A history of innovation.
The intellectual and strategic foundation underlying Agristar Global
Networks is the result of more than 50 years of networking alliances,
proprietary data assemblage and a broad spectrum of communications
programs undertaken by Agristar Global Networks' forerunner entities
working with leading farm and ranch operators and multinational agribusinesses
partners.
This long-term track record is distinguished by our continued efforts
in:
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Assembling extensive data
related to the top segments of the industry; and conducting
ongoing trend analyses to project ever-changing challenges and
opportunities for top farms, ranches and agribusinesses.
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| 2.
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Utilizing this resource
base to develop premium information programs and related services
that are essential for leading farms, ranches and agribusinesses
to maximize their profits as the ag industry continues to evolve
at a breathtaking pace. |
Over the years Agristar Global Networks’ forerunner entities
developed some of the most pioneering communications and business
advisory programs ever introduced to the agricultural industry. This
experience is an invaluable foundation for our company as it now originates
new programs and services delivered by satellite broadband that will
help meet the needs of agriculture in today's global economy. Here
is a summary overview of this long and successful track record: |
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| Global Networking
and Farm Database Development |
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John Strohm Associates,
the earliest forerunner of Agristar Global Networks, began
prior to World War II when world food authority John L.
Strohm established what ultimately became far-reaching
involvements with farmers, government agencies and international
farm and agribusiness entities throughout the U.S., Latin
America and Europe. This work continued with extensive
involvement in the Soviet Union in the mid-1940’s
and in China in the late 1950’s. |
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Over the following
years, agribusiness programs were developed in many areas
by the related organizations controlled by the late Mr.
Strohm and Clifford L. Ganschow, now Chairman of Agristar
Global Networks, Ltd. They were partners for more than
25 years in John Strohm Associates and the following entities
that formed the foundation for our company. |
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Agricultural Database
Development, which included National Farm Databank,
began in the early 1960’s to create the industry's
foremost national database of top farm and ranch operators.
This original database, profiling more than 300 million
acres of tillable farmland and the industry's top 250,000
operators, was merged in the 1990's with Market I.D, and
is now owned by Multi-Ag Media which is a farm market
data provider to Agristar Global Networks. |
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| Specialized
Farm Communications Services |
| • |
The Ford Farm
Almanac, an annual compendium of agriculture's most
profitable management ideas, was published continuously
for nearly 30 years under a joint venture with Ford Motor
Company beginning in 1954. The Almanac was distributed
to 500,000 vocational agriculture students and farm and
ranch families each year. |
| • |
Big Farmer,
a business and economics magazine, was launched in the
mid-1960's to focus on the leading 100,000 farm and ranch
operators in America. |
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Top Farmer Intelligence,
a private weekly farm business and economics newsletter
launched in the mid-1960's, covered a provocative spectrum
of U.S. and global agricultural news, innovative technology,
market strategies and financial analyses targeted at the
uppermost levels of the industry. |
| • |
International
Farm Almanac, the industry's first global compendium
of new trends in agriculture, originated in the 1970's
as an annual book published in three languages and subsequently
expanded into an ongoing series of international farm
and food communications programs. |
| • |
Farm Futures,
the industry's first national agricultural commodities
magazine, began in the early 1970's and was the industry's
only publication focusing solely on hedging and other
risk management strategies for farm commodities. Farm
Futures was acquired by media giant Capital Cities/ABC
in the late 1980’s. |
| • |
Top Farmer Market
Hotline, developed in conjunction with Southwestern
Bell (now SBC) provided leading farms and ranches with
daily electronic reports on global commodity pricing and
analyses during the 1970's and 1980's. |
| • |
AgriData Resources,
the industry pioneer in the early 1980's for providing
on-line agricultural information systems, networked outstanding
farm operators coast to coast who had a common interest
in electronically accessing agricultural news and business
data. Data linkage from other industries was added later
and the successor company is currently traded as ARI Network
Services. |
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| Top
Farm Organizations |
| • |
High Goal Global
Farming originated in the U.S. in the 1950's with
the help of 40 Land Grant universities, establishing high
profitability goals and management standards for the best
farms and ranches in the U.S. and other countries. |
| • |
Top Farmers of
America Association was organized in the mid-1960's
to provide specialized business and financial services
for the leading 10% of U.S. farms and ranches in terms
of overall efficiency and profitability. It was the first
organization of its kind to develop programs geared exclusively
to America’s best operators. An international counterpart,
Top Farmers of the World, is now being explored to link
together outstanding agricultural operations in various
countries. |
| • |
Ford Farm Efficiency
Program, underwritten by the not-for-profit Ford Fund
during the 1960's and 1970's, annually analyzed thousands
of outstanding family farm operators in America to pay
tribute to the "best of the best." Honorees
were representative of the most select 1% of all farms.
