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 …
Truth About Trade and Technology Honors Irish Farmer
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 …
Climate Change is BAD Topic
Thursday is Blog Action Day (BAD) and the topic this year is Climate Change. Food production is top on the list of suggested ideas for bloggers to write about in an alert sent out by organizers. “Agricultural production around the world is responsible for nearly as much greenhouse gas emissions as all forms of transportation put together, so it shouldn’t …
Syngenta Seeds Striving for Control of Broad Leps
Syngenta Seeds calls them “broad leps” – farmers call them expensive – most people would just call them icky. They are a bunch of nasty wormy creatures – technically lepidopteran corn pests – that make up what Syngenta calls the “multi-pest complex” which costs growers over $1 billion each year in lost yield and grain quality. They include corn earworm, …
Sustainability and Modern Farming
The new president of the National Corn Growers Association, Darrin Ihnen of Hurley, S.D., is the star of a new video on the subject of increasing sustainability in agriculture that debuted Oct. 3 on the television program This Week in Agribusiness. The short video features Darrin and other family farmers telling the story of how better management and modern technology …
Grains Council Seeking Harvest Photos
The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) wants to see the fruits of your harvest. USGC is encouraging all farmers to carry a camera in the combine this year to snap some photos of the harvesting of food, feed and fuel for the United States and abroad. Each photo will be entered for a free Council meeting registration for our 7th International …
Soybean Harvesting
Soybeans are being harvested in the Missouri River bottom. This was the scene I passed while working out this afternoon. It’s that time of year. A little further down the road however, there was a real contrast of soybeans quite ready for harvest next to fields that are in full leafy green. Kind of shows how mixed the season has …
Let’s Be Safe and Healthy Out There
It’s official when the President signs off on it (pdf). NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 20 through September 26, 2009, as National Farm Safety and Health Week. I call upon the people …
BASF Kixor Gets Results
We were happy to see BASF finally get Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registration for Kixor® herbicide last week for use on a wide range of crops and effective on more than 70 broadleaf weeds. Four formulations “powered by Kixor” are now available for growers — Sharpen™ herbicide for various crops, OpTill™ herbicide for soybeans, Integrity™ herbicide for corn and Treevix™ …
Ag Commissioners Urge Protection of Farmland
Most of the country’s original colonies are urging the federal government to preserve and protect our nation’s farmland. “Protecting farmland for future agricultural use is of utmost importance to every citizen of the United States… so critical to maintaining the future viability of our agricultural sectors and rural communities,” said agriculture commissioners and officials from 13 states in a letter …