really means a lot to me.” Chuck was also appointed to the NAMA Executive Committee and will start serving his term at the first of the year.

Our latest ZimmPoll seems to have hit a nerve judging by the number of responses. We asked, “What is the cause of obesity?” Eighty six percent said Bad eating/exercise habits! Only 8% said Over processed food, 4% said Genetics, 2% said Fast food restaurants and no one chose Lack of food regulation. Eating really is a personal choice as well as a necessity. Seems like personal responsibility trumps all else here. What do you think?

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “Which Republican Candidate for President is best for Ag?” There are a lot of them and we’ve listed the main contenders of the moment. What do you think? Feel free to add a comment here.

Here are some interviews you might have missed this week:

• Abe Hughes, New Holland, talks about new discount program and Lil Tug auction
• Secretary of Ag, Tom Vilsack, speaking at NAFB Convention
• Mark Ramsey, Mark Ramsey Media, talks about trends in media landscape
• NAMA Past President, Vicki Henrickson, BCS Communications, talks about “state of NAMA”

You can find the full e-Newsletter here and subscribe here.

The ZimmComm team is getting ready for Kansas City week. There’s a lot going on. First up will be the annual meeting of the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance followed by the NAMA Trends in Agriculture conference. Then it’s on to the NAFB convention. We’ll have full coverage on AgWired. To make it easy get the AgWired smartphone app (iPhone and Android)! If you are attending the NAFB convention and want to know more about using your smartphone for broadcasting purposes, plan to sit in on Chuck’s session on Wednesday at 3:15pm.

Our latest ZimmPoll didn’t excite too many people judging by the response. Thanks to all of you who did take the poll though. We asked the question, “How do you view the new free trade agreements for U.S. ag?” The majority view the agreements as Positive at 54%, while 28% view them as Negative and 18% as Neutral. I guess we’ll see what happens. You know that time will tell!

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “What is the cause of obesity?” It seems like we read about this “crisis” all the time. Is this something we should look to the government to fix? Or is this something that people need to take personal responsibility for? Do we blame someone else or look in the mirror? Are efforts like the USDA’s Choose My Plate having any affect on obesity? What do you think? Let us know and thank you.

Here are some interviews you might have missed this week:
• Harry Cooney, GROWMARK Energy, talks about fuel markets
• Tom Buis, Growth Energy, talks about American Ethanol & NASCAR

You can find the full e-Newsletter here and subscribe here.

It’s pheasant season so you know where Chuck is this weekend. We’re pretty sure he’ll be sharing some photos. Remember you can follow him on Twitter too: @AgriBlogger.

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “Are Farm Show Smartphone Apps Helpful?” Although 55% said they had Never used one, 27% said Yes and only 18% said no. These results probably reflect the fact that these apps are new. We’ve used several during the course of the year and some are more helpful than others. One of the useful features is being able to open a show map to find where you’re located and where you want to go to find a particular exhibitor. Have you used any of these apps? What did you like or wish was different about the ones you used?

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question,”How do you view the new free trade agreements for U.S. ag?” President Obama signed legislation last Friday implementing free trade agreements with Korea, Colombia and Panama. These agreements were supported by most agricultural member organizations. What do you think? Take our poll and feel free to comment. Thank you.

Here are some interviews you might have missed this week:

Juli Paladino, FS Partners, on using QR codes
Scott Myrick, New Holland, about what customers like about Boomer tractors

You can find the full e-Newsletter here and subscribe here.

This week the agriblogging highway took Chuck to Moultrie, GA and the Sunbelt Ag Expo. You canfind some stories from the show on AgWired. He was there primarily to obtain some video for posting onto the New Holland Boomer 555 Contest blog. This is a social media driven promotion for New Holland’s compact tractor line and the new Boomer Guard 5 Warranty.

Chuck shot the video there with the new iPhone 4S. He’s more convinced than ever that this is the best all around mini computer/phone/camera on the market. It was a test and confirmed that the camera in the new iPhone is a whole level better than the one in the previous model. Feel free to ask him about using the new iPhone for agriblogging and farm podcasting!

