The ZimmComm team is enjoying some time away from the agriblogging highway. However, team member Jamie Johansen did attend the Missouri Cattlemen's Association and Missouri Beef Industry Council annual meeting this week. We've still got more interviews to share from recent activities and we'll also report on what we see and hear that you might be interested in. So don't go away. There will be a lot to share over the holidays.

Looking ahead to 2013, our calendar keeps getting places and events added to it. Is your event on there? Or perhaps you'd like to sponsor our coverage of an industry event. The new ZimmComm Media Kit is now available (pdf). Feel free to download and add us to your media/marketing mix. Thank you.

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, " What will expiring biotech patents mean for agriculture?"

Our poll results: fifty-two percent said more options; twenty-one percent said don't know enough about it; fourteen percent said export concerns; ten percent said nothing and three percent said other.

 

Learn more about this issue from Cindy's coverage of last week's ASTA CSS in Chicago.

 

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, "How do you plan to travel this holiday?" The price of fuel and a plane ticket usually increases around the holiday, so will that change how you travel this year? Or does it really not matter - you're getting there the quickest way possible! Let us know.

Here are some interviews from this week you might have missed:

• Dan Kurdys, Asgrow, on Asgrow 4P System and the new agSeedSelect app 
• Peter Innes, Chairman?CEO of Becker Underwood & now Global Senior Advisor to the BASF Crop Protection division 
• Dr. Eric Moore, Merck Animal Health, on BRD in cattle 
• Steve Elliott, Alltech, beef discussion dinner at Global 500 

Now for some news from the ZimmComm News Network:

   AgWired     

Winter Storage of GPS and Guidance Products

December is here and for most of the country that means that seasons are changing and the time for field work to wind down and machinery to be stored in the shed for winter has come. If you are in a part of the world where it feels like summer is never-ending, GPS storage may be the last thing on your mind. So for those of you who actually get to experience seasonal changes there is a proper way to store GPS equipment during the winter. MORE 

The first Navy plant in the Mid-Atlantic region to use B20 is located in St. Julien's Creek Annex in Portsmouth, Virginia. The biodiesel blend will provide steam to heat 16 office buildings and 13 warehouses. Over the course of the winter, 235,000 gallons of B20 are expected to be used to create the heat.  MORE

 Bayer CropScience Young Farmer Sustainability Award