Posted By Cathryn February 13, 2012
For years now, musicians and actors have taken time out from patting themselves on the back during awards ceremonies to advance politicized causes. The mega-produced shows, which take a public willingness to indulge the already pampered in self-congratulation all the way to the bank, now serve as a platform for entertainers to remind us that they are thoughtful, culturally-aware types. Seemingly, it wasn’t enough for them to be richer and more attractive. Now, they have to prove an intellectual and moral superiority by raising a ruckus on the hot issue of the day.
At the Grammy Awards this year, Chipotle cashed in on this trend releasing a two-minute commercial decrying the evil of modern animal agriculture. Willie Nelson, long known to be a fan of a different type of farmer, strummed and sang to a Coldplay tune as cartoon images of a farmer and sweet little cartoon piggies drifted across the screen.
Personal repulsion to the insufferably self-aggrandizing, overly-produced, pseudo-intellectual impersonation of actual pain that underlies Coldplay’s music aside, the commercial plays upon the tendency of people to project what they want onto what they see.
Without a word, the ad strums along with melancholy nostalgia. The pictures show that many animals now, yes, live in barns. The sweet little cartoon pigs are shown actually locked behind a jail cell door like criminals. The farmer debates medicating himself, as shown through a thought bubble with a pill inside, or releasing his pigs back into pastures and blue sky with chickens running about too.
Luckily, it isn’t an actual depiction of how tender piglets might fare in a cold Iowa winter or how chickens do interact when left to their own devices. Instead, it is the same sort of wishy-washy, rose-tinted vision that most people would like to be true, despite the many difficulties with the realities of such a situation. If you are already projecting an actual message for Chipotle, it isn’t a stretch to willfully block out the fiction underpinning the situation.
Instead of buying into the portrayal of agriculture in the commercial, Nebraska farmers and ranchers fought back by showing the amazing story of the livestock industry in a commercial of their own. With solid information presented by actual human beings, the ad stands in stark contrast to Chipotle’s. Unlike its counterpart it offers a forthright message too – Farming is ethical. Learn about it and become a fan.
As a public, we should applaud this effort. Unlike the fast food giant, the farmers and ranchers of Nebraska trust that an informed public will see how amazing agriculture actually is today. They stand behind their production practices and invite those outside of the industry to learn more. They do not create a dream world with sappy music and emotionally evocative drawings. They treat thinking adults as such rather than signing them a lullaby.
So become a fan. Farmers work hard every day to produce a wide-variety of healthy, quality food options for us to enjoy. So many in fact, that it would be easy to avoid Chipotle, demonstrating an unwillingness to accept their uninspired brainwashing, in favor of a those other options until they hit a less condescending note.
BTW: If you want to know about the actual Chipotle, the one that they obscure through this kind of advertising, check out past reporting from Corn Commentary here.
Posted By Cindy February 9, 2012
Energy issues relating to the production of corn and soybeans are more complex than some would like to think.
That’s the basic conclusion of a recent paper issued by the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST).
“Quantifying energy issues associated with agricultural systems, even for a two-crop corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) rotation, is not a simple task,” reads the abstract of the paper. “It becomes even more complicated if the goal is to include all aspects of sustainability (i.e., economic, environmental and social).”
That’s why the whole issue of lifecycle assessment and related indirect land use change is so difficult. In fact, the authors of the paper choose to say indirect land use change might be nearly impossible to evaluate with any degree of certainty, explaining that “because of the uncertainties involved, it may not be possible to reliably model the indirect effects of biofuels outside of the country in which they are produced.”
The relatively brief paper considers many key agricultural sustainability issues, including nitrogen management, economic viability, market prices and public policy. The authors ultimately make suggestions that might address some concerns, including:
- quantify real versus perceived effects of no-tillage on C sequestration and the associated GHG mitigation value;
- find ways to decrease adoption barriers for energy-conserving practices;
- develop integrated usage of renewable fuels and co-products; and
- develop consistent federal, state, and local policies for bioenergy development to provide guidance for private and public investment.