Earlier in the week Chuck moderated FoodChat for the first time. FoodChat replaces the weekly AgChat Twitter conversation once a month on the 3rd Tuesday. The sessions take place from 8-10pm, eastern. He has moderated AgChat a number of times over the years (years?, hard to believe). Follow along using the hashtags, #FoodChat or #AgChat.

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “Should the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) be changed?” A majority at 53% said, No, it’s working as intended; 32% said Get rid of it entirely and 15% said Yes, change to adapt to corn stocks.

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “Are Farm Show Smartphone Apps Useful?” What do you think? The latest one on Chuck’s phone is the Sunbelt Know on the Go App. Take our poll and feel free to comment. Thank you.

Here are some interviews/audio that you might have missed this week:

Chip Blalock, Sunbelt Ag Expo, Executive Director
Southeastern Farmer of the Year, Thomas Porter, award remarks
Brad Scott, California dairy farmer, talks about Twitter at World Dairy Expo

You can find the full e-Newsletter here and subscribe here.

There has been a lot of buzz this week about the new Apple mobile operating system, iOS 5 and the new iPhone 4S. Chuck has already shared some thoughts about iOS 5 and by the time you read this he’ll probably be setting up his new iPhone 4S. So, if you’ve got questions you know who to ask.

He’s also getting an increasing number of questions about Google+ and will be participating in a social media training webinar on this subject next week for the National Corn Growers Association. You can look at the numbers and see that there over 800 million on Facebook and just over 40 million on G+. But what does that mean? Our suggestion is to get your G+ account and see for yourself. If you have questions feel free to ask Chuck. As you might know, he’s not shy about sharing!

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question,”How do you feel about the corn supply/demand status?”Sounds like there’s a little worry out there according to the results. 42% answered, Worried – there’s not enough; 34% said No worries – there’s plenty; 13% said, Don’t care and 11% said It will be better next year. If you’re worried, why?

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “Should the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) be changed?” What do you think? Take our poll and feel free to comment. Thank you.

Here are some interviews or other audio that you might have missed:

Thad Simons, Novus International, interview at St. Louis Ag Club Mtg.
Travis Maier, Morgan & Myers, Badger NAMA President
Katie Wirkus, 64th Alice in Dairyland
John Schouten, CEO, World Wide Sires
Joel Groskreutz, President/CEO, Accelerated Genetics
Howard Brown, GROWMARK Agronomy Services Manager, fall nitrogen management

You can find the full e-Newsletter here and subscribe here.

There seems to be a lot of optimism in the dairy industry based on our conversations with farmers and dairy business companies during the 2011 World Dairy Expo. The ZimmComm team has been on location this week covering the show for the 7th year in a row. We’ve got a lot of photos online and more stories to come on World Dairy Diary.

We have to mention the passing of Steve Jobs which was a big shock to us and a lot of you. Farm podcasting was made possible by the iPod and Agriblogging is just more fun on a Mac. Thank you Steve. You will be missed.

Our latest ZimmPoll question, “Do you think the world population will be 10 billion by 2050?” generated some mixed results. This prediction is being used by all kinds of organizations for all kinds of purposes. But how accurate is it? Here’s what you think. 40% said Exactly or really close; 24% said How can anyone know; 19% said Much more and 17% said Much Less. A lot of people point to a United Nations report for this number. However, they readily admit that no one can know. Here’s an excerpt from the 2004 report that says it pretty clearly. You can find the latest report with revisions here (pdf).

Projections recently issued by the United Nations suggest that world population by 2050 could reach 8.9 billion, but in alternative scenarios could be as high as 10.6 billion or as low as 7.4 billion. What will population trends be like beyond 2050? No one really knows. Any demographic projections, if they go 100, 200, or 300 years into the future, are little more than guesses. Societies change considerably over hundreds of years-as one can readily see if one looks back at where the world was in 1900, or 1800, or 1700. Demographic behaviour over such long time spans, like behaviour in many spheres of life, is largely unpredictable.

