New social media tool just for farmers and ag community

AgFuse is a free social media tool created specifically to connect farmers and the agricultural community with one another. Never before has there been a platform that enables farmers, experts, suppliers and farm organizations to communicate with such effectiveness and ease.
The farming community now has a way to connect, tell their stories, promote useful products, share and network. Farmers and ag professionals can use AgFuse to not just connect with one another, but also to quickly learn the latest farming information, new developments, research, tips and more.
User profiles include basic information, areas of interest, such as organic farming or livestock. Users can form or join Groups allowing for the discussion of specific topics, such as cover crops and precision technology. The diverse toolset provided by AgFuse allows farmers to increase knowledge in the field, update members and provide instant news through groups.
This brand new site has already launched an array of valuable connections. For example, InfoAg 2015 Conference attendees have successfully connected, and an agronomist who has a podcast has been interacting and networking via AgFuse. A cover crop researcher joined the community and has been making valuable connections as well. There are currently connected members in locations ranging from Australia, Switzerland and Mexico to Canada and the United States.
AgFuse also provides an unprecedented opportunity for agri-businesses to reach their target audience instead of going through the expense of using an unfocused blanket publication. The end result is a highly targeted marketing opportunity for farm businesses looking to reach their precise markets quickly and easily. For example, some sales professionals have already created groups for their companies to use to promote products and services to customers within their region and specific crop specialties.
AgFuse was designed so that farmers could become the content creators themselves and reach an audience of their peers with just a few clicks of a mouse.
After graduation from Clemson University in 2005, Founder Pat Rogers went to work on the family farm in South Carolina. It was during an agricultural technology conference that he first envisioned the concept for AgFuse.
AgFuse Founder Pat Rogers explained, "During the conference I realized that the world of agriculture was in desperate need of a way for people to interact with one another in a fast, convenient and intuitive fashion. Like any other industry, agriculture depends on quick access to information for facilitating growth in the 21^st Century. We have to move faster and faster in the digital age. That is exactly what is now possible through AgFuse."
Upcoming site developments include an AgFuse app, as well as features like AgFuse Queries – a Q&A service that enables users to achieve status points by providing quality answers to a range of questions. Other new developments will include a publishing platform, which allows freelancers and farmers to directly publish their blogs or articles to the AgFuse community.

New products and expansion prompt new branding for Hydor

After over half a century’s experience in the agricultural industry, Salisbury-based Hydor Ltd. has decided a makeover is due. While the experienced team remains the same, the company has invested in a brand new website, expanded suite of literature and new company logo.
Hydor’s growth over the years, extensive product development and most recently the launch of Hydor Building Services has prompted the company to adopt a fresh look.
Hydor’s, Managing Director, Duncan Burl said: “We have come a long way from our early days as a fan manufacturer for poultry ventilation. Our products and markets have expanded greatly and our customers now include dairy and livestock farmers, commercial greenhouses growers and of course poultry farmers the length and breadth of the UK.”
“Our logo and literature have been re-designed and our new website is much more modern and easier to use. We have also launched on Twitter and LinkedIn as key tools for talking with our customer base,” Burl continued. “We have many longstanding relationships with the farming community and believe this re-brand and overhaul of our marketing collateral will reflect better our present day offering and help us to engage more closely with both our old and new customers.”

