NEWS RELEASE

CALGARY, AB: A new survey conducted by AgCall Inc. of active Canadian canola and soybean growers in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario shows overwhelming support for the production and promotion of biodiesel in Canada.

The survey of over 300 canola and soybean growers was conducted from February 10 to 17 and respondents were selected randomly to maintain statistical validity. AgCall TeleSpecialists allowed respondents to answer questions unaided but further defined questions when requested.

Survey Results

1. 66% of respondents indicated that they are aware of the 2% renewable fuel standard for biodiesel in Canada
2. 87% of respondents support using Canadian grown canola/soybeans in the production of biodiesel
3. 90% of respondents agree that increased demand for canola/soybeans created by biodiesel production would benefit growers
4. 81% of respondents support a federal renewable strategy that would promote the use of canola/soybeans in the production of biodiesel

The AgCall Survey was conducted on behalf of the Canadian Canola Growers Association and the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association.

For the North American agriculture and food industry, AgCall is the leading provider of project outsourcing, data services, and social marketing to connect with and interactively influence customers.

For more information please call:
Ed Mazurkewich, Business Development Consultant
AgCall Inc. (403) 350-8184

Click here to download the press release in pdf format

The real ‘story behind the story’ was taking place online. Taking a quick look at the numbers, there’s an obvious and direct relationship between the three candidates’ social media rankings and the total votes they received.

Of course, this doesn’t represent a 1-to-1 ratio of social media followers to voters and certainly many of those that voted in the election didn’t visit any of the candidates’ facebook pages or follow their twitter feeds. But the nature of peer to peer influencing and this strong example show how social media plants the seeds that not only helps spread the message but can accurately predict behaviour and preferences of a given group. In this case, that group was eligible Calgary voters.

In agriculture we can’t lose sight of the power of sowing these social media seeds today. The full reach of this type peer to peer influencing can be difficult to quantify directly, but the ultimate results are irrefutable.

With the Russian export ban and the summer spike in wheat prices dominating the headlines of ag publications it’s easy to overlook that the FAO estimates world wheat production in 2010 to be 646 million tonnes.  That’s the third highest crop on record; down just 5% from 2009′s numbers.  This isn’t necessarily a repeat of the situation in 2007-2008.  Wheat stock predictions show a strong supply moving forward, not a “Food Crisis 2.0″ type event.

Strong stocks aren’t the only silver lining to this situation.  Once again the issues of farm protectionism, climate events, distorted markets and global food stocks are hot topics both in industry and mainstream media.  And beyond the news stories there has been a huge increase in public interest and discussion around these issues, both at the coffee shop and online. (Just look at the spike on this Google Trends report.)

The question is, when the market normalizes and the newspapers stop telling us to panic, how do we keep these important discussions going?

Back in February when we ran this ad in the CAAR Communicator we felt it truly captured the essence of what AgCall does for its clients.  AgCall offers a wide range of services, from database administration to call centre operations, but ultimately AgCall is about executing peer-to-peer influencing programs on behalf of our customers in Agriculture.

AgCall’s success is our client’s success.  For over 20 years we have served some of the biggest names in Agriculture – mobilizing resources, managing programs and delivering results year after year.  However, even many of our long-time customers don’t fully understand that AgCall also offers online influencing solutions.  AgCall can build your web application, host your database and manage your hardware.  AgCall’s IT department is your IT department.

Call us toll-free at 1.877.273.4333 to learn more about how AgCall’s peer-to-peer influencing solutions can benefit your organization.

People’s attitudes are changing from 10 years ago around the environment. He suggested that people now realize they are part of the problem because they are the ones buying the industrial products, driving the cars that pollute, etc. As a result, people realize these are global issues but still personal issues that they need to so something about versus just blaming big industry. They are becoming more pragmatic about solutions and more optimistic that technology and innovation can help with solutions. This is progress.

Baby boomers are leading the way in this new thinking and are supporting change. As an example, GMO does not have the same fear attached to it today that it did in the 1990s, and green can go along with profit. However, we must communicate in new and better ways that relate to the food we eat which has become prominent in our lifestyle. People want to know more about the nutrition and health of their food and less about feeding the world. They can relate more to things that affect them personally versus half way round the world.

Unfortunately, Anderson said the agri-science sector is poorly positioned with the public because they do not know what to believe about modern agriculture. People want more stories and information around:

• 1. Heart and Health
• 2. Weight control
• 3. Cancer avoidance

We need to do more to position modern agriculture as:

• 1. Good for the environment
• 2. Advancing nutrition
• 3. Innovation versus industrialization

Innovation is a key word that needs to be positioned with agriculture and can make the case for cutting edge careers, massive world markets, environmental solutions and nutrition breakthroughs.