Interesting reading. The full text of www.cast-science.org”>’Energy Issues Affecting Corn/Soybean Systems: Challenges for Sustainable Production” may be downloaded free of charge on the CAST website at www.cast-science.org/publications, along with many of CAST’s other scientific publications. The paper also is available in hard copy for a shipping/handling fee.
Posted By Cathryn January 20, 2012
The volunteer farm women involved in CommonGround state programs across the country are talking and, increasingly, the evidence shows that urban and suburban moms are joining in the conversation. With many states recently launching their programs or preparing to do so this spring, the buzz surrounding this open, honest approach to discussing food is spreading too.
Earlier this month, CommonGround Kansas launched its program with a full court press during the University of Kansas women’s basketball game at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence.
The Lady Jayhawks may have fallen to Kansas State University’s Lady Wildcats, but the ladies of CommonGround stood tall as they explained how they grow food and the facts about modern agriculture. For a few hours on the cold January evening, volunteers shared in outstanding Kansas City barbeque and in conversations on subjects including the locavore movement, organic fruits and vegetables, sustainability and livestock production to a group of reporters, bloggers, government representatives and community influencers.
While bringing together farm women and the people who speak to urban and suburban moms on a large scale started a conversation, what truly matters is knowing that the dialogue opened that night made a difference. Judging by an article featuring volunteer LaVelle Winsor that ran in the Lawrence World Journal, the stories these women have to tell and understanding they offer about food scored with attendees.
In explaining the program’s goals and offering it as a resource, the article spread the word that there is another source of information for moms concerned about the foods they prepare for their family.
“We aren’t trying to tell anyone how to eat,” Winsor was quoted as saying in the article. “But we would like them to know what actually happens on our farm.”
Want to learn more? “Like” the CommonGround Facebook page and look to see if there are upcoming events in your area.
Posted By Cindy January 20, 2012
A syndicated kid’s show that explores the outdoors will feature the life of a corn kernel in an episode airing this week.
An episode of the Into the Outdoors series titled, “Big Things from Small Stuff” will be shown this weekend, January 21-22, on local channels in Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota.
Wisconsin Farmers Mark Schroeder and Bill Hoffman and Cambria-based Didion Milling are featured as the episode follows the life of a corn kernel from planting to harvest. Production of corn kernels into products is displayed in the balance of the episode, which features Didion Milling’s innovative fractionation process at its dry corn mill and the company’s line of HarvestGold Family of Corn Products. The episode also features Didion Ethanol and their co-product dried distillers grains.
Find out more here.
Posted By Cindy January 17, 2012
USDA’s final crop summary for 2011 released last week surprised many by showing an increase the average corn yield by a half bushel per acre and slightly more harvested acres to come up with a final total of 12.4 billion bushels, up a little bit from the November forecast and not too much lower than the 2010 crop.
“Despite lost acres and a 2011 yield that’s 5.6 bushels below the 2010 average, the corn crop itself is only one percentage point below last year’s number,” said National Corn Growers Association President Garry Niemeyer of Illinois. In comparison, final soybean production for 2011 was down 8% from 2010, sorghum and cotton were both down 13%, and rice was down 24%.
The slightly higher corn production means increased U.S. feed grain supplies for 2011/12 slightly over the December estimate, according to the World Agricultural Supply Demand Report. Worldwide, coarse grain supplies for 2011/12 remained almost unchanged this month as higher corn production in the United States, Ukraine, EU-27, and Russia is mostly offset by lower expected corn production in Argentina and the lower sorghum production estimate for the United States.
On the use side of the equation, exports were increased by 50 million bushels reflecting the strong pace of sales to date and reduced prospects for Argentina. Ending stocks are projected 2 million bushels lower at 846 million bushels.
What this all meant for corn futures at the end of last week was a big drop, but most analysts expect the market to rebound quickly as demand remains strong.
Posted By Cindy January 3, 2012
2011 was a wild year for farm market prices and ag economists generally expect that to continue into 2012.
“We had a lot of things that came together and pushed prices up for a wide variety of products the last couple of years,” said Patrick Westhoff, Director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) during a visit at the St. Louis Agribusiness Club. “We expect a lot of volatility in the year ahead.”
