Posted By Cathryn October 31, 2011
In the world of communications, it is understood that if you don’t tell your own story, someone else will tell it for you. Being as what this other person says may not be accurate or fair, it is generally accepted that telling your story first in a clear, concise manner is crucial.
Over the past decade, social media has revolutionized communications. Now, anyone on Facebook, Twitter or even newer platforms like Google+ acts as a communications professional every day as they share their lives, stories and opinions with an ever-growing audience. In establishing a personal connection, social media allows for authentic interaction and relationship building in a way that was previously unimaginable.
Farmers across the country harnessed the power of this platform during harvest. Allowing anyone interested a glance into their operation, farmers showcased the amazing advances of modern agriculture by actually sharing a little bit of themselves.
Many of the problems facing modern agriculture stem from a lack of communication. By helping the people outside of agriculture, 98.5 of the U.S. population currently, see how safely and effectively family farmers grow a quality product year-after-year, many of the anxieties and concerns surrounding our food supply will dissipate.
Farmers have always embraced new technology and change. From more advanced equipment to improved seed varieties, they innately understand the importance of adopting the best possible tools. This year, why not view social media as an investment also. Just a few minutes a day spent telling the story of your farm on a YouTube video, through Facebook or just tweeting from the combine can help form relationships and shape opinions.
Every citizen has a voice. Make sure that yours is heard before it is too late.
Posted By Cathryn October 26, 2011
In a summer plagued by extreme weather, farmers along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers watched as water swelled from its banks and, eventually, covered many of their fields. These farmers continue working to salvage the 400,000 acres lost to the flood. This is about more than flooded farms and homes though– this is about people’s lives and livelihoods.
2011 has been a devastating year for farmers along the rivers. In May, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers blew up three levees in southeast Missouri, flooding 200 square miles of homes, fields and businesses along the banks of the Mississippi River. Shortly thereafter, they released historic amounts of water from the Missouri River Reservoir System, flooding an estimated 400,000 acres of prime farmland for four months. Stress, frustration and a sense of hopeless rolled in with the water.
The Missouri Corn Growers Association and Missouri Corn Merchandising Council are working along these growers that the government does not turn its back on the farms that they chose to flood. Through a new documentary, Underwater and Overlooked: Crisis on the Missouri River, the groups bring the facts to the forefront, holding the Corps accountable for the 2011 flood along the Missouri River banks and pushing them to take steps to ensure this never happens again.
The Army Corps of Engineers made the decisions that changed the lives of Missouri farmers. Now is the time to hear their stories, understand this tragedy and join with those supporting the victims as they rebuild. Click here to see what actually happened in Missouri’s farmlands as they sat flooded for 16 weeks. When the water goes down, the cameras go away and the spotlight dims, keep this story in the public eye until the levees are repaired and flood management is recognized as the top priority by the Corps.
Posted By Cindy October 26, 2011
It took over four years, but free trade agreements with Korea, Colombia, and Panama have finally become law.
Now it’s time to play catch up to gain market share lost due to the slowness in getting those agreements ratified. “Earlier this year, NCGA provided testimony to the Senate Finance Committee citing Panama as an example of lost market share,” says National Corn Growers Association president and Illinois farmer Garry Niemeyer. “Corn exports to the country peaked in 2008 and have since dropped 20 percent. This market erosion was due in part to a lack of progress on the Panama FTA. As a farmer, it has been frustrating to see other nations achieve access to markets over U.S. corn and corn products.”
Colombia has been importing more corn from Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay because of an import duty preference. From marketing year 2007-08 through 2009-10, U.S. corn exports to Colombia dropped 78 million bushels, an estimated loss of $475 million. Under the Colombian FTA, U.S. corn producers gain immediate access to the Colombian market for 2.1 million metric tons of corn at zero percent duty.
The new agreement with Panama eliminates 50 percent of tariffs immediately and is estimated to mean a $46 million gain in U.S. agriculture exports to that country. The Colombia agreement will bring a $370 million gain in agriculture exports and will eliminate 80 percent of tariffs, and the Korea agreement could mean a $1.9 billion gain for U.S. agriculture exports by eliminating two-thirds of tariffs immediately. Under the Korea FTA, imports of U.S. corn for feed and distillers grains are guaranteed to enter duty free immediately.
What this means in a word is jobs. “Farm exports help support more than 1 million American jobs, said Agricultural Secretary Tom Vilsack upon the signing of the FTAs. “These three agreements will increase farm exports by an additional $2.3 billion—supporting nearly 20,000 American jobs—by eliminating tariffs, removing barriers to trade and leveling the playing field for U.S. producers.”
