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Corn shortage idles 20 ethanol plants nationwide This October file photo shows unharvested corn in a field near Council Bluffs, Iowa. Corn growers had high hopes going into the 2012 planting season but the drought that began last spring hit the corn crop hard. As a result, corn prices skyrocketed and corn has become scarce in some regions, forcing 20 ethanol plants around the country to halt production. Most are not expected to resume production until after 2013 corn is harvested in late August or September. Associated Press ST. LOUIS — The persistent drought is taking a toll on producers of ethanol, with corn becoming so scarce that nearly two dozen ethanol plants have been forced to halt production. The Renewable Fuels Association, an ethanol industry trade group, provided data to The Associated Press showing that 20 of the nation’s 211 ethanol plants have ceased production over the past year, including five in January. Most remain open, with workers spending time performing maintenance-type tasks. But ethanol production won’t likely resume until after 2013 corn is harvested in late August or September. Industry experts don’t expect a shortage — millions of barrels are stockpiled and the remaining 191 plants are still producing. Still, there is growing concern about what happens if the drought lingers through another corn-growing season. “There’s a lot of anxiety in the industry right now about the drought and a lot of folks watching the weather and hoping and praying this drought is going to break,” said Geoff Cooper, vice president for research and analysis for the Renewable Fuels Association. “If we get back to a normal pattern and normal corn crop, then I think the industry is in good shape,” Cooper said. “But if this drought persists and it has the same effect on this coming corn crop, then we’ve got a problem.” America’s ethanol industry has taken off in the past decade. Plants in 28 states produce more than 13 billion gallons of ethanol each year, Cooper said. By comparison, in 2002, the industry produced 2.1 billion gallons. Today, roughly 10 percent of the U.S. gasoline supply is made up of the biofuel. Roughly 95 percent of U.S. ethanol is made from corn. The National Corn Growers Association estimates that 39 percent of the U.S. corn crop is used in ethanol production. Corn producers had high hopes going into 2012. Record harvests were predicted. Then the weather dried up. The drought began before planting and never stopped. Even though more acres were planted in 2012 compared to 2011, 13 percent less corn was harvested. Availability of locally produced corn is vital for ethanol plants since having it shipped in is too expensive. To make matters worse, the drought hit hardest in many of the top corn-growing states. Six of the 20 ethanol plants that stopped production are in Nebraska, two in Indiana, and two in Minnesota. Ten states have seen one plant affected. Cooper said the 20 plants employ roughly 1,000 workers combined, but it wasn’t known how many have been laid off. Valero Energy Corp., idled three plants last year — in North Linden, Ind., and Albion, Neb., in June; and in Bloomingburg, Ohio, in December. Five plants ceased production in January alone — Abengoa plants in the Nebraska towns of York and Ravenna; a White Energy plant in Plainview, Texas; an Aemetis facility in Keyes, Calif.; and POET Biorefining’s mid-Missouri plant in Macon. The production stoppages are cutting into ethanol production. The 770,000 gallons per day produced in the last full week of January were the fewest since the U.S. Energy Information Administration began tracking weekly data in June 2010. That’s not much of an issue for consumers, at least for now, because there are plenty of stockpiles of ethanol. Purdue University agriculture economist Chris Hurt said the nation has more than 20 million barrels of ethanol in stock, slightly more than a year ago, largely because Americans are driving less and driving more fuel-efficient cars. Cooper said, though, that stockpiles are expected to dwindle in the spring and summer as demand picks up and plants remain idled. Hurt said the ethanol industry needs an end to the drought, a strong corn crop and a drop in corn prices. Corn futures were $5.51 a bushel in May, before the drought’s impact took hold. Prices rose to a peak of $8.34 per bushel in August and were $7.46 per bushel last week. “I cannot see any profitability in this industry until we get lower corn prices, and it’s going to take a reasonable-sized U.S. crop,” Hurt said. Officials at the nation’s leading ethanol makers — Archer Daniels Midland and POET — declined to speculate about whether additional plants will close. POET spokesman Matt Merritt said producing ethanol at Macon became cost-prohibitive because of the lack of available Missouri corn, and shipping it in was simply too expensive. Cooper said most of the idled plants expect to restart production — just not anytime soon. Corn is expected to remain scarce and expensive at least until the 2013 crop is harvested, starting in late August and into September. Cooper believes ethanol production won’t resume at most plants until then. For now, many of the plants remain open with workers doing maintenance or helping to modernize the facilities while they wait for production to resume, Cooper said. Only one of the closed production facilities, an ADM plant in Wallhalla, N.D., may be closed for good, Cooper said. “Generally the industry is optimistic,” Cooper said. “We’re just going through a rough patch here.” Not everyone associated with the industry is that optimistic. Brian Baalman farms near Menlo, Kan., typically growing 8,000 acres of corn each year. Last year’s crop was about one-third of that. This year, he may plant only the one-third of his acreage where irrigation is available this summer. Like many growers, Baalman has a direct interest in ethanol. He is on the board of Western Plans Energy in Oakley, Kan., and has stock in seven ethanol plants. He said near-record prices for corn, driven up by the drought-fueled shortage, are making ethanol production costs too high. “We are burning up all our excess cash just to stay running at a reduced rate to keep people working and keep the people there, keep the lights on, so to speak,” Baalman said. “It’s very tough right now.” “A lot of these ethanol plants aren’t going to make it,” Baalman said.

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Sheep grower opens on-ranch processing plant A Willamette Valley sheep rancher has opened a state-of-the-art slaughter facility. By Jan JacksonFor the Capital Press Jan Jackson/For the Capital Press Anderson Ranch's Kalapooia Valley Grass Fed Processing plant includes approximately 10,000 square feet of processing space and 5,000 square feet of holding pen space. Jan Jackson/For the Capital Press Reed Anderson, a fourth generation Brownsville sheep grower, processed his first grass-fed lambs in his new processing plant on Oct. 7. The sophisticated plant allows him quality control of his branded product from the animal's conception to the retailer. Brownsville, Ore. — A new USDA-inspected processing facility, designed for grass-fed sheep, goats and cattle, has been opened in the heart of Linn County sheep country. Faced with a decision whether to quit focusing on meat or to build himself a processing plant, Reed Anderson chose to build. The 15,000-square-foot facility can hold 500 lambs or 70 cattle and process up to 300 animals a day. “To make it in the sheep business, you need to go for quality or volume and we’re known the upscale branded product,” Anderson said. “The stumbling block for us was processing. Now I control the quality from the point of conception to the finished product.”Anderson, who is the fourth generation in a five-generation sheep operation, met with his family to make the decision to build.“We looked at grants and co-ops and the like and decided to mortgage the farm,” Anderson said. “I wanted the building itself to look like an agriculture building and not a barn, and depending on which piece of equipment you look at depends on if it was purchased new, bought and shipped from a processing plant that closed in Chicago or was custom made for us,” he said.The pelts are dried in an adjacent building and sent to a pelt plant in Texas. “I followed the Temple Grandin model in the holding pens — lots of lights, curved passageways, non-slip well-drained surfaces — everything to create humane, stress-free conditions and I have security cameras patrolling the offloading areas,” he said. “People with animal experience helped me put it together and we all knew what we didn’t want.” Everybody’s good ideas went into the job, he said.Anderson named his plant after the Kalapooia Indians who settled the valley known in the center of what is known as the grass seed capital of the world. Geoff Latham of Nicky USA and Mike Wooley of Longs Meat Market in Eugene are among the customers that rely heavily on Anderson’s fresh lamb, and both men jumped at the first opportunity to tour the new facility.“A state-of-the-art processing plant right here in the valley is perfect for us,” Latham said. “We both look for local ranches that grass feed and this makes us happy.”Anderson, who is looking forward to the building phase being over, said that he has probably wanted his own processing plant all his life. “Every time I hit a snag I would say to myself that if I had my own plant I could,…” he said. “I remember the days we just raised sheep and after all the work of keeping them away from the coyotes, they were always either too big, too small, too black, too white or it wasn’t the right time for the pelts,” Anderson said. “Today, I can raise them the way I think they ought to be raised, process them the minute I believe the time is right and get them to my customer when he needs them.”

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Jerry Whitney, left, and Mike Waldner take a break while working on equipment in Whitney’s yard outside South Shore Thursday afternoon. Whitney, owner of Whitney Custom Harvesting, is normally getting ready to head to Oklahoma and Texas for winter wheat harvest. This year, the extremely poor condition of the crop has him wrestling with a decision over whether to go or not. Drought, freezes hamper Southern wheat harvest By Terry O’Keefe, Staff Writer SOUTH SHORE — This has been a spring of frustrating dilemmas for Jerry Whitney. He upgraded equipment — newer combines, headers, trailers and trucks — getting ready for the winter wheat harvest in Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas. A crew has been hired and the equipment is close to being ready to go. But for the first time since his dad founded Whitney Custom Harvesting in 1946, they might not head south this year. “Everything is kind of on hold right now,” Whitney said Thursday as they worked in the yard of his home outside South Shore repairing leaf springs on a trailer. After showing some recovery last year, the areas where the crew harvests has slipped back into something of a severe drought in some parts, while others saw a fair wheat crop nipped in the bud by a series of late spring freezes. In some areas, the result has been that there’s nothing left to harvest, and in others the crop is marginal at best or being turned over to livestock grazing to replace expensive feed. Keeping in contact with his regular customers, Whitney hasn’t been hearing good news for this year’s harvest, forcing him to weigh the cost of making the trip versus return. With high fuel costs, wages and equipment costs to consider, it hasn’t been easy to make a decision. “The other day, I would have said, no, (we're not going),” he said. “But then, another guy called and he’s got a little more to cut, so... “We’ve got things pretty well ready to go, so now we’re just working on (equipment).” As he wrestles with reaching a decision over the next week or so, Whitney is taking a look at the bad and the not so bad. His route to the South takes the crew to southwest Oklahoma, before heading to the Amarillo area of Texas. “Our (usual) first stop is just gone,” Whitney said of a grower near Altus, Okla. “We usually cut about 2,500 to 3,000 acres and it’s one of my better stops. “My people from Texas called said they turned the cattle out on the rest (of the crop). They usually plant about 3,000 acres of wheat, but it’s been a long time since they harvested it all. I think 2007 was the last year they had a decent crop.” Northwest Texas and southwest Oklahoma have been among the areas hardest hit by severe drought in recent years and, in some cases. the late freeze added insult to injury. “Most of them have seen more failures than successes,” Whitney said. “That’s something people in this part of the world don't see.” He said one grower reported being hit by a hard freeze five times early this spring as the wheat was heading out, leaving nothing but a stubble field behind. Another had his wheat yield estimated at 2 to 4 bushels an acre. “They have some irrigated land and they’re going to replant that for cattle feed,” Whitney said. “They’re bigger into cattle than they are crops.” He said he’s been told northwest Oklahoma is in better shape and southwest Kansas is a little bit up in the air. “They’ve got a good stand, but they need a rain,” Whitney said. “If it rains, we’ll have a good crop. It was late maturing in that area so it missed that freeze.” In a normal year, Whitney starts the Southern harvest around Memorial Day, then moves north and back into central South Dakota toward the end of June. The winter wheat in that area has been hit hard by dry conditions, he said. “But they went ahead and planted some spring wheat, and looks pretty good right now,” Whitney said. He said a final decision on whether or not to go south will have to be made within a week to 10 days. “Right now, we only have about 3,000 acres left out of the first four stops and they’re not sure they’re going to make it or not,” Whitney said. “If another stop goes away, I can’t afford to go. “It’s kind of a shame — we’ve got the best equipment I’ve ever owned in my life and nowhere to go. But who knew ...”

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Biodiversity: An Interview with Slow Food Italy In an interview with the new President of Slow Food Italy, Gaetano Pascale, we learn about projects to protect biodiversity, the future of Italian Presidia and priorities for the coming months. Biodiversity will play an important role at the next Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre. What is the situation in Italy and what are the priorities of Slow Food? In addition to projects already being funded, such as the Presidia and the Ark of Taste which promote models of sustainable production, our goal is to raise awareness about biodiversity. To do this we need to work with producers to promote production methods that seek to protect biodiversity, as well as trying to change law and legislation. For example, we need a CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) that does more to incentivize producers who use local ecotypes. Secondly, we need to do more to get consumers to recognize the importance of biodiversity. What is the future of the Presidia? In Italy, we want the Presidia project to grow from being mostly local to national in scale. Obviously we still want to maintain a degree of national variation. What I mean by that is that we want to create a list of national Presidia dedicated to products we use every day such as milk, oil and corn. In addition to this we want to involve more producers and make their products more accessible to consumers, without compromising the nature of the Presidia project – our commitment to small-scale agriculture. Protecting biodiversity means protecting our countryside. How do we tackle recent scandals such as the toxic waste in the Terra dei Fuochi near Naples and defend products from this region that are good, clean and fair? Our goal has always been to raise awareness among consumers. To deal with any food scandal the first step is to be informed. We need to get consumers asking not only where products come from, but also if they are produced in an eco-friendly way that respects animal welfare and the environment. The Terra dei Fuochi is a good example and requires consumers to be aware and producers to be clear about how things are produced. For example we have put a narrative label on many Presidia products, and this idea could be extended to producers from areas where the environment is at risk of being destroyed. In doing so we can display information from along the entire chain of production, which can reassure consumers by guaranteeing the quality of their product. Legality is another important issue that concerns our food, the safeguarding of the environment and our health. What is Slow Food doing in this area? It is vital that we know that our producers respect the law pertaining to the environment, health and safety, as well as financial law. We at Slow Food fight to create positive examples and our producers respect the letter of the law. We would like to ask producers of Presidium products to sign up to a protocol where they promise not to use manpower that is paid cash in hand and kept off the books. All our producers currently respect this rule, but having a signed protocol would send out an important message to producers who are not currently working with Slow Food. Respecting the law also means managing your waste in the right way. In order to help us here we are asking policy makers to simplify the law which is sometimes far too complicated and bureaucratic. What can we do to help combat urban sprawl, which is destroying our beautiful coastlines and countryside? Here in Italy it’s not a fair fight. Agricultural land has a commercial value much lower than land that is designated for building. Farmers must be real heroes to resist the temptation to sell up. Right now, in addition to protecting and sustaining these farmers we need to fight to protect areas that should not be developed for any reason and should be safeguarded for their agricultural value. Here in Italy we work with the South Milan Agricultural Park as well as the pressure group Save the Countryside to try to guarantee the protection of these areas against useless re-designation and development. A final question about the event itself: Why is it important that each one of us brings a product to the next Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre to add to the Ark of Taste? We want to catalogue these products and create a network that starts with the products and finishes with the producers behind them. Bringing a product to the Salone means raising the status of producers and giving them a central role. It’s time we start to talk about farming with farmers and production with producers. It’s a simple-sounding concept, but let’s think about it for a minute. How many times do we talk about agriculture without involving the people who produce and work these products? So choose a product you would like to see on the Ark, and bring it with you to Turin! Salone Del Gusto and Terra Madre will take place from October 23 - 27, 2014. Find out more: www.salonedelgusto.com

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Taiwan tea a matter of passion and profit GMT 10:42 2012 Friday ,29 June Taipei - AFP For decades, Lin Tsai-pan has tended his tea fields in the misty green hills of central Taiwan with a devotion bordering on obsession. It is not just a job. It is a passion and a question of honour. It is exactly 30 years since he first won a prize for his Oolong leaves at a prestigious contest held by Luku Farmers' Association in Nantou county, 20 years since his second prize, and 10 years since his third -- and so far last. "I feel I have a good chance of creating another miracle this time," he said on the eve of the 2012 summer competition, which was held in May. The stakes are huge. The winner of the competition can expect to sell his product at a steep premium -- thousands of US dollars per pound -- not least because of growing interest among newly affluent Chinese connoisseurs. The impact of Chinese demand was dramatically illustrated two years ago, when that year's winner was able to sell his harvest of 12 kilograms (26.4 pounds) at Tw$6.0 million ($200,670), twice the previous year's price. "Some 'nouveaux riches' from China think it worthwhile spending hundreds of thousands of Taiwan dollars," said Tony Lin, a senior staffer at the farmers association who recently returned from a fact-finding trip in the mainland. "After all, they get to taste the world's best Oolong tea, which is how they see it." Tea is a science in Asia. The categories are measured in terms of the fermentation process, with fully fermented black tea at one end and green tea at the other. Oolong tea, in the middle of the two extremes, has emerged as a must-buy for a large number of the more than 1.8 million Chinese tourists who visit the island each year, following an abrupt thaw in relations. Taiwan got a late start with Oolong. It was introduced in 1885 from southeast China's Fujian province to Tungting, Chinese for "Hill Top", a 700-metre (2,310-feet) mountain in Luku. But the island has caught up, and more than 120 years later, the Oolong tea produced in Taiwan has outperformed Oolong grown in the mainland. Oolong prices vary sharply, but medium-priced tea weighs in at about Tw$3,000 per kilogram. "Taiwan tea has a special flowery fragrance which China-produced tea doesn't," said Hsu Rung-chun, a third-generation merchant in the northern Lungtan township with deep knowledge of the trade. "Its quality may be dictated by a wide range of factors including weather, soil, the way the tea tree is treated -- and finally the tea manufacturing techniques." Taiwanese tea developers are working hard on different flavours. One example is "Oriental Beauty," a tea with a complex aroma and a rich aftertaste of honey and peaches produced in the northern Hsinchu and Taoyuan areas. Growers are forced to constantly upgrade and develop. The island's tea industry peaked in 1973 when it produced 28,000 tonnes of tea leaves, with 23,000 tonnes being exported. But since then, the sector has been gradually losing its competitiveness due to labour shortages, rising labour costs and the appreciation of the local currency. The total area of tea farms on the island has dwindled to 15,000 hectares (37,050 acres), less than half the size in the post-World War II heyday, as more cheap tea is shipped in from abroad. Chiu Chui-feng, a senior researcher at the state-run Tea Research and Extension Station, shrugged off the threat from cheap imports. "The imports are simply to meet the low-priced demand and have posed no threat to Taiwan's high-priced tea," he said. The imported low-cost tea leaves are mostly used in the manufacturing of cheap bottled tea drinks which are popular among young consumers, he said. However, experts and tea industry workers are alarmed by the "invasion" of Oolong tea grown in Southeast Asia or even in China but packed in Taiwan. "The hard-won credit of Taiwan tea may be eroded by the imported Oolong tea sold in the name of Taiwan-grown tea," said Hsu, the tea trader. While calling on the government to adopt counter-measures to regulate the prevailing malpractices, tea farmers, with the aid of regional associations and local governments, have been pulling all the stops to develop new aromas. Taiwanese tea traders have also worked with farmers to set up overseas tea production in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and China, introducing the Taiwan tea trees and Taiwan-developed manufacturing techniques. But quality comes first, and contests like the one attended by tea farmer Lin are essential in ensuring that the producers keep evolving. This time, however, he did not make it in the stiff race which had drawn a record 5,729 samples of Oolong tea leaves harvested in the spring from hundreds of farmers islandwide. "I'll be back again in the winter tea race," he said, undeterred, referring to the second of the year's contests, held in October. "As a matter of fact, all my three top prizes were obtained at the winter tea competition."

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Our Daily Poison The issue of pesticides and their alternatives remains a central health, agricultural and environmental topic hotly debated in Europe and across the world. We are all exposed to pesticides and agrochemicals directly or indirectly simply through our food, water, air and house and garden products. Pesticides have serious impacts on our environment and our health, and vulnerable groups such as pregnant women and children are especially are at risk, but alternatives do exist. So from March 20-30, for the eighth year in the row, the Pesticide Action Week is inviting the public to get better informed on the issue through hundreds of manifestations: conferences, panel discussions, film shows, workshops, field trips, symbolic marches, open farms, and exhibitions across Europe and Africa. Slow Food convivia are also getting involved, with the Tours-Val de Loire Convivium in France holding a march and the Languedoc, Roussillon and Narbonne Convivia organizing a week of debates, visits to producers and film screenings. The issue of pesticides has been a theme in films and books in recent years. One such is Our Daily Poison, a book and documentary of the same name by Marie-Monique Robin, journalist, writer and a documentary filmmaker who earned her reputation as the author of The World According to Monsanto. Our Daily Poison is the result of a long research process from many sources: citations of previous research; archive documents obtained from lawyers, NGOs, experts and private citizens; as well as information from a enormous number of interviews and meetings from across 10 countries. The work uncovers the hidden dangers in our daily food, recounting numerous cases of farmers who suffer from diseases as a consequence of excessive exposure to pollutants, the high number of children that developed diseases even before birth, and a sharp increase of cancer patients that cannot be explained simply by a higher longevity or tobacco use. Cancer is actually a "disease of civilization," says Robin, recalling many previous works such as Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, a work that Robin considers still up-to-date 50 years after its first edition. "While chemical agriculture was conquering the world, for the first time a scientist dared to discuss the agro-industrial system, a model that was supposed to grant universal affluence and wellbeing: Carson has systematically exposed the damages caused by "elixirs of death" to wildlife but also to human beings," she says. Fifty years on from the publication of the earliest works on the subject, the diseases of civilization increased, as well as the environmental input of pesticides, fungicides and herbicides. Furthermore, the agro-industrial business has sharpened its knives, financing research to advantage of its vested interests and exerting influence over decision makers. |

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NT Government paves way for poppy growers Matt Brann The Northern Territory Government is paving the way for a commercial poppy industry in the Top End. TPI Enterprises The Northern Territory Government has introduced legislation which would allow opium poppies to be grown commercially in the Top End.Tasmanian company TPI Enterprises successfully trialled poppies in the Territory last year and has plans for a larger commercial trial on the Tipperary cattle station south of Darwin.The NT Minister for Primary Industry, Willem Westra van Holthe, says the Poppy Regulation Bill introduced in parliament today will pave the way for such a trial."There was not a legal mechanism to allow for the commercialised growing of poppies in the Northern Territory, which is why the new legislation has been brought before the house," he said."The government has actively worked to design an appropriate regulatory framework to allow for the legalised growing, processing, storage and transportation of poppy and related products."This legislation will enable the commercialisation of poppies in a trial (by TPI), probably around 250 hectares."If it's successful, we could see a new poppy industry for the Territory." Paving the way for poppies in the NT TPI Enterprises is one of three poppy companies operating in Tasmania, the traditional home of Australia's poppy industry.When speaking to ABC Rural last year, TPI's managing director Jarrod Ritchie said all three companies were looking to the mainland to expand the industry."(The move to the Northern Territory) has come about because of two factors," he said."There's increasing global demand for pain management and anti-addiction drugs, and those products come out of the opium poppy."So there's enormous demand, and that's been coupled with the limitation of Tasmania to supply a reliable amount of poppy straw."Willem Westra van Holthe says he's expecting the new legislation to be passed in time for TPI's Northern Territory planting window."This is not about a taking an industry away from Tasmania. It's about the company's plans to expand," he said."We are putting the legislation up to the parliament on urgency, and asking that it be passed in this parliamentary sitting. Plans to grow opium poppies in the Top End Northern Territory welcomes poppy crop Tasmanian farmer group unhappy with Top End poppy plan

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Workers' Rights Access to the Courts The Pander Games: Obama Administration Sells Out Kids Doing Dangerous Agricultural Work, Breaks Pledge to Ensure Welfare of Youngest Workersby Rena Steinzor April 27, 2012 Yesterday evening, when press coverage had ebbed for the day, the Department of Labor issued a short, four-paragraph press release announcing it was withdrawing a rule on child labor on farms. The withdrawal came after energetic attacks by the American Farm Bureau, Republicans in Congress, Sarah Palin, and—shockingly—Al Franken (D-MN). Last year, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis said: "Children employed in agriculture are some of the most vulnerable workers in America.” “Ensuring their welfare is a priority of the department, and this proposal is another element of our comprehensive approach." The Administration pledged to protect young workers in dangerous jobs, and now they’ve thrown that pledge out the window. Yesterday, the Administration said this: “The Obama administration is firmly committed to promoting family farmers and respecting the rural way of life, especially the role that parents and other family members play in passing those traditions down through the generations. The Obama administration is also deeply committed to listening and responding to what Americans across the country have to say about proposed rules and regulations. As a result, the Department of Labor is announcing today the withdrawal of the proposed rule dealing with children under the age of 16 who work in agricultural vocations.” Give that excuse to the families of Alex Pacas (19) and Wyatt Whitebread (14), who were sent into a grain elevator without required safety harnesses to “walk the corn,” breaking up clumps so the grain could be removed from the elevator efficiently. The boys slipped into a hollow pocket, a common hazard in the industry, which is why the harnesses are required. They were smothered to death. Or we could ask the reaction of the families of another pair of boys, Tyler Zander and Bryce Gannon, both 17, whose legs got caught in a giant auger used to pull the grain into storage silos, causing grievous injuries. None of these children were working for mom and dad on the family farm that provides such a convenient shield for agribusiness to hide behind. Instead, they were employed by the agribusinesses that produce 84 percent of the value of production nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. These large-scale (annual income greater than $250,000) family and non-family farms account for 12 percent of some 2.2 million farms in the country. Equally to the point, the proposed rule the Department of Labor sent out for comment clearly exempted circumstances where children were working for their parents or engaging in truly educational activities like 4H. In February, DOL announced that it would modify the “parental exemption” language and was seeking further comment; the Agency was going to exempt children working not just for parents but for an adult “standing in the place of a parent.” For all practical purposes, withdrawal of the regulations means that children under 16 can be legally employed by big corporations doing tasks that include a variety of life-threatening hazards. Reaction from the agricultural community to President Obama’s about-face was ecstatic. The American Farm Bureau Federation gloated: “The Labor Department’s notification today that it is withdrawing proposed rules that would have prevented many young people from working in agriculture is the right decision for our nation’s family-based agriculture system. Farm Bureau appreciates the administration’s decision and efforts by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to listen to farmers, ranchers and other rural Americans. We also know that this would not have happened without the efforts of Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) and others in Congress, and we thank them for standing up for agriculture and the rural way of life.” (Rep. Rehberg, who is challenging incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, used a congressional hearing to complain that the proposed rule might prevent him from hiring his ten-year-old neighbor to herd his cashmere goats on a motorcycle.) But Republicans were not the only reason the White House killed the rule. Senator Al Franken (D-MN) said the withdrawal was “a good outcome.” The Labor Department, he said, “realized they needed to be working with farm groups and not doing it so much as regulations as a safety program because, as I said, no one cares more about their kids' safety.” According to the Centers for Disease Control’s Morbidity and Mortality Report issued in April 2010, “the greatest number of fatal injuries among younger workers occurred in the services (32 percent percent), construction (28 percent percent), wholesale and retail trade (10 percent), and agriculture (10 percent) industries. Younger workers experienced the highest rates of fatal injury in mining (36.5 per 100,000 full-time equivalent), agriculture (21.3 per 100,000 FTE), and construction (10.9 per 100,000 FTE).” I admit that I find the political calculus underlying these Pander Games confusing. Granted, the Farm Bureau is capable of getting a lot of people in the Corn Belt riled up about this latest government "intrusion" on the "freedom" to have their kids help them around the homestead that has been in the family for generations. But the rule did nothing of the sort. The argument was entirely disingenuous. At some point, the President has to stand and deliver, explaining that regulations that protect children from gruesome injuries and death are not evidence of government run amok, but instead just plain common sense. Killing the rule will never win him Farm Bureau financial support, it’s the wrong thing to do, and it offends all the voters who know kids who have died or suffered grievous injuries in agricultural work. Comments (1) the face of child farm labor isnt the kids of the family farmer, helping to keep up the family business. Its a child of Mexican migrant labor, kept out of school, exposed to toxic chemicals that make them very sick, paid by the bushel. No water, or lunch breaks, back breaking labor. We need to stop this, get these kids in school and put an adult to work on the farm for a proper hourly wage. — k a Add Comment: Worker SafetyIs OSHA Up to the Job?

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Connect with usTwitterFacebook Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/tdb/ Tiffany B Red Hook's Added Valaue Farm provides work and training for area teenagers while growing healthy food in a community where that can be hard to come by. In 2007, when New York City released PlaNYC 2030, "locavore" had been named the word of the year and Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma was a bestseller. Despite that, PlaNYC was virtually silent on the role that food plays in our city's sustainability. The network of activists working to create a sustainable urban food system found this oversight particularly striking. Policies and programs to improve food access, nurture community gardens, promote healthy school food, and run composting programs were being ignored by the city’s sustainability plan. In response, the four-year update to PlaNYC, releasedon the day before Earth Day this year acknowledged for the first time that sustainable food systems are critical to the city's well-being and included food as a cross-cutting issue. The update included a wide variety of food initiatives, including: An effort to use municipal land for urban agriculture, including 129 new community gardens on Housing Authority land and new gardens at schools; Continued efforts to work with farmers in the city's upstate watershed to minimize the use of fertilizer and adopt sustainable agriculture practices; An expansion of the Food Retail Expansion to Support Health, or FRESH, program that offers zoning and financial incentivizes to encourage supermarkets to locate in under-served neighborhoods; An exploration of ways to recycle food waste through composting and biofuel development. Although Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and various advocacy groups already proposed most of the initiatives in PlaNYC, their inclusion in the mayor's sustainability document signals his intention to carry them out. And that's an important step forward. However, several limitations of PlaNYC raise questions about the long-term impact these disparate policies will have on the city's food system. PlaNYC does not articulate a vision of a sustainable food system and does not explain how the discrete pieces fit together. A comprehensive food plan, on the other hand, would consider questions such as to what extent urban agriculture contributes to neighborhood sustainability, food security and environmental quality. It would look at how much space we should devote to it, and what additional resources are needed to support urban food production. What mix of farmers markets, CSAs, green bodegas, green carts, community gardens and supermarkets provides ample access to healthy food, and how can the city help ensure that each neighborhood has the right mix? Should New York City change how it buys food for schools and social service programs in order to support regional farmers, or should cost and minimal nutritional quality be the sole criteria? Following the Green The articles so far: Greener, Greater, Fairer by Dan Steinberg: In PlaNYC, the mayor missed a chance to create not only a more environmentally friendly city but a more economically equitable one too. Shades of Brownby Melissa Checker: Under a city program, developers are cleaning up vacant land and building on it. While the projects improve the environment, some do little to serve other needs in their communities. Cracks in the Concreteby Anne Schwartz: The Bloomberg administration not only wants a greener New York, it wants a more permeable one. A look at how green infrastructure could cut costs and clean city waterways. The Missing Public by Alyssa Katz and Eve Baron: PlaNYC offers some outstanding proposals, but unfortunately it didn't involve the public very much in creating them. Sustainability Watch: Part 2 by Tom Angotti and Melissa Checker: With the mayor renewing his plan for a greener New York, Gotham Gazette and Hunter College launch another series of articles about creating a more environmentally friendly city. Counting Heads by Andrew Beveridge: City officials squawked when the 2010 census that found growth here has slowed. New York's pride may be wounded, but the census probably got the numbers right. A More Modest Proposal by Gail Robinson: In 2007, Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled an environmental plan that called for charging people to drive in Manhattan. This tine around, he set forth a new, less-controversial agenda. Going for the Green by Courtney Gross: Four years after Mayor Bloomberg announced his plan for a sustainable city, is New York a more environmentally friendly city? A report on PlaNYC's wins and losses. The City's Role PlaNYC claims that food "presents a unique planning challenge" because much of the food infrastructure "is privately owned and shaped by the tastes and decisions of millions of individual consumers." But many other complex urban systems addressed in more detail in PlaNYC include private infrastructure and are influenced by consumer decisions. Individual consumers shape the city's housing, energy, telecommunications and transportation infrastructures, all of which include public and private facilities. In fact, the city controls an extensive food infrastructure. It owns and leases the terminal food markets, regulates and is a major land owner in the rural Catskill-Delaware watershed, and owns the land many urban gardens lease and farmers markets use. Beyond that, the city controls the infrastructure that prepares and serves food to our children and the residential waste disposal system that manages organic matter. And, as one of the largest institutional food buyers in the nation, the city could use the power of its purse to influence large institutional food producers and processors. Despite this, the city has, until this point, devoted few resources to analyzing the food system comprehensively and so lacks information about it. (It is unfortunate that such research was not conducted between the initial PlaNYC and the update.) As a result, well-intentioned initiatives have been advanced in the absence of basic information about the food system, like the provenance of the food purchased by the city, how much food moves into and through the city, the availability of grocery stores, where people shop for their food, or the location of vacant city-owned land that might be gardened or farmed. The lack of understanding has made it difficult to design efficient, comprehensive, complementary policies as well as to prioritize new initiatives or evaluate their impact. Legislation pending in the City Council (Intro 615) would require gathering these basic metrics about food system, but the mayor's representatives have raised concerns in hearings about their capacity to do so. Some 45 city agencies purchase food, support food growing, produce compost, teach about food, bring people to supermarkets, make decisions about land use, or regulate how food is grown, processed, distributed and sold This would seem to indicate the sustainability plan could have a major effect on our food system. But, because PlaNYC lacks the force of law, there is no assurance that any initiatives it mentions will be reflected in other agency plans, or that agencies will focus on the food system. This has real consequences. For example, in the recently released Sustainable Stormwater Management Plan, the Department of Environmental Protection did not consider the role of urban farms in absorbing stormwater, while enhanced tree pits and porous pavement were featured. The Department of Sanitation chose to suspend its leaf and yard waste composting program a few years ago even though urban farmers have been clamoring for compost. The Office of Environmental Coordinationdoes not require developers preparing environmental impact assessments to consider the effects of their projects on the availability of fresh food, although it does require them to assess many other impacts, from open space to traffic. City procurement agencies have never been concerned about buying regionally-produced food, so they have not yet developed systems to track where the food served by the city comes from. One of the goals of PlaNYC is to accommodate a million new residents in adequate housing located near transit, with functioning infrastructure and sufficient open space. Achieving this goal requires not only higher density development in locations with public transportation within New York City, but also fostering a sustainable foodshed that allows the peri-urban areas surrounding the city to remain relatively undeveloped. Some cities, like San Francisco, have looked beyond the city boundaries in seeking to obtain municipal food from the region's foodshed. PlaNYC, however, suggests that such an effort would not be within the city’s purview, ignoring the connection between our city and the surrounding foodshed, and how New York City can influence the environmental impacts associated with food production outside of our five boroughs through the power of the public purse. Overall, the Department of Education serves some 860,000 meals a day, while other New York City agencies serve 225 million meals and snacks annually. Adjusting procurement to give preference to regionally grown food for these millions of meals would channel a portion of what we spend on food to the region's farmers. A bill pending in the City Council (Int. No. 452) would require the city to try to purchase food grown or prepared in New York State. The administration has testified that it would be too difficult to do so for most food contracts. PlaNYC offers no estimate on how much it would cost to bring the initiatives mentioned in the plan to fruition. For example, increasing access to fresh fruits and vegetables through farmers markets, CSAs and upgraded bodegas requires infrastructure, from wireless Electronic Benefit Transfer readers to refrigerators. Increasing urban farming requires more land, technical assistance, and clean compost. Yet city agencies like health, parks and sanitation are already stretched thin, while a single food policy coordinator, not a fully staffed food department, bears the responsibility for coordinating all these activities. Only two of PlaNYC’s 198 pages are actually devoted to food. In contrast, just a week prior to the PlaNYC update, Minneapolis issued a comprehensive plan addressing only urban agriculture. Chicago's regional plan, Go To 2040, has an entire chapter devoted to sustainable local food. The New York City Council's own FoodWorks report is a comprehensive 90-page policy plan. Now that PlaNYC officially acknowledges food to be essential to a "greener, greater New York," food advocates should press for a comprehensive food plan and changes to local law that make sustainable food practices a permanent part of city government. Nevin Cohen is assistant professor of environmental studies at The New School. Subscribe To Our Mailing List. 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Wakame, Sea Vegetable - cultivated, hand harvested, raw Buy Online Eden Wakame is cultivated off the shores of Ise (ee-say) Bay, Japan where it thrives in cool and mineral rich arctic currents. The sea there is surrounded by National forests and mountains and is known as the 'Ocean by Mountains' area. Rivers nourish the bay adding to a mineral rich environment. This area leads all of Japan in ecology movements. Development is forbidden to ensure future generations the legacy of this famous edible seaweed resource. This wakame is hand harvested from January to the end of April by farmers in boats using long poles with blades attached to cut the fronds loose from the ocean bottom. Long rakes are used to gather the wakame as it floats to the surface. The wakame is taken ashore, washed, hung on ropes and left to sun dry before trimming, grading and packaging. Unlike most commercial wakame, Eden Wakame is not treated with softening agents such as enzymes or monosodium glutamate (MSG). Wakame Undaria pinnatifida is a species of brown algae with long, delicate leaves that resemble feathers. Its size and tenderness varies depending on where it grows as temperature and ocean conditions create a variety of plants. Wakame first became known in the United States as the green in Miso soup, and is one of the most popular sea vegetables in Japan and the United States today. Eden Wakame is quickly restored to tenderness when soaked and is a favorite in soups, stews, marinated dishes, and salads. Eden Wakame is low calorie, fat and cholesterol free, rich in magnesium, high in potassium and a good source of dietary fiber. Because it is high in iodine it was traditionallly an important food in Japan for the prevention of goiter. Like kombu and other brown algae, wakame contains glutamine, a sweet amino acid that acts as a flavor enhancer and softening agent when cooked with other foods. Its alginic acid, a polysaccharide similar to pectin found in land plants, protects the plant from bacteria and fungi. Scientific research conducted by McGill University, in Canada demonstrated that "alginic acid binds with heavy metals in the body, from all sources, renders them insoluble and causes them to be eliminated." Buy Online |

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EC-210-W (Reviewed 8/2000) Crop Share Leasing and Lease Form* J. H. Atkinson, professor of agricultural economics** The crop share lease provides a means for a tenant to have an adequate-sized, profitable farming operation without the large capital outlay necessary to own land. It provides the landowner a return on his investment and allows him to participate in major management decisions. To a considerable degree, the two parties share in the risks and rewards from farming. This risk-sharing feature appeals to many tenants who are short on capital. The crop share lease appeals to landowners who are familiar with modern farming methods (or who may want to hire management assistance) and whose financial situation allows them to meet operating capital needs and carry their share of the risk. This discussion will be limited to crop share leases although 50-50 crop and livestock share leases are still fairly common, especially in central and northern Indiana. Purdue Extension publication EC-207 provides a form for livestock share leasing agreements. Types of Leases Replies to a 1976 survey of cash and crop share leasing arrangements indicated that the 50-50 crop share lease was being used by 61 percent of the respondents. Cash leases were the next most common (17%), 60-40 and 2/3-1/3 arrangements were used by 11 percent, while the remaining 11 percent, were miscellaneous arrangements. Thus, while cash leasing has increased over the past decade., the 50-50 crop share lease remains the predominate type of arrangement throughout The 2/3-1/3 and 60-40 leases tend to be found in the southern part of the state. There are a few 60-40 leases in which the landowner receives 60 percent of the crops and pays 60 percent of the operating costs, but as a general rule the smaller share, 1/3 or 40 percent, is the portion of the crop which goes to the landowner. He basically provides the real estate (with or without buildings) although in some cases the landowner may pay a share (the same as the share he receives) of specified production expenses, for example, nitrogen fertilizer or drying fuel for his share of the grain. The landowner has relatively low production expenses and thus lower risk. In years of very good prices or yields, his returns tend to be somewhat lower than if he had rented on a 50-50 basis. But when yields or prices are low, he tends to come out better. This type of lease, rather than the 50-50 arrangement, appeals to the landowner who has limited capital for production expenses, desires less risk and does not want to be bothered with management decisions. However, rates of fertilization, cropping programs, weed control measures, etc. affect his return and since he loses the management control which comes from sharing these costs, it may be even more important than is true in the 50-50 lease to specify major production practices. The tenant who rents on a 2/3-1/3 basis usually provides labor, machinery and equipment and most of the other operating expenses. He will need more operating capital than under the 50-50 lease and tends to get more management control. Tenants may look on this as a big advantage, especially if they feel they have been "held back" by a landowner who is not knowledgeable about modern farming practices or who does not want to risk the high investment in operating capital necessary to get high yields. Before shifting from 50-50 to a 2/3-1/3 lease, both tenant and landowner may want to budget through both arrangements using 2 or 3 different levels of prices and yields. In the typical 50-50 crop share lease, the tenant provides all the labor, owns the field machinery, pays for fuel, oil and repairs for machinery and 50 percent of other operating expenses. But within this general framework there are variations, especially with regard to services provided and sharing of costs. A recent survey revealed some of these variations. Grain storage was included in 45 percent of the leases; 81 per cent owned by the landowner, 11 percent by the tenant and 8 per cent jointly owned. About one-third of the leases included grain drying facilities, 45 percent owned by the landowner, 40 percent by the tenant and 15 percent jointly owned. Other variations are listed below, as indicated in the 1976 leasing survey. 1. Who applies herbicides? Tenants, 63%; custom hire 27%; both 10% 2 If herbicides custom applied, who pays? 50-50 in nearly all cases 3 What percent of fertilizer applied by tenant? 61% applied all; 33% applied 50 to 90% 4. If fertilizer custom applied, who 5 Tenant charge for corn harvest? 54% charged--of these, 31% on a per bushel basis, 69% on per acre basis 6 What charge for corn harvest? on per bushel basis 61% charged 2 to 3 cents bu. on per acre basis 47% charged $10 to 12/A 28% charged $ 7 to 9/A most often reported $l0/A 7. Tenant charge for bean harvest? 58% charged, 92% on per acre basis 8. What charge for bean harvest? 39% charged $9 to 10/A 46% charged $5 to 8/A 9. Hauling charge? 17% charged from field to elevator 14% charged from bin to elevator most frequent charge, 5 cents/bu. 10. What facilities included in lease? ITEM YES NO Permanent pasture 33% 67% Hog or cattle feeding facilities 31% 69% Barn 49% 51% Machine shed 62% 38% Dwelling 35% 65% Farrowing house 21% 79% 11. Who pays for lime? Landowner 58%, 32% shared 50-50 12. How share expense for seed, fertilizer and herbicide? 92% shared 50-50 13. Who pays field machinery repair, upkeep, fuel, oil? Tenant, 85%, remainder mostly 50-50 The above items are not the only variations in leases. The quality of land and the productiveness of the tenant are important. The terms of two leases may be identical, but if one involves 130-bushel corn land and the other 90-bushel land, the results to both landowners and tenants will differ. The tenant stands to earn more on the good land while the tendency is for the landowner to get a higher percentage return on his investment in the lower quality land. Or what may happen is that the owner of highly productive land can attract a tenant who is a top manager with excellent equipment. In a few cases, the percentage sharing of costs and/or returns is being changed--for example, on excellent land with a nice house, the landowner may get 55 percent of returns and pay 55 percent of operating costs. Tailoring Leases to Individual Situations It is obvious that the customary lease is not necessarily suitable for every individual case. A recipe for the "right" lease cannot be written. The best bet is to use the customary lease in the community as a general guide. then make changes which fit the individual Changes appear to be most easily made when an agreement is worked out between a landowner and tenant who have not previously farmed together. Yet the risk of dealing with a new person plus the pressure of custom and tradition tend to slow down changes in share leases. For example, the 1976 survey indicated that the average length of tenure of 50-50 crop share leases was more than 11 years and that in only 5 percent of the cases had a change in the lease been made in the past The assumption that one party can gain in income only at the expense of the other is a major difficulty in changing lease terms. For example, the landowner may argue for dropping harvesting payments to the tenant because his interest and taxes have increased. The tenant argues that the charges ought not to be dropped but increased because machinery expenses have increased. How can one party gain without the other losing? The key is to look for changes which may increase net income for both parties, or at least increase income for one party with no reduction for the other. Here are some 1. Landowner agrees t6 construct additional grain storage, tenant drops harvesting 2. Tenant agrees to purchase 30-inch row equipment, landowner raises harvesting payment, 3. Landowner agrees to improve drainage, tenant drops harvesting charge. Rather than bickering over dividing up the income pie, spend the effort on making the pie bigger. Few farms are so well operated that there are no opportunities for increasing net income by $10 to $15 per acre or more. Developing a lease for an individual situation requires knowledge and evaluation of each party's contributions. For the tenant this requires information on amount, size and condition of machinery and equipment in relation to acreage farmed so that a judgment can be made about the timeliness and quality of cropping operations. Labor availability, both regular and "back-up" help, is important. Past performance in terms of yields and timeliness of planting and harvesting are good over-all measures of the tenant's ability. The landowner needs to know the productive capacity of his land and the yield history. Recent land improvements are important. Useful buildings included in the lease should be listed. This information can then be used to arrive at a well-reasoned arrangement rather than arguing a point based on what someone else is doing. At the same time, both parties should recognize that there is keen competition for land to rent, both on a share and a cash basis. Getting Along The crop share lease places the operator and landowner in a joint business venture which has some aspects of a partnership. They share certain costs, risks and management decisions, thus need to get along well as a team. The lease agreement itself is a basic element in getting along. Communications is also important. For the tenant this means finding out how much the landowner wants to know about the operation throughout the year and how much he wants to be consulted about management decisions. The landowner needs to figure out whether the operator welcomes his visits or considers them a waste of time, whether he thinks it is helpful to discuss operational problems and progress, and whether he may actually need managerial help. In general, most landowners want to be informed occasionally about the farming operation and consulted on major decisions. Sometimes they complain, "I never know what's going on--the barn would have to blow down before the tenant would call me. " Many tenants appreciate the landowner taking an interest in the farm and may complain, "All he's interested in is the grain check--he wouldn't care if the barn burned down. " With a little conscious effort on the part of both parties, they can usually establish the degree of contact that is suitable to both. A tip to tenants--Many landowners like to see the appearance of the place kept up. Even though mowing fence rows and lots, nailing a loose board on the barn, repairing a sagging gate, etc. , do not make you any more money, doing these things may mean the difference between keeping the farm and losing it. Having a nice looking farm is especially important to many older landowners, especially if it is the home place. Try inviting the landowner out to look around in late spring after planting is finished and you have had time to "tidy up" the place. A tip to landowners--Give your tenant as much freedom as he can handle in running the farm. Then let him know you appreciate it when he does a good job, either in farming operations or in keeping up the appearance of the farm. Try taking your tenant out to dinner occasionally. Value of a Written Lease The attached lease form, when completed, can serve as a memorandum of understanding between a landlord and tenant. It also is helpful in reaching an agreement in that it calls attention to a number of points which otherwise might not be considered. A written lease serves as a memorandum of understanding between the tenant and landlord. It eliminates the reliance on memory of an oral agreement. "Writing it down" makes the agreement clear to both parties and avoids .... but I thought it was this way ..." problem. Insisting on a written lease does not imply a distrust of the other party when the objective is a clear understanding which will be recorded for possible future reference. Although a written lease can help prevent or resolve disputes, it also helps protect the legal rights of both parties and is helpful in event of the death of either party. In case the farm is sold subject to the lease, the written contract defines certain rights and obligations of the purchaser. In spite of the advantages of a written lease, many share lease arrangements are oral. Even so, a good lease form can be used as a check-list to make sure that all major points have been covered. Using the Lease Form The lease form is largely self-explanatory, but suggestions will be made on various sections. A copy should be made for both parties. Provisions that are not wanted and blanks that are not filled in should be crossed out and initialed in ink by both parties. Spouses are often involved in ownership or farm operations and should be included in discussions if they so desire. They might also sign the Section I. Date, Contracting Parties, Description, etc. --State specifically what real estate is included in the lease. In this way, the form can be used either for field or whole farm rental. The form stipulates a year-to-year automatic renewal unless notice is given by a specified or determinable date. Unless specified, Indiana law requires that notice be given 3 months prior to the end of the lease year. As proof that notice has been given, the notice should be in writing and sent by registered or certified mail with return receipt requested. Three months may be an inadequate notice period, especially if the lease year ends March 1. Notice before wheat seeding and plowing time is suggested. A longer term automatic renewal lease might be considered, especially from the tenant's viewpoint. If the land in question constitutes an important part of his operation, he is placed in a vulnerable position in risking the loss of the farm every year and must constantly be on the alert for additional land. Item 7, regarding renting of additional land may be controversial, yet it might be preferable to reach agreement on this matter beforehand rather than risking a later disagreement. The acreage figure might be set higher than the present acreage to allow renting some additional land. Or an agreement might be reached which would specify that farming operations would be performed first on land covered in the lease, soil conditions permitting. Section II. Cropping Program--The idea here is to reach agreement on land use, fertilizer and herbicides, yet leave flexibility for changes dictated by prices, weather or other factors. The details of this section will have to be re-worked annually as an amendment to the Section III. obligations of the Landlord--This section specifies the basic responsibilities of the landlord. Item - regarding buildings which may be destroyed is especially important to the tenant if a dwelling or other essential buildings are involved. Buildings usually are insured, but this often provides compensation only to the landowner. A blank is provided for other things the landowner may agree to do. Examples include payment for harvesting (be sure to state the rate per bushel or per total acreage of specified crops), future repair or construction of specified buildings, payment for grain hauling, etc. A different kind of provision which is sometimes used is this: an agreement by the landowner to provide a specified sum to be used by the tenant for land improvements such as drainage, fence removal and bulldozing small areas. Agreements regarding grain handling could be included in this section if the landowner provides storage, drying facilities, auger, etc. Or if grain handling facilities are supplied by the tenant and a payment is made by the landowner, this should be included. Section IV. Obligations of the Tenant--In addition to the listed items, blanks are left in this section for agreement on the tenant's responsibilities regarding, for example, miscellaneous hauling, grain handling facilities, periodic checking on farm stored grain, mowing, Item 1, calling for the tenant to follow generally recommended farming practices may be made more specific by including practices such as the following: 1. Spread all available manure as soon as practicable on appropriate fields. 2. Mow permanent pasture at least once each year. 3. Cut or spray weeds in lots, fence rows and along roads and ditches. 4. Keep grass waterways and terraces in good repair, and do minor repair work on tile drains and tile outlets. 5. Protect sod crops from over grazing. 6. Burn no corn stalks, straw or other crop residues. 7. Inoculate alfalfa and soybean seed unless sown on land thoroughly inoculated for the crop planted. 8. Cultivate the land in a timely and thorough manner. 9. Keep farmstead neat and orderly. 10.Prevent tramping of fields by stock and rooting by hogs when injury will be done. Section V. Division of crop production expenses--As noted in the above discussion, division of expenses varies widely and some expenses are bargaining points. Often these include payment by the landowner for harvesting and hauling grain. On expenses that are shared, it is a good idea to divide expenses the same way that receipts are divided. Row or starter fertilizer and supplemental nitrogen costs are nearly always divided in the same manner as crops are divided. Investments in heavy applications of plowdown potash or super phosphate often are also shared on the same basis as crops are shared. On some farms, however, sufficiently large applications of plowdown phosphate and potash may be applied so as to raise the fertility level and give yield responses for several years. Since most Indiana leases are on a year to year basis, the tenant may not have received full benefit from his investment at the termination of the lease. If the phosphate and/or potash levels were high when the tenant moved on the farm and if he was not required to pay for fertilizer applied prior to his rental of the farm, then he should expect no compensation when he leaves the farm. However, if the tenant contributes in a substantial "build up" of fertility levels, then he should expect compensation if he moves before receiving full benefits from the higher fertility levels. Applications of phosphate and/ or potash may be depreciated over a 2 to 5-year period depending upon amount applied and crops grown. As an alternative, so that there will be no compensation due the tenant at the termination of the lease, the landlord could pay for phosphate and potash in excess of 1.0 to 1.25 times the amounts estimated to be removed by crops. An approximation of these amounts per bushel of beans and corn follows: CROP P205 K20 Soybeans 1.0 lb. 1.0 lb. Corn .4 .3 This section also provides for describing jointly-owned machinery and equipment. Sometimes grain storage facilities may also be jointly owned. In these cases, it is suggested that the person on whose land the facilities are built agree to purchase them when the lease is terminated based on a predetermined depreciation schedule. Section VI. Division of Crops--As a rule, it is recommended that all major crops be divided the same way and that crops be divided in the same proportion as expenses are shared. Section VII. Privilege Rent--Bare land often is share rented on basically the same terms as a farm with a dwelling or other buildings. Of course, if the tenant has a use for the buildings, he would prefer to share rent on the same terms as bare land rental. But sometimes the question comes up as to how the lease can be altered to take account of buildings. Rather than change the terms of the lease, it may be preferable to agree on cash rent for pasture and buildings. In this way, the landowner knows what he gets for building use and may be more inclined to keep them in good repair or make improvements. Knowing what buildings cost also gives the tenant a basis for considering alternative possibilities. Permanent pasture rental is fairly common and may be figured either on a per acre or per head basis. Section VIII Rights and Privileges--This section contains several standard provisions with blanks to add others. For example, agreement on hunting, fishing or camping rights might be included or the landowner might want to reserve the right to build a house on a specified location or remove existing buildings not being used by the Section IX. Financial Settlements and Business Management--In order to facilitate settlements between the landlord and tenant and to record the data needed to prepare income tax reports, complete and accurate records of the farm receipts and farm expenses for both the landlord and tenant are necessary. Also, it is recommended that both parties cooperate in keeping a complete record of the entire business (all farm receipts, farm expenses and farm inventories) in order that a summary and an analysis of the year's business may be made at the end of each year. If each party keeps a record of his transactions of jointly-owned property, cash settlements can easily be made at any time. It is recommended that the parties to the lease agree upon a regular place and time for making settlements, perhaps several times per year Space is provided to permit the parties to the lease to designate how their joint receipts and expenses shall be handled It is important that such designations be entered and the procedures be clearly understood by both parties before the lease is signed. It is suggested that businesses where most of the purchases and sales are made be informed of how they should make billings payments. Item 4, participation of landlord in management, not only is important from the viewpoint of operating the farm but also in connection with the landlord's Social Security "Material participation" in management may allow him to continue building up Social Security if he has not retired. But if he has retired, material participation may reduce his benefits. Consult your Social Security office for details on what constitutes material participation in farming operations. Section X. Insurance Coverage--Both parties may want to meet with their insurance agent to work out coverage agreeable to them. As a rule, both parties will need to carry general farm liability Section XI. Other agreements--This space is provided to enable the parties to the lease to include in the lease any provisions they desire which are not provided for in other sections. For example, if the landlord employs someone to look after his interests in the farm, the arrangement should be specified in this section. Section XII. Enforcement of Agreements and Arbitration--This section provides for commonly used methods of presenting claims and arbitration to settle disputes which might otherwise go unsettled or end up in court. Section XIII. Signatures--Both copies of the lease, one for the tenant and one for the landlord, should be signed Having the signatures witnessed or notarized may prove helpful, especially if disputes arise or death of either party occurs. Amendments and Renewal-- Although the lease form contains an automatic renewal provision, it is strongly suggested that the parties to the agreement meet annually to discuss possible changes. Minor changes can be made as amendments to the original lease, but major changes might better be handled by preparing a new lease. CROP SHARE LEASE This form is intended to be used as a guide by landowners and farm operators in reaching and recording a crop share lease agreement. Although the form contains legal provisions which are generally viewed as being necessary, the parties to the agreement can be assured that the agreement adequately fits their particular situation from a legal viewpoint by consulting an attorney. Similarly, the form contains a number of economic provisions on which either party may want to obtain counsel from a professional farm manager. Identical copies of this form should be completed for each person who signs the agreement. Any provisions in the lease form which are not desired and any unused blanks should be crossed out in ink. Additions to the form or blanks which are completed should be in ink. Both deletions and additions should be identical on all copies and should be initialed in ink by landowner and operator to indicate their agreement. The form may be used either for an entire farm or for field rental agreements. Special care should be taken in field rental agreements to describe exactly what real estate is included. Indiana Crop Share Lease Form Section I. Date, Contracting Parties, Description of Property, and Term of the Lease a. This lease is made this ________ day of__________19 ______ by ________________________ , Landlord, whose address is ________________________________ and _____________________________ , Tenant, whose address is____________________________________________________________ . b. Landlord hereby leases to the Tenant, to use for agricultural purposes only, the _________________ farm, containing_______acres, located in ____________________ Township, ___________________ County, State of___________ , described as follows: _____________________________________Twp.____________Range____________ , with all improvements thereon except______________________________________ . c. This lease agreement shall become effective on the__________ day of_________________, 19_______and shall terminate on the ________ day of_________________ , 19_____. The Tenant agrees to contact the Landlord _____ days prior to the termination date to consider re-negotiating for the following year the terms of this Section II. Land Use and Cropping Program a. Approximately ______ acres of the farm are to be cultivated,______acres are to remain in permanent pasture,______ acres in woods not to be grazed. b. The acres of land in cultivation as specified in II-a shall be used in approximately the following manner or as mutually agreed upon in writing and signed by both parties; corn_______ acres, soybeans ______acres, wheat________acres, ________ ________ acres c. Participation in annual government programs shall be mutually agreed upon. Program payments shall be divided in the same proportion as the two parties divide the crop to which payments are related. d. No permanent pasture shall be plowed without the written consent of the Landlord. e. __________________________________________________________________________. Section III. Division of Costs and Returns a. This lease shall be a crop share lease in which both parties furnish specified production inputs and costs and share the resulting production as indicated in items b) and c) below, Table 1 and Sections IV and V. b. The landlord agrees to furnish the land and fixed improvements referred to in Section I. c. The tenant agrees to furnish all labor, power, machinery and movable equipment and all related operation and maintenance expenses to operate the farm except as indicated in Table 1 and as follows: __________________________________________________________________________. d. This lease is not intended to be nor to give rise to becoming a partnership. Table 1. Landlord's and Tenant's Shares of Crops and Crop Expenses (Indicate % and/or amount). ITEM Corn Soybeans Wheat Tenant Landlord Tenant Landlord Tenant Landlord Tenant Landlord --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SHARE OF CROPS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CROP EXPENSES Fertilizer Material Dryer fuel, power Dryer overhead Hauling to bin Field to Market Bin to Market Section IV. The Landlord Agrees to: a. Furnish the property referred to in Section 1, and with regard to said property: 1. Pay all taxes, assessments and insurance, 2. Furnish materials which he deems necessary for improvement of buildings, drains, and fences, and 3. Replace or repair any buildings that may be destroyed or damaged by any cause beyond control of the tenant and, until such replacement or repair is made, to compensate the tenant as follows: 4. Other._______________________________________________________ Section V. The Tenant Agrees to: a. Follow the farming practices that are generally recommended for and that are best adapted to this type of farm and for this locality unless other practices are agreed upon. b. Furnish all labor for minor repair and the minor improvement of buildings, fences, and drains with the material to be furnished by the Landlord. The buildings, fences, and other improvements on the farm are to be kept in as good repair and condition as they are at the beginning of the lease, or in as good repair and condition as they may be put in by the Landlord during the term of the lease; ordinary wear, depreciation, or unavoidable destruction excepted. c. Haul to the farm, except where other arrangements are agreed to with the Landlord, any material provided by the Landlord for the minor repair or minor improvement of buildings, fences, and drains. d. Cut the weeds in lots, fence rows, and along roads whenever necessary to prevent reseeding. Mow permanent pastures at least once each year when it is most effective to destroy weeds and other undesirable plants. e. Keep livestock out of the fields when the soil is soft, and protect sod crops, especially new seedings, from close grazing that might impair the following year's crop. f. Follow SCS recommendations and fulfill all other requirements necessary to maintain the rights of current and future operators of this farm to participate in federal farm programs. Planted acreages of crops shall be reported as required by ASCS. g. Store and use pesticides, fertilizers, and other chemicals, and dispose of containers in accordance with state and federal regulations and recommendations. Furnish the Landlord a written field by field record of the amount, kinds, and dates of applications of pesticides and fertilizers. h. Not store motor vehicles, tractors, fuel, and chemicals on the farm in violation of restrictions in the Landlord's insurance i. Apply fertilizer annually as follows: Corn Soybeans _____________ Potash (K20) no less than _____ lb/a ______ lb/a _____ lb/a Phosphate (P205) no less than _____ lb/a ______ lb/a _____ lb/a Nitrogen (N) no more than _____ lb/a ______ lb/a _____ lb/a j. Obtain the landlord's permission or sign a lease agreement covering the following year before doing any fall land preparation and/or seeding of crops. k. Neither assign this lease to any person or persons nor sublet any part of the real estate for any purpose without the written consent l. Not to farm more______ than tillable acres during the term of this lease (including the acreage covered by this lease) unless agreed to by the landlord. m. Yield peaceable possession of the farm at the termination of this lease. Section VI. Marketing, Billing, Management and Miscellaneous a. Separate checks to the tenant and landlord shall be issued by the purchaser of co-mingled farm production unless otherwise specified below: b. Marketing decisions regarding jointly owned or co-mingled production shall be made by mutual agreement. If agreement cannot be reached, each party shall make decisions on their approximate amount of production. c. Input suppliers shall be instructed to issue separate bills to the tenant and landlord for their respective shares of shared production expenses except as follows: _____________________________________________________________________ . d. Privilege rent of $________ per year shall be paid to the landlord on the________ day of_______________ , 19________ for the use of ______________________________________________________________________ . e. The extent of participation by the landlord in the management of farm production shall be as follows: ______________________________________________________________________. f. The landowner shall carry general farm liability insurance coverage in the amount of $________ . g. The tenant shall carry general farm liability insurance coverage in the amount of $_________ . Section VII. Rights and Privileges a. The Landlord or anyone designated by him shall have the right of entry at any mutually convenient time to inspect the property and/or the farming methods being used. b. The Tenant shall have the right of entry for _______ days after the termination of the lease for the purpose of harvesting spring seeded crops. The Landlord or his designated agent shall have the right of entry before termination of the lease to plant fall crops following harvest of the current year's crops. c. Reimbursement shall be made to the Tenant for the portion of tenant-furnished inputs remaining unused at the beginning of the year in which no lease agreement is entered into. Said reimbursement shall be made as follows: d. Transfer of ownership of this farm shall be subject to the provisions of this lease. Section VIII. Enforcement of Agreements and Arbitration a. Failure of either the Landlord or the Tenant to comply with the agreements set forth in this lease shall make that party liable for damages to the other party. Any claim by either party for such damages shall be presented, in writing to the other party, at least ________ days before the termination of this lease. b. The provisions of this lease shall be binding on the heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns of the party or parties c. Any disagreements between the Landlord and the Tenant shall be referred to a board of three disinterested persons, one of whom shall be appointed by the Landlord, one by the Tenant, and the third by the two thus appointed. The decision of these three shall be considered binding by the parties to this lease unless a sum exceeding $ _______ is involved. Any cost for such arbitration shall be shared equally between the two parties of this lease. Section VIII. Other Agreements and Provisions Section IX. Signatures __________________________ ________________ __________________________ _______________ (Tenant) (Date) (Landlord) (Date) _________________________________ ________________ (Witness or Notary Public) (Date) Section X. Annual Renewal a. Except as indicated below, all agreements in the attached lease are hereby renewed for_______year(s) beginning on the _________day of____________ , 19_______ and terminating on the___________ day of_________________, 19_________ . Changes agreed upon (or so indicate if none): b. Except as indicated below, all agreements in the attached lease are hereby renewed for______ year(s) beginning on the_________ day of______________ , 19_________ and terminating on the___________ day of_______________ , 19_________ . Changes agreed upon (or so indicate if none): c. Except as indicated below, all agreements in the attached lease are hereby renewed for_______ year(s) beginning on the____________ day of_______________ , 19____________ and terminating on the)______________ day of_________________ , 19______________ . Changes agreed upon (or so indicate if none): Lease Form Rev 4/96 Reviewed 8/2000 * Working out a leasing arrangement invokes both legal and economic considerations. Although this discussion and the leasing form treat legal provisions in a general manner, the parties to the agreement can situation from a legal viewpoint by consulting an attorney. Similarly, the form contains a number of economic provisions on which either party may want to obtain counsel from a professional farm manager. **Appreciation is expressed to Dorwin Williams, agricultural economist with the USDA Research Service, and James Pleasant, research assistant, for their help in the survey of leasing arrangements. Cooperative Extension work in Agriculture and Home Economics, State of Indiana, Purdue University and U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating: H.A. Wadsworth, Director, West Lafayette, IN. Issued in furtherance of the acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914. The Cooperative Extension Service of Purdue University is an equal opportunity/equal access institution.

