Emily Buck farms with her husband and daughter near Columbus, Ohio where they raise soybeans, corn and wheat and also have a small sheep operation. Her main role on the farm, beyond helping with crops, is to manage the 40 ewes. Off the farm, Emily is a university researcher and professor of agricultural communication at Ohio State University, which gives …
SMART Farmer Robb Fraley
Robb Fraley isn’t our typical SMART Farmer, but after growing up on a small Illinois farm, his work has helped farmers around the world produce food more sustainably with science and technology that has helped increase yields by decreasing threats to crops. That technology is genetic modification of plants, creating GMO crops that are resistance to insects and disease, able …
USFRA CEO Urges Agriculture to Stand as One
As the nation’s largest outdoor farm show was getting underway last week bringing thousands of agriculture industry people together in Decatur, Illinois, U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) CEO Randy Krotz sent out an op-ed urging American agriculture to stand together against the threats facing farming and ranching. “There are times when we in agriculture may not be understanding how …
SMART Farmer Anne Meis
Anne Meis is a family farmer from Elgin, Nebraska who raises corn, soybeans, and beef with her husband Jim, and serves on the boards of the Nebraska Soybean Board and the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA). In this SMART farmer podcast episode, she talks about the importance of technology such as genetically modified crops for smart farmers. She also …
Nebraska USFRA Food Dialogues to Focus on GMOs
The U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) is joining with the Nebraska Soybean Board to host a “Food Dialogues: Pivoting the GMO Conversation” at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln September 6 from 1:00-2:30 pm. Among the Dialogue participants will be Hilary Maricle, a Nebraska cattle, corn, pig and soybean farmer and CommonGround volunteer; and USFRA Face of Farming & …
SMART Farmer Phil Borgic
Meet the Illinois hog farmer whose family farm is the star of the 360 video the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance has been sharing around the country this year. You can watch the video without effects below – and if you have a VR viewer or headset take a look in 360. Phil Borgic has a family farm in Nokomis, …
SMART Farmer Jeanette Merritt
Jeannette Merritt is our SMART Farmer for this episode – an Indiana farm girl and former agricultural journalist who is raising crops, hogs and kids with her husband and serving the industry in many capacities. Jeanette is a 4th generation farmer, a Purdue University graduate, Director of Checkoff Programs for Indiana Pork and serves on the Indiana Soybean Alliance board …
Teachers Offered a Day on the Farm
The Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council (MSR&PC) has partnered with U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) to start a program to help urban teachers learn more about agriculture so they can teach it to their students. To kick it off, educators in Minneapolis and Sacramento are invited to take a farm tour at the end of August to engage …
SMART Farmer Carla Wardin
Our SMART Farmer in this episode comes from Michigan where she and her husband have a dairy operation that has been in her family for over a century. Carla Wardin is dedicated to telling the real story of dairy farming through her blog Truth or Dairy, and in 2014 was chosen to represent agriculture as one of the USFRA Faces …
SMART Farmer Jennifer Houston
This edition of the SMART Farmer podcast features Tennessee native Jennifer Houston, a livestock market owner and beef cattle industry leader, who talks about how the business of producing and marketing beef cattle has become smarter in recent years. Houston is currently Vice President of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and serves on the board of the U.S. Farmers and …