Aviagen production management school goes mobile

When 35 Aviagen customers from around the world gather in Huntsville, Ala., in June for the 51st Aviagen Production Management School, they won't be handed the hefty, fact-filled binders that students of previous schools carried with them during the month-long program - and then lugged back home.
The course materials, handouts and technical documentation those infamous binders always held will still be available -- just in a vastly more mobile and student-friendly format.
That's because this year, the Aviagen Production Management School is going digital. For the first time, the company will issue Apple iPad Mini tablets pre-loaded with school content. The tablets are small enough to slip into a jacket pocket, and they make it easy for students to refer to curriculum content as they listen to 45 experts from industry and academia, engage in eight to 10 hands-on, practical workshops, and visit 10 production facilities. Students will keep the iPads after graduating from the school.
"At the annual Aviagen Production Management School, we teach the most advanced techniques and best practices in poultry production management, so it's only natural that we should use state-of-the-art technology to deliver that knowledge," said Mark Wright, director of the Aviagen school. "Now students can have instant access to updated course content wherever they go - at school, on those long international flights home, or throughout their own production facilities. And by delivering this information digitally, we're using less paper, generating less waste, and supporting Aviagen's commitment to promote sustainability worldwide."
Using iPad Mini tablets as a learning platform also makes it easy for Aviagen to provide students with the most current course materials. Aviagen also is developing production tools specifically for use on iPad and iPad Mini tablets.
The Aviagen Production Management School offers Aviagen customers a chance to gain hands-on experience with virtually every facet of poultry production, including biosecurity, fertility, feed formulation and animal welfare. More than 1,500 poultry professionals from 62 countries have completed the program since 1967, when it was founded in Connecticut as the Arbor Acres Production Management School.

Sow heat stress app available for smartphones

Purina Animal Nutrition introduces the Heat Stress Manager for Sows application for smart phones. This free tool provides heat stress prevention tips and resources to producers, helping them to avoid seasonal production lulls.
"Sows can become heat stressed at temperatures lower than producers may think," says Vern Pearson, Ph.D., swine nutritionist for Purina Animal Nutrition. "Producers need to look at both the temperature and the humidity inside the facility to determine the potential for heat stress."
The Heat Stress Manager for Sows app features a heat stress calculator for inputting the current temperature and humidity readings. Purina Animal Nutrition recommends producers install a thermometer and hygrometer in the sow barn to read these temperatures at the location of the sows. After inputting these readings into the app, the temperature and humidity are translated into a Temperature-Humidity Index reading that shows the severity of heat stress, ranging from mild to extreme risk. Research shows that sows can begin to feel the impact of heat stress at a Temperature-Humidity Index of 80.
"Sows that are heat stressed have a greater potential to experience seasonal infertility, smaller litter sizes, decreased embryo survival rates and death losses," Pearson said. "But the most common impact of heat stress is decreased feed intake; therefore, ration changes that promote feed intake may be needed as Temperature-Humidity Index levels increase."
In addition to the heat stress calculator, the mobile app offers management and nutrition tips to mitigate heat stress. The Heat Stress Manager for Sows mobile app is available to download for Android phones at the Google Play website, and for iPhones at the iTunes website.

Discuss the latest poultry, pig and feed trends in AnimalAgNet’s LinkedIn group

Stay up-to-date on the latest poultry, pig and animal nutrition research and trends by joining WATT's AnimalAgNet group on LinkedIn.
This group is an extension of the WATTAgNet.com website and is designed to be a forum for research, discussion and exchanging ideas on the global animal agribusiness market. Currently members are discussing the future of animal production and the HSUS, global poultry market trends and the global pork industry.
Have a production issue or nutrition question? WATTAgNet's agriculture editors and experts are here to help you enhance your bottom line and raise healthy, ethically treated livestock. Multiple points of view are welcome and we encourage active participation on the trends and news shaping the animal agribusiness markets.
To keep the conversations going and to stay abreast of the latest news and research, we also invite you to join us on:
AnimalAgNet/WATTAgNet on Facebook 
@WATTPoultry on Twitter

Animal health company's president receives communication award

The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology announced that the 2013 Borlaug CAST Communication Award goes to Jeff Simmons, president of Elanco, an animal health company. Nominees had to demonstrate an ability to communicate by written material, public presentations and the use of television, radio or other social media. Simmons was nominated by colleagues from several industry and nonprofit organizations for his significant contributions, including his passion for finding solutions for world hunger.
Simmons was able to transfer his passion into communicating effectively to a variety of audiences. One colleague said, "Simmons has that special ability to put the multiple complex issues involved in confronting hunger and the critical role of science in that process in terms that are not only understandable but inspiring."
Established by the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology in 1986, the annual award goes to a specialist who communicates the importance of food and agricultural science to the public, policymakers and the news media.
Simmons became interested in food security as an agriculture student and Future Farmers of America member in New York. After studying marketing and agricultural economics at Cornell, he joined Elanco and held leadership roles for the company in Brazil and Europe.
Simmons addresses groups that include senior business executives, government officials, research scientists and 4-H or Future Farmers of America members. In addition to public speaking, Simmons uses YouTube and Twitter.
An award presentation will occur at a breakfast co-hosted by DuPont and the Council of Agricultural Science and Technology as a side event at the World Food Prize Symposium on October 16, 2013, in Des Moines, Iowa. The Borlaug CAST Communication Award honors the legacies of Nobel Prize winner Dr. Norman Borlaug and Dr. Charles A. Black, the first president of the council.