American Farm Bureau estimates that the trade agreements will create more than 22,500 jobs when fully executed. Now that’s a real stimulus for the economy. Let’s get back in the game and play catch up.
Posted By Cindy October 25, 2011
A new USDA report gives even more credit where credit is due to the value of the ethanol co-product known as distillers grains or DDGS in livestock and poultry feed.
The major finding of the report is that a metric ton of DDGS can replace an average of 1.22 metric tons of corn and soybean meal feed. “We found that, on average, for the past 5 crop years (2006/07-2010/11), 1 mt of distillers’ grains substitutes for about 1.22 mt of corn and soybean meal combined in the United States,” concludes the Economic Research Service (ERS) report. That means that almost a full 40 percent of the corn used for ethanol goes directly back into the feed supply.
As of 2010/11, DDGS replaced soybean meal as the number two feedstuff fed, and is second only to corn. An increasing amount of soybean meal is being replaced over corn in livestock rations. The report also found that as DDGS market share for beef cattle have declined, market shares for dairy cattle, swine, and poultry have increased. Beef cattle’s DDGS substitution rate for corn is remains higher than any other type of livestock/poultry but is the lowest for soybean meal.
“This report reiterates what we have been saying for years: ethanol produces both fuel and food, in the form of high protein animal feed known as distillers grains,” said Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis, noting that distillers grains cost livestock producers about 25 percent less. “This valuable feed displaces a greater volume of field corn and soybeans, is less expensive to the producer and is much more nutritious for the animal.”
Geoff Cooper, Renewable Fuels Association Vice President of Research & Analysis, believes the report has important implications regarding ethanol’s impact on feed grains availability, feed prices, land use effects, and the greenhouse gas (GHG) impacts of producing corn ethanol.
“USDA’s new analysis clearly shows the importance of accurate DDGS accounting,” Cooper said. “The Environmental Protection Agency and CARB should immediately adopt these new findings into their GHG modeling for the RFS2 and LCFS. The resulting decrease in ethanol’s lifecycle GHG emissions could be significant.”
Earlier this year, RFA compared the production of DDGS to only the amount of corn used for feed. With estimated production of 39 million metric tons of distillers grains for feed in the current marketing year, that is the “equivalent to the 4th largest corn crop in the world, and is enough feed to produce 50 billion quarter-pound hamburgers – seven patties for each person on the planet – or enough to produce one chicken breast for every American every day for a year.” Accounting for soybean meal substitution, that makes even more!
What we call DDGS in general can also include a number of other individual ethanol co-product. There’s a whole alphabet soup of them – DDG, DWG, DDGS, DWGS, CDS, corn gluten feed (CGF), wet corn gluten feed (WCGF), and corn gluten meal (CGM). The report suggests that future industry surveys could be more precise if they estimated the effects of all the different ethanol coproducts on the U.S. feed complex.
This report includes some of the most specific and well-researched data on distillers grains production, consumption and the ratios by which it is being used in the different livestock and poultry markets. Read it here.
Posted By Ken October 21, 2011
On Oct. 16, the U.S. Food and Agriculture Organization did what it always does on its birthday, celebrate World Food Day by calling attention to the problem of world hunger. This year, it was marked in 150 countries with programs large and small.
Unfortunately, the food fear lobby here in the United States found they’d rather have their own party, with a different focus. The fact that it falls so close to the FAO’s World Food Day can lead the conspiracy theorists to wondering whether it really is an attempt to muddy the waters or take advantage of the marketing success of the earlier day. And so, the usual gang of suspects has designated Oct. 24 as “Food Day.” Apparently, people starving to death in a far-flung Third World country is not as important as making sure food snobs have better access to grass-fed steaks or getting rid of the toys in the McDonald Happy Meals.
And yet, oddly, this group of people involved can’t even agree on the real threat. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, the fear lobbyists leading the charge, published a list of the “Terrific Ten” and “Terrible Ten” aspects of America’s food scene. Interestingly, the list includes an important disclaimer: these lists “do not necessarily reflect the views of Food Day Advisors and local Food Day coordinators and participants.” Apparently, there’s a holdout somewhere in Food Day HQ who likes his Froot Loops.
