The CEO of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, Polly Ruhland, is blogging during her 2013 Eisenhower Fellowship for International Leaders which is taking her to Japan and Taiwan. The blog is, pencilplow.
“Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you’re a thousand miles from a cornfield.” ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower
Here’s an excerpt her most recent post from Tokyo.
Every Monday through Friday, buyers of Waygu and other extremely high-quality domestic beef for outlets in Japan visually appraise hanging carcasses at Tokyo Market, where they sell them one at a time. This is a private auction and being granted entry is difficult for outsiders (thank you again, Eisenhower network). I had an unexpected invitation that arose on the evening we arrived in Tokyo, made possible through Takeichi-san (EF Fellow 1995). Ogawa-san, president of Ogawa Chikusan Kougyou Co., the harvest facility attached to the auction, narrated a tour through the auction and the plant. The 800 or so carcasses a day move slowly down the line as a small group of buyers appraise them with flashlights illuminating the ribeye the same way meat inspectors do in the U.S. The electronic board above each carcass flashes key information (including the name of the farmer/breeder) and the bids skyrocket. This is where the most expensive, highly marbled beef in Japan sells. For occasions like weddings and other important social gatherings, this is the type of beef Japanese people want to serve their guests. And it goes out the door here daily, one single, perfectly prepared carcass at a time. For occasions or clientele with slightly lower budgets, quality U.S. beef makes an excellent substitute.
The graphic comes from the 2002 University of Michigan Sustainability Assessment (pdf). Polly uses it because she is “dedicated to improving the triple bottom line of sustainability (social, environmental, economic–or people, planet, profit) for agriculture in a country that often takes food availability and security for granted.”
North American Agricultural Journalists Meeting
The North American Agricultural Journalists are holding their annual meeting in Washington, DC. It’s not all about work.
Thanks to Chris Clayton, DTN/Progressive Farmer, for sharing the photo. This is the Second Amendments playing for the group last night. I’ve seen the band several times and they do a great job. The band is led by House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn. The band includes Peterson, lead singer and rhythm guitar; Rep. Stephen Fincher, R-Tenn., on bass and vocals; Former Rep. Kenny Hulshof, R-Mo., on drums and vocals; and Manning Feraci, a former Hulshof aide, as lead guitar player.
North American Agricultural Journalists is a professional, international group of agricultural editors and writers with a membership spanning the United States and Canada. Formerly the Newspaper Farm Editors of America, and then the National Association of Agricultural Journalists, it was organized in 1952 to promote the highest ideals of journalism and agricultural coverage.
I hope to get to attend this meeting in the future.
SDA Omega-3 Soybean Oil
DSM Nutritional Products and Monsanto Company announced a strategic partnership to deliver the first SDA (stearidonate soybean oil) omega-3 soybean oil for use in foods in North America.
DSM Nutritional Products, the leading global provider of trusted nutritional lipids solutions with the most complete product portfolio (plant, algal and fish) addressing the full spectrum of consumer health benefits will license the SDA soybean from Monsanto, the global expert in plant technology. Monsanto will develop SDA soybean varieties and sell the seeds to its farmer customers. DSM Nutritional Products will have the exclusive global rights to brand, market, package and sell the SDA soybean oil to the food industry. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
New Names for Beef & Pork Cuts
The National Pork Board and Beef Checkoff Program received unanimous approval from the Industry-Wide Cooperative Meat Identification Standards Committee to introduce updated Uniform Retail Meat Identification Standards nomenclature for fresh beef and pork for retailers to use on pack. Changes to the beef and pork common names were the culmination of extensive consumer research which showed an opportunity for retailers to build consumer confidence in how to shop for and prepare beef and pork.
The revised nomenclature was previously reviewed by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service and Agricultural Marketing Service, and retailers, packers and scale label companies were engaged in the process. The full list of the revised beef and pork common names are now available for retailers to integrate into their scale label programs on www.MeatTrack.com.
Examples of new cut names backed by research:
Pork
· Pork Porterhouse Chop (previously a loin chop)
· Pork Ribeye Chop (previously a rib chop)
· Pork New York Chop (previously a top loin chop)
Beef
· Ribeye (previously beef rib, ribeye, lip-on, bone in)
· Tenderloin (previously beef loin, tenderloin, full, boneless)
· Porterhouse Steak (previously beef, loin, bone in)
The new cut names will eventually align with the foodservice industry as well to provide a consistent consumer perception of beef and pork at restaurants and at home.
Telling the Story of The Great American Wheat Harvest
Here’s a great looking group of custom harvesters. This is from the U.S. Custom Harvesters booth at Commodity Classic. I met another one of these road warriors that will be featured in the upcoming film documentary, “The Great American Wheat Harvest.” He is Dan Misener, second from the right.
Dan’s business is Misener Family Harvesters which has been in business since 1969. It is truly a family business. That family business will be one of the ones featured in the documentary which is now in production. The documentary will tell their story as they follow the harvest north. Dan says around mid April they get started and work a week or so from each stop over a period of 6-7 months. That’s a long stretch away from home!
