The NAMA Boot Camp is only a week away! As an attendee of the Boot Camp you’ll participate in panel discussions which include producers in the ag industry as well as what to expect from clients and agencies. Take a look at some of the questions our panels will be asked.

The 2006 Boot Camp will kick-off with a producer panel. This panel discussion will be lead by Dallas Ford, Alpha Scouts and our producers include Ron Robbins, Bret Fahrmeier, and Darren Furbeck. Questions the producers will address include: How do you learn about new products?; What influences your decision to try a new product and on what scale do you try it?; How important are outside specialists (nutritionists, vets, university extension, etc…) in making purchase decisions?; What companies do a good job communicating to you?; What types of ads/direct/etc.. do you like/dislike?; and, What are you most concerned about looking ahead to 2007?

The final day of Boot Camp begins with the client and agency panel discussions. Cliff Becker, Food 360, will be the moderator of the client panel. Panel members include: Jane Allman, Cargill Animal Nutrition – PROMOTE;
Bill Pool, Adculture Group; and Stephanie Gable, Ft. Dodge Animal Health. If you are an agency person looking for some insight into how your client thinks, this panel discussion is for you. Some questions our client panel will be answering include: What is the greatest single element that makes a good client/agency relationship?; What would be your suggestions in directing your agency on how to work with suppliers such as media (marketing) representatives?; Do you see dollars invested in marketing/communication increasing or decreasing over the next three years?; and, What advice do you have for the young people in the audience who have aspirations in becoming either a client or an agency employee?

Jim Gresham, Adculture Group Inc., will lead the agency panel discussion. Members of this panel include Mike Butler, archer>malmo; Leigh Thiel, Martin Williams; and Bob Wilhelm, AdFarm. If you are a client interested in learning more about how your agency works, this session is for you. Some of the questions that the panel will answer are: How many people do you employ?; How do you recruit new employees?; What services are clients looking for from agencies?; What are your agencies offering in terms of new technologies for reaching your clients’customers?; How has the agency/client relationship changed over the past 10 years?; What does your agency do to keep abreast of farmer issues?; and, What resources do you use to keep abreast of client issues?

Plan ahead and get your questions ready, as all panel discussions will give you a chance to ask your own questions.

If you need to register for the Boot Camp, visit https://nama.org/programs/bootcamp-register.htm.

Can’t make it to the MoKan Ag Tour or just want to learn more about the stops on the tour? Now’s your chance. Check out the tour sites below:

Kansas City Board of Trade (Kansas City, MO): The Kansas City Board of Trade was founded in 1856 by a group of Kansas City merchants. It served a function similar to a Chamber of Commerce. The Kansas City Board of Trade was formally chartered in 1876. Located on the northern border between Kansas and Missouri and the junction of two rivers, Kansas City is situated in one of the most productive wheat-growing regions of the world.

Early trading at the exchange was primarily in cash grains. Today, grain elevators, exporters, millers and producers use the exchange to protect their cash positions by buying or selling futures and options. Stock market investors also utilize KCBT products. Nonetheless, cash grain trading is still the core business of many of KCBT’s members.

Throughout its development, the Kansas City Board of Trade has prided itself on its Midwestern heritage. Integrity and service are the cornerstones upon which the Board of Trade was founded, and they remain as important today as then.

Tailgate Ranch Company (Tonganoxie, KS): Tailgate Ranch is a commercial cow-calf operation consisting of about 1,700 acres of cool-season grass and legume pastures, brome hay meadows, and alfalfa. Tailgate was formed in 1962 by Paul McKie. The ranch is located at Tonganoxie, Kansas, about 30 minutes west of Kansas City.

The ranch consists of about 300 females. The main focus for the last several years has been developing and breeding high-quality replacement females following a strict culling regime in order to build a superior maternal cow herd. Feedlot and carcass data have been collected to help improve feed efficiency and product quality.

Pendleton Farms (Lawrence, KS): John and Karen Pendleton and their three children live on a diversified operation. Pickers harvest over 20 acres of asparagus and customers can pick-your-own on five acres. In addition, three varieties of asparagus are propagated for crowns that are sold each February. The farm also grows corn, wheat and soybeans, but the cattle feedlot has been converted into a parking lot for customers at Pendleton’s Country Market. The list of produce has grown to include all kinds of vegetables and flowers, as well as honey and jams made by neighboring growers.

This stop also will include information on how a family farm recovers from a natural disaster. On March 12, their farm was hit by a microburst that did major damage to the farm.

Heritage Tractor (Baldwin City, KS): One of the largest John Deere dealerships in the region, Heritage Tractor supplies top of the line and high-quality crop production equipment to both traditional farmers/ranchers and the rural lifestyle audiences.

Heritage Tractor has been serving customers since 1998. There are 3 locations with the Baldwin City location being a full service agriculture, lawn and garden, and skid steer dealer. Heritage Tractor sells and services the finest products built by John Deere and other manufacturers, such as Polaris, Land Pride, Exmark, Brillion, Frontier, and Schaben Sprayers.

