NCFC launched the new campaign at its 81st Annual Meeting in Santa Barbara, California last week to tell the story of this country’s 2500 farmer cooperatives to policy makers, government officials, and the American public. The campaign will emphasize the central role that co-ops play in preserving the family farm, supporting the rural economy, and bringing innovative products to consumers in the U.S. and around the world.
“From corner groceries, to superstores, to school lunch programs, farmer cooperatives provide the affordable, abundant food, fiber and fuel that America needs,” said NCFC President & CEO Chuck Conner in his speech to attendees. “Through our ‘Farmer Co-ops: Providing for America’ campaign, NCFC will be carrying these messages and more to policy makers, government officials and the American public.”
NCFC launches the campaign as the first Department of Justice (DOJ)/U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) workshop on antitrust issues in agriculture is approaching on March 12 in Ankeny, Iowa.
NCFC and its members maintain that the officials holding the workshops must realize that the Capper-Volstead Act, which provides limited antitrust immunity to farmers forming co-ops, is a cornerstone to ensuring competition in agriculture and a vibrant rural economy. Without Capper-Volstead, farmer co-ops could not exist, and any two farmers coming together to talk about price would face harsh civil and criminal antitrust penalties.
“The DOJ/USDA hearings on antitrust in agriculture may seem harmless, but I can tell you this—the officials with DOJ are questioning the very foundation of farmer cooperatives—the Capper-Volstead Act,” Conner continued. “Our job is to tell the true stories of co-ops, and the benefits that they provide to their farmer-owners, to their local rural communities, and to consumers in the U.S. and around the world. In doing this, we aim to ensure that our children and grandchildren can continue farming in partnership with their co-ops.”
Read more here.
How many discussions have you participated in about showing consumers how food gets from the field to the plate? I lost count a while ago. There are many groups and efforts going on to accomplish this. Here’s one I just found from the Canned Food Alliance. They’re using YouTube and MealTimes.org.
Canned food is one of the most versatile options for creating affordable, quick and healthy meals especially during colder months. But common misperceptions persist about the canning process. Within hours of harvesting, top quality fruits and vegetables are simply and naturally preserved for convenience and year-round availability, so you can enjoy tropical fruit even during the cold days of winter. Cans are also one of the safest and most recyclable forms of packaging available. Watch “Canned Food From Field to Table” to get the facts from the people who grow, pack, recommend and cook with canned foods.
The video features food blogger Tom Barritt, authto of food blog, Culinary Types, Associate Director of the Food and Nutrition Practice at Ketchum. Interesting combination. Are you a journalist or a public relations person? I don’t care personally and he is transparent about it. Doesn’t bother me. Does it bother you?
If you are interested in getting up-to-date ag reports from growers around the world, then you need to check out Ag Reports Network (ARN). The site utilizes video clips from farmers and agronomists to give growers timely and accurate crop condition reports from farms around the world. The newly designed site gives updates from around the United States as well as from Brazil. Within the next few months, reports will also be coming from farmers in the Ukraine and Argentina.
In addition to crop reports, growers can also buy and sell equipment, also featured via video, as well as view educational pieces focused on various crops such as corn and soybeans. There will also be weekly market reports available that are designed to help a grower manage risk.
ARN is currently looking for additional growers from around the world, growing a diversity of crops, to participate in the weekly video reports. You can visit the website to learn more at www.agreportsnetwork.com. And while you’re there, register to win an all expenses paid trip for two to Bahia, Brazil to learn, first hand, about Brazilian agriculture.
BASF Headline® fungicide is a four time winner for no-till farmers.
Headline® fungicide from BASF was recognized as fungicide of the year during the Annual National No-Tillage Conference 2009 No-Till Product of the Year awards presentation. The recognition marks the fourth consecutive year that Headline fungicide has been proclaimed the leading fungicide on the market by no-till farmers nationwide.