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Home State creates $1M grant fund for food and forestry firms strict warning: Non-static method view::load() should not be called statically in /home/addison/public_html/sites/all/modules/views/views.module on line 1118. Posted on December 3, 2012 | Vermont Financing the Working Landscape Conference Vermont Working Lands By Xian Chiang-Waren BUDDING ENTREPRENEURS PRESENT their ideas to experts at the second annual Financing the Working Landscape Conference at the American Legion in Middlebury last Thursday. Independent photo/Trent Campbell MIDDLEBURY — State officials late last week announced that they are soliciting applications from entrepreneurs who want a portion of nearly $1 million in grant funds set aside for food and forestry businesses. Grants ranging from $3,000 to $100,000 will be awarded later this winter by Vermont’s Working Lands Enterprise Board from a $986,5000 fund designed to fuel the Green Mountain State’s economy and build its local food system while maintaining its open lands and natural vistas. “Vermont’s working landscape captures Vermont’s heritage, its culture, and its people,” the board’s chair, Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Ross, said in a press release issued in conjunction with the formal announcement of the fund in Middlebury on Thursday. “It provides tens of thousands of jobs and contributes greater than 15 percent to Vermont’s Gross Domestic Product. Today’s announcement represents the state of Vermont’s investment in preserving and enhancing Vermont’s working lands.” The announcement was made during Addison County’s second annual Financing the Working Landscape conference at the American Legion in Middlebury. Hosted by the Addison County Relocalization Network, the Addison County Economic Development Commission and the Addison County Regional Planning Commission, the conference featured more than a hundred budding young entrepreneurs and seasoned economic advisors and investors. Attendees had spent the morning discussing strategies to finance entrepreneurial projects in food, agriculture and forestry. The board made the announcement during luncheon, which boasted an all-local menu prepared by area high school students from the Patricia A. Hannaford Career Center. The Working Lands Enterprise Board and the Working Landscape Enterprise Fund were created by Act 142, signed by Gov. Shumlin last May. The million-dollar amount was unknown until last Thursday; state officials said that it was allocated through the General Fund. “(The fund provides) the opportunity to either jump-start new businesses or help businesses that are growing that need the capital to make it to that next level,” Colleen Leonard, Agricultural Policy Administrator of the Agency of Agriculture, told the Independent. “It’s a huge opportunity to connect producers with resources.” Act 142 also represents the first time the state offices that oversee forestry and agriculture have come together on the same investment platform, said Mike Snyder, director of the Department of Forestry. When it comes to investing in Vermont’s natural resources, both the forestry and agriculture sectors stand to gain from innovative business initiatives. Seventy-five percent of the Green Mountain State is used for forestry and 20 percent for agriculture, according to the act, marking the two industries as the “backbone” of Vermont’s working landscape. The 2012 Legislature found that 97 percent of Vermonters valued the working landscape. “Why wouldn’t we want to invest in that excitement as a state when philanthropic folks are already lining up, foundations are lining up, and the private sector’s lining up?” said Rep. Will Stevens, I-Shoreham, the lead sponsor of the bill. He said it was an “easy sell” for him to take the lead on the initiative. “I don’t want to be here in 20 or 30 years saying, ‘What happened? What could we have done? Why don’t we have farms?’” Stevens said. For Stevens, who for 31 years has owned Golden Russet Farm in Shoreham with his wife Judy, investing in Vermont’s working landscape is more than just good public policy — it is also personal. “It’s from the heart,” he said. Stevens believes that Vermont is uniquely situated to use its brand, its workforce, and its natural resources to stimulate genuine innovation in local and statewide economies. “When I think about sustainable economic development, the question comes back to, what can we do that no one else can do?” he said Working Lands Enterprise Fund grants will be made in three investment areas: Enterprise Investments, Working Lands Service Provider Grants and Capital and Infrastructure Investments. Applications are due in January, February or March of next year depending on the type of grant. Awards will be made in April. More information about the grant application process is available at www.vermontworkinglands.org. Stevens noted that tax incentives favored by New York and New Hampshire to encourage local sustainable business are something that fit those states, but may not have worked as well in Vermont. Providing direct grants to encourage businesses working on the land should prove a good model for supporting sustainable economic development in Vermont, he said. “Nobody can do it better than we can,” Stevens said. Those interested in applying for a Working Lands Enterprise Initiative grant may attend a seminar with the grantors this Tuesday or Thursday to learn more about the grant application process. The informational session will offer tips that can be used when applying. Sessions are being offered as a webinar, and at locations throughout the state with on-site facilitators to help field questions. The agenda for each sessions is: • Background and purpose of the Working Lands initiative. • The three investment areas of the initiative (Overview of Request for Proposals). • Tips on filling out the application (Goals, Performance Measures and Outcomes). • Dates, deadlines and key contacts. • Q & A. The informational sessions for applicants will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 4, and Thursday, Dec. 6, 4:30-6 p.m. Those who want to learn more about the application process, and/or have questions about applying, can either log in from any computer, (nothing will be downloaded, but Flash is required on a PC or Mac) or attend in person at six sites around the state (the closest to Addison County is in Rutland, for exact locations go to www.vermontworkinglands.com/webinar.html). To login in to the webinar, go to www.vermontworkinglands.com/webinar.html. Link to webinar login will be live 10 minutes prior to webinar start time You will need speakers on your computer in order to hear the webinar presentation

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BMO: Rain Delays Planting, but Prospects This Year Still Good for North American Agriculture July 5 - Despite a rainy start to planting season, the outlook for the U.S. agriculture sector will still be better than last year when the Midwest was hit by a severe drought, according to BMO Economics. Much of the region has seen extensive rainfall since the beginning of May, delaying spring planting. Meanwhile, the outlook north of the border remains positive, with Canadian farmers still enjoying higher than normal prices for a number of crops. "Canadian farmers have benefitted from increased demand and higher prices after U.S. crop yields were depressed by last summer's drought," said Aaron Goertzen, economist, BMO Capital Markets. "Increased supply following this summer's harvest - as U.S. farmers get back on track - will likely mean lower prices for Canadian farmers, but should also help reduce food prices for North American consumers." U.S. Agriculture Will Have a "Just-in-Time" Year In the United States, the planting process came to a late close, as wet conditions delayed progress this spring. Northern Illinois, Southern Wisconsin and Nebraska are in better shape than other parts of the Corn Belt. "The general consensus for the U.S. agriculture industry in 2013 was that, coming off of the drought, we'd see a big crop this year; this, in turn, would lead to lower feed costs, as well as other food prices coming down," said Sam Miller, managing director and head, agriculture, BMO Harris Bank. "While we're not getting the start we wanted - the heavy rainfall over the past 45 days has put some plantings behind schedule - the prospects are still there for a good year." The United States Department of Agriculture recently noted that farmers in the U.S. are on track for a record year of agricultural exports. The 2013 outlook is currently projecting $139.5 billion in exports this fiscal year. "While grain farmers seek improved crop yields, livestock producers and other grain buyers anticipate these higher yields will lead to lower feed and grain prices, as well as improvement for stressed margins," added Miller. "The challenging start to this year will again make it a just-in-time year - adequate growing conditions, appropriate moisture as the summer progresses and a later first freeze will all likely have a hand in how the year turns out." Canadian Outlook Encouraging With Little Impact from Flooding According to David Rinneard, director of agriculture and agribusiness, BMO Bank of Montreal, stable crop prices and good yields are good news, and not just for crop producers. "Adequate supplies of reasonably priced inputs will be welcome news for Canada's cattle and hog producers. This, compounded by plenty of hay-spurring rain, leave livestock producers better poised for 2013. Together, Canada's agriculture industry should be looking forward to a well balanced year," Rinneard said. In the Canadian west, seeding is reported to be complete or nearly complete, with the pace of overall planting being broadly in line with historical norms. Although the flood in Alberta has affected some agricultural producers, thankfully initial reports suggest that the impact on the agricultural sector has been relatively limited compared to the terrible damage inflicted on communities and public infrastructure in the province. The flood has hit producers only in the immediate vicinity of affected waterways, though it also resulted in the temporary closure of some meat processing facilities in the province. Overall, crop emergence in Alberta is reported to be noticeably ahead of last year. In other regions, the BMO agriculture outlook noted:Saskatchewan crops are somewhat behind, producers in the province are reporting excellent crop quality. Wheat acreage in parts of the Prairies has been expanded this year, setting the stage for what could be a very strong harvest, provided the weather conditions remain supportive. Canola acreage is reported to be down moderately compared to last year - a reversal of the trend seen over the past decade - partly due to farmers' shift towards wheat. In Ontario, conditions are broadly supportive of corn and soybean crops. Apple farmers in Ontario are faring far better this year after a late-spring frost killed more than 80 per cent of their blossoming crop in 2012. A healthier harvest this year will also begin to re-apply downward pressure to apple prices. Ontario's grape crop is also reported to be shaping up well. Although some growers have experienced higher than normal levels of precipitation, this year's crop is expected to be healthy as long as weather conditions remain balanced for the remainder of the season. Crop prices in Canada have remained largely favorable, which would compound the financial benefit of a solid crop. Wheat prices remain elevated and canola prices are in the range of all-time highs. Corn and soybean prices also remain lucrative, although high prices have bolstered planting in both of these crops, which will likely apply downward pressure to prices as this year's harvest makes its way to market.About BMO Financial Group Established in 1817 as Bank of Montreal, BMO Financial Group is a highly diversified North American financial services organization. With total assets of $555 billion as at April 30, 2013, and more than 46,000 employees, BMO Financial Group provides a broad range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management and investment banking products and solutions.

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Central Florida Natural Resource Steward is Named State’s Farmer of the Year Seventh Generation Floridian is Named State's 2014 Farmer of the Year Gainesville, FL (PRWEB) Dennis Carlton has known since he was child that agriculture was his calling. Now that calling has returned to him a coveted honor. His continuing production success and excellent natural resource management persuaded a statewide panel of judges to award him the title of Florida’s 2014 Farmer of the Year. Carlton began his career in 1974 with 19 cows and 55 acres. He and his family now produce beef cattle, citrus and strawberries on acreage in Hillsborough and Hardee counties. Care of water and land resources has been part of his career for four decades. His state-of-the-art irrigation system for strawberries, for example, allows him to use lake water for freeze protection and avoid pumping from underground resources. A seventh generation Floridian, Carlton has also restored a 1,200-acre parcel that was formerly dotted by phosphate pits into one of the largest wetland recovery projects completed in the Tampa Bay area. The land now provides improved pasture and offers extensive wildlife habitat. Throughout his career Carlton has been involved in his community as a leader. He has served as a member of the advisory board for the Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission, a member of the Greenways Task Force and a member of the Hillsborough County Soil and Water District board in addition to his volunteer duty on behalf of the Hillsborough County Farm Bureau and area business groups. He is a past president of the Hillsborough County Farm Bureau. Like all farmers, Carlton has adopted research-based techniques to stay in business. “Citrus growers saw freezes in the ‘80s, rebuilding in the ‘90s and cost returns below production expenses in this century,” Carlton said. “Then we faced canker, followed by greening. Each decade has its challenges, but hard work and new technology keep us going.” His official honor is known as the Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Ag Expo Florida Farmer of the Year. He will be recognized for his accomplishments at the Sunbelt Ag Exposition in Moultrie, Ga. in October. There, Carlton will compete against nine other state winners for the regional title of Southeastern Farmer of the Year. Editor: Dennis Carlton may be contacted via email at denniscarlton(at)verizon(dot)net or by telephone at 813.620.8312. Florida Farm Bureau, the state’s largest general agricultural organization, represents more than 147,000 member-families. We serve to enhance farm enterprise and improve rural communities. G.B. Crawford Florida Farm Bureau Federation (352) 374-1517 Joshua Craft Florida Farm Bureau Federation 352.374.1541

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Industry Analysis: Dairy Security Act increases dairy farm revenue By National Milk Producers Federation April 09, 2013 | 2:35 pm EDT INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The benefits of adopting the Dairy Security Act (DSA) as part of the next farm bill will be obvious to farmers and policy makers as Congress begins assembling new agricultural policy this spring, according to speakers here at the National Dairy Producers Conference. During a two-hour long session Monday reviewing the prospects of the Farm Bill in general – and the outlook for the Dairy Security Act in particular – panelists agreed that the risk management approach embodied in the Dairy Security Act provides a cost-effective safety net for farmers. University of Minnesota economist Marin Bozic, who participated in the discussion in Indianapolis, reported that farmers who enroll in the DSA will find that the program “works as catastrophic risk insurance. It reduces extreme margin risk, as it pays you the most when you need it the most.” He said that farmers will likely view the risk of not enrolling in the program as far greater than being part of it. Regarding concerns that milk production growth could be restricted by the DSA’s market stabilization component, Bozic told the crowd that producers using the three-month rolling base will experience milk production growth over the long term similar to if they were not part of the program. Bozic is one of a group of Midwestern university professors who have performed a detailed analysis of how the DSA program performs for farms of various sizes, under various economic conditions. The analytical tool he reviewed has been developed to help farmers determine how best to participate in the DSA, once it becomes law. One of the other academics, John Newton, described how an independent economic model of DSA can serve as a tool for farmers to help them make decisions regarding participation on the proposed DSA. Newton, an Ohio State University doctoral candidate, said that DSA works for farmers, whether small or large, and regardless of whether the model is merely a yearly analysis or a cumulative revenue report over a period of years. Monday’s findings by the agricultural economists about the effectiveness of the DSA will bolster the case on Capitol Hill that the measure needs to be part of the next farm bill, according to NMPF’s Chief Executive. “We’ve spent the past three years working within the industry, and with members of Congress, developing a program that meets the needs of America’s dairy farmers in the 21st century,” said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF, which organized the National Dairy Producers Conference. “The evidence continues to demonstrate that the DSA is both good policy, and good politics.” Kozak said that competing approaches to the DSA, either featuring no market stabilization element, or exempting all but the largest farms from market stabilization, are both overly costly, and politically unacceptable. “Any proposal featuring margin insurance alone, such as the Goodlatte-Scott amendment, which severely limits the amount of milk that farmers can insure, will hamper the growth of their operations. Beyond that, it’s a prescription for lower milk prices and higher government costs, which will scuttle the whole economic basis for margin insurance in the future,” he said. By the same token, “any approach that attempts to drive a wedge between farmers of differing sizes by exempting large numbers of farmers from the market stabilization program is divisive and wrong. In addition, it would dramatically increase the cost of the overall farm bill. The industry has moved beyond the regional divisiveness of past dairy policies and Congress needs to do so as well,” he said. dairy security actcongress About the Author: National Milk Producers Federation

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Tabuk City Official Website Tabuk City Philippines P-Noy attends to rice needs of IPs By Estanislao Albano, Jr. TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The Department of Agriculture (DA) recently launched a new program intended to make indigenous peoples (IPs) living in hilly areas attain self-sufficiency in traditional rice varieties. Felicitas Balmores of the Tabuk City Agricultural Services Office, one of the four agricultural technologists from the province who attended the training for facilitators for the Upland Rice-based Cropping Systems for Indigenous Peoples program in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon recently, said that the new activity under the Agri Pinoy Program of the new administration is exclusively for IPs. “The focus is to help IPs increase the production of traditional rice varieties and at the same time attain food sufficiency,” Balmores said. Balmores said that during the training, the 63 agricultural workers from the different provinces with IP populations and the resource speakers had agreed on the definition of upland as rice production areas with slopes ranging from 18 to 44 degrees with no dikes. Balmores said that the participants and the resource speakers in the training do not recommend areas with steeper slopes due to the erosion of top soils during rains unless the farmers practice the Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT). Balmores said that during the seminar, they were taught how to conduct farmers’ field school (FFS) for upland rice technology following the growth stages of the rice plants. She informed that there is yet no prescribed technology for the facilitators to follow but that this will depend on the results of the techno demo farms that will be established in pursuit of the program. She said that the Kalinga delegation to the training plan to establish techno demo in Agbannawag and Balawag, both this city, to promote upland rice farming and make use of the idle grassy lands in the two barangays. “The difference between the upland rice farming the program is promoting and the kaingin system is that the latter involves the cutting of trees while the first does not,” Balmores said. Balmores said that for the project, the provincial government will provide the rent of the tractor and farm inputs, the Tabuk City LGU the technical assistance while the Agricultural Training Institute of the DA will bankroll expenses for the FFS including the travelling expense of the facilitators. Balmores informed that during the training, the participants recommended to the DA that the government should also recognize IP farmers in upland areas who follow the SALT by adding a category in the DA’s Gawad Saka awards for them. Balmores said that the participants all admitted kaingin farming exist in their areas. In the case of Tabuk, kaingin farming is blamed for the disappearance of sources for irrigation and domestic water and likewise the scarcity of wood for construction purposes. Posted by Binoburoy flares up; 4th year high school stude murdered TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The current clan war or binoburoy within the Lubo tribe of Tanudan is feared to further escalate after two members of one of the clans were murdered this week. At 5:30 PM of March 21, Roger Cullapoy, 35, a resident of Bulanao, this city, was shot to death by two men riding in tandem on a motorcycle while he was driving his tricycle in Bulanao. Three days later in Upper Lubo, Tanudan, Sallaya Condaya, 49, was gunned down inside his house. Apparently, the gunmen took advantage of the fact that other men relatives of Condaya had left for Bulanao to attend the wake of Cullapoy. It is widely believed here that the shooting to death of the two victims are connected with the existing clan war between the Wacnang and Angnganay families of the Lubo tribe as they both belong to the latter clan. The clan war was triggered by the shooting to death of Gilbert Angnganay, 52, a former vice mayor of Tanudan, a resident of Bulanao, allegedly by Santos Wacnang, 52, a resident of Purok 4, Bulanao, in the Bulanao public market on July 20,2010. The Angnganay clan allegedly retaliated by killing a relative of Wacnang in Lubo, Tanudan sometime later. Meanwhile on March 21, the body of a fourth year high school student of Pasil National High School in Batongbuhay, Pasil, who has been missing for two days, was found buried in a shallow grave near the house of Leslie Alicog at sitio Biyog, Batongbuhay. According to sources, the body of Kenneth Lunes, 17, a resident of Batongbuhay, bore signs of torture. The police are preparing charges of murder against Alicog who was positively identified by witnesses as the assailant. Alicog is at large. Posted by Another Tabuk cooperative arrives TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Albeit not yet in the league of Tabuk Multi-purpose Cooperative (TAMPCO) which has passed the half billion peso mark in assets, Tabuk Farmers’ Multi-purpose Cooperative (TAFAMULCO) is rising to the ranks of Cordillera cooperatives. General Manager Emilio Dulnuan said that in the latest rankings, the cooperative which has P90M in assets as of the end of last year has already broken into the top 25 cooperatives in the region assets-wise. Dulnuan said that their last assets amount represents a 22 percent growth over the total assets of 2009, the same percentage of growth the cooperative posted in the two preceding years. He revealed that the share capital of the cooperative also increased by 22 percent in 2010. The cooperative has P30.1M share capital as of December 31, 2010 as compared to the P24.4M in the previous year. Dulnuan said that in 2010, the membership of the cooperative also grew by 13 percent which translates to 309 new members bringing the total number of members to 2,674. “TAFAMULCO is gathering strength as evidenced by the significant increase in membership. The coming in of more and more members shows that the cooperative is now established and has the confidence of the public,” Dulnuan said. Dulnuan dates back the increased trust of the community to six years ago when the cooperative moved from its rented offices in the old Goodwill Hospital building in the United Church of Christ in the Philippines compound in barangay Magsaysay to its own building in a lot it procured in barangay Casigayan. Dulnuan strongly believes that the P3.5M-worth two-storey building provided the proof that the cooperative is now strong and capable which the public was looking for. Dulnuan also informed that the cooperative has no problems with liquidity. “We have P36M in the bank. P20M of this could be considered as idle funds as the balance is reserved for any eventuality,” Dulnuan said. Dulnuan said that this is a complete reversal of the situation from 1997 to 2001 when the devastation wrought by the El Nino phenomenon caused the delinquency rate to spiral from 6.52 percent to 37 percent thereby forcing the cooperative to borrow from various sources so it could continue serving its members. TAFAMULCO was born on September 23,1985 when farmer members of the UCCP-Tabuk bonded themselves into the informal association Tabuk Farmers Inputs Loan Association with an initial membership of 66 all of whom were members of the church. Later, however, the association threw its doors open to the whole community accepting members regardless of religion, tribe, social status and political color. The initial seed money of the association consisted of the P150,000.00 grant from the Asean American Free Labor Institute. On January 25,1990, the TAFILA was registered with the government as a cooperative and renamed as TAFAMULCO.** Kalinga throws support behind geothermal project TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The provincial government here has declared its support for the geothermal project of the Chevron Kalinga Ltd. in the towns of Pasil, Lubuagan and Tinglayan in upper Kalinga. In a resolution passed last Tuesday, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) said that it is supporting the project “in cognizance of its potential contribution to the development of the Province of Kalinga as well as the entire country.” The resolution said that the support will take the form of assistance in the solution of problems that will arise during the exploration and guarantee of the cooperation of the stakeholders to ensure the safety and free access of proponents to the area covered by the geothermal contract service (GSC) to conduct their development activities without interference. The resolution also stated that the provincial government “will institute measures to ensure the safe, responsible and sustainable development of the geothermal resources consistent with culture and heritage of the Kalinga people, and ensure that it advances and provides equitable benefits to the Kalinga people.” Sangunian secretary Mathew Matbagan said that the resolution was in response to a request from the proponent for endorsement to the three barangays who still have not entered a memorandum of agreement (MOA) allowing proponents to explore in their respective ancestral domains. Matbagan said the resolution was issued after Antonio Yee, president and general manager of Chevron Geothermal Philippine Holdings Inc. (CGPHI), Bernardo Lim, president and chief executive officer of Aragorn Power and Energy Corporation (APEC) and Ed Sevilla of CGPHI enlightened the SP on the geothermal project. Magbagan said that it was necessary to summon the company officials because of allegations regarding the project coming from the affected communities including the suspicion that the project is just a camouflage for mining intentions and the fear that the project will trigger volcanic activity. Yee assured the SP that the project is purely geothermal and that when it comes to volcanic activity, a geothermal project is even positive as it will serve as an outlet for heat inside the earth. Matbagan said that the SP liked the policy of the company on mining and also its policy to prioritize residents in covered barangays in employment except for highly technical positions to which nobody in the barangays qualify. Matbagan informed that the representatives did not give a clear answer when SP member Chester Alunday asked if the project could proceed if the three barangays which have not signed a MOA will continue to refuse to do so. Matbagan said that according to the representatives, the joint venture contract of the three companies is now pending with the Department of Energy (DOE). The joint venture of Guidance Management Corporation (GMC) and APEC are the holders of the GSC for the proposed geothermal project but that, according to the representatives, the two have merged with Chevron Kalinga of CGPHI to carry out the project. Matbagan said that the representatives informed that after five years of exploration, Chevron Kalinga will be ready to develop the project which will initially generate 100 MW. Last month the SP issued Resolution No. 2011-020 welcoming the “investments and operations of the Chevron Geothermal Philippines Holdings Incorporated (Chevron CGPHI) in the province” because the company “has proven its potential contribution to the development of the country through its various programs such as basic human needs, education and training, small and medium enterprise development, capacity building and geothermal projects.” The officials have also seen the advantage of clean energy development here saying that “Chevron’s natural gas and geothermal projects reduce the country’s dependence on imported fuel through the use of clean, indigenous and reliable energy.” Last February 13, 2011, Yee was invited to grace the opening day of the 2011 Ulllalim Festival and 16th Kalinga Founding Anniversary. If pushed through, the project site would involve 17,580 hectares in the ancestral domains of Balatoc, Dalupa-Ableg, Dangtalan, Guina-ang and Culayo in Pasil; Uma in Lubuagan; and Sumadel, Bangad, Tulgao, Dananao and Tongrayan in Tinglayan.** Posted by TABUK INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY CELEBRATION. These women of barangay Dagupan Centro were among several groups who exhibited their dancing prowess during the International Women’s Day celebration in Tabuk City on March 8. More or less 1,500 women attended the activity which celebrated women’s rights.** Photo by Estanislao Albano, Jr. Posted by Supreme Court likens LCP to wicked siblings TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Almost half of the members of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) which are questioning the legality of the cityhood of the 16 new cities in the Supreme Court (SC) because, among others, they do not qualify under RA 9009 cannot satisfy the requirements of that law themselves if the same were to be applied to them. This is just one of the things mentioned in the ruling of the SC granting the motion for reconsideration of the 16 new cities against the earlier decision of the court reverting to its original ruling that the conversion of the 16 erstwhile towns is unconstitutional. RA 9009 which was passed in June 2001 while the bills converting the 16 towns into cities were already pending in Congress fixed P100,000,000.00 as the local income requirement for a town aspiring to become a city. According to the ruling penned by Justice Lucas Bersamin, 59 of the 122 members of the LCP have local revenues lower than the minimum set by RA 9009 which, according to the resolution, only showed that a city could function even with a local income lower than P100,000,000.00. About the amount of P100,000,000.00, the ruling commented that it was arbitrarily set and that it’s intention was purely to make it extremely difficult for towns to convert into cities. To highlight what it calls the arbitrariness and absurdity of the imposition, the court pointed out that the annual income requirement for highly urbanized cities which rank higher than component cities is only P50,000,000.00. The records of the proceedings in the Senate wherein Senator Aquilino Pimentel declared that Senate Bill 2157 if it becomes a law will not retroact to the cityhood bills then pending in Congress was also mentioned in the ruling. The court also pointed out that there is no truth to the allegation of the LCP that there will be a substantial reduction of their internal revenue allotment (IRA) due to the entry of the 16 new cities because their IRAs even increased in 2008, the year after the conversion of the new cities. Taking note of the LCP’s complaint about the effect of the conversion of the 16 new cities in their capacity to carry out projects and deliver services without giving any thought to the problems of the new cities arising from the obligations they entered into as component cities, the court likened the LCP into “elder siblings wanting to kill the newly-borns so that their inheritance would not be diminished.” In a related development, in a full page ad in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Estelito Mendoza, the lead counsel of the 16 new cities, published in full his letter dated June 19, 2009 addressed to then Chief Justice Reynato Puno which the LCP allege as a “secret letter” and which had asked the court to uphold the constitutionality of the 16 new cities. The letter requested that the motion for reconsideration of the respondent cities be considered and resolved with the participation of all members of the court in compliance with the constitutional requirement that constitutional questions be decided by the court en banc. Mendoza claimed that there was nothing secret about the letter because it was officially filed with the office of the Chief Justice with each member of the court furnished a copy. “Distortion of truth by the League of Cities must be exposed lest, as has been said, ‘when falsehood is repeated often enough, the lie becomes the truth.’” ** Posted by TAMPCO urged to create more impact on society SENIOR TAMPCO MEMBERS. These senior citizens listen to the proceedings during the 39th General Assembly and 40th Founding Anniversary of the Tabuk Multi-purpose Cooperative last February 26.** Photo by Estanislao Albano, Jr. TABUK CITY, Kalinga – As it savors the sweet aroma of success, the Tabuk Multi-purpose Cooperative (TAMPCO) should set its eyes on increasing its impact on the socioeconomic and political life of the community it serves and on increasing its contributions to human development. This was the gist of the message of Anglican bishop and outgoing TAMPCO Board Chairman Renato Abibico during the celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the coop which coincided with its 39th General Assembly on February 26. Abibico who was Board chairman of TAMPCO in the last four years recalled that in March 14,1971, the cooperative was organized with 33 members and a total capital of P1,235.00 but that 40 years later, the assets of the cooperative has passed the half billion peso mark at P514,700,346.10 as of the end of 2010. He commented that “the life story of TAMPCO is a good lesson to us that anything that is sown in wisdom, or anything that is established with good intentions, do merit God’s grace and approval.” However, Abibico continued that TAMPCO should not rest on its laurels but aim for greater things. Citing Dr. M.M. Coady of Canada, he said that the “ultimate goal of the cooperative is to transform human beings from mere shopkeepers, whose thoughts are only limited to money and material things, into something more lofty, and that is to become creative.” He said that TAMPCO has already embarked in this direction with the establishment of its training-inn-restaurant center, Pi water refilling and distribution service, the funeral care service and lately, the automatic teller machine (ATM) service all of which, according to him, are creating greater impact on the socioeconomic aspect of the community. Abibico said that the establishment and operation of these new services of the cooperative are in accord with the principles being advocated by the cooperative movement namely the following: the people are the owners of development; the people are the prime movers of development; the people are the direct beneficiaries of the fruits of development; and democratic space for decision-making. Referring to the financially rewarding operations of the cooperative in 2010, Abibico urged the members not to just pat themselves on the back but “rather set their eyes to more wonderful things that we could make as cooperative in creating more impacts on the socioeconomic and political life of our society.” “Our mission is to continue to share in the whole process of development that would bring about abundant life not only for our members but for the wider community as well,” Abibico said. The present asset figure of TAMPCO represent a growth of P57M from that of the previous year. Within the same period, the membership of the cooperative also increased by 602 bringing the total members of the cooperative to 9,145. In the elections conducted during the assembly, directors Josephine Doctor and Jefferson Wandag were reelected while Orlando Banatao, Patricia Abibico, Gilbert Cawis and Eddie Rodriguez were elected. They join incumbent directors Valentina Attolba, Pastor de Jesus, Fr. June Inbentan and Fr. Claudio Bagano. The budget of the cooperative for 2011 with total revenue and net surplus targets of P58,409,894.83 and P25,108,848.05, respectively, and estimated operating expense of P33,301,046.78 was approved by the General Assembly. The matter that elicited the most questions during the assembly was the usage of the Community Development Fund (CDF) which is three percent of the net income mandated by law to be set aside for community development purposes. Abibico had reported that P500,000.00 from the CDF was used for the purchase of a dump truck donated to the Tabuk City LGU for waste disposal purposes while Chief Executive Officer Petra Baguiwen stated in her report that several medical missions were conducted and two entities were assisted using money from the CDF. Under questioning from the members, Abibico said that the donation of the dump truck to the Tabuk City LGU was not covered by a Memorandum of Agreement as it was only responding to a solicitation letter and Chief Executive Officer Petra Baguiwen revealed the amounts given to the beneficiaries. It was decided that in the future, donations will be covered by MOAs and that the amounts given beneficiaries of the CDF will be stated in reports.** Posted by Binoburoy flares up; 4th year high school stude mu... TABUK INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY CELEBRATION. The...

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Buy Food! Chris Mayer June 23, 2011 A headline caught my eye last week, beyond all the ink spent on European debt woes. It read, “Hungry China Shops in Argentina.” China already buys most of Argentina’s soybean exports. And now China’s largest farming company is trying to lock down acreage for more soybeans. It also unveiled a plan to grow wheat, corn, vegetables, fruit and even wine – all for export to China. The moves in Argentina mirror China’s efforts in other parts of the world to secure food supplies. The simple reason is that China is having more and more problems producing the foodstuffs it needs at home. The biggest challenge may be finding sources of water. For months, south and central China have been suffering from drought. In the spring, Beijing sent deep well-drilling teams from all over the country to these parched provinces. The aquifers these regions relied on were dry. They needed to drill deeper. This required more specialized equipment. Hence, Beijing’s order. Unfortunately, drilling deeper wells is only a short-term fix. Deep- underground aquifers can take hundreds of years to replenish. Tapping these wells is merely a kind of advance on the future. You have to pay it back later when you can’t tap the water anymore. This is the idea, too, behind “water-based food bubbles.” You tap a nonrenewable water supply that gives you the boost you need to grow food, but as with a financial bubble, it is bound to pop. Then, food production collapses. Droughts come and go, but they have been more severe in China in recent years. The drought in Shandong was the worst in 200 years. Drought lingered in Sichuan province a few years ago, and it was the worst in a century. And last year, a drought in northern China hurt the corn harvest (and made China a net buyer of corn abroad for the first time). Drought has also hit areas not normally associated with drought. The Asia News Network reported that through May, rainfall in Taiwan was down 35% compared with the average in the past 30 years. In the western part of the island, rainfall was down 90% in April and May. Taiwan is normally a relatively wet island and good for growing things. Before it became a mini-Japan, Taiwan was a large exporter of oranges, bananas, asparagus and mushrooms. The foundation of its economy was agriculture. China’s southern and central provinces are normally wetter. Hubei, in the central part of the country, is known as the “land of a thousand lakes” – hundreds of which are now “dead,” meaning you cannot extract water from them. In fact, drought had reduced China’s largest freshwater lake, in Jiangxi, by 80%. The irony of all this is that earlier this month, the skies opened up over China. Now they have too much rain. As The Wall Street Journal reports: “The flooding, triggered by heavy rains that started early this month, has caused widespread suffering in more than a dozen provinces and regions, with state media calling it the worst in decades in some areas. In addition to the 175 known deaths, 86 people are missing and some 1.6 million people have been displaced by the flooding, which has caused more than $5 billion in damage as of Monday…” It has also caused extensive crop damage. Production of grains, fruits and vegetables has fallen by more than 20%. Food prices are soaring. Hundreds of thousands of acres of crops have been destroyed. We may speculate why China’s weather has been more severe in recent years. But one thing is undeniable, and it takes us back to the story I led off with: China will need to buy more of its food abroad. By importing food, it essentially ups its water needs as well. Of all the things China demands, food and water would seem to be among the most important and most resilient. I think a recession in China would hurt demand for food. People would not eat as well. They would likely eat less meat. Less meat means fewer grains for livestock. So grain prices are vulnerable to recessions too, just as are oil and copper. But volumes are fairly steady over time. If you look at long-term grain production, you would see a steady chart moving upward over time. Recessions barely make a dent in the long-term trend. While prices may have swung wildly from time to time, production has marched steadily upwards. More recently, you can look at production and see an inexorable increase over time. You can also see persistent shortfalls relative to consumption: This is partly why inventory levels have been tight and prices have stayed high. So given the long-term trends, there are some good investable themes around this. The most-volatile ones would be the fertilizer stocks. But there are less-volatile ideas that you can park in a long-term portfolio and not care so much about weather patterns and short-term crop prices. Just think about all those grains – that chart, going up and to the right. Those grains need to get to market. They need to be cleaned, sorted, packaged, stored and shipped. That’s one reason I like businesses such as Viterra (VT:tsx) and Alliance Grain Traders (AGT:tsx). These firms do exactly those things. And they do it on a global scale. They have dominant market positions and advanced facilities. Both should prove good long-term investments on the grain trade. Chris Mayer For Daily Reckoning Australia Chris MayerChris Mayer is a veteran of the banking industry, specifically in the area of corporate lending. A financial writer since 1998, Mr. Mayer's essays have appeared in a wide variety of publications, from the Mises.org Daily Article series to here in The Daily Reckoning. He is the editor of Mayer's Special Situations and Capital and Crisis - formerly the Fleet Street Letter. Latest posts by Chris Mayer (see all) The US Federal Reserve QE Has Nothing to Do With Rising Stock Prices - May 24, 2014 Why You Should See the Next Stock Market Crash before it Happens - May 10, 2014 Lets All ‘Ditch GDP’ - April 26, 2014 The Real Reason the US Dollar Has Value - April 19, 2014 Categories:Australasia Financial Markets Resources & Commodities

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China’s stock reductions could provide new opportunities Jan 06, 2017 2017 Mid-South Farm and Gin Show: Register online Jan 09, 2017 Target spot: A disease of ‘high yield’ cotton Jan 05, 2017 Tinkering with exports: serious implications Jan 02, 2017 Milagro Biofuels Memphis opens biodiesel refinery Forrest Laws | Feb 02, 2007 If Americans are to meet President Bush's goal of producing 35 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2017, businessmen and businesswomen like Diane Miller Mulloy will have to be on the front lines of the effort. Mulloy is president of Milagro Biofuels of Memphis, a company that recently opened a state-of-the-art biodiesel refinery in a former cottonseed mill. It's the first facility of its kind in Memphis. Mulloy and her partners, another businesswoman and the Memphis-based construction company, Lehman-Roberts, are clearly bullish on biofuels. But Mulloy says the fledgling concern can use all the help it can get from farmers and other members of the agribusiness community. “It's taken a lot of planning and hard work to get to this point, but we are producing what we believe is a premium product,” she told members of the Memphis Ag Club who toured the plant. “We need folks like you to spread the word about the benefits of biodiesel to farms and urban communities.” The new facility, which features a waterless refining process that is self-contained, can produce 5 million gallons of biodiesel a year. It uses 416,000 gallons of refined, virgin soy oil a month. “That's the equivalent of more than 3 million bushels of soybeans (1 bushel makes 1.5 gallons of biodiesel) or more than 83,000 acres of soybeans per year at 40 bushels per acre,” says Mulloy. The Milagro plant is unique in that it uses methanol to remove the final particles of glycerine from the virgin soy oil. The methanol is recycled through a closed system. Since no water is used in the process, the plant did not require a clean water permit for dumping effluent. “This plant was designed and built in California,” said Mulloy. “The biofuels plants in California use the same pollution standards as those in Europe. Germany and other European countries have been using biodiesel for 20 years.” Mulloy declined to reveal the construction costs for the plant, instead urging Ag Club members to encourage their gasoline retailers to begin offering blends of biodiesel and diesel fuel. “Nashville has nine retail locations where you can purchase B-20 (a mixture of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum diesel),” said Miller. “Memphis has none. (Motorists can go to http://www.biodiesel.org to find the locations of biodiesel-selling retail outlets.) Milagro currently is selling B-100 — 100 percent biodiesel — to area distributors and farm co-ops for blending with petroleum diesel. Biodiesel manufacturers recommend that farmers and others start with a B-5 blend for a month and then move up to higher blends of biodiesel diesel. They should check engine filters closely during that initial operating period. “Biodiesel is a solvent, and it will clean out any impurities that might be in the storage tank,” said Mulloy. “That's why some say you should start with a low blend until you get rid of sludge and other impurities.” But not all users do. “The Tennessee Department of Transportation went straight to a B-20 in all of its diesel engines on the basis of testing it did on a small number of its vehicles. “The newer vehicles can use B-20 as a rule,” she said. “Some manufacturers are going up to B-20 and still honoring warranties. Some people are saying you should consider going to a B-50 blend when diesel prices are high. You can change mixtures as prices rise and fall.” Tax incentives offered by the federal government currently put the cost of biodiesel on a par with conventional diesel. It's unknown at this point whether Congress will increase the tax breaks for ethanol and biodiesel production to help the president meet his proposed renewable fuel standard. The “Twenty by Ten” concept — reducing gasoline use by 20 percent in the next 10 years — calls for a new renewable fuels standard in 2017 of 35 billion gallons, about five times the current level of production. One factor that concerns Mulloy is the small number of soybean crushers left in the United States. Her first barge load of refined soy oil came from a crushing facility in Owensboro, Ky. “They're the ones making the money,” she said. “We understand there are only three crushing plants left in the United States. Gov. Phil Bredesen has set aside $1 million in state funds to provide an incentive for locating a new crushing plant in Tennessee.” She's optimistic demand will continue to build as people realize what a clean-burning, efficient fuel biodiesel is. “People have amnesia about fuel prices,” she said. “They forget the pain when fuel prices come back down. We need to educate people about the benefits of biodiesel.” For now, Mulloy plans to stick with soy oil for biodiesel. “Milagro means miracle in Spanish,” she said. “Soybeans are the miracle bean. We've looked at cotton seed oil, but it's too expensive.”

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Blog: Farmers will see soy checkoff investments in person About this blog By United Soybean Board This summer, 10 U.S. soybean farmers from across the country will get the chance to see how the United Soybean Board (USB) puts their soy checkoff investment to use. To find out who those 10 farmers will be, the national soy checkoff has begun accepting applications for its sixth annual See for Yourself program. See For Yourself offers farmers the chance to see the checkoff in action and evaluate a wide range of checkoff activities. The 2013 See for Yourself session will take place July 21–27, 2013. The soy checkoff invites all soybean farmers from around the country to visit USB's website and apply. The application deadline is April 1, 2013. "See for Yourself is truly exceptional," said David Hartke, chair of the USB Audit and Evaluation committee, which sponsors See for Yourself. "Farmer-participants have the chance to see the activities of their checkoff up close, and draw their own conclusions at the same time. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." Selected farmer-participants will visit several sites that demonstrate the soy checkoff's efforts to improve the value of U.S. soy meal and oil; ensure soybean farmers and their customers have the freedom and infrastructure to operate; and meet the needs of U.S. soy customers. Participants will first meet in St. Louis, headquarters of USB, to receive an overview of the organization and see how the checkoff works on behalf of soybean farmers domestically. The group will then travel to a location abroad to learn about the demand for U.S. soy internationally and to see some of the many uses for soy. Examples of what participants might see include the use of biodiesel at a major airport, the importance of soy to animal agriculture and the use of soy by the food industry. USB will cover all travel, lodging and meal expenses. Kentucky soybean farmer Jonathan Miller encourages farmers to apply. "The See for Yourself program was one of the greatest experiences of my life," says Miller, who participated last year. "I encourage farmers to learn more about what the checkoff's doing on their behalf to improve their profit potential."

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Fruits of the future: underutilised crops – in pictures Sub-zero vaults at Kew are preserving undomesticated relatives of crucial global crops to protect food security against the threat of climate change. However scientists are also looking at the role 'neglected and underutilised' plants could play in our diets. Here are just a few of the crops that are deemed to have untapped potential. With thanks to Jonas Mueller, Sarah Cody and Wolfgang Stuppy from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Nicola Davis Acca sellowianaCommonly called feijoa, this evergreen plant is native to the highlands of southern Brazil, but is also grown in Australia, the Mediterranean, southern Russia and is very popular in New Zealand where the fruit are used in numerous recipes from crumbles to cakes. Also known as guava pineapples or guavasteen, the fruit have a zingy flavour with minty tones Photograph: Luke Albert for the Observer Durian Durian fruits come from many species of durian tree and are popular in South-East Asia where they are known as the 'King of Fruits'. Their thorny exterior wraps around white flesh containing several yellow-coloured bulbs that have a flavour reminiscent of sweet onions. The smell of durian fruit, variously described as akin to sweaty socks or pongy cheese, can be overpowering HylocereusHylocereus is genus of cacti that covers several species, all of which produce striking pitayas – or dragon fruit. Native to tropical America, it is also commonly grown in many countries including Vietnam, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Vivid on the outside, the inside of the fruit is pale and peppered with seeds. Its mushy texture resembles that of a kiwi fruit, however the flavour is subtle Manilkara zapota Better known as sapodilla or chikoo, the Manilkara zapota tree bears golden-brown ball-shaped fruit with a dense, orange-coloured flesh containing seeds. Native to southern Mexico, Belize and Guatemala, it is now grown in many tropical countries. With a sweet, toffee flavour and pear-like texture they are often eaten fresh or used in desserts Nephelium lappaceumTaking their name from the Malay word for hairy (rambut) these red, bristly fruits are found hanging from the boughs of rambutan trees. When cut open, the soft, squidgy interior that surrounds the seed can be removed and eaten. Similar to a lychee in taste, it is native to Malaysia and is commonly grown across South-East Asia and the tropics Momordica charantia The bitter melon, or bitter gourd, is grown in East Africa, the Caribbean, South America, India and other Asian countries. As its name suggests, it is extremely bitter. Eaten with the knobbly skin left on, it can be cooked in numerous ways including as an ingredient in stir fries and curries, boiled and stuffed or pickled, and is very popular in Chinese dishes Nelumbo nucifera Nelumbo nucifera, or sacred lotus, grows in shallow waters and its “root” (actually rhizome) is very popular in China and other Asian countries. Peeled and chopped, the slices of the sacred lotus have a firm texture and nutty flavour and, among their uses, can be added to stir fries or soups. The leaves, flowers and seeds can also be eaten Tamarindus indicaDangling as pod-like shells from the tamarind tree, tamarind fruit can be cracked open to reveal a sticky, slightly sour pulp that surrounds the seeds. Known as the Indian date, tamarind is native to tropical Africa and is also grown in South America and South-East Asia. It is often used to make chutneys and is an ingredient of Worcester sauce

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End Date Type Feature Story Topic Agriculture (8) Agriculture And Rural Development (1) Coastal And Marine Environment (1) Debt Relief (1) Disaster Management (1) Diseases (1) Education-systems (1) Environmental Sustainability (1) Extractive Industries (1) Forests And Forestry (1) Livestock-animal Husbandry (1) Market Access (1) Municipal Finance (1) Road-safety (1) Social Impact Analysis (1) See More + Region Africa (19) See More + Country Tanzania Language English Sort By: Date Fighting Wildlife Crime to End Extreme Poverty and Boost Shared Prosperity not just a tragedy for people who love animals or care about the environment. When elephants are slaughtered for their ivory and trees are illegally logged, ecosystems break down. The world’s poorest often bear the brunt of the fallout. And that is where—and why—the World Bank comes into the picture.The Leading Financier in the Fight against Wildlife Crime"75% of the world’s poor live in rural areas, and rely on healthy ecosystems for food, shelter and livelihoods," says Valerie Hickey, Practice Manager, Environment and Natural Resources Global Practice, The World Bank."The World Bank’s goals are to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity in a sustainable manner, which is why we’re committed to fighting wildlife crime, and protecting the animals, plants and marine l Show Less - Type: Feature Story Language: English How Tanzania Plans To Achieve "Big Results Now" in Education Dar es Salaam, July 14, 2014— Education is one of eight priority areas under Tanzania’s “Big Results Now” initiative, alongside energy, agriculture, water, transport, health, business environment and resource... Show More + mobilization. Tanzania is consulting with Malaysian policymakers on this initiative, given Malaysia’s wide-ranging and well-recognized development successes.This initiative is receiving support from several development partners—with significant support provided by the United Kingdom and the World Bank Group.As Tanzania aims to move from low-income to middle-income status by 2025, this initiative introduces significant innovation to achieve results much more quickly and efficiently.“We aim to support country-driven reforms and to strengthen institutions in Tanzania. To this end, we partner with the government and other donors to foster lasting solutions rather than just development projects,” said Philippe Dongier, World Bank Country Director for Tanzania. “The education sector is Show Less - Type: Feature Story Language: English Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda Use Science and Technology to Boost Agricultural Productivity WASHINGTON, July 10, 2014–Most experts agree that priming Sub-Saharan Africa’s farm economy – which typically accounts for between 30 to 40% of gross domestic product and 65 to 70% of the labor force –... Show More + is vital for ending poverty and boosting shared prosperity on the continent.Now, in a new and concerted push, four countries in eastern Africa – Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda – are together taking steps to marshal the power of science, boost food and dairy production, put more money into farmers’ pockets, help send and keep children in school, allow them to eat more nutritious meals, and reduce agriculture’s environmental footprint.The following success stories are drawn from work done under the aegis of the East African Agricultural Productivity Program (EAAPP) financed by the World Bank and partners. The overarching goal of the EAAPP is to increase agricultural productivity and growth in eastern Africa, focusing on priority commodities such as cassava, rice, wheat and smallholde Show Less - Type: Feature Story Language: English World Bank Tanzania Announces Winners of Children’s Art Contest DAR ES SALAAM, June 27, 2015 – Rather than shop around for a sophisticated illustration from a professional photographer for the cover of the upcoming Tanzania Country Economic Memorandum, the World Bank... Show More + Tanzania team launched an art and drawing competition for children aged between seven and 15 whose art could don the cover of the report.The art contest was a compliment to the government’s priority to put critical foundations in place for industry growth and job creation under the Big Results Now initiative, said Philippe Dongier, World Bank country director for Tanzania, Burundi and Uganda.“At the same time, more is to be done on the jobs agenda,” he said. “There are large numbers of youth entering the Tanzanian job market every year. The children of today will be job seekers tomorrow. We felt that an art contest for children would be a great way to involve them into this important debate and possibly get some interesting ideas on ways to increase employment opportunities.”Announced Show Less - Type: Feature Story Language: English Tanzania’s Sekenke Road: Now Safer and Faster to Travel Since the implementation of the $122 million Central Transport Corridor Project (CTCP1), as part of a wider government and multi-donor effort to open up the central transport corridor, this stretch... Show More + of road has been rehabilitated, making the route easier and safer for trucks and travelers from the western regions of the country.As the central corridor of the national truck road system, it carries the highest volume of international freight across the country, usually between the strategic Port of Dar es Salaam to the east and western Tanzania, and regional destinations such as Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda.With World Bank financing, the $45 million road construction began in May 2005, and included the creation of a new, all-weather alignment at a much lower altitude than the treacherous old road further up the escarpment. This automatically reduced travel time between Singida and Shelui from an average of five days to a maximum of 50 m Show Less - Type: Feature Story Language: English Think Outside Your Boundary: Fast-Growing Cities Need a Metropolitan Approach “We are asking cities two fundamental questions: How are you thinking outside your jurisdictional boundaries, and what do you need to think and act effectively outside your boundaries, both from a service... Show More + delivery and land use perspective? That’s the simple yet powerful idea of MetroLab,” said Victor Vergara, lead urban specialist at the World Bank Institute.What did cities learn?“We are trying to do what we are calling inter-county cooperation. I have learned from cities like Paris and Seoul which have large metropolitan areas how they managed to coordinate their metropolitan regions. That is quite exciting for us,” said Martha Muthoni, an urban planner for Nairobi’s county government. “I learned one important thing about Seoul – that land readjustments and land redevelopment is working very well,” said Marcelo Fonseca Ignatios, superintendent of structuring projects at São Paulo Urbanismo, which will complete its master plan in a few weeks. “We need to implement that policy Show Less - Type: Feature Story Language: English Art/Drawing Contest: Unleash Your Creativity! The World Bank invites Tanzanian schoolchildren between the ages of 7 – 15 to participate in an art/drawing contest. The winning entry will be featured as the cover artwork for an upcoming World Bank report... Show More + on jobs in Tanzania.The winner will also have his/her picture and bio featured inside the cover page of the report, along with Sh1,000,000. The first runner up will win Sh650,000, and the second runner up will win Sh350,000.The contest ends April 17, 2014.Rules & GuidelinesThe contest is open to schoolchildren between 7 – 15 years old to work individually or in teams of no more than three peopleParticipants are expected to use their hands to paint, draw or sketch artwork with the theme of “Jobs for All Tanzanians.” You can use pens, pencils, crayons, charcoal, oil, acrylic paint, or water color to create your artwork. All artwork must be done on A4 or A3 paperAll submissions can be mailed, emailed or delivered to the World Bank Tanzania Office:Art/Drawing ContestThe World B Show Less - Type: Feature Story Language: English New Funding to Help Poor Countries Manage Debt A new phase of a successful multi-donor trust fund is on track to launch April 3, 2014, with a minimum of $10 million. The Debt Management Facility II (DMF II) program builds on previous success in debt-management... Show More + advisory work and marks the beginning of a new partnership between the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The partnership will be dedicated to strengthening the capacity of low-income countries to manage their debt in a manner that is sustainable and encourages economic development.The new pot of money will extend the work of the first DMF, a successful $22 million trust fund that the World Bank launched in November 2008. The initiative was born out of a recognition that low-income countries graduating from debt-relief programs, such as the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), might continue to struggle. There was a worry that they might fall into a vicious cycle of debt and assistance.“Several countries had been provided debt relief by multilateral dono Show Less - Type: Feature Story Language: English Transparency Adds Value to Extractive Industries in Liberia, Tanzania and Ethiopia The extractives sector in Liberia is back! After a 14-year civil war that shut down all of its major mines—and their revenue streams—Liberia is putting its mineral resources to work again.Given the country’s... Show More + rich iron ore resources, mining is a key source of revenue for economic recovery. Making the most of it rests, in large measure, on building a transparent disclosure framework. Liberia has taken decisive action in this direction. It was the first African country to be designated as EITI compliant in 2009. Two years later, in 2011, its revenues from the extractives industry jumped 70 percent. Show Less - Type: Feature Story Language: English Revolutionizing Wheat Production in Ethiopia ADDIS ABABA, January 23, 2013—The lush wheat land that stretches from the rural township of Kulumsa (Assela) deep into the southeastern part of the country comprises what is dubbed the Arsi/Bale... Show More + wheat belt of Ethiopia. The sea of wheat farms along the belt are dotted with barley and teff fields and stretch as far as the eyes can see.Over the years, the region gave the best wheat yield in the country, although overall production levels were not always the same. Just few years ago, the wheat lands of Arsi/Bale were dominated by smallholder subsistence farmers cropping on fragmented farm land. Wheat, in spite of its unique suitableness to the area, was planted alongside other crops. Today, through two agricultural programs supported by the World Bank, things are changing.A monotonous wheat farmland now defines almost the entire belt. Signs of farm technologies and mechanization are visible, as well as a hint of commercialization across the Arsi/Bale wheat lands. The yield per hectar Show Less - Type: Feature Story Language: English Debt Relief for 39 Countries on Track to Reach US$114 billion The World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are on track to help relieve 39 countries of approximately US$114 billion in debt through two programs designed to help poor nations free up resources... Show More + for domestic poverty-alleviation, according to an annual report released this month. These initiatives, the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (the MDRI), have delivered an estimated $96 billion in debt relief, and have arranged for creditors to commit to the remainder.To date, 35 countries – 30 of them in Africa – have received the full amount of debt-relief for which they are eligible through HIPC and MDRI. Chad is a current participant and is expected to graduate from the initiative by the end of 2014. Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan are potentially eligible for debt relief, and Somalia and Sudan are actively working to qualify. Show Less - Type: Feature Story Language: English Tourism in Africa: Hiking Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania WASHINGTON, October 3, 2013 – The popularity of Mount Kilimanjaro as an international tourist destination generates an estimated US$50 million in revenue annually, but also has the potential for negative... Show More + environmental impacts, according to a new report released today.The report, Tourism in Africa: Harnessing Tourism for Growth and Improved Livelihoods, explores how tourism has been a key tool for economic development throughout the world, and how Sub-Saharan African countries can start or continue to utilize tourism as a source of growth and poverty alleviation. Written primarily for national and local policy makers, as well as potential investors, the report provides an illuminating analysis of the tourism industry, its economic value and potential. Tanzania is home to a host of tourist attractions, including Ngorongoro Crater and the Great Migration of the Wildebeest across the Serengeti Plains. Mount Kilimanjaro, located near Moshi in the northern part of the country, has icon Show Less - Type: Feature Story Language: English The Role of Livestock Data in Rural Africa: The Tanzanian Case Study DAR ES SALAM, Oct. 3, 2013—Many farmers across rural Africa depend on their livestock for survival. Whether animals such as chickens, goats, pigs and cattle are used as a primary source of household food... Show More + or as income from the sale of animal by-products, they represent an important asset to many families throughout the continent.This reality, coupled with the fact that demand for animal protein continues to increase in Sub-Saharan Africa due to population growth and a rising middle class, defies the trend of a sector that is often neglected when it comes to targeted investments. Yet the data shows us that this may indeed represent a missed opportunity.In a study released by the Livestock Data Innovation in Africa project, an initiative co-implemented by the World Bank and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, there is ample evidence that taking a close look at the livestock sector in a country like Tanzania, for instance, can reveal many interesting facts about investment gap Show Less - Type: Feature Story Language: English Tanzania's Farmers Speak: Patrick Julise Muhegele, 32 After decades of living on food aid supplied by the government, a new irrigation development scheme support by the World Bank, has changed the agricultural landscape for thousands of farmers, and changed... Show More + their lives for the better. Patrick Julius Muhegele, 32, is one of them.Before the completion of the scheme, Patrick Julius Muhegele – or Pati as he is known around Magozi – was growing sorghum on the one ha of land that he owned at the time. He got three or four bags each harvest – twice a year. “There was never enough rain to bring up a good crop even though we were doing our very best,” he said.But Muhegele never left Magozi. He made the decision to make do with food aid like others who remained while pushing on with the sorghum farming for what it was worth.“When the scheme was completed, I realized I could grow rice. We knew that those who had started growing it in Pawaga-Mulenge, Luganga and elsewhere were earning a lot of money,” he said. “In 2005, a bag of sorghum could fetch j Show Less - Type: Feature Story Language: English Tanzania's Farmers Speak: Fatuma Ngudike, 70 their lives for the better. Fatuma Ngudike is one of them.A widow for 10 years now, Fatuma Ngudike, 70, has four acres from which she harvests 80 bags of rice per year.“When my husband died in 2002, he left behind four widows and we were all living in the grass-thatched mud house over there,” she said, gesturing towards a four-roomed structure outside her current brick house.“Three years ago, I decided to start saving to build a better house. With the 40 bags that I was getting from my farm, I saw it was something that I could afford,” she said. “I always dreamt of living in a better house. So every time I saved some money from selling the crop, I would buy iron roofing sheets which I would keep in the store. Finally, last November, I decided to start building this house. I hope to com Show Less - Type: Feature Story Language: English Tanzania's Farmers Speak: Fundi Mihayo, 46 After decades of living on food aid supplied by the government, a new irrigation development scheme support by the World Bank, has changed the agricultural landscape for thousands of village farmers and... Show More + changed their lives for the better. Fundi Mihayo, 46, is one of them.In 1994, Mihayo returned to Magozi to visit his family as he had each year for 12 years. Elections for ward councilor were taking place and then-27-year-old decided to contest. Seeing no future in the dry barren land that they had been relocated to, Mihayo had left Magozi in 1986 for Tanga where he undertook vocational training in motor vehicle repair.“That year it didn’t rain at all and the sorghum crop never matured, for everyone here across the board. It never grew beyond knee height,” says Mihayo. Magozi benefitted from food aid from 1980 – 2007.In the days when they had just shifted there, the village had neither a shop nor a grain miller. None of the houses had iron roofing. “We bought petrol and other things at Show Less - Type: Feature Story Language: English Tanzania's Farmers Speak: Safari Johnsfasi Mdindile, 34 After years of living on food aid supplied by the government, a new irrigation development scheme support by the World Bank, has changed the agricultural landscape for thousands of farmers, and changed... Show More + their lives for the better. Safari Johnfasi Mdindile, is one of them.Safari Johnfasi Mdindile, 34, lived as an economic refugee for years, leaving his young family at home while he spent four to six months in Ngambo, Pawaga-Mulenge cultivating land and waiting for his crops to mature. An irrigation scheme had been established in Ngambo years earlier, so Mdindile, like many Magozi residents, decided to try his luck there.In 2005, as soon as the early phases of the Magozi scheme were completed and water started flowing to the gardens, Mdindile was among the first exiles to move back to cultivate at home.“There was really no excuse for me to stay away from my family anymore,” said Mdindile. “We had the land and now we also had some water. It was up to us to make the best of it.”Seven Show Less - Type: Feature Story Language: English Irrigation Development Helps Tanzanian Farmers Thrive MAGOZI VILLAGE, August 30, 2013 -- In the southern highland village of Magozi where rainfall is scarce, 3,723 farmers are now cultivating land that once seemed like a barren wilderness just a few years... Show More + ago. During the 2008 harvest season, only 650 ha of land could be cultivated, yielding 2,600 tons of rice. But by 2011 season, the cultivated area had more than doubled to 1,500 ha and yielding 8,250 tons of rice and establishing food self-sufficiency for the first time since 2007.In the village of Uturo, farmer’s yields have increased to an average of five tons per ha of land, up from 1.5 tons in 2008. In 2006, Iganjo farmers harvested 15 tons of round potatoes per ha twice a year. Today, the farmers are getting 30 tons per season.This recent agricultural success is the result of irrigation development in Tanzanian villages through various projects financed by the International Development Association (IDA) in collaboration with other development partners throughout the past decade. The Show Less - Type: Feature Story Language: English High Above Earth, Satellites Help Direct Ground-Breaking Development Work When the World Bank first teamed up with the European Space Agency to demonstrate how Earth observation can work for international development, a small climate change adaptation project on the coast of... Show More + North Africa produced the first big results. High above Tunis, three orbiting ESA satellites sent down data pinpointing parts of the Tunisian capital where land was sinking, undermining the city’s ability to withstand storms, earthquakes and extreme weather. “The results from the satellite data were stunning,” said Sameh Wahba, manager of the Bank’s Urban Development and Resilience unit, which spearheaded the program. “They were quick, cost-effective and technically sound. They gave us visually impressive products that easily communicated the magnitude of the problem to our counterparts in government. As a result, the government immediately incorporated smart risk mitigation policies into the city’s adaptation and resilience plans.”In the five years since the eoworld co Show Less - Type: Feature Story Language: English NBTF Paves the Way for Rusumo Falls Hydroelectric Project: Shared Benefits for Burundi, Rwanda, and Tanzania The project was designated a high priority by the Strategic Social and Environmental Assessment of Power Development Options prepared by the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program – Coordination... Show More + Unit (NELSAP-CU) in 2005, which evaluated the potential for regional power development in the Nile Equatorial Lakes region. At the time of project preparation, electricity coverage ratios were 2% in Burundi, 5% in Rwanda, and 11% in Tanzania. Hydropower provided a renewable, low-cost alternative. The Rusumo Falls Project will provide a little over 26 MW to each country – which is significant considering it is roughly half the current installed capacity in Burundi and a third of that in Rwanda.The feasibility studies for the power generation component have compared three alternative development scenarios - the Full Development, Intermediate Development, and Run-of-River (RoR) - including their technical, economic, social and environmental aspects.17,500 households would be affecte Show Less - Type: Feature Story Language: English 1

