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New hardiness map puts northern Ohio in warmer zone A new plant hardiness map indicates much of northern Ohio is getting warmer.The U.S. Department of Agriculture today unveiled an updated version of its plant hardiness zone map that puts most of the state in Zone 6A, meaning the average minimum temperature is 5 to 10 degrees below zero. Previously much of northern Ohio was in the slightly colder Zone 5B, while the southern half of the state was mostly in Zone 6A. A closer look at energy-saving advice Busting some myths about saving energy at home: http://www.ohio.com/lifestyle/breckenridge/energy-mythbusting-what-does-and-doesn-t-help-you-save-1.256220 Homemade light stand for starting seeds I've never started seeds before. I've long toyed with the idea, but one of the factors holding me back is the prospect of investing in equipment for something I'm not sure I'll want to keep doing. That's probably why an article in the current Fine Gardening e-newsletter caught my eye. Decorative painter Annie Sloan plans workshop tour Annie Sloan, the high priestess of decorative painting, will be doing a U.S. workshop tour this spring.Unfortunately, none of the stops is in our region, but devoted fans will undoubtedly be buying their plane tickets. Get out and go! Turn off the flat-screen and get off the couch. There's plenty to do in Northeast Ohio in winter:http://www.ohio.com/news/top-stories/winter-activities-get-you-out-and-moving-1.255793 First peek at Junior League show house Spent an hour today checking out the West Akron home that will become the Junior League of Akron's next Designer ShowHouse.Think small-scale Stan Hywet, '70s style. Renovation show casting in Northeast Ohio Your house nightmare could land you on TV.Rivr Media, a production company in Knoxville, Tenn., is looking for a Northeast Ohio homeowner who has experienced a home catastrophe and is willing to appear in the pilot of a home renovation show tentatively titled Catastrophe Inc. The show will use the proceeds from the homeowner's insurance claim to clean up and rebuild after the disaster -- something like a fire, a flood or a bad case of mold. A designer will then decorate the space. At home with 'Modern Family' I love the ABC comedy Modern Family. But almost as much as the show, I love the characters' homes.That's why I enjoyed this article and slideshow on Architectural Digest's website. In it, production designer Richard Berg takes readers on a virtual tour of the Modern Family set, explaining some of the features of the homes and how the designers settled on them.

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"The satisfaction of your work is in the quality of the fight." arl Wernsman retired last year, but he didn�t leave his work behind. Indeed, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences plant breeder is seemingly as productive as when he was a full-time faculty member and a William Neal Reynolds Professor. Of course, a �part-time� work week for Wernsman usually encompasses around 40 hours. Wernsman is maintaining his tobacco breeding program thanks to Philip Morris USA, which is providing funding to keep the program afloat. For a tobacco company, funding a tobacco breeding program run by Dr. Earl Wernsman would seem the ultimate sure thing as far as investments are concerned. Wernsman has developed an impressive list of tobacco cultivars, or varieties, both flue-cured and burley. He estimates that more than half the flue-cured tobacco acreage in the United States is planted in varieties he developed. He refers to flue-cured tobacco as Virginia or bright tobacco, pointing out that these days, flue-cured is really a misnomer. Tobacco is no longer cured in barns with flues; modern barns are equipped with heat exchangers. While Wernsman�s career at North Carolina State University has spanned 36 years, he did not begin breeding tobacco until the 1980s. Until then, he taught plant breeding and did research on tobacco genetics. In the early 1980s, retirements created a void in the College�s tobacco breeding efforts. �It was filling a void,� Wernsman said of his decision to begin breeding tobacco. �And I had tenure by that time.� Whatever the reason, it was a decision that has benefitted tobacco growers. And 20 years later, Wernsman�s breeding program appears to be aging well. In fact, it may just be coming of age. It has been unusually productive in recent years, particularly where flue-cured varieties are concerned. �It takes a while to get momentum going,� is Wernsman�s explanation. But he has momentum now. From 1997 to 2000, he released, or made available to growers, four new flue-cured varieties and one new burley variety. Two more flue-cured varieties and one more burley variety became available to growers this year. Then there are the three other burley varieties released by Wernsman between 1989 and 1994. The star among the flue-cured varieties is one called NC 71. It became available to growers in 1997; just three years later, in 2000, it was planted on 38 to 40 percent of U.S. flue-cured acreage. Growers love NC 71 because it has an unusual combination: high yield, good quality and disease resistance. NC 71 has been the highest yielding variety for the last five years in Official Variety Tests, and it offers growers outstanding resistance to a major tobacco disease, black shank. Wernsman is fond of pointing out that nature rarely provides a free lunch, particularly to plant breeders. The breeder who wants to emphasize a particular trait � yield, for example � usually must pay with another trait � decreased quality or disease resistance. Yet NC 71 seems to break this rule. But the best may be yet to come. NC 297, which has the same genetic black shank resistance system as NC 71, will probably be grown on 8 to 10 percent of U.S. tobacco acreage this year, the first it is available to growers. Wernsman said he�s been told by officials of Gold Leaf Seed Co., which has the exclusive right to sell NC 297 seed, that it will be planted on at least 25,000 acres this year. That�s particularly good for a new variety. Wernsman said NC 71 acreage will probably decline as growers switch to NC 297, which has some resistance to tobacco mosaic virus, which NC 71 does not and which was a problem in many tobacco fields in 2000. Wernsman may be about to experience similar success with burley tobacco varieties. A burley variety called NC 4 was released in 2000 and became widely available to growers this year. With the exception of blue mold, NC 4 is resistant to virtually every disease that infects burley tobacco. It�s the first contemporary burley cultivar with resistance to fusarium wilt, but it is also resistant to tobacco mosaic virus, black root rot, wildfire and a viral complex caused by tobacco etch virus, potato virus Y and tobacco vein mottle virus. It also has some resistance to root-knot nematodes and low resistance to black shank. Wernsman thinks much of the market for NC 4 will be international, where its multiple disease resistance will make it attractive to growers in different countries with different problems. Wernsman is unusual among public plant breeders in that he considers the international market for the cultivars he develops. He points out that U.S. tobacco acreage has declined by half in the last four years, a trend that may continue. He breeds cultivars for the companies that sell seeds as well as growers. �American seedsmen have got to have international markets to survive,� he explained. One of his flue-cured varieties, NC 55, is the number one variety grown in Italy and is popular in other parts of Eastern Europe and Brazil. NC 55 has high yield, outstanding quality and is resistant to tobacco etch virus and potato virus Y, which is a particular problem in Italy. �The big push for us will be in the burley arena,� he said. Another burley cultivar, NC 5, is on the way, and several other burley cultivars, which haven�t been named yet, are in the wings. All have the multiple disease resistance of NC 4 plus the black shank resistance system that has made NC 71 so popular. Wernsman said his program has been successful because of the support it has received. �I�ve been blessed with good support from North Carolina growers through the Tobacco Research Commission and the North Carolina Tobacco Foundation and with generous gifts from the industry, from Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds,� he said. �Because of the good support, I�ve been able to hire good people.� Yet certainly the attitude Wernsman brings to his work has also played a part in the success of his program. �One of the nice things about plant breeding is that you never achieve the ultimate,� he said. �The satisfaction of your work is in the quality of the fight.� Earl Wernsman�s job satisfaction must be high, for he has waged and continues to wage the good fight.

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Urbanites help sustain Japan’s historic rice paddy terraces by Bixia Chen, Akira Nagata, originally published by OurWorld 2.0 It was a rainy Sunday morning in mid-April, the kind that makes one wish to be at home by the stove enjoying a cup of hot coffee. However, notwithstanding the grim and chilly weather, we were instead on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture witnessing a flock of over 20 people vigorously using hoes to repair the ridges of rice paddy terraces. If you are an urbanite, you might be amazed by such a farming scene set in the drizzly early spring on steep slopes overlooking the sea. Perhaps even more surprising would be the fact that these people were not local farmers. They were regular urban folk who live over 100 km away in Kanazawa City, the prefecture’s capital, and only experience farming practices several times a year for two-hour periods. The willingness of these city-dwellers to be working on such a day stems from their desire to help preserve a historical agricultural landscape that not only has a role in the area’s culture but is now intertwined with the surrounding ecosystem and its biodiversity. These terraces, called Shiroyone Senmaida, which consist of over 1,000 small pieces of paddy perched on the sharp hills along the coast, were first established in the 17th century. After almost half of the tiers were destroyed by flood in the second half of the 19th century, the stair-like terraces were restored by the people of Shiroyone Community, which is part of nearby Wajima City. However, nowadays that group of local farmers keeps shrinking — due to a continual drop in the agricultural workforce and the aging of the local population — and they could only cultivate a small part of the terraces. So, as part of an initiative to assist in maintaining the terraces, conservationist volunteers and urban “owners” (who do not actually own the land but are allotted a slot in a stewardship system) are now helping to cultivate the majority of these terraces, which are called tanada in Japanese. Urbanites experience traditional farming by using hoes to repair the mud dykes on Shiroyone Senmaida, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. Photo by Bixia Chen. These city-dwellers often participate in the farming experience as two- or three-generation family units. On our recent visit to the terraces, one couple commented that repairing the mud ridge looked like a simple task, however, it was in fact very difficult to do the job as well as an experienced farmer would. The woman said that the family decided to apply for a spot in the initiative this year after hearing about Shiroyone Senmaida through television reports. During breaks in the farm work, their 2-year-old daughter played joyfully around the fields with the children of other participants. Saving a rich heritage Spending time in such a spot is certainly of educational value for children from urban areas. The Noto Peninsula’s rich history and culture dates back over 2,100 years and, according to archeological surveys, the roots of today’s agricultural system can be traced to the Nara Era over 1,300 years ago. As discussed previously on Our World 2.0, the peninsula was recognized in 2011 as one of the world’s Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). The GIAHS initiative by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations spotlights systems that “are rich in agricultural biodiversity and associated wildlife, and are important resources of indigenous knowledge and culture” that have resulted “in the sustained provision of multiple goods and services, food and livelihood security for millions of poor and small farmers”. During breaks in the farm work, the children of terrace paddy “owners” joyfully played around the fields. Photo by Bixia Chen. As noted in the GIAHS file for the region, “[t]he peninsula is a microcosm of traditional rural Japan where agricultural systems are integrally linked to mountains and forest activities upstream and coastal marine activities downstream. Holistic approaches to integrated human activities of fishing, farming and forestry have traditionally been practised and continue to coexist.” Indeed, Noto is characterized by a mosaic of managed socio-ecological production landscapes, referred to as satoyama, and marine-coastal ecosystems comprising seashore, rocky shore, tidal flats and seaweed/eelgrass beds, known as satoumi. However, a trend of economic decline brought by rural-to-urban migration that leaves the countryside reliant on an aging population not only affects the community of Shiroyone but a wide range of Japan’s rural areas. Mountainous regions, in particular, are subject to farmland abandonment. As terraced rice fields are found in mountainous areas, it has been estimated that around 40 percent of paddy terraces in Japan have been abandoned. The beginning of this loss can be traced back to the end of the 1960s when rice production exceeded demand, leading the government to request that farmers convert parts of their paddy fields to other crops. Terraced paddy fields were among the first paddy fields to be abandoned due to low productivity and the difficulty of using machines there. Revival strategies Fast forward to the near present. With the recognition of the multifunctional role of terraced paddy fields, in particular for their part in providing ecological and cultural services, conservation activities began emerging nationwide in the 1990s. Following a summit on the topic attended by over 1,200 researchers, officials and citizens, a “ Tanada Renaissance” was launched and a nonprofit support network was established. As was the case in several regions of Japan, Shiroyone Senmaida’s conservation activities were launched by volunteers from a wide range of organizations and cooperatives. The “Tanada Owner System” — which is a rather unique voluntary civil farming initiative recognized for fostering valuable long-term rural–urban relations — was instituted here in 2007, with about half of the urbanite participants coming from Kanazawa and half from other cities, such as Tokyo and Nagoya. Shiroyone Senmaida consists of 1,004 parcels of terraced paddy fields covering 40,051 square metres. As of August 2011, there were only three farm households, which collectively cultivated a total of 396 parcels of Shiroyone Senmaida’s paddy fields. Each parcel of land is extremely small, averaging just 18-20 square metres. The average age of local farmers is 73. Apart from those parcels cultivated by local farmers, Wajima City employees, Japan Agricultural Cooperative Ōzora, the ”Owner System” participants, and a sake brewing company are farming 130, 121, 277 and 7 parcels, respectively. (The UNU Institute of Advanced Studies Operating Unit Ishikawa/Kanazawa has been supporting the local conservation activity as one of the 277 “owners”.) Of the remaining parcels, 37 were abandoned and 36 were transformed into upland fields to grow crops other than rice. Apart from providing labour support to counterbalance depopulation and the aging of remaining farmers, the “Owner System” also received a fair amount of media coverage, which importantly generated interest in farming among urban people and raised consciousness regarding the decline of rural areas. This new awareness is a topic of some importance in a country that has had food security and a transition to low carbon lifestyles in its national goals for some time now. However, in regards to contributing to any overall target of sustaining rural agriculture and the rural economy, “owners’” support of rice planting is far from enough. Therefore, a branding effort was launched with the aim of making terrace rice cultivation profitable enough to encourage the local farmers to continue and even restore abandoned terraces. After the designation of Noto as a GIAHS site, the local community has come to recognize that it is crucial to conserve not only their rural landscape but its rich biodiversity for future generations. Thus, it was decided that a brand called “Noto Tanada Rice” (literally, Noto terrace rice), marketed by four Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JA) located in Okunoto, at the northern tip of Noto Peninsula, would be farmed with reduced chemical use. The total area of terraced paddy fields in Ishikawa Prefecture is roughly about 2,500 ha, of which 80 percent is located in Noto Peninsula. In 2012, the first year of its launch, Noto Tanada Rice included only around 28 ha with 15 communities involved. According to one of the participating cooperatives, JA Anamizu, the brand’s rice plantation area will be extended to 60 ha in 2013 and reach around 100 ha in 2014. More importantly, starting in 2013, chemical inputs have been reduced to 50 percent of that used in conventional farming practice. Noto Tanada Rice was priced at ¥640 per kg, around 42 percent higher than koshihikari rice (a particularly esteemed cultivar and one of the most widely grown in Japan) farmed in Ishikawa Prefecture, which is priced on average at ¥450 per kg. The plot of terrace paddy that was allotted to UNU Institute of Advanced Studies Operating Unit Ishikawa/Kanazawa. Photo by Bixia Chen. Aside from its economic importance, Noto Tanada Rice branding will also contribute to the conservation of terraced paddy fields in the future. A conservation foundation will be established to subsidize weeding at the ridges and cleaning the water courses of the paddies. And this biodiversity-friendly approach is spreading. A parallel initiative of branding for rice grown on non-terraced paddy fields was announced by the four Okunoto cooperatives on 1 December 2012. The target is to promote a 30 percent reduction in chemical input by 2014 on all koshihikari cultivation, which accounts for 60 percent of the total paddy fields in Noto, around 12,000 ha. Some may wonder whether such fast conversion from conventional to sustainable farming over such a wide area is feasible. However, the central figure of these two branding initiatives, Shigenobu Fujita, former farming division director of JA Ozora, expressed his confidence that many farmers are determined to produce high quality agricultural products and feel proud of their agricultural heritage. If flocks of city-dwellers will trek to steep hillside paddies to work in the damp spring weather, then nothing seems impossible. The terraced paddy field conservation activities in Noto Peninsula will be discussed and shared among other Asian countries (e.g., China and Korea) at an international workshop to be held by UNU-IAS OUIK on 28 May 2013. For more details on the “Experiences and Lessons from Asian GIAHS Pilot Sites” workshop, please see the UNU-IAS website. Tags: sustainable agriculture rice paddy terraces About Bixia Chen: About Akira Nagata: Related Articles Food & Water | Oct 20, 2016 by Juliette Majot, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy Corporate interest-driven trade agreements, including the Trans-Pacific … by Christopher Stopes, Sustainable Food Trust The referendum vote in favour of Britain leaving the EU is causing … Ensia Composed of the six countries that drove out the Premier, along with … by Carolyn Baker, carolynbaker.net Author Michael Brownlee is inciting a local food revolution, and this … by Judith Gerber, Seedstock Making vegetables a visible part of the community is what has guided LA … Crowdsourcing the Food Commons Transition: De-commodifying Food one Movement at a Time by Jose Luis Vivero Pol, P2P Foundation blog Today, the purchasing power of any given person determines how much and … by Chelsey Simpson, Yes! Magazine On Earth Day 2012, a group of University of California, Berkeley, students, …

