What's Happening at World Ag Expo

Chuck ZimmermanAudio, World Ag Expo

Carolina EvangeloOut at World Ag Expo I’ve got another report from Bill Baker, Dairyline. He spoke with Carolina Evangelo, Western Dairy Business Magazine, about the seminars she’s worked on coordinating for dairy producers who are attending.

Carolina provides a comprehensive overview of all the awards and sessions they’ve got like one today on Milk Marketing Tools.

You can listen to Bill’s interview with Carolina here: [audio:http://zimmcomm.biz/world-ag-expo/wae-08-evangelo.mp3]

I’ve also got a report from former World Ag Expo General Manager, Gary Schulz:

Wednesday of World Ag Expo in Tulare, California meant a huge crowd. The traditional “mid-day” of the expo did not disappoint as early fog burned off by late morning for a spectacular “California Classic” with a high in the ’60s.

The Budweiser Clydesdales were again on-hand and were a popular feature for young and old alike. World Ag Expo veteran Norlan Sapp, formerly with John Deere and now with Gehl Corporation, indicated that their prime exhibit location on Median Street would hopefully attract the buyer-prospects and the potential dealers necessary to make for a successful show.

One of the “Top 10 New Product” winners, Pure Sense of Emeryville, CA, experienced robust traffic in their exhibit space in Pavilion B as a result of heavy crowds and a comprehensive pre-expo marketing campaign coordinated by the Lockwood Agency of Visalia that included a mailing to current customers encouraging their visit to the booth. According to John Williamson of Pure Sense, the “Irrigation Manager” technology and software enables and empowers the grower to monitor in real-time field conditions in remote locations in order to minimize labor, energy and water use, and to maximize yield and quality of commodity. Studies during the 2007 crop year found that the Pure Sense investment was returned “pre-harvest”, that is, the cost of the technology, installation, and subscription paid for itself in savings of energy, water, and labor, with increased yield and quality “icing on the cake”! This is all “good stuff” for California growers experiencing the challenges of water cutbacks, increased costs for electricity, and an increased minimum wage.

World Ag Expo Chair-woman, Shelly Khal, was under the weather with a flu bug, but continued to do her duties of media interviews, special events, and visibility to the nearly 1,200 orange jacket volunteers.

Congratulations to the management and staff of DairyBusiness Communications for another fine World Ag Expo magazine. It serves as the major promotional tool for the expo and its quality as well as page count has steadily grown since DBC assumed the responsibilities for selling ads, design, production, and distribution under the careful guidance of Stan Bird, ad sales by Jackie Machado, and leadership by corporate leadership like Joel Hastings and John Montandon in the mid-’90s.

Gary Schulz, General Manager of World Ag Expo (1990-2005),
Program Director for the Claude Laval Water and Energy Technology Incubator,
and Senior Strategist for Gary Schulz Consulting.