It’s time for a little perspective. At a time when speculators are “wagering on food prices,” it’s time to put more focus on the fact that a billion people live in chronic hunger. If everyone spent more time working on increasing yields and maximizing arable land worldwide, rather than mandating food labels that read like War and Peace, more kids would be able to sleep on a full stomach.
Do you really want to put science to work in the public interest? Find better ways to feed the hungry, something farmers and the companies that provide them their tools are hard at work doing every day.
Let’s make Food Day a day on which, at some point in the near future, we can celebrate victory.
Posted By Cindy October 18, 2011
Usually farmers like to have dry weather in the fall to get the crops out of the field – just not too dry!
Harvest season two years ago was so wet that crops in some areas went unharvested until the following spring. This year is a totally different story. Combine fires setting fields on fire have been happening all over the corn belt this season because it has been so dry and windy, the worst areas being Iowa, Nebraska and the Dakotas.
“Extreme conditions in South Dakota this fall created a perfect storm of high temperatures, low humidity, dry crops, and high winds producing extreme risk of fires during harvest,” said Daniel Humburg, professor of Ag & Biosystems Engineering Department at South Dakota State University.
There is still plenty of harvesting yet to be done and while most farmers understand the risks of combine fires and how to prevent them, a little reminder never hurts. University of Nebraska farm safety specialist Dave Morgan offers these safety tips:
- Keep your equipment clean and in good repair. When you get done for the day, take time to clean your machine thoroughly with an air compressor, power washer, or even a broom to dislodge any crop residue or chaff from the combine.
- Fix any fuel, hydraulic or oil leaks. When it’s this windy, vegetative matter breaks up into really fine material that readily accumulates on oil and fuel leaks, Morgan said. This creates a source of solid and liquid fuel. From there, it doesn’t take much to start the fire — a dry bearing or a slipping belt can quickly heat up or spark.
- Check fluid levels and carefully refill, being careful not to spill any oil or fuel on the equipment. But don’t overfill fluid reservoirs. With high temperatures in the mid 80s, oil expands and may “burp” out the vent, creating another fuel source for fire.
- Carry at least one, and preferably two, fully charged 10 lb ABC fire extinguishers on all equipment. (Be sure to have your fire extinguishers inspected annually and refilled as necessary).
Let’s be careful out there!
Posted By Cindy October 18, 2011
By all accounts, China is producing a record amount of corn this season, but still not enough to meet their domestic demand, which means they are also expected to import a record amount of corn.
According to the latest USDA supply-demand forecast, corn production for China this year was increase 4.0 million tons to a record 182.0 million tons. That figure is supported by 2011 weather data, information from crop tours, and early forecasts by officials in China. The U.S. Grains Council after its annual China Corn Harvest Tour earlier this month came up with a lower figure of 167 million metric tons (6.6 billion bushels), which is still a bumper crop. That was calculated on the basis of a projected corn harvest area of 30.9 million hectares (76.35 million acres), with a yield of about 85.9 bushels per acre – not impressive compared to the U.S., but pretty good for them.
“The 2011 corn crop I witnessed in China was far more impressive than I expected,” said Don Hutchens, Nebraska Corn Board executive director who participated in the USGC tour. “They have little, if any, crop loss and average yields are expected to be in the mid 80 bushel per acre range.”
However, all that corn is still expected to be insufficient to meet China’s demands. USGC expects China will need to import 5-10 million tons of corn for the 2011/12 season, a significantly more than USDA’s estimate of 2.68 million tons.
“With the fastest-growing middle class in the world, China has a great opportunity to enhance its food security through trade. That translates into a growing opportunity for U.S. producers over the next several years,” said Dr. Wendell Shauman, USGC chairman.
As recently as 2002/2003, China exported nearly 600 million bushels of corn. Exports then began to decline, and China was a net importer in 2009/2010 and 2010/2011.
Read more about the USGC China Tour and see photos here.
Posted By Cathryn October 18, 2011
Yesterday, like most Mondays, tweets linking to vegetarian recipes and reminders of “Meatless Mondays” littered the screen. Armchair activists urged their online minions to help save the planet from either incinerating or freezing by simply selecting meat-free options weekly on a day designated solely due to a public love of alliteration. Like clockwork, retweets of the original musings of the more prominent easy-fix promoters added to the cacophony. If logging off were an option, it would have been appealing.
With a fight or flight response in overdrive, an article suddenly appeared. The hashtags seemed to match the ongoing conversation, but the link carried a significantly more scientific, sensible message. Simply, demonizing specific foods or taking one action cannot and will not save the planet. People need to develop an actual understanding of the real consequences each of their choices have and then act in an informed manner.