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Volume 42 | Number 1 | Fall 2011 "... you never know when the little guy's gonna end up being the big guy, and here we are today."- Rick Miles Photos by ISU Photographic Services/Susan Duncan Five Guys Fry Guy Fall 2011 Issue | By Andrew Taylor Idaho State University alum Rick Miles provides Five Guys Burgers and Fries with 2.1 to 2.25 million pounds of potatoes per week, and that amount will continue to grow as this franchise continues to expand. Miles, who attended Idaho State University from 1970-72 studying business, began servicing this chain in 2002 when it consisted of about eight restaurants. At that time he helped supply about 150 50-pound bags of potatoes every 10 days to Five Guys. Now, that number of 50-pound bags of delicious fry-producing, genuine Idaho Russet Burbank potatoes has grown to between 42,000 and 45,000 50-pound bags per week, supplied by Rick Miles Produce Service based in Rigby. Since 2002, Five Guys has grown to more than 800 franchises in the United States and Canada, and the last couple of years has opened between 200 and 220 stores annually. The company's long-term plans are for another 2,200 or more franchises being opened in the next eight years. The Rigby native met the owner and founder of Five Guys, Jerry Murrell, when the restaurant was growing from five stores in Virginia and the Washington, D.C., area to 13 restaurants. "When I met Jerry Murrell, the CEO and the father of the family that owns Five Guys Burgers and Fries, we hit it off and he indicated he had big plans for expanding," Miles said. "We put ourselves in position to grow as they sold franchises, and it has worked out really well." Miles, 58, says that he has to hustle to meet the demands of supplying Five Guys. Miles and his relationship with Five Guys was featured last December in an MSNBC story "Behind the Counter." According to that story, out of the 3 billion pounds of fresh potatoes shipped out of Idaho annually, Five Guys is purchasing about 4 to 5 percent of them. Five Guys was the biggest buyer of Idaho potatoes in 2010, according to the MSNBC story. Rick Miles and Klaren Coompin, of Coompin Farms, inspect a potato crop near American Falls. "We're in the process of putting the infrastructure in place to handle the growth," Miles said. "We fortunately have good relationships with a lot of packing facilities and growers in Idaho, and those relationships help us." The quality of Idaho potatoes also helps and the potato growers who provide the potatoes are prominently displayed on signs in Five Guys restaurants. "We often get emails and people call us and tell us how much they enjoy the French fries," Miles said. "Idaho potatoes make excellent fries, but a lot of it is how Five Guys cooks them. They're extremely conscientious about the quality of product they serve." Miles, 58, has been involved in the potato business since he was 13 years old and worked at a packing company his uncle owned. Eventually, he started his own distributor and brokerage business, which he has run for the last 18 years. Rick Miles Produce Service now has three full-time employees and two part-time employees, including Miles' two daughters, Sheri Littleford and Brooke Holverson. "They are an integral part of what we do," Miles said. Miles and his wife, Betty, have four children. Miles said the knowledge he gained as a student helped him with his business. He had this advice for current ISU students. "You need to get as much higher education as you can, but hands-on experience is worth a lot," Miles said. "It takes a while to get that experience and be effective." Work hard, and take advantage of opportunities that come your way, is another piece of advice from Miles. "I was a small company, they were a small company," Miles said in the MSNBC story of his initial contact with Five Guys, "and you never know when the little guy's gonna end up being the big guy, and here we are today." About ISU Magazine ISU Magazine Staff Donate to ISU Magazine ISU Home Page

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2001 Farm Press Peanut Profitability Awards Neil Reimer, 2001 Southwest Winner Neil Reimer, a Seminole, Texas, peanut, wheat and cotton farmer, says peanut production costs run about $600 per acre and yields average 5,800 pounds per acre. Rotation, fertility and adequate water provide the backbone for his production program, but he admits to being meticulous about giving the crop what it needs to produce yield goals. “I always set a 5,500 pound per acre target,” he says, “and everything I do is geared toward reaching that goal.” In some cases, Reimer will hold back on nutrients, if soil tests indicate adequate levels. But he never hesitates to apply what’s necessary to make the yield, even in a down market. “I take soil samples every year,” he says. “I spend money where it’s needed. If I have adequate levels of phosphorus, for instance, why spend money on it? It’s easy to spend more than necessary if we don’t know what we’re doing.” Harris Devane, 2001 Lower Southeast Winner There’s cutting costs, and then there’s cutting one’s own throat. Staying on the right side of the fine line that separates the two is the key to maintaining efficiency and high yields in peanut production, says Harris Devane, a southwest Georgia farmer and winner of the 2001 Farm Press Peanut Profitability Award for the Southeast Region. “We have to keep our yields high enough to get a good return from the crop. We try to watch our input costs, but we’ve stuck with the same basic practices over the years,” says Devane, who farms with his father Marvin and farms some of his own land in Randolph County, Ga. In addition to 225 acres of peanuts, Devane also grows cotton, corn, soybeans and wheat in a diversified family operation. In the past two years, he has double-cropped cotton behind wheat in a no-till system. Wayland Spruill, 2001 Upper Southeast Winner Whether he’s riding in his pickup checking fields for problems, pod-blasting peanuts to determine when to dig, or helping his wife Lucy tend to their brand-new infant son, Wayland is learning it’s the little things that count in a big way. “All the little things you observe out riding around make a big difference,” Wayland says. Paying attention to the little things lead to profits. The Spruills have a five-year average yield of 3,500 pounds per acre, mostly on dryland peanuts. Source URL: http://southwestfarmpress.com/2001-farm-press-peanut-profitability-awards