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Top Soy industry adopts environmental safeguards Posted on 28 May 2009 Soybeans; Paraná, Brazil © Michel GUNTHER / WWF Campinas, Brazil: Elements of the soy industry have agreed to take a milestone step toward improving their production practices, which have led to widespread deforestation, displacement of small-farmers and indigenous peoples, and loss of natural habitats. On Thursday, participants in the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) unanimously agreed to implement a pilot program of voluntary production standards aimed at reducing the negative impacts of soy production on the environment and people, particularly in South America. Most importantly, the interim standards require producers to take certain measures to protect the environment. Those include prohibitions on the conversion of areas with high conservation value – such as forests and savannahs –reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and eliminating the most hazardous pesticides in soy farming. “We welcome this decision by RTRS members, but now the hard work begins to test and improve these standards over the next 12 months,” said Cassio Moreira, Coordinator of WWF Brazil’s Agriculture and Environment Program, who also serves on the RTRS board. “Everybody in the soy supply chain needs to jump into this process and make it work, especially the buyers who must show their commitment to support the implementation of these standards.” The agreement is the result of years of dialogue between WWF, other NGOs, farmers, and the soy industry and was finalized at the group’s fourth annual meeting this week in Brazil. The RTRS currently counts more than 100 members, including major private interests in the soy industry, smallholder farmers, feed mill operators, traders, retailers, financial institutions, and social and environmental organizations. The program is based on a set of standards – known as Principals and Criteria— to improve soy production. They will be tested among several growers and then revised before the next RTRS meeting in 2010. Members will then take a final vote on long-term standards. The Principles and Criteria also require producers to: • Comply with the law and adopt good business practices. • Maintain good working conditions, such as paying workers the prevailing wage. • Dialogue with surrounding communities, such as equitably resolving land disputes. • Engage in good agricultural practices, such as reducing soil erosion, water use and pollution, and the safe handling and minimizing the use of agrochemicals. The RTRS now needs to maintain momentum by developing a certification system to verify compliance with the standards and establish methods to trace the soy. Expanding soy production has been linked to the dramatic loss of natural habitats, especially forests and savannahs, in South America. Soy fields have already replaced much of Brazil's savannahs - the Cerrado – and are threatening the Amazon by pushing cattle ranching into that area. The expansion of soy production also threatens the livelihoods of local communities. Agriculture contributed to the disappearance of most of the Atlantic Forest in southern Brazil and eastern Paraguay in the 1970s and 1980s – a scenario that could be repeated in other regions as the global demand for soy is expected to double by 2050. Soybeans are used in the production of edible oil, cosmetics, foods, and feed for cattle, pigs, poultry and fish. More recently, soy has been used in the production of biofuels to meet increasing energy needs. For further information: Ian Morrison Media officer, WWF International +41 79 874 6853, imorrison@wwfint.org Carrie Svingen Forest Conversion Programme Coordinator, WWF International +62 361 730185, csvingen@wallacea.wwf.or.id Waldemar Gadelha Neto Communications officer, WWF Brazil +55 61 817 54038, gadelhaneto@wwf.org.br About WWF WWF is one of the world's largest and most respected independent conservation organizations, with almost 5 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption. www.panda.org/media for latest news and media resources

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Cost Challenges to Cow-Calf Producers Published on Fri, 05/08/2009 - 12:21pm USDA’s Economic Research Service spelled it out last February. In a quarterly report on farm income and costs, ERS said, “The current economic downturn has weakened beef demand, offsetting the positive effects of lower grain prices. Prices paid for feeder steers in 2009 are expected to remain almost exactly the same as in 2008.” ERS predicted cash receipts for cattle and calves in 2009 would move slightly upward to a nominal record high of $50.2 billion, but the weak demand would keep feedlots from increasing placements, and cow slaughter would continue to run above usual levels as producers cull cows to increase herd efficiency. In short, 2009 was expected—for the first time in a dozen years—to put many cow/calf operators in negative earnings territory. And ERS’ 2008 “Cow-Calf Production Costs and Returns per Bred Cow” lays out the biggest changes. Feed prices were up 14% from the previous year; notably, concentrates and other feed were up 34%, and supplemental feed was up 45%. Fuel, lube and electricity rose 30%. And the value of all cattle sold? Down 4%. Tom Troxel, Extension beef cattle specialist at the University of Arkansas, predicted in January, “It’s going to be a very difficult year financially for cow/calf producers. I think you’ll see the selling price for weaned calves will be lower in 2009 than it was in 2008, and we all know what production costs have done in the last year or so. Although we have seen some reprieve on fertilizer cost and fuel cost and feed cost, all three of those, they’re still relatively high and there’s a major impact.” He said producers need to get back to basics, doing what they know works well, and is based on scientific research. Darrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Agricultural Economist, says while it will clearly be a narrow profit year, much of that will depend on the individual operation. “Since last fall,” he says, “we’ve been very concerned about the weakness on the revenue side, if you will—the weak cattle prices, and that’s certainly still a bit of a concern.” But there’s been some recovery, and Peel says he’s more optimistic on prices for the second half of ’09, when many weaned calves will be marketed. The cost end, though, is another matter. Feedlot operators experienced “sticker shock” in 2008 when grain prices soared well above previous record highs; Peel says since then, they’ve adjusted to the new paradigm. “There’s an opportunity for these markets to stabilize and to see some positive margins returned,” he says. “But I think we’ll also continue to be exposed to considerable risk, short-run kind of volatility in those markets, that will continue to provide a lot of challenges to that sector.” The high price of grain, of course, limits what feeders are willing to pay for calves. That’s left producers unable to take advantage of the forward pricing arrangements that can provide stability to the market. “Ido think that will improve a bit over time,” Peel says, “but we’re really not there right now.” Eventually, he believes producers will be able to return to using futures or cash contracts to lock in returns; knowing that information, they can then turn to the other side and price inputs to ensure profitable margins. The story every year for cow/calf operators is grass, and Peel says that situation is relatively strong. Although there’s regional variation, he says, “Fundamentally, we really don’t have any major drought areas in the country right now, and that sets the stage for everything else.” Texas and western Oklahoma suffered severe drought earlier this year, but spring rains have caused the area and intensity to recede. “I wouldn’t say we’re out of the woods yet,” says Peel, “but we’ve certainly made a lot of progress on that.” Peel also says the persistent drought that has lingered over the Southeast for several years appears to have abated, although he cautions, “We’re just going into the hot part of the year. Beyond that, I’m not aware of any major regional deficits on hay supplies; I don’t know that we have an excess of supplies, but I think everybody has gotten through the winter in pretty good shape and I’m not aware of any major shortages that are causing any real problems.” USDA’s monthly price for hay in April was $129/ton; that’s still well above the five-year average, but down 12% from April of ’08. Prices in May of ’08 spiked to a record of $168/ton, mirroring the surge of grain prices to all-time highs as traders became increasingly concerned last year’s spring flooding would leave Midwestern farmers unable to meet demand from livestock producers, exporters and the growing U.S. ethanol market. Peel says feed remains the cattle producer’s greatest expense; using raised forage as effectively as possible, and managing purchased feed to supplement it, are the greatest challenge. Many producers will have to catch up on fertility. Nutrients, like grain, soared to record prices last year; between April ’07-08, nitrogen prices rose 32%, potash doubled, and phosphorus nearly doubled. As a result, Peel says a lot of producers “just basically chose not to provide fertility”; in some cases, they were able to get away with it because they had reserve fertility in the soil. But they can’t do that two years in a row…and they really shouldn’t have to; nitrogen prices have fallen back to mid-2007 levels. Peel points out failure to catch up on needed soil fertility can affect not just the quantity of forage produced, but the quality. He says, “I do hear some anecdotal indications from producers that they see some impacts on reproductive performance in cow herds that probably is related, if not to actual fertility, to just the consequences of drought and in some cases excess forage growth following rainy periods. There’s been a lot of variation in nutrient quality of these forages, and the challenge there is to make sure that that doesn’t translate into loss of reproductive efficiency in the cow herd.” For now, though, he believes herd productivity is in pretty good shape, although the average cow age is a little younger than usual; he says producers appear to have replaced cattle as needed. The droughts that moved all over the country throughout this past decade kept the herd in the liquidation cycle; the check on herd size helped maintain the unusually long stretch of profitability, up until high input costs kicked in two years ago and took the profit out of the business. Now, says Peel, “I think for cow/calf producers—it’s always true but it’s even more true at this point in time—you’ve got to manage that cost side, relative to our expectation for prices. Ultimately, at the end of the day, you can’t do much about markets; you certainly want to monitor them and anticipate where they’re headed, but the thing you can really control is the cost side.” The two big issues, he says, are the overall cost of production, and the potential for an extraordinary run up in short-term expenses—especially once the national economic recovery begins in earnest. And Tom Troxel offered this analogy: “I think 2009 and 2010 both will be challenging years for the cow/calf producer; I kind of look at a cow/calf producer like a manager of a professional baseball team. You think about what a manager of a professional baseball team does, and he tries to make the right decisions to give his team the best chance of winning. He can’t hit the ball; he can’t throw the ball. But he brings in that left-handed reliever at the right time, or brings in a pinch-hitter at the right time, to try to put the odds in his favor of winning. And that’s what I think cattle producers have to do in 2009 and 2010, is to position their ranch so the odds are in their favor of being profitable.” Tags: Cost, Cow-calf Have You Captured the Perfect Cattlemen Moment?

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Small dairies see market in raw milk The Sinnemas' raw-milk operation was inspired by their own milk cow, Sally; they now have a herd of 19 Guernseys and six heifers. Jared Sinnema, 16, carries buckets of fresh milk to a cooling tank on a January morning. His family's Old Silvana Creamery sells raw milk. Eight-year-old Holly Sinnema pets one of the family's Guernsey cows while taking care of the animals on a January morning. Jim Sinnema, who runs Old Silvana Creamery, fills out a delivery form at the Produce Place in Marysville. He estimates he sells about 70 gallons of raw milk a week at his farmstand and up to 300 gallons more at stores. By Gale FiegeHerald Writer Published: Sunday, February 3, 2013, 12:01 a.m. << Prev Photo gallery: Raw milk revival Dairies in Snohomish County SILVANA -- For more than a dozen years, the Sinnema family's dairy barns sat empty on their farm near Island Crossing.Jim Sinnema, his brother, Ron, and their father, Neil, had to call it quits in the late 1990s when the price paid for wholesale milk was going down while overhead was going up.These Darigold farmers sold their herd of Holsteins and most of their pasture. They stayed on the farm, but Neil retired, Ron started making custom gun barrels and Jim drove a cement truck.Then a few years ago, Jim Sinnema, 42, got the idea that his family should get a milk cow. He and his wife Kelli wanted to give their four home-schooled children something to do around the farm. Sinnema bought a Guernsey named Sally and put his kids in charge."The milk was great. The kids loved it. So I bought a few more Guernseys," he said. "Then I started thinking seriously about getting back into dairying."Sinnema decided to sell raw, unpasteurized milk. He figured that because of consumer interest in fresh, local farm products and especially in raw milk, he could confidently market what he and his family drink each day. With the price of a gallon of raw milk hovering around $10, compared with about $3 for a gallon of pasteurized, it could be an opportunity to make some money.Still, health officials remain concerned about milk that has not been pasteurized to kill harmful pathogens, which primarily occurs when even small amounts of manure contaminate the milk.That doesn't faze Sinnema."Nobody says any more that organic farming is a joke. Raw milk is a change that is happening. But for it to be sustainable, the market has to get bigger," he said. "Some people say you're playing Russian roulette if you drink raw milk. I'm not a gambling man, but if I was, I'd be a millionaire. People have been drinking it for thousands of years."Pasteurization is the process of heating milk to a temperature that kills salmonella, listeria and E. coli. It began in the late 1800s when public health issues emerged in industrialized urban areas.In 1939, raw milk -- and poorly pasteurized milk -- still was considered the cause of about a quarter of all food-borne illnesses and many deaths nationwide.After World War II, at the height of agricultural production in Western Washington, dairy farmers invested in new equipment, adopted new practices and sent nearly all of their milk off to be pasteurized.Today, Washington and 10 other states allow retail and farm sales of raw milk. Canada prohibits the sale of raw milk, as do 17 states. Another 22 states allow very limited raw milk sales, mostly at farm stands.About 18 dairies in Washington produce raw cows' milk -- just a fraction of all milk sales in the state -- and are licensed by the Department of Agriculture. The state seeks to uphold strict standards and work hard with producers to stop problems before they reach the retail level, said Kirk Robinson, the department's assistant director of food safety.Raw milk producers must be licensed and are required to post warning labels on each container. Pregnant women, children, the elderly and anyone with a compromised immune system are considered most at risk of illness.In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the USDA and the state Department of Health caution against the consumption of raw milk.The CDC in January published its two-year summary of reports of food-borne disease outbreaks. An outbreak is when two or more people get sick. For the first time in 11 years, raw and pasteurized dairy products were identified among the foods (along with beef, fish and poultry) most commonly associated with outbreaks. The majority of the dairy-related outbreaks during the 2009-10 survey period were caused by consumption of contaminated raw milk products, primarily cheese.The Snohomish Health District has no record of any disease outbreaks related to raw milk originating in Snohomish County during the past five years. Of the 176 singular cases of illness caused by E. coli, seven found unpasteurized milk or cheese, such as queso fresco, as a possible risk factor, said health district spokeswoman Kristin Kinnamon.Seattle attorney Bill Marler, in lawsuits filed across the country, has represented people who have fallen ill after consuming unpasteurized dairy products."Because their farms are small, raw milk dairymen believe it can't happen to them and they see a profit opportunity because more and more people are getting into drinking raw milk," Marler said. "But if you sicken just one kid, your farm is gone."At one time, when hundreds of dairies dotted the landscape, Silvana was a hub for farmers in north Snohomish County. A couple of creameries were located there, so when Jim Sinnema named his raw milk dairy the Old Silvana Creamery, it was a good fit.Adjacent to his older barns Sinnema outfitted a new building with what he needed for a cooling tank, bottling and sanitation.He opened for farm sales with an honor-system collection box on the day after Thanksgiving in 2011. An industrial-sized refrigeration unit holds gallon and half-gallon jugs, keeping the milk temperature at just above freezing. The refrigerated shelf life for raw milk is about 10 days.In the winter, Sinnema and his family work hard to keep their 19 Guernseys and six heifers clean and happy in the barn, feeding them bales of organic alfalfa, grass and hay. In the summer, Sadie, Buttercup, Freda, and their sisters graze in the pasture out back.The operation is not certified organic because Sinnema wants to be able to seek conventional veterinary care if the life of a cow is endangered. However, he said he doesn't use hormones, chemical fertilizers, herbicides or genetically modified feed. The "girls," as he calls them, get just a little barley to entice them into the milking parlor.Machines drain the cows' milk into stainless steel pails, which are emptied by hand through a strainer and into the stainless steel refrigerated milk tank."It's the way we used to do it in the 1960s," Sinnema said. "It's a lot easier to inspect a milk bucket than a pipeline."A lot of cleaning goes on each day at the dairy: Milking equipment, boots, hands, the milking parlor floor, as well as the cows' backsides and udders."The state makes an inspection once a month, but we also take our milk to a lab in Bellingham each week for testing," Sinnema said. "I want to keep an eye on bacteria and be on top of the quality of our milk. My family drinks more than a gallon of our milk each day. I would never want them to drink anything that might harm them."Raw milk enthusiasts include libertarians who want the government to stay out of their food choices, environmentalists and locavores who want local food from small farms, and, increasingly, people who believe in its health benefits.Mari Budlong said all it took was a tour of Sinnema's dairy to feel safe about drinking Old Silvana Creamery milk. She appreciates the milk's rich golden color and the earthy taste, but it's also a matter of health for her family, she said."I don't drink pasteurized milk and haven't since high school. It always gave me terrible stomach cramps. With raw milk, I've never had that problem," said Budlong, 33, of Marysville. "I believe pasteurizing kills the good stuff that helps our bodies use milk more efficiently."Budlong is not alone.Many food activists believe that most pasteurized milk in America is from factory farms where animals are fed genetically modified grain, treated with hormones and antibiotics, and that the milk is stripped of good bacteria during the pasteurization process.The Campaign for Real Milk, a national organization, says what is needed is a "return to humane, non-toxic, pasture-based dairying and small-scale traditional processing."But plenty of governmental sources suggest that it's a myth that pasteurization makes milk less healthy. The CDC says on its website: "There are no health benefits from drinking raw milk that cannot be obtained from drinking pasteurized milk that is free of disease-causing bacteria."Still, the popularity of raw milk is growing, and those who drink unpasteurized milk are passionate about it.Cass Wheelock-Rowse, 31, of Everett, is a public health nurse and a mother. She and her young children have been drinking raw milk for several years, enjoy the taste of raw milk and have fewer stomach aches.She gets her milk at the Sno-Isle Food Co-op in Everett, where most milk sales are of raw milk, with pasteurized certified organic milk coming in second. Raw milk also is one of the top sellers of all products sold at the food co-op, said Gretchen Weimer, a member of the management team at Sno-Isle."People ask for raw milk all the time," Weimer said. "We don't promote it, but we know that people really like it."Among Wheelock-Rowse's friends, she knows no one who has gotten sick from raw milk."I can't help but think that opposition to it comes from the dairy industry," Wheelock-Rowse said.The Washington State Dairy Products Commission is quick to underscore the government health warnings. However, the commission doesn't take a position on the raw milk controversy and believes it's up to consumers to make their own decisions, said Mark Leader, a commission spokesman.Sinnema figures he sells about 70 gallons a week from his Old Silvana Creamery farmstand and up to another 300 gallons a week at stores. He tells new customers to take it slow when they try his milk for the first time, to "let their guts get used to it."They have to get used to the price, too. At $5.50 for a half gallon at his farmstand, he admits it's not cheap."People spend $5 for a mocha, well, this is the Starbucks of milk," Sinnema said. "And if that wasn't true, I would not sell out each week. It tastes good and people get hooked."Alan Shank, a farm planner with the Snohomish Conservation District, has been following the raw milk trend for about eight years. He doesn't promote raw milk in his job, but he does encourage local farmers to find alternatives to conventional dairying in order to make money.Successful Eastern Washington dairies producing pasteurized milk have grown their herds to include thousands of cows in order to compensate for an ever-thinning profit margin, Shank said."With the economic downturn and operating costs going up, we keep seeing more small dairies operating in the red or going out of business," Shank said. "Raw milk has been a way for some farmers in Western Washington to stay in business."Sinnema continues to drive a cement truck and isn't making any take-home money from his dairy yet, though he does pay his kids for their hard work and has put the profits back into the business. He was able to buy a refrigerated delivery truck to bring his milk to more than 15 health food stores, co-ops and independent grocers in Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom and King counties.On his way to deliver milk south of Monroe, Sinnema drives near the farm of his childhood friend, Art Groeneweg, another new producer of raw milk in Snohomish County. Like Sinnema, Groeneweg is a former conventional dairy farmer who's been drinking raw milk most of his life.Groeneweg, 47, owns the Art of Milk dairy, which has the motto "Back to the Basics." The business has been up and running for about five months. Groeneweg sells milk in half-gallon glass bottles primarily from a stand on his family farm. To ensure quality, he tests his milk from 20 grass-fed Holsteins several times a week."My customers want the real deal, and I want to make sure they can buy it."Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.Learn moreThe Art of Milk, Art Groeneweg, 22426 Highway 203, Monroe, WA 98272; 206-595-6182; theartofmilk@gmail.com.Old Silvana Creamery, Jim Sinnema, 1105 Pioneer Highway, P.O. Box 412 Silvana, WA 98287; 425-268-7961; www.oldsilvanacreamery.com.For more information from supporters of raw milk, go to www.raw-milk-facts.com.For more information from those who caution against raw milk, go to www.realrawmilkfacts.com. Story tags » • Silvana • Agriculture & Fishing • Diseases • Nutrition • Farms • Local Food

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Accueil de la FAOGenreNouvellesPourquoi parler de «genre»?IdéesProjetsRessourcesLiens Genre © FAO/F. Branquinho Cooperatives: Empowering women farmers, improving food security Rural cooperatives and farmers’ organizations play a crucial role in the eradication of hunger and poverty. One of the ways they achieve this is through their vocation to empower small agricultural producers, and in particular women farmers. “Organizing is the key to empowerment. Organizing is the process by which people who are individually weak and vulnerable unite and create power together. When individuals who are among the poorest, least educated and most disenfranchised members of society come together they experience dramatic changes in their lives.” -- Renana Jhabvala, Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA). Empowering women farmers improves food security for allWomen comprise on average 43% of the agricultural labour force in developing countries and produce the bulk of the world’s food crops. While the vast majority of small scale producers experience difficulties accessing resources, socio-cultural norms particularly curtail women producer’s access to productive resources including education, land, technologies, information, financial services, and markets. Their presence in decision-making bodies, especially in leadership positions, also remains weak, and their needs as farmers are seldom accounted for in policy and resource allocation. As a result, women farmers do not produce to their full capacity. If women farmers had access to the same opportunities and resources as men farmers, their productivity would rise significantly and the food security of millions of people would be improved. One challenge that remains is to improve women’s participation in cooperatives.1 The same socio-economic constraints that limit women’s access to resources also often challenge their participation in organizations. 2012, declared the International Year of Cooperatives by the United Nations General Assembly, offers a unique window of opportunity for governments and development agencies to reinforce farmers’ organizations and to support them to empower the women within their ranks. How cooperatives and farmers’ organizations work for women producers Through the power of association, cooperatives and farmers’ organizations have long demonstrated their capacity to help small scale producers overcome barriers to gain better access to resources and inputs, and thus to play a greater role in meeting the growing global food demand. For women producers, who are at a greater disadvantage, cooperatives offer networks of mutual support and solidarity that allow them to grow their social capital, improve their self-esteem and self-reliance, acquire a greater voice in decision-making, and collectively negotiate better contract terms, prices and access to a wide range of resources and services including: agricultural resources and assets; markets to commercialize their produce; credit, capital and other financial services; and social services. Numerous examples from around the world demonstrate how women producers are socially and economically empowered through their membership in cooperatives and farmers’ organizations, allowing them to produce more, earn better incomes, and raise the living standards and economic and food security of their families and communities. As part of the FAO Agricultural Commodities Project, the Exposure and Exchange Programme (EEP), one of FAO’s initiatives to support women producers, brings together women leaders from the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), a highly successful network of partner organizations that has over 1.24 million women members across India, 54% of whom are agricultural workers, and from producer organizations from other part of the world to exchange ideas and improve their organizations’ operations. The EEP held in 2011 brought together women leaders from SEWA and from producer organizations from West and Central Africa. Many examples of women farmers’ improved productivity were evoked during the meeting.One of them is the experience of the members of the small Benkadi women’s cooperative of shallots producers in the Segou region of Mali. Members were experiencing difficulties getting a good price for their produce and as a result were unable to invest and expand their production. By reaching out and coming together with 21 other small associations of women shallot producers, they were able to integrate the larger Faso Jigi farmers’ cooperative. Faso Jigi invested in 19 shallot storage facilities and marketed the produce where prices were more advantageous, offering the women a better income and the opportunity to invest in their businesses and expand their production. Currently, 920 of the Faso Jigi’s 4 200 members are women shallot producers whose needs and concerns are taken into account in the cooperative’s operations. Reinforcing women’s participation and leadership 2012, the International Year of Cooperatives, offers a unique opportunity for the international community to address the challenge of improving women’s access and leadership within cooperatives to empower them to improve their lives and that of their families’ and communities’, and to support better global food security. Many effective measures can be adopted by governments, international organizations and cooperatives themselves to achieve this. To this end, a range of recommendations were put forward at the Expert Group Meeting “Enabling rural women's economic empowerment: institutions, opportunities and participation” held by UN Women and the Rome-based UN agencies--FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP)--in September 2011 in Accra, Ghana. At the macro and policy level, the measures that governments can adopt include creating legislation and regulatory frameworks that ensure farmers’ organizations can operate independently and offer incentives for rural women to join, reserving spaces for women farmer leaders to participate in country and global policy processes, and institutionalizing mechanisms to involve leaders of women farmers’ organizations in agricultural and rural policy making. Cooperatives can also be supported to establish quotas for the participation of women in their leadership and to create women-only committees to ensure they can voice their concerns strongly enough to exercise leadership; conduct training activities to sensitize cooperative members to the negative impact of gender inequalities in the home, farm/workplace, and in society as a whole; and to implement training programs that improve women farmers’ access to agricultural technologies and allow them to develop their skills. Through their ability to reach marginalized groups, to empower their members economically and socially, and to create sustainable rural employment through equitable business models, cooperatives and farmers’ organizations comprise unique platforms to provide women producers with the means to better contribute to global food security. By strengthening support to these organizations and facilitating women’s membership, the international community will accomplish great strides towards the eradication of hunger. 1. A cooperative is an autonomous association of women and men, united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise. It is a business enterprise that seeks to strike a balance between pursuing profit and meeting the needs and interests of members and their communities. Source: Agricultural cooperative: Paving the way for food security and rural development Factsheet. FAO, IFAD, WFP (2011) Publié: 15/11/2012 Une expérience de réhabilitation des terres: l'effet catalytique des Clubs Dimitra au NigerDes femmes leaders grâce aux Clubs Dimitra de la FAOLes mères et les enfants détiennent la clé de l’amélioration de la nutrition dans le mondeDe la terre à l’assiette – une histoire de potagerLes institutions rurales, instruments de progrès social et économique Add new content Information et communication participative Programme de genre et changement climatique Base de données Genre et le Droit à la Terre Nous contacterProgramme de la FAO pour la parité hommes-femmesOrganisation des Nations Unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculturecourriel: gender@fao.orgConnexions Contactez-nous | Termes et conditions | Alerte aux messages frauduleux

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Agricultural Experiment Station System Off-Campus Science Centers Videos & Educational Games iPhone/iPad Apps State & National Events Extension How-To Publications Spanish Language Resources / Recursos en Español Invest in the College Chairs & Professorships ACES News ACES Technology Help Desk ACES Social Media College of Agriculture and Home Economics WILDLIFE Day Presenters Dr. Sam Smallidge is an Assistant Professor and Extension Wildlife Specialist, in the Extension Animal Sciences and Natural Resources Department at New Mexico State University. He is also the Range Improvement Task Force Coordinator. Dr. Smallidge's research and extension efforts focus on the management of wildlife and livestock interactions. Sam Smallidge Donald Auer is the Habitat Project Coordinator for the Wildlife Management Division, where he works to coordinate the development, funding and implementation of wildlife habitat restoration projects across the state of New Mexico. Donald resides in Santa Fe with his wife and two daughters. He is originally from Oklahoma. He received his undergraduate degree in biology from Kenyon College, and earned a master's degree in landscape ecology from Duke University. Donald has been with the Department since March 2007, and came to New Mexico from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, where he worked for five years as a habitat biologist in the southwestern part of the state. Donald Auer Cal Baca started in the Wildlife Management Division in October of 2005. Cal supervises the private land programs for the department which includes both landowner authorization allocation systems A-PLUS and E-PLUS as well as Depredation and Nuisance Abatement and the Department access program Open Gate. He is also the Farm Bill Liaison for the department working with USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Farm Service Agency (FSA) to put farm bill dollars on the ground to improve wildlife habitat on private land. Cal is a Santa Fe, New Mexico Native born and raised in a ranching family in New Mexico and married to a Dairyman's daughter. He has developed a passion for working with landowners to achieve balance in dealing with wildlife in farming and ranching activities. Cal attended New Mexico Military Institute and received both a Bachelors and Masters degrees from New Mexico State University. Cal Baca Alan May graduated form Texas A&M University with a BS in Wildlife Ecology in 1982. He has worked for USDA Wildlife Services managing wildlife damage issues for over 27 years in Texas, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Mississippi before coming to New Mexico 18 years ago. He served as District Supervisor in Las Cruces for 10 years, Assistant State Director for three years, and was selected as State Director in 2006. Alan has worked on a variety of wildlife damage management issues including fish eating birds and aquaculture, beaver damage to crops, roads and bridges, non-migratory birds in free stall dairy barns, red squirrel damage to tubing systems used by maple syrup producers, and predator damage management in livestock. Alan May Dr. Doug Cram is a College Assistant Professor in the Extension Animal Sciences and Natural Resources Department at New Mexico State University. His research and extension efforts focus on management of forests and riparian areas with a particular concentration on the interaction of fire within these systems. Doug Cram Summer Eaton is employed at New Mexico State University, and works with the Extension Animal Sciences and Natural Resources Department along with the New Mexico State 4-H Office. She attended Clarendon Junior College and completed her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Agricultural and Extension Education from New Mexico State University. She has been working with the New Mexico Range Improvement Task Force since 2001. Her primary focus is youth education in agriculture, wildlife and natural resources. Programs that Summer is involved in include; 4-H Wildlife Habitat Evaluation Program, 4-H Shooting Sports, and Environmental and Natural Resource Career Development Event. Summer is active in the New Mexico Society for Range Management. Summer Eaton Home Valles Caldera National Preserve Driving Directions Program Highlights Monday: All Things BEEF Tuesday: Marketing Day Wednesday: Wildlife Day Thursday: Range Day Media Resources Press Release Camp Highlights Featured on Cattlemen to Cattlemen Committee Members Bring Science to Your Life The NMSU College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences "Brings Science to Your Life" through academics, research, and New Mexico's Cooperative Extension Service. ACES Calendar of Invest in the Future ACES Development Office ACES Social Media Directory Food Safety &

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Farm first in state to be certified naturally grown It's a family affair at Schenker Family Farms near McCune, Kan., and one that has not gone unnoticed. Kevin and Cherie Thomas-Schenker are fifth generation farmers who raise beef, pork and lamb and market it direct to the consumer, delivering and shipping coast to coast. In addition, the Schenkers offer a variety of all-natural preserves, pickles, relishes and raw clover honey. The farm just became the first in Kansas to be awarded the Certified Naturally Grown designation for livestock. "Many local farmers understand the importance of a good quality, all-natural product. I feel very fortunate that we are the first farm in Kansas to earn this designation," Kevin Schenker, owner said. The CNG Standards and growing requirements are no less strict than the USDA National Organic Program rules. The primary difference between Certified Naturally Grown and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Organic program is cost to farmers. The CNG Standards prohibit the use of chemical pesticides and herbicides on the farm and within a 20 feet buffer zone surrounding it. Although the antibiotics are prohibited in animals processed for consumption under the CNG label, vaccines are required to maintain the good health of the animals. The standards emphasize a more sustainable form of agriculture which is much safer for the environment and for humans. The cost of the new USDA program--both in terms of money and paperwork requirements--is too much for many small farmers to afford. This is even more true for farmers that grow a wide range of crops all at once. The paperwork takes more time for multi-crop farmers than large agribusiness mono-crop farms. Certified Naturally Grown was created as a grassroots alternative to the USDA Organic program. It was created by small farmers, for small farmers, and is being run by the same group of farmers that created, nurtured and grew the Organic label to such phenomenal public recognition and acceptance over many decades. "Our family has followed the organic guidelines for our livestock for years. This designation just reinforces the importance of what we do and how we operate," said Cherie Schenker, co-owner. Schenker Family Farms just released a new catalog to promote its Certified Naturally Grown products across the U.S. "People have always valued farm fresh, all-natural products and the immense flavor those products have to offer. We have the good fortune of being a part of that rapidly growing market," Schenker said. It has not been an easy process for the Schenkers. It took years of working two jobs for them to save up enough money to begin renovations on the family farm to begin the process, not to mention obtain the appropriate state and federal licensing. Although the farm is their first love, the Schenkers still have regular jobs off the farm, at least for now. Cherie has been an instructor at Penn Valley Community College since 1999 and Kevin is an officer in the Kansas Army National Guard. In addition, the two stay busy with their four children and are very active in their church and community. "The organic and certified natural market is a rapidly growing market, but it is definitely not for the faint of heart. It seems like there is always another expense related to expansion and meeting customer needs," said C. Schenker. "We are continually improving our facilities to help meet our customers' demands and the needs related to livestock production and handling," K. Schenker said. In addition to shipping products coast to coast, Schenker Family Farms also offers home and office delivery in most metropolitan areas in Kansas and Missouri. "We have learned the hard way that two people cannot do everything by themselves--there simply are not enough hours in the day," Schenker said. "Our farm hands and our family are life savers. Our business would not be where it is without them." Schenker Farms hires area youth in the Spring and Summer to assist with various types of farm work. Last year, they hired two people. This year, they hope to hire three or four. With their business growing, they plan to bring in additional family members and friends to help keep up with the demand for beef, pork and lamb. "Eventually, we will reach a point that we are limited by the acres we own in raising animals. Some of our family members are willing to step up to the plate and follow our farming practices and high animal husbandry standards to help supply our customers' demand," said C. Schenker. For more information, check out www.schenkerfarms.com or www.naturallygrown.org.

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The Best All in This Just In All This Just In Slow Food movement to address the G8 GLOBAL AND LOCAL By JESSICA RHYS | January 5, 2009 Next summer, delegates from a worldwide effort to preserve and celebrate small-scale and indigenous farming in the face of corporate agribusiness conglomerates will address the very officials who represent the evils of globalization.The international organization Slow Food, founded in 1986 by former journalist Carlo Petrini with the goal of saving artisan and heritage foods and the traditions and communities that produce them, announced at Terra Madre, its biennial conference held last month, that the Italian government, who will host the next G8 summit in July, has formally invited Slow Food delegates to attend and address the event.We're not talking about protesting in the streets, but high-powered talks with esteemed Slow Food leaders. Slow Food publicist Michele Mesmain says it is uncertain exactly who the delegates will be at this time, but they will certainly be the most powerful and well-spoken that the movement can garner, such as Petrini himself or possibly Vandana Shiva, an internationally renowned defender of biodiversity who spoke at the recent conference. Shiva is a likely choice as a beacon of another movement, too — called "alter-globalization," it seeks not to fight against multinational corporations or inter-governmental free-trade agreements, but instead to ensure that as the world shrinks, all parties pay special attention to respect human rights, the environment, and democracy.This could be a sign that a more just and sustainable world is coming — and is certainly a signal of the growing power of Slow Food members. (Six thousand people, including me, attended the convention, in Turin, Italy; each attendee represented a community of as many as 100 people back home, whether in Maine, or Iowa, or near Lake Tanganyika.)Depending on how the best and brightest of the Slow Food delegates are received next year, we could see more international support for sustainable farming as more of a legitimate occupation and less of a martyred vocation. The time has come to look forward to communities in which we can easily and affordably buy what we need to feed ourselves directly from local producers.Maine is already a leader in this effort. We have one of the oldest and best-organized organic certifying organizations in the country in this state, the estimable MOFGA. Because of its excellent educational programs and its innovative Farmlink program, one of just 16 in the nation (helping connect young would-be farmers with land they can work), ours is one of the only states that has begun to see the average age of our farmers (hovering somewhere in the mid-50s for years) actually go down, and our number of farms go up. We have a budding school garden network. We have an organization, Farm Fresh Connection, that's dedicated to helping connect local farmers and institutional buyers. We have an ever-expanding farmer's market system. We have a growing, sustainable food system with sophisticated programs to meet modern needs.And now the movement has a chance to get on an even bigger stage. I'm seeing a juicy glimmer of hope, and it tastes like fine, free-range Prosciutto di Parma. A brief history of shopping, It’s global class war, Review: Summer Hours, More A brief history of shopping It’s global class war Written by a former Mainer, The Global Class War barely mentions Maine, but it explains what is happening economically in our state — as well as in the world. Review: Summer Hours In his understated, intricate L'heure d'été , Olivier Assayas comments on globalization and materialism by way of a simple story of three siblings dividing the contents of their mother's estate in rural France. Raking over the coals Placing Aviva Chomsky’s article on the front page was a wise decision. Cash-strapped government Most people realize that the nasty economic news is getting nastier. Changing concentrations Thomas Friedman from the New York Times writes that “the world is flat.” Are you too old for school?: Even at age 30, your brain is different from the average student’s. By Samantha Henig Unvarnished Maine is at a unique crossroads. Welcome to Atlantica Big companies in northern New England and eastern Canada have launched another initiative to free themselves from what they consider to be onerous government regulation and oversight. Food unfarmed Following in the Peabody Award-winning footsteps of Aaron Wolf's congenial, informative documentary King Corn, Robert Kenner's omnibus agri-doc Food, Inc . offers a bleaker portrait of America's food economy at this year's Food+Farm event series, centered at SPACE Gallery from May 7 to 10. Apologies in advance As the dominoes have fallen, one after another, in the Great Financial Crisis of 2008 and Almost Certainly 2009 and It's a Safe Bet Most of 2010 Too, we've noticed a disturbing and little-discussed undercurrent: many of the major players have names that are basically bad puns. Hey guv: stop slashing! It seems as if there’s no light at the end of the state’s gloomy fiscal tunnel. Less Topics: This Just In , Economic Issues, Globalization, food, More , Economic Issues, Globalization, food, G-8, prosciutto, Less | Featured Articles in This Just In: Joe Kearns Goodwin's Celebrity-Studded War Chest Deep Dive at the ICA Help! Our bands are on fire! What WikiLeaks cables reveal about Mitt Pax Bostona

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News Sports Opinion Forums Lifestyle Sections Ads Jobs Local Classifieds Extras CU Customer Service Local News « Giving Thanks Lighted Christmas Parade Kic...» Agri Business Team Makes A Difference Jane Whitmore , Save | Lt. Scott Shirk of Emmetsburg was part of an Agri Business Development Team that spent a year in Afghanistan. He related his experience working with the Afghan farmers to the audience gathered for the Veterans Day program in Emmetsburg last Monday. "Throughout my year, we could visually see farmers implementing new farming practices on their own land that they had learned at education sessions on the demonstration farms," Scott told his audience. "It was real exciting for me to see these changes being made." Scott is Platoon Leader at the 194th Field Artillery, based out of Algona. He was deployed to Afghanistan from July 2012 to July 2011 with the 734th Agri Business Development Team. They were stationed in the very northeast corner of Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border. Article Photos AGRICULTURE IN AFGHANISTAN -- Lt. Scott Shirk (right) of Emmetsburg presented a program the Agri Business Development Team that spent a year in Afghanistan. He is pictured talking to Roger Picray of Emmetsburg. The general in charge of the mission hand picked his team. "He picked his team out of all the soldiers that had agricultural skill sets that he felt would be important to the mission," said Scott.?"With me being an agronomist and working for Max Yield Cooperative, I got chosen for the job." Among the team were a veterinarian, forester, water specialist, agronomist (Scott), a couple of farmers and an accountant. "We were handling a lot of money, so he kept the books," Scott explained. "We also had a security force to watch out for us while we were out talking with the locals and working with the farmers." Before Shirk left, he did some research on Afghani-stan: - Population estimated a 32.7 million - Home to a number of ethnic groups - Very mountainous and dry - Only 6% of Afghanistan is cropable - Temperatures range from 32-degrees in winter to 115-120-degrees in summer - Precipitation: 10 to 12 inches per year in the form of snow - Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries on earth, with more than 53% of the population living under the poverty line - Opium is the country's most valuable export -Afghanistan imports much of its food and energy -Agriculture is 90% of the labor gorce, with an unemployment rate of 40% Education was the key to the Agri Business Team's work with the Afghan farmers. "For them to rebuild, a lot of local farmers, and a lot of local businesses were uneducated when it came to agriculture," said Shir. "They were still trying to do farming practices that their grandparents did. They were not moving forward." One of the biggest projects the team did was a demonstration farm. "We wanted a place for local farmers to go to learn new farming practices," he said. "I started working with a local farmer who lived right next to our district center so we could use the district center for classrooms. The local farmer was real happy that someone was there to help." Shirk stressed that every project they did needed to be sustainable. "They needed to be able to run these projects after we left," he said. "The private dealer had to be able to make money to reinvest it or they had to come up with their own funds." The orchards of pomegranates and oranges take about four to five years to produce. So, in between those orchards they intercropped with wheat, so the farmland was being used. When that was harvested, they planted watermelon that could be taken to the local town to sell. Twenty-percent of the produce would go back into the farm the next year. "We also did several farm plots where we taught them how to grow corn in rows," said shirk. "That sounds a little weird, coming from Iowa where we know how to grow corn. They were hand seeding corn like they were seeding grass. They'd work the field, throw the seed out, work it in six, seven or eight inches deep and then expect it to grow." The team also built green houses for vegetables. The climate is warm enough they can grow vegetables year around in the green houses. The team also taught the farmers about irrigation. "We were spending a lot of time with the local farmers, but we couldn't get there enough,"?he said. "We hired two Afghan college students as interns and they were great. I still talk to them today through Facebook and they still have a lot of questions." They also started working with an Afghan college. "The college instructors were really good with agriculture," said Shirk. "We started working with them and established some training, education centers for the extension agents. It was pretty hard for them to give advice when they didn't know anything either." The team set up a five-day education session fot the extension agents. The college instructors came to the demonstration farm and they had classes on irrigation, orchards, vegetables and other ag topics. "What I required was to go out and have their own sessions with local farmers," said Shirk. "It worked out really good. In the year we were there, we had three of these sessions and the extension agents wer really happy to know we were helping them. They were getting knowledge so when the local farmes came to them with a question they had an answer." Shirk described his year in Afghanistan as a "huge success". They established seven demonstration farms and had countless educatoin sessions. The Iowa team was replaced by a team from Illinois to carry on the work in the farm community of Afghanistan. © Copyright 2014 Emmetsburg News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Save | Subscribe to Emmetsburg News Emmetsburg Weather Forecast, IA

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'Best before' dates on food could be scrapped UN to help feed 6.5 million Ethiopians Genetically modified food labelling, a reality Gene mapping germs to fight food poisoning Athens - Best before dates on food add to a mountain of waste in Europe and could be scrapped for some long-life produce, a group of European Union states have argued in a discussion paper prepared for an agriculture ministers meeting on Monday.Food waste in the West has become a hot topic because of its environmental and humanitarian implications.A report last year found up to half of the food produced worldwide was wasted because of poor harvesting, storage and transport methods, as well as irresponsible retailer and consumer behaviour.The discussion paper put forward by the Netherlands and Sweden, says date-labelling in many EU countries is adding to the problem and calls on the European Commission to consider whether products with a very long shelf life could be exempt from best before labels.It also wants EU policymakers to explore how to make consumers better understand durability dates.The paper, which also has the backing of Austria, Denmark, Germany and Luxembourg, says food waste has a social, environmental and economic dimension."The need to reduce food losses and food waste is also closely linked to the principle that everyone in the world has a right to adequate food", it says.According to figures from the Commission, up to 100 million tons of food are wasted in Europe each year, while last year's report from the London-based Institution of Mechanical Engineers found that between 30% and 50% of the food which gets to supermarket shelves is wasted, often because of poor understanding of best before and use by dates.A use by date is applied if there is a health risk in eating food after that date, whereas a best before date is more about quality, when it expires it does not necessarily mean food is harmful, but it may lose flavour and texture.The Commission says it is looking at solutions to food waste, including how to end the confusion over date labelling, and will issue a policy paper on the issue later this year. Read more on: eu | sweden | netherlands | environment | pollution Join the conversation!

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USDA study to explore effects of climate on cattle Search for similar articles by keyword: [Education and Research] MADISON, Wis. – The US Department of Agriculture is spending $19.5 million on research into the impact of climate variability and change on dairy and beef cattle. "We have seen the impact that variable climate patterns have had on production agriculture for the past several years. These projects will deliver the best tools available to accurately measure and respond to the effects of climate on beef and dairy production," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "Farmers and ranchers need sound, science-based information and solutions to help them make management decisions that will sustain their productivity and keep their operations economically viable." The Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis. received $9.9 million over five years to study the environmental impact of various dairy production systems and develop best management practices for producers to implement at the farm level. The Univ. of Wisconsin is partnering in the project with the Univ. of Arkansas, Cornell Univ., the Univ. of Michigan, North Carolina A&T Univ., Pennsylvania State Univ. and the Univ. of Washington, along with four USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) laboratories, the US Department of Energy and the industry-sponsored Innovation Center for US Dairy. Oklahoma State Univ., Stillwater, Okla., received $9.6 million over five years to better understand vulnerability and resilience of Southern Great Plains beef in an environment of increased climate variability, dynamic land-use and fluctuating markets. The team's goal is to safeguard regional beef production while mitigating the environmental footprint of agriculture. The team is comprised of 32 scientists from OSU, Kansas State Univ., Univ. of Oklahoma, Tarleton State Univ., the Samuel R. Noble Foundation and two ARS laboratories. Confronting swine diseases 'Dairy dust' not likely hazardous: USDA Vaccine beads Monitoring system tracks livestock feeding habits

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Fish on Fridays: Maximizing the Value of America’s Fisheries SOURCE: AP/Lisa Poole Joe McKinnon processes herring using a salt machine at the Jodrey State Fish Pier, in Gloucester, Massachusetts. By Michael Conathan | Friday, April 8th, 2011 Conservation and management measures shall prevent overfishing while achieving, on a continuing basis, the optimum yield from each fishery for the United States fishing industry. — National Standard (1) of the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Two weeks ago, Fish on Fridays focused on an announcement by the National Marine Fisheries Service, or NMFS, that we have effectively declared an end to overfishing in America. The first of the 10 National Standards in the Magnuson-Stevens Act that governs our fisheries establishes this goal as a fundamental principle. Yet the law doesn’t stop there. It further mandates achieving “optimum yield,” which is defined as the amount of fish that “will provide the greatest overall benefit to the Nation” while maintaining sustainable populations. This dual requirement implores managers to seek a careful balance between catching too many fish and catching too few. Many of our fisheries are struggling to find this balance. But perhaps the New England groundfishery, arguably the most historic industry in the nation, is the best example. The fishery consists of 16 different species, including four different flounders, haddock, and the iconic cod. Overfishing was rampant in the 1980s and early 1990s in the groundfishery, technically known as the Northeast multispecies fishery. Now, with overfishing ended, one of the biggest problems facing today’s groundfishery is—wait for it—underfishing. The Magnuson Stevens Act was first enacted in 1976. Its primary goal was simply to force foreign fishermen out of U.S. waters. It wasn’t until 1996 that Congress got serious about including conservation measures as part of our domestic fisheries regime with passage of the Sustainable Fisheries Act, which required all overfished fisheries to be rebuilt within 10 years. By that time, it was too late for the New England groundfishery, which had already seen a precipitous decline in catch. The peak of the harvest came in the early 1980s, with an annual catch averaging slightly more than 173,000 metric tons from 1980 to 1983. But when Congress amended the law to impose rebuilding requirements in 1996 the catch amounted to just 47,000 metric tons, slightly over a quarter of what it had been 13 years prior. As a result, fishery managers in New England imposed increasingly strict measures forcing fishermen to tighten their belts. While they resulted in only modest gains in many of the fish stocks, populations of a few fish, such as haddock and redfish, rebounded remarkably. Sure, this was great for the haddock, but the rapid growth raised questions about whether the ecosystem could be kept in balance. Would there be enough food or habitat for the rest of the species in a system with high quantities of haddock? Is it even biologically feasible to engineer the reconstruction of a natural order? With these questions hanging in the balance, battles intensified among fishermen, regulators, and environmental groups—including multiple lawsuits. Meanwhile, despite the best efforts of fishery managers and the best hopes of the industry, overfishing on many species continued, even as fishermen couldn’t come close to catching their legally allowed limit on healthier stocks, like haddock and redfish, because of limitations designed to protect the weaker species. Finally, in 2006 regulators and fishermen began developing a completely new management system. After three and a half years of deliberations and debate, that system, known as “sector management,” took effect in May 2010. Sector management is akin to a cap-and-trade system in which fishermen are allocated a percentage of the total allowable catch of each fish stock in the fishery. They are then permitted to trade their percentage with other permit holders. One key wrinkle is that instead of receiving this allocation as an individual quota, fishermen must first form cooperative organizations known as “sectors.” A given sector then controls the sum of the allocation granted to each of its members. Depending on who you ask, this development is either the death knell for America’s first fishery, or its last, best hope. As fishermen approach the end of the first year of sector management, many feel they are being squeezed out, particularly in the traditional fishing ports of New Bedford and Gloucester. New Bedford’s Mayor Scott Lang has been one of the most vocal critics of sectors. Just this week he brought his New Bedford Fisheries Council to Washington to meet with lawmakers and describe the hardships he feels the system has imposed on the coastal economy of his city. According to his council, far fewer boats are fishing this year under sectors as effort is traded to a smaller number of vessels. And a fishery consolidated in fewer hands means fewer jobs. Others, including sectors fishing from Cape Cod to Portland and Port Clyde, Maine, have seen benefits from the system. They believe it will provide a much stronger foundation for the future of their fishery. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) captured the feelings of many of her constituents in an op-ed piece in the Portland Press Herald in which she stated that initial data from the sector system is “promising” but for the system to work, “We must streamline regulations, because the fact is that cumbersome federal policies are costing thousands of jobs.” The clear bright side is that overfishing has ended in this fishery after decades of trying to staunch the trend. With less than a month remaining in the fishing year, none of the stocks managed under sectors is in danger of exceeding its annual catch limit. As the problem of overfishing recedes, however, it is replaced by a new dilemma. Recall the words of National Standard (1) requiring both prevention of overfishing and achievement of the optimum yield. As the first goal is achieved, regulators must now turn their attention to the second by ensuring restrictions go as far as they possibly can to ensure fishermen are capable of catching they fish the law allows them to harvest. New England groundfishermen caught barely a quarter of the total amount of fish they were legally able to harvest in 2008. A back-of-the-envelope calculation based on the value of fish actually brought to market means catching all the fish to which they were entitled would have equated to roughly an additional $300 million in value. At the same time, in 2009, the United States imported $13.1 billion worth of seafood or 84 percent of the total amount we consume—in nearly all cases from countries with less stringent environmental safeguards. This year’s early data shows that sector management has made some improvement in this area. But still, as of March 26, with just over a month left in the fishing year that ends on April 30, the only stock even close to its allowable harvest for the year was Gulf of Maine cod. Fishermen in sectors have caught about 80 percent of their allowable amount, according to NMFS’s own data. Meanwhile, they have caught just 17 percent of their Georges Bank haddock—the single stock that accounts for more than half of the total available groundfish catch. Fishermen have a legitimate beef when they complain that regulations are preventing them from catching fish that scientists say they should be able to catch. The law is clear on this point: Regulators must act as swiftly and decisively now to help fishermen catch more of the fish they are allowed to land as they did to impose restrictions when harvest levels were too high. Sector management, like many fishery management plans, is a work in progress, and by allowing fishermen to trade their quota among groups, the hope is it will allow harvest of more of the healthier fish populations. As it evolves, it will be critical for regulators, industry members, and other stakeholders to understand that failure to strive for optimum yield from our fisheries is failure to adhere to the law. At a time when our economy is struggling to rebound, and every job is counted, regulators must minimize the waste in our system and stop leaving money at the bottom of the ocean. Read more articles from the “Fish on Fridays” series. Michael Conathan is Director of Ocean Programs at American Progress. This article is cross posted at American Progress. Conservation and management measures shall prevent overfishing while achieving, on a continuing basis, the optimum yield from each fishery for the United States fishing industry.

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Innovation Arena Awards launched by NPACompanies invited to showcase their products at National Ploughing Championships @laoisnews The National Ploughing Association’s Innovation Arena Awards, in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland and the Farmer’s Journal, has opened for applications. Irish agri companies are invited to showcase their products and innovations at the heart of the NPA Innovation Arena at the National Ploughing Championships in Screggan, Tullamore on September 20th-22nd. Innovation Awards winners will be announced across a range of categories including ‘Agri Engineering’ and ‘Sustainable Agriculture’ and will be eligible to win up to €15,000 as a top prize. This year, for the first time, applications are encouraged from International entrants competing globally for a specific category award. The Innovation Arena is the ideal place to showcase ground-breaking agri-related developments, whether they are backyard inventions or professional innovations, to the thousands of visitors the National Ploughing Championships attract each year. It puts Irish agri innovations on a global stage and facilitates networks that have helped individuals and companies to achieve commercial success. Last year’s competition attracted 170 entries; 54 were shortlisted as 2015 finalists and invited to exhibit in the Innovation Arena. Julie Sinnamon, CEO Enterprise Ireland said, “The agri sector is of huge importance to the Irish economy and the Innovation Arena is a key event for Enterprise Ireland where we showcase the top Irish agri innovations. “Each year the Innovation Arena is going from strength to strength; last year the number of entries doubled and we expect an equally strong response to the Innovation Arena this year.” Anna May McHugh, Managing Director of the National Ploughing Championships said: “The NPA are delighted to join forces again with Enterprise Ireland and the Farmers Journal for this year’s Innovation Arena. The Innovation Arena provides entrepreneurs and innovators with an excellent platform to showcase their businesses to those that attend the National Ploughing Championships every year”. The 2016 NPA Innovation Arena prize fund equates to over €65,000 in supports. The overall award winner will receive a top prize worth €15,000 from Enterprise Ireland and The Irish Farmers Journal which includes advertising and PR support, mentoring and a cash prize of €5,000. All finalists will receive €500 worth of advertising vouchers to promote their innovation through the Irish Farmers Journal. To enter please visit: https://www.enterprise-ireland.com/en/Events/OurEvents/NPA-Innovation-Arena-2016/ Leave your comment

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Ability Garden Helpful Hands, Healing Hearts Super Student A Peach of a Solution Narrowing the Field Special Effects College Profile Noteworthy News Alumni Giving Items of Interest College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Dr. Nancy Creamer Photo by Daniel Kim Growing up in mountain-ringed, sprinkler and ditch-irrigated San Jacinto Valley of southern California, Dr. Nancy Creamer did ranch chores: With 80,000 laying hens on her father's 20-acre poultry farm, somebody had to. She and her two brothers worked after school and fulltime in the summers, or when her dad needed larger crews vaccinating chickens and such, says Creamer, now associate professor of horticultural science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She is also director of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS), the 2,000-acre interdisciplinary farm near Goldsboro, where researchers compile long-term, large-scale systems data to help develop profitable, diverse, environmentally friendly agricultural systems that enhance our rural communities. Recalling her California youth, Creamer says, "It was an agricultural community, so a lot of the kids were working on farms. It was expected and my Dad paid me, so that was nice. Besides, I like being outdoors, and agricultural work gave me a chance to do that." Nancy Creamer (left), director of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, confers with Susan Mellage, project manager for N.C. CHOICES, a project to help farmers market certified organic pork products directly to consumers. Photo by Daniel Kim But despite the decent spending money she earned doing agricultural work, after graduating from high school, Creamer decided to expand her horizons. "Not that I was anti-agriculture," she says. "I just wanted to try something else." At first, she gravitated from agriculture to people, earning a 1979 bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of California at Santa Barbara. But her next step was a sea change, a voyage back to agriculture she's continued ever since. Creamer signed on for the University of Pittsburgh's Semester at Sea, visiting the Philippines, China, Indian, Kenya, South Africa, Brazil, Venezuela, Jamaica - "places where food and hunger were really important, so I decided to go into agriculture," she says. And the more she studied, the more her focus shifted to sustainable agriculture. "My courses in international agriculture taught me that the causes of hunger weren't so much production-related, but were often related to poverty and the lack of buying power, distribution problems and such," she says. "And learning about some of the issues in U.S. agriculture - some of the policy decisions we make, declining number of farmers, impacts on the environment, energy - made me want to address them." A 1984 master's in international agriculture development with a certificate in crop science from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo and an International Rotary Scholarship landed her at the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bangalore, India, for a year, where she studied crop production. "It's possible that it's easier to farm organically now, given the cumulative experience that has been gained by farmers," says Creamer, who is launching a "Friends of CEFS" organization for program development and fund raising. Photo by Daniel Kim "I ended up living with an extension agent and her family. Their extension program is modeled on ours. My project was focused on extension there, so it worked out well," she says. After completing the degree, she served as program coordinator and farm manager of the Sustainable Agriculture Program/Student Experimental Farm at the University of California-Davis. In 1994, continuing her travels, in a manner of speaking, she was awarded a Ph.D. in horticultural science from The Ohio State University. She joined the College's Horticultural Science Department in 1995 as an assistant professor and Extension specialist, working first at the Tidewater Research Station near Plymouth as a potato specialist. But in 1997, she joined Drs. Paul Mueller and Mike Linker at CEFS as the organic unit's coordinator. In 2000, she was named an associate professor and CEFS director. Creamer, whose research focuses on long-term organic vegetable crop management and cover crop suppression of weeds, believes in spreading the word about organic systems, especially as they apply to North Carolina. CEFS, she notes on the farm's Web page, represents a new model that combines research, extension, education and broad stakeholder involvement. With five sub-units - farming systems research, pasture-based dairy and beef, organic systems, conservation tillage and a newly developed alternative swine unit - CEFS also hosts an intensive sustainable agriculture college credit internship program. For her work in holding these sometimes disparate interests together, a major sustainable agriculture organization's Web site recently called Creamer "a leader of the North Carolina State University organic transition experiment, comparing a range of organic systems, [who] has benefited from the cumulative knowledge gained from the last two decades of organic farming research." The USDA's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program's Internet entry on transitioning to organic production also says, "Based on past research results, Creamer and her colleagues started their rotation with soybeans instead of corn and applied principles of organic weed management to achieve relatively weed-free fields." (SARE is a cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service component.) "It's possible that it's easier to farm organically now, given the cumulative experience that has been gained by farmers over the years," notes Creamer. "By designing research based on results from earlier studies," the SARE report continues, "Creamer and others have shown that is possible to make the transition with minimal production losses. By preparing the land, building soil, focusing on the right crops and rotation, and not putting too much acreage or too many animals into production, farmers can minimize what has come to be known as the 'transition effect.' Creamer and her colleagues' study, for example, showed that with good weed management, soybean yields can equal those of conventional beans during the first year of a transition." But although settled in a challenging job she loves, Creamer isn't through traveling. Just recently, having returned from the 15th International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements World Congress and the International Scientific Society of Organic Agriculture's research conference in Adelaide, Australia, she expressed her continued excitement about CEFS's ongoing work in organic agriculture. "One conference result is that CEFS has been invited to submit a paper on our long-term research trial for a book under way by the group," Creamer says. An upcoming project she'll have to write about is a joint facility with Wayne County's Cooperative Extension Center, the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resource Conservation Service and Cherry Research Farm. Another is the swine housing in a planned production experiment of antibiotic-free pork with Drs. Morgan Morrow and Eric van Heugten of the College's Animal Sciences Department. In addition, Creamer and the farm's personnel are planning an upcoming anniversary celebration. The May 9 kickoff for "A Season Of Sustainable Agriculture: Celebrating Ten Years of Programming at CEFS" will include a dedication of the new alternative swine unit. The celebration includes focused educational events over the summer and a fall event. And the CEFS-initiated, Kellogg Foundation-funded North Carolina Choices program has launched a new Web site designed to connect North Carolina consumers with local independent hog farmers using alternative production practices. Viewers can find a local farmer producing pasture-raised and/or antibiotic-free pork; consumers can learn how to support local farmers. Part of the Kellogg grant includes numerous networking meetings, time-consuming, but crucial, Creamer says. Despite her busy travel schedule, she finds time for other activities, one of which is investing in CEFS' future. "We have been busy with the 'development' side of CEFS," she says. "Final documents are in process to formally set up a 'Friends of CEFS' organization and establish an advisory board, which will assist and guide us with fund raising, outreach and program development. Both groups will be launched at the anniversary celebration." And Creamer will be right in the middle of it all. You can bet the farm on that.

