World Dairy Diary

Happy New Year From ZimmComm

It’s the end of the year and although I don’t have a “year in review” to offer I do have some statistics, reflections and ideas to share. Statistics as in traffic to the ZimmComm blogs. I’ll update this post if there’s a big change in the numbers by midnight (that is if I remember). ZimmComm is the publisher of World Dairy Diary and also publishes other blog sites.

NUMBERS

AgWired got it’s “official” start on March 15. In 9 1/2 months we’ve had 16,000 unique visitors who have visited a total of 51,000 times. I like the fact that we’ve had 1,000,000 hits. That’s a million folks! Page views is right at 750,000. I’m happy with this. Talk about WOMA. We’ve only promoted this site to about 1,300 people. Somebody is telling somebody else about it. A very tiny percentage of our visitors come from a search engine. Most type it directly into their browser or are using a bookmark.

This fall we started 2 more farm news blogs. World Dairy Diary was kicked off in August in advance of World Diary Expo. To date it’s had 7,000 unique visitors that have visited a total of 15,000 times. Our latest blog is DomesticFuel. We haven’t really promoted it yet but it’s already had 1,500 unique visitors who have visited 7,000 times. We’ll see a lot of growth in 2006 on these sites as we begin to develop and promote them more with the addition of new sponsors!

REFLECTIONS

ZimmComm was started with the idea that it would be a “traditional” advertising agency. That was in March of 2004. Very quickly it was obvious that our talents could be put to use by our prospective clients in some non-traditional ways. For example, as former farm broadcasters, Cindy and I created Talking News Releases, a service that targets broadcast reporters and includes pre-recorded audio. We developed a list of farm and non-farm reporters to push these releases out to. This led to conducting audio production work for clients which is used on-air and online. The evolution of this service is now AgNewsWire. Besides distributing news releases to reporters we’re now posting them directly in front of farmers via website content managed by Quickfarm. This is “unfiltered” content that the farmer gets to read, interpret or just ignore. His/her choice.

I quickly realized that I don’t speak html and do not like designing and managing traditional web pages. At Steve’s suggestion I started a blog site. Once I realized what you can do with a blog I started preaching the power of the blogosphere and we now create blogs for clients and manage several of our own. I look at these blogs as online publications that contain media rich content (audio, video, pictures and perspective). This led to podcasting and the ZimmCast was born. We now produce client podcasts and expect to see this portion of our business explode in 2006. As I like to say, “create your own media.” Let your customers and members get what they want when they want it and wherever they want.

So I guess you have to say that we’re a “new media” company. We want to help our clients deliver their message directly to the people they want to reach in as efficient and cost-effective a way as possible. As my friends at Learfield are realizing, it’s time to get on the Long Tail.

IDEAS

Blogging: Think about it. How are you personally communicating with your members or customers now? Are you? Do you email some and snail mail others? Why not let them see inside your company or organization? Maybe it’s your CEO or maybe its a technician. Somebody on the staff probably has a blogger inside. Just don’t think that you can have the PR department ghost write for someone else. It will probably backfire. People want honesty and transparency. That’s what makes you credible. This new look inside will really set you apart from your competition. If you’re not sure who on staff can do this you might want to find out who already has a personal blog. You might be surprised.

Podcasting: The video iPod is here and the walls of traditional media are tumbling down. Even if you don’t think you’re a broadcaster you can hire a company like ZimmComm to create your own radio or tv show. You control the content. Your customers can subscribe to it (opt-in) and watch or listen to it whenever and wherever they want. That can be on their computer or on their portable digital media player. I can even do it on my mobile phone!

RSS: I’m not going to try to explain this. For a reasonable fee though . . . Actually I just want you to think of “feeds.” It’s the future, my friends. New browser software will have this built in. You can create custom search engine pages now that handle this for you. By this, I mean subscribing to feeds of information. This can be information that you produce like a newsletter. It can be audio or video which makes it podcasting. It can be any kind of content that you want to syndicate to your customers. They’re looking for it. Why not make it easy for them to get it. The best part is that it’s not email. You’ll probably see it showing up on websites using this icon:

That’s it. I’m done for 2005. I hope ZimmComm has helped you in your business in one way or another. We’re very excited about 2006. The new media business is just starting to heat up in agriculture. We’re proud to be a part of it and will see you onsite or online in the new year.