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Removing Contaminants From Recycled Water A convergence of factors – regulatory trends, public perception, crop quality, and cost efficiency – has sparked considerable interest among growers in the technology of water recycling. Indeed, the greenhouse industry at the local, state and federal levels has been promoting the conservation and recycling programs already implemented by growers as a “proactive” response to the increased concern among citizens and within the government over the quality of groundwater and runoff water. It may be premature to proclaim that this effort by growers has staved off the threat of stricter federal and state mandates. Needless to say, the American public is unlikely to lose interest in industrial or agricultural practices that may degrade the quality of water and, by extension, the environment. Likewise, the Environmental Protection Agency, along with other governmental and private-sector “watchdogs,” are unlikely to reverse course when all indicators point toward a continuing and increasingly sharper scrutiny of practices deemed a threat to water quality. The spectre of stricter water quality regulations provides growers with a strong incentive to reduce discharge and waste volumes. But a number of these techniques also have been shown to increase yields, lower production costs, speed up growing cycles, and reduce pest and disease control costs. The key to any recycling system used in commercial growing is its impact on nutrient solution management. A grower who successfully manages the nutrient solution while utilizing recycled water will realize both a decrease in the cost of fertilizer and an increase in crop quality. Conversely, the consequences can be disastrous to a grower who cannot control the nutrient solution. The challenge of controlling nutrient solutions starts with the water, the quality of which varies widely across the nation. Some growers are luckier than others by simple virtue of having access to good water. (If you haven’t had your water thoroughly analyzed, now is the time to do it!) The contaminants of interest to growers are numerous. In some cases, the level of a particular contaminant may be within acceptable boundaries for the production of floral crops. In other cases, the presence of one or several contaminants will mandate that the water be treated. As basic guidelines, the following parameters should be analyzed for each water source (typical sources include streams, lakes, wells and municipal water treatment centers). WATER pH pH Preferred Range Variability in U.S. water sources 6.5 — 7.5 SU 5 — 8.5 SU The pH of the water will give a measurement of reactivity. Most water in the U.S. is nearly neutral, measured as a pH of 7. A pH lower than 7 is considered acidic, while a pH higher than 7 is considered alkaline. The pH of water can be measured with an electronic analyzer (typically accurate to 0.1 of a pH point), or with a liquid test kit (which uses a colorimetric indicator to signify pH). Adding the appropriate chemicals is the preferred way to maintain an adequate pH in the nutrient solution. Acid is injected into the system if the pH is too high, while a caustic material is used if the pH is too low. These adjustments can be done manually by sampling the solution, calculating the amount of chemical required, and then adding the chemical. Alkalinity Preferred Range Variability in U.S. water sources N/A 10 — 500 mg/l In association with pH, alkalinity plays a role in determining the “neutralization” capacity of the water. Most growers understand that adding acid to water with a high pH initially will lower alkalinity without significantly changing the pH. Once the alkalinity is reduced, the acid will begin to reduce the pH. The alkalinity of the water must be known to properly predict the volume of chemical required to adjust the pH. Colorimetric test kits are available for the measurement of alkalinity. Treatment of excessively alkaline nutrient solution alkalinity is done in conjunction with the adjustment of pH. Electrical Conductivity EC (electric conductivity) Variability in U.S. water sources preferred range 150 — 2,300 umhos 75 — 15,000+ umhos TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) 100 — 1,500 mg/l 50 — 10,000+ mg/l EC (electric conductivity) is a measurement of all ions in the water – sodium, magnesium, calcium, iron, chloride, sulfate, nitrate, and many others. This measurement also relates to the TDS (total dissolved solids) in the water. As with pH, the EC of water varies greatly across the U.S. For instance, water supplies in some parts of the Northeast have an EC of less than 100, while the EC level of water in some areas of the Southwest exceeds 10,000. EC measurement is performed using an electronic device that directly measures electrical conductivity. This tool is refered to as conductivity analyzers or TDS analyzers. Among the several treatment methods for reducing EC, reverse osmosis (RO) is the most common in the industry, including the greenhouse industry. This technology uses a membrane as a barrier to dissolved salts, inorganic molecules and organic molecules with a molecular weight greater than approximately 100. Water molecules pass freely or “permeate” through the membrane, creating a purified product stream. Most commercial membranes are designed to prevent or “reject” more than 95 percent of the contaminants. This means that 5 percent or less of salts will permeate through the membrane. Regardless of the type of RO system, a constant drain (reject flow) is required. This reject flow contains all of the non-permeated contaminants. The efficiency or “recovery” of the RO system is determined by the ratio of reject flow to permeate flow. A typical commercial RO design will provide efficiency of about 50 percent for every one gallon processed; a half gallon is permeated into good water while the other half gallon is processed to drain. The use of RO as a pretreatment for the nutrient solution assures consistent quality, which in turn is maintained in the recirculation loop. Total Suspended Solids Variability in U.S. water sources preferred range <5 mg/l 1 — 50+ mg/l The TSS (total suspended solids) refers to the amount of filterable material in the water. Although high TSS levels have minimal impact on crops, the TSS causes problems with water transport devices, including pumps, storage tanks, distribution lines, spay nozzles, and other water treatment equipment. The measurement of TSS is typically done in a laboratory. One way to measure this parameter is to filter 100 ml of water through a filter. The filter is then dried and weighed. The residue filter cake, which represents the TSS in the water, is measured by its weight. With this device, the size (in microns) of the suspended solids can be classified. Filters are utilized to remove TSS. The most commonly used filters are disposable cartridge filters, but bag or backwash filters are employed in situations that entail significant levels of TSS. Also important is the filter rating. Most cartridge filters will have a rating of one, five, 20 or 50 microns, which refers to the size of the solids that are removed. A 20-micron filter will protect most water treatment devices. Free chlorine Free Cl2 preferred range Variability in U.S. water sources <0.05 mg/l 0 — 5 mg/l Free chlorine is detrimental to nearly every crop. This strong oxidant is added to municipal water supplies as a residual disinfectant. The goal of most municipalities is to provide a residue of 1 mg/l of Cl2 at the furthest point in the distribution network. This means that locations close to the processing plant will have significantly higher values. A colorimetric test kit can be used to detect free Cl2. This type of kit provides a rough estimate of the residue Cl2 levels to an accuracy of 0.1 mg/l. Activated carbon is the typical means by which Cl2 is removed. The carbon can be incorporated into a filter cartridge; however, this type of filter requires constant monitoring and replacement. Most commercial applications use the carbon in a contact media tank. These types of systems can generally operate nine to 12 months before requiring replacement of the media. Another means of removing Cl2 is to route water to a retention pond. Because Cl2 levels diminish with time and exposure to the atmosphere, facilities that employ retention ponds rarely need additional treatment to bring Cl2 levels to acceptable levels. Hardness Hardness preferred range Variability in U.S. water sources <20 mg/l 20 — 1,500+ mg/l Many water supplies contain dissolved solids such as calcium and magnesium. Dissolved calcium and magnesium ions are typically referred to as “hardness” in the water. Although these elements are not directly detrimental to crops, they can cause excessive wear on equipment such as water heaters, boilers, steamers, pumps and humidifiers. Removing hardness from the water significantly extends the life of equipment in contact with the water. Water is most commonly softened through an ion exchange process (a highly efficient means of removing hardness thanks to the development of synthetic resins). In this process, the resins are used to remove calcium and magnesium from the water by exchanging their ions, in a sense, with the “soft” ions of sodium or potassium. Resins eventually become exhausted, at which time a regeneration sequence is used to remove concentrated deposits of hardness from resin beds, while replenishing beds with soft ions. Sodium chloride (table salt) is typically used for the regeneration, although potassium chloride also is suitable. Iron Preferred Range Variability in U.S. water sources <0.1 mg/l 0 —- 10+ mg/l The detrimental affect to water processing equipment of iron in the water is similar to that calcium and magnesium. A field test kit can be used to detect iron, although it announces its presence fairly obviously by staining faucets. A water softener can remove iron in addition to removing calcium, magnesium and other agents of hardness; care must be taken, however, to minimize the oxidation potential. This means ensuring to the fullest extent possible that the water does not come in contact with air. Iron will precipitate if oxidizers are introduced into the stream, which creates unfavorable conditions for the desired ion exchange. A filter system with at least a five-micron rating is the recommended treatment for a situation in which oxidation is significant. While there are many other possible water contaminants, an understanding of the previously listed contaminants will go a long way toward helping to manage the water system of any grower’s operation. By Line: Jerry Kovach Jerry Kovach is manager of commercial products at Kinetico Inc., Newbury, Ohio. Legacy ID: OHP Miticide Now Labeled for Greenhouse Vegetables Controlling Energy Costs AFE Releases Social Media Guide to Help Reach Younger Demographic An Industry of Silos…or the Power of One? Northwest Horticulture Teams Up with Skagit Gardens Ask us About Diseases

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You are here: Home › Granville Sentinel › Whitehall Times › Hampton looking to develop agricultural plan September 19, 2012 Hampton looking to develop agricultural plan T he Hampton planning board is in the early stages of creating a road map for the future development of farming in the community. The plan would be a resource that current and prospective farmers could use as they look to establish or expand their operations. “Because you have Green Mountain College doing so much with farming and have so many young people who want to farm, and you have so much open land, Hampton is a perfect place for this,” said Bonnie Hawley, chairperson of the planning board. When complete, it would serve as a sort of master plan and guide decision-making in regards to development in the community. “It’s something that tells the town what we would like to do,” said Hawley. “It would make sure that the town’s decisions fit what its people want.” The plan is an outgrowth of a nearly two-year effort by the planning board to create a comprehensive plan for the town. In August 2010, the board sent out a survey to property owners within the town asking them to rate the importance of different aspects of life in Hampton. Hawley said most responders were in favor of maintaining the rural and agricultural character of the community and balancing that with some light economic development. In November of last year, the board began developing and outlining five- and 10-year goals that will be incorporated into the plan. Last month the board met with Darlene Devoe, an advisor who has worked with communities to develop master plans. She provided suggestions as to how the board should proceed and highlighted resources it could use as they continue. Hawley said Devoe will meet with the board again this month and present a more formal proposal. “We need to find someone like Darlene or whomever, to help us focus and get started in a direction and then we can continue on our own,” she said. Granville a model Members are modeling the plan after Granville’s, which officials completed last year. The board has already compiled demographic information from the 2010 census as well as a history of the community. It also has gotten several maps from Washington County that document some of the town’s geographical characteristics and natural resources. For instance the board has a map that indicates the different types of soil in the area, which could be used by farmers to determine a suitable use for a specific area. Members plan to take a full inventory of what agriculture is already in the community, which would be included in the plan as well. Hawley said the next step will be determining a clear direction to follow and then the board can begin collecting information and putting it together. It’s expected the process will take at least another year to complete. The planning board will continue work on the plan at its next meeting, at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 25. Read more in this week's Times in newsstands now or click here to read right now with our e-edition. Tags: Chairperson, Darlene, Decisions, Devoe, Economic Development, Farmers, Nbsp, People, Planning Board, Property Owners Rooting for Emmy: Local family has ties to emmy nominee Horde still chasing first win after loss to Red Raiders

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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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[SMH | Text-only index] Mining boom hurting farmers: report It's been labelled Australia's golden goose, but a new report says the mining boom has served the rural sector nothing but rotten eggs for the better part of a decade.The Australia Institute claims the nation's agriculture exporters have taken a $61.5 billion hit since the mining boom sent the dollar soaring.It's new report "Still beating around the bush" tracked the earnings of a number of trade-exposed export industries in the wake of the boom, including cotton, sugar, wheat and beef.The picture is grim. In 2011/12, the sector as a whole exported almost $40 billion worth of produce, but the strong dollar reduced this in real terms by nearly a half.Until 2004 the average exchange rate was around $US0.70, but skyrocketing commodity prices have seen the Australian dollar surge to parity with the greenback, and beyond, since late 2010.The dollar remains high and the boom continues, threatening to leave the export-reliant rural sector in tatters as "collateral damage" if current trends go on unabated.Queensland Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce said there was no use pointing out the "bleeding obvious" to farmers who just want to know what legacy the mining boom will leave them."I think people would accept the mining boom if, when it left, they saw new dams, new railway lines, inland rail, ports," he told AAP."If all they see is holes in the ground and wrecked roads, they'll say `there's nothing in that for us.'"His colleague Ian Macdonald said sugar farmers in his state of Queensland understood the high dollar was a reality beyond the control of government.But as price takers - those who accept rather than set global prices - extra costs at home weren't at all appreciated in tough times, none more so than the carbon tax."If they could get rid of that, they'd put up with the vagaries of the exchange rate," he said.National Farmers Federation president Jock Laurie said despite the challenges, it seemed the federal government wasn't overly concerned about the agriculture sector at the end of the day.The resource sector was calling the shots, he said, while farmers were expected to just turn up and get the job done as they always had."There's just an expectation that farmers will just keep doing it, whether they're making money or not," he said."Well the fact is, things are getting very tight."