One of the main reasons is an “ordinary garden variety one” – the weather. “People tend to forget that sometimes,” said Westhoff. On top of that, the biggest factors to consider are land markets and what Congress will decide to do with farm policy. No surprises there!
He notes that tight stocks will continue to keep corn prices particularly volatile. “Every little piece of news, either positive or negative, can make the market move around a lot,” Westhoff added.
Westhoff believes that the spending cuts presented to the “super committee” by the House and Senate agriculture leadership should help start the conversation for a new farm bill in 2012, “but it certainly won’t be the end of that conversation.”
Listen to Chuck Zimmerman’s interview with Patrick Westhoff here: Patrick Westhoff Interview
Posted By Cindy January 3, 2012
There’s nothing indirect about the land use changes reported in the most recent summary from USDA, which shows that the only land use in the United States that is declining is cropland.
According to the report, “Major Uses of Land in the United States 2007,” the amount of land in the United States devoted to growing crops declined by 34 million acres – or nearly 8 percent – between 2002 and 2007. At 408 million acres, total cropland was at its lowest level since records were started in 1945.
Cropland accounted for 18 percent of the total land area in the country – the third largest land use behind forest (30%) and grassland (27%) – both of which increased over the same five-year period while cropland declined.
The smallest total use of land in the U.S. is urban, at 61 million or 3 percent. However, while urban land use accounts for the smallest percentage, the USDA report shows that it accounts for the biggest increase in land use, quadrupling between 1945 and 2007, increasing at about twice the rate of population growth over the period. Urban land use increased almost 2 percent from 2002 to 2007.
The report is significant because it shows with actual data that cropland acres declined at the same time ethanol production was increasing – which means no direct or indirect land use change as a result of corn being used for ethanol. Instead, Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) president Bob Dinneen said what the report does show is how farmers are producing more on less land, while urban land uses increase.
“It is ironic that the land use debate has fixated on biofuels, when the actual culprit of land conversion has clearly been urban and suburban sprawl,” Dinneen said. “Subdivisions full of mini-mansions, big box stores, shopping malls, and parking lots are encroaching on productive farmland across the country.”
Read the USDA report here.
Posted By Cindy December 14, 2011
According to USDA, global corn production for 2011/12 is projected at a new record high of 867.5 million tons, despite a smaller crop here in the U.S. Our crop was down 3.5 million tons compared to last year, but foreign corn production is expected to be 43.4 million tons higher, with China alone up 7.3 million tons this month based on the recently released government estimates.
The latest World Agricultural Supply Demand report also showed an increase in domestic corn ending stocks for 2011/12 of 5 million bushels to 848 million, thanks to an equal decrease in corn food, seed, and industrial use with early marketing-year corn use for sweeteners down slightly.
As farmers are starting to look ahead to the 2012 season, they will respond to the market signals like they always do. “I think you’re going to see the emphasis going to corn acres and I think the price is probably going to reflect that going into spring planting intentions,” said Jonah Ford of Ceres Hedge in Minneapolis in his evaluation of the report. USDA now forecasts the 2011/12 season-average farm price for corn to be about 30 cents lower than previously, but that is still a strong $5.90 to $6.90 per bushel.
As we head into 2012, one wild card in the corn demand situation is likely to be ethanol, with the expiration of the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) at the end of this year. “That could potentially change how much ethanol is blended into gasoline,” said USDA chief economist Joe Glauber. “There are mandates in terms of overall production that has to be blended into gasoline, the issue is how much gets produced above and beyond the mandates.” However, industry analysts expect ethanol prices are expected to drop 30-40 cents per gallon at the wholesale level after the blenders tax credit expires, which should be incentive to blend more.
Ethanol production hit an all time high for the week ending December 2, according to the latest figures from the Energy Information Administration, averaging 954,000 barrels or over 40 million gallons daily, up about 2.5 percent from the previous record. Production this year could top 14 billion gallons, maybe a billion more than last year – but corn for ethanol production is actually down from last year at 5 billion bushels even. As a percentage of daily gasoline demand, daily ethanol production is nearing 12%. Meanwhile, U.S. ethanol exports have already doubled last year and are expected to hit 1 billion gallons this year.