McArthur Dairy Purchases Dairy From Winn Dixie

According to a story in Supermarket News, McArthur Dairy has purchased Winn Dixie’s Miami, FL dairy business unit for $5.75 mil. This is after getting bankruptcy court approval.

McArthur Dairy is owned by Dean Foods.

Lallemand Supports Organic Producers

I’ve been meaning to write about my friends at Lallemand. They have been promoting their quality and committment to organic producers. This includes a portfolio of products approved for organic use like: Alkosel, Agrimos, Biotal, Levucell SB and Levucell SC. You can find out all about these products on their website.

In order to help me understand (by increasing my alertness with caffeine) they also sent me some great San Louis gourmet coffee from Alotenango, Guatemala. I can’t find a website for this coffee or the importer, Lankin Corporation, but if you can find it, it’s good! It’s farm fresh roasted and packed.

25 Years For Trans Ova Genetics

Are you going to the National Western Stock Show? If so, you can congratulate Trans Ova Genetics.

Trans Ova Genetics announces its silver anniversary, celebrating 25 years of market-leading service in the bovine embryo transfer industry. This anniversary celebration will be highlighted at the Trans Ova Genetics booth located North of the cattle barn at the 2006 National Western Stock Show in Denver and various other industry events throughout the year.

Still Get Your Markets By Phone

You probably know you can visit the USDA AMS Dairy Market News website to get their reports. The site covers “the supply, demand, and price situation every week on a regional, national, and international basis for milk, butter, cheese, and dry and fluid products.”

Did you know they still have a phone call-in system to access reports? Just call 608-224-5088 and enter “1″ to get started.

Mayfield Dairy Farms And The Vacreator

Sometimes the good old fashioned way is best. At least that’s what Mayfield Dairy Farms believes and proves is working.

In 1955, when companies were unveiling such high-tech marvels as microwave ovens and wireless television remotes, Tom and C. Scott Mayfield were investing in a lesser-known technology that would become the cornerstone of their small dairy’s modern day success.

“The taste of onions and other strong flavors in a cow’s diet alter the taste of milk,” said President Scottie Mayfield, the fourth generation of the Mayfield family to be directly involved in the dairy’s operation. “When we first began using the vacreator to remove unwanted flavors, it was instant success. Sales jumped 25 percent that year.” Today Mayfield is the only dairy in the country that still uses a vacuum heat process to pasteurize milk.

They have a nice interactive website where you can listen to their radio commercials and view a video history of the company.

Pacific Northwest Cheese Project

Time to get back to work here at ZimmComm so let’s get started!

I just found a website you might want to look at. It’s a blog on cheese called the Pacific Northwest Cheese Project, “All about Pacific Northwest cheese, cheesemakers and other cheese related notions.” The author is Tami Parr who lives in Portland, Oregon and describes the site as “a reference and guide to Northwest cheese and cheesemakers…but also a discussion and conversation about cheese and issues related to cheese (including the environment, labor issues, production issues and the like).”

Check the site out. Know of any others we should bring to our readers attention?

Merry Christmas From ZimmComm

ZimmComm, Marketing & Communications is the publisher of World Dairy Diary. Our staff wishes you and yours a very merry Christmas.

From l-r are Amy, Cindy, Chuck and CJ the office dog. We promise to bring you a lot of interesting news and information in the coming year. It’s time now to take the weekend off and celebrate why we are so blessed.

IDFA Dairy Facts 2005 Available

Maybe it’s too late to buy it as a Christmas gift but you can still place your order for the IDFA Dairy Facts 2005.

This comprehensive industry publication provides 150+ pages of key statistics on the sales, consumption and production of milk, cheese, cultured products and ice cream products, including total and per capita trends in sales, consumption and production, imports and exports, wholesale and retail prices, nutrition information, and much more.

