Vote for Your Fav Farmer’s Market

Cindy Zimmerman

Vote For Favorite Farmers MarketHave you cast your vote for your favorite farmer’s market yet?

American Farmland Trust (AFT) is tracking the votes for its America’s Favorite Farmers Markets™ contest with an online leader-board of the top 20 markets in each of four categories. The lists of boutique, small, medium and large markets track up-to-the-minute results during the final month of voting, which closes on August 31.

But your favorite market needs to be signed up for the contest in order for you to vote for them. I found that out today when I went to vote for our local Cole County (MO) Farmers Market, which sets up three times a week in the Kmart parking lot on Missouri Boulevard. I was pretty bummed to find out they were not in the running at all, since it is nice to visit them each week and get fresh, homegrown produce. I guess they would be in the “boutique” category, since they normally have less than 15 vendors.

According to the online leader board, the defending champion for the large market category – Davis (CA) Farmers Market – is in second place to the City of Rochester (NY) Public Market. Last year’s medium market winner, Williamsburg (VA) is only in fifth place right now, with Falls Church (VA) in first. And in the small market category, first place is currently Easton (PA), with last year’s winner Collingswood (NJ) in third. King George (VA) is in first place in the boutique category, which is new this year.

There are more than 1,200 farmers markets that enrolled in the contest, representing 49 states and the District of Columbia.

Farming

Nitrogen Use Efficiency In Corn

Chuck Zimmerman

Becoming nitrogen use efficient in corn is a big goal but one that Pioneer Hi-Bred is helping farmers figure out how to accomplish. At the Pioneer Hi-Bred Crop Technology Field day held in Carrollton, MO, Greg Luce, Technical Product Manager, presented ideas for accomplishing this and took some questions during his presentation.

2010 Pioneer Hi-Bred Crop Technology Field Day Photo Album

Agribusiness, Corn, Pioneer, Video

Corn Agronomy Lesson

Chuck Zimmerman

Scott DickeyNot all corn comes out of the ear looking like you want it to. Sometimes there are factors affecting the kernel production that might yield some surprises. At the Pioneer Hi-Bred Crop Technology Field day held in Carrollton, MO, Scott Dickey, Area Agronomist, did a little show and tell. He had some ears of corn that looked good and were what you expected from a test plot and then in the buckets he had some that didn’t turn our quite as well.

He asked farmers what they thought would cause this type of problem and had one farmer suggest the correct one, at least according to his findings. It happened to be surfactant application. Listen to Scott explain this during his presentation here: Scott Dickey Presentation

2010 Pioneer Hi-Bred Crop Technology Field Day Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Corn, Pioneer

Pioneer Hi-Bred Introduces Refuge In Corn Made Simple

Chuck Zimmerman

Bill BelzerThe media were very much in attendance at the Pioneer Hi-Bred Crop Technology Field day held in Carrollton, MO. Here’s Janet Adkinson, KMZU, doing a live interview with Bill Belzer, Senior Marketing Manager, Corn, Pioneer Hi-Bred. I had my turn after his presentation at our first field day tour stop. Our subject was “refuge” and in case you don’t know what that means in row crop farming don’t worry. Bill explains it.

Bill had some great charts at his field classroom stop to show current refuge planting strategies compared to using the new Optimum AcreMax 1 insect protection which received EPA approval earlier this year. It is an in-the-bag solution that reduces the traditional 20 percent corn rootworm refuge in half. It’s makes it easier and increases flexibility for the planting of corn borer refuge.

You can listen to my interview with Bill here: Bill Belzer Interview

2010 Pioneer Hi-Bred Crop Technology Field Day Photo Album

Agribusiness, Audio, Corn, Pioneer

Farm Foundation Event to Highlight Local Control of Zoonoses

John Davis

Some researchers believe local prevention could be the key to controlling zoonoses, infectious diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans or humans to animals. That’s why the Farm Foundation has organized a Sept. 23-24 symposium, titled “Zoonoses: Understanding the Animal Agriculture and Human Health Connection” at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Washington, D.C.

Creating community environments in which zoonoses have difficulty surviving is a critical yet often overlooked factor in controlling these transmissible diseases shared between animals and humans. “Resources are often focused on studying specific disease threats. Yet there are social conditions, which, if left unaddressed, can greatly impact animal and human health,” explains Dr. Bonnie Buntain, a professor of public health at the University of Calgary.

Buntain is among the international experts from multiple disciplines who will examine the interrelationships of zoonoses, animal agriculture and human health…

While it is important to address specific disease threats, Buntain places equal importance on the need to prevent opportunities for zoonotic diseases to thrive. “We must work together to understand the social roots of ill health in certain populations and their animals. There are social conditions that result in the inability of certain populations to have access to adequate animal or human health care. These conditions exist even locally, in our own backyards, with needy or disadvantaged people,” Buntain explains. “If the health needs of these populations are not addressed, the impacts on animal and human health are often higher rates of disease and death. We have a social responsibility to address these issues.”

You can register for the conference … $300 if paid by Sept. 1, 2010, after that the fee will be $350 and a special student registration rate of $175 is also available if paid by Sept.1, after which it will be $200 … by going to the Farm Foundation website.

They’ve also reserved a block of rooms at a special symposium rate of $209 a night (good through August 25) at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, 1000 H Street NW, Washington, D.C. Contact the hotel at (202) 582-1234 for reservations and more information.