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Fish Farming September 11, 2013 By Marc ShapiroEllen Perlman, owner of Chesapeake Aquaponics in Reisterstown, hasincreased lettuce production and is now growing about 30 varieties. When Ellen Perlman heard about aquaponics through a chance meeting, it perked up the environmentalist in her. “I am very interested in saving the planet and sustainability,” she said. “I never in my wildest dreams imagined I’d be farming fish.” After taking a course in Florida taught by James Rakocy, the father of modern aquaponics, Perlman decided to start Chesapeake Aquaponics in 2011. The sustainable food production system combines aquaculture and hydroponics, a method of growing plants in water without soil. In a nutshell, fish expel their waste into water, the plants absorb the nutrients from the water after solid waste is removed, and the clean water at the end of the process is pumped back into the fish tanks. “We like their poop,” Perlman said of the fish. “They make great poop.” The plants don’t need to be watered, and many in the aquaponics world say the plants grow faster this way. “It’s sort of like a fish farm with an add-on produce business,” said Stuart Fink, Perlman’s business partner. Chesapeake Aquaponics has four tanks — three with about 500 tilapia each and one with about 30 adult coy — that have helped grow sage, purple basil, mint, Swiss chard, chives, string beans, lavender and lettuce. As summer turns to fall, Perlman and Fink are moving their focus to 30 varieties of lettuce. They hope to install plumbing in a third greenhouse before the winter. In operation since spring 2012, the company already has made a name for itself locally, selling its products to The Grill at Harryman House in Reisterstown, Linwoods in Owings Mills, Suburban Club and Gourmet Again in Pikesville, and at the Reisterstown farmers’ market. Andy Hoffman, owner of Gourmet Again, said his company is selling Chesapeake Aquaponics’ herbs and lettuce and using the lettuce in its salad bar. Hoffman said it was a no-brainer to bring the products in. “It allowed us to really tell people we’re selling an organic product that’s grown right up the road,” he said, adding that some customers need to be educated about organic products, but that most can taste the difference. Chesapeake Aquaponics also attracted the attention of Jessica Normington, executive director of the Pikesville Chamber of Commerce. The chamber’s farmers’ market didn’t have anyone selling fresh herbs, and customers were asking for organic products. “It’s the hot topic of conversation,” Normington said. Earlier this month, Chesapeake Aquaponics became the first aquaponics farm to be certified under the Good Agricultural Practices program by the Maryland Department of Agriculture. In addition to the sustainable and organic aspects, aquaponics has the advantage that it works anywhere and requires very little water be added to the system. Sylvia Bernstein, founder of The Aquaponic Source in Colorado, said aquaponics is taking off in warm and water-challenged environments in the U.S., such as Florida and Texas. Internationally, aquaponics is used in Australia, Israel and throughout the Middle East. “There’s very little human interaction beyond feeding the fish, basic plant care and some monitoring,” Bernstein said. Bernstein, whose company sells systems, supplies and educational materials and teaches courses, said aquaponics maintains the benefits of its parent disciplines — aquaculture and hydroponics — but subtracts some of the environmental costs. Hydroponics is chemical-intensive, and aquaculture does not recycle the water and the waste the way aquaponics does. “An aquaponics system doesn’t get out of balance,” Bernstein said. “You don’t ever have to dump that water.” While they do add a few nutrients to the water at Chesapeake Aquaponics, they are constantly trying to get the operation closer to sustainability. “Our goal is to demonstrate that we can make this work,” Fink said. And the operation has to be green. Adding chemicals to the water would hurt the plants, and spraying pesticides on the plants would hurt the fish. To get other insects off of the plants, they bring in lady bugs. Solid waste is composted, and they even hope to add solar panels so they can be less reliant on propane, at least in the warmer months. “I’m really impressed with their operation, and it’s great to have a commercial operator in the area that we can point to as a model for how to take the farm to the next level,” said Dave Love, assistant scientist at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, which has its own aquaponics project. As Chesapeake Aquaponics hones its lettuce operation, its local customers will have lettuce tastings so they can make their own seed mixes. Fink said each lettuce tastes different. “Our kids, they won’t eat regular lettuce when they go out to restaurants,” said Fink. “They’ve become lettuce snobs.” Although they are divorced, Fink joined Perlman in September to help take the business to the next level. Much like the seed mixes they’ll be making in the near future, running an aquaponics farm requires careful attention and constant innovation. Perlman and Fink work every day, and only recently hired some help. There’s never a dull moment, as they are constantly learning new things and tweaking the system, having recently added heat to the fish tanks after noticing a slowdown in winter production. “It’s hasn’t gotten routine,” Fink said. “It’s always something new and exciting.” Although Perlman never thought she’d be farming fish, a chance meeting with someone interested in aquaponics led her to take the course that inspired her. As the system gets tweaked and more efficient over time, she and Fink hope to continue to grow the business. “I’m just your average soccer mom, and I learned how to do something complicated,” Perlman said. Filed Under: Local News, Sukkot Tagged With: Jewish Baltimore, organic, sukkot Comments Tonya Brown says May 21, 2014 at 6:40 AM I am interested in visiting Chesapeake Aquaponics to learn more of the operation and how I can possibly start a fish and vegetable farm in Africa. Please let me know how I can contact Ms. Fink. I live in the Randallstown area which is in the same vicinity. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment Name * Email * Website Follow us

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Senate seeks to reverse law on engineered crops Ask the Expert Senate seeks to reverse law on engineered crops By The Associated Press In this July 24, 2013 file photo, a combine harvests wheat along the Oregon-Washington border, southwest of Walla Walla, Wash. WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is seeking to reverse a controversial law that allows farmers to harvest genetically modified crops even when the crops are caught up in legal battles. The law, passed as part of a spending bill earlier this year, has become a flashpoint in the national debate over genetically engineered foods. It would expire at the end of the federal budget year next week, and a temporary spending bill passed by the House would extend it. But Senate Democrats' spending bill would let it expire. The narrow provision only applies to genetically modified crops that are under litigation. It allows the agriculture secretary to grant permits for farmers to continue to grow engineered crops while appeals are pending, even if courts have ruled that the Department of Agriculture shouldn't have approved them. The provision's supporters say it is designed to help farmers weather the sometimes yearslong appeals process and avoid stops and starts in planting as courts reverse each other's decisions. Genetically modified seeds, especially those engineered by seed giant Monsanto, have been the subject of several lawsuits by environmentalists in recent years, often putting farmers who use them in a bind. Monsanto and several major farm groups backed the provision, and it soon became a rallying point for activists who oppose genetically engineered crops. They dubbed it the "Monsanto Protection Act," a title that stuck and was even used by Democratic opponents of the measure on the Senate floor. "It raises profound questions about the constitutional separation of powers and the ability of our courts to hold agencies accountable to the law and their responsibilities," said Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., during debate over a wide-ranging farm bill last summer. "This process and this policy has provoked outrage across the country." Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack similarly questioned the proposal, saying he believes that he already has the power the law gives him. Referring to the backlash against the provision, he said in May that the law created confusion and suggested that it made it harder to find compromise between advocates and opponents of genetically modified crops, an effort that Vilsack has made a priority in recent years. "It makes that conversation just a bit more difficult than it has to be," he said then. "Why stir up the pot if you don't have to?" Genetically modified crops, often grown from seeds engineered by Monsanto and other companies to resist pesticides and insecticides, have grown exponentially in the last two decades and now represent a majority of many crops, including corn and soybeans. While mainstream science hasn't uncovered any dangers, opponents say the foods haven't been studied enough to fully understand the long-term effects. Though Monsanto continued to support the provision — it spent more than $3.5 million to lobby on the spending bills and other issues in the first half of this year — support in Congress for the provision appeared to wane after Vilsack made his case. An agriculture spending bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee in June would not have extended it. The temporary spending bill passed by the House last week, designed to avert a government shutdown, would have extended the provision because it did not explicitly add language to reverse it. House leaders so far haven't objected, though, to the Senate provision on the genetically modified crops, though the fate of the larger spending bill is unclear. As opponents have rallied, few lawmakers have stood up to defend the provision. Republican Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, where Monsanto is based, took a lonely stand on the Senate floor this summer to counter his colleague Merkley. "The only people protected here are the people who have put the seeds in the ground," Blunt said, saying opponents had exaggerated its effects. In an unattributed blog post this week, Monsanto said that the provision's potential expiration was "no surprise" but that it was necessary to help farmers weather a number of lawsuits against genetically modified crops filed by opponents. "Its purpose was to reinforce the integrity of the regulatory system and protect farmers from the disruption of frivolous lawsuits," the company said, adding that it "was needed to offset the impact of a small, well-funded group of special interest activist groups using the legal system to try and block growers from having access to biotechnology, period."

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Farm. Food. Life. SUBSCRIBE TO THE MAGAZINE! Previous PostThe Quest To Connect The Two Sides Of The Long Island SoundNext PostThe Benefits of Dry-Farming Wine—For the Palate and the Planet In Defense of Food: A Look Behind the Scenes of the New Michael Pollan Film By Brian Barth on December 21, 2015 Michael Pollan (right) with director Michael Schwarz and cameraman John Chater in the green room. Roy Eisenhardt It’s been a few years since Food, Inc. came out and author Michael Pollan last graced the big screen. On Wednesday December 30, Americans will again be privy to Pollan’s wisdom—this time about eating, more than farming—when PBS airs In Defense of Food, a documentary film based on Pollan’s book of the same name. This week Modern Farmer got a sneak preview of the film and spoke with the director, Michael Schwarz, about his process of adapting the book into a visual journey—and about some of the scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor. Modern Farmer: The tagline of Pollan’s book In Defense of Food is “An Eater’s Manifesto.” For those that haven’t read it, what’s the basic premise? Michael Schwarz: People are very confused about what to eat to be healthy. A lot of that has to do with being bombarded by different messages constantly about what’s healthy and what’s not. Every day there’s a new headline, a new finding, and many of them are contradictory. People feel kind of lost. In Defense of Food offers a very simple antidote to that confusion, which is this idea that you don’t need to worry so much, that you can cut through all these conflicting messages. What Michael did in writing the book was to find a simple approach. He found a very simple answer to the question of, What should I eat to be healthy? It boils down to these seven words: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. MF: You’ve known Pollan for many years—tell us how you first met and started working together. MS: Michael and I have known each other since we were fresh out of college. We spent some of our early years working together on various magazines in New York City and have been friends ever since. I’ve collaborated with him in some way for longer and more often than probably anybody else I know. MF: One of your past projects together was a film based on Pollan’s book, The Botany of Desire. What germinated the idea of doing this film together? MS: Food, Inc. had already come out which covered big chunks of Omnivore’s Dilemma—everything about corn was straight out of [that book], as was the Joel Salatin material. So it seemed like Omnivore had sort of been done, although not by name. It was clear that he had written In Defense of Food because people, after reading Omnivore, said: “I see how it gets to the table but what I want to know is what should I eat?” So we began talking about the possibilities of doing a documentary that explored the relationship between food and health. There is this paradox that the more obsessed we seem to be about health, [the less] healthy we are becoming as a country. MF: You have produced films on all sorts of subjects, many of which have nothing to do with food or farming. What drew you to this? Is there a through line with your larger body of work? MS: We like to make films that make a difference. It just seemed like this one had clear potential to do that. There is this paradox that the more obsessed we seem to be about health, [the less] healthy we are becoming as a country. MF: And there is more to it than just a film, right? Tell us about the broader mission of this collaboration. MS: The film is the centerpiece of an ambitious education effort [that] will include a curriculum designed by the Teachers College at Columbia University. It consists of 10 lesson plans for middle school students, and each lesson plan is tied to a five- or six-minute clip from the film. These are kids that are just beginning to make eating decisions on their own and so to the extent that they can begin to understand the difference between real food and what Michael calls “edible food-like substances”—or what the lesson plans referred to as p-h-u-ds—that could really be significant. MF: The film begins and ends with a sequence involving a family and their pre-adolescent child, Anthony, who is overweight. How did you find these people? Seems like it must have been very vulnerable for a boy that age to go on camera and talk about his weight. MS: We went to David Ludwig [a pediatrician at the Optimal Weight for Life Program at Boston Children’s Hospital] to find people who would be willing to be filmed—which is tough when you’re talking about children with weight issues and potential health issues. It took months of research and meeting with families to figure out who would be the best one and who would be the most willing. I think Anthony and his mom were two of the most delightful people in the film. MF: On the other end of the age spectrum you interview a group of elderly vegetarians who seem to have incredible vitality. They happen to be Seventh Day Adventists—what was the connection there? MS: There are some really powerful studies looking at the impact on longevity of eating a plant-based diet. Not all Seventh Day Adventists are vegetarians, but more than half are. They also don’t smoke or drink, so they eliminate a lot of risk factors there, but when you compare the vegetarians with the non-vegetarians, you see dramatic differences. MF: You filmed that segment at a Seventh Day Adventist nursing home, or an assisted living facility of some sort, where we see a centenarian lifting weights and an elderly women who is practically running up and down the halls. Was everyone there that robust, or did you seek out the hardiest among them? MS: There were people with walkers and wheelchairs, but the majority of people who we met were in extremely good health and had a lot of energy. The average age is about 93. I only hope I’m in half as good shape as they are mentally and physically if and when I get to that age. That was a memorable sequence. I think that made an impression on everybody was there. MF: Not to give anything away, but one of the most compelling parts of the film takes place with a nomadic tribe in Tanzania, called the Hadza. How did you connect with these people? MS: We wanted to shoot a sequence of hunter-gatherers, and the Hadza are one of the few people who are truly living a hunter-gatherer life. We also learned that [anthropologist] Jeff Leach, who you see in the film, would be going there to study their microbiome, to see what the human microbiome actually looked like before agriculture, and to see if it could provide some kind of baseline comparison with people who are eating a diet like what we eat in this country. Through Jeff we met someone who has known the Hadza since he was six years old, who grew up there, and now works with them to protect their land, who could be a facilitator for us. MF: What is Hadza food culture like compared to ours? MS: There you have to hunt and gather every day; you don’t know where your food is coming from. You would assume that’s a very insecure way to live, but we asked [them] about this and they said, “no, no, we know that we can always get something; we don’t worry about it and we’ve never gone a day where we don’t have some kind of food.” If they can’t kill an animal, there is baobab [an African fruit], which tends to be a year-round food. Or the tubers are always there. Generally there’s a strong chance that they can find some honey, or some berries. We try to balance our diet on a daily basis. They don’t think about that at all; they just eat what they can get on that day. MF: What was the most striking thing you learned in your time with them? MS: They eat a very different kind of diet. It’s not a balanced diet in the sense that we think of, where you have a certain amount of protein and carbohydrates and different kinds of foods on your plate every day. We try to balance our diet on a daily basis. They don’t think about that at all; they just eat what they can get on that day. They have no way of storing the food, no refrigeration. They share all of it. So it’s kind of on demand—sharing on demand, and eating when you get it. MF: Did you and your crew eat with them? MS: Generally we did not eat their food. They didn’t really have enough food to share with us, so we needed to be self-sufficient. Although when they killed the kudu, which people will see in the film, they did share some of that. It was really delicious. MF: Did you feel the Hadza were making a conscious choice to avoid modern foods and lifestyle, or are they really so remote that they just don’t have much contact with the outside world? MS: They are very remote. There are hardly any roads so the last hour or two was driving just over savanna. We couldn’t see any obvious road or even tracks. There are several thousand Hadza, but only about 200 of them are still hunting and gathering and are not eating any other foods. You can see in the film that they are wearing some [modern] clothes that they’ve traded for. They have little hammers and knives and other stuff that they’ve traded, so they probably don’t have to hunt and gather if they didn’t want to. I think part of it is choice, part of it is culture. It’s how they identify themselves. It’s something they want to preserve and protect. MF: You really went to great lengths to tell the story of food and health in all its dimensions! The Hadza segment almost feels like a separate film within the film. MS: It was really an extraordinary experience for all of us who were there. We had to resist the impulse to go off into a long digression about the Hadza themselves because they are so interesting. The segment was about 18 minutes long, and when we put it into the film, it suddenly felt like, gosh, this is like a Nat Geo anthropology film, which was not the film that we were making! We really had to whittle it down. MF: What parts did you have to cut? MS: Most of the hunting and gathering they do is from five or six in the morning until eight or nine. By 9 o’clock it’s so hot that you don’t want to do anything but get in the shade under a tree somewhere. So they spend a lot of the rest of the day making arrows and bows, all of which they do from available wood. It’s an amazing thing to watch. They can take a gnarly branch that’s all twisted and bent and an hour or two later it’s this perfectly straight beautiful arrow. They do some of it with knives and some with their teeth—it’s miraculous to see what they do with the resources available to them. With that said, they are dependent on their land and their land is being encroached on more and more by other tribes’ grazing cattle. So there are real threats to their survival, because with more encroachment on their land, the harder it will get for them to find the food that they live on. That’s not something we particularly go into in the film. MF: We have to ask you about Michael Pollan, since he’s such a hero to so many people. Many segments of the film take place in and around his home in Berkeley—baking bread in his kitchen, harvesting from his garden, going to the farmers market. How does Michael the man stand up to the image we see on film and in his books? MS: Michael definitely practices what he preaches. At the same time, he’s not the food police. People have the sense that he is this really finicky eater, or they’re worried what they might eat around him. But he has a normal diet. He eats meat. He has junk food snacks sometimes like the rest of us [laughs]. MF: Sounds like he has a healthy lifestyle, but he’s not neurotic about it, which is actually one of the points in In Defense of Food—everything in moderation, including moderation. [Pollan’s] next book is going to be about [the therapeutic value of psychedelic substances]; not about food. MS: Sometimes he has people following him around in the supermarket and they see him pull a box of cereal off the shelf and think, Oh my God! But he’s really not any different than the rest of us. I think he chooses to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. He’ll have fish, he’ll have chicken, he’ll have steak. But I think when he eats meat, he tries to eat grass-fed meat. I hesitate to speak for Michael, but I know he prefers grass-fed beef to other kinds of beef because it’s better for the planet and often it’s coming from a local farmer. He likes to support local growers. His diet is the kind of diet that he describes in the book. The bottom line of In Defense of Food is basically to eat a wide variety of foods, don’t eat too much of anything, have a lot of fruits and vegetables, and don’t worry too much. MF: Pollan recently wrote an article in The New Yorker about the therapeutic value of psychedelic substances. Is he moving away from the emphasis on food and farming at this point? MS: His next book is going to be about that; not about food. He’s still very, very involved in food issues, and cares about them deeply. Michael didn’t start out as a food writer. He started out writing about a lot of other things. He’s been deeply involved in food issues since he wrote on the Omnivore’s Dilemma for obvious reasons. It was certainly a landmark book, in any sense of that word. It seemed to capture the moment. At a time when a lot of people were getting more and more concerned about the food supply, Omnivore framed and precipitated what is an ongoing discussion. He has the unique ability to make all this material very accessible. But at the moment he’s writing about something else. After that, you have to ask him—I can’t tell you [laughs]. But whatever he does, it’s going to be interesting. Watch the In Defense of Food trailer below: In Defense of Food airs at 9pm on December 30 in most areas, but check local listings to confirm the time (in Albuquerque it will air on January 4 at 9pm; in Washington, DC it will air on January 25th at 9pm). After the initial showing, the film will be available for streaming for free at pbs.org, where a DVD can also be purchased. Teachers and community groups are encouraged to host screenings on the night of the broadcast—contact [email protected] to obtain accompanying educational materials. Farm to ScreenFoodLifestyle Documentaryfilmsin defense of foodmichael pollan In Defense of Food: A Look Behind the Scenes of the New Michael Pollan Film Modern Farmer Media, 2016

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Reader Raves: Sixteen Acres Garden Center in Springfield celebrates 50 years Print Photo by Stassi HeropoulosJohn and Judy Bordenuk are seen inside one of the greenhouses at Sixteen Acres Garden Center in Springfield, which they own. By STASSI HEROPOULOS But the seeds for this thriving business were planted in the 1940s when the Bordenuk family moved from the Ukraine to Springfield and purchased 16 acres of land in the Sixteen Acres neighborhood. The business is appropriately named for the neighborhood it calls home. The fact that it was founded on 16 acres of land is just a perfect coincidence. Readers of The Republican and MassLive.com picked Sixteen Acres Garden Center as the Best Nursery-Garden Center. “My grandparents originally farmed the land,” says co-owner Judy A. Bordenuk. “They sold cut glads on the side of the road on a little stand. You couldn’t get cut flowers at that time.” That was the mid 1940s, when the Bordenuks raised their family by growing gladioli. In time, the first generation yielded to the next, and, in 1952, John and Nancy Bordenuk deepened the family’s roots by constructing a greenhouse alongside their farm stand and formally establishing the garden center and nursery. “Farming was in my father’s blood, coming from the Ukraine where they farm the land and they live off the land. His parents were farmers and, he learned how to grow things,” said Judy Bordenuk. Sixteen Acres Garden Center is celebrating 50 years in business this year, and the family is delighted to have become the favorite garden center of so many people. “I’m honored and glad that we won because we really try to do the best we can for all of our customers. We have a lot of repeat customers and I think they’re happy to come in and we’re happy to see them,” said Bordenuk. The business started with gladioli but now features thousands of plants, flowers, shrubs, trees and a host of gardening tools and garden accents throughout several greenhouses and a gift shop. “We care about the plants people are buying and putting in their gardens. I think our customers know that. We love what we do and it’s a good business to be in. We’re making people happy,” said Bordenuk. Mother Nature spent much of 2011 destroying the natural beauty of this region. Now, Bordenuk says, it’s time to recover and replant. “So many people have lost beautiful things around their homes. It’s rewarding to be able to help them make it beautiful again.” View/Post Comments Reader Raves 2017 Vote by August 7 for your chance to win a $500 Gift Certificate!

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April 27, 2010 > Arbor Day - Plant a Tree Arbor Day - Plant a Tree By Suzanne OrttPhotos By Doris NikolaidisGo back 156 years to Nebraska, when it was not even a state. That is the year 1854, when 23 year-old J. Sterling Morton, a new graduate of the University of Michigan moved with his bride, Caroline Joy French, from Detroit, Michigan, to Arbor Lodge near Nebraska City.When the Mortons first moved to Nebraska, the land was known as part of the "Great American Desert." Easterners believed the land had no agricultural merit. Morton believed differently. Trees were rare in this area, found primarily near rivers and streams. He used trees as windbreaks to increase the hospitableness of the prairie. The Mortons loved trees and planted them throughout their lives. They saw trees as beautiful and beneficial to the habitat. All told, they planted more than 250 varieties around their home at Arbor Lodge.During his adult life, Morton wore several hats. He was a journalist, politician, and respected agriculturalist. His career path included the editorship of the Nebraska City News, Secretary of Nebraska Territory, and eventually Secretary of Agriculture during the term of President Grover Cleveland.The field of agriculture was perhaps his dominant interest. Morton helped farmers and others to understand farming and forestry techniques, modern at that time. He played a role in assisting President Cleveland to set up national forest reservations.Nebraska had been a state for five years when Morton proposed a tree planting holiday at a meeting of the Nebraska State Department of Agriculture. The beginning event was April 10, 1872 and was an outstanding success. Over one million trees were planted. Two years later Arbor Day was made a legal annual state holiday and the date changed to April 22, Morton's birthday. Prizes were given out to the counties and individuals who planted the most trees.By 1894, Arbor Day was so popular it became a national holiday. Morton, who lived until 1902, witnessed its celebrity. In 1972, President Richard Nixon decreed National Arbor Day would be held annually on the last Friday in April, which this year is April 30. All 50 states celebrate this day, although the dates vary depending on the local climate. California's state celebration is March 7 - 14. Incidentally our state tree is the redwood.From this modest but significant start, Arbor Days are celebrated worldwide. Many countries have their own Arbor Days but the names vary. In Japan, it is "Greening Week," in Israel it is called "The New Year's Day of Trees." Korea calls it "The Tree-loving Week," and Iceland's is "The Students' Afforestation Day." In Yugoslavia, it is "The Reforestation Week" and India names it "The National Festival of Tree Planting."Trees are still beautiful and beneficial. These plants are vital for life on the planet and moderate the climate, improve air quality, conserving water, and give wildlife ample habitat. By planting trees and shrubs, the environment becomes more natural. Harmony is restored to city and suburban life. One asset is shade. All animals value that, especially human beings. While driving or walking, notice how much squirrels and birds use trees for habitat and food.Follow Morton's example; be a tree lover. Here are fitting personal actions for April 30, Arbor Day. Examine your own trees. Check out their health. Plan future improvements. Walk around your neighborhood. Talk with your neighbors about the value of trees and improving your block. Singularly or in a group, beautify your own area.Expand your horizons. Note if any nearby public parks need more trees or tree maintenance. Nurseries can provide details of planting, as well as trees. Many communities have volunteer workdays. If community action is needed, be the organizer and get involved.Remember J. Sterling Morton and plant a tree!www.arbor-day.net Home Protective Services

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developing countries – Commission adopts overall plan and first implementation decision EU €1 billion "Food Facility" for implementation decision Today the European Commission adopted a € 314 million package of projects to support agriculture and improve the food security situation in 23 developing countries across the globe. This is the first financing decision in the framework of the € 1 billion Food Facility which was adopted at the end of last year as a response to the growing food security problems faced by many developing countries. The Commission also agreed to an overall plan for the use of the entire amount of the Facility, targeting 50 developing countries in total. Louis Michel, Commissioner responsible for Development and Humanitarian Aid, said: "Europe has already made humanitarian responses to the food crisis through emergency aid. The "Food Facility" is the development response - €1 billion over 3 years to get agriculture back on its feet. The package adopted today targets the 23 countries worst hit. This is a response to the food crisis which is already hitting developing countries. Over the months ahead, we must not forget the impact that the financial crisis and economic downturn will have on developing countries - this is only now becoming clear and could be much worse than expected. Europe is quite rightly focused on recovery plans for our own economy. That should not in any way diminish our commitment to developing countries - as decisions like this one taken today clearly show." Background: On 18 December 2008, the European Parliament and the Council adopted a Regulation establishing the € 1 billion 'Food Facility', which constitutes the main EU response to the worsening global food security situation in 2007/08. Today's financing decision as well as the overall plan for the Food Facility have both also been approved by the European Parliament and all EU Member States. Addressing the period in-between emergency aid and medium - to long-term development cooperation, the Food Facility will operate for a period of 3 years (2009-2011). Three types of activities will be supported: measures to improve access to agricultural inputs like fertilizers and seeds and services like vets and advisors; other small-scale measures aiming at increasing agricultural production like microcredit, rural infrastructure, training and support to professional groups in the agricultural sector; and safety net measures, allowing for social transfers to vulnerable population groups, often in the form of labour-intensive public works (roads, irrigation projects etc).The current financing decision by the Commission provides support to projects and programmes in 23 developing countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Burma/Myanmar, Burundi, Central African Republic, DR Congo, Cuba, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Sierra Leone, and Zimbabwe. The full text of the decision including allocations by country will be available at the link below. All funding of the projects adopted today will be channelled through International Organisations: the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Bank, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and specialised UN agencies like UNOPS (in Myanmar/Burma) and UNRWA (in Palestine). The overall plan for the implementation of the Food Facility contains a list of 50 target countries which will receive assistance during a three year period. Support will be provided through International Organisations, Regional Organisations and national governments as well as a Call for Proposals for activities by Non-States Actors, Member States bodies and other eligible implementing actors. The Commission Decision underlines the importance of the European Union as the worlds' principal partner in improving food security across the globe. The projects to be funded will impact positively on the lives of millions of the poorest people in Africa, Asia and Latin America. http://ec.europa.eu/development/index_en.cfm

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AROMAS, Calif. — In January, business at the 101 Livestock Market's cattle auction on California's Central Coast is usually slow. The busy season is normally in June or July, when ranchers have had time to fatten their animals for weeks on spring grasses.This year, however, business is bustling, with packed pens of moaning cattle and cowboys standing on tip-toe to get a glance at their potential prizes.Because of historically dry conditions, California's soil moisture — a key ingredient for the forage that cattle graze on — is low throughout the state. With feed costs high and weeks of dry weather in the forecast, ranchers are already selling off parts of their herds as normally green grazing pastures have turned brown."We're in the drought now, so a lot of these are going back to Texas," said rancher and auction house co-owner Monty Avery, gesturing to a pen packed full of cows. "We usually sell about 100-150 animals per week. Now we're seeing 800-1,000 per week, so the volume's jumped up."Gov. Jerry Brown has formally proclaimed a drought in California, a move that codified what farmers and ranchers in the state had known for weeks. The U.S. Drought Monitor has said there are "extreme drought" conditions in central and northern California, where much of the state's ranching is located.California is now in its third dry year, with little snowfall so far this winter and forecasts suggesting only more sunshine. Precipitation in most of the state is less than 20 percent of normal and reservoirs are dwindling — one town on California's far northern coast says it has fewer than 100 days of drinking water in storage.The state is the nation's leader in dairy cows, and fourth overall in the U.S. for total number of cattle, trailing Texas, Nebraska and Kansas, according to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. With little free food available for cattle, some ranchers have already started controlling costs.Romaldo Martin, a cattle rancher who runs M&M Farms in Hollister, has sold more than 160 cows and calves at 101 Livestock Market over the past two weeks and plans to sell at least 100 more. He said it's too expensive to buy hay to feed his herd, and the water on his land is drying up."If the weather doesn't change, I might need to get rid of all of them," said Martin, who is in his 70s and used to run about 600 heads of cattle. "I've never seen anything like this in my life ... It's a disaster."The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Jan. 16 declared a drought disaster in some California counties, which allows farmers to apply for low-interest loans to help them cope. Ranchers are not included in the program.To help them navigate the historic dry weather, the University of California's Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources is holding workshops."From previous droughts we've learned that feeding the whole herd through the drought may spell the end of business," said Glenn Nader, adviser for the program in Sutter and Yuba counties.Some of California's herd will be headed to Texas, which is recovering from its own severe drought. That state's herd of five million head of cattle has shrunk over the past few years by a quarter, said Jason Cleere, a rancher and beef cattle specialist with Texas AgriLife Extension at Texas A&M University.But as the drought has eased in most of Texas, the herd is being rebuilt, creating a market for California's ranchers looking to sell. "There's a lot of room for more cows to come into our state, and for ranchers to add some back," Cleere said.While in the short term selling cattle can help ranchers cope, it can push more of them out of business in the long run, ranchers said. Rebuilding a herd isn't as easy as buying new cattle. It often takes time to get new cows acclimated and can take years for the animals to breed and grow.Meantime, the state's herd will be thinned as ranchers trim costs and hope things will improve."You can't keep buying $7,000-$8,000 a load for hay. Pretty soon you're in this hole, so you sell your cattle and try to buy them back next year," said rancher Jim Warren, who co-owns the auction house.Associated Press reporter Terry Chea contributed to this story. Follow Jason Dearen at http://www.twitter.com/JHDearen

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/ USDA to invest in Prairie Pothole landscape effort USDA to invest in Prairie Pothole landscape effort WASHINGTON, Feb. 14, 2013 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that up to $35 million will be provided during the next three years to help landowners conserve grasslands and wetlands in the Prairie Pothole region. The announcement was made on the Secretary’s behalf by Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Robert Bonnie. Farmers, ranchers and conservation partners will have access to a mix of financial and technical assistance opportunities to restore wetlands and grasslands and help mitigate a recent regional trend of conversion to croplands. “This region of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Montana provides critical breeding and nesting habitat for more than 60 percent of the nation’s migratory waterfowl,” Bonnie said of the Prairie Pothole region. The wetlands and grasslands that characterize the region provide vital water storage to reduce regional flooding, improve water quality, and have tremendous potential to store carbon in soils, which reduces the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, one of the leading greenhouse gases contributing to climate change. “Our goal is to help landowners manage their working lands in a way that’s compatible with agricultural production and good stewardship of the soil, water and habitat resources of the area,” Bonnie said. “So we are really talking about keeping working lands working.” The funding comes in a couple of pieces, including: • Environmental Quality Incentives Program: The agency’s largest conservation program will help producers with expiring Conservation Reserve Program contracts keep their lands as working grasslands or haylands through implementation of prescribed grazing and other conservation practices. • Ducks Unlimited-NRCS partnership for carbon credits: NRCS is working with North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana to create a carbon credit marketing system for landowners who agreed to avoid tilling grasslands. This work started in 2011 in North Dakota as part of a Conservation Innovation Grant, but now it’s being expanded to the three states. Through this system, interested landowners can keep their land in grass, continue grazing and haying, and generate verified carbon credits that place a conservation easement on their land. These credits can be sold or traded into existing voluntary carbon markets. NRCS also is providing additional technical assistance to complete certified wetland determinations, needed by producers to meet conservation compliance requirements first put in place in 1985. Additionally, the 2014 Farm Bill has expanded opportunities for conserving grasslands and wetlands, including those in the Prairie Pothole region. To find out more about USDA’s efforts to work with producers in the region click here. USDA also recently solicited proposals for Conservation Innovation Grants. A previous USDA grant went to Ducks Unlimited and other partners to develop a carbon credit system for North Dakota landowners in the Prairie Pothole region. For more information on these opportunities, visit a local NRCS field office or the NRCS website. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay), (866) 377-8642 (Relay voice users).

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Growing, Watering, Picking More than two years after the announcement of the project at Terra Madre 2010, Slow Food has launched 1,000 food gardens in 25 African countries and has already raised the funds to complete 700. The project has allowed its African network to grow, gain strength and mature. So who did the work to create the gardens? A small office at Slow Food’s international headquarters and a few experts, but, most of all, the 50 African coordinators and over 30,000 other people — women, men, children, teachers, farmers and cooks — who did all the growing, watering and harvesting work. The project was funded by a vast network of Slow Food convivia all over the world. Slow Food Italy was the most active, raising enough funds to finance 500 gardens and organizing an extraordinary number of events. Slow Food Korea also deserves special mention, as do Slow Food USA and Slow Food France. Their donations have been boosted by a contribution from the Lions Clubs association, which has pledged to support 200 gardens, and the Compagnia di San Paolo bank foundation, which covered the costs of important training seminars in Italy and in a number of African countries. Some of the donations have interesting stories behind them. One such is that of the family of Angelo Vassallo, the former mayor of Pollica, murdered by the camorra in 2010, who asked people to make donations to Terra Madre in support of the first food gardens in Africa instead of taking flowers to his funeral. A Thousand Gardens in Ten Points A garden is just a drop in the ocean compared to the problems facing Africa every day. But if there are a thousand of these gardens, and if all the people involved are communicating with and supporting each other, then their impact grows. Together they can speak as one voice, against land grabbing, against GMOs, against intensive agriculture and in favor of traditional knowledge, sustainability and food sovereignty. They can also represent a hope for thousands of young people. The thousand food gardens follow the philosophy of good, clean and fair. But what does that actually mean? Here are their ten distinctive features. 1. They are developed by a community The gardens bring together and develop the capacities of every member of the community. They recover the wisdom of the elders, utilize the energy and creativity of younger people and are based on the skills of experts. 2. They are based on observation Before planting a garden, it is necessary to learn to observe, to get to know the terrain, local varieties and water sources. The garden has to be adapted to the characteristics of the area and local raw materials should be used to make the fencing, the compost bin and the nursery. 3. They don’t need a large amount of space By looking at the space available creatively, it is possible to plant gardens in the most unlikely places: on a roof, along a footpath and so on. 4. They are gardens of biodiversity Slow Food gardens are places of local biodiversity, which has adapted to the climate and terrain thanks to human selection. These nutritious and hardy varieties have no need for chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The gardens are also planted with medicinal plants, aromatic herbs and banana, mango, citrus and other trees. 5. They produce their own seeds Seeds are selected and multiplied by the communities. This means that every year the plants become stronger and better suited to the local soil, and no money has to be spent on buying packets of seeds. 6. They are cultivated using sustainable methods Natural remedies made with herbs, flowers, ash and so on are used to combat harmful insects or diseases. 7. They save water Spirit of observation and creativity are again fundamental. Sometimes it only takes a gutter, tank or cistern to collect rainwater to solve seemingly insurmountable problems and avoid more expensive solutions. 8. They are open-air classrooms Food gardens offer an excellent opportunity for teaching adults and children alike about native plant varieties, promoting a healthy and varied diet and explaining how to avoid using chemicals. 9. They are useful but also good fun Gardens are a simple and cheap way of providing healthy, nutritious food. But even in the remotest villages and poorest schools, Slow Food gardens are a place for games, celebrations and fun. 10. They network together Neighboring gardens exchange seeds, while those further away exchange ideas and information. The coordinators meet, write each other and collaborate. School gardens in western countries are raising funds for the African gardens. But we still have work to do! Help us to finance the remaining 304 gardens! Information and updates about the Thousand Gardens in Africa project, including a film featuring the local coordinators and some of the children involved, can be found on the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity website www.slowfoodfoundation.org. Article first published in the Slow Food Almanac 2012.

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Management of Curly Top Virus - February 6, 2013 Jeff Schalau, Agent, Agriculture & Natural Resources University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Yavapai County Beet curly top virus (BCTV) is a continuing problem for growers and home gardeners in the Verde Valley. The virus is vectored from infected to non-infected plants by the beet leafhopper (BLH), a small plant-feeding insect. BCTV has been causing damage to crops in the western U.S. since the early 1900s. This article is excerpted from the soon-to-be-published Utah State University Cooperative Extension Factsheet Controlling Curly Top Virus of Tomato and authored by Utah State University Extension Horticulture Agent Rick Heflebower and myself. It contains the most current scientific information on BCTV. BCTV maintains its year-to-year presence on the greater landscape in infected rangeland plants and weeds which include native and non-native species. The most frequently cited host plants are Kochia and other plants in the Chenopodiaceae family, including Lambsquarter, Halogeton, Russian thistle (Tumbleweed), greasewood (Sarcobatus), and Four Wing Saltbush (Atriplex). After the BLH initially ingests plant cell sap containing the virus, incubation takes 4 to 21 hours before it can be transmitted to other plants. Once incubated, the BLH transmits the virus to other plants during feeding. The BLHs have a piercing-sucking feeding habit where they inject and deposit virus particles inside the plant. BLHs carrying the virus need only to feed for 1 minute on an uninfected plant to transmit the virus. Symptoms usually begin to appear after 24 hours in hot temperatures and progress more slowly in cooler temperatures. BLHs that have acquired BCTV can transmit the virus for the remainder of their life; however, the number of plants infected decreases when the insects are not continually or frequently feeding on infected plants. Tomatoes are most commonly infected by BCTV, however beets, Swiss chard, spinach, beans and cucurbits such as watermelon, cucumbers and squash can also be impacted. When a susceptible plant becomes infected, leaves become puckered and stunted. In particular, tomato leaves curl and roll upward and the main leaf petiole curves downward. In time, the leaves also become leathery, veins turn a purplish color and the interveinal leaf area turns yellowish. Infected plants will not recover and eventually the plant stops growing and dies. Infected tomatoes may ripen even when immature; however, edible size fruits are likely to be bitter. Once definite symptoms are observed, it is best to pull out the plant and destroy it. Insecticides are not recommended to manage beet leafhoppers because they do not prefer tomatoes as a food source. They inadvertently land on the plant, feed, and then move on. Most references indicate

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Leasing farmland becoming popular in China Leasing land was illegal in China prior to 1984, but a change in government policies has made it possible to lease land rights on farmland. The change in land rights policies from the Chinese government has boosted farm income and productivity over the past 25 years. China has roughly 20% of the world's population, yet only 7% of the world's arable farmland. Despite the limited amount of farmland, the Chinese want to stay self sustaining in agriculture production. Chinese farmland is typically owned by village collectives (essentially, the local representatives of the Communist Party leadership) according to a recent article from the Wall Street Journal. Local farmers have rights to farm certain plots. Up until 1984, farmland rights could not be subleased or transferred to any other farmers, but now the Chinese government is promoting leases and transfers. Since the change in laws, land rights have been easily leased or transferred through contracts. According to the Rural Development Institution (RDI), contracts for land rights used to be short in duration, but are becoming longer to provide stability to farmers. Rent on farmland has increased dramatically as well; doubling since 2005. As the Chinese government has encouraged the leasing and transferring of land rights, land owners can go to work doing something else, while still receiving income from their farmland. Some farmers will even farm half of the year, while renting out their land the other half. 48-year-old farmer, Zhang Deping explains, "It's really a good deal to rent out the land for half of each year. We can make more money than planting on our own." A RDI survey found that 58% of farmers that have land rights have an actual certificate proving it. The RDI would like to see that number grow even more. Read more about farmland and agriculture at: farmlandforecast.colvin-co.com/.

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CRP sign-up begins Aug. 30 Forrest Laws Farm Press Editorial Staff USDA will begin a general sign-up for the Conservation Reserve Program on Aug. 30 and will offer early re-enrollments and extensions for CRP contracts that begin expiring in 2007. The announcement comes only weeks after USDA officials indicated they would not offer a summer sign-up for the CRP because of the potential impact on commodity prices that were significantly higher at the time. Since then, corn and soybean prices have fallen $1 to $3 per bushel. “We are dedicated to full enrollment of the Conservation Reserve Program by offering early re-enrollments and contract extensions,” said Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman. “This program builds on the conservation ethic of farmers and ranchers to protect and improve natural resources and enhance wildlife habitat.” New initiatives Veneman also announced two new initiatives that will create 250,000 acres of habitat for the northern bobwhite quail, a native quail species that has historically ranged in 35 states, and 250,000 acres of wetlands and playa lakes in non-floodplain areas, which is vital habitat for species such as upland ducks, pheasants and sandhill cranes. “The initiatives will help achieve our goal of restoring, enhancing and protecting at least 3 million wetland acres over the next five years to increase overall wetland acres and quality,” Veneman said. In three years, 16 million acres under CRP contract will expire, she said. Another 6 million acres will follow in 2008, 4 million in 2009 and 2 million in 2010. Offering early re-enrollment and extensions of existing contracts to current CRP participants underscores a commitment to full enrollment of CRP up to 39.2 million acres. Veneman said a request for public comment on various aspects of CRP will be published in the Federal Register this month. Among other issues, USDA is seeking public comment on the following: How to manage the large acreage set to expire from CRP; How to manage future CRP sign-ups and acreage; How to evaluate the program's environmental effectiveness; How to better utilize information technology such as geographic information systems that evaluate acreage for enrollment; and How to improve CRP, including the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, through partnerships that better address local environmental issues. Quail initiative The CRP Northern Bobwhite Quail Habitat Initiative introduces a conservation practice intended to create 250,000 acres of early successional grass buffers along agricultural field borders. USDA estimates this nesting and brood-rearing cover will increase bobwhite quail numbers by 750,000 birds annually. Planted buffers will also benefit reptiles, amphibians, aquatic species and upland birds, many of which are being considered for listing as endangered species. In addition, the initiative will reduce soil erosion and protect water quality by trapping field sediments and nutrients. USDA estimates the program will provide $125 million in payments to participants through 2007, when the overall statutory enrollment limit is expected to be reached. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and 32 state fish and wildlife agencies are expected to offer technical, monitoring and evaluation assistance. Quail Unlimited, the Southeast Quail Study Group, Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, the National Wild Turkey Federation and other conservation groups, as well as local conservation districts, may provide outreach, technical expertise and other assistance. Because the initiative is limited to 250,000 acres, enrollment is targeted to the Midwest and Southeast, which have the greatest potential to restore bobwhite quail habitat. Wetlands restoration USDA also announced another new program that will allow landowners to enroll large wetland complexes and playa lakes located outside the 100-year floodplain. Restoring those systems will provide vital habitat for many wildlife species, such as upland ducks and sandhill cranes. Wetlands also filter runoff, recharge groundwater supplies, protect drinking water and reduce downstream flooding. The announcements will further the large-scale accomplishments of CRP, which has already restored 1.8 million wetland and wetland buffer acres nationwide. “In fact, this past year, for the first time in recent history, agriculture had a net gain in wetland acres compared with the previous year,” said Veneman. “From 1997 to 2002, farmers and ranchers produced a net increase of 131,400 acres of wetlands.” CRP currently offers wetlands restoration incentives that target for enrollment 500,000 acres located in the 100-year floodplain and the Farmable Wetlands Program, which protects up to 1 million acres of farmed and previously converted wetlands of less than 40 acres per tract. USDA also offers the Wetlands Reserve Program, which targets enrollment of 2.3 million acres of larger wetland complexes and those with the most critical environmental needs under permanent easements, 30-year easements and restoration cost-share agreements. In June, USDA announced the new Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Program that works with partners to leverage resources in order to further wetlands protections within the requirements of the WRP. USDA estimates the total cost of the wetlands restoration initiative to be $200 million. FSA will offer participants an incentive payment equal to 25 percent of the cost of restoring the hydrology of the site, an annual rental payment and cost-share assistance of up to 50 percent of eligible practice installation costs. Program sign-up for both these new initiatives will begin Oct. 1 at local FSA offices and will run on a continuous basis until the total acreage has been enrolled or Dec. 31, 2007, whichever comes first. To determine individual eligibility for the initiative, landowners should check with their local FSA offices. More information on these initiatives, including acreage allocation by state, is available at local FSA offices and on FSA's Web site: www.fsa.usda.gov. CRP sign-up General sign-up for CRP will begin Aug. 30 and run through Sept. 24. CRP is the country's largest conservation program on private lands with a current enrollment of 34.8 million acres. “CRP protects fragile cropland from erosion and improves the nation's natural resources,” said Veneman. “By reducing water runoff and sedimentation, the program safeguards surface water and helps improve the condition of lakes, rivers, ponds and streams, many of which are used for drinking water supplies.” Acreage enrolled in CRP is devoted to resource-conserving vegetative covers, making the program a major contributor to more abundant wildlife populations in many parts of the country. CRP participants voluntarily remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production by entering into long-term contracts for 10 to 15 years. In exchange, participants receive annual rental payments and a payment of up to 50 percent of the cost of establishing conservation practices. The 2002 farm bill authorized CRP enrollment up to 39.2 million acres. Since there is limited acreage available for enrollment, landowners are encouraged to work with their local USDA Farm Service Agency offices to maximize the environmental benefits of their CRP offers. During the last CRP general sign-up, held from May 5 to June 13, 2003, enrollment offers were highly competitive. Of the 4 million acres offered, USDA selected 2 million acres that offered the greatest environmental benefits. USDA will use the Environmental Benefits Index (EBI) to rank the acreage offered. The EBI is based on costs and five other factors: soil erosion, water quality, enduring benefits, air quality and wildlife enhancement. Offers accepted under this sign-up will become effective Oct. 1, 2005, or Oct. 1, 2006, at the producer's discretion. More detailed information on CRP and the general sign-up is available at local FSA offices and on FSA's Web site: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/dafp/cepd/crpinfo.htm. The Federal Register notice seeking public comment on CRP is available on FSA's Web site at http://www.fsa.usda.gov and will be available soon at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html. Comments on the issues must be received in writing by 120 days after the date published in the Federal Register. Comments may be submitted in writing or electronically via the means provided in the notice. Further information on the Federal Register notice is available from Beverly Preston, CRP Program Manager, at USDA/FSA/CEPD/STOP 0513, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, D.C. 20250-0513; telephone 202-720-9563; email: beverly_preston@wdc.usda.gov. Source URL: http://deltafarmpress.com/crp-sign-begins-aug-30

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Slow Food and FAO Join Forces Italy FAO and the international Slow Food organization have agreed today to develop joint actions to improve the livelihoods of small-scale farmers and others working in rural areas. Under a three-year Memorandum of Agreement, the two organizations will join forces to promote more inclusive food and agriculture systems at local, national and international levels. Actions will focus mainly on joint advocacy campaigns, strengthening local, regional and global networks and raising awareness of global initiatives such as the International Year Family Farming in 2014. Actions will highlight the value of local foods and neglected food crops while also targeting market access for small-scale producers, enhancing conservation and use of biodiversity, reducing food losses and food waste, and improving animal welfare. Signing the document for FAO, Director-General José Graziano da Silva said: "Slow Food and FAO share the same vision of a sustainable and hunger-free world, safeguarding biodiversity for future generations. Today's agreement, providing for a number of important joint initiatives, brings us a step closer to that objective." On behalf of Slow Food, President Carlo Petrini said: "Collaboration between FAO and Slow Food stems from our common purpose in promoting the wealth of local gastronomic traditions, in the defense of food biodiversity and in support of small-scale farmers and producers." Valuing traditional food Activities under the agreement include the protection of traditional food products and the promotion of culinary traditions as well as the cultural heritage of rural communities. Specifically, Slow Food can help produce inventories of local, indigenous and underutilized species that are potentially important to food security, thus supporting FAO's role in revaluing and promoting neglected crops. FAO and Slow Food will work together to facilitate market access for small-scale farmers through strengthened producer organizations and cooperatives. Slow Food can support producers to better organize and shorten the food supply chain, including marketing, labeling and packaging, thus guaranteeing fair prices for both producers and consumers. The two organizations will promote animal welfare as a primary element to add value to animal products and boost incomes for farmers and others in the food chain. Slow Food's role here will be to develop and promote specific guidelines and tools for the implementation of best practices. Collaboration with ongoing FAO initiatives FAO will identify synergies and areas of collaboration within ongoing initiatives, possibly including the Hunger-Free Africa initiative grouping the African Union, FAO and Brazil's Instituto Lula. This initiative aims to eradicate hunger from the continent starting with four countries - Angola, Ethiopia, Malawi and Niger. Another possible area for collaboration is support to rural women, through the ongoing Dimitra project run by FAO, the European Commission and Belgium. This participatory information and communication project highlights women's key role in food production so that their interests are better taken into consideration. An additional possibility is the development of toolkits for the international Education of Rural People (ERP) Partnership, which aims to remove existing constraints and ensure education and skills training for all rural people. Thanks to the collaboration of food producers, cooks, experts, researchers and the local Slow Food and Terra Madre network, the food biodiversity in these four countries was mapped and four new Presidia were identified and established, for Kenema kola nuts in Sierra Leone, wild palm oil in Guinea-Bissau, katta pasta from Timbuktu and Gao in Mali and salted millet couscous from Fadiouth island in Senegal. Four booklets, one for each country, were produced to promote the Presidia, local consumption and awareness of gastronomic traditions. Find out more at www.slowfoodfoundation.org Click here for photos of Slow Food and FAO’s work in Africa. |

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Avondale Project Project Links Avondale Project History (31 KB) (pdf) General Description| Plan| Development| BenefitsGeneral DescriptionRehabilitation of privately developed irrigation facilities on the 880 acre Avondale Project by the Bureau of Reclamation in 1954-1955 required the reconstruction of a pumping plant at the source of supply, Hayden Lake, and the construction of an elevated equalizing tank with a main water line and distribution system for sprinkler irrigation. However, the water source is now four deep wells drilled by the Avondale Irrigation District in lieu of pumping from Hayden Lake. Farming is on a part-time basis and subdividing continues since this is a popular resort area which also offers industrial employment. Return to topPlanThe water supply for the project had been pumped from Hayden Lake, which has a drainage area of 62 square miles, with an average annual inflow of 45,000 acre-feet. Three small irrigation districts, Avondale, Dalton Gardens, and Hayden Lake were using water from the lake. In 1955, reconstructed facilities by the Bureau of Reclamation were placed in operation. These consisted of a pumphouse, two pumps, one 6,684-cubic-foot (50,000-gal) elevated steel equalizing reservoir, and 2,400 feet of 24-inch steel pipe for the main line, which delivered water to the distribution lines. Ninety-six irrigation turnouts were located so that a turnout was available for every 5 acres. Zoning valves and draining valves were subsequently installed for domestic water supply use. The pumphouse, on Hayden Lake about 0.25 mile east of the district lands, houses two 6.7- cubic-feet-per-second capacity horizontal centrifugal-type pumps. The pumps are designed to operate against a total dynamic head of 215 feet. The discharge line is 24 inches in diameter and 450 feet long terminating at the equalizing reservoir which is about 130 feet and is equipped with automatic pump control facilities. The State of Idaho, by court decree, issued a mandate that the water level of Hayden Lake is not to fall below 2,230.0 feet in elevation. This action was instrumental in the irrigation district's decision to develop a groundwater supply by drilling three deep wells in 1977. Two wells are 380 feet deep, 20 inches in diameter, and equipped with 350-horsepower pumps, each rated at 4.7 cubic feet per second. The third well is 405 feet deep, 16 inches in diameter, and has a 200-horsepower pump capable of producing 2.7 cubic feet per second. Total capacity of the three wells is about 12 cubic feet per second. A new 7,700-foot-long discharge line of 18- and 20-inch pipe delivers water from the three wells to the equalizing reservoir. These facilities replaced the pumping plant on Hayden Lake. However, the irrigation district has retained the Hayden Lake pumping plant as a standby facility. A fourth well was acquired in the early 1990's and is looped into the distribution system. This well is 260 feet deep and is equipped with a 75-horsepower deep well pump rated at 1 cubic feet per second. In addition, a 700,000 gallon storage/regulating tank was constructed in the spring of 1990. Sprinkler irrigation pressure is maintained at a minimum of 35 pounds per square inch at the farm turnouts. Meters have been installed at all turnouts, both irrigation and domestic.Operating AgenciesOperation and maintenance is performed by the Avondale Irrigation District.Return to topDevelopmentHistoryLogging, mining, and construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad brought settlers to the Hayden Lake area during the 1880`s, expanding the market for local agricultural products. Although numerous irrigation schemes were promoted during the 1890`s to stimulate land sales, little in the way of irrigation construction was accomplished until after 1900. The Avondale development was one of several small irrigation ventures undertaken by private interests in this vicinity during 1900-1910. Like the others, it was developed as a fruit-raising area. The Avondale Unit originated in 1906 as the Avondale Stock Farms. It was organized in 1908 as the Avondale Irrigation Company, and a reorganization in 1912 established it as an irrigation district.The original irrigated tracts consisted of 5 to 10 acres. Many of the tracts have been subdivided and resubdivided and only in a few instances have holdings been consolidated into ownerships exceeding 10 acres. Most of the tracts are now used as suburban residences or part-time farms and there are approximately 1,300 user accounts.InvestigationsThe original facilities, abandoned when the system was installed in 1954, consisted of a single pump having a capacity of 7 cubic feet per second, a 720-foot woodstave, low-pressure discharge line connected to a concrete pipeline, three small low-head wooden storage tanks, and a low-pressure pipe distribution system. The pumping plant was installed at Hayden Lake in 1922 on the foundation of one installed in 1906.Several plans for rehabilitation and betterment of the irrigation system were studied and submitted to the district`s directors for selection of the most desirable plan to satisfy the needs of the water users.The Avondale Irrigation District had been regarded initially by the Bureau of Reclamation as a possible unit of a much larger potential development known as the Rathdrum Prairie Project. The eastern divisions of this project consisted of three small irrigation districts that pumped their water supply from Hayden Lake-Avondale, Dalton Gardens, and Hayden Lake. The Appropriations Act for fiscal year 1954 designated the Avondale and Dalton Gardens Projects for separate reconstruction.However, during the 1953 irrigation season, frequent failure of the 50-year-old irrigation system brought an appeal for reconstruction assistance. Each district submitted a separate plan for reconstruction since a greater delay would ensue if applications were submitted concurrently and separate reconstruction was authorized with the Avondale Irrigation District forming the Avondale Project, the Dalton Gardens Irrigation District, the Dalton Gardens Project, and the Hayden Lake Irrigation District becoming a `unit` of the Rathdrum Prairie Project.AuthorizationThe Department of Interior Appropriation Act, 1954, the Act of July 31, 1953 (67 Stat. 261, Public Law 83-172), authorized the emergency rehabilitation of the Avondale Project. Further emergency rehabilitation of the pipe system was authorized by the Act of September 22, 1961 (75 Stat. 588, Public Law 87-289). The authorized project purpose is irrigation.ConstructionRehabilitation of the irrigation works began July 22, 1954, and was completed June 10, 1955. Emergency pipe rehabilitation work began in 1962 and was completed in 1964. The three wells were drilled and pumps were installed in 1977, with funds furnished by the irrigation district.A fourth well was acquired in the early 1990's as part of an annexation. In addition, a 700,000 gallon storage/reregulating reservoir was constructed by the irrigation district in the spring of 1990.Return to topBenefitsIrrigationAlthough fruit production was the major enterprise during the early years of the Avondale irrigation venture, there has been a gradual shift to pasture and hay crops. Most of the farm units are operated on a part-time basis and are used to produce food for the family or as rural homesites.RecreationThe Avondale Project lands are adjacent to a popular resort and recreation area along Hayden Lake. There are many permanent residences along the lakeshore. Several nearby lakes and streams offer excellent recreation opportunities which attract tourists from all over the United States and Canada.Return to top Last updated: Dec 04, 2009

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Industries Highland Center projects promote small farms by Robert Boucheron The state’s smallest county by population at fewer than 2,400 residents, Highland County lies in mountains west of Staunton. It has no industry, no major town and few of what the travel-and-leisure crowd would call attractions. What Highland does have is pastoral landscape, traditional family farms, a maple sugar festival each spring and Betty Mitchell. Originally from Lunenburg County, Mitchell and her husband, a former Richmond attorney, moved in 1995 to a Bluegrass Valley farm dating back to 1860s where they raise sheep. Sensing a need, Mitchell put her skills to work on behalf of the Highland Center, where she is now the nonprofit’s executive director. In 1998, the center moved into the old Monterey High School, in the county seat. Built of local limestone in 1922, the historic structure houses a senior center, a business incubator, community events, artist studios, a ballet school, an electric motorcycle shop and a weekly farmers market. Mitchell has at least a finger in all of these pies. A tireless networker, writer of grant applications and coordinator of volunteers, she also is an instigator of two programs that extend beyond Highland. One of them is the Allegheny Mountain School on Bear Mountain. It completed its first year in 2011 with nine student fellows, men and women in their 20s. Living, working and learning cooperative-style in a group of cabins from May 1 to Nov. 1, they focused on high-altitude food crops, sustainable methods or permaculture (agricultural systems that modeled on relationships found in nature), foraging in the woods and low-energy storage options like root cellars and drying. The students kept chickens, milked goats, gardened in a two large plots and a hoop house (a greenhouse with a plastic roof wrapped over flexible piping), took field trips, built a shed and a stone wall, and documented their work in blogs and photos. The students will take their skills to a community garden or similar site next year, to train others in homesteading and producing food. The second program, the Alleghany Highlands Agricultural Center, will serve four counties. With $1 million in private investment and a government loan of about $500,000, the new building, stockyard and slaughterhouse are designed to meet USDA standards. Scheduled to start operation in early 2012, it will create five jobs and put more money in the pockets of local farmers, who now send their cattle, sheep and other livestock to Lexington and Harrisonburg. Meat packing will be customized to each farmer’s order, with a goal of 600 animals in the first year. Chris Fuller is the general manager, with butcher and chef experience in New York, Connecticut and Colorado. “Highland has long been recognized for its high quality grass-fed beef and lamb,” Mitchell says, “and our farmers have decades of experience in sustainable methods. The new school and Ag Center will share these assets and market our products to a wider audience.”

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Environmentally minded cowboys run a green ranch in Arizona Save for later At two ranches near the Grand Canyon, they try to raise cattle in a way that doesn’t sully the sensitive southwestern landscape. By Jina Moore, Correspondent December 3, 2008 Save for later New horizons: Ethan Aumack, who oversees conservation science at the Kane and Two Mile ranches, looks out over the Vermilion Cliffs that act as a natural fence on part of the land. Jina Moore View Caption About video ads of Two Mile Ranch, Ariz. — John Heyneman has a problem. It’s late January, and some of his cows are missing. They’re stuck on the Kaibab Plateau, a 9,000-foot high Ponderosa pine forest just north of the Grand Canyon. Most of his 400 cattle made it safely from the forest, their summer home, to the valley below, where they winter. But the stragglers wandered off on land that lacks a cowboy’s most important tool – fences – and now they’re lost, stranded knee-deep in snow.Mr. Heyneman is the ranch manager at the Kane and Two Miles Ranches, which cover 850,000 acres of mostly public land on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. That’s a lot of land across which to lose a cow. The aging fences have gaps in them, and passers-by often leave gates ajar. Up here, where the land rolls from rocky desert to lush forest to sandy cliffs, the most reliable resource in Heyneman’s work is the land. As an example, he gestures out the window of his white Dodge truck.“Those rocks,” he says, pointing to the Vermilion Cliffs, one of the most famous landmarks in the Southwest, “are one of the few really effective fences we have.” The ranches are a partnership between the Grand Canyon Trust and the Conservation Fund, which together spent $4.5 million for the land as an investment in conservation. But the parcels came with a controversial catch: cows. Yet here, the cattle have gone green. Or, if you prefer, the conservationists have gone cowboy. It’s an unlikely partnership between ranchers and environmentalists, two groups usually on opposite sides of the fence. Then again, those fences don’t usually come in 3,000-foot-high red rock. •••For decades, conservation groups have decried cattle grazing as an act of environmental destruction. Cows trample native plants and insects, leech scarce water, and aggravate soil erosion, environmentalists say. Heyneman has heard it all before, and he even agrees – to a certain extent.“They are certainly people in the Southwest who really believe that cows are the great demise of the American West, and I’m not sure I’m willing to put that on their shoulders,” he says. “I don’t love cows. I don’t find them sacred. But I don’t find them diabolic either.”Heyneman grew up in a Montana ranching family but never yearned to be a rancher himself. He went to college “back East in Minnesota,” where he studied science just long enough “to figure out that you could get whatever answer you wanted by changing what question you asked.” Itching with wanderlust after college, he worked for two years in Brazil, and later got a master’s degree in soil sciences.He lives in Flagstaff, Ariz., and works in the Trust’s offices three days a week, then pulls out his Kevlar pants and pops in an audiobook for the two-hour commute to the ranches, where he spends the rest of his work week. His cowboys live up here.Sometimes, they even stay at the ranch headquarters, a small stone building that once housed “Buffalo Bill” and a group of English aristocrats William Frederick Cody courted as investors for the hunting lodge he hoped to build here. Today, the stone house still lacks plumbing and power, and except for one week a month, Heyneman sleeps at his home in Flagstaff.“I’m still a little more Alpine, I’m afraid,” he says. “I’ve got this affinity to running water that has not completely diminished.”His counterpart in this operation is Ethan Aumack, a tall redhead in a fleece vest who oversees conservation science at the ranches. Mr. Aumack is a fifth-generation vegetarian who grew up in Flagstaff ditching school to go hiking in the Grand Canyon. In his office, he keeps a button that says “HELP PEOPLE.”It’s from his grandmother, the third in a genealogical line of Norwegian immigrants who wouldn’t wear leather out of concern for cows. “There’s a lot of humor to be had about the vegetarian and the red meat rancher coming together on this project,” admits Aumack (who also confesses to eating beef from both ranches).The project isn’t about nourishing cattle with ecofriendly feed or building wooden instead of barbed-wire fences. These cowboy-conservationists aren’t that kind of green. What they are doing, instead, is asking whether cattle ranching can be successful and environmental.Actually, this may be the more revolutionary question. Environmental groups have been buying up land in the West to control the 80-year-old grazing permits it comes with. The idea is to retire the permits, and with them, the cows. That, eco-activists hope, will save the land.The Trust didn’t have that option. If it retired its permits, Heyneman says, the government would just reallocate them. So if it wanted to preserve a quintessential American vista, it had to get in the cattle business. What began as an environmental initiative therefore became a ranching operation that defies the conventions of two sciences: ecology and economics.Not many people who want to make money get into small-scale ranching in the Southwest. The businesses that have been turning a profit tend to be the big operations that own the land on which they graze their cows. Family-owned ranches often run their cattle on public lands and represent more of a hobby than a livelihood: One of Heyneman’s cowboys says his family and their neighbors all have day jobs and ranch on weekends, mostly as a way of spending time with each other and enjoying the landscape.If the economics of small-scale ranching is dismal, the ecology is murky. Almost every aspect of ranching can inspire an ecological debate, and, sometimes, concessions. Heyneman was quick to prohibit his cowboys from a time-honored way of protecting cows – shooting coyotes or rattlesnakes. And, occasionally, his cows get a little cramped: The Trust sealed 10,000 acres off from the ranches to protect federal restoration activities, and it built fences of rough-hewn wood around a series of lakes that date back to a time the ocean covered the desert.Other things are not as easy. If you let cattle drink from streams, for example, they might despoil riverbank habitat. Every source of water, then, is a potential source of tension. And not just between the cowboy and the conservationist. Earlier this year, one cowboy here said, ranch staff went to fix a spring and “near got in a fist fight” with neighbors who thought the water was theirs.•••Ultimately, the goal here is not to turn a profit from beef, but to preserve a unique American landscape. Through Aumack’s eyes, it is a wearied landscape, lurched out of its natural balance by a hundred years of human use. He’s trying to turn that around.Aumack has led 550 volunteers in 47,000 hours of labor on the land since 2005. They’ve cleared tumbleweed from the fences, pulled water-sucking tamarisk from riverbeds, and counted the number of non-native plants across the ranches. The data they’ve gathered will help predict future brush fires, prioritize areas for protection, and offer guidance on better ways to graze cattle.But there are things even science can’t prove, including the question at the heart of the operation: Are cows bad for the land? “The science doesn’t give us clear answers,” Aumack says. “It gives us some additional information to clarify the consequences of making different decisions, but it doesn’t necessarily decide what’s right or wrong.” Whether cows should graze on arid land in the American West is ultimately a matter of judgment – and politics.Heyenman, on the other hand, knows one thing for sure: In the dead of winter, cows don’t belong in three feet of snow, and those stranded cattle on the Kaibab Plateau are in need of a rescue. Fortunately, the professional cowboy is also an amateur pilot. Heyneman will circle the pines in his plane until he finds the cows, and then lead them, one by one, back to the valley. New breed of ranchers shapes a sustainable West How much do you know about Texas? Take our quiz Grand Canyon: Bison hybrids trampling park lands, sacred sites

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Dow AgroSciences Acquires Cal/West Seeds Acquisition to Expand Alfalfa Business Dow AgroSciences LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: Dow), announced today that it has acquired the assets of Cal/West Seeds, based in Woodland, Calif. Cal/West is a leading supplier of alfalfa, clover and other crops to seed companies and growers in the U.S., Canada, and 25 other countries around the world. The addition of Cal/West Seeds expands Dow AgroSciences’ alfalfa business and strengthens its global forages business. “Cal/West fits our business model – they are not only a technology developer in their industry, but also have a strong genetics program which will strengthen our forages business,” said Rolando Meninato, Global Leader, Seeds, Traits and Oils at Dow AgroSciences. Under the terms of the agreement, Dow AgroSciences will acquire substantially all of Cal/West Seeds’ assets, which include Cal/West and Producer’s Choice brands, Cal/West SRL Argentina, the research and development technologies and genetics programs, as well as the production facilities. Cal/West has R&D and production facilities in California, Washington and Wisconsin. Paul Frey, CEO of Cal/West Seeds, said, “We believe this opportunity will effectively help achieve many key business objectives, and customers will benefit from access to more diverse technologies to deliver enhanced productivity of alfalfa and forage products. We are excited and looking forward to building a better and stronger forage business under Dow AgroSciences!” The Cal/West acquisition will complement the Dairyland Seed’s alfalfa platform and research programs and will make the new Dow AgroSciences forages business one of the largest in the industry. Dairyland Seed was acquired by Dow AgroSciences in 2008. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. About Dow AgroSciences Dow AgroSciences, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, develops leading-edge crop protection and plant biotechnology solutions to meet the challenges of the growing world. Dow AgroSciences is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company and had annual global sales of $5.7 billion in 2011. Learn more at www.dowagro.com . Follow Dow AgroSciences on Facebook and YouTube or subscribe to our News Release RSS Feed. About Cal/West Seeds Cal/West Seeds is based in Woodland, California. The company is recognized around the world as a leader in forage breeding and seed production with over 75 years of experience. It was one of the first private forage breeding companies in the United States original established by seed producers’ that wanted an orderly path to market with improved varieties. The company is a leader in developing new value added traits using the latest technologies while maintaining a broad germplasm base to meet the needs of forage producers worldwide. For more information visit www.calwestseeds.com.

