Founding Farmers Founded By Farmers

Chuck Zimmerman

Founding FarmersWhen you go to any type of farm meeting you can be pretty sure you’ll be fed well. NAFB’s Washington Watch is no different. This year we all were treated to a fine meal at Founding Farmers.

At Founding Farmers we believe that everyone benefits by knowing more about the source of the food they eat. We understand the journey of our products from seed to harvest, and from Farm-to-Table. Owned by a collective of American family farmers, Founding Farmers exists to promote the products and services of family farms, ranches, and fisheries. We celebrate and share the long-standing connection between farmers – the first to lead the “green” movement – and their historic stewardship of natural resources.

Christian Holmes and Pam JahnkeOur host was Founding Farmers General Manager Christian Holmes, pictured with NAFB President Pam Jahnke.

When he was 14 years old washing dishes in the Italian restaurant down the road from his house in rural upstate New York, Christian Holmes had no idea he’d already found his calling. While he pursued his love for history in undergraduate and graduate school, Christian worked in bars and restaurants to help pay the bills. When the opportunity to manage a popular college town restaurant became available, working in a fast-paced fun environment lured him away from his plans to teach history.

Christian Holmes getting interviewed by NAFBBefore we settled down to dinner a few NAFB members got together with Christian for an interview. I recorded it for you. In the interview Christian says the restaurant is the vision of the North Dakota Farmers Union. He says it presents the American family farmer to legislators as well as consumers. He was attracted to the facility because “It’s not just about the food and the restaurant experience. It’s the fact that we’re owned and supported by farmers.”

You can listen to our group interview with Christian here: ww-09-holmes.mp3

NAFB Washington Watch 2009 Photo Album

Ag Groups, Audio

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

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  • Rabo AgriFinance and participating AGCO Parts Dealers have the QuickLink Valued Customer program to provide existing QuickLink users a special discount on AGCO parts and service purchases over $1,000 between now and May 31.
  • DLG (German Agricultural Society), the organizer of Agritechnica, and the Association of Equipment Manufacturers , organizer of the new agricultural trade show AG CONNECT Expo, announced a long-term alliance that includes a plan to coordinate show dates that will allow agriculture producers to attend a major international agriculture trade show each year.
  • GEA Group AG continues its expansion strategy towards becoming a total solutions provider in livestock farming through the acquisition of DB Wilaard Holding BV.
  • The United Sorghum Checkoff Program has selected Broadhead + Co to launch its domestic demand-building campaign.
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    Soybean Request For Referendum Starts Today

    Chuck Zimmerman

    United Soybean BoardA request for referendum campaign kicks off today on the Soybean Promotion and Research Program. USDA is conducting it and producers have four weeks to participate. According to the United Soybean Board:

    The request for referendum will determine whether U.S. soybean producers want a referendum on the Soybean Promotion and Research Program. The Soybean Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Act requires that the Secretary of Agriculture provide soybean producers the opportunity to petition for a referendum every five years.

    Soybean producers eligible to participate in the request for referendum are defined as any producer who paid an assessment on the sale of soybeans during the period beginning January 1, 2007 through December 31, 2008, and who owned or shared in the ownership and the risk of loss of such soybeans during this period of time. Eligible individuals who do not want a referendum need not take any action.

    Producers can obtain a LS-51-1 form to request a referendum either in person, by mail or by fax from May 4, 2009, through May 29, 2009, from their county Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices or online at http://www.ams.usda.gov/lsmarketingprograms. Individual producers and other producer entities can request a referendum at the county FSA office that maintains and processes the producer’s administrative farm records. A producer not participating in FSA programs may request a referendum at the county FSA office serving the area where the producer owns or rents land.

    Request for Referendum forms returned by mail must be postmarked by midnight May 29, 2009, and received in the county FSA office by close of business on June 5, 2009. Producers also need to attach documentation such as a sales receipt to this form showing that the producer, corporation or other entity paid assessments on soybeans during the period from January 1, 2007, through December 31, 2008. FSA will determine a producer’s eligibility and notify all producers who are ineligible to participate in the request for referendum process.

    The U.S. Soybean Federation has also commented publicly on the request for referendum.