Select Sires Gender SELECTed Semen Available

There’s some end of the year news from Select Sires.

Dairy producers who have shown interest in using sexed semen can take advantage of superior genetics offered by proven Holstein and Jersey bulls at stud through Select Sires’ gender SELECTed(TM) program.

Based in Plain City, Ohio, Select Sires Inc., is North America’s largest A.I. organization and is comprised of 10 farmer-owned and -controlled cooperatives.

Holstein Awards Announced

The Holstein Association and Foundation have been active in making awards this month.

Lolly Lesher, Bernville, Pa. has been named the 2005 Distinguished Alumni Leader of the Young Dairy Leaders Institute (YDLI) by the Holstein Foundation board of trustees. The award is presented annually to honor YDLI alumni leadership and contributions to the dairy industry. Other finalists included Paul Heins, Higginsville, Mo. and Marilyn Hershey, Cochranville, Pa.

Lesher and her husband, William, both YDLI Class 2 alumni, own a dairy farm in partnership with William’s parents. The farm includes a family-owned milk processing and retail facility which recently celebrated 35 years of operation.

In other Holstein Association USA announcements:

Holstein Association USA, Inc. announces the 2005 Fall Show Judi Collinsworth Outstanding Junior Exhibitor Memorial Award winners: Greta Koebel, Matt Mitchell and Esther Rupp. Since 1994, 108 outstanding Juniors have been presented this prestigious award named for Judi Collinsworth, the former Holstein Association Executive Director of Member and Industry Services who passed away in 1993 of cancer. Collinsworth was dedicated to improving and expanding Holstein youth programs and was a driving force behind increasing support for them.

Greta Koebel, Three Oaks, Mich., receives the Judi Collinsworth Award from Julie Drendel, Junior Advisory Committee member and John M. Meyer, Holstein Association USA, Inc.’s CEO at the International Junior Holstein Show at the World Dairy Expo.

Matt Mitchell, LaFollette, Tenn., receives the Judi Collinsworth Award from Emily Yeiser, Junior Advisory Committee member at the Premier National Junior Holstein Show at the All-American Dairy Show, Harrisburg, Pa.

Esther Rupp, Seville, Ohio, receives the Judi Collinsworth Award from Michele Lahmers, Junior Advisory Committee member and Perry Phend, Official Judge of Junior show at Grand National Junior Holstein Show at the North American International Livestock Expo, Louisville, Ky.

2006 World Dairy Expo Awards Nominations Sought

It seems like World Dairy Expo just ended and now it’s time to look forward to 2006! Here’s the first step in getting ready for a new show.

Outstanding leaders from across the international dairy industry are being sought for World Dairy Expo’s annual recognition awards. “We’re encouraging people to nominate someone who has demonstrated exceptional leadership,” says general manager, Tom McKittrick. “Recognizing these individuals during World Dairy Expo showcases the leadership present in the dairy industry and adds to the excitement of Expo.”

Individuals will be honored at the Dinner With the Stars during World Dairy Expo, October 3 - 7, 2006, in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. Nominations are due February 1, 2006. Official applications are available through the World Dairy Expo office by calling 608-224-6455 or via email at wde@wdexpo.com.

MILC Back On Track

It looks like MILC will be extended for another two years after expiring recently. At least legislation authorizing it has passed in the House and now in the Senate. However, it has to go back to the House since the Senate version is different. Then of course it has to get signed. Passage this week would be a nice Christmas present for a lot of dairy farmers around the country.

We’ll try to get more information on the terms of the legislation that’s in the final version which it is hoped will happen still this week. One thing that seems to be decided is that there will be a reduction in the subsidy levels of the program.

IDFA Sees Progress At WTO Ministerial

I was wondering how people in the dairy business would feel about the recent WTO agreement that was signed in Hong Kong this past weekend. Then lo and behold I see an announcement from the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA).

“We are pleased to see that the European Union (EU) and all the WTO membership have finally agreed that agricultural export subsidies should be eliminated, a longstanding goal for U.S. dairy,” said Clay Hough, IDFA senior vice president and general counsel. Despite the limited movement on issues in Hong Kong, Hough said that “an ambitious result still remains viable.”

