ZimmCast

In this edition of the ZimmCast, you will hear from some of the many voices at #FPS19, including Show Manager Matt Jungmann, BASF External Communications Manager Casey Allen, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, President Donald J. Trump, National Corn Growers Association 1st VP Kevin Ross, and National Hemp Association executive director Erica Stark.

In this week's program you will hear from the new president of the AAEA The AgComm Network, Gil Gullickson; the new president of the Livestock Publications Council, Jennifer Carrico; the new conference manger for the Ag Media Summit, Tina Bowling and the presenters of the session, "So You Have a Podcast, Now What," Sara Steever, president of Paulsen Marketing and Kelsey Litchfield, digital media consultant.

In this week's program I speak with Quentin Rund, PAQ Interactive and Lara Moody, The Fertilizer Institute (TFI).

Quentin has been involved with organizing and running the InfoAg Conference since it started in 1995. He talks about this year's conference which is doing very well on attendance in spite of the challenging planting season the midwest has had.

Lara talks about how TFI has acquired the InfoAg Conference and what the organization is doing to expand and grow it. During this conference she says they've been conducting some focus groups to learn what they would like to see happen. A lot of the work that TFI does, like their 4R Nutrient program, fits right in with the technology represented at the InfoAg Conference.

You can learn more in the program. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

This program will be a preview of the 2019 Ag Media Summit and International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Congress. The two programs are being held together like they were in 2009. The IFAJ Congress moves to a different country each year.

To help me preview the events I spoke with Carey Brown, Kentucky Cattlemen's Association and co-chair of the coordinating committee for the events.

For this week's program I visited Timber Creek Distillery near Crestview, FL. The owners are Camden Ford and Aaron Barnes, two exceptional entrepreneurs who are building a new distillery on some beautiful property. I had the opportunity to meet them when they did some taste testing in Pensacola and found their story to be fascinating.

The new distillery building, which is near completion, is a massive 13,000 square feet with 40 foot high ceilings and includes outdoor seating areas. They have built their own power supply using solar panels, propane, batteries and backup generators. All of this has been done by just these two guys. To see it you would assume a construction crew had been busy for months. It's really amazing how much they have done with their own skills and ingenuity.

They have been producing products like Florida whiskies, rum, vodka and gin for over three years and source as much of their ingredients like corn, rye, wheat and more from local sources including farmers. In the program you'll hear more about this and their hopes and plans for the future. Timber Creek Distillery products are being sold commercially in 200 plus stores and have already won over 40 spirit competitions.

Listen in to our conversation. I hope you enjoy it. And thank you for listening.

In this week's program you will hear from industry attendees to President Trump's visit to Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy (SIRE) in Council Bluffs, IA.

Included in the program are:

Mike Jerke, CEO, SIRE

Craig Floss, President/CEO, Iowa Corn Growers

Mike Naig, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture

Kevin Ross, farmer and 1st VP, NCGA

Monte Shaw, Executive Director, IRFA

Geoff Cooper, President/CEO, RFA

Geoff provides a wrap-up of the program since I was able to talk with him after the President had toured the facility and given his speech.

I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

This week we're going to learn all about a new book from Damian Mason titled "Do Business Better." Here's an excerpt from the book description to get us started.

After speaking to companies such as Merck, Land O'Lakes, and Cargill, and 2,000 audiences across the world, Damian Mason, successful businessman, agriculturalist, podcaster, and writer, wants to help you achieve your entrepreneurial goals and live a better life. While other business books claim to tell you how to reach success, they fall short because they don't address the fact that success is different for each of us. Do Business Better helps you define success on your terms, then shows you how to achieve it.

Damian and I not only talk about his new book but some other subjects like how farmers are doing on social media his thoughts on the current farm economy.

I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

This week we're going to learn about the Farmer Veteran Coalition with founder/director, Michael O'Gorman. 

We cultivate a new generation of farmers and food leaders, and develop viable employment and meaningful careers through the collaboration of the farming and military communities. We believe that veterans possess the unique skills and character needed to strengthen rural communities and create sustainable food systems. We believe that agriculture offers purpose, opportunity, and physical and psychological benefits.

Michael talks about what motivated him to start the organization and how it has developed. He has examples of individuals who have developed successful farming operations with support from the Coalition. Many farm organizations and agribusinesses are providing assistance and there is room for more.

I think you'll find Michael very well-spoken and you might want to consider him for your next conference as a speaker. 

I'm going to share a few interviews from the conference that I hope you'll enjoy. First up will be Amanda Radke, BEEF daily blogger, BEEF Magazine. Amanda was an early intern for us who wrote for AgWired when she was in her final year at South Dakota State University. I'm proud of the career she is having and to have been a part of it in our little way.

Next up you'll hear Dr. Frank Mitloehner, Professor and Air Quality Extension Specialist, Department of Animal Science, University of California, Davis. He spoke about "Beef's Carbon Footprint: Setting the Record Straight." And he certainly does that. I hope you'll follow him on Twitter. We need more like him.

Then you can hear my Farm Babe 2.0 interview. I spoke with Michele Miller last year at the conference and we did it again this year at the end of the conference. If you're not following The Farm Babe then get started.

I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

This week's program features interviews from the 2019 Water for Food Global Conference. Here is the list of who you will hear:

Overview interview of the conference with Peter McCornick, Executive Director, Water for Food Institute

Interview with Mark Edge, Director of Collaborations for Developing Countries, Bayer

Interview with the Irrigation Association: Deborah Hamlin, CEO, Irrigation Association; Brent Mecham, Industry Development Director, Irrigation Association; Aric Olson, President, Jain Irrigation

Interview with Conference attendee Grace Mukarusagara, Rwanda

Interview with Conference attendee Elisa Zancanaro Zanella, Brazil