Atrazine Ban Would Cost Jobs

Cindy Zimmerman

A University of Chicago economist says banning the herbicide Atrazine would add to the current unemployment level in the United States.

According to University of Chicago economist Don L. Coursey, a ban on the herbicide atrazine would cost between 21,000 and 48,000 jobs from corn production losses alone. His findings were presented today at a National Press Club briefing sponsored by the Triazine Network in Washington.

Coursey estimates atrazine’s annual production value to corn alone to be between $2.3 billion and $5 billion. Atrazine’s additional value to sorghum, sugar cane and other uses increases these totals.

“The economic data on atrazine are very clear. As a first-order estimate, banning atrazine will erase between 21,000 and 48,000 jobs related to or dependant on corn production, with additional job losses coming from both sugar cane and sorghum production losses,” Coursey said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) re-registered atrazine in 2006 based on the evidence of nearly 6,000 studies and more than 80,000 public comments. It began an additional, unscheduled review of atrazine in late 2009.

“Atrazine is essential to U.S. agriculture. We appreciate Dr. Coursey’s findings and will distribute them to our members, the EPA and to our elected representatives. With unemployment still painfully high across the nation, we can’t afford to lose as many as 50,000 jobs and the corn yield that sustains them,” said Jere White, Triazine Network chairman and executive director of the Kansas Corn Growers Association.

Find out more about the study here.

Listen to or download press conference opening statements here. Atrazine Jobs Press Conference

Audio, Corn, Farming

Farm Workers Wanted

Cindy Zimmerman

Unemployment is at 9.5 percent – which means in human terms that about 14.6 million Americans are looking for work right now. That’s a lot of people collecting unemployment.

A couple of weeks ago, United Farm Workers (UFW) launched a campaign called “Take Our Jobs”, urging Americans to sign up for farm labor jobs that are normally done by migrant workers – many, if not most, of them illegals. Their point is not really to put unemployed Americans to work but to prove that regular Joes in this country are unwilling to do the hard labor that farm work requires.

Organizers of the campaign are set to appear on the Colbert Nation show tonight to talk about the plan and make the point that it is really a joke. According to a CNN Money article, about 4,000 have responded to UFW’s on-line offer to set them up with local farm jobs. Spokesman Arturo Rodriguez says only a few dozen have been serious, which is pretty sad. Sure, farm work is tough – ask any farmer or rancher. They do dirty jobs every day – just ask Mike Rowe of “Dirty Jobs.” But it is sad to think that millions of Americans would rather collect unemployment than pick oranges. It is honest, hard work – what our country was built upon.

What about high school students looking for summer jobs? The unemployment rate for teenagers in this country is over twice that of the national average – nearly 26 percent last month! Harvesting summer fruits and vegetables would be great work for them. Heck, you can get a tan and a work out while making some good money at the same time!

I hope that unemployed Americans do respond and prove that we can do the hard work required to feed the nation and the world. That’s no joke.

Farming

Then Versus Now

Melissa Sandfort

Each fall, we cruise past fields where combines are busy harvesting crops, averaging 200 bushels per acre at 6 mph with a 6- or 12-row corn head. We have augers and grain bins and yield monitors and so many numbers our computers, not our notepads, are full to the brim. Now let’s rewind about 80 years.

I have to preface this week’s walk by providing you with some background. My grandfather, now 88, has an entire semi trailer full of antiques behind his shop. He has purposefully and meticulously cleaned each and every piece and proudly displays them for anyone interested in learning a bit more about “how things used to be” on the farm. I myself find this very interesting.

So this past weekend, I held a little piece of farming history in my hand (literally) and wanted to share it with you. We came across a palm corn husking hook, which sparked my interest, so I converted grandpa into a hand model for the morning. As you can tell, these are hands that have seen a bit of hard work.

You see, back in the 1930s, you would hold the corn shank in your left hand and rake the hook across the husks, break the ear loose from the shank, and toss each ear into a wagon. Corn cobs would then go in the corn crib to dry before being shelled. The average field size was 80 acres (or a quarter at 160 acres). If you were fast, you could pick 100 bushels a day…taking you about 75 days to harvest that 80-acre field. The job required a lot of hand labor and a simple year’s harvest would take the entire fall and winter.

Now go sit in your big green air-conditioned combine, turn on your satellite radio, and smile because that was then.

Until we walk again.

Uncategorized

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Planting operations just got more precise and easier to monitor with the new SeedStar XP monitoring system from John Deere.
  • Sandhill Farms was honored with the 2010 Beef Improvement Federation Seedstock Producer of the Year award during the 2010 BIF Annual Meeting and Research Symposium June 30.
  • The NAFB Foundation is committed to the future of the ag and rural broadcasting industry, and each year awards three college scholarships to deserving upper-classmen aspiring for a career in ag broadcasting and/or ag communications: 2010 winners are Taylor James, Denise Donley and Julie Martin.
  • The National Corn Growers Association is set to launch a new Advanced Leadership Training Program this September, sponsored by Syngenta.
Zimfo Bytes

Cow Appreciation Day At Chick-fil-A

Chuck Zimmerman

Feel like cow dressing this Friday? You can get some free food at Chick-fil-A.

Chick-fil-A is issuing a cattle call! On Friday, July 9, Chick-fil-A® restaurants nationwide will celebrate the company’s annual Cow Appreciation Day event by offering a FREE meal to any customer who visits one of the chain’s mall or stand-alone restaurants fully dressed as a cow.

