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 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 Ken September 28, 2011
As someone who sometimes enjoys cooking almost as much as eating, I was intrigued this morning by a story in the Food section of our local paper about a new book, Lobsters Scream When You Boil Them, And 100 Other Myths About Food and Cooking, by Mark Scarbrough and Bruce Weinstein. I always wondered not about lobsters, but about why one should not cut lettuce with a metal knife., but rather tear it. All pish-posh, they say, and I agree.
The article mentioned another myth I’ve seen a lot, that one should shop the perimeter of a supermarket and avoid the middle. In, fact, it’s Rule No. 12 in Michael Pollan’s book on food rules. Here’s what Scarbrough told a reporter: “I cannot abide that notion,” he says. “The perimeter of my supermarket is stocked with doughnuts and soda. Second, you miss all the brown rice and maple syrup, berries, the real food, part of a balanced diet. If there’s anything in (the book) that absolutely shows my irritation, it’s that myth about shopping the perimeter.”
Mark Bittman of The New York Times is often compared to Pollan when it comes to fastidiousness about food. But Sunday’s article by Bittman I found very interesting, and not just because it dispelled one of the main tenets of the movie Food, Inc. and its supporters, that poor people have come to rely on fast food and overly processed food because it’s all they can afford or have time for.
Bittman revisits the idea here, in a discussion about the Slow Food Movement’s $5 challenge. I like the idea, and at our house we are able to prepare cost-effective meals that have kept my wife, our kids and me pretty healthy and happy. And we sit down for meals together almost daily (or at least have a quorum every night), something everyone agrees is one of the most important things families can do.
From what I’ve seen, even as someone who has lived his whole life in the suburbs, the vast majority of farmers and ranchers feel the same way. They not only love food, but they love to cook. There are some elements to the current food movement that farmers and ranchers can, should, and do embrace; the difficulty comes when you start pushing federal policies that seek (with the best of intentions) to force these ideas (or even some food myths) on all. Cultural change does not require laws that restrict, but rather parents and other mentors who lead by example and encouragement.
Posted By Cindy September 27, 2011
After over five years in development the Indiana State Museum has officially opened up “Amazing Maize: The Science, History and Culture of Corn.” The exhibit will run for the next 16 months at the museum in Indianapolis, during which time the city will host two National FFA Conventions and the Super Bowl.
The exhibit highlights the 10,000 year “genetic journey” that is the evolution of ancient maize to our modern day corn. “It’s all about corn,” said Jane Ade Stevens, executive director of Indiana Corn Marketing Council. “Corn, or maize, is one of the most important crops in the world,” she says. “Our civilization was really started in part because of maize.”
Having the exhibit in Indianapolis for the 2012 Super Bowl provides a great opportunity for the exhibit to reach a large audience. “We plan to have farmers here during that time with shirts on that say they’re farmers so that when people come through here for the Super Bowl, farmers are going to be right there in the middle of it,” Jane said.
Through six different sections, the exhibit highlights the 4,200 different uses for corn, features artifacts such as hand-powered farm tools, stone and wood corn grinders, and examples of dozens of different species of corn, leading up to how present-day genetic modifications have improved productivity of the crop.
Amazing Maize is sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, Ford Motor Company, Case IH, National Starch, Indiana Corn Marketing Council, Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance and Brock Grain Systems.
Brownfield Ag News Indiana Farm Director Meghan Grebner was at the museum for the opening of the exhibit on Saturday and provided the interview with Jane and the photos. Thanks, Meghan!
You can listen to her entire interview with Jane here: Meghan Grebner Interviews Jane Ade Stevens
Posted By Ken September 15, 2011
At the end of the year, the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit is set to expire. Renewing it will take more than a miracle – it will take someone who actually wants to renew it. And, frankly, no one does at this point.
That does not stop ethanol opponents from continuing to call for its demise, as if they’ve missed something altogether or stopped reading the news. Three recent examples:
On August 24, the Green Scissors Project, a “left-right coalition” with apparently no voice of moderation, identified ways the federal government could shave $380 billion from the federal budget over five years. Smartly, they identify numerous subsidies for Big Oil that others, mysteriously, want to ignore. But their $380 billion in proposed cuts includes a major error that accounts for more that 10 percent of their cuts — $38.8 billion that they argue VEETC would otherwise cost between 2012 and 2016.
