Here are some of the facts:  I’m the daughter of a fourth generation family farmer.  I think I have the greatest job in the world. I get to tell the story of American Agriculture.  Whether it is educating the consumer about the real facts of agriculture or talking to the farmer about new and exciting things related to their industry every day seems to be an adventure.  I am the Agri-Business Director for WMBD and WIRL located in the heart of corn country (Peoria, Ill.).  And the fun stuff… I like to think I’m eccentric.  A little artsy.  I like funky music, even funkier jewelry and creating art from behind the lens of camera. That’s me in the photo with my friend and fellow NAFBer Rick Coyle with Northern Ag Network.

One of the great things about my job – I constantly hear about “new and innovative things”.

While Farmer’s Markets may not be “new and innovative” they are certainly a “hot” topic all year long.  John Aikman became a statistic of the recession.  After Aikman lost his job he says his idle time and over active mind came up with the concept of “Home Grown Cow”.  So what is it?  He’s created a virtual meat market of sorts with a goal or pairing farmers with eaters (what a concept, huh?!) with  some networking along the way.

Often times when I hear ideas like this and it is aimed at promoting organic farming practices only.  What caught my attention with John’s site and business venture – it supports all types of farming practices.  Traditional or organic.  Beef, chicken or lamb. Bulk or cuts.  You decide.  Find a farmer that suits your eating needs.  Aikman says his goal is to make farmers the price makers instead of price takers.

Aikman’s vision will soon become a reality.  While they aren’t quite ready to take orders yet – they are signing up farmers and hope to be fully operational soon.

You can check them out at Home Grown Cow and listen to John’s story here: John's Story

There are several driving factors for this change at Whole Foods one of which is that many people believe that as much as possible, they should eat local food. While the definition of local food varies, basically it is food that was produced within 250 miles of where you live. Second, people believe our food supply is not safe and knowing the country of origin of spinach will give them some sort of piece of mind, i.e. American food is safer.

Oftentimes, these same people are promoting that the local food movement will feed the world (and save Africa, yet another discussion you can read about here) but there are some serious problems with this way of thinking. Many people in our country do not live in areas that can even begin to produce food within 250 miles….Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada are just three states that could never produce enough food to feed their populations because they don’t have enough water and they would have to put land into production.

People are criticizing agriculture for the amount of land they use when in reality, farmers are producing MORE each year using LESS land. Hey enviros – are you prepared to put millions of acres of land back into production to ensure your local food supply?

People are also criticizing agriculture for the amount of irrigation needed to grow your food. Do you realize that the local food you eat is irrigated? No food grows without water. That being said, there are companies dedicated to creating hybrids that require less water but still have high yields. There I go again, it’s that less is more thing ag’s got going on.

Don’t get me wrong, I say this all the time and will continue to say it, I’m all for local food production and the support of small, family owned farms – I live on one. But we can not feed the world with local food production. However, production farmers can and will feed the world in a sustainable manner all while producing more from less. Now that’s something we need to get behind.

A nationwide survey conducted for the National Corn Growers Association found broad public support for corn as a food sweetener and for corn-based ethanol as an alternative fuel.

The survey found 67 percent of respondents supported the use of corn as a sweetener and 65 percent supported using corn to make ethanol. Of those who supported corn for ethanol, 34 percent mentioned reduced dependence on foreign oil, 19 percent cited its potential to create new jobs and 16 percent said they liked its environmental benefits.

Ninety-five percent of the 1,000 U.S. voters surveyed said they supported corn for food for people and 93 percent said they supported its use as animal feed.

The survey was conducted in mid-September by David Binder Research and has a margin of error of 3.1 percent. For more information, visit www.ncga.com.

-Consumers hold farmers/producers, themselves and food companies primarily responsible for food safety.
-Consumers continue to trust themselves and those who prepare food in their homes more than any others.
-Consumers place a high amount of trust in farmers and food companies for food safety.
-Consumers hold farmers primarily responsible for humane treatment of farm animals.
-Consumers lack confidence in any food system segment for ensuring the humane treatment of farm animals.
-Consumers hold farmers primarily responsible for sustainability.
-Consumers lack confidence and trust in any food system segment for ensuring sustainability.
-Consumers hold themselves, farmers and food companies primarily responsible for nutrition.
-Consumers lack confidence and trust in any food system segment for ensuring nutrition.

Anyway, regardless of the very sad and disturbing truth that there are many people out there that have absolutely no clue where their food comes from, I hope this video gives you a laugh this afternoon!

At a “ribbon planting” ceremony today, Share Our Strength(r), the leading national organization working to end childhood hunger in America, Food Network and Comcast, were joined by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to create and unveil an edible “Good Food Garden” that will bring healthy, fresh and nutritious food to children from underserved communities in the nation’s capital. The self-contained garden was planted at The SEED School in southeast Washington, DC (4300 C Street SE) and will remain there permanently as a working garden for the school children who will integrate the garden into the 7th grade civics and life science curricula.

Secretary Vilsack stated, “The USDA is committed to making healthy food accessible to children in need, and to improving the dietary habits of today’s youth. This garden stands as an example of what the USDA would like to see across the country. We believe children in underserved communities deserve a hands-on experience growing delicious, fresh fruits and vegetables.”

