The theme for National Agriculture Day this year reminds me of the learning commercials from Sesame Street – “Sponsored by the Letter A.”
American agriculture is abundant, affordable and AMAZING. You could also add awesome.
This is National Agriculture Week – traditionally celebrated the week before the first day of spring. Ag Day is celebrated on the first day of spring, which is March 20, but the official celebration will be held in Washington DC on Thursday, March 18. It will include coffee with the Secretary of Agriculture at USDA, a luncheon at the Capitol featuring national officers from AFA, FFA & 4-H, and dinner back at USDA with the heads of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, hosted by the Agriculture Council of America.
If you want to here more about this year’s celebration of agriculture, listen to Chuck Zimmerman’s ZimmCast below, which features an interview with Linda Tank, CHS, Inc., who is chair of the Agriculture Council of America.
Some of the young people who are the future of the agriculture industry were given scholarships at the recent Commodity Classic to help them with their education.
Three of the five recipients at Classic are pictured here at the BASF trade show exhibit between Nevin McDougall of BASF and NCGA Chairman Bob Dickey from Nebraska.
Left to right, they are:
John Schultz of Dyersburg, Tennessee, a sophomore at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville studying food and agricultural business; Gina Meyer of New Ulm, Minnesota, a junior at the University of Minnesota pursuing a major in animal science; Carly Cummings of Pleasantville, Iowa – Carly is a sophomore at Iowa State University majoring in agricultural business.
Charlene Barlieb of Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania who graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 2009 and will be returning to Penn State this fall to pursue her graduate degree in animal sciences, and Lisa Tronchetti of Paton, Iowa.
I talked with Carly, Gina and John about their backgrounds and their career plans – and you can listen to that interview here:
This year, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) will launch an image and activism campaign to reinforce the importance of agriculture, according to NCGA President, Darrin Ihnen during a press conference at Commodity Classic. While many people are still confused about food versus fuel, an issue perpetuated by media around the world, and the debate continues around international indirect land use change, it’s time to set the record straight. Ihnen noted that a few simple facts can take care of both of these issues. This year, corn farmers harvested 13.2 billion bushels of corn, or 165.2 bushels per acre, on 7 million less acres than in 2007 when the harvest was nearly identical.
In an effort to curb misinformation and ensure effective policy is put into place, corn growers around the country have been getting involved. One great example is the outpouring of comments around indirect land use, E15 and the RFS2.
“We’re proud of the tens of thousands of farmers who commented to the EPA on that subject (E15). In fact, this is a perfect example of how we’ve seen a resurgence of activism on the part of American agriculture and we’ve held numerous discussions with our allies around the world on this,” said Ihnen.
He continued, “That’s why this year we’re launching an unprecedented image and activism campaign to do two things. First, we will aggressively reinforce the importance and positive image most Americans have with farmers and the products they grow. Second, we will create a more united and vocal army of farmers and their friends who can speak out against the myths and misinformation that we see so often.”
The Corn Farmers Coalition will focus its efforts in the beltway and the activism/grassroots campaign will focus on Americans around the country. Ihnen stressed that the campaign will be more successful the more people are involved and said in closing, “We’re excited about this challenge and invite all interested parties to join us.”
During a press conference at Commodity Classic, the question was posed to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack whether the Department of Agriculture should be re-named the Department of Food – which I guess would make him the Secretary of Food.
Vilsack said you could look at the department in a number of different ways. “When the department was founded in 1862, the substantial percentage of the population was in the farming business, so it made all the sense in the world to call it the department of agriculture. Today, the mission of the department of agriculture is fairly diverse and not very well understood by a lot of people in the country. Seventy percent of our budget is in the form of food assistance – the SNAP program, the WIC program, the school lunch and school breakfast programs. Now, one could say that makes the argument for the Department of Food, but I would say a lot of those programs are benefited from commodity purchases which help stabilize markets and that’s beneficial to the farmers, so maybe it’s okay to say Department of Agriculture.”
“We do a lot of rural development activities, trying to build strong communities and regions and trying to promote business and industry, and so you might think we should call it the Department of Rural Development. Except that the vast majority of farm families get a substantial percentage of their income off the farm, so the capacity to create jobs in rural communities basically helps people keep the farm, so maybe it’s okay to call it the Department of Agriculture.”