On September 7, Americans for Tax Reform called on Congress to let VEETC expire. ATR is known for pushing its pledge among politicians seeking office, whereby they promise not to raise taxes. When it comes to tax credits like VEETC, ATR has a clear policy stated on its Website: “Signing the Taxpayer Protection Pledge commits signers to oppose changes in tax deductions or credits that increase the net tax burden on Americans.” Could one not rationally argue that allowing VEETC to expire, thereby increasing the net tax burden on Americans, violates that proviso?
And this week, a group of 100 various organizations have called on Congress to, snore, allow VEETC to expire. It’s really an eclectic list, with names like Oil Change International, the Association for Dressings & Sauces and the Safe Lawns Foundation scattered amongst the usual incoherent group of ethanol foes. Someone had to compile this list, and it’s a lot of energy wasted on something that is no longer an issue. MoveOn.org, one of the signers, really needs to … well … move on.
On the other hand, the ethanol industry is moving on – and moving forward in great and smart ways. As Matt Hartwig of the Renewable Fuels Association puts it, “Seeing the tax incentive go away has been the singular mission for these groups. While they are focused on the industry and policies of the past, America’s ethanol producers are looking toward the future. They are putting forward ideas and making investments in technologies that improve yields, increase efficiencies, harness new feedstocks, protect the environment, expand the market for renewable fuels and most importantly, create good paying jobs for hundreds of thousands of Americans from all walks of life.”
We could not agree more.
Posted By Cathryn September 13, 2011
Now approaching its 60th anniversary, the Talbot County Maryland Corn Club came to Corn Commentary with a question: “Are we the oldest corn club in the country?”
Founded in 1951, the club was founded to facilitate a county-wide yield contest and host an awards banquet for the winners. At one point, the club even served as a model for fine similar programs in Maryland alone, but the majority of these organizations have disappeared with state and national organizations hosting most yield contests. The members of the Talbot County Corn Club continue their proud tradition citing the knowledge and ideas shared as reason enough to make the effort.
To help them celebrate, let’s find an answer to their question. If you have knowledge of any corn club that has run continuously since 1955 or before, please submit the name of the club and a contact by October 30, 2011 to Corn Commentary via email, by clicking here. While the Talbot Corn Club certainly has something to celebrate already, finding the oldest corn club in the country helps us all to recognize the proud agricultural traditions that are an important part of our industry’s heritage.
Posted By Cathryn September 12, 2011
As U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates for the 2012 corn crop continue to drop, a lot of people want to throw around blame. Whether it be for higher prices or smaller supplies, corn users and detractors alike want heads to roll over their inability to source corn at prices that, quite frankly, have held relatively steady for decades.
Today is not the time for blame. Today is the time to reflect upon the incredible achievements that have allowed U.S. farmers to pull through disastrous weather reasonably in-tact, producing what may be a near-record crop.
Farmers, by the very nature of their business, must depend upon the weather. This year, Mother Nature proved uncooperative at best. In spring, she flooded the banks of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers and delayed planting with a seemingly unending deluge. Then, showing her mercurial nature, she baked Texas, and much of the Corn Belt to a lesser extent, with an unrelenting heat. Finally, as if to show that no one would escape her wrath, Hurricane Irene leveled much of the crop almost ready for harvest along the East Coast. If this were an actual mother, the family would certainly be in counseling by now.
Despite harsh conditions, farmers maintained their composure using the vast array of tools and techniques developed through advanced research to mitigate the string on blows pummeled upon their fields. Day after day, they walked the rows contemplating a next move, a way to make the most of the quickly deteriorating situation.
What we should celebrate today is the fact that farmers, backed by research and technology, can still produce an abundant crop even in difficult conditions. Only 10 years ago, the national average yield was 138 bushels per acre and the crop totaled 9.5 billion bushels. Now, even in a year many farmers describe as having the worst weather they have seen, the United States is set to produce 12.5 billion bushels of corn with a national average yield of 148 bushels per acre. Today, farmers do what those only a few decades ago could not have imagined under circumstances without recent parallel.