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question,”How do you feel about the corn supply/demand status?”It has been a tough weather year in some areas of the corn belt. After listening to an NPR show yesterday that featured as a guest Bob Dinneen, Renewable Fuels Association, it was obvious there is a lot of worry and misinformation about our corn supply in the public and on the part of activist environmental groups. What do you think? Take our poll and feel free to comment.

Here are some interviews you might have missed this week:

Opening of new John Deere Olathe Facility
Mark Clarke, General Manager, World Dairy Expo
Steve Larson, Hoard’s Dairyman and National Dairy Shrine Guest of Honor
Charlie Hammer, WI grain farmer, going full precision with Ag Leader Technology

You can find the full e-Newsletter here and subscribe here.

Of course, Chuck did spend over a week in Ontario, Canada for the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) annual congress this month, so we weren’t TOTALLY home bound. Check out all of the more than 1,000 photos from the trip here. Thanks to Pioneer for once again sponsoring our coverage of this great event.

As for Cindy – well, I spent a grand total of one day on the road in September – and now feel fully caught up. My one trip was to Minnesota for the official opening of the REG Albert Lea biodiesel plant. We would like to sincerely thank the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council for allowing us to cover this event on their behalf and congratulate all involved for getting this plant back up and running to meet the advanced biofuel needs of the state of Minnesota and the rest of the country under the Renewable Fuels Standard.

Gearing up to get back on the road, both of us will be heading to Madison, Wisconsin the first week of October to cover the World Dairy Expo on World Dairy Diary for sixth year in a row. Thanks to our sponsors Charleston Orwig and several of their dairy clients, including Hoard’s Dairyman, Accelerated Genetics, and Dairy Business Association; as well as Alltech – a first time sponsor for this event for us, but a long time supporter.

Hope to see you all somewhere on down the agriblogging highway!

Chuck and Cindy are getting a break from the agriblogging highway. Chuck returned from the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Congress in Canada and Cindy attended the Renewable Energy Group (REG) official grand opening of the REG Albert Lea biodiesel plant in Minnesota.

Well, our latest ZimmPoll about jobs didn’t excite anyone judging by the low response. With jobs all the rage in the political scene maybe you’re burned out on the word? Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “What is best for ag to add jobs to the economy?” 46% said All of the above to our choices. We also had 24% choose Support development of next generation biofuels; 18% choose Invest in rural economic development; 8% choose Pass FTAs with Colombia, Panama and Korea and 4% choose None of the above. We’ll see what happens as the budget and farm bill debates continue to unfold.

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “Can farmers effectively reach out to consumers with social media?” Seems like a timely questions with Thursday’s Food Dialogues, a USFRA program driven by social media. You probably know where I come down on this. But with all our efforts, are we “reaching” consumers? What do you think? Did you participate? Did we reach the right audience?

We get asked a lot of questions about equipment to do farm podcasting with. Here’s a link to an ongoing series of posts highlighting various products you may be interested in.

Here’s some interviews and audio you might have missed this week:

REG President/COO Dan Oh at biodiesel plant grand opening
Hensall District Co-operative, Canada, CEO Earl Wagner
Richard Doyle, President, Dairy Farmers of Canada, on their supply management system
Rick Stott, Agri Beef Co, discusses USFRA Food Dialogues
Christina Connelly, MN Dept. of Ag, bioenergy programs/REG grand opening
Hans Stiekema, Ag Leader Technology, opening new markets

You can find the full e-Newsletter here and subscribe here.

We have been uploading photos to Flickr since 2005. Our very first set is the 2005 Indy 500, which includes this photo of Chuck interviewing the late Paul Dana, who made it his mission in life to see the Indy Car Series run on ethanol and who was killed in a crash during practice for the Homestead race in 2006, the first Indy race to use 10 percent ethanol. There are 35 photos in the entire set, taken with just a regular point and shoot digital camera – before we went professional – and they have been viewed over 700 times. That’s when Chuck found out that he needed a better camera with a bigger lens to capture Indy in action!

