A Beginner’s Guide to Commenting on Blogs

Have you ever read a blog and wanted to comment but didn’t? Well no more! Join us this week as the National Corn Growers Association hosts a Social Media Training Webinar featuring a “A Beginner’s Guide to Commenting on Blogs.”

“Time and again, research shows that the best resource farmers have are their own voices,” said Grower Services Action Team Chair Brandon Hunnicutt, a farmer in Nebraska very active in using Facebook and Twitter. “Social media takes our stories and allows us to reach further than we ever could before. I know that finding the right balance when crafting a response to a blog post can be tricky. Through this seminar, we will help clear the confusion and provide simple tips that get results.”

This session will focus on the necessary steps to expand your online influence into the blogosphere. It will cover topics such as how to find relevant blogs and news articles, suggestions about when to comment and when to stay silent, best practices for effective commenting, strategies to help engage with the authors of blogs, how to deal with negative feedback, and more.

The webinar takes place at 10:30 a.m. CDT Thursday, May 19. Follow-up webinars are planned for June 16, July 21, August 18, September 15, October 20, November 17 and December 15. Times for these will be announced prior to the webinars. Click here to register or get more information.

The series is conducted by The Vandiver Group, a strategic communications firm based in St. Louis. Previous webinar presentations are available at NCGA’s Website.

This program is generously supported by Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont Business, and is the fifth of 12 free hour-long online learning sessions underway monthly through 2011.

It’s Good to be Prince

His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales was in the United States this week, just days after the royal wedding of his son. His main gig was a keynote address at “The Future of Food” conference at Georgetown University, sponsored by the Washington Post.

As Cathryn wrote in a post last fall here, Prince Charles is a critic of modern agricultural practices. Because he has “tried to farm as sustainably as possible for some twenty-six years,” the prince believes that we can feed nine billion people on this planet with a food system that is “not dependent upon the use of chemical pesticides, fungicides and insecticides; nor, for that matter, upon artificial fertilizers and growth-promoters or G.M.”

I like the way the prince references the “facts” he uses to back up his concerns about the “perilous state” of our food future. “Here in the U.S., I am told, four out of every ten bushels of corn are now grown to fuel motor vehicles,” he said. He was also told that one acre of farmland in the United States “is lost to development every minute of every day.” He didn’t say who told him these facts.

The prince seems to bemoan the fact that modern food production techniques are more efficient and result in cheaper food than organic or his definition of sustainable. He blames that mainly on subsidies that favor “overwhelmingly those kinds of agricultural techniques that are responsible for the many problems” he outlined, including food insecurity, declining yield increases, climate change, growing demand for food and fuel, heavy reliance on fossil fuels and land and water usage, and he says that the cost of the “damages” to nature are not figured in to the cost of modern food production. However, he admits that moving to the kind of “sustainable food production” system that he envisions may result in higher food prices.

“Nobody wants food prices to go up, but if it is the case that the present low price of intensively produced food in developed countries is actually an illusion, only made possible by transferring the costs of cleaning up pollution or dealing with human health problems onto other agencies, then could correcting these anomalies result in a more beneficial arena where nobody is actually worse off in net terms? It would simply be a more honest form of accounting.” (Read the whole speech here.)

It’s good to be prince and to be able to afford a carefully monitored organic food system that uses heritage seeds and preserves rare breeds, but most of us just want healthy, nutritious and affordable food.

Praying for Farmers and Those Who Rely On Them

“Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.”  - Psalm 54:2

On Thursday, our country celebrates the National Day of Prayer. It’s always a welcome day for many of us, a time to join together and thank God for his many gifts while praying for our specific needs.

This year, there is so much to pray about and so many to pray for, such as those still dealing with the effects of natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, tsunami and tornadoes.  On the southern tip of Illinois a historic town may face destruction if the only practical alternative, flooding rich Missouri farmland, is not taken. It’s not a good situation for anyone. (5/3 Update: the levee was blown and the farms are flooding.) And then there are the millions of hungry here and abroad. Often, it’s not because there is no food, but no way to get healthy food to them.

Here in the Midwest, farmers anxiously want to plant their crops but are challenged by wet weather. They know they can feed the world, and they are eager to do so, but the weather does not cooperate.

