Drone pro Robert Frye captured the beauty of corn planting from a bird’s eye view earlier this month in high def video edited with dramatic music. Robert shot video of Iowa farmers Jim, Matt and Jay Frye planting with a DJI Inspire-1 4K camera. He chose what he called a “metaphorical” music selection entitled “In the Beginning” by Lorne Balfe …
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 …
Learning About Conservation in the Everglades
Normally, the Conservation Technology and Information Center stays pretty close to the Midwest for its annual Conservation in Action tour, but this year they headed way south into the Florida Everglades to get a look at some very different types of crops. On the tour was CTIC board member and National Corn Growers Association Soil Health and Sustainability Manager Nick …
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 …
Quick and Easy Corn on the Cob
Sweet corn is a summer treat, but few people will go to the trouble of cooking corn on the cob for just themselves. This YouTube video showing a fast and easy way to make corn on the cob for one has gone viral this summer. I can’t wait to try it! ShareEmailPrint
Follow the Anti-RFS Money
Is anyone really surprised to learn that Saudi oil money is helping to fund the effort by the American Petroleum Institute (API) to get rid of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)? As if we needed proof, Americans United for Change and VoteVets.org revealed IRS documents this week showing that is the case. According to tax documents, Saudi Arabia has been …
CommonGround Iowa Volunteer
We recently got to meet Sara Ross, Iowa farmer and part of CommonGround Iowa. Sara and her husband Kevin operate a diversified farm near Minden, IA. She loves the volunteer work through CommonGround and talks about how it is helping her engage with non-farm folks about where their food comes from. She has been featured a couple of times in …
Harvest in the Bin
The 2013 harvest is considered completed at this point and the overall consensus is that it was a strange year that turned out well in the end. Lance Honig with USDA’s National Ag Statistics Service says it looks especially good compared to 2012. “Last year with the extreme drought, we’d be hard pressed not to be above last year,” he …
Corn Harvest in Florida
Florida ranks first in the nation for sweet corn production, but we also grow a little bit of field corn in the Sunshine State as well. Not that the Corn Belt has to worry about losing its title to Florida. Only about 30,000 acres of field corn were harvested in Florida in 2011 with a yield of 100 bushels per …
Cellulosic Ethanol From Corn
Despite what the critics have to say, commercial cellulosic ethanol is already a reality and the fastest pathway is by getting more from traditional corn ethanol. The latest achievement is the groundbreaking of a new cellulosic “bolt-on” ethanol plant in Galva, Iowa. Quad County Corn Processors Cooperative general manager Delayne Johnson says the Adding Cellulosic Ethanol (ACE) project will increase …