Strip-Till: Blu-Jet Strip-Till unit, Thurston Manufacturing. Honorable Mention: 2510S Strip-Till Residue Master, John Deere; Pluribus Strip-Till unit, Dawn Equipment.
Pioneer Hi-Bred announced a multi-year sponsorship to support Farm Journal Media’s Legacy Project at AG CONNECT Expo. You can listen to their press conference remarks below:
“The median age of the U.S. farmer today is 58 years, yet only 20 percent of farmers report being confident in succession plans for their businesses,” says Andy Weber, president and CEO of Farm Journal Media. “The need for succession education and tools cannot be overstated in its importance to individual farm families of this country and to the long-term viability of the U.S. agricultural system as a whole.” The sponsorship from Pioneer Hi-Bred will enable Farm Journal to expand upon its editorial commitment to raise awareness surrounding legacy planning and will kick off the single largest industry initiative of its kind in agriculture today.
“Pioneer recognizes the future of the industry it serves is dependent upon successful transition of America’s farm businesses from one generation to the next,” Frank Ross, Pioneer vice president and regional director – North America, says of his organization’s support of the Legacy Project. “With this in mind, Pioneer provides this sponsorship and joins the Legacy Project’s long-term commitment to cultivate multigenerational success for growers and production agriculture.” (more…)
Gary Truitt with Hoosier Ag Today recently published an article titled, “New Fuel Saving Technology from Case,” that describes new says Case IH is improving their red tractors to save fuel and innovate the agriculture industry. Check it out!
Over the next few weeks, some of the biggest farm equipment trade shows will be taking place including the Ft. Wayne show next week and the National Farm Machinery show next month. The latest technology and tractor innovations will be on display. Not only are the size and the power of the new tractor lines impressive, but so is the sophistication of the technology used to operate the machines.
Tom Dean with Case IH says the new Red tractors will feature technology designed to save fuel, “Our diesel saver technology operates on the old adage ‘shift up and throttle back.’ It automatically does this continuously across a field taking every opportunity to lower engine RPMs.” “Case IH CVT technology automatically adjusts to deliver the best possible balance of power and fuel efficiency,” says John Bohnker, Case IH marketing manager for Magnum and Steiger® tractors. “It definitely hits the sweet spot between power, efficiency and simplicity.”
With winter fast approaching it’s time to make your farm meeting plans. Make one of them the Chicago Farmers Farmland Investment Fair, February 6, 2010. I’ll be one of their seminar presenters with the topic of social media.
To learn more about Chicago Farmers and their annual program I spoke with the Chairman of the upcoming event, Jeff Martin, an Illinois “downstate” farmer. Jeff was in his combine working to get the last of his corn crop in before Christmas. I hope he makes it!
Jeff says the Farmland Investment Fair was started back in the early ’80s when interest rates were high and with the idea of bringing investors together with farmers who had land to sell. He says the event still has that same basic purpose and has expanded to include other educational topics. There will be nearly 60 exhibitors and 15 different seminars on the program including:
• Farmland Values
• Traits of a Successful Farm
• Managing Machinery Costs
• International Investment
• Farm Land Leasing
• Biomass for Energy
• Income from Small Farms
• Rural Development
• Social Media
• Wind Farms
• Acre Program FSA
• 1031 Exchanges
• Organic Farming
• Climate Change
To register as an attendee – visit www.chicagofarmers.org or call (312) 388-FARM. Direct questions to The Chicago Farmers Administrator’s office at (312) 388-3276 or you may speak to the Fair Chairperson, Jeff Martin, at (217) 792-3934.
Thanks to AgWired Sponsor, Fluidigm, for their support of the ZimmCast.
You can listen to this week’s ZimmCast below.
The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired. Subscribe so you can listen when and where you want. Just go to our a Subscribe page.
Everyone has that farmer or rancher in their life to shop for this Christmas, and boy, can it get tough to select the perfect gift for this category. Every year, I think my dad counts on getting Coveralls and pliers from Santa, and I’ll admit, we struggle trying to shop for him. If you are like me, you spend many painful hours trying to navigate the aisles of Sears, Menards or Cabelas in the hunt for the best present, only to purchase the same things year after year.