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National Dairy Board Honors Michigan Leader with Prestigious Lyng Award Earl Horning Recognized for Contributions to Dairy Promotion The National Dairy Promotion and Research Board (NDB) honored Earl Horning as the 2011 recipient of the Richard E. Lyng Award for his dedication and distinguished service to dairy promotion. Horning, a dairy producer from Manchester, Mich., was recognized at the Joint NDB/National Milk Producers Federation/United Dairy Industry Association (UDIA) Annual Meeting in San Diego. The award is named for former U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Richard E. Lyng, who played a key role in implementing policies that led to the establishment of the NDB more than 25 years ago. The Lyng Award honors dairy industry leaders who have made a significant contribution to dairy promotion that benefits the entire dairy industry. “Earl Horning is a staunch supporter of dairy promotion who not only talks the talk, he walks the walk,” said Ryan Anglin, Arkansas dairy producer and NDB chair. “Earl’s commitment comes from his own personal experiences in promoting a positive image of milk production year-round within his community.” Horning farms on the outskirts of Ann Arbor and has a long-standing history of conducting farm tours for schoolchildren, community leaders and fellow citizens. This includes a “June Dairy Month Breakfast on the Farm” event the Horning Family hosted that drew more than 2,000 people. Horning also serves as an active leader within local and national dairy checkoff programs. He joined the board of directors of the United Dairy Industry of Michigan in 1997, the same year he also joined the UDIA board. He played an active role in a successful school milk vending machine program in Michigan, and continues to be an active champion of efforts to increase participation in school breakfast programs and the in-school Fuel Up to Play 60 program. As part of the Richard E. Lyng Award, the NDB will make a $2,500 contribution to the Michigan Dairy Memorial and Scholarship Foundation at Michigan State University. For more information about the national dairy checkoff program, visit www.dairycheckoff.com.

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Rio Grande Cottonwood Fremont Cottonwood The Rio Grande cottonwood is also popularly known as the Fremont cottonwood, common cottonwood, valley cottonwood, marsh cottonwood, alamo and alamillo. Its scientific name reflects its membership in the poplar family, which includes the poplars, the aspens and the other cottonwood species. Like many Southwestern plants, its scientific name also bears the stamp of John C. Fremont, the famed 19th century "Pathfinder of the West." The Water Tree The Rio Grande cottonwood, a welcome sight to pioneers in the desert because it often signaled water, typically reaches 50 to 60 feet in height, with a trunk of three feet in diameter. Some of the grand old cottonwoods in the Rio Grande Valley have reached 90 feet in height, with trunks five feet across. In open areas, the tree may divide into branches near its base, producing a spreading crown. In closed stands, the trunk may ascend tall and straight, nearly free of branches near the base, producing a comparatively small crown. The tree has roughly deltoid-shaped, toothed leaves which are attached alternatively along the stems. The flattened leaf stems, or petioles, permit the leaves to twist in a breeze, producing a soft rustling or fluttering sound. The wood is moderately light, soft and relatively weak. It is uniform in texture and usually straight grained. The Rio Grande cottonwood reproduces by seeding, unlike many other flood-plain trees which regenerate by sprouting. It flowers in the spring, before it leafs out. It releases its seeds, each carried by a downy white tuft, or "parachute," in anticipation of traditional spring floods and winds, the principal mechanisms for dispersion. A mature Rio Grande cottonwood can produce as many as 25 million seeds in a season, covering wide areas with a blanket of "cotton." Once free, a seed, with a viable life of no more than a few days to a few weeks, begins a desperate, and usually a hopeless, race for survival. It must land on moist alluvial soil and swiftly extend roots toward subsurface water. If the soil dries too quickly, the seedling dies. Given sufficient moisture, however, the seedling may put down roots three- to five-feet deep in the course of a summer. If it survives trampling, fire, flood and animal feeding, it will become a fast-growing tree, always heavily dependent on a reliable water supply. (The Rio Grande cottonwood’s cousin, the eastern cottonwood, is the fastest growing tree in North America.) When fall comes, the Rio Grande cottonwood pays with gold leaves for its purchase of water. Its Ecological Role Rio Grande cottonwood seedlings and saplings provide food for deer, rabbits and field mice. Larger trees provide food for beavers as well as wood for the animals’ dams and lodges. Mature trees provide nesting for a variety of birds. Stands provide habitat for wildlife. Prior to the Spanish entradas, which began in the late 16th century, the Rio Grande cottonwood dominated many of the low land riparian – or, stream-side – forests of the Southwest, from western Texas and northern Mexico north to southern Colorado and west to California. It grew at elevations ranging from 2500 to 7000 feet. Today, the Rio Grande cottonwood, as well as the riparian forests, are under intense assault. Along rivers and streams throughout the Southwest, man has dammed, re-channeled and regulated stream flow, often holding back the spring floods which would otherwise disperse Rio Grande cottonwood seeds and water the river bottoms. He has drawn down water tables, putting them beyond the reach of Rio Grand cottonwood roots. He has cleared watersheds, allowed detrimental salt and mineral buildups, developed roads, opened mines, effected intense overgrazing, polluted the water, trampled and overrun new forest growth, introduced aggressive alien species, and eliminated or severely reduced beavers and other wildlife. The Southwest’s riparian forests are now among the most threatened woodlands of North America. Surprisingly, the Rio Grande cottonwood, the "water tree," has found a home in south-central New Mexico’s White Sands National Monument, an environment too harsh for 75 percent of the plants from the surrounding Chihuahuan Desert. In this area of little annual rainfall, blistering summer heat, relentless spring winds, impoverished soil and eastward marching sand dunes, the Rio Grande cottonwood has eked out a tortured existence by capturing and securing soil in the interdune flats and extending roots to a relatively shallow water table. The Rio Grande cottonwood’s affinity for water became a metaphor for Southwestern pueblos’ reliance on water. Pueblo carvers shape the tree’s roots – the conduit to water – into kachina dolls, spiritual icons of the deeply religious agricultural peoples of an arid land. Originally, carvers took the roots from trees which had been undercut and swept down rivers and streams by flood waters. Today, as the cottonwoods and riparian forests vanish, the carvers must often buy their wood, frequently at exorbitant prices. The Rio Grande cottonwood’s disappearance from the banks of Southwestern streams and rivers can now be regarded as a metaphor for our relentless abuse of the environment of the desert Southwest. Jay W. Sharp View Video about The Black Widow Spider. The female black widow spider is the most venomous spider in North America, but it seldom causes death to humans, because it only injects a very small amount of poison when it bites. Click here to view video. The Despite its pussycat appearance when seen in repose, the bobcat is quite fierce and is equipped to kill animals as large as deer. However, food habit studies have shown bobcats subsist on a diet of rabbits, ground squirrels, mice, pocket gophers and wood rats. Join us as we watch this sleepy bobcat show his teeth. The Mountain The Mountain Lion, also known as the Cougar, Panther or Puma, is the most widely distributed cat in the Americas. It is unspotted -- tawny-colored above overlaid with buff below. It has a small head and small, rounded, black-tipped ears. Watch one in this video. ___________________________________ Take a look at our Animals index page to find information about all kinds of birds, snakes, mammals, spiders and more!

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|Appointments,News HSBC appoints Huw Tudor as Agriculture Manager for mid-Wales HSBC Agriculture has appointed Huw Tudor as Agriculture Manager in Mid-Wales, covering Welshpool, Owestry and the surrounding areas. Huw replaces Mervyn Davies, who has retired from the bank.Huw joins HSBC from Barclays, where he spent five years as an Agriculture Manager covering North Wales and the Midlands. Prior to that was an ADAS farm business consultant providing consultancy and advice to the farming community.Welsh speaker Huw comes from an agricultural background and grew up on a farm. His parents and brother still farm near Welshpool.HSBC Regional Agriculture Manager for Wales Euryn Jones said: 'We are delighted to be welcoming somebody of Huw’s experience and reputation to the HSBC Agriculture team in Wales, particularly as he has replaced a well-respected figure in Mervyn Davies. This spring had been a particularly challenging time for farmers in mid-Wales and indeed across the wider UK; HSBC is committed to working with its customers through these times and we would urge farmers to talk to their manager so they can effectively manage their finances.“Finally on behalf of HSBC Agriculture I would like to thank Mervyn Davies for his contribution not only to HSBC but also to the agriculture community he has served so loyally over so many years. I wish Mervyn all the best for the future.”Huw said: “HSBC is an extremely strong brand within the farming community and the bank has demonstrated its commitment to the sector by expanding its teams and financial support at a time when other banks are reducing their focus on farming. It’s an exciting time to have joined and I am looking forward to building on the good work carried out by Mervyn.”

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Advertisement Home > ARS marks 50th anniversary With special events, open houses ARS marks 50th anniversary With special events, open houses Comments 0 The Agricultural Research Service, chief scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is marking its 50th anniversary. ARS' accomplishments during the past half century include development of the leading mosquito repellent, development of vaccines to protect chickens against economically devastating diseases, creation of a key equation to reduce soil erosion, and the discovery of two new forms of life — viroids and spiroplasmas. Viroids are strands of ribonucleic acid (RNA) that can cause disease in plants and crops; spiroplasmas, which also are responsible for many plant diseases, are life forms with no cell wall and one of the smallest genomes of any living organism. Today, ARS is the largest agricultural science agency of its kind in the world, with more than 2,100 scientists conducting research at about 100 locations across the country and overseas. ARS scientists constructed the first gene maps of cattle, discovered that boron is an essential trace nutrient for humans, helped triple milk production per cow, and eliminated the screwworm from the United States and other countries. “ARS has had many specific accomplishments that have been critical to the continued vitality of American agriculture,” said Edward B. Knipling, acting ARS administrator. “But the agency's work as a whole is an essential part of the long research continuum that allows us to improve our stewardship of the environment, while making our food and agricultural products more affordable, safer and more abundant.” Special events In celebration of its anniversary, ARS will host numerous special events over the coming year, including a recognition ceremony at USDA headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 11, a National Scientific Leadership Meeting in New Orleans in January 2004, and open houses and field days at its various locations. ARS has conducted research in every facet of agriculture, responding quickly to new problems as they arise, carrying out long-term research beyond the scope of commercial businesses, providing research support to USDA action and regulatory agencies, and helping to improve the quality of life for rural communities. While ARS was officially created in 1953, the agency has deep roots that go back more than a century. When Abraham Lincoln created USDA in 1862, the founding legislation called for the new department to acquire “useful information connected with agriculture in the most general and comprehensive sense.” Within four years, a Division of Botany was created, soon followed by the Division of Microscopy and, in 1873, the Bureau of Animal Industry and other scientific units. Many of these were merged in 1953 to form the core of today's ARS. More information about ARS's research milestones can be found in the November issue of Agricultural Research magazine, available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/nov03/ars1103.htm Print Advertisement Related ArticlesUC Kearney Research and Extension Center marks 40th anniversary CURES marks 15th anniversary with CDFA and State Water Board projects Special RAC meeting Aug. 24 World Ag Expo closes 45th anniversary show UC Fresh-cut workshop registration open Advertisement Connect With Us TwitterFacebookRSSPodcast Hot Topics

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Elk overrun ranchers in Elmore County Thousands of elk have taken up residence around Mayfield in Elmore County and are causing economic harm to ranchers in the area. A group of ranchers came to the Statehouse Jan. 15 to ask legislators and state officials for help. A group of Elmore County ranchers leaves the Idaho Statehouse Jan. 15 after asking lawmakers for help dealing with the thousands of elk that have come to the area in recent years. State officials said large wildfires and wolves have pushed more elk to that area. BOISE — An invasion of elk in parts of Elmore County has caused ranchers there to turn to state lawmakers for help.A group of ranchers visited the Statehouse Jan. 15 to ask legislators and state officials to help them deal with the thousands of elk that have set up residence on their land in recent years.According to the ranchers, who are mostly from the Mayfield area southeast of Boise, more than 4,000 elk have invaded the area.Idaho Fish and Game Department officials said several large wildfires in the region and the presence of wolves in higher country are two of the main reasons the elk have moved to the area in large numbers.Rancher Jeff Lord told members of the Senate Resources and Environment Committee that the elk are eating at the ranchers’ expense and they damage spring and winter range.“If we can’t solve this problem, we need to be compensated,” he said. “I don’t want to be a winter elk feed provider. I want to be a rancher.”Lord said his family has ranched in Mayfield since 1945 and the first elk in the area were seen in 1977.“Since then, the numbers have increased dramatically,” he said.Rancher Steve Damele said herds of up to 800 elk are going back and forth across private land, causing serious damage in the form of destroyed fences, degraded range and lost feed.“The economic loss is substantial,” he said. “The ranchers in this area are united in this effort and ready for a long-term solution.”The ranchers were invited to the Statehouse by Sen. Bert Brackett, a Republican rancher from that district.Three of the nine committee members are ranchers and a fourth is a farmer.“The numbers (of elk) keep increasing and they’re looking for some answers,” Brackett told his fellow committee members.Rancher Mike Grimmett said 500 to 1,500 elk cross his ranch on any given day and their numbers are growing steadily.“As you can imagine, I’m feeding a lot of the state’s animals,” he said. “It’s an ongoing cost. We want to make sure our concerns are heard and we want to figure out a way to fix this problem.”Scott Reinecker, IFGD’s southwest region supervisor, said the department has used several strategies to try to address the problem, including landowner appreciation hunts and depredation hunts.But he acknowledged they haven’t been enough.“We definitely do need to do more,” he said. “We’re going to try to do what we can.”Sen. Monty Pearce, the committee chairman and a rancher from New Plymouth, told Reinecker that it’s apparent the things the department has done in the past to control elk populations in certain areas aren’t working in this case.“It sounds like we need to think out of the box,” he said. “I think this needs to be put on the front burner.”

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Rains return as cotton harvest nears finish By Harvey Buehring At long last, the Lower Coastal Bend's cotton harvest is virtually complete and was estimated at the 98 percent completion mark at the beginning of the second week of October.The 2007 crop had numerous ups and downs and that situation continues to a degree.On the upside, ginning across the region has remained very active. That is an indication that the size of the crop is likely to wind up a bit larger that earlier estimated. Gin managers with some of the area's largest ginning facilities are hopeful that they can complete ginning of this season's Coastal Bend areas crop around Halloween, give or take a few days. The bale numbers being classed for lint quality during the first week of October surpassed 106,800 bales, which was the highest weekly total for the season. And on Oct. 4, the USDA's Cotton Classing Office in Corpus Christi reported that they had classified quality designations on over one-half million bales - 551,273 bales to be exact.That number alone is a source of good news because it verifies that the combined Lower Rio Grande Valley and Lower Coastal Bend production regions had already produced well above one-half million bales of cotton. The chance of reaching 750,000 bales is within the realm of possibility for the South Texas cotton crop with good yields coming out of the Uvalde area.Back at the end of the July- August monsoon, it was anyone's guess as to how much of the region's rain-soaked crop would ever be harvested. Trying to estimate the size of the cotton crop while bolls were rotting on the bottom of the plants and blooms were pollinating into juvenile bolls at the top of the plant was a real puzzle. At that point in time, yield guesses were ranging between 3/4 bales per acre on the low side up to 2.2 bales to the acre on the topside. And now that the vast majority of the Coastal Bend's cotton crop has been harvested and ginned, those widely varying guesses were in all likelihood correct, at least for individual fields. Once the ginning dust settles, most of the fields in Nueces and San Patricio Counties will likely fall into the production range of 1.3 to 1.7 bales to the acre on the non-irrigated production. We'll have to wait and see what number of bales that can be harvested from the Upper Coast's severely weathered cotton acreage.The only thing that may be more challenging to "guess-timate" than the size of the 2007 cotton crop in South Texas is the size of the region's wild hog population. Experts in that field work with some widely varying numbers as well. Most agree that the drought did have a negative impact on litter size during the fall of last year. But no one has a good handle on how much larger feral hog litter might be this fall. The tremendous improvement in food sources, water availability, and cover is certain to allow more of the wild piglets to reach breeding age. Those environmental changes are likely to bring even larger feral hog numbers to South Texas.Management of feral hogs in the Coastal Bend is the topic of a symposium being conducted at the Welder Wildlife Refuge, north of Sinton on the east side of State Highway 77 on Thursday, Oct. 11, beginning at 9 a.m. Pre-registration is required. A registration fee of $10 per person will be charged to cover the cost of the noon luncheon and refreshments. Participants can also earn two credits for pesticide licence renewal by participating in this educational program.This symposium will make participants familiar with the biology of feral hogs and the options available to manage their populations. The event is sponsored by Texas Cooperative Extension, in conjunction with the Welder Wildlife Refuge, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas Animal Heath Commission.

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Dairy in Africa: Keeping Cultures Alive - Pascale Brevet Africa might not be the first continent that comes to mind when we talk about cheese, and it is true that it is not such a common food in most African countries. But there are a number of rich dairy traditions around the continent, some a legacy from the colonialist history, others, more deeply rooted, from the nomadic pastoral cultures that still exist in many countries. A selection of these dairy products from Kenya, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Morocco and Cape Verde were presented at Cheese 2013, on Friday September 20 at the Biodiversity House. Though importation issues meant only a few were available for tasting, the public was lucky to have the opportunity to hear from members of the food communities who make these dairy products: Priscilla Chemtay from the Pokot Ash Yogurt Presidium in Kenya and Roba Bulga Jilo from the Karrayyu Herders’ Camel Milk Presidium in Ethiopia as well as Boubacar Diallo, who described how Wagashi and a Tuareg tomme cheese are made by the Peul ethnic group in Burkina Faso. A highlight was the contribution of Roba Bulga from the Karrayyu ethnic group in Ethiopia and a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences. The Karrayyu are famous for their camels, the type of clothes they wear as well and a specific hairstyle. They have a strong connection with their herds, and guide them along a journey of several hundred kilometers during the dry season to find food for them, while also surviving themselves. Unfortunately, they are having to travel further and further due to external causes such as global warming and land rights issues. The Karrayyu are also known for being proud to be herders, for being proud of their traditions. “We want to keep our way of life,” said Bulga at the end. “The Presidium has allowed us to promote camel milk at a country level.” Before it was mostly consumed by herders and was unfamiliar to the rest of the population. “We’ve been able to invest in a vehicle that allows us to transport the milk faster to Addis Ababa,” he said. By raising awareness about the problems they are facing, as well as their camels' milk, the Karrayyu hope to keep their culture alive. Photo: Pokot Ash Yogurt Presidium © Oliver Migliore

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St. Mary’s teen named Miss Maryland Agriculture at state fair Submitted photo Gabrielle Cory, 16, of Leonardtown was named Miss Maryland Agriculture 2013 at the Maryland State Fair in Timonium on Friday. It was only the third time in the program’s history that the winner was from St. Mary’s County. More News Gabrielle Cory, 16, of Leonardtown was named Miss Maryland Agriculture 2013 at the Maryland State Fair in Timonium on Friday during the fair’s opening-night festivities. “It was very surprising. Very overwhelming,” Cory said during a phone interview Monday afternoon. She said the moment her name was announced for the honor “was just like what you’d see on TV,” as they put a Miss Maryland Agriculture sash on her. “Who would have through someone from little St. Mary’s County would get that?” She noted that the program indicated that someone from St. Mary’s County had only been selected two other times in the history of the program — first in 1946 when Edith Russell won and again in 1983 when Crystal Hayden won. Miss Maryland Agriculture is selected through a series of judging events, according to Mary Amoss of Fallston, coordinator of the Miss Maryland Agriculture Program since 1979. Three judges from out of state rated the 22 participants representing county farm bureaus throughout Maryland. First impression, roundtable and formal interview judging events make up 70 percent of the contestant’s score. An on-stage public speaking event, when the contestants each have 90 seconds to talk about themselves and agriculture in their county and then answer a question related to their biography, makes up the rest of the score. The judges are looking for “a well-rounded individual who can speak on behalf of the agriculture industry and farm bureau,” Amoss said. As the new Miss Maryland Agriculture, Cory will be present throughout the run of the Maryland State Fair to award prizes and meet with visitors to the fair, dignitaries and media representatives. For instance, on Thursday she is scheduled to have lunch with Gov. Martin O’Malley (D). After the fair, Cory will participate in the Maryland Farm Bureau convention in December, travel around the state to speak to students about agriculture and appear at other farm bureau events. Her duties, however, “will take a back seat to school,” Amoss said. Cory said she is most excited about the opportunity to talk about agriculture to young people. She noted that St. Mary’s County has a strong 4-H program but that “it definitely could grow more” and people her age could be more interested in agriculture. Cory, who is the daughter of Wesley and Marian Goddard Cory, lives on a 20-acre farmstead dedicated to forest conservation. She helps to raise livestock and grow crops on her grandmother’s 60-acre farm two miles from her home. She just started her junior year at Leonardtown High School and after graduation plans to pursue a degree in dental hygiene. She has been a member of Chaptico Chargers 4-H Club for eight years and an officer for six years. She is also a member of the Maryland 4-H Teen Council, National Honor Society, the Student to Student Mentoring Program and Girl Scout Troop 4549. When Cory ages out of the 4-H program, she plans to volunteer to assist younger members in 4-H activities. Along with the title of Miss Maryland Agriculture, Cory was awarded $11,000 in scholarship funds and $2,000 to pay expenses for her travels for the coming year. Other Southern Maryland participants in the program were Sarah Manning representing Calvert County and Caitlin Olejnik representing Charles County. “I am very honored to have been chosen,” Cory said. County seat celebrates being an arts and entertainment designation Leonardtown is celebrating Maryland’s newest Arts and Entertainment Designation Award. One way to celebrate with the town is to participate in Leonardtown’s Art Walk that will be held Aug. 30 through Sept. 6. The public is being asked to visit galleries and businesses hosting art, and vote on their favorite works of art. Winners and awards will be announced on the square on First Friday, Sept. 6. For more information visit leonardtownfirstfridays.com or call the town office at 301-475-9791. Art contest designed to support breast cancer Awareness The St. Mary’s County Arts Council invites artists to submit a decorated piece of “bra art” to its first Uplifting Designs Bra Art Contest to support Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The bra exhibit will be displayed in Leonardtown on Friday, Oct. 4. Artists are asked to get creative — to thread a needle, fluff a few feathers and prepare to decorate bras. Hundreds of bra art contests have been held across the country in the last few years as a way to raise money. About one in eight women in the United States will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of their lifetimes. The bras will be displayed in Leonardtown during First Friday on Oct. 4 from 5 to 8 p.m. Visitors can vote with a donation for their favorite design. All proceeds from the event will be donated to the First Friday cause to support breast cancer awareness. There is no charge to enter the event. Entry forms and complete details are available at www.stmarysartscouncil.com. All bra art entries should be turned in by Tuesday, Oct. 1, to the Town of Leonardtown office, which is located at 41660 Courthouse Drive. The Arts Council will be offering a workshop on Saturday, Sept. 28, from 1 to 3:30 p.m. at the Leonardtown Arts Center for those who would like to decorate their bras in the company of others. The Leonardtown Arts Center is located at 22850 Washington St., on the second floor. Organizers will supply bras, decorating materials and refreshments for a fee of $10. Registration for the workshop can be found at www.stmarysartscouncil.com. Walk-ins are welcome. Bras created from the workshop will be displayed at the arts center and will also be entered into the contest. Bras should be selected and decorated in a manner that is tasteful; no inappropriate or offensive entries will be put on display. For more information, call Nell Elder at 240-687-5418. Take a tour of trees The Maryland Tree Farm Committee, Maryland Forests Association and other partners are sponsoring a field tour in St. Mary’s County this fall to help the area’s woodland owners and enthusiasts discover the benefits provided by the region’s woodlands. The half-day, outside event will occur at the Skyview Family Tree Farm, located off of Loveville Road in Mechanicsville, on Saturday, Sept. 21, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. While Maryland is a relatively small state, its woodlands vary dramatically depending on your location. For instance many of the trees found in the cooler higher elevations of the western part of the state won’t be found growing on the lower, more humid Eastern Shore. The St. Mary’s County tour is part of four regional events to be held throughout Maryland this fall to showcase this woodland diversity and to highlight their importance to the state’s air quality, wildlife, economy, drinking water and quality of life. The event will take place outside, rain or shine, and some trail walking will be necessary. Preregistration is required. For more about the agenda and to register, visit www.forestryforthebay.org/discover_woodlands.cfm or contact David Gailey at 301-880-2746 or dgailey@dnr.state.md.us. Buddy Walk set for Sept. 14 Southern Maryland’s Buddy Walk will be held Saturday, Sept. 14, at 12:30 p.m. at Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf. The Buddy Walk is a 1-mile walk designed to promote awareness, inclusion and acceptance for children and adults with Down syndrome. This walk is also an annual fundraising event for Angels Forever Up! Funds raised from the Buddy Walk will pay for various events provided by the group, including its annual fall festival at Bowles Farm, family day at Pump it Up and Chuck E. Cheese. This year, Angels Forever Up! provided $6,000 in summer camp scholarships. The group also provides new parent packets to local hospitals and obstetrician’s offices. To register for the walk, go to http://buddywalk.kintera.org/angelsforeverup or send email to angelsforeverup@gmail.com. Information is posted at www.angelsforeverup.org. Participants can start their own team or register individually. Prizes will be awarded for the team and individual that raises the most money. Registration fee includes T-shirt, entertainment, goody bags, game ticket and food voucher. In addition, organizers are looking for volunteers to assist on the day of the Buddy Walk and for corporate sponsors. For more on these opportunities, email angelsforeverup@gmail.com. Three-day event set to focus on domestic violence Leah’s House Shelter and For Kathy’s Sake Inc. are sponsoring a three-day event featuring Donna Andersen from Sept. 12 to 14. For three days in September, students and their families can learn how to spot and escape potentially dangerous dating partners. “Love Fraud and How to Avoid It” will be presented by Andersen, author of Lovefraud.com, who was featured in the premiere episode of Investigation Discovery’s “Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry?” On Thursday, Sept. 12, at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, the event will be held in St. Mary’s Hall from 7:30 to 9 p.m. and will feature drum corps, step team performances and refreshments. Donation is $5. On Friday, Sept. 13, at the Dr. James A. Forrest Career and Technology Center in Leonardtown, the event will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. and will include step team performances and refreshments. Donation is $5. On Saturday, Sept. 14, organizers will host a catered brunch from 10 a.m. to noon at the Patuxent Presbyterian Church in California. This brunch will include Andersen’s presentation and a panel of experts in domestic violence response. Donation is $20. Proceeds from the events will benefit the Leah’s House shelter, which protects women and children in crisis, including human trafficking victims. For more information, call 301-994-9580 or email leahshousefriend@msn.com. Refreshment sponsors and volunteers are needed. College chapter honored Omicron Delta Kappa recently awarded St. Mary’s College of Maryland with the Superior Circle Award. Each year Omicron Delta Kappa recognizes circles (chapters) that meet all the circle standards. Circles qualify as a superior circle if they meet all standards and produce two or more campuswide leadership events during the year. St. Mary’s College also announced that the ODK Foundation Scholarship Committee selected Emily Wavering from the Class of 2013, who was also named ODK Circle Leader of the Year, as a recipient of the 2013 ODK Scholarship. Each year the foundation awards up to 20 scholarships to members who are applying for post-graduate programs. These $1,000 scholarships are available to students who have earned a 3.5 or higher cumulative GPA, were voting members of their ODK Circle and are current seniors or have graduated within the past five years. Artsfest set for Sept. 21 and 22 The 20th Annual Artsfest Fine Arts Festival will take place at Annmarie Sculpture Garden and Arts Center on Sept. 21 and 22 in Solomons. Artsfest is a weekend of shopping, live music, food and drink, free family and children’s activities and more. In celebration of the 20th anniversary, more than 165 indoor and outdoor artist booths will be set up. The event will also feature more than 30 entertainers, including jazz, rock, folk, blues and country. Genticorum to perform, workshops offered The Celtic Society of Southern Maryland in partnership with the Calvert Marine Museum will present Genticorum, the award-winning traditional Quebecois trio from Montreal. The band members will offer master workshops in fiddle/feet, guitar and flute/pennywhistle on Saturday, Sept. 7, from 2 to 4 p.m. A concert will be presented at 7:30 p.m. The workshops and concert will be held at the Calvert Marine Museum Auditorium in Solomons. Workshop cost $35, with some scholarships available. Concert tickets are $25 and are available online at www.cssm.org/tickets. Alumni association awards scholarships This year, the Margaret Brent High School Alumni Association has awarded six scholarships of $1,000 each to the following 2013 high school graduates. The recipients are: Charles Ryan Gilbert, graduate of Chopticon High School, son of Charles and Lori Gilbert; Jacob Noah Jarboe, graduate of St. Mary’s Ryken High School, son of William and Lori Kay Jarboe; Katlyn Florence Lyon, graduate of Leonardtown High School, daughter of Michael and Brenda Lyon; David Rippetoe Norton Jr., graduate of Providence High School in Florida, son of David and Margaret Norton; Maxwell Scott Pilkerton, graduate of Huntley High School in Illinois, son of Scott and Susan Pilkerton; and Megan Elizabeth Spence, graduate of Chopticon High School, daughter of Robert and Dorothy Spence. All of the winners are direct descendents of former MBHS students who attended the school between 1931 and 1965, prior to the school becoming a middle school. Winners were selected based on their academic record and achievements in school and in their community. Workshop on land preservation set The Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission and the Maryland Environmental Trust will hold a workshop Sept. 3 at 6 p.m. to discuss opportunities for land preservation in Southern Maryland. The workshop will take place at the SMECO auditorium in Hughesville. Recently, the state increased funding in the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Program and the Rural Legacy Program. The federal government increased the tax break for easement donations in 2013. After a donation of an easement to the Maryland Environmental Trust, landowners may deduct up to 50 percent of adjusted gross income from their federal income tax, and they can continue to take the deduction for another 15 years, or until they reach the value of the easement. Landowners may deduct up to 100 percent of their adjusted gross income per year if the majority of their income comes from farming, ranching or forestry, until they reach the value of the easement. In previous years, the maximum deduction was 30 percent of adjusted gross income and it is likely to be no higher than that in the foreseeable future. The majority of the workshop will concentrate on easement donation because of the one-time jump in the percentage of adjusted gross income deduction. As easement donation does not suit all landowners, information on alternative land preservation programs will also be provided. Light refreshments will be served. Respond by today, Aug. 28, by emailing Greg Bowen at gbowen@smadc.com or calling 301-274-1922, ext. 1. Yard sale to raise funds for fire/rescue squad A yard sale will be held by the Second District Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad in Valley Lee on Sept. 28 from 7 to 11 a.m. To reserve a table for $10 or for more information, call Kelly at 240-299-5261 or Georgia at 301-994-1960. Registration open for cycling event Registration is now open for the 2013 Crop Hop: a cycling tour of Southern Maryland farms. Hosted by the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission and the Charles County Board of Commissioners, the Crop Hop highlights the connection between local farms, fresh food and good nutrition. Profits from the event will go to the Southern Maryland Food Bank for purchasing fresh, local food. This year’s 2013 Crop Hop will be held Saturday, Oct. 19, in Charles County. All rides begin and end at Gilbert Run Park. Riders cycle to local farm stops to experience farm tours, interact with farmers and enjoy locally-sourced snacks. This year’s routes include the Silo Century (62 miles) for serious riders, the Harvest Hop (33 miles), the Barnstormer (15 miles), the Barnstormer Lite (for those less inclined to ride the hilly terrain) and the Sprout Route for children. Farm stops along the route specialize in turkeys, cattle, horses, goats, produce, agritourism and more. The Sprout Route is a kid-friendly course, featuring a 3-mile, in-park walk and ride with educational stops featuring animals, seed planting and exercise. After the ride, cyclists can participate in a locally sourced picnic lunch at Gilbert Run Park. Cost for the Sprout Route is $20 per rider. Cost is $40 for the Barnstormer routes and $60 for the Harvest Hop and Silo Century courses. Riders registering before Sept. 30 are guaranteed a complimentary lunch and event T-shirt. Non-cyclists and community members are welcome to attend the festivities and lunch at Gilbert Run Park from 11:30 to 2 p.m. Registration for lunch is open on the Crop Hop website, and the cost is $10 per adult and $5 per child (6 and younger). For more, see www.crophop.com. Butterfly bonanza created Rachel Adler, the Lindsey Paul Rudolph summer intern at the St. Mary’s County Library, created a native butterfly garden at the Lexington Park branch as her summer project. Caterpillars were raised at the library over the summer, and then the resulting butterflies were released at a Waiting for Wings event on Aug. 5, attended by more the 40 people. Photos are available on the library’s Flickr page at www.flickr.com/photos/stmaryslibrary/9447861006/. Native plants for the project were donated by the ELMS Environmental Center’s native plant nursery. The garden was planted outside the windows of the children’s section at the Lexington Park branch. Paper butterflies with facts now decorate the inside windows, and a nearby felt board with butterfly life cycle pieces was installed. The aim of this learning center is to engage children in learning about the life cycle of a butterfly, pollination, native plants and gardening. Chaney beautification grants awarded The Chaney Beautification Fund, a field of interest fund at the Community Foundation of Southern Maryland, awarded 11 grants to nonprofits in Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties this year. Nonprofits, educational institutions and governmental agencies were eligible to apply for the grant. The Community Foundation of Southern Maryland Grants Committee accepted and reviewed approximately 17 grant applications from five counties and 11 organizations were selected for this year’s grant cycle. Awardees include Friends of Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum, Friends of Cedar Lane, Captain Avery Museum, Humane Society of Charles County, College of Southern Maryland, University of Maryland Extension-St. Mary’s Master Gardeners, Historic Sotterley Inc., Center For Life Enrichment, Mary H. Matula Elementary School, Sandy Point State Park and Ridge Elementary School. The fund is designed to assist projects that add beauty to the communities in which Chaney Enterprises does business by matching donated resources community stakeholders with cash and/or construction materials. Holy Angels to host annual seafood dinner On Sunday, Sept. 8, from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Holy Angels Catholic Church in Avenue will hold its annual seafood dinner, featuring fried oysters, steamed spiced shrimp, crab balls and fried chicken. The meal is all you can eat, served buffet style. Cost is $25 for adults, $8 for children 6 to 12 and free for children 5 and younger. Carryouts will be available at $23 each. There also will be homemade desserts and a craft table. The raffle prize this year is for $1,500 — with the first prize being $1,000 and the second prize $500. You do not need to be present to win. Holy Angels is located at 21340 Colton Point Road in Avenue. For more information or to purchase advance tickets, call the rectory at 301-769-3332 or email holyangelsnews@aol.com. Allen, Madden win book award Dakota Allen of Leonardtown and Emma Madden of Leonardtown, both students at St. Mary’s Ryken High School, were awarded the 2013 Saint Michael’s College Book Award for Academic Achievement with a Social Conscience. The award recognizes students who demonstrate a commitment to leadership in volunteer service and academic achievement. Saint Michael’s, located in Burlington, Vt., was founded on the belief that serving others is part of its Catholic tradition. Award recipients, named at schools throughout the country, are high school juniors who are inductees of the National Honor Society or an equivalent school-sponsored honors organization. They must demonstrate a commitment to service activities in high school or community organizations, taking leadership roles in these activities. Winners were presented the book “First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers” by Loung Ung, a 1993 Saint Michael’s College graduate. Farm Bureau awards two scholarships At the annual picnic for the St. Mary’s County Farm Bureau, Katherine Thompson of Chopticon High School and Catherine Raley of St. Mary’s Ryken were each awarded a $1,000 scholarship from the bureau’s Floyd Raley Scholarship program. Both Thompson and Raley are dependents of farm bureau families. Long-term care conference scheduled It’s time to register for the third annual Long-Term Care Awareness Conference, hosted by the St. Mary’s County Department of Aging and Human Services. The conference will be held Friday, Oct. 11, at Dr. James A. Forrest Career and Technology Center in Leonardtown. Registration fee is $22. Advance registration is required. The conference will begin at 9 a.m., with registration doors opening at 8 a.m. This year’s theme is “A Focus on Services & Supports in Long-Term Care Facilities.” Guest speakers will address topics including medical benefits for residents in long-term care, understanding the needs of those with dementia-related illnesses, Medicare updates, legal documents essential for long-term planning, alternative choices for long-term care and psychosocial benefits of activities and recreation. Registration forms are available at the Garvey, Loffler and Northern senior activity centers. For more information or a registration form, contact Mindy Carter or Kathy Goodspeed at 301-475-4200, ext. 1055, or email Kathleen.Goodspeed@stmarysmd.com. scraton@somdnews.com

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LISTENER FEEDBACK: Questions and Comments Drought Hurts U.S. Grain Exporters, Market Share By Abbie Fentress Swanson Transcript RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: And now for today's business bottom line. Last summer's drought has brought bad news this fall - low crop yields, especially of corn; plus higher prices, and a prediction from the Department of Agriculture that corn exports will be at a 40-year low. The U.S. still is the world's biggest supplier of corn. But this year, American exporters won't be quite as dominant as usual, in the global corn market. From Missouri, Abbie Fentress Swanson reports on the impact this is having. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) (SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO, "MIRACLES FROM AGRICULTURE") UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Each American farm worker feeds more people than any other farmer on Earth. ABBIE FENTRESS SWANSON, BYLINE: That's a clip from a 1960s USDA video called "Miracles from Agriculture," which touts the success of the American farmer. Even back then, before the combine, American farmers were producing more corn than any country in the world - 275 million bushels a year. Now, U.S. exports top more than 1 billion bushels a year. (SOUNDBITE OF ICE BREAKING) UNIDENTIFIED MAN: ...clear it out. TYLER BANICKI: Just step around that altogether, so you don't... SWANSON: Just south of St. Louis on the Mississippi River, Tyler Banicki, the burly first mate of a towboat called the R. Clayton McWhorter, is clearing ice off the top of a 200-foot-long, steel container covered with a white, fiberglass top. It's a grain barge, and one of 20 barges that his crew will push down to the Gulf of Mexico. There, it will be loaded onto a ship that sets sail for Asia. Banicki opens the barge's hatch. (SOUNDBITE OF OPENING OF BARGE'S HATCH) BANICKI: Then, we'll open this one up, here. SWANSON: Whoa. That's corn. BANICKI: It's about even to the top of the combing rails on this barge. So you figure it's at least 13 feet of product, straight down from the surface here - give you kind of an idea. And then it's about 30 feet wide, so.... SWANSON: But there are many fewer barges making the trip this year. The Upper Mississippi usually transports more than half of the country's grain exports and in normal years, has grain barge traffic jams. Farmers with corn to sell are getting more than $7 a bushel domestically, so they don't need corn exporters like Rick Dusek, who works for the big grain exporter CHS Inc. RICK DUSEK: Well, normally, we'd originate all the corn that needs to be loaded at the center Gulf along the river system - meaning, the Mississippi, the Illinois, the Ohio; all the way down to the Gulf. And this year, there just simply isn't enough corn to supply the export pipeline out of those areas, so we've got to bring corn from the outside. SWANSON: CHS isn't the only exporter buying corn from foreign countries like Brazil, Argentina and Ukraine. MARK KLEIN: In South America, you know, we have a presence where we can buy and store grain as well as process it - in Europe, in Eastern Europe, in Australia. SWANSON: Mark Klein works for ag giant Cargill. But most U.S. exporters don't have a global reach. While The Scoular Company is able to buy some corn from other countries Bob Ludington says it's hurting the company's bottom line. BOB LUDINGTON: Our forecast is to be down slightly from the past several years. And that's really due to our elevators, where we will handle less grain due to the drought. SWANSON: Ludington says they'll eventually find the corn they need to fill their orders; but it will be more expensive, and take them more time and effort. The company is now hoping for a bumper domestic crop next year. LUDINGTON: Yeah, next year, our problem will be where we're going to put it all. That's what we hope. Where we're going to pull it all - we'll be scraping off dirt, be able to pile grain on the ground; that's what we're all hoping for. SWANSON: Pat Westhoff, with the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute, says even with a good crop next year, customers could get used to buying corn elsewhere. Until this year, the U.S. was the only exporter China went to. Now. it's doing business with Argentina and Ukraine. PAT WESTHOFF: When we see these shifts in export patterns occurring, it means that we've lost some market share in the near term. If that creates new habits of users around the world, it could mean lower market shares, for the U.S., in the future. SWANSON: In the meantime, though, there's not much American exporters can do - other than pay close attention to corn harvest yields in South America early next year. For NPR News, I'm Abbie Fentress Swanson in Columbia, Missouri. MONTAGNE: And that story came to us from Harvest Public Media, a public radio reporting project that focuses on agriculture and food production. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.Related Program: Morning EditionView the discussion thread. UPR Partners

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World Bank Sees Climate Change Cutting Crop Production in Eastern Europe and Central Asia by over 25 Percent unless Action Is Taken Now WASHINGTON, April 4, 2013 — In parts of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, climate change is poised to hamper food production and curb rural incomes over the next decades unless farmers get the help they need through improved water management and irrigation infrastructure, wider access to technology and information, and better land management and farming practices. Although governments throughout the region face rapidly narrowing windows of opportunity to protect farmers from climate change, there are actions that can be taken now to promote a new “climate-smart” approach to agriculture that improves agricultural productivity in today’s climate, while building resilience to climate change and reducing carbon emissions. Defining the policy and investment options available to governments – based on a rigorous evaluation of impacts of climate change on agricultural systems – is the aim of a new book published today by the World Bank, Looking Beyond the Horizon: How Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Responses Will Reshape Agriculture in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. This new publication distills the experiences of four countries – Albania, Former Yugoslav Republic (FYR) Macedonia, Moldova, and Uzbekistan – that considered the future of their agricultural sectors under a number of climate change scenarios and examined each system’s capacity to cope with weather variability. Through economy-wide modeling of water supply and demand, the analysis found that, in many cases, water availability for irrigation will be severely curtailed by climate change. This will greatly exacerbate the effects of climate change on crops – especially irrigated crops – with potential yield reductions of 20–50 percent by 2050. The book also highlights the customized menu of climate change adaptation options devised by national experts and a World Bank team for each of the four countries. The adaptation options include practical measures such as improvement of crop varieties, investment in irrigation infrastructure, dissemination of timely and reliable weather forecasts to farmers, nutrient management and soil conservation, and livestock health and nutrition. “Farmers are already confronting the impacts of climate change, and their livelihoods depend on their ability to match their own efforts to respond to these effects with help from their governments and the private sector,” said William Sutton, an author of the book and a Lead Agriculture Economist at the World Bank. “What this research offers is an approach for examining the potential impacts of climate change on agriculture, and for devising a range of options to help all parties play meaningful roles in adapting to the impacts, and making the most of the opportunities.” The menus of adaptation options were prioritized for the various agricultural zones of all the countries according to rates of return on investment, acceptability to local farmers, applicability under different climate conditions, and the potential to reduce climate-change inducing greenhouse gas emissions. In several instances, the countries have already begun to put into action some of the recommendations. Within any economy, agriculture is one of the most sensitive sectors to climate change. In Albania, FYR Macedonia, Moldova, and Uzbekistan the risks are even more immediate and important given that the majority of the rural populations depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. The rural poor stand to be disproportionately affected by climate change because of this dependence, and because of their very limited access to the resources needed to adapt to shifting weather patterns. In the case of the four countries that participated in this program, all are projected to experience higher temperatures of 1.5 - 2.0 degrees C by 2050, and, on top of that, rainfall in Albania, FYR Macedonia, and Moldova is expected to decrease. More significantly for farmers in each of the four countries is that temperature increases and rainfall declines are expected to be greater in June to August, critical months for crop production. “This is about adaption to climate change to minimize the more damaging effects,” said Jitendra Srivastava, co-author of the book and agriculture specialist consultant to the World Bank. “Given the resources and information, farmers can take advantage of longer growing cycles, and plant more resilient crops so they can be confident they can still earn a living.” While the approach to analyzing climate change impacts, assessing adaptive capacity, and determining the costs and benefits of policy options and farm-level responses was tested in four countries in the Europe and Central Asia region, the three authors, Sutton, Srivastava, and James E. Neumann, emphasize that this model is sufficiently flexible – and yet necessarily rigorous – to be undertaken in any country. “We believe it is urgent and central to understand the scope of climate change, its impacts on agriculture, and the possible responses in this region. This study aims to address these concerns by building awareness about climate change in our client countries and to work with them to offer practical climate smart solutions,” said Dina Umali-Deininger, Agriculture and Rural Development Sector Manager in the World Bank’s Europe and Central Asia Region. In fact, in his recent speech at Georgetown University, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim called for increased investments in climate-smart agriculture. Complementing this call for climate-smart agriculture, the publication examines the scope for climate change impacts across a wide range of the most important crops in each agricultural area of the four countries and considers future production changes under three increasingly severe climate modeling scenarios. It also maps out clear, concrete adaptation responses to arrest production declines in each crop, from giving farmers access to better meteorological information through to improvements in drainage and irrigation. All four countries that partnered on this initiative have already begun undertaking some of the measures specified in the book, and the model is also now being applied to the agricultural sectors of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Media ContactsIn WashingtonKristyn Schrader-KingTel : (202) 458-2736kschrader@worldbank.org World Bank in Europe and Central Asia RELATED FEATURE STORYLooking Beyond the HorizonApr 04, 2013VIDEOIncreasing the Resilience of ECA Agriculture to Climate Change PRESS RELEASE NO: 2013/321/ECA Serbia Europe and Central Asia LATEST NEWS Employment Up as Growth Increases in Southeast Europe Sep 27, 2016 PRESS RELEASE Transforming Vietnam’s Agriculture Sector Will Stimulate Higher Growth Sep 27, 2016 BLOGS Making South Asian Apparel Exports More Competitive Ritika D’SouzaSep 26, 2016 The Nexus of financial inclusion and stability: Implications for holistic financial policy-making Martin MeleckySep 26, 2016 Maximize analytical use of Public Sector Debt Statistics: D1-D4 matrix approach Rubena SukajSep 26, 2016 Newsletters View All newsletters »

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EditAilanthus altissima< Horticulture Tree-of-heaven Binomial: widely adapted, growing in all but wet soils, sun to light shade Seed Dispersal: wind, but also water and equipment Ripe Seed: Seed Banking: Vegetative Spread: suckering Allelopathy: Allelopathic to both softwood and hardwood tree species Ailanthus altissima (Tree of Heaven or Ailanthus) is a member of the quassia family, Simaroubaceae, native to northeast and central China, but now present as an invasive weed throughout much of the world. It is a deciduous tree which grows rapidly and can reach up to 25 m tall, rarely 35 m, with a trunk up to 1 m diameter, rarely 1.5 m diameter. The common name is a direct translation of the Indonesian name ailanto for a closely related species in the same genus. Other common names include china sumac, copal tree, stinktree and ghetto palm. The tree is occasionally planted in heavily polluted areas as it is tolerant of both particulate and chemical pollutants, as well as saline soils. Outside those areas, it should never be planted due to its invasive nature. The bark of the tree is smooth and light grey, while the stems are reddish or chestnut. Its large, compound leaves are arranged alternately on the stem, and can be 30-60 cm long (occasionally up to 1 m long on vigorous young sprouts) and contain 11-33 leaflets, occasionally up to 41 leaflets. Each leaflet has one to three teeth on each side, close to the base. This helps distinguish it from sumacs (Rhus spp.). The flowers are small, yellow-green to reddish, produced in late spring to mid summer in panicles up to 30 cm long. It is dioecious, with trees being either all male or all female. The seed is 5 mm diameter, encapsulated in a samara 4 cm long and 1 cm broad; the samara is twisted, making it spin as it falls, assisting wind dispersal. Female trees can produce more than 300,000 seeds in a year. All parts of the tree produce an unpleasant odour, suggestive of rancid cashews, with male flowers having the strongest smell. In overall appearance, it is somewhat similar to some species of sumac; Staghorn Sumac Rhus typhina can be distinguished by sumac's red and slightly hairy stems, as well as leaves that are serrated, instead of having the base teeth of A. altissima. Smooth Sumac Rhus glabra, also lacks the base teeth of A. altissima. Ailanthus also grows much taller than all sumac species. Seedlings of the Black walnut (Juglans nigra) can also sometimes be mistaken for this plant, but their trunks are more slender as a sapling. EcologyEdit Ailanthus is an opportunistic species, thriving in full sun and in disturbed areas. It does, however, exhibit some shade tolerance. It spreads aggressively both by seeds and vegetatively, through root sprouts. It can resprout rapidly after being cut. Ailanthus is among the most tolerant of all tree species to pollution, including sulfur dioxide, and high soil acidity such as that from acid mine drainage (as low as pH 4.1). It has been noted as drought-tolerant, storing water in its root system. It is frequently found along highways and railroad tracks, in abandoned lots in cities, on abandoned mining sites, and in other areas where few trees can survive. Along highways it often forms dense thickets in which few other tree species are present. Ailanthus produces allelopathic chemicals, which inhibit the growth of other plants. Resistance in various plant species has been shown to increase with exposure; populations without prior exposure to the chemicals are most susceptible to them. A few plants are resistant to these chemicals and form associations with Ailanthus in areas where it is dominant, such as along highways. People have suggested many factors to Ailanthus' success at naturalising, including the absence of insects eating the plant, lack of exposure of native plants to the Ailanthus' allelopathy, and the widespread human disturbances which favour the tree. Regional variation has begun to show throughout its range, with trees in the colder northern regions producing heavier seeds than those in warmer regions. Tree of Heaven is a popular ornamental tree in China, valued for its tolerance of difficult growing conditions, and its uses in Chinese traditional medicine. The bark is used to treat dysentery and other bowel ailments. A tincture of the root-bark has been used successfully in cardiac palpitation, asthma and epilepsy. The leaves are also used to feed silkworms of the moth Samia cynthia, which produces silk that is stronger and cheaper than mulberry silk, although with inferior gloss and texture. There are also records of the wood from this tree being used in China. Under the synonymous name "A. glandulosa", an extract of the bark is sometimes touted as an herbal homeopathic remedy for various ailments. However, taken in large doses, the bark extract is highly toxic. It was first introduced to Europe (France and England) by a French Jesuit priest returning from Nanking in 1751. It was brought to the United States by William Hamilton, a gardener in Philadelphia in 1784 and soon became a favoured ornamental tree in parks and gardens. By 1840, it was available in many nurseries and was planted as an ornamental. The tree arrived in the Western U.S. with the Chinese immigrants who worked the gold mines in California. To this day many abandoned mines have large colonies of it. In the landscape these trees can cause problems because of their aggressive nature and weak branching habits. As a rule, they should not be planted outside of their native range, and female trees should be killed or kept cut to the ground to prevent further seed production. Male trees can be grown as a fast-replenishing postwood crop or hedge by coppicing at the ground every few years. ControlEdit Tree-of-heaven has become a problematic invasive species in many areas with warm temperate climates, especially in North America, due to its aggressive spread, vigorous growth and allelopathic chemicals. It often grows directly up against a building or structure, where the roots can damage sewers and housing foundations. The trees grow rapidly and produce many offspring in their root vicinity. They also shed many small branches at regular intervals. It is an agricultural pest as well.[1] These undesirable qualities often lead land and business owners to eradicate the plant. Many different methods of control have been attempted and the best involve prevention as well as eradication. Means of eradication can be physical, thermal, managerial, biological, or chemical. A combination of these can be most effective, though they must be compatible. Physical methods are desirable due to their high selectivity, but are very labour intensive and thus more expensive. Hand-pulling is a highly effective way to remove young seedlings before the development of a tap root, but thereafter it is ineffective. Cutting and hand digging are options for larger trees, but the former will produce stump sprout which will need to be controlled later and the latter is very time consuming and is only practical for small infestations. Girdling, the removal of the cambial tissue with a hand axe or machete, is effective for very large trees, though re-sprouting often occurs. Thermal control, i.e. controlled burning, is also effective at removing the visible portion of trees, but sprouts will occur shortly after. These methods can be counter-productive if not performed regularly. On their own they are most effective in places with small infestations or in areas with fairly strong shade or competition.[1] The root systems will eventually become exhausted and die if mechanical or thermal control is done thoroughly and consistently, though this may take several years. Managerial control is not effective with controlling ailanthus as native trees cannot compete easily with the tree and it is unpalatable to animals that could potentially graze on it. Biological control, the use of insects or diseases, is also not in use for ailanthus eradication. Chemical control, however, is quite successful, especially when combined with mechanical methods. Foliar herbicide sprays are very effective when plants are in full leaf, but are difficult to use when desirable plants are in the vicinity. Also very large trees will be out of reach. Herbicides for this use include the non-selective glyphosate, though care must be taken as it is mildly toxic to animals and especially to aquatic life. Its trade names include Accord and Roundup, though the latter contains other harmful surfactants which may be more toxic than the herbicide itself. Triclopyr is another option and is selective for woody plants, making it a better choice for sensitive areas. It is also non-toxic to fish, though it can be toxic to waterfowl. It is sold under brand names such as Garlon. Foliar applications of glyphosate have been shown to be slightly more effective than triclopyr. Dicamba, imazapyr and metsulfuron methyl are also effective, but have not been tested extensively with ailanthus.[1] Other chemical methods for controlling ailanthus include a basal bark application of oil-soluble triclopyr in late winter or early spring. This method requires no cutting, but is only effective on trees with a diameter of 15 cm (6 inches) or less. For larger trees, an effective method is to cut off strips of bark at the trunk during the summer and spray a 100% concentration of triclopyr, only about 1 or 2 ml per cut, within a few minutes. The tree should not be cut all the way around in a ring, but rather only a ring with 3 to 6 cm (1 to 2 inch) pieces of living bark in between each cut. Cutting a full ring will kill the upper part of the tree and cause root suckers to sprout. Lastly, trees can be cut down and the stump treated with any of the above herbicides, though they must be applied immediately after cutting. This is most effective during the growing season.[1] Mowing: As with most trees, mowing of seedlings is quite effective Girdling: Girdling is effective for killing the tops, but the plant will resprout Coppicing: Coppicing of female trees is a good method for preventing seed production. This needs to be done fairly often, as the resprouts quickly grow strong enough to begin production Grinding: Sprouts from the outer root system are common, if possible the area should be mowed for at least 1 year after grinding. Pulling: Seedlings and saplings pull easily due to the shallow root systems Flame: Controlled brush fires will girdle at the ground. Systemic herbicides (synthetic): Glyphosate is effective both as a spray and as a stump treatment, but reapplications may be necessary. Biocontrols (microorganisms): Verticillium can kill the plant, but would be inappropriate as a biocontrol due to it's long life in the soil. Biocontrols (animal): Several insect species are being considered as biocontrols. Grazing: Goats will strip the bark, including the bark of large trees. Cattle will eat the seedlings. Deer do not provide control. Disposal: All parts can be composted, including seeds, since they have a short-lived dormancy. The resinous sap may pose a problem for small chippers. ↑ a b c d Swearingen, Jil M.; Pannill, Phillip (2006). "Tree-of-heaven". Plant Conservation Alliance's Alien Plant Working Group. National Park Service. http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/aial1.htm. Retrieved 2007-06-05. Flora of Taiwan: Ailanthus altissima var. tanakai Heisey, R.M. (1990). Allelopathic and Herbicidal Effects of Extracts from Tree of Heaven. Amer. J. Bot. 77 (5): 662-670. Hoshovsky, M. (1988). Element Stewardship Abstract for Ailanthus altissima. The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, Virginia, USA. Lawrence, J. G., Colwell, A., & Sexton, O. J. (1991). The Ecological Impact of Allelopathy in Ailanthus altissima (Simaroubaceae). Amer. J. Bot. 78 (7): 948-958. Woodworker's Website Association: Ailanthus altissima Wood Introduction of Non-native plants to Massachusetts National Park Service fact sheet U.S. Forest Service Database entry on distribution and occurrence U.S. Forest Service database page with details on invasiveness and control Retrieved from "https://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?title=Horticulture/Ailanthus_altissima&oldid=2950585"