And so it’s a good time to pray. We should give thanks, first, for our blessings, our talent and success and, yes, our technology that helps us grow more food each year. But we should also pray directly for our needs and those of others. All we have to do is ask. Here are some suggestions:

Pray for those who do not have enough food and for those who are working hard to help feed them.

Pray for those who have lost their homes and those in danger of losing their property.

Pray for favorable planting weather now and the rain we need later this summer to grow our crops.

Pray for farmers that they may be strong and healthy for this most important work.

Corn Bags Clean Up the Clean Up

For years, environmental activists have reinforced the negative impact that plastic bags, similar to those used in grocery stores, have upon the planet.  These ubiquitous bags can sit in landfills for over 1,000 years.  Now, people who love the planet and their dogs are championing a better option- corn-based biodegradable dog waste bags.

Here, ingenuity and U.S. farming collide to meet demand rooted in an urban problem, cleaning up after Fido.  With the new bags, which programs such as the downtown St. Louis “Scoop the Poop” campaign are using, dog owners can rest assured knowing that they are keeping their city and their planet clean.

Farmers know how important caring for the land is.  So enjoy walking Rex and don’t forget that farmers provide the fuel for innovative ways to improve the way we treat the earth every day.

Glenn Beck Fails Ethanol 101

 Guest Blogger:  Jesse Johnson, Social Media Director, South Dakota Corn Growers Association

In case you didn’t know it, Glenn Beck hates ethanol and has always been very vocal about it including a recent rant using some fear mongering about our national corn supply where he brings up the food vs. fuel argument.

Glenn must be desperate for killing some air time because the food vs. fuel debate has been put to bed more times than a teething two year-old. Beck, like every other anti-ethanol rube fails to mention the contribution of dried distillers grain (DDG’s), corn ethanol’s by product which can be fed to cattle, hogs, poultry and aquaculture. One-third of the corn used for ethanol comes back as DDG’s as the production process only removes the starch.

DDG’s impact includes replacing more than one million bushels of corn for feed in the U.S. and its overall production is equivalent to the number four corn producing nation in the world. Distillers grain exports are in high demand in Asia, the Middle East, Canada and Mexico.

Numerous experts have come out over the past few weeks with the same message, “Don’t blame ethanol and farmers for rising food prices.” The reason behind rising food costs has much more to do with rising oil prices, weather and unrest in the Middle East.

Beck says only one billion bushels will be going to food…wait, he does know that humans don’t consume yellow number two corn, right? Well that’ tough to say when a so-called expert totally excludes distillers grain from a food vs. fuel argument.

Glen states that farmers can’t produce more corn. While much depends on the weather, with increased seed and farming technologies corn yields are still trending upwards allowing farmers to consistently meet the world’s demands for food, feed, fuel and fiber.

Beck with finishes with the line, “It’s like we are being set up for a lose-lose.”

I’m sorry Mr. Beck but reducing our countries dependence on foreign oil, creating jobs, bettering the environment and producing a high-protein livestock feed sounds like nothing but winning to me

Corn Prices Higher With or Without Ethanol

The basic conclusion of a new report from the from the Iowa State University Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) is that corn prices would have done just about the same thing between 2006 to 2009 with or without ethanol.

The analysis by Bruce Babcock and Jacinto Fabiosa uses a computer model to “rewrite history” by re-creating what actually happened in agricultural markets then removing government incentives to produce and consume corn ethanol. To further isolate the effects of ethanol on commodity prices, they also ran a scenario where ethanol production was frozen at 2004 levels.

In summary, this is what they discovered:

First, the general pattern of corn prices that we saw in the historical period—increasing prices in in 2006 and 2007, a price spike in 2008, followed by a sharp price decline in 2009—would have occurred without ethanol subsidies or even if corn ethanol production had not expanded. Second, investor fervor for corn ethanol in 2005, 2006, and 2007 would have occurred even without subsidies because a combination of cheap corn, a phase-out of MTBE, and higher crude oil prices made ethanol profitable. Thus, ethanol production would have expanded quite rapidly even without subsidies.

Using the 2004 corn price of $2.06 per bushel as a reference, actual corn prices increased by an average of $1.65 per bushel from 2006 to 2009. Only 14 cents (8%) of this increase was due to ethanol subsidies. Another 45 cents of the increase was due to market-based expansion of the corn ethanol industry. Together, expansion of corn ethanol from subsidies and market forces accounted for 32% of the average increase that we saw in corn prices from 2006 to 2009. All other market factors accounted for 68% of the corn price increase.

