Vermeer had cow-calf producers in mind when they designed the new Rancher 665 round baler. According to Vermeer Forage Marketing Manager Dan Belzer, the new Rancher 665 baler design fills a niche many cow-calf producers have been asking for – basically, the ability to produce bigger bales with a “right-sized” baler that requires less horsepower. “Now, with a minimum 60 …
Ag Students Key to Correcting Food Critics on Campus
College students with agriculture backgrounds are finding the need to defend modern agriculture and correct misinformation about food production that is being worked into class curriculums. Some classes are now requiring students to read books like “Omnivore’s Dilemma,” watch movies like “Food, Inc.” and see presentations by critics of modern agriculture like Michael Pollan. Sarah Downing, a junior at the …
Consumers Trust Farmers, Still Hold High Expectations
Consumers still trust farmers; they just need their confidence restored in some aspects of the food system. Those were some of the conclusions from a “consumer trust” survey commissioned by the Center for Food Intregity. Highlights from the survey were presented last week at the 4th Annual 2009 Food System Summit in Kansas City. Geni Wren summed up the conclusions …
CLEANmp Provides Help With Nutrient Management Plans
Helping livestock and poultry producers develop and implement plans to limit their environmental impact is the goal of a program called Comprehensive Livestock Environmental Assessments and Nutrient management plans, or CLEANmp. The program, which is managed by the Missouri-based Environmental Resources Coalition, is designed to provide services to all types and sizes of livestock and poultry production operations west of …
TIME for Yellow Journalism
If you look up the definition of “yellow journalism” you should find a picture of last week’s TIME Magazine cover story – which was renamed “Getting Real about the High Cost of Cheap Food” – after first being headlined “America’s Food Crisis and How to Fix it.” Wikipedia gives several characteristics of yellow journalism that fit this attack on modern …
New Book on Animal Rights vs. Animal Welfare
Hot off the press, this book is one you aren’t going to want to miss! I’m ordering my copy right now, and I’m looking forward to a thought provoking read. If you are interested, you can order a copy from the Animal Ag Alliance at a discounted price. Check it out, and happy reading! Can’t wait to discuss it later… …
Meat is Bringing Sexy Back
Is meat getting sexy again? Here’s one case in point. This provocatively posed porker is part of an ad campaign by Rachachuros Seasoning that also includes similar sexy shots of a duck and a chicken. Another case in point: Top Chef ’s Padma Lakshmi steamy Carls Jr. burger commercial that got quite a bit of attention when it came out …
From Rainy Plains to Dry Mountains
Well, I’m finally here for an exciting week at the 2009 Cattle Industry Summer Convention. I’m writing to you from the News Room at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Denver. I’ve ditched the rainy plains of South Dakota for a much more summery mountain climate of Colorado. Before the week kicks off, I thought I would give an agricultural update …
Illinois Beef Association Summer Conference
If you’re in or around Illinois on June 25-26, I would love to meet you. Tomorrow, I’m hopping on a plane to head to the Illinois Beef Association Summer Conference to present my workshop, “Table Truths in a New York Minute.” My workshop dives into the tips and tricks for utilizing online tools and social networks to tell the agriculture …
Next Generation Rancher
Lee Kopriva always knew he wanted to be a cattle rancher. From a young age, he played an active role in his family’s cattle operation, Kopriva Angus. After graduating from South Dakota State University (SDSU) this May, Kopriva is now following his dream of raising quality seedstock for producers, and he is one of the few students in his graduating …