I have been meaning to do a post on the recent report from USDA’s Economic Research Service about the farmers’ share of the food dollar, but I just can’t top the simplicity of a post that NCGA’s Ken Colombini did on Corn Commentary, which he titled “The 88% Solution.” It just says it all. The USDA now tells us that …
Monsanto Responds to Organic Lawsuit
Monsanto is facing a legal challenge from organic farmers over genetically modified seed. The Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) filed suit this week on behalf of 60 family farmers, seed businesses and organic agricultural organizations, against Monsanto Company as a preemptive measure “to protect themselves from being accused of patent infringement should they ever become contaminated by Monsanto’s genetically modified seed, …
BASF Weeds to Watch Reports on Brownfield
BASF has some new resources for farmers this growing season for weed resistance management. One is the Kixor Weed Resistance Management Guide that offers growers strategies for managing glyphosate resistant weeds as well as information about the benefits of using Kixor as a burndown and/or residual herbicide to fight resistance. In addition, growers can tune into their local Brownfield Network …
USDA Releases 2011 Prospective Plantings Report
USDA expects more corn, wheat and cotton to be planted this year, but slightly less soybeans, according to the Prospective Plantings report released this morning. Corn growers intend to plant 92.2 million acres of corn for all purposes this year, up 5 percent from last year and 7 percent higher than in 2009. If realized, this will be the second …
Corn Growers Challenge Nestle Exec Comments
The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) has taken issue with comments made last week by Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, the billionaire chairman of Nestle, during a “CEO Speaker Series” moderated by Time editor Michael J. Elliott at the Council on Foreign Relations. It’s an interesting conversation in which Brabeck-Letmathe comes off as insufferably arrogant, discussing how he and a bunch of other …
Proud to be Biofools Nominees
Friends of the Earth (FOE) has paid us a great compliment. We – both me and Chuck – have been nominated for the prestigious “Biofool of the Year” award! The award was established by FOE “to recognize leaders that promote dirty biofuels” – especially corn ethanol – and was won last year by then House Agriculture Committee chairman Collin Peterson …
I Am Angus Features Range Magazine Editor
A recent segment of “I Am Angus” features C.J. Hadley, the editor and publisher of Range Magazine, which is dedicated to preserving and promoting the cowboy way of life. She talks about her journey from England to the western United States and how and why she became a tireless advocate for the nation’s food producers. Check it out!
GROWMARK Media Day Tour
I had the opportunity for the first time to attend the GROWMARK media day this week to learn a little more about this large and diverse farmer cooperative. Among our stops was the Christian County FS facility in Millersville, a new 12,000 ton facility primarily for DAP and potash. “We moved from five facilities down to this one facility,” said …
Novus Introduces New Products
CIBENZA DP100 is a new dietary enzyme from Novus International allows poultry producers improved control over their feed rations. “CIBENZA DP100 is a real game changer,” says Dr. Scott Carter, Global Poultry Market Manager for Novus. “This dietary enzyme is formulated to give poultry producers much more control over their protein ingredients. CIBENZA DP100 offers the flexibility to incorporate more …
March is Peanut Month
March is National Peanut Month and to celebrate it, the Georgia peanut industry brought peanuts to the state capitol last week. In addition to providing plenty of grilled PB&J’s and boiled peanuts, the peanut industry put on a program about the importance of peanuts to the state. “Peanuts are Georgia’s Official State Crop and the state boasts the largest share …