Corn Growers Aid Japan With Grain Donations

Nebraska farmers are coming to the aid of their customers in Japan by donating grain to support Red Cross efforts to help those impacted by the earthquake and tsunami.

In just the first two days of the program that started April 1, more than 4,600 bushels of grain were contributed in the Cornhusker State and sold for more than $31,000 to donate to the Red Cross. “We’ve seen an incredible response to the grain donation program. It’s the largest program we’ve ever had in our chapter, and dollars generated will go directly to the Red Cross international relief effort,” said Renae Foster, chief operating officer of the Central Plains Regional Chapter of the American Red Cross.

“Japan is one of our important customers, buying more than $370 million in Nebraska agricultural products like corn, beef and pork, last year alone,” said Lynn Chrisp, a farmer from Kenesaw and member of the Nebraska Corn Growers Association. “This is a great way for farmers to help them during this disaster, to be a good neighbor to one of our most important global customers.”

The program allows farmers to make grain donations at cooperative locations or by contacting their grain merchandiser and transferring ownership to the Red Cross. “The more locations there are to deliver corn, the bigger impact we’ll have,” Chrisp said. “In fact, we’re hoping the grain donation program is adopted in other states, too.”

The grain donation program was developed by the Nebraska Corn Growers Association, Aurora Cooperative and the American Red Cross, with farmer-owned KRVN rural radio also supporting the initiative. It is currently scheduled to run through July 30. For more information, contact Mat Habrock at the Nebraska Corn Growers.

Cold, Wet Weather Dampens Planting Party

After getting off to a good start, planting has slowed down around the corn belt, thanks to cold and wet weather. USDA showed progress at eight percent, just a point below normal for this time of year, but way behind last year’s swift pace of 16 percent. Only two states are showing planting ahead of normal right now and they are Missouri and Kansas – both of which made excellent progress last week.

While there is nothing to be concerned about yet, the markets were happy to react early in the week on fears that the delays will reduce yields. That can certainly happen, especially if these cool soil temperatures continue and emergence is delayed. Kansas State University extension specialist Craig Roseboom says if just one out of six plants is delayed by two leaf stages, yields could be reduced by 3-4 percent. “They’re not huge yield reductions, but prices are good and even a three percent yield reduction at 200 bushel corn, that’s $36 an acre in terms of potential gross receipts,” Roseboom says.

But, the forecast is looking better, at least according to the markets which took a dive later in the week on that good news. With as fickle as the weather has been lately, it is certainly way too early to make any predictions about how this planting season will end up. Just keep praying that the good Lord is willing and the creeks don’t rise.

Racing with American Ethanol Tonight

Be sure to tune into the NASCAR  Nationwide Series race at 7:30 p.m. tonight on ESPN2. Also, catch the Nationwide qualifying event at 4:30 p.m. Kenny Wallace,  American Ethanol spokesman, will be featured during the qualifying. Also, there is an in-car camera in Kenny’s American Ethanol Toyota Camry No. 09 for in-race coverage. Be on the lookout for the incredible visibility of American Ethanol.

This is all part of the NASCAR American Ethanol partnership of the National Corn Growers Association, Growth Energy and others, to draw attention to the fact that NASCAR now uses E15 with homegrown ethanol in all cars in all its races, starting this season.

A Philosophy that Fails

Steve Forbes on Fox News Channel: “The bottom line is, the surface of the earth should be grown for food; below the surface is where you get the energy.”

I have seen statements like in the past and they are almost philosophical or moral in their approach. But where do they come from? For millennia, plants have been used for something other than food. Farming is nothing other than the organized production of plants for use by humans, without regard to whether it is going to be used as food.

After all, how much of the cotton harvest becomes clothing? How many acres of trees are used for lumber or paper, or even Christmas trees for that matter?

As far as fuel goes, cavemen were gathering logs for fires and farmers growing hay for work animals long before oil was being drilled for. In some part of the world, wood remains an important primary energy source.

And would Forbes want us to eschew, not chew, all the wonderful foods that grow “below the surface,” from potatoes to peanuts? I think not.

The Forbes philosophy would be harmful both to food and fuel, not to mention farmers.