The Story That Was and Wasn’t
It’s Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012. You’re doing a Google search on genetically modified crops in Europe. One of your search results is from the U.K.’s Daily Mail web site – an announcement that Monsanto is closing wheat breeding stations in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the Czech Republic. You look at the article’s date: [...]
Why would a farmer or rancher create a blog?
The title of this post is a question I’ve been asked several times. It seems people don’t understand what would lead a farmer to set up and maintain a blog. That sort of writing and content creation used to be the sort of thing communications professionals laid claim to. The process seemed intimidating to others. [...]
What Can Farmers & Small Towns Gain Through Social Media?
More than 100 million people are said to be using Twitter. With all the buzz around the service – challenges about how many followers people have, tweeted photos appearing on the big screen in major stadiums, and every business having a twitter icon on their homepage – one would have to wonder what would small [...]
Monsanto Agronomist Helps Farmers 140 Characters at a Time
As an agronomist, Monsanto’s Michael Marlow has to be on top of the field conditions in his territory, which includes most of Oklahoma and northern and eastern Texas. It’s in his best interest—and his customers’ best interests—to know when plant diseases are popping up, when bugs are starting to move into fields and when weather [...]
Optimism in an Out of Office Message
Friday afternoon I was trying to reach a coworker. I looked on the office instant messaging system and a rush came over me – there was an out of office message saying he was planting just outside of Corpus Christi, Texas. Immediate reaction? Pick up the phone and call to see how it’s going! It’s [...]
The Perfect Week to Thank a Farmer, National Agriculture Week
As someone that didn’t grow up in agriculture (the closest I got was the 5 cow dairy farm up the street from my subdivision) I seldom thought about the importance of farming in my everyday life before I graduated college. Now that I work for Monsanto, I have had the opportunity to meet with farmers [...]
Social Media Coverage of Commodity Classic 2010
California Dreamin’ with Corn, Soybean, Wheat and Sorghum Growers The 2010 Commodity Classic Show kicks off today in Anaheim, California. Classic (as its known to hip ag-sters) is the annual meeting of the nation’s corn, soybean, wheat and sorghum growers, hosted by the National Corn Growers Association, American Soybean Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, [...]
Video: Social Media & Taking the Bull by the Horns
Very few of my friends or family are on Twitter. And of the few who are Twitter users, I hate to admit they’ve let their accounts go unused. I think my family and friends get a bit of a laugh out of the very concept of 140 character tweets. When most Americans think of Twitter, [...]
Greetings from Decatur, IL!
The event so many people in agriculture have been working toward is finally here: Farm Progress 2009. I am excited because it is my first farm show and what better first event than the “Super Bowl of Agriculture”? I am not quite sure what to expect, but my co-workers say it’s a blast. I DO [...]