However, this year is going to be different. Thanks to Agriculture Online, buying the perfect gift for that special farmer in your life is as easy as 1-2-3! In their article, Gift-giving guide for farm folks, there are several handy ideas to choose from including: coats, cookbooks, charitable donations, folding chairs, cutting tools, toolboxes, heaters, etc.
You can’t go wrong this Christmas with this handy, dandy gift-giving guide. Check it out! What are you getting your farmer this year?
Today is officially Thank a Farmer day in Missouri.
Missouri Director of Agriculture Dr. Jon Hagler (right) visited Forck Farms near Jefferson City to present the official proclamation to Kelly Forck, a diversified crop and livestock producer who is president of the Missouri Soybean Association.
“It’s an appropriate tribute to the farmers and ranchers across Missouri and across this country who put a reliable, safe food supply on our families’ tables at Thanksgiving,” Hagler said. “In America, we have the highest quality, most affordable food in the world because of the hard work of farm families across this nation.”
Dr. Hagler says his favorite statistic at the Department of Agriculture is that “four out of four people eat” which is why we should all be grateful on Thanksgiving and every other day of the year that we enjoy affordable and abundant food.
Kelly pointed out that farmers are consumers too and are thankful for other farmers who produce the food they eat. “As farmers we have a lot of things to be thankful for – we even have the consumers to be thankful for,” he added.
The Missouri Beef Industry Council and other state commodity groups were involved in the proclamation made this morning. Listen here to our weekly Missouri Beef Checkoff Chat that includes comments from Kelly and Dr. Hagler.
USDA reports that farmers took advantage of a dry week to get 17 percent of the corn out and 14 percent more soybeans harvested last week. The new crop progress report has the soybean harvest nearing average for this time of year at 89 percent, while corn remains about 35 percent behind normal at just 54 percent complete. North Dakota has yet to get out of the single digits in corn harvesting, but they do have 80 percent of the soybeans complete.
The late harvest was one of the major topics of discussion for National Corn Growers Association first vice president Bart Schott of North Dakota at the NAFB Trade Talk last week. Bart is still optimistic because the corn remains in good to excellent condition. “If we get a few more weeks of really nice weather, we’ll get this corn crop off in good shape,” he said. Despite the problems this year, he says the crop continues to look good and is still expected to be the second largest on record, “If there’s ever been a debate about whether we can produce enough corn feed our exports, livestock industry and ethanol industry, this will be the second year in a row that we’ve proved them wrong.”
The afternoon panel discussion at the NAMA Trends In Agriculture conference included David Cleavinger, a fifth-generation Texas farmer/rancher. He talked about how producers can use a combination of social media and personal connections to bring greater understanding of the importance of agriculture in their lives. This is part two in the Paulsen Marketing video interview series. They are also the sponsor of the NAMA Blog.
Missouri farmers made some significant harvest progress last week, especially with soybeans. According to USDA, Missouri’s corn harvest increased 13 percent last week to 62 percent complete and farmers harvested 31 percent of the soybeans in the state last week, up to 64 percent complete as of Sunday.
We saw some of that progress being made in the state last week on our BASF Headline Harvest Report visits. Terry Smith in Chillicothe, Missouri was just about finished with his soybean harvest when Chuck visited with him on Wednesday last week. “We’ve been slow off and on because of the weather, but the early beans we got out helped a lot. They were ready early and the weather was better.”
This is the first year Terry has used Headline fungicide on his beans and he saw a nine bushel yield bump. “The plants were healthy, they grew a little taller. When they yield nine more bushels, that’s significant,” he said.
Here is a YouTube video of Chuck’s interview with Terry and some shots of him harvesting beans.
USDA lowered its forecast for 2009 corn production and yields in the latest report out today, but increased the soybean estimate.
