ZimmCast 756 - AI in Agriculture

ZimmCast 759 - AgGateway Mid-Year Mtg. and AI

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 marketing and communications. Additionally, I did a post on AgWired titled "Safeguard the Human Person in Time of AI." I hope you enjoy it and feel free to comment. I focused on the encyclical letter published by Pope Leo. It's not just about AI but really is about people. With some AI research, as in ChatGPT, I looked in to the changes in using news releases. This is very important to ZimmComm since we have the oldest completely ag news release service, AgNewsWire. The information I found relates to all industries. Basically, we're seeing a change in how important news releases are with various other channels to reach customers. One point is the cost to send news releases which can be from $800 to $1,200 or more. Again, with AgNewsWire, we have a very clean list of contacts to send news releases and we still only charge $525. Additionally, we post the release on the AgNewsWire website, onto our AgWired website, social media channels and also our bi-weekly e-newsletters. Our open rate is significant and very high by industries standards. If you have any questions and comments or just want to chat, I'm always open and appreciate it. So, that's the ZimmCast for now. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

ZimmCast 758 - About ZimmComm

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 events we've worked on for years still want to use good photography and interviews to make content with a target audience of ag journalists. So, this step toward retirement for most people is as easy as just walking away and going fishing. But when you've built a business over 20-plus years it's a little more difficult. We're still working at the ZimmComm World Headquarters so stay tuned. That's the ZimmCast for now. We hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

ZimmCast 757 - 2026 National Ethanol Conference

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 National Ethanol Conference [https://agnewswire.com/2026-national-ethanol-conference/]. While Laura McNamara worked with Syngenta Seeds at Commodity Classic [https://agnewswire.com/2026/02/26/2026-commodity-classic-with-syngenta/], which overlapped with the NEC, yours truly drove to Orlando and took photos, interviews and session audio in a custom virtual ag newsroom on AgNewsWire.com. [https://agnewswire.com/2026-national-ethanol-conference/] To start out with, Patrice Banks, Founder of Girls Auto Clinic [https://www.girlsautoclinic.com], 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. Renewable Fuels Association [https://ethanolrfa.org] staff member, Kendra Coulson, Marketing and Membership Manager, helps with educating new audiences and she has worked with Patrice and her audience. On a different topic RFA has scholarships [https://ethanolrfa.org/media-and-news/category/news-releases/article/2026/02/ten-awarded-scholarships-to-attend-national-ethanol-conference] given out at the NEC. I thought you might like to hear how one winner of the Young Professionals Network scholarship is Verena Hopkins. If you would like to hear more about what is going on in the renewable fuels world and specifically, ethanol, check out our virtual newsroom [https://agnewswire.com/2026-national-ethanol-conference/]. We've got plenty more and besides the newsroom you can see stories from it on Energy.AgWired.com [https://energy.agwired.com] and the latest episode of The Ethanol Report. [https://energy.agwired.com/2026/02/26/ethanol-report-from-2026-nec/] That's the ZimmCast for now. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

ZimmCast 756 - AI in Agriculture

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 photos and interviews and other audio as individual posts on AgWired.com. If you subscribe or just search you can find plenty of information online too. So, let's turn to the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau for an interview on AI in Agriculture. Laura interviewed Willie Vogt, Ag Technology Observer (and good friend), about his topic and presentation. Speaking about AI, there is a lot of information showing how fast AI is developing and what it may change how communications and marketing are managed. These includes agriculture and all industries. I've spent most of my career learning and using the latest gadgets and internet based programs. After over 40 years I don't know how much I will need to know for AI. How about you? Well that's the ZimmCast for this week. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for listening.

ZimmCast 755 - Beltwide Cotton Conferences

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 able to continue doing photos and interviews and virtual newsrooms for several of our long time clients. How you say? We're retaining the services of others to do the on-site work while we do the posting and distribution at ZimmComm World Headquarters. We're really happy to announced that two of the first events in 2026 will be handled for us on-site by Laura McNamara, one of our very first freelancers back in 2007-2008. She graduated from Mizzou and covered many events for us at that time. She's been around the world and has evolved as a top-notch photographer. The first event of 2026 that Laura worked with for us was the Beltwide Cotton Conferences which were held in San Antonio. This young lady did interviews at a technical conference on cotton like she's been a farm broadcaster her whole life! Coming up next will be the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau Annual Meeting in Indian Wells, CA in early February. So, in this ZimmCast I'm going to share a couple of the interviews Laura did. First is an interview with Marjory Walker, National Cotton Council on Seizing Opportunities for U.S. Cotton. Following up is an interview with Hank Jones, a Louisiana conference coordinator, with a Consultants Conference recap of the presentations. So, what do you think? That's the ZimmCast for now. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you listening.