The MoKan Ag Tour bus will depart the Hyatt Regency Crown Center at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, August 22. Cost for the trip is $45.00 (member and non-member). Lunch and plenty of cold drinks will be provided. Expect to return to the hotel by 4 p.m. Please RSVP for the tour at https://nama.org/programs/bootcamp-register.htm.

The deadline for submitting nominations for the 2006 Professional Development Awards of Excellence is September 1. The Awards of Excellence honor NAMA members based on outstanding achievement in each of the Professional Development Areas of (1) Marketing Communications, (2) Product/Species Management, (3) Public Relations and (4) Sales. Nominees come from agribusiness and related companies targeting individuals with direct planning and execution responsibilities in the respective Professional Development Area.

2005 winners included: Marketing Communications recipient, Bev Larson, NK Brand Seeds; Public Relations recipient, Janice Person, Delta & Pine Land Company; Product/Species Management winner, Dennis Gehler, CROPLAN GENETICS/Land O’ Lakes; and Sales winner, Margaret Wallace Oldham, Beck Ag Com, Inc.

If you know a fellow NAMA member who has had outstanding acheivements in these areas, nominate them for the Awards of Excellence. These awards will be presented at the 2006 Agribusiness Forum, November 14-15, at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Kansas City.

If you have any questions regarding these awards, please contact Eldon White at eldonw@nama.org.

To download the nomination form in an Adobe .PDF format, visit http://www.nama.org/awards/PDAapplication.pdf.

You can also fill out the form on-line at http://www.nama.org/awards/pdaonlineform.htm.

The 2006 Agribusiness Forum will take place November 14-15 at the Hyatt Regency in Kansas City. Take a look at what the opening and closing sessions have in store for you this year.

Kicking off this year’s Forum will be Global Forces Shaping Agriculture with Jim Wiesemeyer, Informa Economics, Inc. From the influence of consumer choices to bio fuels, global forces are shaping agriculture. The production system today is aligned to serve consumers across the globe. From food processors in China to ethanol plants in Iowa, farm products are hot commodities.

What will agriculture look like in the future? What forces will cause permanent changes and which are temporary? Noted investment consultant, Sano Shimoda, BioScience Securities, Inc. will present the closing Forum session, The Final Frontier – Where are we Headed? Shimoda will provide his “crystal ball” look at the forces reshaping agriculture. The closing session of the Forum will be a combined session with the NAFB convention.

Keep watching your mailbox and the Forum web site (www.nama.org/forum) for the latest Forum schedule, speakers and registration information.

If you are interested in sponsoring a session or event at this year’s Forum, contact Eldon White in the NAMA office at (913) 491-6500 or via e-mail at eldonw@nama.org.

The chairs of the Best of NAMA, Careers and Agri-Marketing Conference committee’s met in Dallas, TX on Tuesday, August 8 to discuss plans for the 2007 Agri-Marketing Conference & Trade Show. The 2007 conference will take place at the Hyatt Regency Dallas at Reunion Tower.

The committee took a site tour of the Hyatt hotel and discussed locations of various conference events for students as well as professionals and what types of activities to host at the conference.

The committee has decided on the theme, “Think Big” for the 2007 conference which ties into the Dallas city slogan of “Live Large. Think Big.” The conference logo was designed courtesy of Rhea & Kaiser Marketing Communications.

Steering committee members include: Barry Nelson, John Deere Agricultural Marketing Center (Agri-Marketing Conference Chair); Jim Haist, Rhea & Kaiser Marketing Communications (Best of NAMA Chair); Steve Tomac, John Deere Agricultural Marketing Center (Careers Chair); and Chuck Zimmerman, ZimmComm/AgWired.com (Trade Show Chair).

The Careers Committee for the 2006-2007 year met at the NAMA office on Thursday, August 10. The committee discussed last years programs and also did extensive planning for the coming year including the 2007 Conference in Dallas.

Members of the careers comittee include: Student Advisor, Dr. Kevin Bernhardt, University of Wisconsin – Platteville; Chair, Steve Tomac, John Deere Agricultural Marketing Center; Vice Chair, Patty Jolliffe, Weyforth – Haas Marketing; Kevin Downs, Bayer CropScience; Kristen Marshall, Nicholson Kovac; Randy Happel; Wes Meador, Archer>Malmo; Melissa Sanders, AdFarm; Curt Blades, Successful Farming; and Executive Committee Liaison, Beth Burgy, Broadhead & Company.

2006 Best of CAMA

Looking for something completely different magical, and maybe even a bit mysterious? CAMA Manitoba is gathering up the finest knights from across the land to embark on a mystical quest.

Are you brave enough to be chosen? Will you be able to handle the pressure and rise to the occasion? Will you… well you get the picture!

In true Monty Python fashion Best of CAMA 2006 – Thursday, November 2nd will be a magical night you won’t want to miss! Join the band of merry travelers and forever be remembered in the tales of history!

Best of CAMA 2006 will take place November 2 at the Canad Inn Fort Garry, Celebrations Dinner Theatre – Winnipeg, Manitoba. Entries for the Best of CAMA should be submitted by September 11.

For more information on the Best of CAMA visit, http://www.bestofcama.com.