Heat stress management app available

The Cool Cow mobile application from Purina Animal Nutrition, a feed producer, allows dairy producers to monitor and address heat stress at their fingertips. Research suggests that cows can begin to show the effects of heat stress at a Temperature Humidity Index of 68. Reproduction can be impacted at an index rating of 55.
Heat stress and an associated 10 to 35 percent milk production loss may cost a dairy producer $1.60 to $5.60 per cow per day.  These losses can continue to mount when reductions in reproductive performance and increased days open are added into the equation.
"With the new Cool Cow mobile app, dairy producers will know when temperatures have reached levels that are stressful to the cow," says Elena Lindemann, lactating livestock marketing director with Purina Animal Nutrition.
"This new tool is designed to assist dairy producers in mitigating the negative financial impacts of heat stress."
The mobile app features a heat stress calculator for inputting the current temperature and humidity readings. The temperature and humidity is then translated into a Temperature Humidity Index reading that shows the severity of heat stress, ranging from mild to extreme risk, providing dairy producers insight on the current conditions inside their barn. In addition to the heat stress calculator, the mobile app offers tips on moderating heat stress from management to nutrition.
The Cool Cow app can be found for Android phones on the Google Play website and for iPhones on the iTunes website.

Pork producer launches consumer website

Swift Premium Fresh Pork, a pork producer, announced the launch of www.swiftfreshpork.com . The website features a product guide, recipes, cooking instructions, food handling tips for all of the Swift Premium brands.
The site features a layout that makes it easy for consumers to find any information they may need, such as an FAQ page that offers tips on storing fresh pork products, cutting a full pork loin, proper thawing and more. The site is allows users to "like" their favorite recipes or "pin" them to their Pinterest board. For smart phone users, QR codes have been added to packaging on some Swift Premium Fresh Pork products, allowing shoppers to pull up recipes at the meat case before deciding what to buy.

Cargill unveils Harvest Provisions Turkey brand foodservice website for schools

The Harvest Provisions Turkey brand of Cargill has launched a new website designed to help K-12 school foodservice operators enhance the appeal of their menus and grow their meal programs, while also complying with federal nutrition guidelines.
The website features in-depth details on the brand's more than 30 protein-rich, lower-fat, turkey products, which were created specifically for the unique needs of K-12 foodservice operations. The site also offers dozens of creative menu concepts featuring Harvest Provisions items, matching the diverse serving venues and times of today's schools - from breakfast to classroom and cafeteria lunches to after-school-snacking and beyond.
In addition, school foodservice operators will find insightful trend information related to childhood nutrition, as well as helpful training and product preparation tips. The site also offers guidance on ordering products through Cargill's convenient commodity processing program, which allows operators to use their USDA 100124 Turkey Chilled bulk turkey entitlements for value-added Harvest Provisions products.
"Many school foodservice operators struggle to find the right balance between providing smart nutrition and serving foods that students will get excited about eating," said Deborah Schulte, Cargill foodservice marketing manager. "Our turkey products, and our new website, make it easier for them to do both. The site is a unique resource containing value-added information that can help our customers boost program participation and run a better operation."  