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Visit Growers Website Growers Home > In The Field > Northern California - June 30, 2014 Northern California - June 30, 2014 This report covers conditions and observations made between Monday, May 26 and Sunday, June 29, 2014. The next report is scheduled for Monday, August 4, 2014. However, in the event of any significant occurrences prior to that date, this site will be updated as soon as possible. Our photos for the northern region present a view of the Winters variety and confirmation of the start of the hull split in the Nonpareil, both in the Woodland area of Yolo County, followed by a shot of a hull split treatment to control Navel Orange Worm in the Chico area of Butte County. Comfortably mild to seasonably hot conditions ushered in the transition from Spring into Summer in the Sacramento Valley. Daily maximum temperatures ranged between the lower 80’s and lower 90’s for much of the period. However, readings reached their highest values for the period between June 4th and 10th, ranging from the mid 90’s to as high as 106 degrees. Morning minimum temperatures followed the trend established by the daily highs, varying between the lower 50’s at the cooler end of the scale to the mid and upper 60’s on the period’s warmest days. Official stations reported brief showers during the final week of the period, with trace amounts to a few hundredths of an inch reported in the southern end of the valley. The mild to hot conditions provided ample support for the Sacramento Valley’s developing crop during June, pushing the region’s orchards towards the harvest season. Observers noted hull split in Nonpareil plantings on sandy, gravely soils along the I-5 corridor during the week of June 16th, with split in more vigorous plantings across the region being noted during the final week of the period. Growers have begun treatments to control Navel Orange Worm, timing applications to the splitting hulls and working around days when breezy to windy conditions made treatments impossible. Growers have also begun bait applications where needed to control growing ant populations. These baits target only the species capable of damaging the nuts as they lay in the ground during the harvest and must be applied well in advance of the harvest in order to provide enough time to be effective. Weed control operations are also moving to a higher priority as growers prepare their orchard floors for the harvest. As with the San Joaquin Valley, growers in the Sacramento Valley have been monitoring their orchards closely and managing their water resources as tightly as possible. Observers have noted that some growers with privately owned wells have had to lower pumps to deeper levels as the water table has dropped. However, widespread, serious difficulties have been avoided. Growers and observers are reporting that the crop appears to be running 7 to 10 days ahead of last year and that they expect the first plantings of the Nonpareil variety to be shaken during the week of July 20th. Some have noted that the maturity levels of the pollenizer varieties appear to be following the Nonpareil quite closely. Current weather at the National Weather Service Photos: Dennis Meinberg and Ryan Christy, 6/30/14 Click an image to enlarge it © 2016 Blue Diamond Growers. All rights reserved. Sitemap | Privacy Policy | Accessibility | Company Info | Careers Go to: Bluediamond.com

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Ceres, Inc. and Syngenta Corporation to Collaborate on Sweet Sorghum Market Development 11/26/2012 9:30:29 AM THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Nov. 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Energy crop company Ceres, Inc. (Nasdaq: CERE) today announced that its Brazilian subsidiary Ceres Sementes do Brasil Ltda., has signed a sweet sorghum market development agreement with Syngenta (NYSE: SYT). The companies will work together to support the introduction of sweet sorghum as a source of fermentable sugars at Brazil's 400 or more ethanol mills. Sweet sorghum is a hardy crop that can extend the ethanol production season by up to 60 days in Brazil. It can be grown on fallow sugarcane land and processed using the same equipment. Since it grows in just 90 to 120 days, it requires less water and other inputs than sugarcane. Last season, Brazilian mills planted Ceres sweet sorghum on more than 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) about the size of nine New York City Central Parks. Due in part to increased demand for ethanol and sugarcane shortages, Brazil's government recently announced in its annual agricultural plan for 2012-2013 that sweet sorghum would be considered a strategic crop.Under the agreement, Syngenta and Ceres intend to collaborate on small-scale trials as well as larger demonstration-scale field evaluations with mills this season. Syngenta will provide its considerable agronomy resources to evaluate its portfolio of crop protection products alongside Ceres hybrids, and Ceres will provide both seed and research support. Both companies will coordinate outreach to ethanol mills and develop industry training programs. "By working together with Syngenta, we believe we can advance the development of sweet sorghum crop management practices and provide a more complete package of advanced hybrids and leading crop protection products to our mutual customers," said Michael Stephenson, Vice President of Operations for Ceres."We are committed to helping our customers to optimize their operations throughout the season. The cultivation of sweet sorghum enables growers to use land and water resources more efficiently. In collaboration with Ceres, we aim to develop this opportunity by deploying our crop protection portfolio to achieve consistent yield improvement," said Daniel Bachner, Syngenta's Global Head of Sugarcane.ABOUT CERES Ceres, Inc. (www.ceres.net) is an agricultural biotechnology company that markets seeds for energy crops used in the production of renewable transportation fuels, electricity and bio-based products. The company combines advanced plant breeding and biotechnology to develop products that can address the limitations of first-generation bioenergy feedstocks, increase biomass productivity, reduce crop inputs and improve cultivation on marginal land. Its development activities include sweet sorghum, high-biomass sorghum, switchgrass and miscanthus. Ceres markets its products under its Blade brand.ABOUT SYNGENTA Syngenta is one of the world's leading companies with more than 26,000 employees in over 90 countries dedicated to our purpose: Bringing plant potential to life. Through world-class science, global reach and commitment to our customers we help to increase crop productivity, protect the environment and improve health and quality of life. For more information about us please go to www.syngenta.com.CERES FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTSThis press release may contain forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, including statements regarding our efforts to develop and commercialize our products, our short-term and long-term business strategies, market and industry expectations, future operating metrics, product yields and future results of operations and financial position, are forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are, in some cases, beyond our control. Factors that could materially affect actual results can be found in Ceres' filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Ceres undertakes no intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Ceres' views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.SYNGENTA FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTSThis press release contains forward-looking statements, which can be identified by terminology such as 'expect', 'would', 'will', 'potential', 'plans', 'prospects', 'estimated', 'aiming', 'on track' and similar expressions. Such statements may be subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from these statements. We refer you to Syngenta's publicly available filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for information about these and other risks and uncertainties. Syngenta assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changed assumptions or other factors. This press release does not constitute, or form part of, any offer or invitation to sell or issue, or any solicitation of any offer, to purchase or subscribe for any ordinary shares in Syngenta AG, or Syngenta ADSs, nor shall it form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any contract therefor. SOURCE Ceres, Inc. Ceres, Inc. Receives $3.5 Million From USAID for Trait Stacks Compugen Ltd. (CGEN) Announces $15 Million Funding Agreement for Its Keddem Subsidiary Ceres, Inc.' Richard Flavell to Become Chief Scientific Advisor Pfizer Inc. (PFE) Signs a $58 Million Agreement With Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, Inc. Ceres, Inc. Expands Board of Directors With Former BP Chief Scientist and Undersecretary of Energy Steven Koonin BioCon Limited (BIOCON.NS), Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY) Sign Pact for Experimental Oral Insulin Drug Syngenta Corporation Secures EU Approval For Next Generation Fungicide Incyte Corporation (INCY) Wins $50 Million From Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) as RA Drug Enters Phase 3 Syngenta Corporation Promotes Collaboration to Strengthen R&D Pipeline and Meet Customer Needs Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Eli Lilly and Company (LLY), Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) Team Up to Form Clinical Trial Site Database Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Syngenta Corporation Ceres, Inc. Biotech/Pharma - Alliances

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Agency Plans and Resources Agency Plans and Resources News Releases Latest Releases Archived Releases Transcripts and Speeches Archived Transcripts and Speeches Agency News Releases Radio Newsline and Features TV Feature Stories Email Subscriptions RSS Feeds New Media In Case You Missed It... Reports Agency Reports USDA's Results Image and Video Libraries Secretary's Photo Gallery Streaming Media Archives Creative Media and Broadcast Center Media Contact Phone: (202) 720-4623 Fax: (202) 720-5402 press@oc.usda.gov News Release USDA Expands Drought Assistance to 22 States WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2012—Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced $11.8 million in additional financial and technical assistance to help crop and livestock producers in 22 states apply conservation practices that reduce the impacts of drought and improve soil health and productivity. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provides this assistance through its Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) and Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Since early summer, USDA has announced a variety of assistance to producers impacted by the drought, including opening conservation acres to emergency haying and grazing, lowering the interest rate for emergency loans, and working with crop insurance companies to provide flexibility to farmers. Just a few weeks ago, USDA announced $16 million in financial and technical assistance to immediately help crop and livestock producers in 19 states cope with the adverse impacts of the historic drought. In July, the Secretary announced USDA would allow producers to modify current EQIP contracts to allow for grazing, livestock watering, and other conservation activities to address drought conditions, and also authorized haying and grazing of WRP easement areas in drought-affected areas where haying and grazing is consistent with conservation of wildlife habitat and wetlands. Today's announcement expands upon these efforts and brings the total assistance to nearly $28 million. "As this drought continues to impact American farming and ranching families, USDA will be there to help our agriculture sector recover," said Vilsack. "This additional assistance builds on a number of steps USDA and other federal agencies have taken over the past few months to provide resources and flexibility in our existing programs to help producers endure these hardships. But Congress also needs to act, and the urgency to pass a comprehensive, multi-year food, farm and jobs bill is greater than ever." See the additional NRCS drought assistance received by each state at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detailfull/national/?cid=STELPRDB1048818. Funding from NRCS targets states that are experiencing either exceptional or extreme drought conditions. Exceptional drought continues to dominate sections of Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming, causing widespread losses of crops and pastures and water shortages in reservoirs, streams and wells. Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, South Carolina and Utah are under extreme drought, with accompanying major losses of crops and pasture, widespread water shortages and restrictions on water use. Learn more about drought categories at http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/. The additional funding will allow NRCS to address the backlog in applications from the previous drought assistance signup, as well as accept new applications from producers interested in applying selected conservation practices to address drought, including prescribed grazing, livestock watering facilities and water conservation practices. Producers can also apply for financial assistance to re-install conservation practices that failed due to drought. At the direction of President Obama, Secretary Vilsack is helping coordinate an Administration-wide response that has included: the National Credit Union Administration's increased capacity for lending to customers including farmers; the U.S. Department of Transportation's emergency waivers for federal truck weight regulations and hours of service requirements to get help to drought-stricken communities; and the Small Business Administration's pathway for small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives and non-farm small businesses that are economically affected by the drought in their community to apply for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). Since July, USDA has announced: Intent to purchase up to $170 million of pork, lamb, chicken, and catfish for federal food nutrition assistance programs, including food banks, to help relieve pressure on American livestock producers and bring the nation's meat supply in line with demand. Allowed emergency loans to be made earlier in the season. Intent to file special provisions with the federal crop insurance program to allow haying or grazing of cover crops without impacting the insurability of planted 2013 spring crops. Authorized up to $5 million in grants to evaluate and demonstrate agricultural practices that help farmers and ranchers adapt to drought. Granted a temporary variance from the National Organic Program's pasture practice standards for organic ruminant livestock producers in 16 states in 2012. Authorized $16 million in existing funds from its WHIP and EQIP to target states experiencing exceptional and extreme drought. Initiated transfer of $14 million in unobligated program funds into the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) to help farmers and ranchers rehabilitate farmland damaged by natural disasters and for carrying out emergency water conservation measures in periods of severe drought. Authorized haying and grazing of WRP easement areas in drought-affected areas where haying and grazing is consistent with conservation of wildlife habitat and wetlands. Lowered the reduction in the annual rental payment to producers on CRP acres used for emergency haying or grazing from 25 percent to 10 percent in 2012. Simplified the Secretarial disaster designation process and reduced the time it takes to designate counties affected by disasters by 40 percent. USDA works with state and local governments and private landowners to conserve and protect our nation's natural resources, helping preserve our land, and clean our air and water. In 2011, USDA enrolled a record number of acres of private working lands in conservation programs, working with more than 500,000 farmers and ranchers to implement conservation practices that clean the air we breathe, filter the water we drink, and prevent soil erosion. President Obama launched the America's Great Outdoors initiative in 2010 to foster a 21st century approach to conservation that is designed by and accomplished in partnership with the American people. During the past two years, USDA's conservation agencies—the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Farm Service Agency—have delivered technical assistance and implemented restoration practices on public and private lands. We are working to better target conservation investments, embracing locally driven conservation and entering partnerships that focus on large, landscape-scale conservation. Producers and landowners are encouraged to visit the NRCS website or stop by their local NRCS office to find out if they are eligible for this new funding. Learn more about WHIP and EQIP and other NRCS programs. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Stop 9410, Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call toll-free at (866) 632-9992 (English) or (800) 877-8339 (TDD) or (866) 377-8642 (English Federal-relay) or (800) 845-6136 (Spanish Federal-relay). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