Corn production is forecast at 12.9 billion bushels, down 1 percent from last month but 7 percent higher than 2008. Based on conditions as of November 1, yields are expected to average 162.9 bushels per acre, down 1.3 bushels from October but 9.0 bushels above last year. Despite the drop in yield from October, this yield will be the highest on record if realized. Total production will be second highest on record, only behind 2007. Within the Corn Belt, forecasted yields in Minnesota and Wisconsin increased, while Illinois, Iowa, and Michigan yields decreased.
Soybean production is forecast at a record high 3.32 billion bushels, up 2 percent from the October forecast and up 12 percent from last year. Based on November 1 conditions, yields are expected to average 43.3 bushels per acre, up 0.9 bushel from last month and up 3.6 bushels from 2008. If realized, this will be the highest U.S. yield on record.
The corn harvest continues to lag far behind normal. According to USDA, just 37 percent of the corn had been combined as of Sunday, compared to 82 percent average. Soybeans are doing better with 75 percent harvest compared to 92 percent average.
Analyst Brian Hoops with Midwest Market Solutions told reporters on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange crop call that many farmers are talking about leaving their corn in the field. “There’s a lot of producers in the northern part of the corn belt, North Dakota in particular, that are likely to leave the crop sit throughout the winter because of the concerns about dry down and the cost of drying the corn down manually.”
At least some farmers are finished with their harvest.
BASF sent me to southwest Missouri last week to visit with a couple of farmers in Purdy about their harvest. I told you last week about world famous Kip Cullers’ harvest, today we hear from his neighbor, Curtis Schallert – who also uses Headline fungicide, by the way (no coincidence!).
Curtis says the wet weather posed some challenges but he got it done. “We got a good start at the end of September,” he told me. “We got finished up about ten days ago with our corn before the last big rain, so compared to most we are very fortunate.”
He grows wheat, soybeans and corn and uses Headline on most of his acres. “I started with Headline and was satisfied with the results on my wheat and soybeans and in the past few years started using it on corn,” he said. He uses Headline on select acres of his corn and estimates that he gets a 6-7 bushel per acre increase in yield for those acres.
Here is a YouTube video of my interview with Curtis.
Precision farming took a step forward this week as Ag Leader Technology of Ames, Iowa and AutoFarm of Fremont, California joined forces to provide auto steering and assisted steering solutions to the marketplace.
“We think the combination of the two companies’ products is going to provide some great efficiencies to the end user,” says Dave King, Ag Leader Marketing Communications Manager. “So, it’s a one stop shop for all their products and one stop for customer support as well.”
That’s just one of the announcements made this week by Ag Leader, in addition to a number of new products, which will all be showcased during a media event December 7-8 in Ames. “We’re going to have both Ag Leader and AutoFarm personnel on hand,” Dave said. “We’re going to cover all the new products and give editors a chance to see the products in action.”
Those who are lucky enough to be attending Agritechnica in Hanover, Germany next week will be getting the first chance to see and hear about the new products and the new alliance since Ag Leader will be there. “Ag Leader has distribution throughout the world, Europe being a primary export market for us,” said Dave. “Agritechnica is such a great show to introduce new products and a great opportunity to meet people in the European marketplace.”
David Bennett with the Western Farm Press just posted this news alert about President Barack Obama signing HR 2997, a emergency stimulus package that could benefit farmers. Here is the most recent news on the topic…
President Obama has signed legislation providing fiscal 2010 appropriations — $121 billion — for the USDA, the Department of Health and Human Services, and other agencies.
The article says that 80 percent of the funds will go to school nutrition programs and food stamps.
Of the remaining HR 2997 funds, slightly over $23 billion will be spread among programs for agricultural research, conservation, food safety, housing assistance and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Some $290 million, aimed at helping undergird the struggling U.S. dairy industry, will fund dairy farmers with direct support. An additional $60 million will be used to purchase dairy products for food pantries and nutrition programs.