Written by Dr. Judith Capper, an assistant professor of Dairy Science at Washington State University, the article looks at how, because no one took the time to look at the studies for indications that eating meat on Mondays can make a key impact on climate change, an industry that produces an affordable, quality food option which the majority of Americans enjoy comes off on social media as providing a socially irresponsible product.
This week, take back the Twitterverse. Spread the word that no one should base decisions on 140 characters or less. Maligning an entire industry based upon misinformation propagated due to laziness is socially irresponsible. Send out the aforementioned link and promote real science. Take a moment to ask for credible, current information on the environmental impact of livestock production.
Posted By Cindy October 11, 2011
The Missouri Corn Merchandising Council (MCMC) is amazing fall visitors to corn mazes in the state with facts about the state’s corn industry.
Entering its second season, the Missouri Corn fall promotion builds on last year’s successful campaign in which weatherproof stop signs were featured in 25 corn mazes across the state. The 2011 maze materials continue the theme with yield signs answering some of the most common questions about field corn. Partnering mazes also received a free Many Uses of Corn poster and Corn in the Classroom education materials for visiting teachers.
“We want to help the next generation explore agriculture,” said Missouri Corn Outreach Coordinator Hilary Holeman. “The goal of Missouri Corn’s educational efforts is to help today’s children better understand the relationship between our nation’s top crop and its impact on our daily lives.”
Taking it one step further, three corn mazes were selected to participate in a pilot program featuring a series of oversized displays highlighting the top uses for Missouri corn: feed, fuel and exports. The interactive exhibits invite visitors to post pictures to the Missouri Corn Facebook page for a chance to win $50 in free fuel.
The three mazes participating in this Missouri Corn pilot program are Fischer Farms Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze, Jefferson City; Liberty Corn Maze, Liberty; and Beggs Family Farm near Sikeston. Be aMAZEd by corn!
Posted By Cindy October 11, 2011
The Pixar movie sequel “Cars 2″ has been out since June, but I just got a chance to see it this past weekend and while it got some bad reviews, I thought it was hilarious and an interesting commentary on big oil and renewable fuels. Cathryn did a post on it back when it was first released.
The fictitious “Allinol” fuel in the movie is an obvious analogy to ethanol and the way it was promoted to fuel a “World Grand Prix” was so much like how ethanol has been promoted in both the Indy Car Series and NASCAR it was as realistic as it was funny.
In a Wall Street Journal interview when the movie was released, director John Lasseter said that when he was developing the plot for the sequel, he wanted an international espionage theme with a real bad guy. “I kept thinking about, “OK. A spy movie in the world where cars are alive. What would be a really good kind of über bad guy? Who is an über bad guy?” I kept going to big oil,” he said.
Lasseter continued. “Why isn’t alternative fuel more… Why isn’t everybody jumping on that bandwagon? It makes so much sense: Electricity, solar, whatever. There’s ethanol. There’s all this stuff you could be doing. And so I thought, well, that could be really cool in that you could have big oil versus alternative fuel. That’s when we kind of crafted the bad guy’s story.”
Spoiler alert if you haven’t seen it and like to be surprised if you do, don’t continue reading.
The twist at the end of the movie is that the promoter of the alternative fuel Allinol is actually “Big Oil” in the form of a car villain masquerading as a philanthropist. Sir Miles Axlerod turns out to be the owner of a newly discovered untapped oil reserve and instead of promoting alternative fuel, his evil plan is to use a weapon disguised as a television camera to ignite the Allinol fuel in targeted race cars during the World Grand Prix. With no apparent cause for the explosions, the public would doubt the fuel’s safety and depend further on the group’s oil. Allinol turns out to be just regular gasoline engineered to explode when hit with high radiation. But hero Lightning McQueen is saved when he is targeted because, without his knowledge, his hippie buddy Fillmore replaced the Allinol McQueen was supposed to use with his own brand of organic biofuel. So real renewable fuel saves the day in the end!
The movie got some bad reviews for the plot line and the fact that it had a darker, scarier tone for younger children than the original warm and fuzzy Cars, but anyone involved in the corn ethanol business should get a kick out of it. It’s in the cheap theaters now and will be out on DVD November 1.
In the world of communications, it is understood that if you don’t tell your own story, someone else will tell it for you. Being as what this other person says may not be accurate or fair, it is generally accepted that telling your story first in a clear, concise manner is crucial.