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Genetically Modified Canola 'Escapes' Farm Fields Updated August 6, 201012:10 PM ET Published August 6, 201012:05 AM ET Geoffrey Brumfiel Nearly all of the canola used in the U.S. is grown in North Dakota, and roughly 90 percent of the plants are genetically modified versions that can resist two types of herbicides. Bill Kingsbury/North Dakota Tourism Genetically modified crops are commonplace in fields across the United States, but a new study suggests that some plants have spread into the wild. A survey of North Dakota has turned up hundreds of genetically modified canola plants growing along roads across the state. The results, presented Friday at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Pittsburgh, show that the vast majority of feral canola plants in the state contain artificial genes that make them resistant to herbicides. Researchers also found two plants that contained traits from multiple genetically modified varieties, suggesting that genetically modified plants are breeding in the wild. "What we've demonstrated in this study is a large-scale escape of a genetically modified crop in the United States," says Cindy Sagers, an ecologist at the University of Arkansas, who led the study. i Genetically modified versions of canola plants, which are used in cooking oil and animal feed, have begun to grow beyond the fields in which they were planted. Scientists say it's common for seedlings to spread, but they don't fare well in the wild. Heather LeMoine/North Dakota Tourism Few scientists believe that the canola plants pose an environmental risk, but the study highlights the ease with which some genetically modified plants can spread beyond their fields. Canola plants are used in cooking oil and animal feed, as well as some forms of biodiesel, and nearly all of America's canola is grown in North Dakota. This year alone, the state will plant over 1 million acres of canola. Roughly 90 percent of the plants are genetically modified varieties that can resist two types of herbicides, glufosinate and glyphosate. Sagers and graduate student Meredith Schafer originally traveled to North Dakota to study the very weeds that the herbicides were designed to control. But, perhaps because of widespread spraying, they were having difficulty finding any. It was during a pit stop in Cavalier County that the two had an idea. "We looked through the windshield and there were these beautiful yellow flowers blooming," Sagers recalled. They recognized the plant as canola, and wondered if it was a genetically modified variety. The duo had test strips that would detect proteins present in genetically modified canola. They walked across the parking lot, documented the plant and then tested it. Sure enough, it was a genetically modified variety resistant to herbicides. "On the lawn before us was clear evidence of the escape of these genetically modified plants," Sagers recalls. "Almost immediately we headed west on the highway and started sampling every five miles." More on Genetically Modified Crops Science Monsanto GMO Ignites Big Seed War Honduras Embraces Genetically Modified Crops Aug. 6, 2008 One year and 3,000 miles later, the group has clear evidence that genetically modified, feral canola is growing across much of North Dakota. Of the 406 samples collected, 86 percent were genetically altered versions of the plant. Moreover, two samples contained multiple genes from different species of genetically modified plants. "It indicates that these things are probably self-perpetuating outside of cultivation and have been there for a couple of generations at least," Sagers says. "I wouldn't lose any sleep over it," says Mike Wilkinson, a researcher at Aberystwyth University in the U.K. Wilkinson has studied the spread of conventional canola in the U.K., and says that while it's common for the seedlings to spread, they don't fare well in the wild. Wilkinson says that just because the plants are genetically modified, doesn't mean they'll be more successful than wild plants. In this particular case, herbicide resistance will provide little edge to plants growing in areas that, almost by definition, don't receive many herbicides. "It's very difficult for either of these transgene types to give much of an advantage, if any, in the habitats that they're in," he says, referring to the genetically modified canola. Linda Hall, a researcher at the University of Alberta in Canada, agrees. She's studied colonies of genetically modified canola in that country for years, but says that they haven't spread far beyond the roads. "It's pretty spoiled — it's used to growing in well-fertilized, clean seedbeds without competition, so it does not do well if it is having to compete with other plants," she says. Sagers agrees that the canola won't take over. But she says her work highlights an important issue: Future varieties of genetically modified crops will escape into the environment. Studying North Dakota's canola should teach researchers exactly how that spreading occurs, and what the potential impacts could be.

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Learn about KUOW and the future of 88.5 Rosie The Robot Won't Serve Your Food, But She'll Pick It By Rachel Estabrook A lettuce thinner manufactured by Ramsay Highlander removes excess seedlings from the field so that others have room to grow. Just one worker is required to operate the machine. Rachel Estabrook Thinning a field of lettuce without a robot requires a crew of 20 who do the same task with long-handled hoes. / Rachel Estabrook Originally published on June 26, 2013 12:59 pm From manufacturing to cupcake sales, companies are finding that machines can often do the job just as well, or better, than humans. But some tasks – like picking and tending to fruit and vegetable crops – have remained the territory of low-wage laborers. But labor-starved growers are now eying machines with increasing interest. Some 90 percent of the strawberries and 80 percent of the salad greens grown in the U.S. come from California. These crops and a lot of others have always been picked by hand because they don't ripen all at once and can bruise easily. As NPR's Kirk Siegler reported in April, immigration policies and enforcement along the border between the U.S. and Mexico lately have meant that growers in California can't find enough workers to pick these crops. "Over the last 10 years, there's been a new effort to restart mechanization," says Phil Martin, an agricultural economist at the University of California, Davis and curator of Migration News. That's partly because the technology has come a long way. New machines use computers and vision sensors to replicate the human ability to handle delicate crops. In recent years that technology has gotten cheaper, making it more feasible for farm use. Consider the lettuce thinner, developed by Frank Maconachy, president and CEO of harvesting equipment manufacturer Ramsay Highlander. The machine removes excess seedlings from the field so that others have room to grow. The Hummer-sized tractor uses a vision system to find the seedlings and sends their location to a computer on board, which uses an algorithm to determine which seedlings to save and which to eliminate. Then it zaps the unlucky ones with a concentrated shot of fertilizer, like an industrial-sized search-and-destroy robot. The process happens very fast: a whole row of lettuce thinned in just a few minutes. And it requires only one worker, versus a crew of 20 who would do the same task with long-handled hoes. Maconachy's company is also working on a robotic picker that seeks out a head of lettuce and then picks it — think of it as search and pick. Like the lettuce thinner, the robot picker relies on a sophisticated vision system to determine if the greens are ready for the picking. It's not quite Rosie, the TV show Jetsons' robot maid who delivers the food to the table, but it's close. In late May, Maconachy showed the lettuce thinner to a potential buyer, Bob Thorp. He's vice president of production at Growers Express, which is a partner of the Green Giant Fresh produce brand. "The labor [shortage] is the worst that I've seen, ever since I can remember," Thorp says. "Any way we can mechanize and take labor out of the equation, we're looking at it." But labor shortages aren't the only motivation, Maconachy says. Some producers fear new state and federal laws that require them to provide shaded areas for farmworkers during breaks, for example, or bathrooms within a certain proximity to workers. While the new requirements undoubtedly benefit workers, Maconachy says growers are worried that if they don't comply they'll be fined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. More robots on the farm could also spell trouble for smaller farms that can't afford them, says Martin. The lettuce thinner starts at $250,000, and some farm machines run as much as $600,000. "It's inevitable that if you restructure an industry, you will dramatically change who's producing and what they're producing," he says. Martin estimates that two companies, Dole Fresh Foods and Taylor Farms, control about 60 to 70 percent of the bagged lettuce market in the U.S. "If we go to mechanization, it could go up to 80 to 90 percent." And, he says, that means "a whole lot of other guys are going to be out of business."Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. © 2016 KUOW News and Information

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Search Glickman doubts Y2K problem will cause food shortages Published: Saturday, February 06, 1999 WASHINGTON (AP) - Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman says it is unlikely the Year 2000 computer problem will cause widespread food shortages, partly because few U.S. farmers use high-tech systems that might be susceptible. "The American public can be confident that the major domestic companies, which provide most of the key foods, will continue to operate," Glickman wrote in prepared testimony for his appearance Friday before a Senate committee. Instead, Glickman warned consumers against "needless and frivolous stockpiling of supplies." He promised his agency would work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to distribute food if there were shortages. The hearing was the first this congressional session by the Senate Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem, led by Robert Bennett, R-Utah. There are 329 days until Jan. 1. The committee also was expected to hear testimony from executives with Cargill Inc. of Wayzata, Minn., the nation's largest grain exporter, and Suiza Foods Corp. of Dallas, which produces milk, fruit drinks and plastic packaging. Glickman said results from a survey released Friday show that only about one-third of the nation's farmers use computer systems, mostly for record-keeping. "The Year 2000 news from America's farms and ranches appears to be very good," Glickman said. Many computers originally programmed to recognize only the last two digits of a year will not work properly beginning Jan. 1, 2000, when machines will assume it is 1900. The government has estimated its cost to fix the problem at $6.4 billion. Some computers can be reprogrammed, but many devices have embedded microchips that must be replaced. One expert, Wendy Wintersteen of Iowa State University, testified last fall before a House panel that poultry and livestock producers often rely on computer chips that regulate temperatures in environmentally controlled buildings. She called the threat a "fundamental concern" and urged farmers to prepare emergency backup systems. But Glickman said his survey results show that fewer than 3 percent of farmers use automated systems for feeding, ventilation, heating or cooling animals. "Most of those who do use such systems have inventoried their systems for Year 2000 problems and are in the process of fixing any problems," he said. Glickman said some exporting countries are failing to prepare for the problem, which could result in short-term disruptions of mostly perishable fruits and vegetables. "Should there be a disruption of imports, domestically grown fresh fruits and vegetables will continue to be available, although with less variety and possibly at somewhat higher prices than usual," he said. WIDESPREAD FOOD SHORTAGES WAYZATA AGRICULTURE SECRETARY AMERICA BACKUP SYSTEMS 2000 TECHNOLOGY WASHINGTON FOOD FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY ROBERT BENNETT USD SENATE COMMITTEE ON THE YEAR DAN GLICKMAN UNITED STATES HIGH-TECH SYSTEMS MINNESOTA IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY SUIZA FOODS CORP. WENDY WINTERSTEEN CARGILL INC. © 2016. All Rights Reserved. | Contact Us