All this is just a bunch of numbers, but the bottom line is that corn farmers, both here and abroad, are meeting increasing demand – and they will continue to do so. “We always hold that, no matter the challenge we face, the global marketplace will respond to make sure all needs are covered,” said National Corn Growers Association President Garry Niemeyer.
I’m reminded of a quote from the classic Saturday Night Live character Father Guido Sarducci in his bit about the “Five Minute University” where you learn what the average college graduate remembers after five years out of school. “Economics? Supply and Demand.” It’s really that simple.
Posted By Cathryn December 12, 2011
Imagine how differently a day at the office might have been in 1961. A secretarial pool takes the place of word processing software. Googling a subject might take hours and physical labor sifting through back editions of the paper or encyclopedias and still yield limited results. Email communications require a phone call, paper memo or even a written letter sent through courier or mail without the Internet. Once out of the office, communication ceases unless a coworker dials a landline nearby.
While most people have capriciously wished for an end to modern technology following a particularly annoying late-night text from an employer, only the smallest minority actually advocates a return to the workplace technology of 50 years ago.
So, why do so many people outside of agriculture think that a return to equally antiquated technology would actually improve farming?
Recently, a column in Stock and Land magazine examined the impact of a large-scale return to the farming methods of our forefathers, a romantic notion with dismal consequences. Instead of growing a crop large enough to share with the world, U.S. farmers would produce only enough food to feed half of the country’s current population. Maintaining levels of dairy, meat and milk production would require two-thirds more land. Increased environmental degradation and social unrest further complicate this already hungry scenario.
Simply, removing technology and scientific advances from modern life seriously damages productivity and effectiveness whether done in corporate or agrarian America. Notably, the negative impact on farming creates a food shortage thus depriving an incredible number of those in towns and cities of the sustenance needed to survive.
Instead of buying into the soft-focus vision of farming that replaces knowledge and understanding with a vague sense of nostalgia, get the facts. Question the farmers and ranchers who produce food about how and why they use the technology and practices that they do. Look at the bounty of healthy options U.S. agriculture offers. Become part of national discussion about food that seeks a better tomorrow instead of a rose-tinted version of the past.
Posted By Cindy December 9, 2011
You can call them aerial applicators, or crop dusters, or ag aviators – or you can call them the unsung heroes of agriculture. They are the folks who sometimes risk their lives flying low to the ground to protect countless acres of our nation’s corn, soybeans, wheat, rice, cotton, sugar beets and pastures.
“Aerial application is vital to American agriculture,” says National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA) executive director Andrew Moore, noting that about 20 percent of all crop protection is applied by air and that is likely to continue to increase as farming operations get larger.
NAAA currently represents more than 1,500 members in 46 states, and just like the rest of agriculture, ag aviators are facing increasing regulations that threaten to ground them.
At the NAAA convention this week, one of the primary topics of discussion was the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program, which Moore says just went into effect on Halloween. “It’s kind of a scary regulation,” he said about the regulation which impacts pesticide application near water. “The problem is that it’s duplicative of everything that already exists to protect the environment in regard to pesticide regulation.”
Moore says the NPDES would require a great deal of paper work on the part of applicators. “FIFRA already regulates the safety of pesticides to water, so this is a completely unnecessary burdensome rule.” In addition, Andrew says they are very considered about lawsuits under the new regulation.
One thing that NAAA is urging its members to do is to contact their senators regarding pending legislation that would exempt pesticide applications over water for FIFRA approved pesticides. The measure has been passed by the House and has gone through the Senate Agriculture Committee. “We believe we have the votes in the Senate but it’s not being brought to the floor for a vote,” said Moore.
It’s important to note that this could impact all of agriculture, including both farmers and ranchers as well as the crop protection product companies, because if aerial applicators are grounded as a result of this regulation, it will hurt everyone. So, find out more and contact your Senator today.
Listen to my interview with Andrew Moore here: NAAA executive director Andrew Moore