    “There is absolutely no question that soybean farmers have benefited from the national soybean checkoff program,” says Warren Stemme, USSF president and a soybean farmer from Chesterfield, Mo. “The farmers who created the checkoff nearly 18 years ago demonstrated an amazing amount of insight and now it’s the job of today’s soybean farmers to keep the program and the corresponding legislation intact.”

    Beginning today soybean farmers have the opportunity to participate in a request for referendum. Farmers can sign a petition requesting a vote on the continuation of the soybean checkoff program.

    USSF Vice President Jerry Slocum explained that farmers who believe the soybean checkoff is doing a good job for them don’t need to sign the petition.

    Ag Groups, Soybean, USB, USDA

    Water Quality and Climate Protection

    Chuck Zimmerman

    American Farm Foundation FolksThese smiling faces are (l-r) Dennis Nuxoll, Director of Government Relatisons, Jim Baird, Mid-Atlantic States Director and Jennifer Morrill, Director of Media Relations, American Farmland Trust. They were smiling at the NAFB Washington Watch Issues Forum.

    I asked what’s new at AFT. Jim started out by saying, “We’re the No Farms/No Food people.” He says that people are waking up to the fact that farms provide a lot of value to communities in the area of heritage and environmental benefits. Dennis says that from his perspective farmers need to be really involved in water quality and climate protection. There is legislation being worked on right now and he thinks farmers need to be educated and involved.

    You can listen to my interview with Dennis and Jim here: ww-09-aft.mp3

    NAFB Washington Watch 2009 Photo Album

    Ag Groups, Audio

    UCLA Ignorance – Beef-Less Thursdays

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Thanks to @RayLinDairy (that’s Twitter ID in case you didn’t know) for pointing me to this complete ignorance gone to seed (thank you Derry Brownfield). You need to read the whole thing. It’s so filled with misinformation that the only conclusion you can draw is that the vegetarians are running the dining halls. I’d eat out if I went to school there.

    UCLA Dining Services recently announced a new decision to remove all beef from the dining halls every Thursday beginning today for the duration of this quarter.

    The move toward “Beef-less Thursdays” is meant to advance UCLA’s sustainability and wellness goals, said Robert Gilbert, the sustainability coordinator for Housing and Hospitality Services.

    Beef is an environmentally unfriendly food item because cows require a great deal of water to raise and they produce methane, which is a greenhouse gas, Gilbert said.

    The lunatics are running the asylum. I think I’ll go out and find some beef to eat for supper.

    Beef, University

    NRA Promotes Gun Safety

    Chuck Zimmerman

    John HowardI was interested to see the National Rifle Association participating at the NAFB Washington Watch program this week. Seems like what they’re doing would be of high interest to most people involved in agribusiness though.

    On hand was John Howard, NRA National Instructor Trainer. He says they’ve got 58,000 registered instructor/trainers across the country. John says that their base is in the rural areas. I learned that NRA was founded to improve the marksmanship skills of soldiers and citizens. So he teaches that along with safety. He says that NRA wants people to utilize their second amendment rights responsibly.

    You can listen to my interview with John here: ww-09-howard.mp3

    NAFB Washington Watch 2009 Photo Album

    Audio

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    Melissa Sandfort

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    • Tulare County Farm Bureau is proud to announce on behalf of the “noon” Kiwanis Club of Tulare their choice for this year’s Farmer of the Year, Richard “Butch” Gist.
    • A new white paper titled “Technology’s Role in the 21st Century: Food Economics and Consumer Choice” has been published, providing a comprehensive review of the growing challenge of feeding the world’s population, including both historical data and projections that underscore the absolute necessity for new and existing technologies in food production.
    • MGEX (Minneapolis Grain Exchange or Exchange) set its all-time monthly volume record for electronic trading in April with 84,834 contracts traded. The all-time daily electronic trading record was set Tuesday, April 21 with 10,350 contracts traded.
    • The American Society of Agricultural Consultants has selected Nashville as the site of the organization’s 2009 Conference and Annual Meeting, Nov. 8 – 10.
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      Deadline for Farm Foundation’s 30-Year Challenge Nears

      John Davis

      30-yearchallengeJust a month to get in entries for a competition that’s looking for innovative and promising public policy options to address challenges facing agriculture and the food system.