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Indigenous vs Agriculture To understand why kill the Indians June 6, 2013-10:49 — Michelle The case of the demarcation of indigenous lands in Mato Grosso do Sul or in any other State in the country is not outside the context of the advancement and strengthening of agribusiness Lacis At the beginning of the 20th century, Brazil decided to expand its agricultural borders, strengthening its position dependent country, exporter of raw materials. It was necessary then move inside, open avenues for livestock and agriculture. There stepped in the Marechal Rondon, who dreamed of a peaceful coexistence between Indians and whites: “die Yes, kill, never”. But, this legacy of humanity is lost in time. “Pacified” the natives called to “civilize”, to enter the rhythm of white society, were losing their identity, their roots, their culture. Others, reluctant, were housed in reservations, as if they were exotic animals with their land reduced and protected by the State. The territory “at peace” won deeds, owners, fences. And the real owners of the territory left the nostalgia for a time that they could live in their own way. Now, during the newest Brazilian dependent development cycle, which began in the Lula administration, it is precisely this dictates agricultural frontier that seeks to expand again and, again, at the expense of the native peoples or landless peasants. But, when we talk about agriculture is not in question that produces food for the table of Brazilians, and Yes to export in business language won the pompous name of agribusiness. Because this business (agrobussiness) represents more than 22% of the total wealth produced in the country, which is no small feat. Only China has imported more than 380 million dollars in agricultural products, as well as the United States that the slope in the same cipher. According to information from the federal Government (http://www.brasil.gov.br/sobre/economia/setores-da-economia/agronegocio -2011 data), the most prominent products leaving the country are meat ($ 1.14 billion); forest products ($ 702 million); the soy complex-grain, bran and oil ($ 685 million); coffee ($ 605 million) and the alcohol-and sugar alcohol complex ($ 372 million). Note that most of the grain export (which generally serve to feed animals) and wood, two legitimate representatives of destructive monoculture. Government calculations point to the successive growth of the production of grains, especially soybeans, which has increased the area planted in 2.3% per annum. It is no coincidence, then, that the State of Mato Grosso do Sul is the main focus of dispute of land and violence against indigenous peoples. It is precisely the Midwest region responsible for 45% of the soybean production. And is there as well where there is a large portion of the indigenous people, waiting for demarcation of their lands. From the year 2003 another border began to extend soybean planting currently another violent disputes, the space of the region of the caatinga and the northeastern part of the Amazon. Also it is not without reason that the Government is taking on gigantic works as the hydroelectric plants in the Amazon and the transposition of the São Francisco River. All this is to meet the demand of these plantations. And it’s always good to stress: it is not food for the people, is export. Going out of the country. Not enough the fantastic project to benefit agribusiness, the Government also provides, through the Crop Plan, credit the interest below market. That is, the richest pay less for loans, while the small, planting the food that goes into the Bureau of population, bemoan high interest rates and lack of support. Is also in progress in the sugar-alcohol sector strategic plan, which aims to expand the area of sugar cane for ethanol production. Once again, it’s not the food that these people produce. The logic is always: ensure profitability for the few owners of land, strengthening the agricultural export system, support the predatory, multinational action and follow the path of economic dependence, since low value-added agricultural products make the economy very vulnerable. But, apparently it doesn’t matter. What counts is investing in major producers to maintain balance in surplus, even if it need cost sovereignty, environmental destruction and death of those who dare to “disrupt” the schema. So, in the same week in which indigenous people are murdered in Mato Grosso do Sul, the Government announces a package of 136 billion reais to corporate agriculture (agribusiness). Is the complete surrender. The case of the demarcation of indigenous lands in Mato Grosso do Sul or in any other State in the country is not outside the context of the advancement and strengthening of agribusiness. The farmers want more land and are not willing to allow beings that they consider “useless” live their culture of environmental balance and development outside of capitalist pace. For those who can only see the numbers on the New York Stock Exchange, the indigenous population is an obstacle that needs to be taken out of the way at any cost. For this hire roughnecks and send bullet. Make a deaf ear to the cry that rises. Aided by the commercial media, dominated by the elite who truly rules the country, these rural entrepreneurs can also get into the head of the gentes, fertilizing a racist, prejudiced and violent speech. Simple people, workers, people who should be caring for indigenous in their struggle for the right to live in their land, end up reproducing the mantra daily broadcast on television: that the Indians are bums, who don’t want to work, who do not need the land, which will sell the land, which will explore the wood, and so on. “Buy” the lie continuously produced and become accomplices of another massacre of the population originally, true owner of this place. On top of that the federal Government bows to the interests of the dominant class and employs brute force to attack legitimate manifestations of indigenous peoples and the people who support the cause originally. The conflict we’ve seen if explicitly on the roads of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, in the Amazon and even here, on the Morro dos Cavalos, is nothing more than the class struggle, typical of capitalism. On the other hand, the folwark defending their interests, on the other, the exploited, seeking decent life. And, in the middle of it all a nation alienated by the constant informational deformation of commercial media that transforms into enemy those who are victims of the system. The way out of this imbroglio is the fight. Nothing will be granted by the Government, which already knelt before the agribusiness. Now, the challenge is to take the veil of conflict, throw open the causes, open the eyes of dulled by the media. And that, we know, is hard thing too. But neither is it something that should stop us. On the contrary. At that time the indigenous brothers face the bullets and death, we need concrete and effective support. The good is that people leave the streets in solidarity with the indigenous struggle. Until that happens we will doing the work of Ant, taking other information, so that the heads can understand the indigenous law. It is not possible for the trade unions and social movements not to rise in support. It is not possible that the Brazilian people do not co/move with the drama of a people who lost everything that was his, and that now lives confined in reservations. What they did to be prisoners of the State and society? That crime committed in addition to being here, creating their families, when the invaders arrived? Why need to pay because there are and wanting to follow living their culture? What Faiza you if someone came into your House and you gouge away under the pretext that it is necessary to pass by there the progress-but not all, just some? Because the right of agribusiness is greater than that of an entire community? These are questions that do not want to and cannot shut up. All support for indigenous brothers! Elaine Tavares is a journalist. belo monte~ Leave a comment

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The cycles of a farmer’s life By Glen CopeFor the Capital Press Published: February 13, 2014 8:53AM Former Washington State Veterinarian Leonard Eldridge talks about the need to finish work to develop an animal traceability system Feb. 5 during the Spokane Ag Expo and Pacific Northwest Farm Forum. Buy this photo Farmers look forward to another year of challenges. With farmers, a new year brings new resolve.As all Americans welcome a new year, as well as the opportunities that it will potentially bring, America’s farmers and ranchers are once again preparing for the new growing season.Farmers who make their living with the soil are inspecting the tractors, planters and other equipment essential to get their crop in the ground — checking for potential problems that could halt their efforts for speedy planting. For the spring calving season, ranchers will begin moving their cows to the “calving pasture” so that quick inspections of the herd will reduce issues with individual cows that may have problems delivering a calf.A farmer’s life is one of constant cycles that are repeated every year.Whether it’s springtime planting or fall harvest, making hay in the summer or feeding cows in the winter, the rewards of the farmer’s hard work is truly appreciated by those that make their living from a job that is subject to so many variables, two of which are Mother Nature and the markets.With each passing day our world is inching closer to 2050, the year when many experts estimate that food production must double from 2010 levels in order to meet global demand.This challenge is always in the back of farmers’ minds … how to meet this incredible demand, knowing that those who produce food must do so on less land and by using fewer resources.But farmers are off to a good start. Even as total cattle numbers have fallen to levels not seen since the early 1950s, production efficiencies have allowed ranchers to keep up with increasing demand for beef. Similarly, America’s grain growers, through the use of hybrid breeding and genetically modified seeds, have tripled bushels per acre in the same amount of time.Farmers are a resilient lot. Perhaps this resolve has come about from the constant forces of nature that sometimes work against them and also contribute to the weathered faces and calloused hands of the people who spend a majority of their day outdoors. Regardless of the means the result is the same: a group of citizens from Florida to Washington, from California to Maine, who do their level best to meet any challenge, no matter how impossible it may seem.Glen Cope is a fourth-generation cattle rancher from Missouri. In 2012, he served as chairman of the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee.

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Okra good, but tricky vegetable By Erin Kauffman Durham Farmers’ Market Okra is a flowering plant in the mallow family and is related to cotton, cocoa and hibiscus. DURHAM — People often ask me what is in season at the farmers' market. Around this time of year, because of its abundance, okra is always near the top of my list. Recently, after I mentioned okra, a couple of people have qualified their question with, "I meant good vegetables." Well, I'm here to say, Okra is a good vegetable! I will, however, qualify that statement by saying that it can be a tricky vegetable. Okra is a flowering plant in the mallow family and is related to cotton, cocoa and hibiscus. The okra that we see at the farmers' market is the edible seed pod that forms after a large, white flower blooms on the plant. The okra plant will bear fruit all summer long. Farmers plant it after the last frost around late April. It takes a couple of months to be mature enough to grow okra pods, but once it starts it will bear until the frost kills the plant, which is often in late October. By the fall, okra plants can be more than 10 feet tall! Okra likely originated in Africa in the area that is now Ethiopia and Eritrea. There isn’t a good historical record of it, but the wild form of the plant is found growing along the banks of the Nile. From there, okra spread around Europe and Asia, likely with Spanish explorers, before eventually finding its way to the Americas. As I'm sure you know, okra is mucilaginous -- or slimy. That is a big reason why people don't like it. Over the years, I've learned there are ways to use okra so that the finished product isn't slimy and that there are ways to harness its gooeyness as a thickener in what I'm cooking. For example, when I’m making fresh tomato sauce, I add a couple pods of chopped okra, which will help it to thicken. Okra fried in cornmeal is also delicious, but can be labor intensive. Gumbo is another way to enjoy fresh okra and in gumbo recipes, okra acts as a thickener. But, by far, my favorite way to enjoy okra is by roasting it. Roasted okra is very, very easy to make and it doesn’t end up gooey at all! Here’s how to do it… ½ pound tender 2-3 inch long okra pods 1-2 tablespoons Olive Oil Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse and dry the okra. Trim off the stem. Slice the pods lengthwise and coat them in olive oil. Spread out on a cookie sheet in single layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put the okra in the oven and let it roast for about 15 minutes, stirring it every 5 minutes. Enjoy while it is still hot. Erin Kauffman is market manager of the Durham Farmers’ Market.

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DuPont Leader Praises Farmers for Helping Solve the Global Food Challenge New DuPont Pavilion at Indiana State Fair Fosters Collaboration DuPont Executive Vice President James C. Borel praised U.S. farmers and their families for their contributions to address global food security and stressed the importance of more collaboration at the opening of a pavilion focused on food and agriculture at the Indiana State Fair today. James C. Borel Executive Vice President. “The challenges to feeding the world grow more complex each day, but I am optimistic that together we can bring real solutions to address them. No one company, region, government or organization can do this alone,” said Borel. “Farmers, in particular, play an important role in helping to feed the world; and I realize this year, they are facing a number of challenges. But I am confident that farmers will continue to rise up to meet the needs of a growing population.” Borel spoke to farmers, industry leaders and youth at the new DuPont Food Pavilion designed to engage fair-goers in the food security mission by showcasing products grown in Indiana for the local and global marketplace, including grains, proteins and other nutritious food. The Pavilion also connects consumers with important information about global food security through interactive activities and encourages them to support efforts to ensure enough food for our growing population. “I hope that attendees are inspired to join the fight against hunger,” Borel said. “We need to engage as many people, sectors and institutions as possible to help find local solutions to this global challenge.” The Pavilion is open for the duration of the Indiana State Fair, which runs from August 3 - 19, and is available for use year-round. The Pavilion will feature interactive opportunities to learn more about the many dynamics of food, healthy and nutritious eating, agriculture, food production and youth education. To learn more about how DuPont is committed to driving food security efforts locally, sustainably and collaboratively, visit foodsecurity.dupont.com. DuPont (NYSE: DD) has been bringing world-class science and engineering to the global marketplace in the form of innovative products, materials, and services since 1802. The company believes that by collaborating with customers, governments, NGOs, and thought leaders, we can help find solutions to such global challenges as providing enough healthy food for people everywhere, decreasing dependence on fossil fuels, and protecting life and the environment. For additional information about DuPont and its commitment to inclusive innovation, please visit www.dupont.com.