In another area of interest to IDFA member companies, the conference reached agreement on providing duty-free, quota-free access for all products coming from least developing countries (LDC). Some of the least-developed countries that will benefit are sugar producers. IDFA would like to see additional liberalization of global sugar markets, including the U.S. market, though it remains to be seen if this initiative will further that liberalization.

Do you feel the same way about the recent agreement in Hong Kong? It seems like kind of a mixed bag for American agriculture and left a lot of work still to be done.

Got Milk Hi-Tech Giveaway

It’s not too late to enter this contest from the “Got Milk” people. It’s their Got Milk, Hi-Tech Giveaway. Each week this month they’re giving away a different product. This week it’s a Sony PSP.

The promotion really caught my eye since an Apple iPod is one of the items they’re giving away. One of the features we’re planning to start here on WorldDairyDiary is a weekly podcast in 2006. We’re planning on an interview format with a different representative of the dairy industry each week. Keep your eye on WorldDairyDiary for more information about it.

In the meantime I hope you win an iPod or get one for Christmas!

Holiday Video Greeting From DFA

Just to get you in the Christmas mood DFA has a little video greeting. You can pick which connection speed is best for you.

You can find the link here.

American Cancer Society Study On Dairy & Breast Cancer

There’s some good news about the role that dairy plays in the prevention of breast cancer. This comes from the American Cancer Society.

A new American Cancer Society study finds low fat dairy products may reduce the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer, supporting the hypothesis that dietary calcium and/or some other components in dairy products may reduce the risk of the disease. The study found women who consumed two or more servings of dairy products per day had up to 20 percent lower risk of postmenopausal breast cancer compared to women with the lowest consumption of dairy products. The association was slightly stronger among women with estrogen-receptor positive tumors, the most common type.

The study is published in this month’s issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention.

Article: “Dairy, Calcium and Vitamin D intake and Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Risk in the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort,” Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention 14 (12): 2898-2904.

You can also find the story on WebMD.

Smith To Become New DFA CEO

DFA will have a new CEO starting January 1. He’s Rick Smith and he will succeed retiring chief executive Gary Hanman.

Smith, who currently serves as DFA’s president and chief operating officer, will assume the role of CEO on January 1, 2006. “We are delighted to have a proven dairy leader like Rick Smith to take DFA into the future,” said Tom Camerlo, chairman of DFA’s board of directors and a dairy farmer from Florence, Colo. “He understands the dairy industry, the DFA organization and, most importantly, the priorities of the dairy farmer members whom he serves.”

Smith entered the dairy industry in 1982 when he joined Dairylea Cooperative, Inc. (Dairylea) as vice president and general counsel. In 1988, he became CEO of Dairylea, the Northeast’s leading agricultural service and milk marketing organization with 5.5 billion pounds of milk marketed annually for 2,500 dairy farmer-members.

You can hear what DFA Board Chairman Tom Camerlo has to say about Rick here.

Watch & Listen To WTO Talks Via Webcasts

In case you’re really interested in what’s going on at the WTO talks in Hong Kong they are recording and webcasting many of the public sessions like news conferences and statements. They’re offering them live and archived in video and audio format.

Just go to the WTO Webcasting Page and you’ll find listings of the available audio/video files that they stream from their web server so they play very quickly.

I didn’t see any specifics on dairy in there yet but keep an eye on them and I’m sure we’ll hear about it.

DFA Chairman Speaks From WTO In Hong Kong

I knew we’d get some information from Hong Kong and the WTO Ministerial talks that would be about dairy. We get this from Dairy Farmers of America.

The much publicized meeting of all World Trade Organization ministers gets underway December 13th in Hong Kong. And the interests of U.S. dairymen will be well represented there by Tom Camerlo - Chairman of Dairy Farmers of America and a Dairyman from Florence, Colorado.

In fact you can listen to Tom right here. He’s speaking from a press conference in Hong Kong held by the AgTrade Coalition.