Tyson, Lisa Lillien bring back rewards program

For the second year, Tyson Foods, makers of Tyson Grilled & Ready chicken and beef products, is kicking off 2013 with the 30 Days, 30 Ways, 30 Rewards Program to empower users to make and stick to their smart-eating resolutions. Teaming up with Tyson Foods again, guilt-free food expert Hungry Girl Lisa Lillien will bring meal ideas — all under 400 calories per serving — and advice to users daily through the click of a mouse.
Starting January 1, users can visit Facebook.com/GrilledAndReady, and each day, a new recipe, tip and prize will be revealed to provide participants with fresh ideas and inspiration. Users can find recipes like a Too-Good Chicken Torta or Greek Chicken Tacos. Daily tips will cover a variety of topics from fitness and health to smart eating. Prizes include exercise equipment, cookware, gift cards, Hungry Girl books and Tyson Grilled & Ready products.

Illinois soybean farmers document crop progress through website

Nine Illinois soybean farmers are documenting their farming operations and processes during the current crop year using SoyCam.com, funded by the Illinois soybean checkoff, to make it easy for web users to see soybean production in action.
The site allows visitors to get a glimpse into Illinois' agriculture industry, say the participating farmers. "We believe that it is through efforts like this that farmers best can demonstrate the interrelationship between crops, livestock and the grocery store,” said Kate Hagenbuch, one of the participating soybean farmers and hog producer from Utica, Ill. Sustainable farming is another focus of the project, and the site also provides profiles of each photographer, production tips, crop updates and a variety of statistics related to soybean production in the U.S., Illinois and each of the state's 102 counties.
The full list of participating farmers is:

• Bill Wykes, soybean farmer from Yorkville, Ill., and Illinois Soybean Association vice chairman
• Karl Spencer, soybean farmer from Yale, Ill., and former Illinois Soybean Association soy ambassador
• Nick Wurl, soybean farmer from Urbana, Ill., and Illinois Soybean Association soy ambassador
• Rob Shaffer, soybean farmer from El Paso, Ill., and Illinois Soybean Association secretary
• Ross Prough, soybean farmer from Greenfield, Ill., and Illinois Soybean Association vice chair for yield
• Sherri Kannmacher, soybean farmer from Martinsville, Ill., and former Illinois Soybean Association soy ambassador
• Dan Farney, soybean farmer from Morton, Ill., and Illinois Soybean Association production committee chair
• Ron Moore, soybean farmer from Roseville, Ill., and Illinois Soybean Association vice chair for sustainability
• Kate Hagenbych, soybean farmer and hog producer from Utica, Ill.

Alltech pig app now available for BlackBerry

Already launched for the iPhone and Android, Alltech’s free pig app is now available to BlackBerry users.
With three features — weather, commodity prices and pig issues — the app is the first of its kind in the animal health industry. “We’ve had a tremendous response to the initial launch of our pig app on iPhone and Android, and we look forward now to making this tool available to BlackBerry users,” said Billy Frey, digital marketing manager at Alltech. “Alltech understands that efficiency is the key to profitability in agribusiness. By providing easily accessible and practical data in a real time format, our goal is to make the lives of hard-working farmers and producers just a little easier.”
The pig app can be downloaded from the BlackBerry App World, the Apple App Store or the Android marketplace under the name “Alltech.” While currently focused on pig production, the app will be expanded into livestock and poultry.
Follow Alltech on its Innovations blog, via Facebook and on Twitter @Alltech.

Industria Avícola is now on Facebook

Industria Avícola is now on Facebook – the largest social media website in the world. Log on to Facebook, search for "Industria Avícola," and click on the "Like" button to read and discuss daily news, recent articles and the latest blogs; to watch videos; and to network with fellow poultry industry members.
Other ways to stay up-to-date with the poultry industry is to follow Industria Avícola on Twitter, create a profile on AnimalAgNet or read Industria Avícola on any smartphone.

See AnimalAgNet on your smartphone

A free Web App has been released that let’s you easily view AnimalAgNet on your smart phone, such as a Droid or iPhone. The service is free, and quick and easy to set up. To get started, go to http://m.animalagnet.com/default.html using the Web browser on your mobile device. Once there, you save the address on your device.
To add to the iPhone’s home screen:
Tap on the ‘Plus’ button located at the bottom of your Safari browser and s
elect ‘Add to Home Screen.’
To add to the Android’s home screen:
Bookmark the page
Long-press Bookmark
Select ‘Add Shortcut to Home.’