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Mid America Gardener Answering Questions from Gardeners Across Mid-America About Panelists Send us your Photo or Video Video Archives Gardening Resources Each week, host Dianne Noland and a panel of experts answer viewer questions about lawn and garden care. Because they share advice that’s tailored to Zone 5 growing conditions, the information is always what you need to know, when you need to know it. Even if your public TV station doesn’t air Mid-American Gardener, you can participate in the weekly show. We invite you to submit your questions for the panelists any time using the "Submit a Question" link above. We also want to show photos and videos of your garden on the program, and build a portfolio of the best photos and video on this website. Just click on "Send us your Photo or Video" above to send us an email with your photos and/or video. About Mid-American Gardener Mid-American Gardener is a live call-in/roundtable discussion program hosted by horticulture expert Dianne Noland, instructor of five courses in the University of Illinois Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences. Dianne received both her bachelor and master of science degrees in horticulture from the U of I and worked for several tree nurseries in central Illinois. Her informal style of engaging and encouraging people, whether experienced or novice gardeners, puts callers and letter writers to Mid-American Gardener at ease. Dianne is joined by guest experts who are highly trained professionals from around Illinois. Many are University of Illinois professors and Extension advisors with varied expertise in the fields of entomology, horticulture and landscape design. Some are master gardeners, and a few own and operate nurseries and gardening centers. Dianne and the expert panelists provide roundtable show-and-tell presentations, answer letter and video questions from viewers and provide animated roll-ins featuring fun facts and other gardening questions and answers. Mid-American Gardener, which premiered (under the title Illinois Gardener) on WILL-TV on May 1, 1992, has a loyal following of viewers who tune in to get tips on garden pests, what to plant, diseases attacking lawns and plants, as well as pruning and other basics of plant and tree care specific to Hardiness Zone 5. Mid-American Gardener Panelists Dianne Noland, host Dianne is a horticulture instructor of five courses in the University of Illinois Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences. Since the age of 5, she has enjoyed a life-long love affair with flowers and plants. As an exchange student to Switzerland, Dianne worked with flowers, fruits and vegetables, which increased her interest in horticulture. Dianne received both her bachelor and master of science degrees in horticulture from the U of I and worked for several tree nurseries in central Illinois. “I teach landscaping, so it’s my vocation,” says Dianne. “But gardening is my avocation. I love to garden and it’s fun to talk about it. Gardeners are interesting people and it's great when we put our heads together to solve gardening problems. My family and I live on 33 acres so I experience many highs and lows with flowers, vegetables, trees, weeds, and insects just like everyone else.” Her informal style of engaging and encouraging people, whether experienced or novice gardeners, puts callers to Mid-American Gardener at ease. “The viewers are an extension of my classroom,” says Dianne. “My goal is to educate and motivate. I guess education can be entertaining, too.” Dianne, a frequent speaker throughout the state on gardening, was on the first show in 1992 and a regular guest on Mid-American Gardener before taking over as host in 1999. A Word With Dianne WOW! I have always liked flowers and gardening. A daffodil is actually my first memory at age 5. By grade school, I was helping Grandpa Charley plant potatoes in the vegetable garden. He taught me that my foot was the “just right” spacing between spuds. I still use that same technique today. It is so enjoyable to hear from all of our fellow gardeners on Mid-American Gardener. Gardeners are generous, hard working and lots of fun. I appreciate your plant enthusiasm and that you watch the show! James E. Appleby Jim is an entomologist and an associate professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois. He teaches a course on the insects and mites of forest and ornamental trees, shrubs and flowers. He is particularly interested in the life histories of these creatures. Jim says being a panelist on Mid-American Gardener keeps him informed about current insect problems in the average Illinois landscape and garden. Sandra Mason Sandra Mason is a unit-based horticulture educator with University of Illinois Extension. She provides leadership and expertise in horticulture and environmental programs in Champaign County. Mason has a B.S. in horticulture and a M.S. degree in agricultural education from the University of Illinois. Sandy uses her expertise in horticulture (flowers, houseplants, vegetables, fruits, lawns, trees and shrubs) to supply answers to questions and educate the public through workshops and other educational programs. She trains and assists in coordinating the Master Gardeners who can then also provide expertise and educational programs to the public. The Idea Garden on South Lincoln Avenue in Urbana is just one example. Mason also provides expertise in composting and landscape waste issues, integrated pest management and proper pesticide use. In addition to appearing on Mid-American Gardener, Mason appears monthly on WILL-AM’s Focus 580. She can be heard the second Tuesday of the month from 10-11 am. Mason hosts the “In the Garden” segment of WCIA-TV’s The Morning Show each Thursday at 6:50 am and 7:25 am, and also co-hosts WCIA’s Illini Farm and Garden. In addition, she writes the weekly Homeowner's Column for the Champaign-Urbana News Gazette. Shane Cultra Shane is a fifth generation nurseryman and is one of the owners of family run Country Arbors Nursery in Urbana, Ill. His family’s original nursery, Onarga Nursery, was founded in 1865 and is still being run by other family members. Shane began working with plants in high school at his father’s nursery but it turned from work to love when he joined Country Arbors in 1995 and began to work with the plants in all areas from landscape installation to propagation. As a business owner, Shane majored in finance at the University of Alabama, but says his education in plants has come from touching and talking to them every day for the last 15 years. Shane can also be seen on various "Talking Dirt" and "In the Garden" segments on ABC. He says he loves the fact that he can make a living doing something he would do for free. Kaizad Irani Kaizad is program director and professor of landscape design and horticulture at Parkland College. He teaches landscape design, construction, business management, design graphics and whatever his department can throw at him. As a native of India, and as a practicing architect there, Kaizad had visions of continuing his design studies in Illinois, where his idol Frank Lloyd Wright had practiced. He came to the University of Illinois and received master’s degrees in landscape architecture and architecture. He found that his interests were more centered on landscape architecture and has held positions in both the public and private sectors of landscape design. Kaizad is a master gardener, and consults on local and international projects. He was recently honored with an award by the Illinois Association of Park Districts and the Illinois Park and Recreation Association for outstanding local community service. He was also awarded the “2006 Outstanding Technical Teacher Award” from the American Technical Education Association and the Illinois Community College Trustees Association’s “2008 Outstanding Faculty Award.” A recent noteworthy addition to his achievements includes being a member of the National Design Team whose design was selected for the World Trade Center Heroes Park that will be built near Ground Zero. The park honors and commemorates the heroes of the disaster. Phil Nixon An entomologist with University of Illinois Extension, Phil has statewide responsibilities for pesticide safety education and the integrated pest management of landscape and household insect pests. Phil and his wife, Carie, live in rural Tolono where they maintain a vegetable garden, flower garden, fruit orchard and a number of water gardens. They also have plantings of butterfly, bee and bird food plants as well as enough trees to make the house almost invisible. They maintain mason bees to pollinate their fruit trees, and grow bonsai. In addition, they have a variety of pets, including native fish kept in aquaria and outdoor ponds. Bob Skirvin Bob has taught horticulture for more than 34 years. He began his career at Purdue University and then came to the University of Illinois in 1976. The author of many scientific papers, book chapters, and a collaborator on numerous research programs, he is co-author of two plant patents. Bob has been included on the University of Illinois Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers each semester he has taught for the past 29 years. He was awarded the senior teaching award for the College of ACES in 1998. He became a founding member of the College of Agriculture's Academy of Teaching Excellence in 1992. In 1996 he received the National Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Teaching Award of Merit. In 1998 the United States Department of Agriculture awarded him the North Central Regional Award for College and University Teaching in the Food and Agricultural Sciences. The University of Illinois awarded him the Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Education in 1998 and again in 2004. The American Society for Horticultural Science awarded one of his thornless blackberries, “Chester Thornless,” outstanding fruit cultivar for 2002. In 2003 the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture named him their 2003 Central Regional Outstanding Teacher. In 2006, he received the Broderick Allen Award for excellence in Honors Teaching from the University of Illinois. He has received campus-wide awards for guiding both undergraduate (2002) and graduate (2008) research. In 2008 the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture awarded him their highest award, The Teaching Award of Excellence. Bob’s research deals primarily with plant improvement using non-sexual methods including the use of tissue culture. Judie Fair Judie grew up in Decatur around agriculture and horticulture. “I was one of those people you hear about who had blocks attached to the pedals so I could drive the grain truck and the combine,” she said. She worked in the horticulture department at the University of Illinois in a position equivalent to head grower in the outside world. After 28 years, she retired and became a charter member of the Champaign County Master Gardeners. In 1993, she went to work for Prairie Gardens where she helps customers with yard and garden projects and conducts workshop. Fair also speaks to community groups and participates in WDWS’s radio call-in program, “Coffee with the Plant Experts.” James Schuster Jim is an University of Illinois Extension specialist and pesticide safety educator in the Department of Crop Sciences. Before joining Extension, he worked for many years in the landscape industry, ran his own business and worked as a technical adviser for a Cook County landscape contractor. Jim’s work for U of I Extension has included being horticulture adviser for DuPage County and n horticulture educator at the Countryside Extension Center. His awards include two Cooperative Extension Service Awards for Innovative Programs, two national awards sponsored by Lesco for horticulture therapy, an Achievement Award and a Distinguished Service Award sponsored by the National Association of County Agricultural Agents as well as their Search for Excellence recognition. Mike is the City Arborist for Urbana, Ill., one of the charter members of the “Tree City, U.S.A.” program. Mike manages the community forestry program, the landscape maintenance and beautification programs and a countywide Landscape Recycling Center, the first municipal-operated facility established in Illinois. In addition to his 23 years at the City of Urbana, Mike has also worked in the private tree care industry as well as the Illinois Shawnee National Forest. Mike has a University of Illinois degree in landscape architecture and is a state-licensed Landscape Architect and an International Society of Arboriculture (I.S.A.) Certified Arborist. Mike recently initiated the creation of a state-wide public education publication titled “Under the Canopy: A Guide to Selecting, Planting and Caring for Trees in Illinois.” Mike raised $30,000 from public and private organizations for the creation of the piece and has distributed over 80,000 copies of the publication across Illinois in its first year. The “Under the Canopy” publication received nationally recognition in 2008 through the American Public Works Associations Award of Excellence. Bill Erickson Bill Erickson has been designing landscapes in the Champaign-Urbana area for more than 25 years. He is a Registered Landscape Architect with Country Arbors Nursery-Urbana Landscaping Company in Champaign where he focuses on residential and commercial landscape design, estimating and sales. Bill has a degree in landscape architecture from the University of Illinois. He is a registered landscape architect with the State of Illinois and is an Illinois Certified Nursery Professional through the Illinois Green Industry Association (IGIA). In 2007, Bill was chosen to represent the IGIA as their Illinois Certified Nursery Professional of the Year and has contributed numerous articles to their monthly publication, Growing Trends. Bill’s personal interests are rooted in the areas of art and nature. He sees landscape design and construction as a living art form that must be properly understood and implemented. It is his goal as a landscape architect to gather the elements from nature’s design palette into artistic and functional outdoor living environments. His other related interests include sketching, painting and photography. John Bodensteiner In 1994, John took the University of Illinois master gardener class, the first offered in Vermilion County. Eager to get the message out that the program existed, the gardeners, including John, started a master gardener radio show on WDAN radio a month or so later with Jean Eisenhauer. John began appearing on Mid-American Gardener a few months later. He became interested in gardening when he helped his grandfather pick raspberries and vegetables in his garden. “My children and now my grandchildren enjoy helping me in my gardens,” John said. John and his wife have developed their three acres near Bismarck. When they moved there in 1974, there were no trees or flowers except dandelions in the grass. “We have enjoyed planting over 100 different trees and shrubs and many more types of perennials in our gardens since that time. Each year we also put out a vegetable garden with many varieties. Sun gold are my favorite,” John said. quot;I continue to learn more about plants each year. When someone asks a question I don't know, I have to find the answer and that helps me expand my knowledge for the next gardener. The more you know, the more you don't know" he said. Gloria Young Gloria has an Mid-American Gardener panelist for 15 years and a Master Gardener for 16 years. She writes a weekly column for the Danville Commercial News called “My Backyard” and occasionally does a local radio show about gardening for WDAN radio. Her interests are in identifying plants, raising heirloom vegetables and plant care. She teaches landscape design at the Danville Area Community College career lab. David Robson David is a center-based horticulture educator with the University of Illinois Extension, headquartered in Springfield. He has a bachelor’s degree in horticulture from Iowa State University and a master’s from the University of Illinois. He provides ornamental horticulture programming for approximately 40 counties in central and southern Illinois. David concentrates on woody ornamentals especially on underplanted, unusual, and under-rated trees and shrubs; as well as emphasis on unique herbaceous perennials. He provides assistant for statewide Master Gardener training, commercial and private pesticide training, and the Certified Arborist program. He has a weekly column in the local Springfield State Journal-Register, as well as a monthly column in a statewide rural electric magazine, monthly radio programs, and a weekly call in on WICS-20 television in Springfield. His recent efforts have included statewide programming for emerald ash borer management and invasive species. He tries to pack as many plants in his yard as possible, continually removing more of the front lawn (the back lawn was lost four years ago) to plant more trees, shrubs, and flowers, all surrounded by stone walls and containers of color. Doug is a doctoral student in the landscape architecture department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He holds a bachelor’s degree ornamental horticulture from UIUC and an master’s in landscape architecture from Cornell University. His professional vocation includes both public and private work ranging from the intricacies of floral design to city and regional planning. Doug has taught landscape architecture at the undergraduate and graduate level. One of his most enjoyed design experiences was designing a memorial garden for the George Washington Carver National Monument while working within the National Park Service. Working with Master Gardeners and inspired by his grandfather who grew a community garden in his backyard, he became aware of the importance of working with the land. Renovation projects to convert abandon lots into community gardens, participation in neighborhood garden walks, and doing odd landscape/home gardening jobs provided the Chicago native with a rudimentary understanding of horticulture. His design philosophy is inspired by the likes of W. H. Whyte, J. B. Jackson, Ian McHarg, Walter Hood, Rachel and Robert Kaplan. Currently his research focus is on the relationship between social capital and community gardens. Jim Angel Jim is the Illinois State Climatologist at the Illinois State Water Survey, a division of the Institution of Natural Resource Sustainability at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He divides his time between doing applied research and outreach/education on climate issues facing Illinois. He maintains an extensive archive of historical climate data dating back to the mid-1800s. He works on a website and blog with information useful to gardeners – things like maps of normal temperatures and rainfall, drought conditions, and snowfall as well as data for specific sites. Jim is available to field questions from individuals and gives frequent talks around the state. Naturally, Jim has a long-time interest in the impacts of weather and climate on the garden. “Every year the weather in Illinois brings new challenges to gardening, as a result I’m always learning new things in my garden,” says Jim. Dyke Barkley While Dyke was working on his bachelor’s degree at the University of Illinois in Ornamental Horticulture, his advisor, Dianne Noland, was responsible for introducing him the world of perennials and grasses. In addition, Dyke has a master’s degree in Earth Literacy with a specialization in using native plants and environmental sustainability. Dyke is the owner of Barkley Farms Nurseries located in Paris, Ill., established in 1992 on the family farm. His nursery is known for growing and propagating hundreds of perennials, ornamental grasses, flowering shrubs, and trees. The two acres of display gardens are used for showcasing new and underused plants for not only testing purposes but for inspiration as well. He is currently trialing 80 types of ornamental grasses which are a personal passion, and one he loves to talk about. Dyke was responsible for the creation of the Horticulture/Landscaping program at Lake Land College. He currently is the instructor of horticulture and agro-ecology courses. Dyke has spoken to many groups and seminars as well as taught Master Gardener classes in the two-state area. His favorite pastime is to get people enthused about planting plants. He is a self-proclaimed plant geek, and his students would agree he loves to talk about plants. Ella Maxwell Ella graduated from the University of Illinois in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in ornamental horticulture. She began her career at Getz-Edgemor Nursery in Morton, where she worked for seven years. She started at Hoerr Nursery in Peoria in 1989 and is currently the assistant manager of horticulture education in the garden center. In 1991, Ella became a Certified Arborist with the International Society of Arboriculture. In 1993, through the Illinois Green Industry Association, she became an Illinois Certified Professional (ICN Pro). Ella has also been a Tazewell County Master Gardener since 2004. She is a member of several local garden clubs and plant societies and this knowledge lends to her expertise and career at Hoerr Nursery. Scott Mozingo Scott has been a Ball Horticultural Company sales consultant since 2002. He travels to visit greenhouses and garden centers in all of central and northern Illinois advising them on what’s new in annuals and perennials as well as giving cultural advice to help growers produce great looking crops. Scott is also a product manager for the Burpee Home Gardens line of annuals and vegetables. His role is to help source new varieties for the national brand of live plants found in garden centers across the country. Scott has a bachelor's degree in ornamental horticulture from the University of Illinois in Urbana. He got started in gardening at a young age in the vegetable garden with his parents and grandparents. “I think everyone in my family had a vegetable garden with some flowers in it. It’s like it was meant to be.” In high school and college Scott worked for a wholesale produce farm growing over 80 acres of vegetables, melons and small fruits. After college, Scott managed Growing Grounds Garden Center in Bloomington, Ill., before joining Ball. Nancy Pataky Nancy Pataky has lived in Champaign since 1974, raising four children (with her husband) and working at the University of Illinois. Except for a two-year period in the 1980s, she was the director/coordinator of the University of Illinois Plant Clinic from 1977 until her retirement Aug. 1, 2010. Nancy is an ornamental horticulturalist (BS) and plant pathologist (MS) by training and has developed diagnostics as her specialty. Nancy was a major author for the University of Illinois Home, Yard, and Garden Pest Newsletter, covering common plant disease problems as well as the exotic and invasive diseases. She taught plant pathology to countless Illinois master gardeners over the years and will miss their enthusiasm for learning. Retirement has allowed Nancy more time to work in her neglected gardens and landscape. She is reminded daily of how much work this can entail but still considers it a dream job. She is currently contemplating her next phase in life. It will definitely involve plants, but maybe not diseased ones. Other panelists Martie Alagna Jonathan Bentz Kay Carnes Jennifer Fishburn Mark Kemp Theresa Meers Mary Ann Metz Don Meyer Jennifer Nelson Randy Thornton Larry Shobe Steven Still Chuck Voigt Tom Voigt Bill Vander Weit Submit your question for Mid-American Gardener We'll do our best to answer your question in the next Mid-American Gardener broadcast. *Your question: Send us your photos and/or videos Gardening and technology go hand-in-hand in this day and age, so in addition to receiving your phone calls and email, we’d love to see photos and video from gardens throughout our viewing area. Use the email link below to send us a message, and attach one or more digital photos or videos (60 seconds or less). Please send ONLY images and videos that belong to you. Audience participation is a cornerstone of Mid-American Gardener’s foundation – we look forward to hearing from you. Send photos and/or videos to: yourgarden@gmail.com. Mid-American Gardener: moving crabapple trees, watering tomatoes, deadheading peonies Horticulture specialist Dianne Noland and gardening experts Shane Cultra, Theresa Meers and Kent Miles talk about ornamental lilies, when to move crabapple trees, black spots on basil, watering tomatoes, preparing soil for planting and other topics. July 31, 2014 Mid-American Gardener: peaches, peonies and rose bushes Horticulture specialist Dianne Noland and her special gardening guest panelists Randy Thornton, Mary Ann Metz and David Robson talk about some of our summertime favorites. They talked about peaches peonies, rose bushes and tire planters. July 24, 2014 Mid-American Gardener: moon flowers, fireblight, a bald cypress tree Special guest host Jennifer Nelson and gardening panelists David Robson, Jim Schuster and Dyke Barkley talk about moon flowers, fireblight and a bald cypress tree. July 17, 2014 Mid-American Gardener: strawberry pests, tomatoes, magnolia trees, weeping cherry trees Host Dianne Noland, along with expert gardeners Mike Brunk, Paula Blakley and Bob Skirvin, discuss several summer time gardening tips. Bob Skirvin tells us how to get rid of strawberry pests. Paula Blakley identifies a plant for us and also talks about tomatoes. Mike Brunk talks about magnolia trees and a weeping cherry tree. July 10, 2014 Mid-American Gardener: asparagus, tomotoes, dog-house planter Mid-American Gardener host Dianne Noland and her special gardening experts Gloria Young and Theresa Meers provide some helpful mid-summer gardening tips. Meers talks about asparagus and tomatoes while Young explains how to transform a dog house into a planter. June 26, 2014 Mid-American Gardener: Quickfire hydrangeas, worm composting, raised beds On this Mid-American Gardener host Dianne Noland is joined by special gardening experts Don White, Kelly Allsup and Bill Erickson with advice for gardeners. Erickson shows off a new variety of hydrangea, Quickfire, that is sun-tolerant and blooms early. Allsup talks about milkweed plants that can draw Monarch butterflies. The panelists answer questions about worm composting and what type of soil to put in raised planters. Page 1 of 5 pages 1 2 3 > Last › Gardening Resources on the Web University of Illinois Extension Horticulture Web site: Links to information about composting, bulbs, trees, lawns, gardening problems, groundcovers, and perennials. Chicago Botanic Garden Web site: Online gardeners can help themselves to all the detailed plant and gardening information we provide to make their own gardens healthy and beautiful. Missouri Botanical Garden Web site: Plant information, including gardening tips and a plantfinder, created by the staff of the William T. Kemper Center for Home Gardening at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Illinois State Climatologist Office: Information on Illinois frost dates and the growing season, rainfall, soil moisture, long-range forecasts, soil moisture and soil temperature, and more. Air Dates and Times WILL-TV, Urbana 7 pm (live) 11 am (repeat) WTVP-TV, Peoria WEIU-TV, Charleston WILL-AM/90.9 HD2 & HD3, Urbana WSEC-TV, Springfield WQEC-TV, Quincy WMEC-TV, Macomb WYCC-TV, Chicago Mid-American Gardener is supported by:

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Leaving for greener pastures: Crops and soils agent to go to Michael Fields Institute Jim Stute JANESVILLE—Dr. Dirt is returning to home soil. After a decade as UW Extension's crops and soils agent for Rock County, Jim Stute is returning to Walworth County to take a position as research program director at Michael Fields Agricultural Institute in East Troy. Stute previously worked at the institute as an outreach coordinator. “At Extension, you tend to be pulled in all sorts of different directions, and that's a good thing because you're serving people,” Stute said. “But this was a tremendous opportunity.” Those “different directions” included working with local producers on everything from crop issues to pesticide training, doing research at the Rock County Farm, teaching tractor safety to kids, working with the Rock County Board and serving as office administrator. He also taught basic soil science courses to master gardeners who affectionately dubbed him, “Dr. Dirt.” Stute would tell master gardeners, “It's not dirt, it's soil. Soil is a living thing. Dirt is something on the kitchen floor that you sweep up and throw away.” It's concern for the soil that's taking him to Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, a nonprofit organization focused on education, policy and research in sustainable agriculture. “We're going to have something like 9 billion people to feed by 2050,” Stute said. “We're not making any more farm land. In fact, we're destroying it at a rapid pace.” The answer, he said, is not to farm marginal land. “We're going to have to find ways to maintain soil health and feed all these folks,” Stute said. His job at Michael Fields will give him the chance to “really ramp up” cover crop research. Cover crops are grown to protect and improve the soil. They are not typically intended for harvest, Stute explained. Cover crops can provide a variety of benefits including adding nutrients to the soil, reducing the need for tilling, and in some cases, reducing pest populations. However, a significant part of Stute's new job at Michael Field's will involve taking part in a long-term study that compares conventional, organic and biodynamic farming practices. In his 10 years in Rock County, Stute has seen significant changes in the local and national agricultural scene. In dairy: Farm modernization has picked up speed, with new and expanded facilities, such as the Rock Prairie Dairy in the town of Bradford.� The $30 million project, which has a 5,200-cow capacity, opened almost two years ago. In crops: A “fundamental shift” in commodity prices. “For the most part, everything has doubled,” Stute, said. “But at the same time, input prices have gone up.� There's so much more money at risk in a given year.” In food production: The “local foods” movement has gained steam, Stute said. The movement, which encourages consumers to buy food grown locally, has been buoyed by increased concerns about the quality and safety of large farms and the carbon footprint associated with moving food across the country—or across the world. Stute will start his new job at Michael Fields on Jan. 31. Matt Hanson, UW Extension southwest regional director said refilling Rock County's ag agent position was a "high priority" and he hoped to find a strong candidate in the early part of 2014.

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Farm Laborers Get A Foothold With Their Own Organic Farms Kirk Siegler Northern California's Salinas Valley is often dubbed America's salad bowl. Large growers there have long relied on thousands of seasonal workers from rural Mexico to pick lettuce, spinach and celery from sunrise to sunset. Many of these workers seem destined for a life in the fields. But a program that helps field workers, like Raul Murillo, start their own farms and businesses is starting to yield a few success stories. Murillo leases a 3-acre strawberry farm from a cooperative called ALBA Organics. It trains longtime workers in organic farm management and helps with things like fertilizer and irrigation tools. Murillo can sell his berries back to ALBA's cooperative, which does a brisk business with grocery stores in the nearby Bay Area. If God permits, he says, he'll continue turning a modest profit so he can hire more people who need the work. Under ALBA's rules, Murillo can lease this land at a subsidized rate only for a few years; after that he's on his own. But it's a risk he's willing to take even though he'd leave behind the steady paycheck he gets still working for big growers. It's about being your own boss, instead of working for a foreman, he says. And at 45, he wants to try going out on his own before he gets too old. Murillo's story is not unlike many of the 50 or so other farmers-in-training here at ALBA. Many have spent their entire lives in the fields, moving from one harvest to the next, from California down to Mexico, then back. "So it gives them a chance to take a bit of control of their lives,and not have to work for somebody else," says Nathan Harkleroad, who is in charge of ALBA's training programs, which are run out of an airy, converted farm house. "You know, is everyone going to make it? Probably not," Harkleroad says. Probably not because there are a lot of barriers. Language and the high price of land, to name just two. Still, since 2002, 90 ALBA graduates have managed to break through and start their own farms. And they're doing well today. Harkleroad attributes some of that to growing demand for local produce. But it's also due to a lot of hard work. "You know our farmers are here six days a week, and on their seventh day they're probably worrying about their crops here. So, you have to be willing to accept that. You have to be willing to accept a certain level of risk, too," he says. "Farming is inherently a risky business." Gail Wadsworth, head of the California Institute for Rural Studies, which advocates for farm worker rights, adds that "the reward economically isn't that great." She adds: "I don't think that there are that many farmers that you can look at and say, 'Wow, you know, they've really made it.' " Wadsworth says ALBA's mission of empowerment and teaching business skills to long-marginalized farm workers is good. But she's not sure encouraging them to launch into farming on their own is a good idea. "Agricultural work is physically very demanding," she says. "It's one of the most dangerous jobs in the U.S. But you're not risking everything that you own basically. You don't have the risk of owning land or a business." That's why 23-year-old aspiring farmer Octavio Garcia has a backup plan. He's almost finished with the ALBA program. He's been able to hire three employees and is now looking for land to lease elsewhere in the valley. "I want to be my own boss. And when I came from Mexico, I came with the idea of doing something better," Garcia says. But if Garcia can't find suitable land to lease soon, he'll head to school. He's just been accepted into a plant science program at Fresno State. Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

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Beyond the Farm Bill We’re fed up! Welcoming IATP's new president Scaling up agroecology Home » Think Forward blog » 2012 » March FDA misses the mark on BPA Posted March 30, 2012 by Katie Rojas-Jahn Food and HealthHealthy LegacyFood safetyHealth Used under creative commons license from Tom & Katrien on Flickr. Developing fetuses, infants and children are among the most vulnerable to the effects of toxic BPA. Today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made a decision about the hormone-disrupting chemical bisphenol A (BPA) and its use in food packaging. Their decision affects everyone’s health and our right to be protected from exposure to harmful chemicals in our food, our homes and our environment. The agency ruled that it will not limit the use of BPA in food packaging products. The BPA backstory I won’t go into a full history of the problems with BPA, because our colleagues at Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families have put together a great introduction to the chemical. But I do want to talk about why we are concerned that it is being used in an essentially unregulated manner and in a broad range of products—from the linings of food cans to thermal receipt paper to amalgam dental fillings. An ever-growing body of science continues to find links between the chemical and several harmful health effects, including: diabetes, obesity, breast and prostate cancer. Several studies were released in 2011 related to the presence of BPA in our food. One study published in Environmental Health Perspectives found that eliminating canned and pre-packaged foods from the diet of study participants over a three-day period reduced levels of the chemical in their urine by an average of 60 percent. Another study from The Journal of the American Medical Association found that eating a canned food item once a day can increase levels of BPA up to 1,200 percent. And finally, testing conducted by the Breast Cancer Fund (here and here) revealed that BPA is found in canned foods. Levels of the chemical in each food varied, but in some a single serving contained levels that have been linked with adverse health effects in lab studies. Current state of affairs: a badly broken system Several states have taken action in recent years on BPA in everyday products, including Minnesota—the first state in the nation to ban use of the chemical in baby bottles and sippy cups. But why are states compelled to take action on this matter to begin with? The need for state level action to protect public health stems from the badly broken systems that are meant to keep harmful chemicals off the market, but in fact fail miserably at doing so. In the case of bisphenol A in food packaging, regulatory authority falls to the U.S. FDA. Today’s decision is the result of a multi-year battle between the agency and NRDC. More than three years ago, NRDC petition the FDA to ban the use of bisphenol A as a food additive. Because the agency did not respond within a reasonable time frame, NRDC mounted a legal action which resulted in a settlement requiring the FDA to render a decision by March 31, 2012. You can read a full account of the process on the NRDC Switchboard Blog. This delay in and of itself is emblematic of our broken system: even in the face of mounting evidence on the problems associated with BPA, it took the FDA more than three years and a court case to make a ruling that ultimately does not protect our health. The problem of harmful chemicals contaminating our food is only one piece of the puzzle. Problem chemicals are also ending up in our environment and our bodies through exposures to everyday consumer products and chemicals in our environment. Contrary to popular belief, chemicals are not proven safe before they are used in the production of our everyday products. The result? There is no comprehensive oversight of chemicals in the U.S. and we don’t have an adequate system for identifying which chemicals are safe and which ones are harmful. Given the sad state of policy at the federal level, states will continue to play a key role in protecting the health of our people. But we also need to demand action where our agencies have failed us. Healthy Legacy is a Minnesota-based coalition, co-founded by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, working to phase the use of toxic chemicals out of everyday products. Sign up now to receive action alerts and to keep up to date with our work. View the discussion thread. About Think Forward Climate change in the 2015 federal... Minnesota's continuous living... In a changing climate, farming’s a... How the Chicken of Tomorrow became... 2105 First Ave. S.

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WLIC Unveils Future Direction WLIC Unveils Future Direction On September 20th the Wisconsin Livestock Identification Consortium’s membership approved plans for transitioning from a largely federally funded program to a program funded by industry and government. The proposal is a three-part approach which consists of a shared federal and state contribution, a branded tag initiative, and an industry sponsorship program. For Wisconsin to maintain an industry and producer led premises and traceability system, WLIC needs around $500,000, half of which is expected to still come from federal or state funds to cover the mandatory state premises registration program and meet current and future regulatory requirements needed to protect animal health. “Wisconsin livestock producers have a lot at stake if markets are limited or eliminated due to an animal disease outbreak. We simply can’t turn our backs on that possibility and assume it won’t happen here. This future direction helps protect Wisconsin and its producers,” notes David Cooper, WLIC Board of Directors Chairman. The Wisconsin Origin Branded Tag Initiative would allow official identification distributors to sell a Wisconsin branded 840 tag with a portion of the proceeds going towards the animal identification programs that WLIC currently maintains. As consumers and export markets require more traceability of the product sold back to the farm of origin, the branded tag initiative will allow Wisconsin to take a leadership position in this effort. It will also allow for marketability of Wisconsin livestock and livestock products abroad. The plan also includes an Industry Sponsorship program which will allow any individual or organization that supports WLIC’s efforts to make a monetary contribution. In return, WLIC will offer a variety of services and advertising opportunities which can be tailored to the needs of the individual or organization. The sponsorship program will assist in continuing educational outreach programs and communication efforts to the livestock industry. This three-part approach is known as the Partnership to Protect & Promote Wisconsin as the programs WLIC currently run are vital to the protection of Wisconsin’s livestock industry while maintaining confidentiality and not increasing cost to producers. “Wisconsin has been leading the nation in traceability since 2001, when livestock groups organized into what eventually became WLIC,” said Wisconsin Secretary of Agriculture, Ben Brancel. “That support from producers and the private-public partnership has made all the difference. We’ve taken strides toward getting animals identified, whether it’s low-tech or RFID, and in registering premises. That’s vital to our continued ability to respond fast and effectively to disease threats.” The mission of the Wisconsin Livestock Identification Consortium is to create a secure livestock identification system to protect animal health and market access, and to offer opportunities that enhance the marketability of Wisconsin livestock products. Representing more than fifty businesses, organizations and livestock producer associations, WLIC draws upon the collective strength of its diverse membership to help strengthen and advance animal disease traceability in Wisconsin and the nation as a whole. To learn more about WLIC visit www.wiid.org.

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Home Page »News »National & World » Drought worsens in some key Midwest farming states Drought worsens in some key Midwest farming states By JIM SUHRAP Business Writer Article Last Updated: Thursday, October 04, 2012 11:03am ST. LOUIS � The nation's worst drought in decades is showing no sign of letting up in several key Midwest farming states, worrying farmers harvesting the summer's withered corn crop in record time that their winter crops may also be at risk.Overall drought conditions in the lower 48 states held steady over the seven-day period ending Tuesday, with about one-fifth of the total land area in extreme or exceptional drought, the two worst classifications, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor's weekly update of its drought map released Thursday.Conditions worsened, though, in Kansas and Iowa, the nation's biggest corn producer, and nearly 98 percent of Nebraska was still deemed to be in one of the two worst categories.The unrelenting dryness won't have much effect on the region's corn and soybean crops, which are already being plucked from the fields. But it could hurt other crops, such as winter wheat.According to the map, which is put out by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, 75 percent of Iowa is enduring extreme or exceptional drought. That's up roughly 10 percentage points from the previous week. Just over 93.25 percent of Kansas was in the same predicament, which was an increase of roughly 5 percentage points.As of Monday, 54 percent of the corn crop had been brought in from the fields � the fastest pace in at least 17 years due to early planting and nearly three times the previous five-year average of 20 percent by this time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported. Some 56 percent of the corn crop in Iowa has been harvested, while Illinois has brought in 71 percent and Missouri 88 percent.Half of the U.S. corn crop is classified as being in poor or very poor shape, essentially unchanged from a week earlier, the USDA said. A year ago, 20 percent of corn in the fields was listed that way. Forty-one percent of the U.S. soybean crops have been harvested � double the pace of the average of the previous half decade � with one-third considered poor or very poor, the USDA said. The USDA reported Monday that emergence of winter wheat was lagging, given the extremely dry conditions that could keep that rotational crop from properly germinating. Just five percent of that crop had emerged in South Dakota, down sharply from 32 percent over the previous five years. Similar issues were reported in Nebraska, Colorado, Montana and Oregon.

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Industry Raw milk: Separating fact from fiction November 27, 2012 | 2:27 pm EST As the Indiana legislature mulls legalizing raw milk sales, Purdue University is setting the record straight and debunks popular myths surrounding the unpasteurized product. The report, “Raw Milk FAQs,” answers 18 common questions about both pasteurized and unpasteurized milk, including why pasteurization is used, whether it alters milk, and the risks associated with unpasteurized milk. "Diseases that can be transmitted through raw milk include listeriosis, campylobacter and streptococcus, to name a few," says Mike Schutz, extension dairy specialist, in a university article. "These illnesses can be very serious or fatal. Pasteurization can reduce the pathogen load in milk to make it safer for human consumption. In fact, pasteurization probably is the one practice that has done the most to reduce the spread of tuberculosis from animals to humans." The report also points that disease outbreaks are 150 times more likely for raw milk than pasteurized milk. From 1993 to 2006, there were 73 disease outbreaks linked to raw dairy products, which resulted in 1,571 cases, 202 hospitalizations and two deaths. In 2012 alone, there have been six outbreaks associated with contaminated raw milk, sickening 152 adults and children. Read the Purdue report here. Even those living on farms are not immune from contracting diseases from contaminated raw milk. In April, an E. coli outbreak in Oregon affected 21 people, including four children from the farm at the center of the outbreak. The mother of another child sickened in the Oregon outbreak spoke with Oregon Public Broadcasting, stressing that “there’s just an inherit risk in feeding your children raw milk that you can’t ignore." Click here to read more. Raw milk sales are legal in 30 states, while others, such as Indiana, currently limit raw milk availability to cow-share programs. Some states have recently opened dialogue to consider legalizing or clarifying laws involving raw milk. In Wyoming, a proposed rule would allow producers who are the sole owners of livestock to serve raw milk in their home to family members, non-paying guests and farm employees. A bill was also introduced in Kentucky in February that would allow consumers to buy into a dairy herd to receive raw milk products legally. One of the biggest proponents to legalizing raw milk sales is U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who introduced an amendment to the 2012 Farm Bill earlier this year that would allow the direct sale of raw milk and raw dairy products across state lines. Two organizations representing the country’s dairy farmers and dairy food companies responded to Paul’s proposal in a letter available here. raw milkunpasteurized milkmilkdairycow sharepurdue Related Articles

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Growth & Sustainability Loosening the grazing knot Paul Larmer For much of the past two decades, High Country News has tried to wrap its head around one of the most vexing subjects in the West: livestock grazing on the public lands. We have talked with angry environmentalists and scientists who can't understand why public-land managers ignore the ecological damage caused by cattle and sheep, or why the federal government only charges ranchers the cost of a cup of coffee (or even less, if you happen to imbibe Starbucks) to graze a cow-calf pair for a month on the public's lands. We have talked with multigenerational ranchers who are deeply attached to their place in the West, who believe that they actually improve the land's ecological health through careful grazing, and who worry that they will be forced to sell their private lands to developers if they lose the right to graze on public lands. And we have documented the dozens of administrative appeals, lawsuits and even cabinet-level initiatives - recall Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt's ill-fated effort in the early 1990s - that have aimed at "grazing reform" and wound up proving that the phrase is an oxymoron. How could the country's public-grazing system continue in its eco-unfriendly and financially indefensible state, year after year? Well, for one thing, the West's ranching community continues to hold political power far beyond its numbers in many state legislatures and county commissions. There is also the sheer weight of history itself. "You've got to remember that when the national forests were created, we didn't have a Clean Water Act or an Endangered Species Act, and so every piece of public land with grass on it was set up for grazing," veteran wildlife advocate Hank Fischer reminded me recently. "Undoing any part of this system is not easy." Fischer, who works for the National Wildlife Federation, would know. Over the past five years, his organization has quietly cut deals with a number of ranchers and the Forest Service to voluntarily "retire" controversial grazing allotments on the borders of Yellowstone National Park. The deals - which can take years to negotiate and often involve a cash payment to ranchers and access to alternate allotments - have removed cattle and sheep from 500,000 acres of prime grizzly bear and timber wolf habitat. Half a million acres is small potatoes compared to the hundreds of millions of federal acres that are currently grazed, but the Wildlife Federation's success shows that the grazing knot can be loosened when everyone stands to gain from a change. Around Yellowstone, conservationists, ranchers and forest managers are eager to end the constant conflicts that arise when slow-moving livestock are mixed with hungry - and federally protected - predators. The knot may also be loosening in central Idaho, where sheep ranchers and wildlife advocates have long battled over efforts to establish bighorn sheep populations around Hells Canyon. As Nathaniel Hoffman reports in this issue, the evidence that bighorns cannot survive near domestic sheep is now so strong that a federal judge has pushed the Forest Service into closing several sheep allotments on the Payette National Forest. Some sheep ranchers are fighting the decision, but the writing is on the wall: Bighorn sheep, which are not only popular with wildlife watchers, but also with hunters, must be given more space if they are to survive as a viable wild species. This decision is a tough pill to swallow for sheep ranchers who graze near bighorn herds, but it is the right medicine for the West's public land agencies, which for too long have favored livestock over wildlife. One can hope the parties at Hells Canyon will embrace the collaborative approach that has worked so well at Yellowstone. With some creative changes to herd management, and some grazing allotment buyouts, there's no reason that ranchers and one of the West's most spectacular animals can't both thrive. Sheep v. Sheep More from Growth & Sustainability Sightseeing at an open pit mine in Arizona copper country Huge new 'communities' planned for Tucson, Albuquerque

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HM The Queen Meets Permaculture By Maddy Harland Tags: The Queen Award, HM Queen, Maddy Harland My first MOTHER EARTH NEWS blog was all about the three ethics of permaculture: earth care, people care and fair shares, and how they can positively shape what we do with our lives. Today, a national holiday in the UK due to Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding, I want to tell you the story of when Tim and I went to Buckingham Palace and met the Queen and various members of the Royal Family. Bear with me, this is completely connected to permaculture ethics. Life works in mysterious ways! In 2008 Permanent Publications, the company that Tim and I founded in 1990 to publish Permaculture Magazine, won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the Sustainable Development category for our "unfettered commitment for promoting sustainable development internationally." In Britain, this is the highest honour a company can receive and is called a ‘corporate knighthood.’ To receive the award, our company had to prove that we do our utmost to run a low carbon operation, procure as ethically and as ecologically as possible, are financially stable, have never broken any laws or evaded taxes, nurture and develop our staff, look after our customers and also make a contribution to the local and wider community. In other words, we had to embody corporate social responsibility and tangibly demonstrate earth care, people care and fair shares in the business world. Just imagine for a moment if every company on this planet did this. What a different world it would be. Part of the prize is an invitation to a champagne reception at Buckingham Palace with the Queen and Prince Phillip and members of their family. Poignantly for me, I was walking in my late father’s footsteps as he too had received a Queens Award on behalf of his company in the late 1970s. Now permaculture is pretty alternative and can be regarded as radical by many. A few people raised their eyebrows in surprise when we won. What were we doing hanging out in such conventional, indeed hierarchical circles? Well, we believe that it is essential that permaculture, organic/ecological horticulture and agriculture, renewable energy, and indeed responsible, ethical commerce become mainstream, and hiding out in some alternative backwater is not going to make this happen. We have to get out there, talk to whoever will listen about others ways of living on this wonderful Planet and demonstrate why what we practise is commonsense… for all our futures. The invitation arrived and we set off to London. The reception was in two of the Galleries at Buckingham Palace. Here hang some of the finest paintings in the Royal art collection. We stood next to Canalettos, Rembrants and other exquisite Old Masters. For me, it was astonishing to see them at such close range, so finely preserved that their vibrant colours made them look like they were painted yesterday. Then we were introduced to the Queen and Prince Phillip. It is a very surreal experience meeting someone who is a global icon. I was surprised at how small she is yet so undeniably vital. She smiled a lot, was not in the least bit stern, and exuded kindness. This took us both by surprise. She is quite honestly, charismatic. I hadn’t expected that. Prince Phillip also shook our hands. I wanted to ask him about his truffle inoculated oak orchards – he is at heart a farmer – but he took me by surprise by personally greeting us with, “Ah, you are the publishers!” We did, however, talk at length to Princess Anne about biomass for heating, renewable energy, and sustainable land management. A former Olympic equestrian, she is a tall and obviously fit woman. She is intelligent and practical, a woman more comfortable on the farm than in front of the world’s press. She asked us, “What do you do?” “We are the media but we are nice media!” Look of distaste. “Is that possible?” she asked. In fact she proved to have a quick wit and a marvellous sense of humour. We exchanged some swift banter about the press and politics as well having a more serious conversation about sustainability and farming. There is no doubt that the Queen’s Award for Enterprise has been useful. It has opened doors and given us opportunities to go places and speak to people about permaculture and sustainability. In that year, as well as going to Buckingham Palace, I was invited to dine in the company of some of the UK’s top CEOs and politicians at Mansion House in the City of London and met the Lord Mayor, and also The Palace of Whitehall (the seat of our UK government). But most of all, a sector of society that would have previously written us off as alternative permaculture hippy types suddenly woke up and realised that we are utterly serious and what we do is ground-breaking and innovative. We also discovered that we have friends in unexpected places. One of our champions to win the award was the Permanent Secretary at DEFRA (the UK Government’s Department of the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs). … The world is changing. To find out more about permaculture please visit www.permaculture.co.uk Newer Blog Maddy Harland Dear Joe,I understand your concerns and your point that winning the Queens Award has not altered the Queens behavior (although she did start growing potatoes again at Buckingham Palace last year - first time since 1946 apparently). Of course it has not. It did however do at least one critical thing that change our ability to reach people. It opened the door to a UK book distributor and a magazine distributor. Previously we were regarded as so alternative no one would distribute our books to bookshops or our magazine issues in the high street. This has meant that rather than reaching a small inner circle we have begun to reach and speak with people who are arguably more 'mainstream'. We know from feedback that our books and articles do alter behavior - people tell us what positive changes they have made in their lives since reading Permaculture magazine or the Earth Care Manual, for example. It is a slow process but our philosophy is to use whatever avenues of opportunity are available to communicate genuinely useful low carbon, green ideas and practises. joe a friend Well, well, so what? I am not convinced that the Queen or any of her cohorts will reconfigure the design of any of her garden areas, or Place grounds, to incorporate any new permaculcha' concept/s; there is nothing in this story to assure me that she abides by çommonsense'; where IS theevidence; you do not spell this out!

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Se encuentra usted aquíInicio Declaraciones del Secretario General Caviar harvest halted in effort to revive sturgeon stocks For use of the media only; not an official document. Caviar harvest halted in effort to revive sturgeon stocks Paris, 21 June 2001 - Key caviar-producing states have reached agreement here on a 12-month action plan that includes a halt to sturgeon fishing in the Caspian Sea for the rest of the year. Under the agreement, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia have until 20 July to provide the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora with a detailed inventory of the caviar now in storage from the spring 2001 harvest. Only this caviar may be exported. "This is an excellent decision that is in the best interests of sturgeon conservation and the implementation of the Convention," said Kenneth Stansell, Chairman of the CITES Standing Committee. "The international community is working through CITES to help the states of the Caspian sea build a science-based management system for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of sturgeon," said Willem Wijnstekers, Secretary-General of CITES. "It is vital that this extremely valuable natural resource be returned to good health." The agreement gives the Caspian states until end-2001 to conduct a comprehensive survey of sturgeon stocks, ask Interpol to analyze the illegal sturgeon trade, call on the CITES Secretariat (in collaboration with Interpol and the World Customs Organization) to conduct a study of enforcement needs for combating illegal harvesting and trade, and permit and facilitate on-site inspections by CITES of their sturgeon management activities. They must also agree by this date on the coordinated management of their Caspian sturgeon resources, including the joint setting of catch and export quotas for 2002. These quotas will be determined by year-end. Any failure on the part of these states to implement this week's agreement will result in zero quotas for 2002. Turkmenistan, which was not represented at the meeting, will need to confirm in writing that it will adhere to the agreement or face a complete ban on its caviar exports. The Caspian States had earlier requested 2001 caviar export quotas of 790 kg for Azerbaijan, 32,210 kg for Kazakhstan (including 1,410 kg to be allocated to Azerbaijan and 3,890 kg to Turkmenistan), and 62,040 kg for Russia (including 2,300 to be allocated Azerbaijan and 1,700 to Turkmenistan). They will now be able to sell their existing stocks up to these limits. The CITES Secretariat is to ensure that no new stocks enter the market. The fifth Caspian Sea state, Iran, already has a functioning sturgeon management system. It has set its 2001 quota at 82,810 kg for this year. While Iran is not subject to the new CITES controls, it has a great interest in efforts to improve the regional management of the Caspian Sea fisheries. In addition to the requirements for 2001, the four former Soviet republics have until 20 June 2002 to establish a long-term survey programme for sturgeon incorporating up-to-date technology and techniques, to take advice from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN on managing regional fisheries, to adopt a collaborative management system for Caspian Sea sturgeon fisheries, to increase significantly their efforts to combat illegal harvesting and trade and to regulate domestic trade, to submit funding proposals to the Global Environment Facility and other donors for rehabilitating sturgeon stocks, and to implement a caviar labeling system. Until 1991, two countries - the USSR and Iran - virtually controlled the caviar market, investing heavily in controlling and maintaining fish stocks. This made it easy to trade the source of any given shipment of caviar. With the demise of the USSR, the system collapsed, and many entrepreneurs dealing in "black gold" sprang up to the replace the state-owned companies. The Caspian once accounted for 95% of world caviar, although this percentage is now closer to 90%. Official catch levels have fallen from a peak of about 30,000 tonnes in the late 1970s to less than one tenth that figure in the late 1990s. Reduce river flow, the destruction of spawning sites, corruption, poaching, organized crime and illicit trade have all contributed to the decline. One result is that the illegal catch in the four former Soviet republics is now 10 or 12 times higher than the legal take. The legal caviar trade is estimated to be worth some $100 million annually. Because prices of illegal caviar vary widely from country to country, it is difficult to estimate the value of illegal trade, but it is clearly enormous. Note to journalists: For more information, contact Michael Williams at +41-79-409-1528 (cell), +41-22-917-8242 (office), or michael.williams@unep.ch. See also www.cites.org. Tags: Press releases Footer menu

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Search Trending Now: 2016 Top 100 Growers Retailing5 Things You Need To Know About Young Plant Consumers [10% Project] March 6, 2016 By: Bridget K. Behe | Carol MillerEmailPrintFacebookGoogleLinkedInTwitterPinterest Younger garden consumers think it’s important for children to learn how to grow plants, even though they themselves see gardening as a time-consuming and expensive hobby, our latest research shows. This insight was just one of many unearthed by 10% Project as it seeks ways to increase consumer interest in plants and local garden centers. We conducted three focus groups made up of consumers under 50 years old during the late winter this year. These focus groups took place over three days. The first focus group was made up of 18-29 year olds, the second of 30-49 year olds and the third of parents with children between 2 and 12. Our next steps are to develop marketing campaigns based on issues our research revealed, then work with garden centers to use the marketing during the spring of 2016 and measure the results. You may recall the 10% Project conducted similar research in 2014. That research, funded by a grant from the Ohio Department of Agriculture, took place entirely in Ohio. This year’s research, funded by Flowers Canada, took place in Ontario, Canada. Out of the hundreds of pages of transcripts, here are the themes that most caught our attention. 1. It’s Uncomfortable Feeling Ignorant Most see themselves as novices when it comes to plant knowledge. Even those who see themselves as average are insecure. There’s an arcane feel about plant knowledge, making it mysterious and intimidating. Slightly more than half (33 out of 61) saw themselves as novices, while 22 viewed themselves as average. The comparison was made to friends and neighbors, which was primarily the reason so many of them indicated they were average. That sense of ignorance undermines younger consumers’ sense of ownership when it comes to gardening. They aren’t typical gardeners, because that group of people are older, and have lots of time to understand the mysteries of plants. Even those who rate themselves as having average skill levels at gardening don’t think they know enough to advise anyone. They only know enough to keep most of their own plants alive. There’s a tone of the plants being threatened with death at all times, and their meager knowledge does just barely enough to hold off a yard full of brown, brittle shrubs and vegetables. “I know all the basics, and have had experience gardening all my life,” says one participant, Rachel S., who is in the 18-29 year-old group, “but would not really be able to give anyone tips or anything. I don’t have any gardening secrets. I don’t know the small details that can help a gardener, but I know enough to have a successful garden.” Jeff B., who’s in the 30-49 year-old group, sums up the effect this sense of ignorance has: “I just buy what I think looks nice and isn’t too expensive and won’t die if I forget to water it for a few days.” 2. Yes, Online Research Is A Big Deal. But So Is Trusted Real-World Advice The conventional wisdom that today’s customers are researching everything online was born out by our group of consumers. Yet the internet isn’t the last word. Many turn to older relatives for advice about as often as they turn to the internet. Understanding this generational mix will be key to attracting new customers to local garden stores. Even when a family member offers advice, online research is standard. The family member’s advice is trusted, but our participants want to learn more about what they are about to take on. Immediate family influenced nearly all of the participants in our study, primarily the mother (22 mentions). Second was the father with 13 mentions; these would include both respondents that listed either parent or said “parents.” The other family members who influenced the first gardening experiences of our panel were grandmother (5), grandfather (3), sister (1), wife (2), children (2) and brother (1). Clearly, the female influence was substantially larger than the male influence. Cheryl H. wrote, “When I was a kid, Dad built raised garden plots and grew tomatoes, peppers and corn. My grandparents had rhubarb, raspberries and apple trees in their backyard. The first things I ever grew on my own were tomatoes, in pots on the deck of my apartment. I chose them because I like tomatoes and they’re easy to grow.” 3. Food Gardening Is Almost As Common As Flower Gardening It’s no surprise that our group said food is a big reason gardening holds any attraction for them. (But don’t rule out beauty as a motivator just yet — it still outpaced food as why they buy the plants they do. Beauty was mentioned 27 times while food was mentioned 19 times.) One reason food holds appeal is that it gives younger gardeners a sense of accomplishment. Here’s what Minh L., a Gen Y participant, said about food gardening: “I generally like to know how to do … well, everything. So being able to grow my own food and become more self-sufficient has made me look more deeply into gardening. I like to experiment with different seeds to see what grows, even if I have no idea what I’m doing.” One mom, Angela L., was even more enthusiastic about what she saw as the payoff to food gardening: “The glory of the harvest and enjoying the fruits of your labor!” As expected, health concerns are another driver of food gardening. “Now I do more research into what plants I can grow myself so that I can control what goes into the foods that I eat. It has led to a healthier lifestyle,” another 18-29 year old, Michele D. said. The same sentiment was expressed by those belonging to the Gen X and parents groups, so the need for knowing where healthy food comes from is widely held. Beauty and food were the two key themes that emerged in the focus group with regard to the best aspects of gardening. Kevin R. said, “I ate the peas and carrots we grew last year, as well as the potatoes. If you can eat what you grow, it is a major success.” 4. Outdoor Tasks Are Annoying Our 2015 focus group sees gardening as time consuming and hard work, which is a repeat of what we learned with our 2014 groups. For most, gardening is seen as a chore, and many assume that those who like doing it have the luxury of time, space and income. That said, the same people also see gardening as healthy and as a way to connect with nature. S.N., a parent, summed up many of their sentiments: “Unfortunately, I don’t have lots of time to invest in maintaining a decent garden. Having a dog also makes gardening a challenge. However, having the vegetable garden is a great pleasure that we look forward to planting every summer.” The culprit? The appeal of modern technology. “People my age can’t pry their eyes from their cellphones for a meal, let alone long enough to tend a garden,” said a Gen Y participant, Megan C. “Others generally feel it is way too much work, and not worth the reward. Or lack thereof if it fails.” Lack of time (12), hard work (9) and dirt/dirty (7) were the most often cited downsides. Some found gardening boring (4), for hippies (2) or those who were/are obsessed (1) or older (1). The problems were the weather (2), pests (3), frustration in general (2), weeding (2), expensive (2), caused one to be scheduled/tied-down (2) or gave the person too much sun (3) or aches/pains (3). That can have a major impact on how plants and gardening are viewed if something goes wrong. If you love a task, the occasional failure is only a hiccup. But if you approach a task with a sense of uncertainty and thinking it’s a chore, failure has an outsized impact. “I once helped plant shrubs at my grandmother’s, but after a month or so, some of the shrubs started to die for no apparent reason. We ended up removing them and replacing them with new ones which fared much better. It was frustrating because it was expensive and time consuming to replace them,” said Jason S., who was in the 18-29 year-old group. A parent, Frank T., told a similar story, with more emotion: “I planted a Japanese maple tree about five years ago. After the ice storm last year, the maple tree was dead. I felt so sad, as this was the first major purchase I made on a tree. It was so beautiful for the last five years. I miss my tree.” In the video game era, when fun activities have a predictable — and fast — outcome, the variable results of gardening can come as an affront. “I don’t like that it can be unpredictable,” said Rachel S., a Gen Y participant. “Like, you can do everything right and it’s not guaranteed that a plant will survive or thrive. I am also not very patient, so it is difficult for me to wait the long time it takes for most plants to grow to fruition. I get so excited and want to check on them at least twice a day, only to find no change. “I also don’t have too much time on my hands to properly care for plants, which is why I have been resorting to lower-maintenance plants in the last few years — house plants I can water every so often, leave on a good shelf in view and in sunlight and just enjoy them being there. I don’t think I can minimize any of these aspects because they are least-liked by me only because they are out of my control. I can’t do anything to change them and that’s what frustrates me.” Kevin R. made an insightful comment: “It is a lot of work. Watering, weeding, digging the garden beds, etc. It takes up a lot of time and effort. And if I had any suggestions on how to get around these aspects, I would be doing them, not talking about them.” 5. Adults Want Kids To Experience Gardening As A Life Lesson Ironically, despite the negative feedback many participants gave on their own gardening habits and attitudes, nearly everyone agreed that it is a good idea to get children involved in gardening. “Parents should involve their children in these activities because most kids don’t grow up enjoying gardening, which is mostly because they weren’t exposed to it in their childhood,” said Jenny C., a Gen Y participant. “If they grow up learning up gardening, chances are they will partake in these activities too when they grow up.” Vanessa M. added: “It gives children a hobby and gets them outside instead of sitting inside watching TV. It also gives you time to bond with them when you teach them how to garden.” The gardening activity for kids mentioned most often was growing (21 mentions), but letting children help with watering (6), picking/harvesting (4) and digging (3) were also specifically mentioned. Five people mentioned that they wanted to use the garden to inspire their children, and two mentioned teaching responsibility. Eating the bounty was a popular benefit for kids, mentioned by 10 participants. A few (3) mentioned that it was dirty (which may appeal to some children) or that children could be helpful in weeding (2) while a few others (3) said it was a good way to get their children outdoors. “It is a good way to spend time with the kids and get them away from the Xbox and Playstation,” Michael R. said. S.N said it’s important her children experience the full cycle of growth and harvest: “When we have our vegetable garden, it’s a family affair. We always start the plants from seeds, so from the get-go our daughter is actively involved in the process. Doing veggies also gives kids more opportunities to be involved in looking after the plants, and in terms of finished product, there’s nothing better than being able to eat what you’ve grown.” The Emotional Side Of Gardening In addition to sharing these key findings, we thought it important to share a few of our participants’ comments to show their most heartfelt thoughts on gardening. “Plants to me represent life, new beginning, and you appreciate nature more. It makes the house and yard more appealing and full of life!” Justin J. “Best gardening experience? I would have to say an aloe vera plant. It grew so beautiful and at the time my mother was very ill with her illness she had a lot of pain, we used this plant for her and she actually felt better when we used it on her. This was one of my mom’s favorite plants. It sticks in my head every day remembering her soft soul. That is what this plant does to me every time I see it.” Barbara L. “I find plants make homes feel more welcoming and fresh. I like having plants in all public areas and my office. Gardening gives me a sense of accomplishment because if your plants grow, you feel like you successfully created and maintained life.” Monica M. Next Steps In This 10% Project We are in the process of developing marketing campaigns based on the key findings. Watch for a our articles about these campaigns in the coming weeks. If you would like to read a more in depth version of our consumer research, you can find that report here. Topics: 10% Project Leave a Reply Cancel reply 4 comments on “5 Things You Need To Know About Young Plant Consumers [10% Project]” Suzi McCoy says: March 8, 2016 at 9:23 am Excellent summary. Reply Tina says: March 8, 2016 at 12:32 pm Excellent article and full of insights for garden centers and other green industry businesses. It’s given me much to think about in terms of finding garden projects and marketing messages for them that appeal to these consumers. If breeders can keep coming with the durable, low-maintenance plants that offer major flowering, excellent foliage, and/or edible fruit, that will help us sell more plants, and if hardgoods companies continue to streamline the ease and effectiveness of their products, as well as continue to offer do-able, small-scale project-oriented products, that will help on that end. Of course, we all have to do our part to help these consumers understand the benefits, beauty, and joy of gardening. I don’t think we should sugar-coat the work aspect. I think we need to offer supporting products that makes the work easier and more efficient, and then we need to sell the benefits of the work: exercise, sun-exposure (vitamin d), fresh air, enjoying all the life in the garden, discovering flowers, fruit, bugs, growing your own untainted food, etc, etc. We should also address the “death issue”. In an age where “durable’ goods, last 2-3 years, we should be able to create more realistic expectations not to mention help them accept that everything is temporary and that a better way of thinking about it is how much enjoyment a person got for that plant that died. How much money did people spend on meals the enjoyment of which was a fleeting few hours? We can also help people realize that anytime a plant dies, it creates the opportunity to try a new, possibly more fabulous plant! Reply John Loyet says: March 8, 2016 at 8:14 pm We have relocated our edibles to be upfront and center. The new placement will have road frontage visibility as well as newly redesigned benches. Signage will be a intergal part of this new design. A large eye catching sign MIGHT be integrated which is large bold letters “EAT ME”, Politically correct? Reply John Sutton says: March 11, 2016 at 9:44 pm I’m so happy my granddaughter who is six loves gardening and is a natural. She has taken the interest all by herself as she likes giving flowers to her mom Reply More From Retailing...June 27, 2016Inspiring Summer Customers Without A Word Being SaidNow is the time of year to sell your customers what they like, rather than what they need. According to industry consultant Ian Baldwin, one way to do this is to use silent selling techniques and devices that help validate a purchase.Read MoreJune 27, 2016Fire Destroys Greenhouses At Oconomowoc Landscape Supply & Garden CenterThe fire not only consumed the Wisconsin garden retailer's structures, but also major equipment like dump trucks. 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Three elected to Rock County Ag Hall of Fame JANESVILLE—Two farmers and an attorney will be inducted in the Rock County Ag Hall of Fame on Friday at Rotary Botanical Gardens. All three were at the top of their respective fields and were willing to share their knowledge with others, according to a news release from the Ag Business Council of Rock County. The plaques honoring individuals are hung in the lobby of Blain's Farm & Fleet, Janesville. The inductees are: —Philip Holmes, a town of Turtle farmer who died in 2008, will be honored with a “Pioneer Award.” The award is given to a deceased person who made significant contributions to agriculture during his or her lifetime. �Holmes was born in 1919 and spent almost all of his life on his family's 300-acre farm. After 30 years as a dairy farmer, Holmes and his wife, Jean, decided to join the Peace Corps.� He was 52 at the time. The couple went to Peru, where he worked with dairy farmers and he worked in a mission home with children with disabilities. In a 1991 story in The Gazette, Holmes described the experience as “very rewarding” and said he had “acquired a different view of the Third World.” In 1977, Holmes traveled to Egypt, where he helped develop a trickle irrigation system. Two years later, the couple went to Guatemala to work on a similar system. In the 1980s he helped send 28 head of cattle to Peru to help farmers there. The couple was also committed to the Turtle Grange. The Grange is a community organization founded to support farmers and rural residents.� Holmes was also a town of Turtle volunteer firefighter and active in the Turtle 4-H Club, the Rock County Soil Conservation Board and many other groups. —George Barlass, 80, is known all over the world for both the quality of his Jerseys and his abilities as a dairy judge, according to the news release. Barlass has been interested in progressive farming ideas since he was a young man. In 1962, Barlass was named “Outstanding Young Farmer” by the local Jaycees. A 1962 story in The Gazette about the award noted that Barlass was a “leading exponent of artificial breeding, classification of cattle and an advocate of using only proven sires when herd enlargement is desired.”� The story also said that in the 10 years he had been farming, Barlass had increased his farm's acreage from 160 acres to 560 acres, and had increased the family's herd to 100 registered dairy cattle in the 10 years he had been farming. Barlass' Jerseys have won top prizes at World Dairy Expo, and he has been named premier breeder at the show numerous times. —Kenneth Buhrow, an attorney from Edgerton, also will be honored. Buhrow is known statewide for his work in agriculture law, according to the news release. According to a story from The Gazette's archives, Buhrow started with the Edgerton firm of Thronson, Roethe and Agnew in January 1958, just one month after passing the bar exam. Buhrow's expertise was in the area of farm corporations and partnerships, estate planning and probate for farm clients. Along with his work with the farm community, Buhrow was also a municipal judge for the city of Edgerton for six years, served as president of the Rock County Bar Association, was an Edgerton alderman and was involved in a variety of community organizations. Humane Society of Southern Wisconsin seeks more volunteers

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STEELE, N.D. - Fields of wheat, durum and barley in the Dakotas this dry summer will never end up as pasta, bread or beer. What is left of the stifled crops has been salvaged to feed livestock struggling on pastures where hot winds blow clouds of dirt from dried-out ponds.Some ranchers have been forced to sell their entire herds, and others are either moving their cattle to greener pastures or buying more already-costly feed. Hundreds of acres of grasslands have been blackened by fires sparked by lightning or farm equipment."These 100-degree days for weeks steady have been burning everything up," said Steele Mayor Walter Johnson, who said he'd prefer 2 feet of snow over this weather.Farm ponds and other small bodies of water have dried out from the heat, leaving the residual alkali dust to be whipped up by the wind. The blowing, dirt-and-salt mixture is a phenomenon that hasn't been seen in south central North Dakota since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, Johnson said.More than 60 percent of the United States now has abnormally dry or drought conditions, stretching from Georgia to Arizona and across the north through the Dakotas, Minnesota, Montana and Wisconsin, said Mark Svoboda, a climatologist for the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.An area stretching from south central North Dakota to central South Dakota is the most drought-stricken region in the nation, Svoboda said."It's the epicenter," he said. "It's just like a wasteland in north central South Dakota."Conditions aren't much better a little farther north. Paul Smokov and his wife, Betty, raise several hundred cattle on their 1,750-acre ranch north of Steele, a town of about 760 people.North Dakota's all-time high temperature was set here in July 1936, at 121. Smokov, now 81, remembers that time and said he believes conditions this summer probably are worse."I could see this coming in May," Smokov said of the parched pastures and wilted crops. "That's the time the good Lord gives us our general rains. But we never got them this year."Brad Rippey, a federal Agriculture Department meteorologist in Washington, said this year's drought is continuing one that started in the late 1990s. "The 1999 to 2006 drought ranks only behind the 1930s and the 1950s. It's the third-worst drought on record, period," Rippey said.Svoboda was reluctant to say how bad the current drought might eventually be."We'll have to wait to see how it plays out, but it's definitely bad," he said. "And the drought seems to not be going anywhere soon."Herman Schumacher, who owns Herreid Livestock Auction in north central South Dakota, said his company is handling more sales than ever because of the drought.In May, June and July last year, his company sold 3,800 cattle. During the same months this year, more than 27,000 cattle have been sold, he said."I've been in the barn here for 25 years and I can't even compare this year to any other year," Schumacher said.He said about 50 ranchers have run cows through his auction this year."Some of them just trimmed off their herds, but about a third of them were complete dispersions - they'll never be back," he said."This county is looking rough - these 100-degree days are just killing us," said Gwen Payne, a North Dakota State University extension agent in Kidder County, where Steele is located.The Agriculture Department says North Dakota last year led the nation in production of 15 different commodity classes, including spring wheat, durum wheat, barley, oats, canola, pinto beans, dry edible peas, lentils, flaxseed, sunflower and honey.North Dakota State University professor and researcher Larry Leistritz said it's too early to tell what effect this year's drought will have on commodity prices. Flour prices already have gone up and may rise more because of the effect of drought on wheat."There will be somewhat higher grain prices, no doubt about it," Leistritz said. "With livestock, the short-term effect may mean depressed meat prices, with a larger number of animals being sent to slaughter. But in the longer run it may prolong the period of relatively high meat prices."Eventually, more than farmers could suffer."Agriculture is not only the biggest industry in the state, it's just about the only industry," Leistritz said. © 2007 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg

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Follow @thecattlesite News & Analysis Features Markets & Reports Sustainability Knowledge Centre Directory Events Our Shop News Phasing out Antibiotics for Growth Promotion in US: What Are the Consequences?17 December 2013 ANALYSIS - The proposed changes to the regulations on the use of antibiotics in the US for food-producing animals will mean a reduction of around 16 per cent in antibiotic use in pigs, an increase in feed conversion ratio, higher veterinary costs and a shift in the oversight for antibiotic use from farmers to veterinarians, writes Jackie Linden.The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has implemented a plan to help phase out the use of medically important antimicrobials in food animals for food production purposes, such as to enhance growth or improve feed efficiency. The plan would also phase in veterinary oversight of the remaining appropriate therapeutic uses of such drugs. In FDA's final guidance - issued last week - the agency lays out a road map for animal pharmaceutical companies to voluntarily revise the FDA-approved use conditions on the labels of these products to remove production indications. The news that certain antimicrobial drugs are to be phased out as growth promoters in livestock means producers now have a time-frame to adjust production practices, commented professor of clinical sciences in K-State's College of Veterinary Medicine, Mike Apley. He estimates that, for pigs, the new rule will remove about 16 per cent of the use of medically important antibiotics in feed for growing pigs. Cattle production will be less affected than pigs because cattle growth promoters are typically ionophores, which are not considered medically important, according to Professor Apley. He added: "This news means the clock is ticking. Livestock producers and pharmaceutical companies have three months and three years to get it done," he said, referring to a three-month comment period which will be followed by a three-year period for drug companies to voluntarily revise FDA-approved labelled use conditions. Professor Apley stressed that among the major implications of the new rule are that it removes the uses for improving performance and shifts oversight of the remaining uses to veterinarians. In their 'Hog Outlook', market analysts, Ron Plain and Scott Brown, highlight that the new policy is likely to affect adversely decrease livestock and poultry feed conversion and thus increase feed demand. It would also drive up per-head veterinary costs, they add, especially for smaller operations. Representing the poultry industry, the US National Chicken Council said in a statement: “We strongly support the responsible and judicious use of FDA-approved antibiotics and the involvement of veterinarians in raising healthy chickens. “Antibiotics are not always used in raising chickens; rather, they are administered only when needed and on those occasions, they are used judiciously under the care of a veterinarian. For those antibiotics that are FDA-approved for use in raising chickens, the majority of them are not used in human medicine and therefore do not represent any threat of creating resistance in humans. “That being said, we realise that there are strong emotions and conflicting views on the issue of antibiotic resistance – an issue that is very complex, and not black and white." Animal health company, Zoetis, has announced that it supports the FDA’s efforts to voluntarily phase-out growth promotion indications for medically important antibiotics in food-producing animals. Zoetis has already taken action with the view to implementing Guidances #209 and #213 and has already taken action. Professor Apley stated that Elanco has also already indicated it will comply with the guidelines. Responding to the news that the rules are voluntary, long-time opponent of the use of antibiotics in farm animals, Congresswoman Louise Slaughter commented: “The FDA’s voluntary guidance is an inadequate response to the overuse of antibiotics on the farm with no mechanism for enforcement and no metric for success. “Sadly, this guidance is the biggest step the FDA has taken in a generation to combat the overuse of antibiotics in corporate agriculture, and it falls woefully short of what is needed to address a public health crisis,” she added. Jackie Linden Top image via Shutterstock Policy and Regulatory, General, Antibiotic Share This

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Gene Controlling Flowering Boosts Energy Production from Sorghum A sorghum hybrid that does not flower and accumulates as much as three times the amount of stem and leaf matter may help the bioenergy industry, according to a study appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. A team at Texas AgriLife Research has discovered a gene that regulates sorghum flowering, according to the proceedings. "For energy crops, we want to prevent plants from flowering so they accumulate as much biomass as possible for bioenergy/biofuels production," said Dr. John Mullet, AgriLife Research biochemist. Sorghum is a grass, native to Africa, that provides an indispensable food source for more than 300 million people in countries where food supplies are insecure, according to the paper's authors. They noted that though primarily grown for its grain and forage, high biomass sorghum is also an excellent drought-tolerant energy crop for sustainable production of lignocellulosic-based biofuels. "We were able to identify a gene in sorghum that controls flowering in response to day length, and we discovered that the gene is regulated by the plant's internal 'clock' and light enabling the plant to flower at approximately the same date each growing season," Mullet said. Research team member Rebecca Murphy described "walking along the chromosome" of sorghum using genetic mapping techniques until landing on what she calls Maturity Locus 1, an historically important genetic determinant of flowering time originally discovered by AgriLife Research scientists in 1945. "Flowering time is important for sorghum no matter what type of sorghum is grown," said Murphy, a biochemistry doctoral student at Texas A&M University. "In the case of bioenergy sorghum, you want to delay flowering because the more you delay flowering, the more biomass sorghum will accumulate. "Before this discovery, a sorghum breeder would have to wait for a plant to flower to see what type of flowering time genes were in the sorghum," she said. "Now we will be able at a very early stage to look at the molecular level and determine a plant's flowering type genotype. Then, a breeder can pretty accurately predict flowering time without having to wait for the plant to mature." "Work on understanding how and when sorghum flowers has been studied for decades, Mullet explained. Initially, many sorghum varieties brought to the U.S. from Africa would not flower or flowered too late to develop grain, he said. That made the crop useless for grain production until scientists began breeding plants to flower early enough to avoid drought in the southern states or in time to mature before frost in the north. Early researchers identified four genes – called Ma1 through Ma4 – that control flowering time in sorghum, Mullet said. Until recently, flowering time regulation was important primarily for grain production. However, the more recent search for alternatives to fossil fuels has led to the development of sorghum as a dedicated bioenergy crop. "In this study, we identified the gene in sorghum that corresponds to Ma4-1. There are mutations in that gene in some sorghum genotypes that inactivate the gene causing plants to flower early," Mullet said. "But when the gene is active, the plants flower late. It was a variation in the activity of the gene corresponding to Ma1 that sorghum breeders have been using in breeding programs for years to fine-tune when their hybrids would flower. "Our work connected the initial discovery of Ma1 in the 1940s to the identification of the gene that was regulating when plants would flower." But whether a sorghum plant will flower is not the only catch for using sorghum as a bioenergy crop. Mullet said scientists have long been interested in understanding the fundamental biochemical mechanisms that plants use to determine when to flower. Researchers in the 1920s and 30s began piecing together the impact of day length, calling it photoperiodism, to describe how a plant decides to turn on its flowering mechanism, Mullet said. More recent research demonstrated that plants use an internal clock to keep track of 24-hour time and light sensory to measure the length of the day and night. "The interaction of those two types of information is used by the plant to determine when in a growing season to flower," Mullet said. "We figured out how the plant's internal clock and day length in sorghum co-regulate the expression of the Ma1gene called PRR37 to fine-tune exactly when the plant will induce flowering under different circumstances," Mullet said. "So in a practical sense, we now understand how this gene regulates flowering and this insight is helping us fill in an entire pathway which regulates flowering time in sorghum." Murphy indicated that a planting test of sorghum phenotypes with an active form of Ma1 and other genes in this pathway could be delayed in flowering for up to 200 days compared to the usual 60 days for a grain-type sorghum. "That is a striking difference," she said, showing two 90-day-old plants, one a non-flowering sorghum plant reaching a 10-foot ceiling and the other a typical 3-foot sorghum variety that would yield grain. Mullet explained that breeders "can now use molecular markers to assist in the design of sorghum hybrids that flower at optimal times accelerating the process of breeding high-yielding grain, sweet and energy sorghum hybrids."