We have a total of nearly 66,000 photos in our photostream, in more than 300 sets. All together, they have been viewed over 2.1 million times! I wish we had the time to go through categorize them all but all of the sets have tags and they are pretty easy to search. We have an open source policy for all of our content and encourage people to utilize any of our photos and audio. It’s nice when we get credit, of course, but not required! Browse through our photos next time you get a chance – you might be surprised at what you find!

Chuck and Cindy are almost recovered from their post Farm Progress Show Syndrome and more stories are still being worked up for ZimmComm News Network websites. After a short break Chuck gets back on the Agriblogging Highway this weekend. He’s heading to Canada for the 2011 IFAJ Congress starting with a pre-Congress Master Class program for ag journalists. Chuck will be doing a presentation about integrating new media and traditional media. Then he gets to spend a day at the Canada Outdoor Farm Show before the official Congress program starts mid week. You’ll be able to follow along all week on AgWired! And in case you’d like to follow on Twitter, the official Congress hash tag is #IFAJ.

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “How many years before cellulosic ethanol matches corn ethanol production?” So what did you say? 42% said More than ten years; 23% said Five to ten years; 18% said Five years; 14% said Never and 3% said Next year. We’ve seen huge strides in the efficiency of corn ethanol production and research on the use of new feedstocks but we’re not quite there for mass quantity cellulosic production. Will we be? What do you think?

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “Which is more important to rural America: GPS Service or Broadband Internet?” We thought it would be interesting you get your thoughts on this in light of the Lightsquared rural broadband service that seems to pose some serious problems for GPS service. Your input and thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Here are some interviews you might have missed this week:

FFA Update With DeLoss Jahnke/Geoffrey Miller
Richard Childress talks American Ethanol
USFRA announced The Food Dialogues
New AgChat Foundation board member Zack Hunnicut
Sheri Seger encourages support for NAMA ABEF
Mark Dehner, GROWMARK, supplying domestic fuel for FPS

You can find the full e-Newsletter here and subscribe here.

We started out the month with cattle producers in the Sunshine State for the 2011 Cattle Industry Summer Conference. The joint meeting of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB) in Kissimmee, Florida featured Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain. Click on the photo for a larger version and see the CISC 2011 photo album for more. Posts about the CBB side of the meeting can be found on BeefBoardMeeting.com, where meeting photos, interviews and committee reports going back to 2007 are archived.

We also covered the AgCareers.com 2011 Ag HR Roundtable for the first time. The event was held on the campus of Purdue University and brought together representatives from agribusiness and academia to discuss how to recruit and prepare young people for careers in agriculture.

Another stop this month was in Toledo, Ohio for the CTIC Conservation in Action Tour, which featured a full day of visits in the area around Lake Erie. This rosy sunset over the Maumee River greeted us as we returned from the tour. I really love that photo – click on it for a larger version, and check out the CTIC 2011 tour photo album for more.

The Sturgis Motorcycle rally in South Dakota was definitely a first for us. Chuck covered that for the Renewable Fuels Association, which partners with the Buffalo Chip Campground to promote ethanol. See his photos from Sturgis here. No, he didn’t ride a motorcycle, but he did sleep in a very comfortable RV at the campground – it was an experience!

Without too much of a break, Chuck headed to Kansas City for the NAMA Bootcamp and then to Nashville for the AgChat Agvocacy 2.0 conference.

Cindy’s next two trips sent her from coast to coast. First to the Boehringer-Ingelheim annual swine health seminar in North Carolina. This is the fourth time we have been able to attend this event and it is always fun because it is so family-oriented. They invite their producer and partner clients and their families for a really nice weekend on the Carolina coast. It was a pirate theme this year and all the kids really enjoyed it!