Ditto for the department of global food aid, or forestry, or food safety. “The point is this is a department that has multiple missions but at the end of the day, every single mission comes back to the beginning of this department, which is that it’s beneficial in some form or fashion, directly or indirectly, to farmers,” Vilsack concluded.
Trade and rural revitalization were the key topics that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack addressed in his the keynote speech at the 2010 Commodity Classic on Friday – but at the press conference it was anything goes.
During his speech, Vilsack talked about the importance of biotechnology and biofuels, especially stressing the economic impact projected for 2022 if we meet the Renewable Fuel Standard. “190,000 people will be employed in the biofuels industry and if you leverage all the indirect jobs it will be closer to 807,000 jobs,” Vilsack said. In addition, $95 billion will be invested in the expansion of the biofuels industry over the next 12 years. “Most importantly, it will prevent us from having to import $350 billion of foreign oil,” he added.
The speech was fine, but the Secretary’s press conference was much more interesting. In fact, it was the longest and most candid press conference I have seen with him yet. Questions ranged from Toyota versus US beef, to calling USDA the Department of Food, to whether E15 will be approved.
Last week, the EPA announced a delay in the decision on increasing the blend level to E15 until the end of the summer. Vilsack commented that the purpose of the delay is due to ongoing testing by the Department of Energy to determine what engines can use the higher blend without ill effects. It has already been established that newer vehicles, and all flex-fuel vehicles can use the higher blend safely, “Which suggests to me that we’re going to see an increase in the blend rate,” said Vilsack. He then noted that it will be important to use rural development resources to make sure the distribution systems create the opportunities for people to use higher blends.
Listen to Vilsack’s comments about E15 here:
Download his comments with this link: Vilsack comments on E15
South Dakota Corn Grower, Darrin Ihnen, President of the National Corn Growers Association, took the general session stage this morning at Commodity Classic with session moderator Mark Mayfield.
Mark had a list of questions for each of the commodity group leaders and Darrin got to go first. With Darrin he started out talking about ethanol. Darrin talked about what the corn growers are doing in this area including pushing for higher blends in the fuel supply. All indications are that this is progressing in a positive way with the science looking good. He says they’re hoping for action by the end of this summer.
Hello from Commodity Classic in Anaheim, CA. One of the first interviews I conducted was with new Farm Podcaster, Cathryn Wojcicki Dixson, NCGA Communications Manager. She has started producing a new program called “Off The Cob.” You can subscribe to the podcast using this link.
Welcome to “Off the Cob”, an original podcast series produced by the National Corn Growers Association. This series features interviews with grower-leaders on hot topics in agriculture and will expand media options for those wishing to further their knowledge of the industry.
Cathryn works on NCGA editorial content like their publications and now the podcast series. It’s her first time for creating an audio podcast series which will be produced once a week. She says it’s one element of their social media emphasis to communicate which really ties in to their organizational grass roots culture.
Corn growers all over the country are preparing for the 2010 Commodity Classic next week in Anaheim where important policy issues facing farmers and ranchers will be discussed.
Members of the Missouri Corn Growers Association got in the mood this week by holding their annual meeting in Jefferson City and going to talk with state lawmakers about the importance of keeping agriculture in the hands of farmers. National Corn Growers Association president Darrin Ihnen (right) was guest speaker at the Missouri luncheon. With him pictured is Mike Geske, former president of the Missouri Corn Growers now serving on the 15-member National Corn Board.
I interviewed both Darrin and Mike about some of the issues important to growers right now and topping the list is the threat posed by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), which is in the process of working up a petition drive in Missouri directed at dog breeders – lumping them all in the unsavory category of “puppy mills” – kind of like they lump all of agriculture under “factory farming.” Mike says that is why all agriculture groups in the state are working to keep legislators informed about how food is produced and the importance of the industry to Missouri. “We feel that once they get past the dog breeders they are going to be headed for commercial agriculture,” he told me.
Darrin says the threat posed to animal agriculture in individual states by groups like HSUS ultimately impacts all of agriculture across the country. “It’s very important that we help defend them,” Darrin says. “We can’t be separated when it comes to agriculture. We need to work together.”
This is just one of many important policy issues that corn growers will discuss at Classic next week, the annual meeting that also includes soybean, wheat and sorghum producers. Others include the indirect land use issue, climate legislation, increasing the ethanol blend rate and extending the blender’s tax credit for ethanol.