Of course, none of this can happen unless we have a strong communication effort to the consumer with processors and retailers on side. The target audience is definitely the urban woman and social media is an important tool combined with creativity and delivery of the message. And industry will have to do more to tell their story which will take resourcing. However, the money will come only by showing industry that there is a ROI – that we can move the needle even a little. A big thank you to CSTA for bringing Mr. Anderson to this conference

We are thrilled to have Carmen back with her past experience and expertise in project management. She is already involved in a number of projects and will be playing a key role in spring and summer projects. Welcome back Carmen.

The farmer panel was also very insightful and still consider the local retailer valuable although in a different way than 10 or 15 years ago. Agronomy knowledge and custom application are not a benefit to these large farmers in the west any longer (less so in the East) because they have their own equipment and agronomist on staff or rent independent agronomists. These farmers realize that unit costs of production must decline for them to be profitable because their selling costs will not increase significantly. This will be accomplished through lower costs for inputs, innovative thinking and new technology to deliver high yields. They are willing to pay for good service and suppliers who bring them innovative solutions to marketing and other problems. Retailers must continue to build trust and build relationships over time and that means keeping the same person (could say an Account Manager) to deal with them over a long time.

Perry Graham wrapped up the morning with some insightful information around grower loyalty. His take was:

Retailers must know who their Promoters are and harness the power they have to influence others.

Kim McConnell did an outstanding job of facilitation with challenging questions and lead in.

Alvin Law – the lunch speaker was a true inspiration of what can be accomplished with limited resources – here is a Saskatchewan native who was born without arms that can do as much with his feet as others with all their limbs – including playing the piano, drums, drive a car, etc, etc.

Great conference – too bad there where not more retailers and their staff in attendance.

In the last five years our services have grown and expanded from purely face-to-face and on-farm sales / service programs, to now building technology platforms to allow cross-customer interaction and peer-to-peer dialogue.

The evolution of the traditional “top down” approach to Direct/Relationship marketing is “Social Marketing,” where relationships extend “across,” or from one customer to another. Social Marketing is about going beyond a single business transaction. It’s about building a long-term relationship with your customers. It’s about peer-to-peer influencing over the phone, in person, and online. But most importantly, it’s about trust.

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“The synergies that exist between the companies just made it an obvious decision,” says Gordon Butcher, President of AgCall. “We are about interactively influencing people in the agriculture industry whether it is through peer-to-peer interaction, personal visits, over the phone or, now via the web.”

Using advocacy and peer influence tactics, AgCall builds customized sales, marketing, education, and servicing solutions, which accelerate the decision-making process and personalize the brand experiences for the end user. The result is an increase in sales, retention, satisfaction and loyalty to its clients and their brands.

Arron Madson, Vice President, Sales and Marketing with AgCall looks at the new products that AgCall will now be able to take to the market. “This new technology has huge potential to help an organization’s field staff influence their individual customers and increase reach and connectivity with those customers throughout the year.” Madson goes on to say that “by using our proprietary grid technology to identify geographically where a customer is connecting to a company website from, AgCall can produce customized, local information and relevant knowledge that is specific to that user. This allows them to see personalized information relevant to them, not just company or nation wide generic information.”

For the North American agriculture and food industry, AgCall is the leading provider of project outsourcing, data services and social marketing techniques (which includes peer-to-peer, face-to face, voice-to-voice and electronic interaction) to connect with and interactively influence your customers.

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For more information, please contact:

Gordon Butcher
President, AgCall
(ph) 403-256-1229
(email) g.butcher@agcall.com

Arron Madson
Vice President, Sales & Marketing, AgCall
(ph) 403-256-1229
(email) a.madson@agcall.com

Madson has spent his career working in the agriculture and food industry across Canada and the USA. His experience in strategic marketing, communications, sales, account management and client relations help him add value to his client’s strategic and tactical needs. He is an experienced facilitator, active volunteer and has sat on the Board of Directors for various organizations.

“Arron has been a partner in the company for the last three years,” says Butcher. “Along with leading the business development side of the business, he will now also oversee management of the company.”

As CEO, Butcher will remain involved in the strategic direction of the company and will become more involved in specialized consulting to the agriculture industry. According to Madson, “Gordon’s connections and reputation within the industry have served the company well for more than 20 years and his continued leadership will allow us to expand into some exciting new directions.”

“The core of AgCall’s business over the last 20 years has been providing outsourcing services to help influence customers, raise awareness and drive sales. We have developed a deep network, and have the ability to find knowledgeable people at all levels of the industry that know and understand agriculture and are trusted by their peers…we remain committed to that strategy.”

For the North American agriculture and food industry, AgCall is the leading provider of project outsourcing, data services and social marketing techniques (which includes peer-to-peer, face-to face, voice-to-voice and electronic interaction) to connect with and interactively influence your customers.

For more information, please contact:

Arron Madson
President, AgCall
(ph) 403-860-5294
(email) a.madson@agcall.com

Gordon Butcher
CEO, AgCall
(ph) 403-256-1229
(email) g.butcher@agcall.com