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Daily News for December Home > News & Events > Daily News for December > U.S. Government Leaders Visit DuPont Pioneer Share U.S. Government Leaders Visit DuPont Pioneer DuPont News, December 11, 2012 Research Associate Tiffanee Hokel assists Indiana Lieutenant Governor-elect Sue Ellspermann extract a corn embryo from a corn kernel. DuPont Pioneer recently welcomed the executive committee of the U.S. National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA) to the Pioneer Johnston campus. During their visit to Pioneer, the executive committee, including 14 lieutenant governors and lieutenant governors-elect, participated in two panel discussions. The first, entitled “The Century’s Biggest Innovation Challenge: Agriculture,” addressed the challenges of feeding a growing global population with a steady or declining supply of arable land. Panelists included Paul Schickler, DuPont Pioneer president; Dr. Wendy Wintersteen, Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University; and Dan Cosgrove, DuPont Pioneer vice president of business development. The panelists emphasized the importance of global collaboration and innovation to increase agricultural productivity and meet global food demand. In addition to improving global food security, a strong agricultural economy provides states with many benefits, including economic growth and a wide range of job opportunities. The second panel discussion, “A 21st Century Economy Rooted in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics),” featured panelists Pat Barnes, director – Global STEM Initiative, John Deere; Jenny Becker, executive director – community relations and charitable giving, Rockwell Collins; and Kari Webb, STEM regional manager, Iowa Lakes Community College. This session highlighted the strong growth ahead for STEM-related jobs and the shortfall of qualified candidates for those positions. Panelists shared information about their organizations’ efforts to improve and encourage STEM education. After the panel discussions, the executive committee was given an exclusive tour of the Beaver Creek facility, Pioneer’s new $40 million plant genetics research facility, which opened earlier this year. During the tour, the lieutenant governors participated in extracting corn embryos from corn kernels. “Hosting the NLGA executive committee at DuPont Pioneer headquarters was a great opportunity to help government leaders from across the U.S. see the value an innovative agricultural economy brings to a state and understand the importance of working collaboratively to solve the challenges of food security,” said Paul. “We must continue to work with partners at the local, state, federal and international levels to create an environment that encourages agricultural and scientific innovation.” Helpful Links: All Releases | Business/Trade Releases | Corporate News Releases Home > News & Events > Daily News for December > U.S. Government Leaders Visit DuPont Pioneer MSDS Finder

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Farm workers win watershed election in Washington state October 4, 2016 9:01 AM CST By David Bacon Burlington, WA – There is not much love lost between the owners of Sakuma Brothers Farms and Ramon Torres, the president of Familias Unidas por la Justicia. Sakuma Brothers is one of the largest berry growers in Washington state, and Familias Unidas is a grassroots union organized by the company’s workers. Torres used to work in the Sakuma fields. He was fired after the strikes by pickers in 2013 in which the union was formed. This month, on September 12, the workers finally voted in an election to demonstrate what really needed no proof – that they supported the union they formed three years ago. This election is a watershed: Familias Unidas por la Justicia is the first union organized by farm workers in the United States in many years. The balloting took place over four hours at the company office, two hours north of Seattle, surrounded by Sakuma’s blueberry fields. After all the votes had been cast, Torres and a small group of workers and supporters drove over to the polling place to watch the count. A company manager balked, however. The ever. The count couldn’t take place as long as Torres was on the property, he said. After a lot of arguing, the workers retired to a local schoolyard, together with Richard Ahearn, former regional director of the National Labor Relations Board. There, on the tailgate of a pickup belonging to State Senator John McCoy, Ahearn counted the ballots. The result: 195 for the union, and 58 against. Jeff Johnson, who heads the Washington State Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, was part of the workers’ group. “The irony of where the votes were tallied was hard to miss,” he said later. “The majority of students at that elementary school are Latino, Senator McCoy has been a fierce advocate for these workers, and this is as much a public victory as a union victory.” The union is a grassroots organization formed by the pickers themselves, and is led by indigenous Mixtec and Triqui migrants from the southern Mexico states of Oaxaca, Guerrero and Chiapas. A union contract at Sakuma Brothers could give this union the stability and resources needed to make substantial changes in the economic conditions of its own members, and of farm workers across western Washington. Strikes and organizing among agricultural laborers, especially indigenous migrants, has been on the rise all along the Pacific coast over the last several years. The election in Burlington and a new contract will further raise the expectations of thousands of people working in the fields, from northern Mexico to the Canadian border. “This is a new dawn,” Torres said. “When we were celebrating afterwards, people began saying, ‘From now on we know what the future of our children is going to be.'” The union in Burlington won the loyalty of the Sakuma workforce through three picking seasons of strikes and direct action. Almost all of the work stoppages challenged the company over low wages and its methods for calculating the piece rate, in which workers are paid according to the quantity of fruit they pick. Before he was fired in 2013, Torres was chosen by workers as their spokesperson while attempting to set what they considered fair rate: one that would guarantee $14 per hour. “Last year they were paying $10 an hour, which they say is a lot,” said Familias Unidas vice-president Felimon Pineda, a Mixtec picker and former Sakuma employee. “But they demanded fifty pounds per hour to get $10. For five pounds more there was a bonus of $1.50, or $11.50 an hour. Only the workers who work fast could get that, though.” When workers walked out to protest, supervisors called the police to expel Pineda from the field. When the season began this year in June, workers walked out over a piece rate of 24 cents per pound for picking strawberries. In August, FUJ members in Sakuma blueberry fields walked out again. A day earlier, workers explained, management was paying 60 cents per pound, and then lowered the price to 56 cents. During all the walkouts, workers also demanded that Sakuma sign a union contract. “People are tired of low pay,” Torres said, “but that’s not all of it. Many come up from California for the harvest, getting here broke with no guarantee they’ll get a room in the labor camp, and the conditions are bad there anyway. People feel humiliated, and denied basic respect.” A 35-member union committee of workers in the field organized the walk-outs. In addition, the union has another 25-member committee shaping anger over conditions into proposals for a union contract. In 2013, Sakuma’s owners seemed willing to negotiate with the workers, but when those talks failed to raise piece rates, the new union launched a boycott of the company’s berries. The boycott initially focused on local sales under Sakuma Brothers’ own label. But soon the workers discovered that Sakuma was selling berries through one of the largest agricultural marketers in the country, Driscoll Strawberry Associates, or Driscoll’s. Driscoll’s is the largest berry distributor in the world. It does not grow its own berries, but controls berry production by contracted farmers. It has contracted growers in several countries, and has received loans guaranteeing foreign investment from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, a U.S. government agency. Marketing berries has become highly monopolized. Four shippers control one-third of all blueberry shipments in the United States. During the peak season, Driscoll’s moves 3.8 million pounds of fruit daily, and up to 80 percent of the fruit is shipped on the same day it’s received from growers. Sakuma Brothers has been supplying berries to Driscoll’s for 25 years. An extremely positive company profile on the front page of the business section of The New York Times the day before the Sakuma election (and which did not mention the boycott, the election, labor strife, or even the farm workers themselves who produce Driscoll’s berries) announced Driscoll’s new national marketing campaign. While the company wouldn’t tell the Times how much it was spending, the article estimated that similar campaigns spend $10-20 million on advertising. “The public will get an introduction to the people Driscoll’s calls its Joy Makers-agronomists, breeders, sensory analysts, plant pathologists and entomologists who will explain how the company creates its berries,” the article enthused. Rosalinda Guillen, director of Community2Community, a farm worker cooperative and advocacy organization in Bellingham, says Driscoll’s image burnishing actually made it more vulnerable to a boycott. “It made the company more exposed, because of the way it markets itself,” she explained. Guillen started helping farm workers organize unions in Washington over two decades ago, and spent several years with the United Farm Workers in California. When the strikes first erupted at Sakuma Brothers in 2013, workers called her in to help plan strategy and organize support. Starting in the area between Seattle and Burlington, the workers urged students and progressive community activists to set up boycott committees and begin picketing supermarkets, and asked shoppers not to buy Driscoll’s berries. As that activity increased, Torres and several workers and supporters made a trip down the west coast this spring, setting up more committees as they went. “I wouldn’t say (the boycott) is threatening the survival of the farm. I would say it’s an annoyance,” Sakuma spokesman Roger van Oosten claimed earlier this year. Maybe so, but the company started to feel the effects of labor pressure. It had to give $87,160 in retroactive pay to pickers who worked in 2014, after a court ruled piece-rate workers must be paid separately for ten-minute rest breaks. And in a 2013 class-action lawsuit brought by two Sakuma workers alleging pay violations, Sakuma settled out of court by paying 408 workers $500,000 and their lawyers $350,000. Driscoll’s image also took a hit after a strike organized by pickers in the San Quintin Valley of Baja California in 2015, when as many as 60,000 farm workers stopped work and confronted heavy police repression. Last year these workers also decided to organize an independent union, and announced their support for a Driscoll’s boycott. The area’s largest grower, BerryMex, is owned by the Reiter family, which also owns Driscoll’s. Sakuma Farms and BerryMex aren’t just connected by a common distributor, Driscoll’s, but by the workforce that picks the berries. Agricultural labor in virtually all the berry fields on the Pacific Coast comes from the stream of indigenous migrants from southern Mexico. “We are all part of a movement of indigenous people,” Pineda says. “In San Quentin the majority of people are indigenous, and speak Mixteco, Zapoteco, Triqui, and Nahuatl. Their strike movement is indigenous. Everyone involved in our union in Washington is indigenous also.” As a result, the movement of workers is as much a protest against anti-indigenous racism as it is about low wages. “No matter if you’re from Guatemala or Honduras, Chiapas or Guerrero – the right to be human is for everyone,” Pineda added. “But sometimes people see us as being very low. They think we have no rights. They’re wrong. The right to be human is the same. There should be respect for all.” In Guillen’s view, “indigenous culture plays a huge role, especially people’s collective decision-making process. The strong bonds of culture and language create an ability for the union to grow stronger.” Workers were also hardened, she believes, by the strikes. “The strikes were the only way to present the company with their grievances,” she explained, “and gave farm workers the sense that by acting together with community support they could actually win something. New workers joined in every time. A few people got fired, but they didn’t fall away, and kept supporting the organization.” In May this upsurge among indigenous farm workers erupted in California as well. Over 400 farm workers in McFarland, in the San Joaquin Valley, walked out of the fields at another grower protesting low wages and company abuse. The farm’s owner, the Klein Management Company, produces clamshell boxes of blueberries sold under the Gourmet Trading Company label. “The majority of the people here are from Oaxaca-Mixtecos and Zapotecos,” explained Paulino Morelos, who comes from Putla, a town in Oaxaca. At the beginning of the blueberry-picking season in April, the company was paying pickers 95 cents per pound. By mid-May, the price had dropped to 70 cents, and then 65 cents. Finally, the company announced it was dropping it again, to 60 cents. Workers refused to go in to pick. After leaving the fields, workers approached the United Farm Workers, which filed a petition for a union election. The union won by a vote of 347 to 68. Winning an election is one thing, but negotiating a contract is another. Familias Unidas por la Justicia called off their boycott when Sakuma Brothers agreed to an election followed by negotiations. But the boycott threat is still a powerful motive for reaching agreement.The union and Sakuma also settled on a mechanism for making a contract even more likely. According to the AFL-CIO’s Jeff Johnson, “the memorandum of agreement negotiated by labor attorney Kathy Barnard has a date certain for the conclusion of bargaining, after which if an agreement isn’t reached, the offers will be submitted to arbitration, with the arbiter choosing one proposal to prevail.” California has a law, called mandatory mediation, with virtually the same arrangement. Signed into law in 2002, it has been used by the UFW to get contracts at several large companies. This law, however, is now on appeal before the state’s Supreme Court, challenged by Gerawan Farms in Fresno, one of the world’s largest peach growers. “But the first place we had any arrangement like that was here in Washington, even before California,” Guillen says. She and other organizers came up with it to help workers win a contract at Washington’s largest wine company, Chateau St. Michelle. That contract was signed in 1995, and is still in force today. The AFL-CIO’s Jeff Johnson welcomed Familias Unidas into the Washington State Labor Federation last year, which helped gain the cooperation of Richard Ahearn in administering the election. As a retired director of the National Labor Relations Board, his participation highlighted another irony. Farm workers (along with domestic workers) were excluded from the National Labor Relations Act in 1937, which set up the union election process for other workers. California is still the only state with a law establishing such a process for farm worker unions (and recently passed a law ending the exclusion of farm workers from the overtime rights other workers have as well). Torres, Pineda, Guillen and the FUJ workers all expect that their movement will move beyond Sakuma Brothers. “We already have members in other ranches,” Torres said, “who want the same things we do.” At the same time, however, growers are increasingly searching for a low wage workforce impervious to unionization, through the expansion of guest worker programs. Sakuma Brothers itself tried this tactic in 2013 and 2014. In 2013 the company brought about 70 migrants to the U.S. under H2-A work visas. This Federal program allows growers to recruit workers outside the country for periods of less than a year, after which the workers must return to their country of origin. Guest workers who lose their jobs by offending their employer or not working fast enough have to leave the country. That makes joining a union or protesting conditions extremely risky for them. Growers can only use the program, however, if they can claim they can’t find local workers. After the 2013 strikes, Sakuma sent strikers form letters saying they’d been fired for not working, and then told the U.S. Department of Labor it couldn’t find any local workers. It applied for H2A work visas for 468 guest workers, enough to replace its entire workforce. Strikers all signed letters to DoL saying they were willing to work, and the company eventually had to withdraw its application. While Sakuma Farms gave up its guest worker plan, at least for the moment, other agricultural employers in Washington have increased the number of H2A workers drastically. The Washington Farm Labor Association, according to Alex Galarza of the Northwest Justice Project, brought in about 2000 workers in 2006. In 2013, the year FUJ was formed, the number rose to 4000. Last year it exploded to 11,000, and may reach 16,000 for 2016. Almost all the migrant workers who make up Familias Unidas have been living in the U.S. for many years, however. They cannot go back to Mexico, or cross the border to return to the U.S. They are at the northern end of a migrant journey that took many, like Pineda, through San Quintin or the other agricultural valleys of northern Mexico years ago. About half live in California, and come to Washington for the harvest every year. But Pineda and an increasing number are settling in Washington for good. Organizing the union at Sakuma Brothers is part of putting down roots in northern Washington. “This is the end of the road for them,” Guillen explains. “There’s no place else to go. Workers won this election because they know what they want. They have families here, and are looking for a better future for their kids. It’s not a temporary job for them. They’re part of this community.” Photo: Felimon Piñeda, vice-president of Familias Unidas por la Justicia, speaks to farm workers and their supporters in front of the office of Sakuma Farms. | David Bacon Tags: Environment David Bacon is a California-based photojournalist. See his website for more of his work.

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What is a Firecracker Plant? Watching fireworks is a popular way to celebrate the Fourth of July. Firecracker plants attract butterflies. Several plants enjoy the common name of “firecracker plant,” but this name is most commonly used in reference to Russelia equisetiformis, a Mexican native grown in tropical to subtropical regions all over the world. This plant is named for the colorful waterfall of foliage and flowers that do indeed superficially resemble an exploding firecracker. Nurseries may carry firecracker plant seedlings and it is also possible to grow them from seeds, which may be obtained through gardening exchanges and catalogs. The firecracker plant produces long, trailing, wiry stems and foliage, topped with tubular red flowers. The plants will bloom through the summer and into the fall in a favorable climate, and while they die back slightly during the winter, they return in spring. Firecracker plants are excellent bedding and specimen plants, and they can also be grown in containers. The drooping foliage can make them very attractive for hanging containers. Also known as fountain plant or coral plant, firecracker plant is very frost tender, and grows best between United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) zones nine through 11. Outside this range, it may be possible to cultivate the shrub as an annual, although it will not have a chance to get very large before it dies off from the cold. Another option is to grow the plant in a container indoors or in a sheltered area during the winter, and to bring it out during the summer months. Ad Full sun, well-drained soil, and neutral pH are recommended for growing conditions. While the firecracker plant is drought tolerant and can cope with dry climates, it prefers to be watered deeply on a relatively regular basis. Watering should be done in the morning or evening to avoid damaging the plant and losing water to evaporation during the heat of the day. Because these plants tend to attract butterflies, bees, birds, and other visitors, people may want to position them in an area where they can be readily seen, to make wildlife easier to spot. Over time, a firecracker plant can develop a leggy appearance and a balding spot in the middle of the plant. Pruning will help the plant retain a more compact, aesthetically pleasing shape. The plants will also reseed themselves, allowing gardeners to slowly replace older plants with younger, healthier, more compact plants. Good companion plantings include larger shrubs and trees as background plantings to offset the dramatic foliage and flowers. Ad What Are the Different Types of Herbaceous Plant? What is a Red Buckeye? What is a Crown of Thorns Plant? What is a Mosquito Plant? What is a Mother-In-Law's Tongue? What is Dorstenia? What is a Cast Iron Plant? FirstBase @sobeit - There are so many to choose from, but stick with the native plants in your area. A few perennials I have had success with are pineland lantana, sea lavender, Florida phlox and milkweed -- monarch butterflies love milkweed!I love the look of rich, lush ferns and all the flowers blooming. Good luck! sobeit I've been looking for more plants to use in a butterfly garden! This is great, I didn't realize this plant was a good one for zone 10. Does anyone know of other perennial plants to use in a butterfly garden this far south? chrysalis The firecracker plant is definitely one you want to place carefully in a garden. It's a tropical plant that grows pretty large, one of mine is about 3 feet tall. It spreads like wildfire, too. I have to keep pulling up the volunteers and replacing them in appropriate spaces. They are beautiful, though. Post your comments

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History of Organic Gardening This is a system of gardening in which organic products (derived from organisms which have had life) are used to maintain and increase soil fertility. Until the nineteenth century gardeners relied almost solely on organic wastes for manuring the garden soil. Animal dung was extensively used in Europe. The art of mixing animal and vegetable wastes together and the fermentation of the mixture in heaps developed in various parts of the world—notably in China. Justus von Liebig, the German chemist and discoverer of chloroform (1803-1873), suggested that plants might feed on chemical compounds and the world-wide application of factory-made chemical plant foods to farm and garden soils has resulted from von Liebig's correct hypothesis. Between 1840 and 1940 the use of chemical fertilizers, known as `artificials', became an almost unquestioned garden practice. The belief was current that to obtain maximum yields it was necessary but to lime, where lime was needed, and to fertilize the soil with appropriate quantities each season of suitable chemicals containing nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). The German philosopher, Dr Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), questioned the wisdom of the NPK theory and originated the bio-dynamic method of organic gardening. At around the same time Sir Albert Howard (1873-1947) was experimenting in India in an attempt to produce a cheap manure for use by the Indian farmer. It was in India that Sir Albert perfected his Indore (not indoor) way of composting animal and vegetable wastes. Applications of Indore compost not only led to excellent crops but important side-effects were observed. Food plants growing in Indore-composted soil showed unexpected, healthy vigor. Cattle fed on the healthy crops became robust and, like the plants, they showed resistance to some diseases. Sir Albert Howard's book, An Agricultural Testament, was hardly noticed by leading horticulturists of the day. The book has since revolutionized the horticultural scene. Knowledgeable gardeners now accept as an axiom that garden compost replaces horse dung and farmyard manure as a source of plant foods and as a soil improver. Not all gardeners reject the NPK theory entirely. Those who do are known as organic gardeners. They seldom, if ever, use `artificials' claiming that they have no need to buy factory products when by the use of garden compost first-class crops are obtained. The organic gardener expects his growing plants to have the robust health, noted by Sir Albert Howard during his experimental work, and has no use in his garden for chemical sprays and powders for controlling plant pests and diseases. The practice of organic gardening presupposes that the gardener has some knowledge of horticulture. Exponents of this ancient method, combining a modern approach, rightly insist that no gardening technique, however good, can lead to optimum results unless basic horticultural principles are understood. They also add that it is impossible to state accurately how quickly a garden soil may be renovated and brought to a high state of fertility by organic methods. Much depends on the soil type, on its condition when the experiment begins and also on the amount of suitable organic matter added. During the transition period it may be necessary to buy and use some chemical products; this is the view of an author of a standard work on organic gardening. In the view of defenders of organic gardening the NPK era was an erroneous, short, but extremely dangerous period in mankind's history. Organizations based on the work of Dr Steiner and Sir Albert Howard exist in many countries. Their vociferous demand that waste materials should not be dissipated but used to improve and maintain soil fertility is heeded in most parts of the world. The relationship between unadulterated food and good health, prevention of soil and water pollution, prevention of soil erosion and the conservation of many natural resources are among the subjects which concern such organizations. This is in addition to their primary interest in the production of healthy, health-giving food crops from the farm and garden. Cities as far apart as Edinburgh, Tel Aviv, Bangkok and Moscow now make and supply municipal compost from town wastes. Contact Us :: Site Map :: Privacy Policy

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Quantifying corn rootworm damage December 10, 2012 Every year farmers spend a lot of money trying to control corn rootworm larvae, which are a significant threat to maize production in the United States and, more recently, in Europe. University of Illinois researchers have been working on validating a model for estimating damage functions. Nicholas Tinsley, a doctoral candidate in crop sciences, has refined a model developed in 2009 by researchers at the University of Wisconsin and in Brescia, Italy, to describe the relationship between root injury caused by these pests and yield loss. He used the equivalent of 19 years of data collected by personnel from the Insect Management and Insecticide Evaluation Program in the U of I Department of Crop Sciences. "Every year we evaluate a number of different management tactics for corn rootworm; these include soil insecticides and Bt traits," Tinsley explained. "We do that at a number of different locations on university research farms." Tinsley took more than 7,000 data points from field crop insect management trials at Urbana, Perry, Monmouth, and DeKalb for 2005-2011. These trials measured root injury on a 0-3 node-injury scale and mechanically harvested the center two rows of each plot after the crop reached maturity to calculate yield. The results suggested that yield was reduced by 15 percent for each node of roots lost. Two components had a statistically significant effect variance in the data–location and experimental error. Year had no significant effect. Tinsley attributes the location effect to differences in weather characteristics and in soil type. "The larva doesn't really burrow through the soil, it exploits existing soil pores. If you have smaller soil pores, it's not able to navigate through the soil and find those roots very well," he said. The large experimental error indicates that a significant amount of the variability remains unexplained. Tinsley said that this is not surprising considering that yield and proportional yield loss in the experiments varied considerably, probably due to differences among hybrids in yield potential and response to environmental conditions. Other factors that may have contributed to the variability include planting date, planting population, crop emergence, moisture at harvest, and management tactics. "This not a model that a farmer can use to say, 'What is my yield loss going to be like this year?'" said Tinsley. "You just don't know what some of these things that are affecting the error are going to do." The model may, however, be useful to help economists to estimate the effect of corn rootworm. "That's when a model like this can become really handy," he continued. Tinsley said that further directions for this research include developing collaborations with other states. "If we extend to the western Corn Belt where it may be drier, we might start to see differences between two different regions in the relationship," he said. Another direction is to explicitly model heat stress and moisture stress into the model, perhaps as a covariate. Such an analysis would look at the effects of combinations of factors. "For example, if I have one node of roots destroyed but I have 10 inches of moisture stress, what's going to happen as compared to what happens if I have one node of root injury but no moisture stress," he explained. He noted that many studies have demonstrated that often, when there is neither moisture stress nor excessive heat stress, the injury from corn rootworm does not result in significant yield loss. Another factor to consider is lodging, when plants with root injury fall over. Lodged plants are very difficult to harvest. "Under certain circumstances, you can have not very much root injury but a lot of lodging and big yield losses," Tinsley said. "Under other circumstances, you can have what seems to be a lot of root injury but if there are no big storms and you don't have any lodging, there may be no yield loss." Future collaborations in the development of this damage function may include lodging in the model. Explore further: The 5 Ws of corn production The article, "The validation of a nested error component model to estimate damage cause by corn rootworm larvae," was published in Journal of Applied Entomology, which is available online at onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1439-0418.2012.01736.x/abstract

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Un-Earthed: Is Monsanto’s Glyphosate Destroying The Soil? 2589Readers Blog Food and Health Genetically Engineered Foods March 7, 2015 Readers: 433 Facebook Twitter Google+ PinterestBy Sayer Ji • Originally posted on GreenMedInfo.com “The nation that destroys its soil, destroys itself.” — Franklin Delano Roosevelt “If we have declared a war against the soil itself, then we are literally committing a species level suicide.” — Dr. Vandana Shiva In light of this quote, had Monsanto been around during Roosevelt’s time, he would not have taken too kindly to their business strategy. After all, in 2007, 176 million lbs of an extremely toxic herbicide known as glyphosate,1 first created by Monsanto, was sprayed onto the soil (and everything standing between it) in this country, with untold environmental and human health fallout. Untold, that is, until now… Roundup (Glyphosate): The Science Vs. Marketing 2011 was a watershed year, as far as scientific revelations into the nature and extent of the damage associated with glyphosate-based herbicide usage and exposure is concerned. An accumulating body of peer-reviewed and published research now indicates glyphosate may be contributing to several dozen adverse health effects in exposed populations. And as we shall see, human exposure is as universal as is the contamination of our food, air, rain and groundwater with this now ubiquitous chemical. Ever since Monsanto developed, marketed and patented the glyphosate molecule — Roundup (®) herbicide’s active ingredient — beginning in the early 70’s, a substantial and ever-growing portion of the earth’s arable surface has been transformed into an environmental and human health experiment, of unprecedented scale. Non-industry funded human research on glyphosate exposure is only now being performed, and the preliminary picture being painted isn’t very pretty. Recent experimental research found that exceedingly small concentrations of glyphosate (450-fold lower than used in agricultural applications) induce DNA damage in human cells. Given these findings, it is likely that the widespread adoption of GM agriculture has and will continue to result in massive collateral health damage; the fall-out of which we are only beginning to understand, and yet which we are all no doubt are already experiencing, mostly subclinically. Roundup Ready (®) (glyphosate resistant) genetically modified (GM) plants (also created by Monsanto) now constitute 70% of all genetically modified food plants on the market today.2 This has required the use of increasingly larger quantities of glyphosate-based herbicides in the regions where these plants are cultivated, making human exposures inevitable, and now simply a question of to what degree. Despite manufacturers’ claims, pest resistance to GM crops and commonly used herbicides, are becoming a serious problem, and companies like Dow Agrosciences are seizing the opportunity with newly created GM crops that are ‘three herbicide” resistant, requiring the future use of even more toxic combinations and greater quantities of herbicides in America’s farmlands, including 2,4 D, a chemical once used in Agent Orange. Glyphosate is now contaminating groundwater in vast subterranean stretches in areas directly and indirectly exposed to the application of this agrichemical; a finding that runs contrary to manufacturer’s claims that glyphosate is readily “biodegradable” and even “makes the soil cleaner,” which it does not. Moreover, one 2011 study found glyphosate in 60-100% of all US air and rain samples tested, indicating that glyphosate pollution and exposure is now omnipresent in the regions within which it is applied. It is one thing to know that when you consume GM food, you are ingesting glyphosate residues (and secondary chemical metabolites) — at least, as a consumer you always have a choice (economics permitting) of buying explicitly labeled non-GMO, certified organic food. It is another thing to know that simply engaging in necessary biological functions, such as breathing or consuming water, will result in exposure to albeit minute, and yet nonetheless toxicologically relevant and measurable concentrations of this chemical. Where, then, do we draw the line? Is this a form of chemical assault, or simply collateral damage in the agricultural war against pests? One thing is for sure: Roundup-ready plants are, through their inherent design, destroying the biodiversity upon which our existence depends. Monoculturing itself, as the name implies, involves selecting one plant, or a few chosen “ones,” out of the tens of thousands that once occupied a pre-agricultural habitat, and renaming all other non-target plants as “other” or “weeds,” requiring their destruction. Monoculturing and genetic engineering have transformed what were once unimaginably biodiverse and vast habitats, into agrichemical-saturated wastelands, with half-living, chemically-assaulated GM plants just holding on for dear life by a human-held string, until harvest time. And yet, the more fundamental and unrecoverable problem may be what has happened to the soil itself during this process of GM farming. It takes approximately 1,000 years for the earth to produce (on its own) a 2.5 inch thick layer of fertile soil. And yet, it may take only a single application of Roundup to irreversibly alter the microbial populations within the soil — much in the same way that a single round of antibiotics may seriously and irreversibly alter your gut flora for the rest of your life. New research published in the journal Current Microbiology indicates that Roundup herbicide (®) is having a negative impact on the microbiodiversity of the soil, including microorganisms of food interest, and specifically those found in raw and fermented foods. Microbiodiversity is essential for the global health of our planet. The metabolic activity of microorganisms participate quite literally “at the root” of the nitrogen, phosphate, oxygen and carbon cycles, and are therefore indispensable for the health of the entire biosphere. They are also the most numerous inhabitants in the web of life. There are an estimated 6000000000000000000000000000000 (6 x 10 to the 30th power) bacterial cells on the planet, and soil microrganisms represent about 50% of the the total biodiversity in terms of numbers of species. Soil organisms include fungi, and the mycellium which is technically the largest organism in the world, and have a special importance to the health of this planet. According to mycologist Paul Stamets, the mycellium may in fact be the “Earth’s natural internet,” a means through which species unrelated in genetic and geographic time and space may communicate with one another, effectively acting like a neural network within the biosphere. These microorganisms (and especially fungi, to which we are more closely related than bacteria) also contain information buried deep within their DNA on the evolution of the tree of life; if destroyed, undiscovered parts of ourselves will no doubt also perish. This new study found that adverse changes in selected food microorganisms, including death and growth inhibition, were observed at lower concentrations of Roundup exposure than those recommended in agriculture. Researchers also confirmed previous findings that adjuvants or so-called “inactive” ingredients in Roundup formulations were, in some cases, more toxic than the active ingredient itself, namely, glyphosate. These findings may explain why certain species of Lactobacillus bulgaricus, used in milk production, such as the subspecies Lactobacillus cremoris, have been difficult to isolate from the dairy environment in some geographic areas. It is likely that the use of pesticides, herbicides and biodiversity reduction (plant varieties in pasture) has contributed to the loss and endangerment of a key species used as a food-starter. When microbial biodiversity in the soil is reduced or altered, so too will that of the plants, all the way up the food chain to the grazing animals, and ultimately the human perched precariously atop the food chain, whose body contains 100 trillion bacteria that come directly or indirectly from the soil. Glyphosate has been shown in a wide range of other ecotoxicological studies to negatively impact the complex interactions of microbial groups, their biochemical activity and root growth, and subsequently having detrimental effects on plant growth and productivity. Glyphosate also alters microbial populations through changing the pH of the soil, and directly inhibits and/or kills certain soil organisms, while also encouraging the growth of other, potentially less beneficial organisms — again, not unlike the effect antibiotics have on the human gut flora microecology. It is instructive to listen to those who have reflected deeply on the nature and significance of soil, in order to understand how the biotech/chemical corporation co-option of our global food production system has comprised the health and wellbeing of all future human and non-human generations: “Essentially, all life depends upon the soil … There can be no life without soil and no soil without life; they have evolved together.” ~ Charles E. Kellogg, USDA Yearbook of Agriculture, 1939 “…the Latin name for man, homo, derived from humus, the stuff of life in the soil.” ~ Dr. Daniel Hillel “We know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot.” ~ Leonardo DaVinci, circa 1500s “Probably more harm has been done to the science by the almost universal attempts to look upon the soil merely as a producer of crops than as a natural body worth in and for itself of all the study that can be devoted to it, than most men realize.” ~ C.F. Marbut, 1920 Please Don’t Sit Idle; Act Now! Given how the fate of the soil, is our own fate, we can no longer stand by as distant observers as the modern, biotech and chemical company-driven food system grinds onward towards inevitable ecological collapse. It is time we occupy our food system with our forks and pocketbooks. NOT buying GMO food is a first and necessary step. Get involved! Contact your congressmen and women. Join Food Activism and Awareness groups. Support your local growers, or become one yourself! Spread information like this educate, enlighten and empower! 1 Technical Announcement: Widely Used Herbicide Commonly Found in Rain and Streams in the Mississippi River Basin, USGS, 8.29.2011 2 Effects of Roundup(®) and Glyphosate on Three Food Microorganisms: Geotrichum candidum, Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus. Curr Microbiol. 2012 Feb 24. Facebook Twitter Google+ Pinterest Sayer Ji is an author and educator, a Board of Governor for the National Health Federation, Steering Committee Member of the Global GMO Free Coalition (GGFC), and founder of Greenmedinfo.com. Join their free newsletter here.

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Gov. appoints 10 to livestock standards board Written by Larry Limpf April 08, 2010 Hits: 1163 ShareGovernor Ted Strickland has appointed 10 persons to the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board – a panel created by the passage last year of an amendment to the state constitution. The governor’s appointments include: Tony Forshey, a veterinarian with the Ohio Department of Agriculture; Leon Weaver, owner/operator of Bridgewater Dairy; Jeff Wuebker, a farm owner and president of the Ohio Soybean Association; Bobby Moser, dean of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at the Ohio State University; Jeffrey LeJeune, associate professor of Food and Animal Health Science at the agricultural research and development center at the Ohio State University; Harold Dates, president of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Cincinnati; Jerry Lahmers, a veterinarian and family farm owner; Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks; Robert Cole, a former official with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Stacey Atherton, co-owner of a farm and member of Ohio Dairy Producers and Ohio Farm Bureau. Robert Boggs, director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, is to be chairman of the board. The speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives and president of the Ohio Senate will also each appoint someone to the 13-member board. The board is charged with establishing standards of animal care for the department of agriculture, subject to the authority of the state legislature. Board members are to consider factors such as best agricultural management practices, bio-security, animal morbidity and mortality data, food safety, and the protection of local, affordable food supplies for consumers. While the governor was considering his appointments, a coalition of animal rights groups was pressing on with a campaign to gather 600,000 signatures for a ballot issue that would set additional regulations for the board. Ohioans for Humane Farms held rallies last month in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Toledo to kick off their campaign. Organizers said the measure, if passed, would improve conditions for veal calves, breeding pigs, egg-laying hens that are confined in restrictive cages and crates. It would allow the board six years to implement new standards. Prior to the passage last November of Issue 2, which established the livestock care standards board, the Humane Society of the United States had been holding discussions with representatives of Ohio agri-business. But those talks fell through and when the Ohio Farm Bureau and other agriculture organizations convinced lawmakers to place the issue on the ballot, the Humane Society called it a “handout to big agri-business interests” in the state. Supporters of Issue 2 called it a flexible mechanism to address animal care issues. Prev Next No results found. Newspaper

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USDA to require livestock ID MONDAY, AUG. 9, 2010 By Matt Volz HELENA – Federal officials looking to head off livestock disease outbreaks are drafting regulations that would require farmers to identify animals that move across state lines. The aim is to reduce illness and deaths by making it easier for officials to trace brucellosis, tuberculosis and other diseases to a particular group of animals, location and time. The regulations are expected to be implemented in 2013. “A voluntary system has not worked so far, and that’s why the USDA has gone back to the drawing board and created a system that relies much more strongly on compulsory or mandatory identification instead of voluntary,” said Marty Zaluski, a Montana veterinarian and a member of the USDA working group drafting the new rules. Last year, more than 19 million of the nation’s 30 million beef cows and 9 million dairy cows crossed state lines. Data from 2006 and 2007 show that only 28 percent of the nation’s adult cattle had any form of official identification that would allow them to be tracked, said David Morris of the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. States will have authority to decide how to track livestock moving within their own borders, but they will be accountable to the federal government for the system they choose. Besides dealing only in interstate commerce, the new federal regulation would also require animals to have a certificate of health from a veterinarian – with some yet-undefined exceptions. The USDA is holding a series of public meetings on the proposed regulations and plans to have a draft rule ready in April 2011. Published: Aug. 9, 2010, midnight There is one comment on this story »

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European Agriculture: Its Time for a Revolution The hope for a form of European agriculture that is more attentive to the environment, both for taxpayers and for those who produce in a sustainable way, has recently suffered a setback. Last week Brussels took a definitive step backwards in the procedures that will give us the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 2014, the instrument with which the future of our food will be decided. It is not easy to explain to the common man what is happening, but it is fundamental to try. For the last 50 years the CAP has taken over almost half of the European budget, our money. Its reform is the chance to change a paradigm, towards a form of agriculture that is less oriented towards productivism and more respectful of territories, natural resources, farmers and citizens. To date, harmful agricultural practices that destroy the fertility of the land, the environment, the landscape, the intergenerational transmission and biodiversity have been favored, which is profoundly unfair toward the poorest third world countries. And thus Europeans have found themselves, many unconsciously, supporting harmful production methods for which they are paying twice: once for subsidies and again to repair the damages of these destructive agricultural practices. In short, the old CAP has been a disaster. On January 23 and 24, the European Parliament’s Agricultural Committee (COMAGRI), voted on the amendments to the proposal for the CAP reform which was presented more than a year ago. They decided to block, impoverish or cancel the majority of measures which were put in place to improve the sustainability of our food production system. Now its up to the various governments which, in February, will decide the new budget dedicated to the CAP. More importantly, the European Parliament in March will still be able to correct the path that we have taken thus far, but they must act. For example, there is the possibility of introducing so-called “greening” measures, those dedicated to the environment. The largest part of the CAP’s budget has almost always been determined by a company’s surface area. Over time this has led to the rewarding of the largest companies that generally are not the most attentive to sustainability. Greening, on the other hand, would be revolutionary in its own small way: it would force even the largest companies to enact sustainable practices. Rather, with the amendments that were voted on last week they have made greening “flexible”, taking it apart piece by piece and thus creating so many loopholes as to render it useless. They have transformed greening into greenwashing: a mere cleaning up of the façade. With the new standards 82% of European companies would be exempted from these obligatory eco-friendly practices, and many other critical points as well. For example, companies would have the possibility of being paid twice for a single type of environmental measure, and the obligation to reserve seven percent of the company’s surface area for ecological purposes would be reduced to a mere three percent. In the end there are too many negative elements that outweigh the few good things that have been kept, like incentives for young people who decide to enter the agricultural business, the introduction of a cap of € 300,000 on subsidies for the largest land holders and a better definition of “active agriculture”, which helps to avoid the financing of places like airports and golf courses. From March 11 to 14 the European Parliament will have the historic opportunity to reverse course and therefore we must put pressure on our deputies so that they don’t make the mistake of supporting that old paradigm that awards those who produce in the worst way and that is certainly not in our collective interests. It is not right to dedicate public resources to the benefit of the few. A European mobilization has begun, which Slow Food is a part of, named “Go M.A.D.”. Through this tool we can contact our members of parliament and explain to them how important the assembly in March will be. Citizens can become protagonists in this debate and it will be of the utmost importance for us all to participate. At stake is the future of our food, the places where we live and our very well being. Slow Food President Article first published in La Repubblica on January 29, 2013. Photo: Alberto Peroli

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New certified premium P.E.I. beef brand launched Increased sales and premium prices to cattle producers predicted Jim Day jday@theguardian.pe.ca Published on July 9, 2013 X Friends Name * Friends Email * Comments Brian Morrison, co-chair of the P.E.I. Cattle Producers, displays some of the tasty beef creations served following the launch Tuesday in Charlottetown of a new certified premium P.E.I. beef brand. Guardian photo A new certified brand of Island beef is being billed as a game changer for a P.E.I. industry long looking to reverse poor fortune. Chef Austin Clement, chair of the P.E.I. Culinary Alliance, predicts the new brand launched Tuesday will increase sales of local beef and return premium prices to cattle producers. Prince Edward Island Certified Beef will provide a premium to farmers, reflecting the extra care and attention that goes into raising each animal. Several factors are heralded in producing the certified beef characterized by its unique marbling, texture and colour, including the beef cattle being raised on P.E.I. family farms, the animals fed only high-quality grass, grains, potatoes and other vegetables, the meat being federally graded AA or higher as well as third party certified by the Department of Agriculture and Forestry. The new certified brand is a joint initiative of the P.E.I. Culinary Alliance, P.E.I. Cattle Producers, the Atlantic Beef Products Plant and the departments of Agriculture and Forestry and Innovation and Advanced Learning. The Culinary Alliance is working with Pearse Dolan of Dolan Foods to distribute the brand to high-end restaurants and specialty shops in central and western Canada. Dolan told The Guardian that bringing a premium product to market is always a hurdle. “With a brand like this, what you are going up against is products that are already established out there,’’ he says. “Probably the most prominent would be the certified Angus beef which is a big program out of the United States.” Still, Dolan describes the P.E.I. premium beef as a unique product with the strongest potential markets lying in big population areas of Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. “When you think about P.E.I. beef,’’ he says, “you’re thinking about the environment: the cattle are growing up in the sea salt air, the iron soil — these are all attributes to a program that make it better and better.’’ Brian Morrison, co-chair of the P.E.I. Cattle Producers, hopes all of the approximately 450 cattle producers on Prince Edward Island tap into this initiative. “It may not be all of their production but it can be a part of their production,’’ he adds. “I certainly can’t say that it is the silver bullet that is going to save everyone, but we hope that it’s a future for the people that are left. And we certainly...hope that younger producers and new producers will come back on line and see the value in our brand and in our product. “Taste is what’s going to sell our beef,’’ adds Morrison, “and if we can consistently give them a good-tasting product, we are going to have our market.’’ Morrison, who operates a 500-head feedlot in Summerside with his family, hopes to have all of his production moved into the certified premium beef program within one year. He acknowledges that the beef industry has had a rough run since BSE (more commonly known as mad cow disease) reared its ugly head in Canada in 2003. Since then, the number of cattle producers in P.E.I. has been sliced in half. “It’s been a struggle for everyone: lower prices (for beef), high commodity prices for feed,’’ he says. “So the beef industry has been struggling.’’ While the new certified P.E.I. beef brand is not the only initiative moving forward, Morrison describes the program as the “top-end initiative.’’ He adds that the Atlantic Beef Products Plant, which has experienced much more financial hardship than success since opening in Albany in 2005, has made “huge strides and changes’’ in the past year or so that has helped stabilize the cattle industry in the province. ×

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India's Farmers Start to Mechanize Amid a Labor Shortage Move Increases Productivity and Provides Opportunities for Manufacturers An Indian labor shortage has created opportunity for farm-equipment makers. Shown, a wheat field in Punjab. Biman Mukherji NEW DELHI—Each fall at harvest time, Leela Dhar Rajput used to hire 25 farm hands to work from dawn to dusk every day for a week bringing in the rice crop on his 20 acres of land in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. This year, he plans to use a combine harvester instead. With the machine and the help of two or three men, he expects to finish the job in a single day. Indian agriculture is belatedly engaged in a mechanical revolution, boosting productivity in a sector that has long relied on cheap, surplus labor to tend crops in the world's second most populous country. Job opportunities in factories and services, plus the government's rural job-creation program guaranteeing 100 days of employment a year on public-works projects, have drained the pool of workers in villages. "I just can't find enough people to do the hard work in the fields anymore," says Mr. Rajput, 48 years old, whose farm is Madhya Pradesh. The labor shortage has created a potentially vast opportunity for farm-equipment makers in one of the last major bastions of old-fashioned cultivation. Second-quarter tractor sales in India rose around 25% from a year earlier. For the year ending March 31, New Delhi-based research firm Crisil predicts sales will rise 18%. And international companies such as Deere & Co. of the U.S., Fiat Industrial SpA's CNH Global unit and Indian manufacturers, including Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., are looking to capitalize on the shift. "The outlook for the farm-equipment sector is very strong because of increasing adoption," says Ajay Srinivasan, a Crisil analyst. He predicts the market will expand at least 10% annually for the next five years. Deere recently opened a new factory in the same state as Mr. Rajput's farm to add tractor-making capacity. It also has two Indian plants that make harvesters and irrigation equipment. The Moline, Ill., company started financing operations in India last year, lending to farmers and dealers so they can buy its equipment. "We see the current trends continuing—population will increase, income levels will increase, the need for mechanization and irrigation will continue and access to financing for equipment will be important," says spokesman Ken Golden. Mahindra, already the world's largest tractor company, recently invested $45.5 million to build Asia's largest tractor factory in southern India with a capacity of 100,000 vehicles a year. The company is also boosting production of other farm equipment, such as combine harvesters, and it plans to launch rice transplanters, the equipment used to move rice shoots from nursery beds and plant them in fields. "We are really working on this segment," says Rajesh Jejurikar, chief executive of the company's tractor and farm-mechanization division. Mahindra has also set up a research and development facility in the southern city of Chennai to come up with new products, including larger tractors. And it has set up 160 centers to encourage farmers to mechanize. The farm-labor shortage is likely to get worse as India expands its rural-work program, known as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Under the program, villagers dig ditches for irrigation and help build roads and other infrastructure. "Nobody really wants to stand under the sun for 10 hours and work at a farm," says Nikhil Nanda, a managing director at Escorts Group, an Indian maker of agriculture and construction equipment. He adds that population and labor shifts have led to a changing farm landscape. As people move to cities, more of India's small holdings are being combined into larger holdings, making mechanization more attractive and leading to greater use of larger-horse-power tractors. "We find that a lot of collaboration has started taking place, whether in the family or neighboring land of another farmer," Mr. Nanda says. Escorts is also working to adapt machinery so that it is more useful for farmers tending crops ranging from sugar cane to grapes. New types of machinery are already being used to mechanize the once highly labor-intensive harvesting of coconuts in Kerala, where hordes of workers once climbed palm trees to collect the fruit. Increasingly, remote-controlled machines are being used to do the job, says Siby J. Monipally, who owns coconut and rubber plantations. He says the equipment cuts harvesting times in half and has helped bring more women into the workforce by making the work less demanding physically. Write to Biman Mukherji at biman.mukherji@wsj.com Save Article

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dansk Deutsch español Français italiano Nederlands norsk português suomeksi svenska ICL to Implement £38 Million Project to Boost Polyhalite Production to 600,000 Tonnes a Year UK Government to Grant £4.9 Million to ICL's CPL Subsidiary in Britain Under its Investment Promotion Programme from ICL TEL-AVIV, Israel, April 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- ICL (TASE:ICL), a global specialty minerals company that fulfills essential needs of the world's growing population in the agriculture, food and engineered materials markets, today announced that its ICL Fertilizers' subsidiary, Cleveland Potash Ltd. ("CPL"), will expand its activities to mine Polyhalite, which it markets under the name Polysulphate, at its Boulby Mine located in North East England. This follows the announcement that the UK government has approved a grant of £4.9 million for the expansion project. CPL, a UK company owned by ICL Fertilizers, will begin implementing a £38 million investment programme designed to increase production capacity and mining of Polyhalite to around 600,000 tonnes per year, compared to its current production level of approximately 130,000 tonnes. The investment will be made over the coming year after which ICL will evaluate the potential for a further expansion of the project. CPL is the only company mining Polyhalite today and from 2010 ICL Fertilizers began to market Polysulphate as a new fertilizer into agricultural markets. Geological studies conducted by ICL Fertilizers indicate that there are deposits amounting to more than a billion tonnes of Polyhalite under the company's Potash mine at Boulby. The Boulby Mine, owned by ICL, is the only Potash producer in the UK and has been mining in the North East of England since 1969. Polyhalite is a unique mineral. It is a complex salt comprising Sulphur, Potassium, Magnesium and Calcium which are all essential nutrients for crop production. Polysulphate has the additional benefit of being low in Chlorides and can be used as a specialty fertilizer suitable for fertilizing crops and agricultural land that are sensitive to chlorine. As a natural product, Polysulphate is certified and approved for use in organic farming systems. An additional advantage of Polysulphate is its high Sulphur content (48% SO3) which means that this mineral provides a solution for Sulphur-deficient land, a growing concern for farmers in the Western world as the amount of Sulphur deposition from the atmosphere decreases. Polysulphate can be applied directly to land in its natural form or be used as raw material input for fertilizer production. Commenting on the news, ICL Fertilizers CEO, Nissim Adar, said, "We see significant potential in increasing our production capacity and marketing of Polysulphate from CPL's mine. We are very grateful to the British government for their faith in ICL and in this project. The positive response by our customers to Polysulphate, and our expectation of increased demand for this fertilizer led us to decide to substantially increase our production." CPL's Managing Director, Phil Baines added: "Over the last two fertilizer seasons we began to introduce Polysulphate into agricultural markets in an amount of tens of thousands of tonnes. We have been very encouraged by farmers' positive reaction which indicates a potential to sell hundreds of thousands of tonnes at an economically feasible price over the coming years. As a result, we are prepared to expand production and sales. In addition, the fact that the Polyhalite deposits are located below CPL's existing Potash workings facilitates the mining process, making it more efficient and economical to produce. These factors were the basis for our decision to invest in the expansion of our production capacity. We are very proud of our contribution towards a sustainable European agriculture alongside our important contribution to expanding employment and economic growth in the local economy. We are very grateful to the UK government for its decision to support our company, and look forward to continued cooperation to benefit the common interest of both the public and the company." About ICL ICL, a global manufacturer of products based on specialty minerals that fulfill humanity's essential needs, primarily in three markets: agriculture, food and engineered materials. The agricultural products that ICL produces help to feed the world's growing population. The potash and phosphates that it mines and manufactures are used as ingredients in fertilizers and serve as an essential component in the pharmaceutical and food additives industries. The food additives that ICL produces enable people to have greater access to more varied and higher quality food. ICL's water treatment products supply clean water to millions of people, as well as to industry around the world. Other substances, based on bromine and phosphates help to create energy that is more efficient and environmentally friendly, prevent the spread of forest fires and allow the safe and widespread use of a variety of products and materials. ICL benefits from a broad presence throughout the world and proximity to large markets, including in emerging regions. ICL operates within a strategic framework of sustainability that includes a commitment to the environment, support of communities in which ICL's manufacturing operations are located and where its employees live, and a commitment to all its employees, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. ICL is a public company whose shares are traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE: ICL). The company employs approximately 12,000 people worldwide, and its sales in 2013 totaled circa US$6.3 billion. For more information, visit the company's website at http://www.icl-group.com About Cleveland Potash Ltd. Cleveland Potash, a subsidiary of ICL Fertilizers, is a producer and supplier of potash fertilizers for agriculture and industry uses. Cleveland Potash operates the United Kingdom's only potash mine, from which it produces over a million tons of potash for fertilizers and more than half a million tons of salt each year. Customers use Cleveland Potash's high-quality potash products for fertilizer production, as well as for glass making and applications in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Cleveland Potash's salt products also meet a variety of needs, from road maintenance to sugar beet cultivation, and are also used as an ingredient in animal feeds. Fleisher Communications and Public Relations Amiram Fleisher +972-3-6241241 amiram@fleisher-pr.com SOURCE ICL View Table Fullscreen Preview: Continued Strong Demand In The Fertilizer Market Leads To Record Amounts Of Potash And Phosphates Sold By ICL In Q1 2014 Preview: ICL IP Completing Second Production Facility for Polymeric Flame Retardant ICL Reports Q2 2016 Results ICL Signs Contracts to Supply 700,000 Metric Tonnes of Potash to... ICL IP Producing its FR-122P Sustainable Polymeric Flame...

