Today is Veterans Day and one of the sad facts about the men and women who serve our nation is that they often return from active duty with few job opportunities. That’s where the Farmer Veteran Coalition is making a difference. The coalition is helping to mobilize veterans in the fight to feed America by cultivating a new generation of …
A Corn-y Conversation
Iowa CommonGround volunteer Julie Kenney brought the story of corn to internet viewers everywhere recently during an interview with Iowa Girl Eats blogger Kristin Porter. The video, made possible by the Iowa Food and Family Project, explains both the different types of corn people see in the field driving by as well as what their uses. Find out more about …
It’s Candy Corn Time!
At the same time of year when combines are running in the corn fields, billions of kernels of candy corn are being popped in mouths around the country. That’s right, I said billions. According to the National Confectioners Association, 35 million pounds of candy corn are sold around Halloween, which is approximately 9 billion individual kernels of corn. That’s kind …
New Farm Marketing Idea
The new Subway ad is not only funny, it offers a great idea for an alternative source of income on the farm, and getting your chores done too! In the television spot, a young man tells his meal partner at Subway that he’s currently doing “Crop Fit,” a hardcore fitness program “based on 19th Century farming practices” - like pulling …
Save the Corn Farmers?
Google “save the rainforest” and watch all the organizations that pop up; everything from the World Rainforest Fund to Kids Saving the Rainforest. I don’t have a problem with that because rainforests are a critical cog in the blue planet’s eco-system. Rainforests provide incredible biodiversity and through the process of photosynthesis they also provide the duel function of removing carbon …
Support Solid Science, Speak Out for Solid Journalism
This weekend, The Washington Post stood up to the fear-fueled tactics of anti-GMO activists in a brilliant editorial, “Genetically Modified Crops Could Help Improve the Lives of Millions.” The piece, which points out the incredible benefit GMOs offer for both farmers and anyone who depends upon them, denounces the anti-GMO movement for its promotion of mandatory labeling and outright bans. …
Put Your FFA Jacket in the Smithsonian?
You know how they refer to outlaw motorcycle gangs like Hell’s Angels as 1 percenters? Well, I jokingly referred to the omnipresent blue corduroy jacket wearing FFA members in high school as 2 percenters. That’s because only about 2 percent of the population had a real shot at becoming a farmer and feeding the world. There are more than 20 …
White House on Climate Change and Farmers
Agriculture is a big part of the new White House climate change assessment report out this week. “Corn producers in Iowa, oyster growers in Washington state and maple syrup producers in Vermont are all observing climate-related changes that are outside of recent experience,” the report states. Immediately after the report was released on Tuesday, the administrator of the Environmental Protection …
Don’t be Motley Foolish in Opposing Ethanol
In response to an article about ethanol on the popular Motley Fool website, NCGA’s director of biofuels, Pam Keck, Ph.D., provided this comment. The website has not chosen to publish it, so we are offering it here: I applaud Mr. Funk’s approach to using a real-world example of calculating and comparing the BTU values of gasoline vs. ethanol. There …
Binging on Earth Day Irony
Ok, I admit I love irony. So I had to chuckle a little bit as everyone was getting fired up about the arrival of another Earth Day. The irony lies in the fact that this momentous occasion occurs two days after the anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. To refresh your memory this was …