Farm Foundation

GIPSA Rule Causes Concern For Pork Producers

Cindy Zimmerman

When Iowa hog farmer Sam Carney got his first look at the proposed Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) rule released on June 22, he was shocked. “I thought it would be something to get rid of vertical integration,” Sam says. “And to me, this is just something that looks like they’re encouraging vertical integration.”

Sam is president of the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and a wean-to-finish operator in Adair, Iowa. He is also a small cow-calf operator, so he can look at the proposed rule from the viewpoint of both the pork and the beef industries. “Overall, I think that cattle and pork will be affected a lot more similar than poultry, but they’re trying to throw all three groups together, and I think that’s very risky because all species are different in the way their operations go,” he said.

Sam’s biggest concern with the rule is the potential loss of risk management and how that might impact a producer’s borrowing power. “If you’re not able to have some kind of marketing agreement, how’s your banker going to give you money?” He says that NPPC is “very much against” the proposed rule because they believe it goes way beyond the scope of what the Farm Bill intended.

Listen to or download my interview with Sam here: Sam Carney Interview

NPPC is working together with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association to make sure that producers are informed about the proposed rule and encouraged to make comments. The two groups will be holding a joint event for members the day before the USDA/DOJ public workshop on competition in the livestock industry in Ft. Collins, Colorado on August 27.

USDA has just released the agenda for the workshop, which includes several panels as well as three hours dedicated to public testimony. This will be split into two sessions, one at mid-day and the other after the final panel.

Audio, Beef, GIPSA, Livestock, NCBA, Pork, Poultry, USDA

Who’s Your Butcher?

Chuck Zimmerman

Who is your butcher? That’s the question and you can vote on the entries in the contest here. This contest is being conducted by Protein University and was brought to my attention via email today by Kari Underly, Range, Inc. So watch her video entry and go vote!

Food, Video

Meet Pioneer Hi-Bred Senior Leadership

Chuck Zimmerman

During the 2010 Pioneer Hi-Bred Crop Technology Field day held in Carrollton, MO, farmers could choose between nine different field work stations or presentations. Topics ranged from refuge strategies to soil types. Also on the agenda was “Meet Pioneer Senior Leadership.” That’s what this post is about. The “seniors” included (left) Alexandro Munoz, VP/Regional Director, North America and John Soper, VP, Crop Genetics Research & Development.

I recorded their presentation to a group of ag media representatives which also included some farmers who wandered in. The pair gave an overview of Pioneer’s strategy and what it means to farmers. Alejandro says you can summarize it all up in “Right Product, Right Acre.” This means they want to bring the company to the farm along with all their services and resources so the best products are used since no two farms are identical.

You can listen to their presentation here or watch it below: Pioneer Senior Leadership Presentation

2010 Pioneer Hi-Bred Crop Technology Field Day Photo Album

Audio, Corn, Pioneer, Soybean, Video

Pioneer Hi-Bred Crop Technology Field Day

Chuck Zimmerman

Pioneer Hi-Bred held a crop technology field day in Carrollton, MO yesterday. It was a picture perfect day so I took a lot of them. They were expecting up to a thousand attendees and I think that was a very possible number. I’ve got several things to post for you including some presentations and interviews.

Let’s start with a link to the photo album from the event: 2010 Pioneer Hi-Bred Crop Technology Field Day Photo Album

Corn, Pioneer, Soybean

GIPSA Rule Could Set Beef Industry Back 25 Years

Cindy Zimmerman

At least one pure bred Angus breeder is concerned that the proposed Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) rule could set the beef industry back 25 years.

Bill Rishel of North Platte, Nebraska is president of the Nebraska Cattlemen’s Association and owner of Rishel Angus. He’s among the nation’s top Angus breeders and was one of the first to emphasize carcass merit through genetic selection. “Through most of the decade of the ’80s, we were losing substantial market share in the industry,” Bill says. “We needed to compete at a level in terms of quality and palatability.”

He says it was the producers who took the initiative to come up with value-added products for consumers. “We as producers felt like we had the ability to create a product through genetic improvement to create a product that was better than the average,” Bill said. The very first of those value-added programs was Certified Angus Beef, which is a proven alternative marketing success story. “It has increased sales exponentially, not just domestically but around the world, and continues to grow to this very day.”

Bill is concerned that the GIPSA rule could jeopardize the alternative marketing programs that have benefited both producers and consumers if it pressures the processors to validate every price difference they would give for any greater quality of cattle. “Somewhere along the way they’re going to say “I’m not going to take all this risk, it’s just as easy for me to offer one price fits all” and it will become a commodity type business again and it will revert back 25 years to what we’ve worked so hard to get away from,” Bill said.

Bill encourages every person in the cattle industry to read the proposed rule and formulate their own opinion about it. “Instead of taking what they hear in the press or in the news from some other source or individual as to what their feeling is,” he said. He will be at the USDA/DOJ public workshop on competition in the livestock industry in Ft. Collins, Colorado on August 27 to make comments about how he thinks the rule will impact his operation and the industry. Producers who are unable to attend can provide comments via e-mail to comments.gipsa@usda.gov until November 22.

Listen to or download my complete interview with Bill here: Bill Rishel Interview

Audio, Beef, GIPSA, Livestock, NCBA, USDA