The Husker Farmer is harvesting some corn in south central Nebraska. “Finally” as he puts it. He is Ryan Weeks and you can find him active on Twitter as @huskerfarm. He’s another farmer using new media tools himself to tell his story and let the public know what farming like in America today. (Still amazes me that while so many of their customers are doing it, lots of ag companies still haven’t jumped in.)
Of course I found out about Ryan’s activity via his tweet that shows he’s using a BlackBerry and TwitVid.
My first attempt at a harvest video from the combine with my Blackberry Tour. #harvest#farm#agchat
According to a new poll, we really do love farmers.
A nationwide survey conducted for the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) found broad public respect and trust for family farmers and support for corn as food, feed and fuel. Ninety-five percent of those polled find farmers to be trusted messengers on issues such as agriculture, corn products and ethanol – and ethanol itself was supported or strongly supported as a good fuel alternative by 65 percent.
That’s 95 percent said they trusted farmers. Even the corn growers were surprised by the results. “We expected to see some pretty solid results in this polling, but the final numbers were beyond what we imagined,” said NCGA President Darrin Ihnen, a farmer in Hurley, S.D. “This high level of support is gratifying, and it is also a challenge for us to work hard to maintain the trust consumers have placed in us.”
“Farming is under attack in the mainstream media because some reporters seem to have the wrong idea about modern American agriculture,” Ihnen said. “One of our goals at NCGA is to help educate the media and the public about how current technology has helped family farmers do their traditional jobs more efficiently, more effectively and more affordably.”
The survey of 1,000 U.S. voters nationwide was conducted in mid-September by David Binder Research and has a margin of error of 3.1 percent. For more information on the survey, please visit NCGA Web site www.ncga.com.
If you have not done it yet – join the “I Love Farmers” fan club started by some Cal-Poly students earlier this year. You can donate, buy cool stuff like hats and shirts, or just support them. The group is working to help young people understand the importance of knowing where our food comes from and who produced it – a very noble goal.
Yes, Virginia, there really are family farmers in the United States.
The National Corn Growers Association wants the public to know that family farmers not only exist, but are the critical factor that make the nation’s number one industry the world leaders in production of safe and wholesome products.
Polling shows that many Americans no longer understand agriculture in their own country. Most believe that family farming no longer exists and that the majority of crops are grown by faceless entities that they characterize as industrial farms.
Nothing could be further from the truth, NCGA’s many farmers would say. In fact, 95 percent of all farms in the U.S. are family operated. These operations draw upon tradition and a knowledge base built over generations. The hard work of the over two million U.S. family farms provide consumers globally with food, feed and fuel. It also helps sustain the country economically by producing over $12 billion in corn for export annually.
To bring this information to the public, NCGA has introduced “Farming for Generations” on YouTube. A variety of growers, including members of NCGA Corn Board leadership, offer an unscripted exploration of the values of rural America and the practice of agriculture.
Farmers from around the globe gathered in Des Moines this week to participate in the 2009 Global Farmer-to-Farmer Roundtable, which is held in conjunction with the World Food Prize and hosted by Truth About Trade and Technology.
The group honored one of their own today with the 2009 Kleckner Trade & Technology Advancement Award which recognizes a farmer for “exemplary leadership, vision and resolve in advancing the rights of all farmers to choose the technology and tools that will improve the quality, quantity and availability of agricultural products around the world.”
This year’s honoree is Jim McCarthy, a farm manager from Ireland whose agricultural interests span three continents – Europe, South America and North America. He says it is frustrating that he is unable to use biotechnology-based crops in his farming operation in Ireland, but can in other areas. “The environmental benefit of GM (genetically modified) crops is staggering,” he said, as he made comparisons between the farm operations he’s involved with in Ireland and Argentina. He says wildlife numbers are much higher in the South America farm operation because fewer pesticides are used because of Bt traits in the crops. “We’re not using huge amounts of organophosphates, so the food chain is not being interrupted for the wildlife,” he said.
