Last week, two Oregon counties voted overwhelmingly to ban the cultivation of genetically engineered (GE) crops. The initiatives in Josephine County and Jackson County, which border California, passed by as much as a two to one margin. “This isn’t Monsanto or Syngenta, these are local farms that have been farming the way they have chosen here in the valley for …
Time to #DitchTheRule and Let it Go
After the flooding here in Pensacola, FL a couple weeks ago I was afraid the EPA would declare my concrete driveway a “Waters of the U.S.” and not allow me to drive on it. Sounds stupid doesn’t it? But if you’re a farmer there is nothing stupid about what the EPA is doing with the proposed “Waters of the U.S.” …
Homegrown Farmer Veteran Coalition
Yesterday the Farmer Veteran Coalition announced the national launch of the Homegrown By Heroes initiative. This product labeling program allows farmers, ranchers and fishermen from all 50 states and U.S. territories who have served or are still serving in any branch of the U.S. military the ability to use the logo on their agricultural products. Consumers and businesses purchasing agricultural …
Rise of the Giants Film Project
While we’re speaking about movies about farming . . . do you know about Rise of the Giants? – A feature-length documentary following the 2013 race to grow the world’s largest pumpkin. This is a Kickstarter project by filmmaker Daria Matza. And she just started following me on Twitter. I’ll let her tell the story about her project, which is …
Dryland Movie
Speaking of movies about farming . . . We were speaking about movies about farming weren’t we? Have you heard of Dryland? I just found it because it just started following me on Twitter. Here’s what I know and I have not seen it. Have you? What do you think? I see that there are showings coming up at the …
FS Sales Lens Offers New Views
A great benefit of new communications technology is how it provides farmers the opportunity to access information nearly anyplace or time right in the palm of their hand. GROWMARK is utilizing the immediacy of tablets and smartphones for crop specialists to provide farmers with visual information on the spot with FS Sales Lens. “It’s really designed for them to understand …
Farm Bureau Provides Farm Bill Help
If you have questions about how the new farm bill works, American Farm Bureau has answers. The American Farm Bureau Federation has produced a new series of videos and launched a website to help farmers, landowners and other stakeholders better understand the provisions of the 2014 farm bill. “We have distilled down a massive and complex piece of legislation – …
Knuth Farms Spring Activities
Our friends at Knuth Farms got themselves ready for spring and shared this video. We did a little one and half minute video of spring activities on our farm to the sound of Tommy James and the Shondells we hope you would like and share with all your followers. Of course I will.
USDA Releases 2012 Ag Census Results
The 2012 Census of Agriculture released today by the USDA reveals less farms and new trends. The census reveals there are now 3.28 million farmers operating 2.1 million farms on 914.5 million acres of farmland across the United States. Those numbers are all lower than 2007 when the census reported 3.18 million farmers, 2.2 million farms and 922 million acres. …
RoboFlight Offers Affordable Ag UAVs
RoboFlight is a global company that deals in data acquisition including UAV platforms as well as full scale aircraft and satellite systems. Beyond the agricultural industry, RoboFlight also works in security, search and rescue, utilities, mining and insurance. Chuck interviewed Phil Ellerbroek, Global Director of Sales for RoboFlight, and he shared more about the company. RoboFlight acquired Aerial Precision Ag, …