The Great American Wheat Harvest is a project that will help people understand where a loaf of bread comes from. Dan says, “We can’t let somebody else tell our story. We need to tell our own story.
You can listen to my conversation with Dan here: Interview with Dan Misener
Zimfo Bytes
- Advanta US, a leading international supplier of proprietary agricultural crop genetics and seed, has named Ruben Dicun, head of business development.
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking nominations for seven seats on the National Mango Board.
- Pinnacle Agriculture Holdings, LLC through its subsidiary Jimmy Sanders Incorporated has acquired the assets of Freeman & Son Seed Company.
- broadhead, a Minneapolis-based full-service marketing communications agency, has added to its capabilities with the addition of an in-house video-editing suite.
FarmOn and Make Your #FarmVoices Heard
This April 22 a group of young agricultural enthusiasts want you to FarmOn. The organization is inviting farmers and consumers to connect through the power of social media. Farmers are asked to post a photo and a thought to Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter about their experience as a farmer, attaching the hashtag #FARMVOICES.
Let your picture/post answer one of the following questions:
- What do you love about farming?
- What challenge do you face that threatens your ability to farm?
- How do you care for your land and animals?
The FarmOn Foundation was formed by a group of young agricultural enthusiasts, from rural Alberta, determined to see the industry thrive and become tangible for new farmers looking to be a part of it. With Canada losing 60% of their young agricultural producers in the last 15 years, leaving only 9.1% of farmers under the age of 35, it was mission critical to form an organization that existed solely for the benefit of young farmers and seeing them succeed.
As such, the FarmOn Foundation was born, with the mandate to inspire young farmers to action by equipping them with the tools, knowledge and hands on skills needed to increase the profitability of their agricultural businesses.
Governed by a Board of Directors, all in touch with the agriculture industry, the Foundation continues to create programming that is of benefit to farmers who are evolving their operations.
AgFanatics Talk About the Markets
In the newest AgFanatics podcast, our friends Cory and Nick give some explanation as to what has caused the significant retreat in grain prices, after last Thursday’s USDA report. What does the future hold and what could we see in next Wednesday’s WASDE report? Tune in to find out!
The AgriVisor AgFanatics podcast is updated twice weekly and can be found on Itunes or right from the front page at www.agrivisor.com.
Report Reveals Improper Payments at USDA
A guest post by Agri-Pulse Editor Sara Wyant
When lawmakers talk about reducing “waste, fraud and abuse” in federal programs, they usually target the food stamp program, more recently called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
In fact, Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., introduced legislation recently that he said would “restore integrity” to the SNAP program, while saving $36 billion in taxpayer dollars. He’s supported by fellow Republican Senators Mike Johanns, R-Neb., and John Thune, R-SD.
“Times are tough right now for millions of Americans and government spending is out of control.” Roberts said. “This bill is a package of straightforward, commonsense reforms that have garnered bipartisan support in the past to address, waste, fraud and abuse.
But a recent report issued by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) provides fresh fodder for those convinced that USDA must do more to cut wasteful spending in other areas -while still delivering $144 billion in public services through more than 300 USDA programs.
The OIG found that seven of the 29 component agencies and offices administer “high-risk” programs that are vulnerable to significant improper payments. The seven agencies affected include the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), Farm Service Agency (FSA), Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Rural Development (RD), Forest Service (FS), and the Risk Management Agency (RMA).
USDA estimated that these agencies’ 16 total high-risk programs made $5.5 billion in improper payments in fiscal year 2012, a 5.11 percent error rate. That’s an improvement compared to a 5.37 percent error rate in 2011. However, at least one agency has programs with improper payments exceeding 25 percent, explained OIG.
According to OIG, an improper payments are those that “should not have been made or that were made in an incorrect amount.” Improper payments also include those made to ineligible recipients, those made for “goods or services not received,” and those that lack “sufficient documentation.”
The OIG found that, for the second consecutive year, USDA failed to comply with the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 (IPERA), which requires that agencies meet seven specific requirements, including publishing improper payment estimates for all applicable high-risk programs; meeting a gross improper payment rate of less than 10 percent for each program; and publishing and meeting annual reduction targets.Read More
Ag Leader Wants to Hear From You!
Whether it’s good (hopefully!), bad or “help me before I throw this thing out into the field and run over it”, Ag Leader’s customer support staff wants to hear from you. And during busy seasons such as planting and harvest, customer support specialists are on hand extended hours to be sure that across all time zones, day or night, if you have a question in the field you can get an answer over the phone.
They may be called the silent heroes of the day, but Jordan Dittmer, Ag Leader Machine Guidance Support Supervisor, says, “We’re here to help. If you have something going on and you don’t tell us, we can’t help you. We want to hear from you.”
Listen to Dittmer explainAg Leader has also made a commitment to their dealer network through various classroom-style trainings and hands-on assistance, making dealers the next tier in customer support. Dittmer explains why Ag Leader continues to invest this time into developing dealers.
Listen to Dittmer explainSo think of these silent heroes as your next door neighbor, even though they may be thousands of miles away. In fact, most of the support staff are farmers just like you!
Listen to Dittmer explainOn behalf of Ag Leader’s support team, we wish you a safe, successful 2013 planting season!
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