Closer to home, McCarthy is one of a group of farmers that invested in a grass-based dairy in southern Missouri. He is the third recipient of the Kleckner Trade and Technology Advancement Award, which was established in 2007 in honor of Dean Kleckner, the founder and chairman of Truth About Trade and Technology.
Commodity Classic took place in Anaheim, CA. You'll find all of Chuck, Cindy and Joanna's photos here.
Happy Ag Week
It's time to thank our farmers and ranchers for all their hard work to feed us.
In this week's program I interview Linda Tank, CHS, Inc., who is Chair of the Agriculture Council of America, the group coordinating National Ag Day. Learn more about their activities, especially this week in Washington, DC.
NCFC launched the new campaign at its 81st Annual Meeting in Santa Barbara, California last week to tell the story of this country’s 2500 farmer cooperatives to policy makers, government officials, and the American public. The campaign will emphasize the central role that co-ops play in preserving the family farm, supporting the rural economy, and bringing innovative products to consumers in the U.S. and around the world.
Headline® fungicide from BASF was recognized as fungicide of the year during the 
Pioneer Hi-Bred announced a multi-year sponsorship to support 
Gary Truitt with Hoosier Ag Today recently published an article titled, 
With winter fast approaching it’s time to make your farm meeting plans. Make one of them the 
To learn more about 
Everyone has that farmer or rancher in their life to shop for this Christmas, and boy, can it get tough to select the perfect gift for this category. Every year, I think my dad counts on getting Coveralls and pliers from Santa, and I’ll admit, we struggle trying to shop for him. If you are like me, you spend many painful hours trying to navigate the aisles of Sears, Menards or Cabelas in the hunt for the best present, only to purchase the same things year after year. 
Missouri Director of Agriculture Dr. Jon Hagler (right) visited Forck Farms near Jefferson City to present the official proclamation to Kelly Forck, a diversified crop and livestock producer who is president of the Missouri Soybean Association. 
The late harvest was one of the major topics of discussion for 
We saw some of that progress being made in the state last week on our 
Corn production is forecast at 12.9 billion bushels, down 1 percent from last month but 7 percent higher than 2008. Based on conditions as of November 1, yields are expected to average 162.9 bushels per acre, down 1.3 bushels from October but 9.0 bushels above last year. Despite the drop in yield from October, this yield will be the highest on record if realized. Total production will be second highest on record, only behind 2007. Within the Corn Belt, forecasted yields in Minnesota and Wisconsin increased, while Illinois, Iowa, and Michigan yields decreased.
At least some farmers are finished with their harvest. 
Precision farming took a step forward this week as 
“We think the combination of the two companies’ products is going to provide some great efficiencies to the end user,” says Dave King, Ag Leader Marketing Communications Manager. “So, it’s a one stop shop for all their products and one stop for customer support as well.”
David Bennett with the Western Farm Press just posted this news alert about 
A nationwide survey conducted for the 
“Farming is under attack in the mainstream media because some reporters seem to have the wrong idea about modern American agriculture,” Ihnen said. “One of our goals at NCGA is to help educate the media and the public about how current technology has helped family farmers do their traditional jobs more efficiently, more effectively and more affordably.”
Farmers from around the globe gathered in Des Moines this week to participate in the 2009 Global Farmer-to-Farmer Roundtable, which is held in conjunction with the World Food Prize and hosted by 
This year’s honoree is Jim McCarthy, a farm manager from Ireland whose agricultural interests span three continents – Europe, South America and North America. He says it is frustrating that he is unable to use biotechnology-based crops in his farming operation in Ireland, but can in other areas. “The environmental benefit of GM (genetically modified) crops is staggering,” he said, as he made comparisons between the farm operations he’s involved with in Ireland and Argentina. He says wildlife numbers are much higher in the South America farm operation because fewer pesticides are used because of Bt traits in the crops. “We’re not using huge amounts of organophosphates, so the food chain is not being interrupted for the wildlife,” he said. 
It's time to thank our farmers and ranchers for all their hard work to feed us.
