Eating Rural Home Grown In China

Chuck Zimmerman

Zachary Larson, Borlaug Summer Intern, is on location at Nanjing Agricultural University and providing us with updates this summer of his trip. Here’s his latest. You can also find a photo album he’s got started here: Borlaug Summer Intern Photo Album. The internship is being sponsored by the Iowa State University Plant Sciences Institute.

It has been been two weeks since I last sat down and wrote a blog post and these last 2-3 weeks have had their share of incredible, awkward, and sometimes down right boring moments.

A short time ago I had the enlightening experience of traveling to a rural village in Southern Jiangsu Province that was the hometown of my Teacher (Xing Laoshi). This village, and its people, have been here for a long time, and as far as its history goes, it has changed little until recently (1980s). As for the village itself, there is a main road that stretches through a central shopping district, and smaller roads extending out fro m this main road. At about half a mile down one of these roads, the road gave away to a series of small fields, and from there on lay a small series of houses together, and more fields.

The houses and road makeup themselves make one suspect that this area has changed little in the past decades, but more and more, the entire area is ringed by different series of factories, and so despite some buildings having stood for centuries, the area around the village has quickly changed and shows the incredible development of Jiangsu Province.Read More

Education, International, University

Georgia Peanuts named best in America

Melissa Sandfort

Georgia peanuts have been named the best peanuts in America through an online poll – The Great American Peanut Debate. The poll was conducted by Congressional Quarterly Roll Call in Washington, D.C. as part of the 49th Annual Congressional Baseball Game. Georgia received first place with 43% of the total votes.

“Peanuts and baseball have been part of America’s national past-time for years,” says Armond Morris, chairman of the Georgia Peanut Commission. “Georgia farmers are honored that consumers voted Georgia as the state growing the best peanuts in America.”

During the annual congressional baseball game on June 29, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., Congressmen Jim Marshall, D-Ga. and Jack Kingston, R-Ga., accepted the trophy at Nationals Park on behalf of Georgia’s peanut farm families.

There were 13,097 votes cast in the online poll and Georgia received 43% of the votes with Virginia in a close second at 41% of the votes.

Uncategorized

Healthy Rumen Is A Dairy Solution

Chuck Zimmerman

Alltech Dairy Solutions SymposiumThe Dairy Solutions Symposium, sponsored by Alltech, was opened by Prof. Wouter Hendriks, Wageningen University, The Netherlands. There are 250 attendees at this year’s event being held at Utrecht University. It’s a good thing there aren’t more because that’s capacity seating in the auditorium where our presentations are taking place.

The overall topic for the Symposium is rumen health in dairy cows. I spoke with Wouter just before we got started. He says that the good rumen health will result in lowered methane emissions and greater animal welfare and this conference will focus on innovations and research being done to accomplish this.

Prof. Wouter Hendriks Interview

Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010 Photo Album

Alltech, Audio, Dairy, International

HSUS Drops Ballot Initiative in Ohio

Cindy Zimmerman

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has reached an agreement with Ohio Governor Ted Strickland and state agricultural leaders to drop a proposed animal rights ballot initiative.

OH HSUSAt a hastily called press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Governor Stickland stood with Ohio Farm Bureau executive vice president Jack Fisher and HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle to make the announcement, which amounts to a truce between the aggressive animal rights group and Ohio’s animal agriculture industry. “This agreement represents a joint effort to find common ground,” said Strickland. “What we have concluded is something that is good for Ohio agriculture and will be good for animal welfare in our state.”

Under the agreement, HSUS will work with the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board and has received some concessions from the animal agriculture industry in exchange. Those concessions include a ban on veal crates by 2017; a ban on new gestation crates in the state after Dec. 31, 2010 and a 15 year phase out period; and a moratorium on permits for new battery cage confinement facilities for laying hens. The agreement also includes restrictions on cockfighting, “puppy mills” and exotic animals.

Fisher thanked the rest of the Ohio agriculture industry for working together on the compromise. “We came to the table to represent all of us in Ohio the best way that we could,” Fisher said. “We think it recognizes the wishes of our voters last fall in that the Ohio Livestock Care Standards board will be able to fulfill its mission. We also think it brings some certainty to the business climate for our Ohio farmers. Not in total – but this is the best we could do for all of us.”

Pacelle had the longest opening statement for the press conference, in which he thanked all the commodity groups for “good faith discussions.” “We want animal welfare, but we live in the real world,” Pacelle said, noting that they had the 500,000 signatures needed to put the initiative on the ballot this fall. Interestingly, only HSUS had a press release on its website about the announcement by the time the press conference was underway. Even after it was over, neither the governor’s office nor Ohio Farm Bureau had yet posted a release.

UPDATE: Releases were posted by both Ohio governor and Ohio Farm Bureau later yesterday evening.

Listen to or download opening statements from all here: Ohio HSUS Agreement Press Conference

Animal Activists, Audio

USDA Planted Acres Report Lowers Corn

Cindy Zimmerman

USDAUSDA’s new planted acreage report out this morning says corn acres are two percent higher than last year, but that is down a point from the March report with more acres are going to soybeans.

Corn planted area for all purposes in 2010 is estimated at 87.9 million acres, up 2 percent from last year. Acreage is up in Illinois, Kansas, Indiana, Missouri and Ohio; but down significantly in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. Soybean planted area for 2010 is estimated at a record high 78.9 million acres, up 2 percent from last year.

MGEXThe Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX) held a conference call on the report this morning, featuring commentary by Joe Victor of Allendale, Inc., who expressed surprise at the decrease from the March report in corn acres. “This is the first time that we’ve seen fewer corn acres in the June planted acreage report versus the March, but it’s also the second largest number of corn acres planted,” Victor said.