Listen to back to back interviews with Darrin and Mike here:
The U.S. Grains Council just held it’s International Marketing Conference and the keynote speaker was the Hon. Carole L. Brookins, Managing Director of Public Capital Advisors, LLC.
Her topic was “Growing Grain Markets in a (Sustainable) Brave New World.”
“We are moving into a new era of focus on global public goods, including money, trade, climate and environment. With that come global threats: cyber terrorism, fragmented political and economic power, radical groups seeking to control weapons of mass destruction and piracy on the high seas,” she said.
Brookins identified four trends shaping our world today. First – a re-balancing of global wealth and power. “There are shifts in global economic leadership, which creates a wider competition to maintain and grow market share,” said Brookins. Second – a revolution in energy supply and markets. According to Brookins, this is fueled by climate change, resource depletion, energy security and technological innovation. Third – a rebellion against the modern food system. “Activist groups attack the safety and value of the modern food production system,” she said. Fourth – a resurgence of investment in commodities and agriculture. According to Brookins, this will be stimulated through investments, control of the supply chain and economic power.
“Experience shows that sustainable global food security will depend on intensive, large scale agriculture and expanding global trade,” Brookins said. “Both your risks and reward will be multiplied. Your complexity of choices and competition will be magnified. The brand of the Council is highly respected around the world. Renew your mission in 2010 and lead out in a growing, dynamic world of 9 billion lives over the next 50 years. I look forward to watching.”
The new rule for the expanded Renewable Fuel Standard, or RFS2, represents the first time the federal government has ever had to develop regulations based on the unproven theory of international indirect land use change. This is kind of like trying to make a recipe without knowing the ingredients.
EPA’s Transportation and Regional Programs Division Director Sarah Dunham talked about how they did that during a presentation at the National Ethanol Conference this week.
She said that having to incorporate indirect land use change into the rule “contributed to the evolution of the science in this year. There’s no question the science evolved significantly over the last year through this process and will continue to evolve going forward.” However, she added, “Just because we issued a final rule doesn’t mean that it’s done, it’s just the first step in moving forward with this.”
In other words, they’re not sure whether this first recipe they have put together will be a cake or a mistake. It still needs more testing in the kitchen because of what they call “inherent uncertainty.”
“There is inherent uncertainty in these assessments,” Dunham said. “And we thought it was important to try to formally recognize that uncertainty” and incorporate it into the analysis. The National Academy of Sciences has been asked to do a review of the whole lifecycle assessment and indirect land use change component and report back in two years.
I would call this inherent insanity. Why in the world would our federal government try to regulate something based on a half-baked theory and uncertain projections? It makes no sense at all. It would make much more sense to throw out the entire indirect land use change modeling effort until the science is fully evolved, not just partially.
The theme for National Agriculture Day this year reminds me of the learning commercials from Sesame Street – “Sponsored by the Letter A.”
In partnership with BASF, the National Corn Growers Association 
During a press conference at Commodity Classic, the question was posed to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack whether the Department of Agriculture should be re-named the Department of Food – which I guess would make him the Secretary of Food. 
“We do a lot of rural development activities, trying to build strong communities and regions and trying to promote business and industry, and so you might think we should call it the Department of Rural Development. Except that the vast majority of farm families get a substantial percentage of their income off the farm, so the capacity to create jobs in rural communities basically helps people keep the farm, so maybe it’s okay to call it the Department of Agriculture.”
During his speech, Vilsack talked about the importance of biotechnology and biofuels, especially stressing the economic impact projected for 2022 if we meet the Renewable Fuel Standard. “190,000 people will be employed in the biofuels industry and if you leverage all the indirect jobs it will be closer to 807,000 jobs,” Vilsack said. In addition, $95 billion will be invested in the expansion of the biofuels industry over the next 12 years. “Most importantly, it will prevent us from having to import $350 billion of foreign oil,” he added.
South Dakota Corn Grower, Darrin Ihnen, President of the 
Hello from Commodity Classic in Anaheim, CA. One of the first interviews I conducted was with new Farm Podcaster, Cathryn Wojcicki Dixson, 
Members of the 
EPA’s Transportation and Regional Programs Division Director Sarah Dunham talked about how they did that during a presentation at the