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Teri Vance tvance@nevadaappeal.com Greenhouse Project meets initial goals Shannon Litz/slitz@nevadaappeal.com | Nevada Appeal Camille Jones, site manager and garden educator for The Greenhouse Project, works in the greenhouse on Wednesday morning. Expand Photo Camille Jones, site manager and garden educator for The Greenhouse Project, at the greenhouse on Wednesday. Expand Photo Broccoli grows at the greenhouse on Wednesday. « Related Media Camille Jones sees a change in people — whether they’re students or adults — when they come into the community greenhouse. “There’s some tranquility and connectivity being able to put your hands in the dirt,” she said. “There’s some sort of genetic fulfillment.” Jones, 27, started farming when she was 19 and traveled the world as part of the exchange program World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. She started working at Carson City’s Greenhouse Project in March, and when site manager Ray Saliga left two months ago to take at job at the University of Nevada, Reno, Jones was hired for the job. “When I found this position, I jumped on it,” she said. “I find it so rewarding to get children and adults excited about this.” A city girl, Jones didn’t give much thought to food sources growing up. However, a trip to New Orleans during Mardi Gras got her thinking. “I saw how people threw their trash everywhere,” she recalled. That trip was shortly followed by a visit to her brother in Colorado, where she “just got addicted to nature.” “I decided the best thing I could do to conserve natural resources was to become a farmer,” she said. “I think growing food is the solution to all of society’s ills.” The Community Greenhouse opened in 2010 as a nonprofit corporation aimed at serving as a year-round source of locally grown produce and flowers for Carson City. It is housed on the Carson High School campus and was approved last week by the Carson City School Board for another three-year lease. Supervisor Karen Abowd, who spearheaded the project as a member of the Carson City Cultural Commission, told the board the project has reached all of its initial goals and is now looking at ways to ensure sustainability. The Greenhouse Project serves the community, supplying fresh fruits and vegetables for food pantries at Friends In Service Helping, the Salvation Army and the Ron Wood Family Resource Center. Flowers grown there are used to make the hanging baskets that decorated the downtown corridor. It also serves as a hands-on laboratory for high school and other students. “A lot of those high school walls really break down when they come in here,” Jones said. “They step forward and interact with one another. They’re inquisitive.” Ten percent of the produce is used in school’s culinary arts program. Students in the FFA program also use the greenhouse, supplementing instruction in plant science, natural resources, animal husbandry and floriculture classes. Seven students are working on senior projects involving the greenhouse. Special-education students volunteer in the greenhouse daily, performing tasks such as creating earthworm farms, planting, pruning and harvesting. “They’re really quite skilled,” Jones said. And, she said, the work helps build their self-esteem. “They’re able to experience successes they can’t in the classroom,” she said. “When you come out here, you can’t really mess up. You just stick a plant in the dirt.” Moving forward, Jones said, she would like the see the community even more involved in the greenhouse, with plans to host workshops for children and adults, and to expand to grow a small orchard. She also would like to recruit artists to paint the raised beds outside. “I think it would be beautiful to have people donate their skills,” she said. “Even when we have snow, it would still look good.” Abowd said she expects the greenhouse will be a model for more to come. “There aren’t really any other programs quite like this one,” she said. “All eyes are on it. They’re watching what we’re doing and how we’re doing it.” Jones continues to draw on her experience, in particular a year spent organic farming in Ecuador, and focuses on learning new techniques and skills to share her philosophies. “I like to think of myself as an ecological farmer,” she said. “I like to think about the frogs and the bees and the butterflies. When I’m farming, I’m creating habitats for animals as well as food for humans.” Join the Conversation Carson City Sheriff's Log: Pieces of history lie below Stewart school Saturday's Green Living Festival has new venue Fundraisers for Greenhouse Project set The Nevada Appeal Updated Dec 15, 2013 01:55AM Published Dec 17, 2013 11:55PM Copyright 2013 The Nevada Appeal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Mobile Site

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Salone Special: Youth Unite for Better Food and Agriculture Italy - 19 Oct 12 Young people play an important role in all of Slow Food’s events and the 2012 edition of Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre is no exception. The Slow Food Youth Network (SFYN), the association’s network of young farmers, cooks, artisans, activists and students from five continents, will be organizing Conferences, Eat-Ins and other activities that showcase their projects and enthusiasm to actively change the future of food and farming. Around 250 SFYN delegates under the age of thirty, including students from the Slow Food founded University of Gastronomic Sciences, will participate in the event. A number of youth delegates will also attend the Slow Food International Congress, held every four years to bring together the association’s local leaders and decide upon strategies for the future of Slow Food, the Terra Madre network and projects to defend biodiversity. The program of activities planned for the SFYN area in the Oval include the World Cafè, an informal meeting place for youth to share their experiences and strengthen the network, and “Do-It-Yourself!” workshops to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and skills on organizing events, fundraising and setting up campaigns. National meetings will also be held each day, giving national SFYN groups the opportunity to speak about their initiatives and plans and introduce their local food heroes. Two neighboring spaces run by the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo Convivium and the university’s Student Association (ASSG), will host more activities. The students will be running the event’s Personal Shopper trips, guided tours around the market to discover producers’ secrets and learn about food from a sustainable, social, nutritional and educational perspective. They will also organize four thematic Eat-Ins, communal potluck meals that will bring together producers, delegates, visitors and students around particular food issues, uniting conviviality and politics. A group of Masters students from the Sorbonne University in Paris, France, are also playing an active part in a series of conferences and roundtable discussions on young people and agriculture as part of their course in Food Geography. One of the most important moments in the SFYN program at Salone is the conference “Slow F...uture: The Slow Food Youth Network Gathering” (CF14 - October 27 - 10:00 AM), which looks at the role of young people in determining the food system of tomorrow. The event has no scheduled speakers, offering an opportunity to develop and share ideas and welcoming contributions from members of the international network as well as the general audience. The conference “Say, Do, Hoe: Practices and Policies for Youth Agriculture” will focus on the reform of Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy and how to involve more young people in agriculture through new and inspiring experiences. Scheduled speakers include Pavlos Georgiadis and Samuel Levi, representatives of the Slow Food Youth Network in Greece and the Netherlands respectively, Andrzej Nowakowski of ARC2020, Vittorio Sangiorgio, president of Coldiretti Giovani Impresa, several young farmers and a representative from the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policies. Launched in 2010, the SFYN is working to promote a good, clean and fair food system with year-around activities across the globe. Events organized recently by the network include the famous Eat-Ins, the Amsterdam Food Film Festival and the Schnippeldisko (chopping disco), where hundreds of people prepared soups in town centers using ‘discarded’ vegetables to raise awareness of food waste. Click here for details of the program and entrance tickets.

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ASA, allied farm groups meet with Hoyer to press for farm bill The American Soybean Association Farm group leaders met with lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to reiterate the critical importance of finishing a new, five-year farm bill before the 112th Congress adjourns. American Soybean Association (ASA) President Steve Wellman and Vice President Richard Wilkins joined fellow farmer-leaders from the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Milk Producers Federation, National Corn Growers Association and the National Association of Wheat Growers in a meeting Wednesday (Dec. 5)with Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer, House Minority Whip,to reiterate the critical importance of finishing a new, five-year farm bill before the 112th Congress adjourns. “We appreciate the opportunity to meet with Minority Whip Hoyer and his staff today. It is imperative that the Minority Whip and all of the House leadership understand the importance of passing a new farm bill to provide certainty for farmers heading into 2013. The bill represents a good-faith investment in an agriculture industry that has been one of the bright spots in the American economy,” said Wellman, a farmer from Syracuse, Neb., who grows soybeans, corn, wheat, alfalfa and raises cattle. “It is critical that we sustain that progress, and ASA and our colleagues in the farm community are committed to working together to do so. We have come to the bargaining table with concrete spending reductions, and remain the only industry that has done so. We are, as we have been, open to compromise, provided that the end product is a new, five-year farm bill that enables America’s farmers to continue producing the safest and most abundant food supply in the world.” House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantorhave both given commitments to address the farm bill in the lame duck session, however any effort appears to be delayed as the House remains divided in discussions on the fiscal cliff. “We hope that, as Congress tackles the fiscal cliff, the farm bill will be resolved as well, but we would remind our elected representatives that the issues we tackle as farmers can’t be solved by political posturing or placing blame,” added Wilkins, who grows soybeans, corn, wheat, barley, vegetables, hay and raises cattle in Greenwood, Del. “We face real challenges every day, and we need real solutions in place to manage risk, protect resources, encourage conservation, foster research and innovation, and grow our market opportunities. The farm bill holds solutions in each of these areas, and we encourage the House to get to work immediately to pass this bill.” ASA will continue to meet with congressional leaders to encourage passage of a new, five-year farm bill between now and the adjournment of the 112th Congress. Source URL: http://deltafarmpress.com/government/asa-allied-farm-groups-meet-hoyer-press-farm-bill

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Groundwater depletion in semiarid regions of Texas and California threatens US food security May 28, 2012 Groundwater depletion has been most severe in the purple areas indicated on these maps of (A) the High Plains and (B) California's Central Valley. These heavily affected areas are concentrated in parts of the Texas Panhandle, western Kansas, and the Tulare Basin in California's Central Valley. Changes in groundwater levels in (A) are adapted from a 2009 report by the US Geological Survey and in (B) from a 1989 report by the USGS. Credit: US Geological Survey The nation's food supply may be vulnerable to rapid groundwater depletion from irrigated agriculture, according to a new study by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and elsewhere. The study, which appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, paints the highest resolution picture yet of how groundwater depletion varies across space and time in California's Central Valley and the High Plains of the central U.S. Researchers hope this information will enable more sustainable use of water in these areas, although they think irrigated agriculture may be unsustainable in some parts. "We're already seeing changes in both areas," said Bridget Scanlon, senior research scientist at The University of Texas at Austin's Bureau of Economic Geology and lead author of the study. "We're seeing decreases in rural populations in the High Plains. Increasing urbanization is replacing farms in the Central Valley. And during droughts some farmers are forced to fallow their land. These trends will only accelerate as water scarcity issues become more severe." Three results of the new study are particularly striking: First, during the most recent drought in California's Central Valley, from 2006 to 2009, farmers in the south depleted enough groundwater to fill the nation's largest man-made reservoir, Lake Mead near Las Vegas—a level of groundwater depletion that is unsustainable at current recharge rates. Second, a third of the groundwater depletion in the High Plains occurs in just 4% of the land area. And third, the researchers project that if current trends continue some parts of the southern High Plains that currently support irrigated agriculture, mostly in the Texas Panhandle and western Kansas, will be unable to do so within a few decades. California's Central Valley is sometimes called the nation's "fruit and vegetable basket." The High Plains, which run from northwest Texas to southern Wyoming and South Dakota, are sometimes called the country's "grain basket." Combined, these two regions produced agricultural products worth $56 billion in 2007, accounting for much of the nation's food production. They also account for half of all groundwater depletion in the U.S., mainly as a result of irrigating crops. In the early 20th century, farmers in California's Central Valley began pumping groundwater to irrigate their crops. Over time, groundwater levels dropped as much as 400 feet in some places. From the 1930s to '70s, state and federal agencies built a system of dams, reservoirs and canals to transfer water from the relatively water-rich north to the very dry south. Since then, groundwater levels in some areas have risen as much as 300 feet. In the High Plains, farmers first began large-scale pumping of groundwater for crop irrigation in the 1930s and '40s; but irrigation greatly expanded in response to the 1950s drought. Since then, groundwater levels there have steadily declined, in some places more than 150 feet. Scanlon and her colleagues at the U.S. Geological Survey and the Université de Rennes in France used water level records from thousands of wells, data from NASA's GRACE satellites, and computer models to study groundwater depletion in the two regions. GRACE satellites monitor changes in Earth's gravity field which are controlled primarily by variations in water storage. Byron Tapley, director of the university's Center for Space Research, led the development of the GRACE satellites, which recently celebrated their 10th anniversary. Scanlon and her colleagues suggested several ways to make irrigated agriculture in the Central Valley more sustainable: Replace flood irrigation systems (used on about half of crops) with more efficient sprinkle and drip systems and expand the practice of groundwater banking—storing excess surface water in times of plenty in the same natural aquifers that supply groundwater for irrigation. Groundwater banks currently store 2 to 3 cubic kilometers of water in California, similar to or greater than storage capacities of many of the large surface water reservoirs in the state. Groundwater banks provide a valuable approach for evening out water supplies during climate extremes ranging from droughts to floods. For various reasons, Scanlon and other experts don't think these or other engineering approaches will solve the problem in the High Plains. When groundwater levels drop too low to support irrigated farming in some areas, farmers there will be forced to switch from irrigated crops such as corn to non-irrigated crops such as sorghum, or to rangeland. The transition could be economically challenging because non-irrigated crops generate about half the yield of irrigated crops and are far more vulnerable to droughts. "Basically irrigated agriculture in much of the southern High Plains is unsustainable," said Scanlon. Explore further: Saltwater solution to save crops “Groundwater depletion and sustainability of irrigation in the United States high plains and central valley,” by Bridget R. Scanlon et al. PNAS, 2012. Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

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Coffee and Tea Reports from the Front Lines Tea at risk of losing market Vietnam - According to a report that appeared in the Vietnam Economic Times, the target for the country�s tea industry in 2005 was to export 950,000 tons of tea, earning $107 million. However, it reached only $88 million. Experts say the industry is at risk of losing market. Moreover, this industry still focuses on a small number of markets like Taiwan, Pakistan, Malaysia and Russia. That means market diversification is still required. Droughts last year caused reduction in tea leaf production while capacity of tea processing plant was large, causing tea leaf shortages. Vietnamese tea exporters did not have a long-term strategy in seeking for export market. Several importers started to buy the same product but with higher quality and lower prices from other countries. Last year, the Vietnam Tea Association announced the national brand for tea �Cheviet.� However, how to improve quality of the product with this brand still remains a big question. The industry set a target of exporting 120,000 tons of quality tea, earning $200 million by the year of 2010 and creating as many as 1 million jobs for people. 1970�s band, KISS, to open coffeeshop USA - The first KISS Coffeehouse will make its debut at Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach, Florida in the Spring. Kiss is an American rock band, very popular in the 1970�s and 1980�s. Brian Galvin, a devoted fan who developed the coffeehouse idea, told The Sun News, �This concept is a little different. It�s a stimulating environment to drink a stimulating beverage.� The coffeehouse will fill a 1,305-sq. ft. corner space at Celebrity Square. It will open sometime this spring or early summer. Officials didn�t give an exact date. Galvin said band members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley plan to attend the grand opening. Myrtle Beach offers the perfect stage for a KISS Coffeehouse, Galvin told the newspaper, because of its appeal to the �Middle America� market, the segment likely to �Rock and Roll All Nite.� If the KISS-themed coffee blends and sweets back up the eye-catching entrance, the coffeehouse will do well, said Pat Dowling, spokesman for Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc., which owns Broadway and prides itself on family values. Galvin plans to open more locations, possibly one in Las Vegas, if this one is a hit, he said. Second Annual eCaf� Ethiopian Cooperative Coffee Competition Set Ethiopia - The Second Annual eCaf� Foundation Ethiopian Gold Cooperative Coffee Competition is set for February 20-24 at the central liquoring lab in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Judges from six countries will rate nearly 200 coffees from five cooperative unions representing Ethiopia�s top growing regions: Yergacheffe, Sidama, Kafa, Tepi and Bench Maji. Awards will be given to 12 washed and 12 unwashed coffees. Besides being honored by the judges, the winning coffees will be included in the eCaf� internet auction slated for April 2006. Last year�s auction generated more than $187,800 for the farmers, at an average price of $3.22 per pound, compared to the market price of $1.30 per pound. For the second straight year, eCaf� is working closely with ACDI/VOCA - an economic development firm that works to improve lives and livelihoods worldwide - to administer the country�s coffee competition. Since 1997, ACDI/VOCA has empowered Ethiopian smallholder farmers by helping them form competitive, profit-oriented, professionally managed cooperatives. Many of the co-ops have excelled at coffee production, and one produced coffee last year that Starbucks named its eighth Black Apron Exclusive. ACDI/VOCA�s project has been funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Following last year�s event, a traditional Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony featuring eCaf� winning coffees was hosted by the Ethiopian Ambassador to the United Nations at the UN headquarters in New York City. IIM(C) to Make Model for Tea Board India - The Tea Board of India has appointed Indian Institute of Management (Calcutta) as consultant for developing a model on consumption pattern of the beverage in the country, its chairman Basudeb Banerjee said. Banerjee told The Economic Times of India that approval for appointment of IIM(C) had been cleared. The Tea Board official said the premier business school would develop an econometric model for consumption pattern based on secondary data obtained from National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO). Banerjee said that the main purpose behind developing the model is to make figures related to consumption more authentic in nature. Besides, the tea industry is also worried about the stagnating domestic consumption levels in view of declining exports which was affecting the trade in both ways. IIM(C) is expected to submit a report within four months, by which the consultant would also come with an interim set of suggestions. Banerjee said that the industry had also demanded that Tea Board commission a study to map the reasons for slowing down of domestic consumption. During the period January - October 2005, prices for north Indian tea reflected a decline of Rs 8.62 per kg, the fall was to the tune of Rs 3.50 per kg for south India. ITA has projected imports of tea at 20 million kgs for 2005, while 13 million kgs have been already imported during January to October, as compared to 23 million kgs in 2004 in the same period. Nyayo Tea Zones to Build New Factories Kenya - The Nyayo Tea Zones Development Corporation plans to build two tea factories this year. The East African (Nairobi) reports that the factories, one in Nandi and the other in Embu districts, are expected to ease the pressure on Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) factories, which currently process leaf for the corporation. Nyayo Tea Zones managing director, Dr. Anne Kinyua said that the corporation is to begin construction of its first factory, at a cost of Sh311 million, in February in Nandi district within the zone�s West Rift Valley belt. The second factory is planned for Embu in the East Rift Valley area. Dr. Kinyua said the earnings will likely increase when the corporation starts processing its own tea and marketing value-added produce to local and international markets. The corporation was set up in 1986 to grow tea in 100 meters belts around forests in tea-growing zones, which would act as buffer zones to check encroachment on forests. It has since established a total of 17 zones and its green leaf output is expected to rise to 26 million kg by 2010. The National Environment Management Authority has given the Nandi Zone a clean bill of health, paving the way for the plant, which is expected to be fully operational in 2007. She said construction of the factories will go hand in hand with the planting of trees in the forests bordering the zones. The reforestation will be funded by the African Development Bank at a cost of Ksh3 billion ($40.5 million) and is scheduled to in 2006. In the areas earmarked for tea zone development, some 2,800 hectares of tea and 2,000 hectares of trees have been planted. Within the next three years, the corporation is planning to plant another 2,000 hectares of tea, 5,000 hectares of fuelwood and 500 hectares of indigenous trees. Tea & Coffee - February/March, 2006

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YOU ARE HERE: LAT Home→Collections→SeedsOp-Ed No seeds, no independent researchCompanies that genetically engineer crops have a lock on what we know about their safety and benefits.February 13, 2011|Doug Gurian-Sherman | Doug Gurian-Sherman is a plant pathologist and senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington Soybeans, corn, cotton and canola -- most of the acres planted in these crops in the United States are genetically altered. "Transgenic" seeds reduce the use of some insecticides. But herbicide use is higher, and respected experts argue that some genetically engineered crops may also pose serious health and environmental risks. The benefits of genetically engineered crops may be overstated.We don't have the complete picture. That's no accident. Multibillion-dollar agricultural corporations, including Monsanto and Syngenta, have restricted independent research on their genetically engineered crops. They have often refused to provide independent scientists with seeds, or they've set restrictive conditions that severely limit research options.This is legal. Under U.S. law, genetically engineered crops are patentable inventions. Companies have broad power over the use of any patented product, including who can study it and how.Agricultural companies defend their stonewalling by saying that unrestricted research could make them vulnerable to lawsuits if an experiment somehow leads to harm, or that it could give competitors unfair insight into their products. But it's likely that the companies fear something else as well: An experiment could reveal that a genetically engineered product is hazardous or doesn't perform as promised. For The Record Los Angeles Times Thursday, February 17, 2011 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 19 Editorial Desk 1 inches; 32 words Type of Material: Correction Seeds: In a Feb. 13 Op-Ed about seed-company barriers to independent research on genetically modified crops, the owner of the seed company Pioneer was incorrectly identified as Dow Chemical. DuPont owns Pioneer.Whatever the reasons, the results are clear: Public sector research has been blocked. In 2009, 26 university entomologists -- bug scientists -- wrote a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency protesting restricted access to seeds. "No truly independent research can be legally conducted on many critical questions involving these crops," they wrote.Christian Krupke, a Purdue University entomologist who signed the letter, put it more succinctly to a reporter for a scientific journal. "Industry is completely driving the bus," he said.Beyond patent law, agricultural companies hold a pocketbook advantage in terms of research. For example, they fund much of the agricultural safety research done in the U.S. And when deciding whether to allow a genetically engineered crop onto the market, the Department of Agriculture and other regulatory agencies do not perform their own experiments on the performance and safety of the product; instead, they rely largely on studies submitted by the companies themselves.The dangers ought to be clear. In 2001, the seed company Pioneer, owned by Dow Chemical, was developing a strain of genetically engineered corn that contained a toxin to help it resist corn rootworm, an insect pest. A group of university scientists, working at Pioneer's request, found that the corn also appeared to kill a species of beneficial ladybug, which indicated that other helpful insects might also be harmed. But, according to a report in the journal Nature Biotechnology, Dow said its own research showed no ladybug problems, and it prohibited the scientists from making the research public. Nor was it submitted to the EPA. In 2003, the EPA approved a version of the corn, known as Herculex.Now, we may find out who was right in the field, possibly at the expense of a beneficial bug.Research restrictions also hamper scientists' ability to assess how genetically engineered crops perform against other modified crops, traditional crops, approaches such as organic farming and the seed companies' promises. There's reason to be suspicious. Using USDA and peer-reviewed data, the Union of Concerned Scientists analyzed corn and soybean yields in the U.S. after the new seeds were introduced. We found only marginal increases due to genetically engineered traits -- not a result promoted by the industry.Monsanto, in its defense, will point to an agreement with the USDA that gives the agency's agricultural scientists access to its genetically engineered seeds for a wide range of research, and the company has also had limited agreements with some universities. Several other seed companies are said to be negotiating voluntary deals with universities in the wake of the entomologists' letter to the EPA, and the American Seed Trade Assn., a trade group, is also developing guidelines to improve access to the new seeds.These are positive steps, but they don't go far enough. For one thing, the deals and the trade association rules are not binding. The companies can back out of them. They are also opaque; the public really has no idea how far these deals go or how common they are. And what about scientists at the universities and research institutions that aren't party to a voluntary agreements? They're still out in the cold.Moreover, few if any of the agreements guarantee opportunities for every kind of independent research. The Monsanto agreement with the USDA covers research into crop production practices, for example, not research into issues such as the health risks of genetically engineered crops.This is not how science should operate. Agricultural companies are still the gatekeepers, choosing who gets to do research and what topics are studied. To ensure that agricultural science serves the public, Congress should change patent law and create a clear exemption for agricultural research.The need for this exemption will only increase. As the technology spreads, it's likely that more, and more complex, genetic traits will be introduced in more crops. As a result, future genetically engineered crops could pose even more risks than current ones. Without robust independent analysis, it will be impossible to adequately assess these potential pitfalls.The companies that produce the seeds claim that genetically engineered crops are safe and are better than traditional crops in a range of ways. It's time for these companies to back up their rhetoric. The only way to test their grand assertions is to let independent science take its course. MORE:Seizure Led to FloJo's DeathHis 104 scores make his caseRestaurant review: South Beverly GrillBrutal Murder by Teen-Age Girls Adds to Britons' ShockComaneci Confirms Suicide Attempt, Magazine SaysAdvertisement FROM THE ARCHIVESGenetically modified crops pop up in the wildAugust 13, 2010MORE STORIES ABOUTSeedsCopyright 2016 Los Angeles TimesTerms of Service|Privacy Policy|Index by Date|Index by Keyword

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Create Flashcards Related Flashcards Italian Wine Varietal Cheat Sheet Grape Varieties French Varietal Aromas (red) Wine Sheet White Wine Production Lecture Home › Create › Flashcards › Food › Alcohol › Wine › Grape Varietal Characteristics-- Wine Spectator Grape Varietal Characteristics-- Wine Spectator 34 Cards Created by writr16 | 5 years ago Please view the flashcard to rate it Memorize Descriptions Of Wine Varietals From Www.winespectator.com. View Flashcards Card range to study: Number of cards: Changes are done, please view the flashcard. Shuffle Cards Preview Flashcards FrontBack BARBERA (Red) [bar-BEHR-uh] 1. Most successful in Italy's Piedmont region 2. Makes such wines as Barbera d'Asti, Barbera di Monferato and Barbera di Alba 3. Its main attribute as a blending wine is its ability to maintain a naturally high acidity even in hot climates. 4. However, plantings have declined sharply in the United States. A few wineries still produce it as a varietal wine, but those numbers too are dwindling. The wine has more potential than is currently realized and may stage a modest comeback as Italian-style wines gain popularity. Its wines are characterized by:a. a high level of acidity (meaning brightness and crispness)b. deep ruby color and full bodyc. low tannin levelsd. flavors are berrylike BRUNELLO (Red) [broo-NEHL-oh] This strain of Sangiovese is the only grape permitted for Brunello di Montalcino, the rare, costly Tuscan red that at its best is loaded with luscious black and red fruits and chewy tannins. CABERNET FRANC (Red) [cab-er-NAY FRANK] Increasingly popular as both stand-alone varietal and blending grape, Cabernet Franc is used primarily for blending in Bordeaux, although it can rise to great heights in quality, as seen in the grand wine Cheval-Blanc. In France's Loire Valley it's also made into a lighter wine called Chinon. It is well established in Italy, particularly the northeast, where it is sometimes called Cabernet Frank or Bordo. California has grown it for more than 30 years, and Argentina, Long Island, Washington state and New Zealand are picking it up.As a varietal wine, it usually benefits from small amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and can be as intense and full-bodied as either of those wines. But it often strays away from currant and berry notes into stalky green flavors that become more pronounced with age. Given its newness in the United States, Cabernet Franc may just need time to get more attention and rise in quality.Much blended with Cabernet Sauvignon, it may be a Cabernet Sauvignon mutation adapted to cooler, damper conditions. Typically light- to medium-bodied wine with more immediate fruit than Cabernet Sauvignon and some of the herbaceous odors evident in unripe Cabernet Sauvignon. CABERNET SAUVIGNON (Red) [cab-er-NAY SO-vin-yon] 1. While it grows well in many appellations, in specific appellations it is capable of rendering wines of uncommon depth, richness, concentration and longevity. Bordeaux has used the grape since the 18th century, always blending it with Cabernet Franc, Merlot and sometimes a soupçon of Petite Verdot. Elsewhere in the world—and it is found almost everywhere in the world—Cabernet Sauvignon is as likely to be bottled on its own as in a blend. It mixes with Sangiovese in Tuscany, Syrah in Australia and Provence, and Merlot and Cabernet Franc in South Africa, but flies solo in some of Italy's super-Tuscans. In the United States., it's unlikely any region will surpass Napa Valley's high-quality Cabernets and Cabernet blends. Through most of the grape's history in California (which dates to the 1800s), the best Cabernets have been 100 percent Cabernet. Since the late 1970s, many vintners have turned to the Bordeaux model and blended smaller portions of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petite Verdot into their Cabernets. The case for blending is still under review, but clearly there are successes. On the other hand, many U.S. producers are shifting back to higher percentages of Cabernet, having found that blending doesn't add complexity and that Cabernet on its own has a stronger character.2. At its best, unblended Cabernet produces wines of great intensity and depth of flavor. Its classic flavors are currant, plum, black cherry and spice. It can also be marked by herb, olive, mint, tobacco, cedar and anise, and ripe, jammy notes. 3. In warmer areas, it can be supple and elegant; in cooler areas, it can be marked by pronounced vegetal, bell pepper, oregano and tar flavors (a late ripener, it can't always be relied on in cool areas, which is why Germany, for example, has never succumbed to the lure).4. The best Cabernets start out dark purple-ruby in color, with firm acidity, a full body, great intensity, concentrated flavors and firm tannins.5. Cabernet has an affinity for oak and usually spends 15 to 30 months in new or used French or American barrels, a process that, when properly executed imparts a woody, toasty cedar or vanilla flavor to the wine while slowly oxidizing it and softening the tannins. 6. Microclimates are a major factor in the weight and intensity of the Cabernets. 7. Winemakers also influence the style as they can extract high levels of tannin and heavily oak their wines. CARIGNAN (Red) [karin-YAN] Also known as Carignane (California), Cirnano (Italy). Once a major blending grape for jug wines, Carignan's popularity has diminished, and plantings have dropped from 25,111 acres in 1980 to 8,883 in 1994. It still appears in some blends, and old vineyards are sought after for the intensity of their grapes. But the likelihood is that other grapes with even more intensity and flavor will replace it in the future. CARMENERE (Red) [car-men-YEHR] Also known as Grande Vidure, this grape was once widely planted in Bordeaux, but is now associated primarily with Chile. Carmenere, along with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, was imported to Chile around 1850. According to Chilean vintners, Carmenere has been mislabeled for so long that many growers and the Chilean government now consider it Merlot. CHARBONO (Red) [SHAR-bono] Found mainly in California (and possibly actually Dolcetto), this grape has dwindled in acreage. Its stature as a wine was supported mainly by Inglenook-Napa Valley, which bottled a Charbono on a regular basis. Occasionally it made for interesting drinking and it aged well. But more often it was lean and tannic, a better story than bottle of wine. A few wineries still produce it, but none with any success. CHARDONNAY (White) [shar-dun-NAY] As Cabernet Sauvignon is the king of reds, so is Chardonnay the king of white wines, for it makes consistently excellent, rich and complex whites. This is an amazingly versatile grape that grows well in a variety of locations throughout the world. In Burgundy, it is used for the exquisite whites, such as Montrachet, Meursault and Pouilly-Fuissè, and true Chablis; in Champagne it turns into Blanc de Blancs. Among the many other countries that have caught Chardonnay fever, Australia is especially strong.Chardonnay was introduced to California in the 1930s but didn't become popular until the 1970s. Areas such as Anderson Valley, Carneros, Monterey, Russian River, Santa Barbara and Santa Maria Valley, all closer to cooler maritime influences, are now producing wines far superior to those made a decade ago.Though there is a Mâconnais village called Chardonnay, no one agrees on the grape's origin—it may even be Middle Eastern.When well made, Chardonnay offers bold, ripe, rich and intense fruit flavors of apple, fig, melon, pear, peach, pineapple, lemon and grapefruit, along with spice, honey, butter, butterscotch and hazelnut flavors. Winemakers build more complexity into this easy-to-manipulate wine using common vinification techniques: barrel fermentation, sur lie aging during which the wine is left on its natural sediment, and malolactic fermentation (a process which converts tart malic acid to softer lactic acid). No other white table wine benefits as much from oak aging or barrel fermentation. Chardonnay grapes have a fairly neutral flavor, and because they are usually crushed or pressed and not fermented with their skins the way red wines are, whatever flavors emerge from the grape are extracted almost instantly after crushing. Red wines that soak with their skins for days or weeks through fermentation extract their flavors quite differently.Because Chardonnay is also a prolific producer that can easily yield 4 to 5 tons of high-quality grapes per acre, it is a cash cow for producers in every country where it's grown. Many American and Australian Chardonnays are very showy, well oaked and appealing on release, but they lack the richness, depth and concentration to age and have in fact evolved rather quickly, often losing their intensity and concentration within a year or two. Many vintners, having studied and recognized this, are now sharply reducing crop yields, holding tonnage down to 2 to 3 tons per acre in the belief that this will lead to greater concentration. The only downside to this strategy is that lower crop loads lead to significantly less wine to sell, therefore higher prices as well.Chardonnay's popularity has also led to a huge market of ordinary wines, so there's a broad range of quality to choose from in this varietal. There are a substantial number of domestic Chardonnays, which can range from simple and off-dry to more complex and sophisticated. The producer's name on the wine, and often its price, are indicators of the level of quality. CHENIN BLANC (White) [SHEN'N BLAHNK] This native of the Loire valley has two personalities: at home it's the basis of such famous, long-lived whites as Vouvray and Anjou, Quarts de Chaume and Saumer, but on other soils it becomes just a very good blending grape. It is South Africa's most-planted grape, though there is called Steen, and both there and in California it is currently used primarily as a blending grape for generic table wines. Chenin Blanc should perform better in California, and someday it may. It can yield a pleasant enough wine, with subtle melon, peach, spice and citrus notes. The great Loire whites vary from dry and fresh to sweet, depending on the vintage and the producer. In South Africa, Chenin Blanc is even used for fortified wines and spirits. DOLCETTO (Red) [dole-CHET-to] Almost exclusive to northwest Piedmont, this produces soft, round, fruity wines fragrant with licorice and almonds that should be drunk within about three years. It's used as a safety net for producers of Nebbiolo andBarbera wines, which take much longer to age. There are seven DOCs: Acqui, Alba, Asti, Dinao d'Alba, Dogliani, Langhe Monregalesi and Ovada. FUMÉ BLANC (White) [FOO-may BLAHNK see Sauvignon BlancGAMAY (Red) [ga-MAY] GAMAY (Red) [ga-MAY] Beaujolais makes its famous, fruity reds exclusively from one of the many Gamays available, the Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc. Low in alcohol and relatively high in acidity, the wines are meant to be drunk soon after bottling; the ultimate example of this is Beaujolais Nouveau, whipped onto shelves everywhere almost overnight. It is also grown in the Loire, but makes no remarkable wines. The Swiss grow it widely, for blending with Pinot Noir; they often chaptalize the wines.California, meanwhile, grows a variety called Gamay Beaujolais, a high-yield clone of Pinot Noir that makes undistinguished wines in most places where it's grown. In the United States the grape is used primarily for blending, and acreage is declining, as those serious about Pinot Noir are using superior clones and planting in cooler areas. GEWüRZTRAMINER (White) [geh-VERTS-trah-mee-ner] Gewürztraminer can yield magnificent wines, as is best demonstrated in Alsace, France, where it is made in to a variety of styles from dry to off-dry to sweet. The grape needs a cool climate that allows it to get ripe. It's a temperamental grape to grow and vinify, as its potent spiciness can be overbearing when unchecked. At its best, it produces a floral and refreshing wine with crisp acidity that pairs well with spicy dishes. When left for late harvest, it's uncommonly rich and complex, a tremendous dessert wine.It is also popular in eastern Europe, New Zealand and the Pacific Northwest. GRENACHE (Red) [greh-NAHSH] Drought- and heat-resistant, it yields a fruity, spicy, medium-bodied wine with supple tannins. The second most widely planted grape in the world, Grenache is widespread in the southern Rhône. It is blended to produce Châteauneuf-du-Pape (although there are some pure varietals) and used on its own for the rosès of Tavel and Lirac; it is also used in France's sweet Banyuls wine. Important in Spain, where it's known as Garnacha Tinta, it is especially noteworthy in Rioja and Priorato. Grenache used to be popular in Australia, but has now been surpassed by Syrah; a few Barossa Valley producers are making wines similar to Châteauneuf-du-Pape. In California it's a workhorse blending grape, though occasionally an old vineyard is found and its grapes made into a varietal wine, which at its best can be good. It may make a comeback as enthusiasts of Rhône style seek cooler areas and an appropriate blending grape.Also,Grenache Blanc, known in Spain as Garnacha Blanca, which is bottled in the Southern Rhône. It's used for blending in France's Rousillon and the Languedoc, and in various Spanish whites, including Rioja. GRüNER VELTLINER (White) [GROO-ner VELT-linner] The most widely planted grape in Austria, it can be found to a lesser extent in some other parts of eastern Europe. It achieves its qualitative pinnacle in the Wachau, Kremstal and Kamptal regions along the Danube River west of Vienna. Gruner, as it's called for short, shows distinct white pepper, tobacco, lentil and citrus flavors and aromas, along with high acidity, making it an excellent partner for food. Gruner is singularly unique in its flavor profile, and though it rarely has the finesse and breeding of the best Austrian Rieslings (though it can come close when grown on granite soils), it is similar in body and texture. MALBEC (Red) [MAHL-beck] Once important in Bordeaux and the Loire in various blends, this not-very-hardy grape has been steadily replaced by Merlot and the two Cabernets. However, Argentina is markedly successful with this varietal. In the United States Malbec is a blending grape only, and an insignificant one at that, but a few wineries use it, the most obvious reason being that it's considered part of the Bordeaux-blend recipe. MARSANNE (White) [mahr-SANN] Popular in the Rhône (along with Grenache Blanc, Roussanne and Viognier). Australia, especially in Victoria, has some of the world's oldest vineyards. At its best, Marsanne can be a full-bodied, moderately intense wine with spice, pear and citrus notes. MERLOT (Red) [mur-LO] Merlot is the red-wine success of the 1990s: its popularity has soared along with its acreage, and it seems wine lovers can't drink enough of it. It dominates Bordeaux, except for the MÉdoc and Graves. Though it is mainly used for the Bordeaux blend, it can stand alone. In St.-Emilion and Pomerol, especially, it produces noteworthy wines, culminating in Château PÉtrus. In Italy it's everywhere, though most of the Merlot is light, unremarkable stuff. But Ornellaia and Fattoria de Ama are strong exceptions to that rule. Despite its popularity, its quality ranges only from good to very good most of the time, though there are a few stellar producers found around the world.Several styles have emerged. One is a Cabernet-style Merlot, which includes a high percentage (up to 25 percent) of Cabernet, similar currant and cherry flavors and firm tannins. A second style is less reliant on Cabernet, softer, more supple, medium-weight, less tannic and features more herb, cherry and chocolate flavors. A third style is a very light and simple wine; this type's sales are fueling Merlot's overall growth.Like Cabernet, Merlot can benefit from some blending, as Cabernet can give it backbone, color and tannic strength. It also marries well with oak. Merlot is relatively new in California, dating to the early 1970s, and is a difficult grape to grow, as it sets and ripens unevenly. Many critics believe Washington State has a slight quality edge with this wine. By the year 2000, vintners should have a better idea of which areas are best suited to this grape variety. As a wine, Merlot's aging potential is fair to good. It may be softer with age, but often the fruit flavors fade and the herbal flavors dominate.There is also an unrelated Merlot Blanc. MOURVEDRE (Red) [more-VAY-druh] As long as the weather is warm, Mourvèdre likes a wide variety of soils. It's popular across the south of France, especially in Provence and the Côtes-du-Rhône, and is often used in Châteauneuf-du-Pape; Languedoc makes it as a varietal. Spain uses it in many areas, including Valencia. In the United States it's a minor factor now, pursued by a few wineries that specialize in Rhône-style wines. The wine can be pleasing, with medium-weight, spicy cherry and berry flavors and moderate tannins. It ages well. MUSCAT (White) [MUSS-kat] Known as Muscat, Muscat Blanc and Muscat Canelli, it is marked by strong spice and floral notes and can be used in blending, its primary function in California. Moscato in Italy, Moscatel in Iberia: This grape can turn into anything from the low-alcohol, sweet and frothy Asti Spumante and Muscat de Canelli to bone-dry wines like Muscat d'Alsace. It also produces fortified wine such as Beaumes de Venise. NEBBIOLO (Red) [NEH-bee-oh-low] The great grape of Northern Italy, which excels there in Barolo and Barbaresco, strong, ageable wines. Mainly unsuccessful elsewhere, Nebbiolo also now has a small foothold in California. So far the wines are light and uncomplicated, bearing no resemblance to the Italian types. PETITE SIRAH (Red) [peh-TEET sih-RAH] Known for its dark hue and firm tannins, Petite Sirah has often been used as a blending wine to provide color and structure, particularly to Zinfandel. On its own, Petite Sirah can also make intense, peppery, ageworthy wines, but few experts consider it as complex as Syrah itself.There has been much confusion over the years about Petite Sirah's origins. For a long time, the grape was thought to be completely unrelated to Syrah, despite its name. Petite Sirah was believed to actually be Durif, a minor red grape variety first grown in southern France in the late 1800s. However, recent DNA research shows Petite Sirah and Syrah are related after all. A study done at the University of California at Davis determined not only that 90 percent of the Petite Sirah found in California is indeed Durif, but also that Durif is a cross between Peloursin and Syrah.Just to make things more confusing, in France, growers refer to different variants of Syrah as Petite and Grosse, which has to do with the yield of the vines. PINOT BLANC (White) [PEE-no BLAHNK] Often referred to as a poor man's Chardonnay because of its similar flavor and texture profile, Pinot Blanc is used in Champagne, Burgundy, Alsace, Germany, Italy and California and can make a terrific wine. When well made, it is intense, concentrated and complex, with ripe pear, spice, citrus and honey notes. Can age, but is best early on while its fruit shines through. PINOT GRIS or PINOT GRIGIO (White) [PEE-no GREE or GREE-zho] Known as Pinot Grigio in Italy, where it is mainly found in the northeast, producing quite a lot of undistinguished dry white wine and Collio's excellent whites. As Pinot Gris, it used to be grown in Burgundy and the Loire, though it has been supplanted, but it comes into its own in Alsace—where it's known as Tokay. Southern Germany plants it as Ruländer. When good, this varietal is soft, gently perfumed and has more color than most whites. PINOT NOIR (Red) [PEE-no NWA] Pinot Noir, the great grape of Burgundy, is a touchy variety. The best examples offer the classic black cherry, spice, raspberry and currant flavors, and an aroma that can resemble wilted roses, along with earth, tar, herb and cola notes. It can also be rather ordinary, light, simple, herbal, vegetal and occasionally weedy. It can even be downright funky, with pungent barnyard aromas. In fact, Pinot Noir is the most fickle of all grapes to grow: It reacts strongly to environmental changes such as heat and cold spells, and is notoriously fussy to work with once picked, since its thin skins are easily bruised and broken, setting the juice free. Even after fermentation, Pinot Noir can hide its weaknesses and strengths, making it a most difficult wine to evaluate out of barrel. In the bottle, too, it is often a chameleon, showing poorly one day, brilliantly the next.The emphasis on cooler climates coincides with more rigorous clonal selection, eliminating those clones suited for sparkling wine, which have even thinner skins. These days there is also a greater understanding of and appreciation for different styles of Pinot Noir wine, even if there is less agreement about those styles—should it be rich, concentrated and loaded with flavor, or a wine of elegance, finesse and delicacy? Or can it, in classic Pinot Noir sense, be both? Even varietal character remains subject to debate. Pinot Noir can certainly be tannic, especially when it is fermented with some of its stems, a practice that many vintners around the world believe contributes to the wine's backbone and longevity. Pinot Noir can also be long-lived, but predicting with any precision which wines or vintages will age is often the ultimate challenge in forecasting.Pinot Noir is the classic grape of Burgundy and also of Champagne, where it is pressed immediately after picking in order to yield white juice. It is just about the only red grown in Alsace. In California, it excelled in the late 1980s and early 1990s and seems poised for further progress. Once producers stopped vinifying it as if it were Cabernet, planted vineyards in cooler climates and paid closer attention to tonnage, quality increased substantially. It's fair to say that California and Oregon have a legitimate claim to producing world-class Pinot Noir. RIESLING (White) [REES-ling] One of the world's greatest white wine grapes, the Riesling vine's hardy wood makes it extremely resistant to frost. The variety excels in cooler climates, where its tendency to ripen slowly makes it an excellent source for sweet wines made from grapes attacked by the noble rot Botrytis cinerea, which withers the grapes' skin and concentrates their natural sugar levels.Riesling is best known for producing the wines of Germany's Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Pfalz, Rheinhessen and Rheingau wines, but it also achieves brilliance in Alsace and Austria. While the sweet German Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese wines, along with Alsace's famed Selection de Grains Nobles, are often celebrated for their high sugar levels and ability to age almost endlessly, they are rare and expensive.More commonly, Riesling produces dry or just off-dry versions. Its high acidity and distinctive floral, citrus, peach and mineral accents have won dry Riesling many fans. The variety pairs well with food and has an uncanny knack for transmitting the elements of its vineyard source (what the French call terroir).The wines from Germany's Mosel region are perhaps the purest expression of the grape, offering lime, pie crust, apple, slate and honeysuckle characteristics on a light-bodied and racy frame. Germany's Rheinhessen, Rheingau and Pfalz regions produces wines of similar characteristics, but with increasing body and spice.In Alsace, Riesling is most often made in a dry style, full-bodied, with a distinct petrol aroma. In Austria, Riesling plays second fiddle to Gruner Veltliner in terms of quantity, but when grown on favored sites it offers wines with great focus and clarity allied to the grape's typically racy frame.In other regions, Riesling struggles to maintain its share of vineyard plantings, but it can be found (often under synonyms such as White Riesling, Rhine Riesling or Johannisberg Riesling) in California, Oregon, Washington, New York's Finger Lakes region, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, South America and Canada. SANGIOVESE (Red) [san-geeo-VEHS-eh] Sangiovese is best known for providing the backbone for many superb Italian red wines from Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino, as well as the so-called super-Tuscan blends. Sangiovese is distinctive for its supple texture and medium-to full-bodied spice, raspberry, cherry and anise flavors. When blended with a grape such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese gives the resulting wine a smoother texture and lightens up the tannins.It is somewhat surprising that Sangiovese wasn't more popular in California given the strong role Italian immigrants have played in the state's winemaking heritage, but now the grape appears to have a bright future in the state, both as a stand-alone varietal wine and for use in blends with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and maybe even Zinfandel. Expect sweeping stylistic changes as winemakers learn more about how the grape performs in different locales as well as how it marries with different grapes. Worth watching. SAUVIGNON BLANC (White) [SO-vin-yon BLAHNK] Another white with a notable aroma, this one "grassy" or "musky." The pure varietal is found mainly in the Loire, at Sancerre and Pouilly-FumÉ, As part of a blend, the grape is all over Bordeaux, in Pessac-LÉognan, Graves and the MÉdoc whites; it also shows up in Sauternes. New Zealand has had striking success with Sauvignon Blanc, producing its own perfumed, fruity style that spread across North America and then back to France.In the United States, Robert Mondavi rescued the varietal in the 1970s by labeling it FumÉ Blanc, and he and others have enjoyed success with it. The key to success seems to be in taming its overt varietal intensity, which at its extreme leads to pungent grassy, vegetal and herbaceous flavors. Many winemakers treat it like in a sort of poor man's Chardonnay, employing barrel fermentation, sur lie aging and malolactic fermentation. But its popularity comes as well from the fact that it is a prodigious producer and a highly profitable wine to make. It can be crisp and refreshing, matches well with foods, costs less to produce and grow than Chardonnay and sells for less. It also gets less respect from vintners than perhaps it should. Its popularity ebbs and flows, at times appearing to challenge Chardonnay and at other times appearing to be a cash-flow afterthought. But even at its best, it does not achieve the kind of richness, depth or complexity Chardonnay does and in the end that alone may be the defining difference.Sauvignon Blanc grows well in a variety of appellations. It marries well with oak and Sèmillon, and many vintners are adding a touch of Chardonnay for extra body. The wine drinks best in its youth, but sometimes will benefit from short-term cellaring. As a late-harvest wine, it's often fantastic, capable of yielding amazingly complex and richly flavored wines. SÉMILLON (White) [SEM-ih-yon] On its own or in a blend, this white can age. With Sauvignon Blanc, its traditional partner, this is the foundation of Sauternes and most of the great dry whites found in Graves and Pessac-LÉognan; these are rich, honeyed wines,. SÉmillon is one of the grapes susceptible to Botrytis cinerea. Australia's Hunter Valley uses it solo to make a full-bodied white that used to be known as Hunger Riesling, Chablis or White Burgundy. In South Africa it used to be so prevalent that it was just called "wine grape," but it has declined drastically in importance there.In the United States, SÉmillon enjoys modest success as a varietal wine in California and Washington, but it continues to lose ground in acreage in California. It can make a wonderful late-harvest wine, and those wineries that focus on it can make well balanced wines with complex fig, pear, tobacco and honey notes. When blended into Sauvignon Blanc, it adds body, flavor and texture. When Sauvignon Blanc is added to SÉmillon, the latter gains grassy herbal notes.It can also be found blended with Chardonnay, more to fill out the volume of wine than to add anything to the package. SYRAH or SHIRAZ (Red) [sih-RAH or shih-RAHZ] Hermitage and Côte-Rôtie in France, Penfolds Grange in Australia—the epitome of Syrah is a majestic red that can age for half a century. The grape seems to grow well in a number of areas and is capable of rendering rich, complex and distinctive wines, with pronounced pepper, spice, black cherry, tar, leather and roasted nut flavors, a smooth, supple texture and smooth tannins. In southern France it finds its way into various blends, as in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Languedoc-Roussillon. Known as Shiraz in Australia, it was long used for bread-and-butter blends, but an increasing number of high-quality bottlings are being made, especially from old vines in the Barossa Valley.In the United States., Syrah's rise in quality is most impressive. It appears to have the early-drinking appeal of Pinot Noir and Zinfandel and few of the eccentricities of Merlot, and may well prove far easier to grow and vinify than any other red wines aside from Cabernet. TEMPRANILLO (Red) [temp-rah-NEE-yo] Spain's major contribution to red wine, Tempranillo is indigenous to the country and is rarely grown elsewhere. It is the dominant grape in the red wines from Rioja and Ribera del Duero, two of Spain's most important wine regions.In Rioja, Tempranillo is often blended with Garnacha, Mazuelo and a few other minor grapes. When made in a traditional style, Tempranillo can be garnet-hued, with flavors of tea, brown sugar and vanilla. When made in a more modern style, it can display aromas and flavors redolent of plums, tobacco and cassis, along with very dark color and substantial tannins. Whatever the style, Riojas tend to be medium-bodied wines, offering more acidity than tannin.In Ribera del Duero, wines are also divided along traditional and modern styles, and show similarities to Rioja. The more modern styled Riberas, however, can be quite powerful, offering a density and tannic structure similar to that of Cabernet Sauvignon.Tempranillo is known variously throughout Spain as Cencibel, Tinto del Pais, Tinto Fino, Ull de Llebre and Ojo. It's also grown along the Douro River in Portugal under the monikers Tinta Roriz (used in the making of Port) and Tinta Aragonez. TREBBIANO or UGNI BLANC (White) [treh-bee-AH-no or OO-nee BLAHNK] This is Trebbiano in Italy andUgni Blancin France. It is tremendously prolific; low in alcohol but high in acidity, it is found in almost any basic white Italian wine. It is so ingrained in Italian winemaking that it is actually a sanctioned ingredient of the blend used for (red) Chianti and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Most current Tuscan producers do not add it to their wines, however.The French, who also often call this grape St.-Émilion, used it for Cognac and Armagnac brandy; Ugni Blanc grapevines outnumbered Chardonnay by five to one in France during the '80s. VIOGNIER (White) [vee-oh-NYAY] Viognier, the rare white grape of France's Rhône Valley, is one of the most difficult grapes to grow, But fans of the floral, spicy white wine are thrilled by its prospects in the south of France and the new world. So far most of the Viogners produced in the United States are rather one-dimensional, with an abundance of spiciness but less complexity than they should have. Still, there are a few bright spots.It is used in Condrieu's rare whites and sometimes blended with reds in the Northern Rhône. There are also a variety of bottlings available from southern France, most of them somewhat light. ZINFANDEL (Red) [ZIHN-fan-dell] The origins of this tremendously versatile and popular grape are not known for certain, although it is thought to have come from Southern Italy as a cousin of Primitivo. It is the most widely planted red grape in California (though Australia has also played around with the grape). Much of it is vinified into white Zinfandel, a blush-colored, slightly sweet wine. Real Zinfandel, the red wine, is the quintessential California wine. It has been used for blending with other grapes, including Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah. It has been made in a claret style, with berry and cherry flavors, mild tannins and pretty oak shadings. It has been made into a full-bodied, ultraripe, intensely flavored and firmly tannic wine designed to age. And it has been made into late-harvest and Port-style wines that feature very ripe, raisiny flavors, alcohol above 15 percent and chewy tannins.Zinfandel's popularity among consumers fluctuates. In the 1990s Zinfandel is enjoying another groundswell of popularity, as winemakers took renewed interest, focusing on higher-quality vineyards in areas well suited to Zinfandel. Styles aimed more for the mainstream and less for extremes, emphasizing the grape's zesty, spicy pepper, raspberry, cherry, wild berry and plum flavors, and its complex range of tar, earth and leather notes. Zinfandel lends itself to blending.Zinfandel is a challenging grape to grow: its berry size varies significantly within a bunch, which leads to uneven ripening. Because of that, Zinfandel often needs to hang on the vine longer to ripen as many berries as possible. Closer attention to viticulture and an appreciation for older vines, which tend to produce smaller crops of uniformly higher quality, account for better balanced wines. 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Industry C.O.W.S. to help producers enhance the well-being of their herds By By Dairy Herd staff March 08, 2011 | 9:29 pm EST Novus International, Inc., has introduced a program to help dairy producers enhance the comfort and well-being of their herds so they can better maximize productivity and enrich dairy industry sustainability. C.O.W.S. stands for Comfort, Oxidative Balance, Well-Being and Sustainability. "The C.O.W.S. program provides perspectives on environmental factors that affect overall comfort, including free-stall design and management, and feeding areas," Stephanie Gable, Novus Global Marketing Manager, Ruminants. According to Gable, oxidative balance – the O in C.O.W.S. – is a linchpin for the other three pillars. Sound nutrition and proper oxidative balance are crucial in keeping cow immunity levels high for optimum health and performance. Oxidative stress can be induced by disease challenges, physiological conditions, environmental conditions and diet. "Oxidative stress is displayed through a number of costly clinical signs that reduce profitability, from mastitis to reproductive inefficiency," says Gable. "Dealing with that stress requires energy that cows could use for milk production, growth, longevity and overall productivity. A good nutrition program, with an antioxidant, can reduce stress and maintain oxidative balance, negate the effect of dietary fat on rumen microorganisms, and improve milk production and milk fat levels." Comfort and oxidative balance intertwine with well-being. C.O.W.S. evaluates well-being on the basis of gait scores that measure lameness, hock lesions and body condition scores. Lameness can mean less feed intake, reduced milk production, reproductive inefficiency and early culling. The C.O.W.S. program will be offered to individual key Novus customers as a complementary, value-added service. Confidential farm evaluations will be performed by Novus specialists and include: Cow lying time measured with electronic data loggers; Gait scores and hock health; Facility design and management measures that affect cow comfort including bedding frequency, stall dimensions, neck rail placement, feed bunk space and more. A customized report is provided to each farm, along with benchmarks of other operations in the region, so producers can gauge whether they have problems that should be addressed. U.S. program benchmarks are currently being established through the evaluation of 140 dairy operations in California, New Mexico, New York, Vermont, Pennsylvania and Texas. The program is based on a recently completed study by the University of British Columbia Animal Welfare Program that analyzed on-farm cow comfort assessment with 43 free-stall dairies in that province. One dairy producer who has experienced the C.O.W.S. program first-hand is Steve Harnish, co-owner of Central Manor Dairy of Washington Boro, Pa. Harnish and his family partners milk approximately 200 cows three times a day in an operation that features both free-stall and compost-bedded-pack housing. “I’ve found the C.O.W.S. program to be very effective in measuring metrics on the farm that directly affect cow comfort and operational profitability,” Harnish says. “As dairy farmers, I think we all tend to be a bit biased towards our own facilities and management. We assume this is as good as it gets, or this is all I’m capable of. But the C.O.W.S. program provides us with an independent unbiased perspective that’s important to help us identify areas of improvement that we might not recognize on our own. “I would definitely recommend the C.O.W.S. program to other producers,” Harnish adds. “It can verify strengths but it also identifies problem areas that can be addressed to achieve higher production and greater efficiency and profitability.” More information about the C.O.W.S. program can be obtained through Novus representatives or by visiting www.NovusCows.com. Learn more about oxidative balance in dairy cows by visiting the web site www.dairybalance.com. Related Articles By Dairy Herd staff

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Dried fodder The purpose of the common organisation of the market in dried fodder is to stabilise prices by introducing aid schemes and laying down detailed rules for trade with non-member countries. It will remain in force until 31 March 2008. Council Regulation (EC) No 1786/2003 of 29 September 2003 on the common organisation of the market in dried fodder [See amending acts]. From 1 April 2008, all products that fall within the scope of this Regulation will be covered by the common organisation of agricultural markets. The products concerned are meal, pellets and other presentations of lucerne, sainfoin, clover, lupins, vetches and other similar artificially heat-dried fodder products; lucerne, sainfoin, clover and certain other sun-dried and ground pulses; protein concentrates obtained from lucerne juice and grass juice and dehydrated products derived from concentrates. The marketing year starts on 1 April each year and ends on 31 March of the following year. Aid scheme The aid amounts to €33 per tonne and is granted for processed fodder, provided that its maximum moisture content is between 11% and 14% and its crude protein content in dry matter is not less than 15% or 45%, depending on the product concerned. For each marketing year, the maximum guaranteed quantity (MGQ) is set at 4 960 723 tonnes of dehydrated or sun-dried fodder. Where the quantity of dried fodder produced in the Community exceeds the MGQ during a marketing year, the amount of aid is reduced in those Member States whose production has exceeded their guaranteed national quantity (GNQ). This is done in order to remain within the limits of the planned budget. Processing undertakings that have applied for aid and whose entitlement has been recognised may receive an advance of €19.80 per tonne, or €26.40 per tonne if they have lodged a security of €6.60 per tonne. The advance may be paid before entitlement to aid has been established if a security equal to the amount of the aid plus 10% is lodged. Member States must make the necessary arrangements to ensure that the processing undertakings comply with the Community provisions on dried fodder. By 31 May of each year, Member States are to notify the Commission of the quantities of dried fodder that were eligible for aid in the previous marketing year. The rates of duty in the common customs tariff apply to dried fodder products. When trading with third countries, it is forbidden to impose charges having equivalent effect to customs duties or to apply quantitative import restrictions or measures having similar effect. Safeguard measures can be taken if the Community market is likely to undergo disturbances due to imports or exports. Other provisions Except where the Regulation provides otherwise, the rules on state aid as laid down in the Treaty are applicable to dried fodder. Member States are to notify the Commission of the measures taken to implement the Regulation. The Commission is assisted in implementing the Regulation by the Management Committee for Cereals (FR) By 30 September 2008, the Commission must present the Council with a report on the dried fodder sector, drawn up on the basis of an evaluation study and dealing, in particular, with the development of areas of leguminous and other green fodder, the production of dried fodder and the savings of fossil fuels achieved. If necessary, the report is to be accompanied by appropriate proposals. Regulation (EC) No 1786/2003 Successive amendments and corrections to Regulation (EC) No 1786/2003 have been incorporated into the basic text. The consolidated version (pdf) is for reference purposes only. Commission Regulation (EC) No 382/2005 of 7 March 2005 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1786/2003 on the common organisation of the market in dried fodder [Official Journal L 61 of 8 March 2005]. This Regulation sets out the eligibility criteria for aid, the duties of processing undertakings and purchasers, the procedures for carrying out checks and the specifications for contracts, delivery declarations, aid applications and payments. See consolidated version (pdf).

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Is Farming a Real Profession? India - 05 Aug 13 Tanya, a master’s student at the University of Gastronomic Sciences, discusses youth in farming in India... I belong to the farmer clan in my home country of India, and after my great-grandfather passed away nobody in my family went into the agriculture sector, although we still have some small land holdings in our ancestral village. Why did I never think of becoming a farmer? Was that even put forward as a career option for me or for any other youth in my country, apart from the ones living in the villages? The answer is that where I’m from, even in the modern era, farming is not viewed as a respectable activity. In India, the agricultural sector is the leading employer of young people in rural areas. However, due to over-capitalization of farming, lack of electricity and proper irrigation systems, and increasing fragmentation of land holdings—which has contributed to the rapid rate of farmer suicides—nowadays more and more youngsters are turning their backs on this work and migrating to cities. Education has not really penetrated the ethos of rural India, which is predominantly feudal in content. One of my distant cousins, who lived in the village but later moved to the capital in search of job, told me that he was keen to work in his father’s fields, but the traditional leadership system is dominated by the elderly, and so he had no say in decisions related to the farming policies. Also, as there are no defined retirement structures for the existing leaders in the Gram panchayatas (local self-governments in villages), these older decision-makers impose their out-dated work ethic, thereby giving no space to the modern ideas of the young people. Over time, this makes them hesitant to take up leadership roles, as they start doubting their own abilities. Due to the poor interaction between generations, the elderly do not trust the youth, which in turn slowly forces them to move out of their homes in search of other work options. Youngsters who remain in villages compare themselves to their friends who have moved to the towns and cities and are doing other jobs. For them, it is most important that they should do as well economically as those who are in service industries and business, which again becomes a contributing factor to their giving up on farming. Another social deterrent is that it is only men who are considered farmers. Women’s immense contribution to household food security in India remains largely invisible. Although the majority of the female workforce in India is engaged in agriculture, most women don’t have land rights. Gender discrimination runs deep at many levels. They manage every aspect of farm work, but it is still not considered a real occupation for women. The only way of making farming appealing to the youth is by making it seem trendy—that is, by creating an image of importance around it. An environment that fosters this image has to be created in order to encourage young people to get involved in agriculture. They have to be introduced to modern technologies and ideas about communication, combining technical training with life skills. Men and women both have to be given equitable access to land resources and opportunities, as well as shared power and decision making. There is a need to introduce agricultural literacy programs in school, so that students view it as an important profession. Emphasis should also be laid on the need to promote agricultural education and leadership development in universities, so that it reinforces interest among youth. The antithesis to an established idea or theory can lead to a synthesis (or solution) at a given point of time. My stay in UNISG has helped me to develop an antithesis for fast food. Further, our field trips to different farms and interaction with farmers and entrepreneurs has helped me to strengthen the idea that the Slow Food movement can only survive and consolidate if agriculture, indigenous knowledge, and tradition and local biodiversity are appreciated both as a scientific concept and as a way of life and earning. Only then will it be a continuum of occupation and a means for sustenance of generations, including the present youth. Tanya is a masters student at the University of Gastronomic Sciences. Find out more about the university at www.unisg.it. |

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Report shows vulnerability of global food system Published: 16 June 2015 at 09:46 The vulnerability of the global food system to sudden shocks, and the repercussions for communities, businesses and governments, is highlighted in a report published by Lloyd's, the specialist insurance and reinsurance market. Untitled PageSupported by academics at Anglia Ruskin University, the report contains a scenario where disruptions such as weather catastrophes and plant pandemics - which are exacerbated by climate change - have far-reaching economic and humanitarian consequences. Launched at Expo Milano 2015, the study shows how three events - El Nino, the spread of windblown wheat rust in Russia and warmer temperatures in South America - could lead to wheat, maize, soybean and rice prices quadrupling, significant losses on European and US stock markets, food riots and wider political instability. The key findings of the report are: a combination of just three catastrophic weather events could lead to a 10% drop in global maize production, an 11% fall in soybean production, a 7% fall in wheat production and a 7% fall in rice production wheat, maize and soybean prices could increase to quadruple the average levels experienced during the 20 years prior to the global food price shock of 2007/8. Rice prices could increase by 500% the scenario indicates this series of events has the potential to lead to food riots breaking out in urban areas across the Middle East, North Africa and Latin America, leading to wider political instability and having knock-on effects for a wide range of businesses while agriculture commodity stocks might benefit, the overall economic impact of high food prices, combined with rising political instability, could severely impact financial markets. The scenario indicates that the main European stock markets might lose 10% of their value and US stock markets 5%. Dr Aled Jones, Director of Anglia Ruskin University's Global Sustainability Institute, who worked on the report, said: "Food security is of increasing concern to regulators, insurers and society more generally. As the world moves increasingly towards a globalised system, we are able to provide more and more food to people who need it. However, the connectedness of our system also means a food production shock in one part of the world can have far reaching consequences, as we saw during the Arab Spring. "The Global Sustainability Institute at Anglia Ruskin University, through its Global Resource Observatory, is modelling the impacts of food shocks on finance and social systems. By better understanding these likely impacts, both direct and indirect, we hope to help inform policy and organisational responses to manage this risk." Tom Bolt, Director of Performance Management at Lloyd's, said: "Traditionally insurers look only at the financial and physical impact of catastrophes. But in today's interconnected world, these events can have complex and far-reaching economic and humanitarian implications. "The insurance industry has a key role to play in improving the resilience of communities, businesses and governments. Our role is not only to ensure that our ability to pay claims helps them to recover quickly from these events, but to ensure they have a greater awareness of the complex risks they face in a globalised world." Download the full report from the Lloyd's website. Education for Sustainability (EfS) GSI launches energy and food shocks network Report proposes reclaiming quantitative easing for common good New report makes case for building climate resilience Water experts will pour into Peterborough Winner of 2015 Sustainability Student Art Prize announced GSI part of new £6m CUSP network GSI 2015 conference opens with keynote on short-term policy solutions Sustainability work showcased at Davos

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