Allendale IncVictor says the stocks report, with corn up 1 percent at 4.31 billion bushels and usage at 3.38 billion, was also a surprise. “That’s the first time that we can ever put a 3 in front of total usage, that is a record amount of usage, March through May,” said Victor. The previous record was 2007-2008 at 2.83 billion bushels.

Listen to Joe Victor’s MGEX conference call here. The audio can also be found on the MGEX website.
MGEX Conference Call with Joe Victor

Audio, Corn, Soybean, USDA

Utrecht, Netherlands is Bike City

Chuck Zimmerman

Hello from Utrecht, Netherlands where I’ll be attending the 2010 Dairy Solutions Symposium, sponsored by Alltech. Just got in this morning and after a short nap went for a walk. I’ve never seen so many bicycles. They’re everywhere and just about every kind you can think of. This is a biking town no doubt.

For lunch I had a really good brie sandwich. I’m attending a dairy conference after all. I figure I’ll be eating pretty well the next couple days so it was strategic thinking to start out on the light side. Hopefully I’ll get to sample more of the cheeses made here in this region. I’ve just started a photo album for this event and have some photos from my walk in it: Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010 Photo Album

This evening I’ll be attending a dinner for speakers and others involved with the Symposium and we’ll get started officially tomorrow morning. Most of my coverage will be appearing on World Dairy Diary.

Alltech, Dairy, International

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

    Farm Foundation Spotlights Zoonoses

    Cindy Zimmerman

    I have to admit, I have never heard the word “zoonoses” until today. Up until now, I would have thought that “zoonoses” were the prominent part on the faces of animals that are primarily used for smelling. But, no – actually, the definition of zoonoses would be those infectious diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans or visa versa. Learned something new today, thanks to Farm Foundation.

    zoonosesIf you want to learn more about Zoonoses, plan to attend an upcoming Farm Foundation symposium on the topic, to be held Sept. 23-24 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Washington, D.C.

    “The recent H1N1 outbreak is one in a long series of disease outbreaks that has raised questions about the relationship between the diseases, agricultural production systems and human health,” says Farm Foundation, NFP Vice President Sheldon Jones. “An understanding of the risks and interactions is critical tohealth professionals working with humans and animals,policy makers and regulators. This symposium is designed to help build a systematic knowledge of those relationships.”

    The symposium is targeted to the multiple disciplines involved in any disease outbreak-public health officials, epidemiologists, virologists, veterinarians, agriculture producer groups and media representatives, particularly those responsible for health, science and agricultural coverage.

    Find out more here.

    Farm Foundation

    New Soybean Federation Officers and Affiliates

    Cindy Zimmerman

    The year-old U.S. Soybean Federation (USSF) has two new state affiliates and new officers to announce.

    us soybean federationAccording to a news release, the Minnesota Soybean Federation (MSF) and the Oklahoma Soybean Federation (OSF) have joined USSF as state affiliates. They join the Nebraska Soybean Federation, Missouri Soybean Association, Oklahoma Soybean Federation and the Minnesota Soybean Federation as part of the group that was formed in 2009 with a mission of “ensuring U.S. soybean producers and the soybean industry are provided the maximum opportunity for success in the global marketplace through policy and advocacy efforts.”

    The USSF Board of Directors also announces recently elected new officers for the organization.

    Stepping into the position of president is Jerry Slocum, a soybean farmer from Coldwater, Miss. “I’m proud to serve as an advocate for my fellow soybean farmers on policy issues at the national level,” says Slocum. “These days we can’t have enough voices in our nation’s capital speaking on behalf of agriculture and farmers.”

    Joining Slocum on the USSF Executive Committee are Brian Greenslit, vice president and a soybean farmer from Franklin, Minn.; Greg Anderson, secretary/treasurer and a soybean farmer from Newman Grove, Neb.; and Warren Stemme, chairman and a soybean farmer from Chesterfield, Mo.

    The USSF Board of Directors will meet again this summer where it will review additional policy objectives moving forward. While OSF has already been accepted as a USSF member, MSF will formally be accepted at that time.

    Soybean

    Farm Bureau Outlines Farm Bill Principles

    Cindy Zimmerman

    The House Agriculture Committee has been holding hearings already to get input on the 2012 Farm Bill.

    afbfLast week, the committee heard from representatives of major agricultural organizations about farm safety net programs. Among those testifying was Illinois Farm Bureau President Philip Nelson on behalf of the American Farm Bureau Federation, who noted that farmers in every state rely in some way on the economic safety net provided in the 2008 farm bill, but which programs are judged most beneficial depends largely on a farmer’s crop and region.

    afbf“While our farmers are generally supportive of the safety net provided in the 2008 farm bill, it can sometimes feel like you’re reading the old children’s story ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’ when you talk to individual farmers about their experiences with farm programs,” Nelson testified. “Some farmers think the safety net coverage provided under the 2008 farm bill is ‘just right.’ But in other cases and for other farmers the coverage is sometimes too little. In a small number of cases, the coverage may even be duplicative and too much.”

    Acknowledging that the 2012 farm bill will be written in a difficult budget environment, Nelson said AFBF believes that five key principles should be followed during the rewrite process – that the options be fiscally responsible; that the basic funding structure of the 2008 farm bill should not be altered; that proposals will aim to benefit all agricultural sectors; that world trade rulings should be considered; and that consideration be given to the stable business environment that is critical to success in agriculture.

    Read Nelson’s testimony or watch a video of it on the AFBF website.

    AFBF