“We’re going to have to produce more food on the same acres between now and 2050 then we’ve produced in the last 10,000 years combined,” Michael said. “That’s pretty substantial. That’s going to get us to twice the level of annual food production in 2050 versus today.”

Michael says responding to such demands is a responsibility that must be shared throughout the ag sector. But, he says, Monsanto is eagerly doing it’s part to help.

“This conversation about sustainability kind of hit us right between the eyes,” Michael said. “We went out and started talking to a lot of people about agriculture; and what doing more with less would look like; what would be important there.”

Ultimately, Michael says, Monsanto’s goal is to make farmers more productive and, consequently, more financially successful.

“Our goal is to make every farmer we serve better off the next year than they were the previous year,” Michael said.

And, Michael says, that goal is meant to benefit farmers all over the world.

“In developing countries we think we also need to do that,” Michael said. “So, we’ve committed to helping 5 million resource-poor farmers, who are simply trying to feed their families, do that.”

But, as much as Monsanto recognizes its role in securing the future of farming and the future of feeding the world, the Michael says finding long-term, sustainable solutions will be a team effort.

“It’s going to be the ‘we’ collectively that does this,” Michael said.

You can download and listen to Michael Doane’s entire speech at the 2008 Farm Progress Show in Boone, IA here: fp-08-doane.mp3

You can also download the speech with this link.

Check out our Farm Progress Show 2008 Photo Album.

AgWired coverage of the 2008 Farm Progress Show
is sponsored by: and

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The new Oscar Mayer Premium Beef Franks are made with high quality cuts of beef and a flavorful blend of unique spices for a taste the whole family will love. They also have no artificial flavors, colors, fillers or by-products and are packaged in the same easy-to-use re-sealable package to lock-in freshness.

In honor of the brand’s 125th anniversary year, Oscar Mayer is beefing up the New York barbecue by spreading the love of lunch to America’s Second Harvest — The Nation’s Food Bank Network with a $100,000 donation. But the philanthropy does not stop when the New York lunch crowd slows down. The Oscar Mayer WIENERMOBILE vehicle is hitting the road this summer with opportunities to sample the new franks and collect even more donations to benefit local America’s Second Harvest members in the communities it visits coast-to-coast.

Sam’s Club kicks off the playoffs by helping football fans meet their food and party needs this season with the Big Game Playbook showcasing great and easy tips to help even the newest rookie plan a great party for “any given Sunday,” playoff match or the big game.

The Playbook highlights everything a party-planner needs to know, from how to prep, get guests engaged and clean up. Sam’s Club is offering the playbook free to members and guests in club or at samsclub.com/biggame. *A service fee of 10 percent may apply to non-member purchases in club, and membership is required to purchase items online. Annual membership starts at $35.

The playbook even offers football terminology, touchdown trivia and games for halftime.

The legal filings in federal courts in Seattle, Denver, and in Minneapolis, against the retailers, come on the heels of class action lawsuits against Aurora Dairy Corporation, based in Boulder, Colorado. The suits against Aurora and the grocery chains allege consumer fraud, negligence, and unjust enrichment concerning the sale of organic milk. This past April, Aurora officials received a notice from the USDA detailing multiple and “willful” violations of federal organic law that were found by federal investigators.

Aurora, with $100 million in annual sales, provides milk that is sold as organic and packaged as store-brand products for many of the nation’s biggest chains. Besides Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, and Safeway, Aurora serves as supplier to 15 other national and regional chains.

Independent investigators at the USDA concluded earlier this year that Aurora-with five dairy facilities in Colorado and Texas, each milking thousands of cows-had 14 “willful” violations of federal organic regulations. One of the most egregious of the findings was that from December 5, 2003, to April 16, 2007, the Aurora Dairy “labeled and represented milk as organically produced, when such milk was not produced and handled in accordance with the National Organic Program regulations.”

“This is the perfect example of modern-day Agri-business bullies literally stealing the milk money from an unsuspecting public,” said Washington state consumer Rachael Doyle.

Myth: High fructose corn syrup is solely to blame for obesity and diabetes.

Reality: Contrary to its name, high fructose corn syrup is not high in fructose. In fact, the composition of high fructose corn syrup is similar to sugar. Sugar is composed of 50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose and high fructose corn syrup has either 42 percent or 55 percent fructose, with the remaining sugars being primarily glucose.

Myth: High fructose corn syrup is metabolized differently. It blocks the ability of the body to know when it is full.

The Corn Refiners Association is the national trade association representing the corn refining industry in the United States. The Corn Refiners Association and its predecessors have served this important segment of American agribusiness since 1913.

Warm weather creates the optimum time to grow tasty fruit and vegetables but Stop & Shop is combining a special handling process with fresh fruit growers to introduce Orchard Perfect fruit in all of the company’s 389 stores.

The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, based in Quincy, Massachusetts, employs more than 59,000 associates and operates 389 stores throughout Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, New York and New Jersey.

See this story – “Yogurt cultivating unprecedented popularity.” The story also points to a bunch of other products containing yogurt from cereals to makeup.

Me, I think I’ll stick to some more traditional uses of yogurt for now. Besides, Cindy would think it weird if I started using yogurt makeup.

I miss the donut shop we used to have here on Missouri Blvd. in Jefferson City. Back when I drank decaf (what was I thinking?) I would order a couple donuts and a cup of coffee. This took a while since they had to make decaf while I waited. At least it was fresh.