It only gets better though. As new traits come through the pipeline, Texans will have access to corn varieties that can better resist drought. Corn Belters will select the seeds they need to withstand more or less rain as they see fit. Scientists are hard at work to make sure that every farmer’s hard work is matched by the thought and development in each seed they plant.
Posted By Cathryn September 9, 2011
From Main Street to MTV, everyone is talking about food. Unfortunately, this conversation does not often include the people who grow it. CommonGround Conversations creates a space for America’s farm families, and the people who support them, to share the story. Here, we have a meeting ground that will let you discover the values and hard work that underlie our nation’s abundant, safe harvest. Help us share our story! By submitting photos of yourself, family and friends waving at the camera, join your voice with like-minded people to open a national dialogue saying, “Hi! I support farmers. Let’s talk about how we grow our food.”
Now’s your chance to join in on the CommonGround movement and let your voice be heard.
Right now, the movement is growing. Help us find the CommonGround between the people who grow food and those who buy it. Start today on CommonGround’s Facebook fan page. Here’s how to join the conversation:
- “Like” the CommonGround fan page.
- Take a photo of yourself, your friends or your family waving as if to say, “When you want to talk about food, talk to a farmer.”
- Click here to submit your story and photo.
Learn More About CommonGround
Posted By Cathryn September 1, 2011
America has a love affair with farmers. From iconic imagery, like American Gothic, to reality television shows that help a handsome young farmer in his quest for a wife, we have inherited a respect for their independence and dedication. Even with 98.5 percent of the population completely removed from agriculture, images of the American farmer permeate our culture and construct our heritage.
The coupling of this healthy respect with a desire to return to what many view as a simpler, more thoughtful lifestyle has heavily influenced many foodies to recreate small portions of their lives. From city dwellers keeping chickens in backyards to urbanites building community gardens, a growing number of Americans want to explore farming in a real, tactile manner.
As these trends receive increasing attention, it becomes increasingly important that these noble, well-intentioned desires also become more informed. Fresh laid eggs on subdivision breakfast tables and shopping bags of fresh basil aside, the business of farming is serious work.
So, what would it really take to feed the average family of four intent upon growing and raising every scrap of food to hit the table? It would take about two acres.
This idea seems somewhat hard to imagine. Luckily, a group called One Block Off the Grid developed this infographic to show exactly what this family would have to raise and the amount of land these crops and livestock would require.
Notably, said family would have to adopt some dietary changes that the majority if Americans might not consider acceptable. Beef and traditional milk would not be an option. Instead, they would need to adhere to a diet that allows only limited portions of pork and poultry with dairy products created using goat’s milk. For many months of the year depending upon the climate, even on this hypothetical farm based in a nearly ideal climate, vegetables would only come from the supply they spent many hours carefully canning and stocking on pantry shelves. Fruit would actually have to be viewed as a treat and not what mom substituted for real dessert. Incredible hard work and significant land ownership aside, this family would hardly be living the locally produced dream that is so easy to envision in the fine dining restaurants that tout the movement’s virtues.
Examining this scenario can turn up many ideas and feelings as unique as their creators. What it should turn up almost universally though is a healthy respect for American agriculture.
Our society enjoys an abundance and variety of food heretofore unimaginable. We have access to nutritious, affordable food that the vast majority of the world envies. Despite rising rates of obesity, the prevalence of calorie-laden options and a general propensity toward the often deliciously decadent, the vast majority of Americans have the luxury of pondering their food issues with a full stomach.
Maybe, we should thank our farmers. They do work tirelessly cultivating the vast tracts of land needed to feed a growing population. They keep abreast of the newest technology and practices to constantly improve their operations. While most of us sleep peacefully, farmers are already awake and in their fields making sure that we have something on our breakfast plates.
Tending a plot of tomatoes is an excellent way to explore our heritage while cultivating something to proudly serve guests. At the same time, it is imperative that we continue to embrace our respect for the farmers who make life as we know it possible.
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.