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| Agribusiness
Market Research and Development |
| A variety of U.S. and global agribusiness
research and marketing programs, ranging from single product
implementation projects to ongoing market communications programs
lasting 20 years or more, include the following: |
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This is Terra,
a total marketing program, launched Terra International
from initial startup to its role as one of the world’s
leading fertilizer and chemical companies. |
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Farm Profit
magazine for Massey Ferguson distributed to 750,000 farmers.
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Allis Chalmers’
Big Power program for preferred customers. |
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Our Fight for
Better Food for Union Carbide's global public relations. |
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Chicago Board
of Trade and Chicago Mercantile Exchange research
and public relations projects. |
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Top Profit Farming
for IMC Global's largest customers. |
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Ford Farming
magazine, distributed to 1 million car, truck and tractor
customers of Ford Motor Company. |
| • |
Harvestore Farmer,
a feedlot management program for A.O. Smith. |
| • |
Top Farm Financial,
an ongoing program developed in conjunction with leading
agricultural banks, included Money Workshops for Continental
Bank (which had more rural correspondent banks at the
time than any financial institution in the U.S.) and Central
Idea, a farm financial newsletter, sponsored by Central
National Bank. |
| • |
Numerous other
programs for Ralston Purina, American Breeders Association,
Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Pfizer, J.I. Case, Champion,
Smith-Kline, Elanco, National Soybean Processors Association,
World Seeds, Inc. and others. |
| • |
Agriculture 2000,
a long-term research program developed in the 1970's and
updated thereafter, projected world farm conditions at
the turn of the century and beyond. Audio-visual formats
have been distributed in eight languages. |
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| Portfolio
Management and Advisory Services |
| • |
Doane Farm Management
Company, which at the time was the oldest and largest
farm management company in the country, was acquired and
restructured in the early 1980's in partnership with Ibec,
Inc., an international investment organization formed
by Nelson Rockefeller. Doane managed a $1 billion equity
portfolio. |
| • |
Doane Western
Company, also owned with Ibec, Inc., managed the farm
mortgage portfolios for Cigna, Aetna and Mutual of New
York during this period. |
| • |
Inventory Management,
developed in conjunction with Reynolds Securities, Inc.
(now Morgan Stanley) provided farm operators with dependable
commodity hedging and options opportunities geared for
producers rather than speculators. |
| • |
International
Farm Resources was a co-owner of the largest purebred
cattle breeding operation in Poland during the 1990's
and holds various land options. |
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| Agricultural
Education |
| • |
Top Farmer Seminars
were produced in conjunction with a broad spectrum of
global public and private institutions. Co-sponsors ranged
from Purdue University to Ford Motor Company to Successful
Farming magazine to the Government of Pakistan. The series
involved several hundred events worldwide over a 25-year
period. Continuing with this effort, Agristar Global Networks
is developing an ongoing series of virtual seminars and
distance learning programs. |
| • |
Young Farmer Highest
Profit Program, developed in the 1970's, provided
farm business education for high school vocational agriculture
students and adult young farmers in 10,000 rural communities
for 20 years. Classroom study materials and teachers'
guides were underwritten by Ralston Purina, Elanco, Union
Carbide, IMC Global, Uniroyal, DeKalb Seed, Chicago Mercantile
Exchange and many others. |
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| Natural
Resource Programs |
| Since the early 1960’s,
Agristar Global Networks predecessor entities have been closely involved with
the wise use of farmland and other natural resources, including
the following: |
| • |
National Wildlife
magazine was started in the early 1960’s in conjunction
with the National Wildlife Federation, the world’s
largest conservation organization. |
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World EQ Index,
the first of a continuing series of resource indices,
was developed for the first United Nations’ Environmental
Conference program in the 1970’s and continued in
subsequent years. |
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International
Wildlife, published in three languages, was launched
in the 1970’s. |
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Treasury of American
Wildlife, a natural resource book series produced
with Encyclopaedia Britannica, was distributed throughout
the 1980’s and 1990’s. |
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Top Farm Systems
was developed in the early 1990’s to focus on biotech
and organic fertilizer products that reduce production
costs and enhance value-added commodity quality. We will
focus considerable effort on value-added marketing opportunities
for top producers, including aggregating commodities from
multiple producers to meet specific needs of end users
around the world. |
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