ZimmCast 762 - AI Impact on R&D with Syngenta
ZimmCast
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. In this episode I’m going to share some comments and a question with an IFAJ Webinar. The topic was “Artificial Intelligence’s Impact on R&D for Agriculture.” Moderating was Steve Werblow, IFAJ President and Martin Clough, Syngenta Crop Protection’s R&D Head of Digital Collaboration and Sustainability and Andre Piza, Syngenta’s Group’s Global Head of Digital AgTech. My question was, are there concerns about the cost of data centers and including issues like the climate and sustainability. Each of them will provide their comments and then...
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ZimmCast 761 - Biofueling Agriculture
ZimmCast
A new from S&P Global and commissioned by U.S. Farmers and Ranchers in Action (USFRA), finds that biofuels have the potential to restore long-term profitability to American farms and drive investment in rural communities; unlock demand for sustainable feedstocks, creating a market that rewards farmers for pioneering modern farm practices; and strengthen food, economic and energy security on a global scale. It could also help motivate the U.S. Senate to pass legislation allowing year-round, nationwide sales of E15 (15% ethanol-blended fuel). In this episode of the ZimmCast, hear from...
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ZimmCast 760 - Award to Harry Siemens
ZimmCast
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman. In this episode I have a very special guest. I haven’t talked to him recently but we did quite a bit in the early days of AgWired. He’s Harry Siemens and some of you may have heard or read his Siemens Says. He just received a very well deserved award and we’ll talk about that too. The award was initiated by U.S. farm broadcasters Lynn Ketelsen of the Linder Farm Network, the late Orion Samuelson, and Max Armstrong, longtime voices in agricultural broadcasting and fellow members of the National Association of Farm...
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ZimmCast 759 - AgGateway Mid-Year Mtg. and AI
ZimmCast
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman. In this episode I’m sharing my preview interview for the AgGateway Mid-Year Meeting with President/CEO, Brent Kemp. Additionally I’ve got a few comments regarding AI, or Artificial Intelligence, for those of you who haven’t heard of it. But really, AI, is moving fast and besides it is a topic for the AgGateway meeting. I’m slow in producing a ZimmCast episode for several reasons. One is that I haven’t been traveling for work. But additionally, I’ve done a little research about how AI has affected things like agricultural...
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ZimmCast 758 - About ZimmComm
ZimmCast
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman. In this episode the tables have been turned. We thought it would be fun for Laura McNamara, one of our very early freelancers, to interview Cindy and me about the how, what and why we created ZimmComm and all its elements. We’ve had people ask about this over the years, but as you will hear, from the start it has continued to develop and pivot when needed. So, listen in and let us know what you think. As many know, Cindy and I took a big step to stop traveling this year. We’re really happy to be working with Laura as some of the...
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ZimmCast 757 - 2026 National Ethanol Conference
ZimmCast
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman. In this episode of the podcast I’m going to share some audio from the . While Laura McNamara worked with , which overlapped with the NEC, yours truly drove to Orlando and took photos, interviews and session audio in a To start out with, Patrice Banks, Founder of , who spoke at the NEC Women’s Leadership Breakfast, also spoke at one of the sessions. Hers was titled, Cultivating a New Crop of Ethanol Advocates. staff member, Kendra Coulson, Marketing and Membership Manager, helps with educating new audiences and she has worked with...
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ZimmCast 756 - AI in Agriculture
ZimmCast
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. i’m Chuck Zimmerman. The beginning of February was a very busy time. Although Cindy and I are not traveling to conferences and shows for work we’ve had some great talent on site while we gather their photos and interviews to create virtual newsrooms. These were 2026 CattleCon (Steven Orr, Paramount Broadcasting (All Ag All Day) and the 2026 CIRB Annual Meeting (Laura McNamara). You can find these virtual ag newsrooms on AgNewsWire.com. These posts are available to all ag media who want or need an image or an interview. There is more to come. We’re using...
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ZimmCast 755 - Beltwide Cotton Conferences
ZimmCast
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman. Part of December into January was a little rough for the ZimmComm Team. Between some bugs going around to two short trips to see family. But now all’s well and it’s time for a new episode. In December we posted some “Oh the places we’ve been!” details. We started in the new year by curtailing our business travel after over 20 years and nearly 900 events around the world. Interestingly, of all the states and countries we traveled to the state with the most events has been Missouri at 112. Now here in January we actually are...
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ZimmCast 754 - Roadrunner Marketing Launched in the Fall
ZimmCast
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman. We’ll have a final ZimmCast podcast at the end of the year. But in the meantime… I’m sharing an interview with Josh Turney, founder of Rooster and Roadrunner. I did ask if he’ll be starting another bird name company soon. You’ll have to listen to hear his answer. Roadrunner just recently went live in mid November and Josh describes why. “In operating Rooster since 2017, we’ve seen several companies waver in the space between hiring staff, hiring freelancers and hiring an agency,” says Josh Turney, founder of Rooster and...
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ZimmCast 753 - AdFarm 2025 AgIntel Index Report
ZimmCast
Hello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman. In this episode I’m going to share an interview with Matt Weeks, AgIntel Lead at AdFarm. We discuss the inaugural AgIntel Index Report. This will be a yearly report that dives into the trends and insights dominating the conversation in agriculture. This is information that matters to agri-marketers and ag leaders. In addition, I’m adding a wrap up interview with Brent Kemp, President/CEO, AgGateway, about the organization’s annual conference, my last on-location work of the year. You can find the AgNewsWire virtual ag newsroom...
info_outlineHello and welcome to the ZimmCast. I’m Chuck Zimmerman along with Cindy Zimmerman.
Welcome to another year of agriblogging and farm podcasting. It’s hard to believe that we’re coming close to 21 years since we started ZimmComm in 2004. Cindy and I have worked together in the ag marcom field for about 21 years before that. Now we’re doing some thinking and planning for 2025. I sense that this year will be a big one for us
We’ve already got plans made for the same conferences during the upcoming months. We traveled to work at 20 different events last year. So, we’ll see how things go as time moves on.
We started taking photos at events 20 years ago when Flickr started. Since then we’ve uploaded 222,000 photos and they have collectively received 38 million views. In 2024 we uploaded 6,611 photos from the events and they have been viewed 1.1 million views.
On the audio side of things we started using Libsyn as our audio/podcast server platform in 2017. In that time, and just looking at our ZimmComm Golden Mic Audio podcast, we’ve received 2.8 million downloads of those files, with 137,000 in 2024.
Our AgNewsWire service had a banner year in 2024 with the distribution of over 80 news releases for our clients. And speaking of news releases we’re offering a 2025 discount for existing or new customers. If you sign up for an advance purchase of 4 news releases you will receive a 10 Percent discount. Regular price is $525 but your discounted price will be $472.50/each! Feel free to contact me about how AgNewsWire works and we’ll help you reach our comprehensive list of ag media.
AgWired and Energy. AgWired have also really kept us busy. Besides Cindy and me we’ve had 40 editors work for us and that includes interns, many of who are in high level jobs in ag media and agencies, and freelancers who have started their own companies. We can’t say how thankful and proud for all of them
So, that’s what’s on our minds as we contemplate the how/when/what and why of another year on the agriblogging highway.
So, that’s the ZimmCast. We hope you enjoyed it and thank you for listening.