      The Farm Foundation’s competition with its June 1st submission deadline is based on the group’s report released last December… The 30-Year Challenge: Agriculture’s Strategic Role in Feeding and Fueling a Growing World. The report breaks down the challenges into six major categories: 1. Global financial markets and recession; 2. Global food security; 3. Global energy security; 4. Climate change; 5. Competition for natural resources; and 6. Global economic development. Cash prizes totaling $20,000 will be handed out:

      “Agriculture globally faces the challenge of how to provide food to a world that is expected to have 9 billion people by 2040,” says Farm Foundation President Neil Conklin. “This challenge exists at the same time that we are already seeing pressures on global resources, as well as increased demand for agriculture to provide not only food, but feed, fiber and fuel.

      “It is not clear that today’s public policies-designed to deal with issues of the last century-provide appropriate tools and incentives to address the challenges of the next 30 years,” Conklin continues. “Farm Foundation is offering this competition as a catalyst for innovative ideas and approaches.”

      The 30-Year Challenge project is directed and led by Farm Foundation. Contributing financial assistance to the project are: the Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Corn Growers Association, the National Pork Producers Council, and the United Egg Producers.

      More information is available through the competition’s Web site.

      Farm Foundation

      A Missed Opportunity

      Amanda Nolz

      flier Apparently, I need better watchdogs. While I spend a lot of time scouring the internet and combating online misconceptions and issues pertaining to agriculture and food production, I sometimes will miss a situation happening right under my nose. A friend of mine brought this flier to me yesterday. This flier about reducing your carbon footprint was hung in the Student Union at South Dakota State Univesrity, a land grant institution, promoting a meatless diet.

      The flier reads, Make a change in YOUR carbon FOODprint. Did you know that producig a pound of beef creates 11 times as much greenhouse gas emission as a pound of chicken and 100 times more than a pound of carrots? Did you know that if every American had just one meat-free meal per week, it would be the same as taking more than 5 million cars off our roads? Did you know that eating one pound of meat emits the same amount of greenhouse gases as driving an SUV 40 miles?

      I’m so disappointed that I missed this opportunity to host the first ever SDSU Meat-In Day, like the events held at Penn State by my good friend and fellow Beef Ambassador, Chris Molinaro. However, I’m proud that my friend was able to get the dining services to take these posters down. Did you know that one in every three college students experiments with vegetarianism? We need to get the facts out about meat as a healthy part of a well balanced diet. Don’t listen to the hyped up statistics. Before we point fingers, we need to take a look at ourselves. How often do you drive a car needlessly? How much water do you waste every day? What is your carbon footprint? Let’s make the change within ourselves instead of pointing fingers at beef cows. To me, that makes a lot more sense. -Amanda Nolz

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      10 Tips Marketers Can Learn from CDC’s Response to H1N1 Epidemic

      Amanda Nolz

      A crazy hysteria has swept the nation as the media sensationalizes and builds fear about the flu H1NI, also commonly known as the Swine Flu. This flu has been discussed through every media outlet imaginable, and it’s safe to say that the world is concerned about this flu strain. While it’s tragic to hear about the recent deaths caused by this illness, I think there are some things we can learn from how public health officials handled this situation in the United States. I ran across this article in the Advertising Age titled, “10 Tips Marketers Can Learn from CDC’s Response to H1N1 Epidemic,” written by Pete Blackshaw.

      blackshaw061308 Blackshaw explores the tips marketers can take away from this situation including: 1. Empower Those Who Want to Help Others, 2. Make Search Really, Really Simple and Accessible, 3. Syndicate the Message, 4. Communicate in Multiple Languages, 5. Push Mobile as a Service Extension, and Don’t Make it Complicated, 6. Be Simple and Selective on Twitter, Don’t Over Complicate, 7. Prime the Messaging, 8. Update the Scorecard 24/7, 9. Exploit Sight, Sound and Motion and 10. Proactively Ask for Feedback.

      Blackshaw writes, Now we have a crisis that touches virtually everyone’s anxiety and fear and cuts across multiple brands and categories: the “swine flu” outbreak. At the center of this crisis is the U.S. government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The communication work it is leading is neither sexy nor flashy, but it’s highly effective — and critically timely. Moreover, the approach is building credibility. The agency has added nearly 15,000 Twitter followers in the past two days, bringing the total to 40,000. Data from my employer, Nielsen Online, also suggest the CDC website is generating unprecedented links and references, including from Wikipedia, across all dimensions of this issue.

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