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HomeNewsGoing Hog Wild Going Hog Wild By Sara Schafer Jeff Kilburn's Pittsburg, Texas, farm has become a real pigsty. Wild hogs—also known as feral hogs—have rooted, wallowed and rendered more than 200 acres of his pastureland and hay meadowsunusable. If Kilburn were to shell out the $58,000 necessary to repair and replant the damaged areas, it would be short-lived. The feral hogs would soon return and mangle the land once again. "My dream is to get rich enough to build a fence around the entire farm to keep the troublemakers out,” Kilburn says. Compared to their domestic counterparts, feral hogs are smaller and leaner. "They're grizzly looking,” says Rex Martensen, field programs supervisor for the Missouri Department of Conservation. Their snouts are longer, their hair is longer and more coarse and they have straight tails and tusks. With a feral hog population of 4 million to 5 million and rising, the running joke is there are two kinds of land in the U.S.: that which has feral hogs and that which is about to have them. They're more rampant in the southern U.S., but from 2000 to 2009, 43 states and even a few Canadian provinces reported feral hogs, meaning they have established herds or individual hogs have been seen, says Jack Mayer, a research scientist and manager at Savannah River National Laboratory in Aiken, S.C. Texas is home to about 50% of the total population, followed by Florida, Georgia, California, Alabama and South Carolina. They're a hunter's prize. Based on the numbers harvested every year, feral hogs are the second most popular big game animal in North America. But don't mention feral hogs to a farmer who has stomached a slice of the $1.5 billion in ag damage they cause and the control costs they require annually. Feral hogs root and wallow, causing damage to row crops and pastures, and "they can ruin a hay field in a hurry,” Martensen says. In the spring of 2007, Bannister, Mich., landowner Dallas Sutliff watched a group of feral hogs dine on a newly emerged corn field—one row at a time. The farmer who rents the ground from Sutliff replanted 24 acres of the field. A few days later, when the green shoots broke through the soil, the feral hogs were back to scrounge for more. After a second replant, the corn made it to harvest, but yields suffered after a delayed start. Feral hogs also cause erosion, destroy fences and ponds and contaminate water. "They really aren't scared of anything,” Martensen adds. "They compete with cattle at the feed trough and even chase cattle and horses and cause harm with their tusks.” Feral hogs are known to carry more than 30 diseases, including brucellosis and pseudorabies. Research by Dave Pimentel, professor of ecology and agricultural sciences at Cornell University, has found that crop damage and control costs total $300 per hog. Without a long-term solution, the feral hog population is expected to continue to escalate. They're the "ultimate survivor,” Mayer says. They can live on anything—"plant and animal matter; they're omnivores. They scavenge for roots, worms, nuts and eggs,” says Billy Higginbotham, professor and Extension wildlife and fisheries specialist, Texas AgriLife Extension Service. Feral hogs are smart. "I've heard stories of one hog opening the trapdoor to let the captured hogs out,” says Kenny Rollins, Texas AgriLife Extension agent in Titus County. "A bait-and-trap method may work one time, but it probably won't a second.” Feral hogs are physiologically capable of having as many as three litters a year, but one and in some cases two is more likely, with an average of four to six pigs per litter. Control measures aren't as simple as loading a shotgun or setting a trap. Hunting methods and regulations vary among states and even among counties. They also depend on how the state or county categorizes feral hogs (invasive, free-ranging, etc.) and if they are on your property, someone else's or wildlife management areas. "In most states, you can kill as many as you want on personal property, keeping gun laws and discharging firearm laws in mind,” Mayer says. In South Carolina, where Mayer lives, feral hogs are the property of whoever's land they're standing on. Some states, such as California, classify feral hogs as game, and hunters have to obtain pig tags so the state can track how many are killed. Tennessee, North Carolina and West Virginia have bag limits and seasons, Mayer adds. "Shooting, live trapping, snaring and hunting with dogs—the legal means in Texas [and many other states] to kill feral hogs—help reduce their numbers and the damage they cause, but it won't eradicate the problem,” Rollins says. "Catching or shooting one at a time is entertainment; it really has no effect on the bigger problem. It's more effective to trap groups of hogs,” he adds. Feral hogs are such a problem in Texas and Oklahoma, for example, that it's legal to shoot them from helicopters. Each year a small percentage of the feral hog population is taken by sport hunting—but it's not enough to even begin to get a handle on the problem. Progress is being made on the state level, with eradication in mind. In 2007, a multi-agency task force was established in Missouri by then-Governor Matt Blunt to address feral hog concerns. The goal is to engage state and federal agencies with landowners. In many states, the department of agriculture and Extension agents host workshops to teach producers what tools are available to eradicate feral hogs. Consistent laws. "Policy is one of the biggest hurdles as we try to be aggressive in removing feral hogs,” says Kristine Brown, laboratory technician with the Wildlife Disease Laboratory, Michigan Department of Natural Resources. In Michigan, feral hogs are classified as livestock, but prosecutors in 66 of the 83 counties will not take legal action when hogs are killed outside of a fence. "Landowners and producers need to know they can address the issue if feral hogs depredate property,” Brown says. "In Missouri, there's very little regulation and no agency has control over the situation, so there are loopholes,” Martensen says. "There's a statue [in Missouri] that states it's illegal to release feral hogs; it's a crime—but the consequences are weak.” It's going to take serious funding to provide a long-term solution, Rollins says. "The city called because they [feral hogs] were messing up the golf courses. I said, ‘Thank goodness they've moved to town because there's no more room in the country—now the local and state government might take more notice.' ” Feral hogs don't lend themselves to statistical analysis because they mostly emerge at night, but "we need to get a handle on the numbers to handle the situation,” Mayer says. "It's one thing to talk about the numbers, though. What matters is the damage the hogs do and what that costs farmers. The $1.5 billion price tag, though a big number, is probably not big enough.” You can e-mail Katie Humphreys at khumphreys@farmjournal.com.

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Opinion: What the Florida Legislature Should Have Done Filed Under:Agent Broker, Agency Management Industry Reps Testify Against Further Crop-Insurance Program Cuts Mar 19, 2012 | By Arthur D. Postal NU Online News Service, March 19, 12:16 p.m. EDT Insurance companies and agents joined together Thursday in asking Congress “to do no harm” to the existing crop-insurance-subsidy program, citing concerns with Obama-administration proposals that call for further cuts. In written testimony given on behalf of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, Ruth Gerdes, president of Auburn Agency Crop Insurance, Inc., Auburn, Neb., offered strong support for a robust farm-safety net and spoke out against additional cuts to the Federal Crop Insurance Program (FCIP) in the upcoming Farm Bill negotiations. Gerdes said, “Do no harm to the crop-insurance program already in place.” Steve Rutledge, chairman of Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company of Iowa,West Des Moines, Iowa, added that “crop insurance should remain the core risk-management tool, and we are committed to the public-private partnership of program delivery, which directly supports more than 20,000 private-sector jobs across the country.” Gerdes and Rutledge made their comments at a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on the 2012 farm bill, which would govern federal-agricultural policies, subsides and rules going forward. The new farm bill would replace legislation enacted in 2008. The authorization for that legislation expires Sept. 30. The omnibus legislation serves to reauthorize such programs as crop insurance, specialty crops, conservation, foreign agriculture and food aid, farm loans, energy and forestry, Title IV nutrition programs, Title I and the SIRE Program, research programs, subsidies, dairy programs, and rural development. Gerdes and Rutledge testified amid industry concerns that the next farm bill would incorporate provisions of the 2013 farm-program-budget proposals outlined last month by the Obama administration. In addition to cuts in the 2011 standard reinsurance agreement negotiated with the Agriculture Department, rating-methodology changes recently implemented are expected to impose further cuts in the crop-subsidy program. Under the Obama administration’s proposal, subsidies for the industry would be cut by $8 billion over 10 years. This is in addition to the $6 billion in cuts over 10 years contained in a contract with underwriters that went into effect last year. Private companies’ subsidies for administrative and operating expenses would be reduced to $300 million annually, to $900 million. Under the contract signed in 2011 with the industry by the Agriculture Department, subsidies for administrative and operating costs were reduced to $1.2 billion. The administrative and operating cost budget is also used to pay commissions to insurance agents who sell the products. The 2013 budget proposal would also reduce the return on investment for crop insurers to 12 percent from the current 14 percent, and it also calls for reducing producer-premium subsidies by 2 basis points, or two-tenths of a percent. In her testimony, Gerdes talked about the shift of the crop program from a public to a private-delivery system, and noted that the efficiency of program delivery by agents and the expansion of insured acres could never be replicated by a government agency. She said that in 2011 there were 18,000 crop agents servicing 1.15 million policies. “The growth and overall success of the FCIP is due to motivated program participants, good lawmaking, quality products and a dedicated agent force,” Gerdes said. Rutledge testified that the crop-insurance-delivery system is currently “in a unique situation.” He said companies are still processing and delivering record payouts to farmers and ranchers for their 2011 losses. At the same time, crop prices remain elevated far above historic levels, and projections show that farmers will continue to take advantage of that and push themselves to plant to capacity, he said. “This indicates [that] the need for crop insurance is likely to rise, as will insurers’ risk exposure,” Rutledge said. “With this growth comes an increasing sensitivity to additional changes to the program and the delivery system—because the industry’s administration and organizational infrastructure continues to be pushed to the limit,” he said. Updated to clarify that Ruth Gerdes' testimony was written. « Prev Agencies sell more insurance with e-signatures Provided by InsureSign

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Programs and Projects Subjects of Investigation ARS National Programs Search for a research project Current Research Information System The Year in Review Research Summaries Red Clover Transformation National Dairy Forage Road Map Roadmap for Alfalfa Research Title: Cultivation of Mesophilic Soil Crenarchaeotes in Enrichments from Plant Roots Authors Simon, Holly - UW-MADISON Jahn, Courtney - UW-MADISON Bergerud, Luke - UW-MADISON Sliwinski, Marek - UW-MADISON WEIMER, PAUL Willis, David - UW-MADISON Goodman, Robert - UW-MADISON Submitted to: Applied and Environmental Microbiology Citation: Simon, H.M., Jahn, C.E., Bergerud, L.T., Sliwinski, M.K., Weimer, P.J., Willis, D.K. Goodman, R.M. 2005. Cultivation of mesophilic soil crenarchaeotes in enrichments from plant roots. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 71(8):4751-4760. Interpretive Summary: The vast majority of species of microorganisms in nature have not yet been grown in pure culture in the laboratory, making it difficult to understand their properties and the role they may play in the environment. We examined one particular group of microorganisms that are known to be associated with plant roots, but has not been cultivated in the laboratory either as a pure culture or as a mixture of other organisms. Techniques were developed that allowed us to measure the populations of these organisms when present in a complex microbial mixed population. Using these techniques and a combination of feeding with root extracts, and of treatment with antibiotics and cycles of freezing and thawing, we were able to enrich this population to about 40% of the total microbial population, and to increase the total numbers of these cells in cultures. These techniques should allow similar enrichment and characterization of previously undiscovered, difficult-to-culture organisms in other environments, including the intestinal tracts of livestock. Because archaea are generally associated with 'extreme' environments, detection of nonthermophilic members belonging to the archaeal division Crenarchaeota over the last decade was unexpected; equally surprising was their ubiquity and abundance in conventional marine and terrestrial habitats. The metabolic characterization of these nonthermophilic crenarchaeotes has been impeded by their intractability toward isolation and growth in culture. Using a combination of cultivation and molecular phylogenetic techniques (PCR-single-strand conformation polymorphism, fluorescence in situ hybridization, and real-time PCR), we present here evidence that one of the two dominant phylotypes of Crenarchaeota that colonizes the roots of tomato plants grown in soil is selectively enriched in cultures amended with root extract. Our results provide the first evidence for growth of nonthermophilic crenarchaeotes in culture, albeit in mixed enrichments. This work corroborates and extends our recent findings indicating that the diversity of the crenarchaeal soil assemblage is influenced by the rhizosphere and that mesophilic soil crenarchaeotes are found associated with plant roots.

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GMOs, No Grazie! Following another case of illegal planting of genetically modified seeds in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia a few days ago by the pro-GM president of the Federated Farmers association Giorgio Fidenato, Slow Food is joining thousands of protesters today in Rome to demand the government enacts the EU safeguard clause to ban GM crops. Organized by the Task Force for Italy Free of GMO’s, the protest is being held at 2.30pm outside Rome’s Palazzo Montecitorio, headquarters of the Italian Chamber of Deputies. The safeguard clause that would forbid the development and cultivation of genetically modified plants nation-wide is a clause that EU Members States can invoke to temporarily restrict or prohibit the use and/or sale of a GMO within their territory if they have justifiable reasons. Today is a crucial day for Italy’s anti GMO campaigners," said Roberto Burdese, President of Slow Food Italy. "For years we have asked various governments to apply the safeguard clause and a month ago the Senate approved it unanimously. Now we are waiting on the relevant ministries to follow this important act but we find ourselves in the situation where unauthorized plantings have gone unpunished, as happened in the spring of 2010. These are serious acts of provocation." Seven out of ten Italians do not want to consume GMO products and the vast majority of farmers do not desire to sow genetically modified seeds. All of Italy’s regions are in favor of a GMO-Free Italy, however, progress to adopt the safeguard clause (already adopted by eight European countries - France, Germany, Luxembourg, Hungary, Greece, Bulgaria, Poland) has been stalled. Burdese called upon Slow Food’s members and supporters to join today’s action, stating: "This is a decisive moment for the preservation of Italy’s biodiversity, agricultural heritage and food sovereignty, and thus our economy and culture. We must act now before the chaos around the issue of GMOs increases due to the lack of legislation and the different interpretations that allows this.” Carlo Petrini, President of Slow Food, stated that the illegal planting of maize in the region of Friuli could endanger cereal varieties that are typical of northeastern Italy such as Biancoperlo corn or Vallentina buckwheat listed on the Slow Food Ark of Taste. “Heritage varieties are going to suffer serious attack because of the inaction of those who should protect them through their institutional duty.” Meanwhile in related news, the results of tests commissioned by Friends of the Earth Europe released today show that people in 18 countries across Europe have been found to have traces of the weed killer glyphosate in their urine. The findings raise concerns about increasing levels of exposure to glyphosate-based weed killers, commonly used by farmers, public authorities and gardeners across Europe. The use of glyphosate is predicted to rise further if more genetically modified (GM) crops are grown in Europe. Friends of the Earth Europe is calling on the European Union to urgently investigate how glyphosate is finding its way into people's bodies; to increase the levels of monitoring in the environment and in food and water; and to introduce immediate restrictions on its use.