Customers dressed “head to hoof” in cow attire will receive a free Chick-fil-A Meal which includes an entree of choice, a side item and a Dr Pepper® (or other beverage choice). For customers partially dressed in cow attire, such as a cow-spotted scarf, purse, hat or other accessory, Chick-fil-A will award a complimentary entree.

Follow Chick-fil-A on Twitter.

Food

NAMA Professional Development Awards Nomination Deadline

Chuck Zimmerman

National Agri-Marketing AssociationFor those of you just waiting for a chance to nominate me for a NAMA Professional Development Award of Excellence, now is you time. LOL. Seriously though, the deadline for nominations is approaching – July 20.

I’m sure you can think of a client, customer or a co-worker who deserves the recognition of his or her peers for their outstanding work. Awards are given in each of the areas of (1) marketing communications, (2) product/species management, (3) public relations, and (4) sales. You can nominate someone for one of these areas, or different people for each area.

Nominees for these awards must be an active NAMA member and have direct responsibility in the area being nominated.

The nomination process is quite simple. Go to the following link to download the nomination form in a pdf format.

http://www.nama.org/awards/2010PDAapplication.pdf

Or if you prefer, use the online nomination form located at:

http://www.nama.org/awards/pdaonlineform.htm

These awards will be presented during the 2010 Trends in Agriculture program, October 5-6, in Minneapolis.

NAMA

Wisconsin Cheese Cupid

Chuck Zimmerman

Do you love cheese? Love wine? Want to know which ones go with which? There’s an app for that and it’s called Wisconsin Cheese Cupid. Get the app here.

What cheese goes with your wine? What beer goes with your cheese? These questions can finally be answered with Wisconsin Cheese Cupid. With this handy dandy iPhone and iPod Touch application, pairing a cheese with a like-minded beverage has never been easier or more fun. Bon appétit.

FEATURES
• Pairs wine, beer, and liquor with appropriate cheeses.
• Filters by beverage category (e.g., Red Wine) and beverage style (e.g., Merlot).
• Offers correct pronunciation of every cheese, beer, wine, and liquor.
• Cheese selector spotlights appropriate Wisconsin Cheese.
• Includes culinary information about selected Wisconsin Cheese.

Ag Groups, Dairy

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Alltech has made its equine supplement LIFEFORCE Formula available for online purchase.
  • CHS Inc. announced it has named David Christofore vice president, chief operating officer for the company’s European grains operations.
  • Monsanto Company announces the launch of a new encapsulated formulation of acetochlor designed for cotton and soybean acres: Warrant Herbicide.
  • Sodrugestvo Group, a fast-growing agro-industrial company headquartered in Kaliningrad, Russia, has entered the U.S. market by acquiring a minority stake in North Dakota Oilseed Mills, LLC.
Zimfo Bytes

Indy Racing Photo Pro

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 266Happy holiday from ZimmComm. I hope everyone is enjoying a little time off before getting back to work. In this week’s program I’d like to introduce you to the man who is Indy photography. He’s Ron McQueeny, Indy Racing League, Director of Photography. That’s Ron in the picture providing pre-race direction to all of us photographers who were shooting the Iowa Corn Indy 250.

Ron McQueenyI’ve had the luck to be an accredited photographer at quite a few Indy races and Ron was one of the first people I met. After I realized I was not equipped to shoot cars going 200 mph he gave me some advice on equipment and shooting tips that proved to be invaluable. Ron has been working in photography with Indy for a long time and in our discussion you’ll hear him talk about how he got his start. I think it’s good inspiration for anyone interested in a career of professional photography.

The reason you see Ron giving pre-race directions to photographers is because of the serious nature of the job. It is a dangerous one and the goal is to minimize danger while still getting the shots needed. If you’ve wondered what it’s like to shoot race cars then give this program a listen.

For me, one of the best parts of our discussion was a story Ron tells about working with Paul Dana, Indy Car driver who was killed in a pre-race accident in March, 2006. I got to know Paul who is credited with making ethanol the fuel of the IRL. Ron was asked by Paul to shoot some photos that were used in the effort to bring home grown fuel to the League.

ZimmCast 266

The program ends this week with Independence Day by Life Has Teeth from Music Alley.

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsors, Novus International, and Leica Geosytems for their support.

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired. Subscribe so you can listen when and where you want. Just go to our a Subscribe page6

Audio, Ethanol, Indy Racing, ZimmCast

Fallout from Ohio HSUS Deal

Cindy Zimmerman

Two days after it was announced, the consensus in the animal agriculture world seems to be that Ohio farm groups made a “deal with the devil” in the agreement with the Humane Society of the United States to drop its animal rights ballot initiative in the state.

Initially, the HSUS watchdog website HumaneWatch was jubilant about the agreement and called it a victory. Upon further research, however, editor David Martosko changed his mind, finding that the “devil was in the details” of the deal.

animal agThe Animal Agriculture Alliance puts it succinctly in a press release. “The only group to benefit from this agreement is HSUS,” they say. “This “compromise” is only the beginning. HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle has indicated that the agreement is “not legally binding,” meaning that while HSUS will not be pursuing a ballot initiative this fall, the future is still uncertain.”

Many individual farmers and ranchers feel the same way, as well as pet breeders and others who feel they were “thrown under the bus” in the agreement. Time will tell, but an old Irish proverb says “the devil never grants long leases” so we are likely to find out sooner rather than later if this was a deal that Ohio agriculture will live to regret.

Animal Activists