Vilsack and Farm Workers Want Immigration Reform

Cindy Zimmerman

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack joined United Farm Workers president Arturo Rodriguez and Nisei Farmers League President Manuel Cunha on a conference call Monday to discuss the importance of commonsense immigration reform for California’s agriculture economy and rural communities.

ca-farmworkers“There’s no more important state to agriculture than the state of California,” said Vilsack. “It is a farm economy that is very much dependent upon farm workers.” He pointed out that there are over 81,000 farms in California that sell nearly $34 billion in agricultural products.

“Immigration reform is not only just good for the state of California and American agriculture, it’s the right thing to do for the country,” Vilsack added, urging the House of Representatives to take action. “The delay that’s taken place for now over a year since the Senate passed comprehensive immigration reform has created some uncertainty and instability in American agriculture.”

Rodriquez specifically called out Majority Whip Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). “If Congressman McCarthy does not want to vote for immigration, then he needs to let the rest of the members of the San Joaquin valley and the House of Representatives have a chance to vote on immigration legislation.”

Cunha highlighted the dangerous activities of farm worker trafficking cartels. “If the House members do not act within the next couple of months, that means they are going to allow the cartel to increase the trafficking going on by victimizing these people,” said Cunha.

Listen to or download conference call here: USDA and Farm Workers call for Immigration Reform

Audio, labor, USDA

Farm Broadcasters in Washington

Chuck Zimmerman

NAFB Washington WatchThe National Association of Farm Broadcasting is holding its annual Washington Watch program this week. Here’s the happy smiling group with our U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. These agricultural journalists get to spend a couple days hearing from various elected and appointed officials with plenty of time to conduct interviews.

I’ve enjoyed all the programs I’ve attended over the years and think it is a very good benefit for NAFB members. Of course, the question is always who can afford to go. For most, including us, the only way to justify the expense is via some type of sponsorship.

Media, NAFB

Ag Specialist Uses Communication to Promote Biotech

Jamie Johansen

Screen Shot 2014-05-06 at 8.33.34 AMThe Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) announces that the prestigious 2014 Borlaug CAST Communication Award goes to Alison Van Eenennaam, an honored faculty member at the University of California, Davis. Nominees must demonstrate an ability to communicate by written material; public presentations; and/or the use of television, radio, or other social media. Van Eenennaam excels in all three areas. As a specialist in the field of animal genomics and biotechnology, she is at the forefront of those delivering clear, science-based information to the public and policymakers alike.

Dr. Van Eenennaam was nominated by colleagues from several academic, industry, and nonprofit organizations—they highlight her combined research skills, teaching abilities, and scientific understanding. They also agree that she has an “outstanding ability to communicate complicated and sometimes controversial scientific issues to the general public, nationally and internationally.”
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Ag Groups, Biotech, Food

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

Zimfo Bytes

Knuth Farms Spring Activities

Chuck Zimmerman

Our friends at Knuth Farms got themselves ready for spring and shared this video.

We did a little one and half minute video of spring activities on our farm to the sound of Tommy James and the Shondells we hope you would like and share with all your followers.

Of course I will.

Farming, Video

Canadian Farm Writers Going to the Island

Chuck Zimmerman

Canadian Farm Writers Conference 2014This year the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation Annual Conference is going to be hosted by the Atlantic Canada Farm Writers’ Association. That means we’ll be on Prince Edward Island, known as “the Island.”

The conference will take place October 2-5. In addition to having a great conference we’ll be helping celebrate the Prince Edward Island Sesquicentennial.

Plans include a long weekend of learning, networking, insight, participation, food, culture and fun. And by the end of the weekend we will have more than one story to share about agriculture on the Island.

You can see the Conference agenda here.

International, Media

App for AAA Stakeholder Summit

Chuck Zimmerman

AAA Stakeholder's Summit AppThis week the agriblogging highway is taking me to the Animal Agriculture Alliance 13th Annual Stakeholder Summit. We’ll be Cracking the Millennial Code with a variety of speakers and panels addressing marketing to millennials, sustainability and more.

The Twitter hashtag is #AAA14 and there is an app for the conference you can get here: Android, iOS or Webpage.

Animal Agriculture, Apps

National APLU Report Outlines Research Challenges

Jamie Johansen

apluThe national Association of Public and Land-grant Universities released a report outlining six “grand challenges” facing the United States over the next decade in the areas of sustainability water, climate change, agriculture, energy and education.

The APLU project was co-chaired by W. Daniel Edge, head of the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Oregon State University. The report is available online.

The “Science, Education, and Outreach Roadmap for Natural Resources” is the first comprehensive, nationwide report on research, education and outreach needs for natural resources the country’s university community has ever attempted, Edge said.

“The report identifies critical natural resources issues that interdisciplinary research programs need to focus on over the next 5-10 years in order to address emerging challenges,” Edge noted. “We hope that policy-makers and federal agencies will adopt recommendations in the roadmap when developing near-term research priorities and strategies.”

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Ag Groups, Education, Energy, Environment, Sustainability

Cotton Council Int. Launches New Brand Identity

Jamie Johansen

00369_cotton_usa_logoCotton Council International (CCI) is revitalizing and re-launching its 25-year old flagship brand, COTTON USA. Since 1989, over 50,000 product lines and 3 billion products have proudly carried the name COTTON USA. That translates into about 100 million bales of cotton.

“Our brand has been highly successful,” CCI President Jordan Lea said. “However, the global marketplace has changed dramatically and become more competitive because petroleum-based fibers are often cheaper. The new generation of consumers needs to hear why cotton is such a wonderful product and why U.S. cotton is the premier cotton.”

In addition to a new logo, the re-launch includes a revitalized brand vision emphasizing purity, quality and responsibility, as well as new promotional and merchandising tools, which will be rolled out in stages and globally over the next year.

To develop and express its new brand identity, CCI worked with AR New York, a brand-focused agency that is part of the Publicis global network of agencies. AR’s clients have included global companies such as Revlon, Brooks Brothers, Banana Republic, Valentino, Lands’ End, DFS and Jimmy Choo.

Ag Groups, Cotton

USDA Releases 2012 Ag Census Results

Cindy Zimmerman

The 2012 Census of Agriculture released today by the USDA reveals less farms and new trends.

2012-censusThe census reveals there are now 3.28 million farmers operating 2.1 million farms on 914.5 million acres of farmland across the United States. Those numbers are all lower than 2007 when the census reported 3.18 million farmers, 2.2 million farms and 922 million acres.

Some highlights of the new census include:

– Record high sales and production expenses. U.S. producers sold $394.6 billion worth of agricultural products, but it cost them $328.9 billion to produce these products.

– The top 5 states for agricultural sales were California ($42.6 billion); Iowa ($30.8 billion); Texas ($25.4 billion); Nebraska ($23.1 billion); and Minnesota ($21.3 billion).

– Eighty-seven percent of all U.S. farms are operated by families or individuals.
– Farms with Internet access rose from 56.5 percent in 2007 to 69.6 percent in 2012.
– 57,299 farms produced on-farm renewable energy, more than double the 23,451 in 2007.
– 474,028 farms on over 173.1 million acres used conservation tillage or no-till practices.
– Corn and soybean acres topped 50 percent of all harvested acres for the first time.

Listen to a recording of the webcast release of the census data here: USDA Releases 2012 Census Data

Audio, Farming, USDA