Five days later, Cindy headed to Seattle at the request of the United Soybean Board to attend the U.S. Soybean Export Council’s first Animal Utilization Stakeholders meeting. The weather was glorious in Seattle and as a weird coincidence, Cindy got to attend the wedding of a very close high school friend who lives in Tacoma.

The month wrapped up with the biggest product launch in the 174 year history of John Deere in Indianapolis. Chuck got lots of great photos and video there. The photos have already been viewed over 2600 times and the three videos collectively have been seen almost 10,000 times! Cindy attended the GROWMARK annual meeting in Chicago, then we both got together and headed to Decatur, Illinois for the 2011 Farm Progress Show. Together we uploaded over 600 photos that have been viewed more than 3,000 times.

All totaled, we traveled over 16,000 miles in August, uploaded nearly 4,000 photos, and did more than 400 posts on all four of our websites. We are definitely looking forward to a break from the road and a little R&R on Labor Day before we get back at it in September!

We saw a lot of corn in July, starting with the Conservation Technology Information Center tour of the Indian Creek Watershed in Illinois, where we learned about a farm family that caters to corn connoisseurs, among other things. Check out the photos from that tour here, and watch for coverage from the Conservation In Action Tour, sponsored by CTIC and AGROTAIN, August 9 in northwest Ohio.

The following week, Chuck drove out to York, Nebraska to check out the FMC plot tour in that area, then turned around and drove all the way to Springfield, Illinois for the 2011 InfoAg Conference, where our coverage was sponsored by AgLeader Technology on Precision Pays.

Wyffels Hybrids kept us going from sunrise to sunset on two days in July – one in Illinois and one in Iowa – for their annual Corn Strategies. Cindy went to Dixon, Illinois and Chuck attended the Malcom, Iowa event. Lots of great photos there!

We headed for the deep south at the end of the month. Cindy went to Panama City, Florida to cover the Southern Peanut Growers Conference for the fourth year in a row, while Chuck attended the Ag Media Summit in New Orleans, thanks to the sponsorship of BASF and AgHaven.

August is shaping up to be a hot one as well. Heading to Florida for the Cattle Industry Summer Conference, to Indiana for the AgCareers Ag HR Roundtable, South Dakota for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally on behalf of the Renewable Fuels Association, Ohio for CTIC, Nashville for AgChat Agvocacy 2.0 sponsored by New Holland, Indianapolis for the John Deere product launch, Chicago for GROWMARK’s annual meeting and finishing up at Farm Progress show in Illinois.

See you down the road – stay cool!

Announcing the New Holland Boomer™ 555 Contest. Eight lucky winners will receive a 5-year lease (150-hour per year) on a New Boomer 30 with a 240TLA Loader with the 5-year Boomer Guard5 Limited Warranty. All you have to do is fill out the entry form and describe how you would use a New Holland compact tractor.

You can find out all you need to know, including contest rules and regulations, on the Boomer555.com blog. I’m going to be the Boomer™ 555 Contest blogger throughout this campaign, updating you frequently with announcements and sharing selected entries and feedback from the folks I meet. Yes, that does mean I’ll be out and about. Follow along on Twitter and Facebook too.

Here’s a picture of a Boomer 30. Picture that on your place!

So, let’s learn more about the contest from Doran Herritt, New Holland Brand Marketing Manager. We spoke by phone. Doran says New Holland decided to conduct the Boomer™ 555 Contest as part of their introduction of the new 5 year limited warranty on the new Boomer tractors. The 5′s represent 5 months to enter to win a 5 year lease on a Boomer 30 with a five year warranty. Doran encourages you to think creatively about how you would use a Boomer tractor/loader and enter the contest. Whatever you can dream up is okay. It’s time to get Boomer555 Fever!

You can listen to my conversation with Doran here: Doran Says - Get Boomer555 Fever

If you aren’t familiar with the New Holland Boomer Tractors then learn all about them on the New Holland website.