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Estate tax vote victory for cattle producers: NCBA MeatPoultry.com, 12/20/2010 by Meat&Poultry Staff WASHINGTON – Last Friday, the US House of Representatives voted in favor of farmers, ranchers and small business owners despite calls to amend the estate tax language, said Steve Foglesong, Illinois cattleman and National Cattlemen's Beef Association president. It was unfortunate to hear some Congressional leaders portray the reformation of the estate tax to a 35% rate with a $5 million exemption as a benefit for the wealthy elite, he added. On Jan. 1, if the estate tax was allowed to revert back to the pre-2001 level of 55% on property valued at $1 million, many farmers and ranchers would have been forced to sell, further depopulating rural America, he pointed out. “It was shocking to hear some members of Congress argue against estate tax reform and even attempt to make the case to increase this outdated tax. It is apparent some members of Congress are out of touch with their constituents and the steam engine of economic growth in rural America,” Foglesong said. “I speak for all cattlemen and women when I express my gratitude to those members of Congress who understand the importance of keeping small businesses, including farmers and ranchers, from receiving a financially devastating death sentence on New Year's day.” The US House of Representatives voted in favor of extending all expiring tax cuts at midnight on Dec. 17, with a vote of 277 to 148. This passage is subsequent to the Senate’s 81-19 vote on Dec. 15.. Once the president signs the bill into law, it will reduce the top rate of the estate tax, commonly known as the death tax, to 35%; increase the exemption level to $5 million; index exemptions to inflation; and include a stepped-up basis. Estate tax reform was among NCBA’s top policy priorities for 2010, said Colin Woodall, NCBA vice president of government affairs. He added NCBA has had estate tax reform as a top priority for more than two decades. In 1988, NCBA, which was then the National Cattlemen’s Association, along with the National Federation of Independent Business joined forces to create the Family Business Estate Tax Coalition. The group is now comprised of more than 60 entities ranging from the Air Conditioning Contractors of America to the American Farm Bureau Federation to the National Newspaper Association. Woodall said the Coalition, formed by NCBA, is a well respected advocate and united front for small business owners, including farmers and ranchers. “The efforts of the Coalition that took place in Washington, D.C., coupled with the outcry from rural America got the attention of Congress. [Dec. 17 was] a great day for cattlemen and women.” Woodall said. “Although we believe permanent repeal of this tax is the best answer, two-year relief for family-owned operations is better than the 55% tax that would leave many farmers and ranchers in a financial ruin.”

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Citrus greening concerns: Florida citrus growers hope for better year 88 million spent to fight greening Jon Shainman 6:10 PM, Aug 27, 2013 6:16 PM, Aug 27, 2013 John Shainman reports FORT PIERCE, Fla. - At Al's Family Farms, bushels of oranges that have been in cold storage are getting set to be juiced. It was a tough growing season last year for owner Jeff Schorner. "You know it's all about boxes per acre. We need to get 2 or 3 boxes to the tree but if it drops down to 1 1/2, 1 we're losing money," said Schorner. Schorner, and many other growers, once again had to face citrus greening. An insect called the Asian citrus psyllid is the culprit. It spreads a bacteria that slowly kills the tree by preventing the roots from transferring nutrients from the ground to the leaves. "Growers have now put 88 million dollars of their own money into this fight," said Doug Bourinque, the Executive Vice President with the Indian River Citrus League. There's no cure for citrus greening. Last year, the overall citrus crop in Florida was down 10-percent. But just down the road from Al's Family Farm, scientists are doing their part to try and keep citrus greening from becoming a bigger menace. In a lab at the USDA Horticultural Research Lab, Dr. John Ramos is using an anti-microbial to try and stave off greening on a small tree. "Developing a strategy and methods for treatment for already sick plants," said Dr. Ramos. The lab Tuesday hosted Congressman Patrick Murphy and others so Washington can get a taste of the importance of this research, to keep a Florida staple on the shelves for years to come. "Then we'll grow a stronger tree that's resistant to it or totally immune to the citrus greening," said Jeff Schorner with Al's Family Farms. Schorner says so far the nutrients he's been applying to some of his trees is paying off at one of his favorite groves in Vero Beach that he thought might be lost to the disease. First harvests are just around the corner. Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Industry Chinese companies swing investing more to ag By Edited from HighQuest Partners Global AgInvesting July 06, 2014 | 1:10 am EDT China Investment Corp., (CIC), which is China’s $650 billion sovereign wealth fund is shifting its investment focus into global agriculture by partnering with governments, multilateral organizations and institutional investors around the world. It appears the Chinese are realizing that self-sufficiency in food will never be a total reality. China is, therefore, shifting its strategy to securing food sources through global mergers and acquisitions as it once did for fuel and mines. The CIC plans to invest in sectors such as irrigation, animal feed production, and land transformation and other sectors that it leadership sees as being overlooked by institutional investors, according to Financial Times reporters. Over the years since CIC was formed in 2007, CIC’s focus changed a couple times—first investing in U.S. financial institutions but then shifting to investments into energy, mining and metals to support China’s industrial growth and now agricultural sectors investing. China has 21 percent of the world’s population and only 9 percent of the world’s arable land, and in order to feed its growing population by 2050 the country will need approximately half of the total global beef and wheat production, claims Bloomberg business news. Last year Chinese and Hong Kong-listed companies spent $12.3 billion on overseas takeovers and investments in agriculture, food and beverages, Bloomberg further noted. There have been takeovers by Chinese companies of U.S.-based Smithfield Foods Inc.; a Dutch trader company—Nidera Holdings BV; and the agribusiness unit of Noble Group Ltd. All are big players or can be in the international market although China will have to compete against mega-companies world ag trade such as Cargill. Edited from HighQuest Partners Global AgInvesting View All Posts

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TIGRAI Online LINKS MUSIC STATE OF TIGRAI Welcome to Tigrai Online, Daily News that matters admin@tigraionline.com Ethiopia's Agricultural Growth on the Verge of Changing History By Hailu DagneTigrai Onlne - June 05, 2014 Last week at the concluding ceremony of the celebration of the 23rd anniversary of the Victory of May 28 at the Addis Ababa Stadium, His Excellency Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalgne delivered the big news that Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia have been expecting for long. The Prime Minister disclosed that Ethiopia reached food self-sufficiency at national level, after two decades of work to augment production and productivity. Ethiopia's annual crop production has reached over 25 million Metric tons (250 million quintals). Therefore, Ethiopian didn't face much difficulty when a major drought struck the Horn of Africa three ago. Teff field ready to be harvested in the highlands of northern Ethiopia The Prime Minister pointed out that the success was made possible as the programs designed to ensure food security at household level have been realized during the last two decades, as farmers have shifted towards producing high income generating products and effort would next be exerted to boost the manufacturing and industry sector by creating strong local investors. The stereotypical description of the country as destitute and an example of famine in publications such as the Oxford English Dictionary is now erased through the unstinting efforts over the last two decades, the Prime Minister noted. Indeed, Ethiopia have come a long way in the past 23 years by bringing major changes in the agricultural sector that has been on decline for decades. It is well known that, in order to engage in any kind of economic activity, one brings together the four factors of production, namely capital, labor, land and entrepreneurship or management. In Ethiopia, we observe that there is an acute shortage of capital. This is expected to remain a constraining factor over the short and medium term. By contrast, labor is abundant as Ethiopia has a large working population. Also, there is an adequate supply of land. Rapid economic growth can be realized only if we can adopt a strategy that promotes the economic uses of our limited capital resources and more extensive application of our labor and land resources particularly the former. If we pursue a development strategy that does not make much use of labor and land resources in economic activity, the contribution of such factors of production to Ethiopia's development will be forestalled, thereby causing a pace of development that is well below potential. If, on the other hand, we rely too heavily on capital as a basis of our development effort, then our efforts will be curtailed by the limited availability of this resource. Our development strategy that is centered on agriculture and rural development promotes a judicious use of factors of production. Some eighty-five percent of Ethiopia's population lives in rural areas and is engaged in agricultural production. Although capital is especially scarce in rural Ethiopia, the bulk of the land is in the hands of the rural population. Thus, strategies that promote the use of the country's labor and land resources while relying less on capital should embrace rural development and agricultural production that provides the basic livelihood of most of Ethiopia's rural population. Such a focus will allow the extensive and/or intensive use of both labor and land without the need for much capital. Agriculture is a sector in which our resource potential can be used to a high degree for rapid and sustained economic growth. As various researches and reports of scholars and international institutions show, a large part of the economy is characterized by semi-subsistence agriculture with exceedingly low incomes and hand-to-mouth livelihoods. Agriculture, although the dominant sector of the economy, is constrained by age-old production practices and structural problems. It has failed to provide moderate and sustained incomes for many who are engaged in the sector. Nor, has it provided a basis for the accelerated development of other sectors. Indeed, it has even failed to satisfy national food requirements. Decades of neglect and absence of appropriate development policies and strategies was one of the main reasons for the situation. Previous policies did not address the major structural constraints of the economy and in fact there even were all too many cases where policies were detrimental to economic development introducing imbalances that tended to impede rather than promote economic well being. The agricultural sector fared particularly badly and policies tended to exhibit a bias against this important sector of the Ethiopian economy. Clearly, in the absence of proactive and well thought out policies, it is not possible to attain accelerated development or to improve the condition of the Ethiopian people almost half of which subsist in absolute poverty. Due to the tragedy resulting from decades of inappropriate economic policy, although an agrarian economy, Ethiopia has failed to attain food self-sufficiency; forcing millions to seek food assistance. One of the major indications of the downward path of the agricultural sector before 1991 is the performance in cereal production. Cereal production per person has dropped by an average of 4 kilogrammes per year since the 1960s. Despite the existence pockets areas with above average production, the overall trend of cereal production has been down across the country. Since food availability in Ethiopia is strongly determined by the country's own production of cereals (having little capacity to purchase food on international markets), cereal availability has been declining at an average of 3.3 kilogrammes per person per year. In the late 1980s, the country was producing less than 150 kilo-grammes of cereal per person. The level required for a minimum subsistence diet is approximately 240 kilogrammes per person per year (FAO 1990). For the sake of comparison, let's take Niger: Only 20 percent of Niger's land area receives enough rain for un-irrigated farming to take place, yet it produced an average of 330 kilogrammes per person per year between 1960 and 1990-at least double Ethiopia's output in the early 1990s. Of course, cereals are not all that matters. The cultivation of other kinds of food, such as pulses (varieties of beans) and root crops (such as cassava), serves to supplement cereal production. Unfortunately, these crops have fared little better than their cereal counterparts. Although few data exist on root crop production, pulse and oilseed production in 1989 stood at less than 75 percent of its 1979 level. As a result, the availability of cereals plus pulses and oilseeds still declined by an average of 2.7 kilogrammes per person per year up to the early 1990s. Indeed, since 1977 there has generally been more cereals available than were domestically produced. But that was because of imports, both commercial and food aid. However, even that option was difficult, given chronic foreign exchange constraints, commercial imports only reached 215,000 tons during 1985. Food aid, on the other hand, increased significantly after 1984 and made an important contribution to food availability in the critical years of 1985,1988, and 1991. In each of those years aid deliveries reached roughly 1 million tons of cereal, representing more than 20 percent of national production. However, it should be remembered that with a total population of over 45 million people, food aid contributed during crisis years cannot meet all need. Assuming that all of the 1.2 million tons delivered in 1985 reached the mouths of the 6.9 million most vulnerable people, then aid represented 175 kilograms of cereal per starving person. This would have been sufficient to keep each vulnerable person alive (albeit at a suboptimal level of food consumption) for almost 1 year. That downward spiral started to change after May 28, 1991. The EPRDF-led Transitional government observed the level of foreign aid dependency and the root factors for the low level of growth in the agriculture sector. In order to change this grim picture, the Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) embarked upon the Economic Reform Program at the beginning of the transition period, recognizing the heavy dependence of the economy on agricultural production which has resulted in erratic GDP growth rates. The Agricultural Development-Led-Industrialization (ADLI) strategy was a strategy based on broadening the agricultural production base through improved productivity and increased land utilization over the medium and long-term periods particularly in the lowlands. Accordingly, several policies of adjustment were implemented based on the new policy framework. One of the major ones was Agricultural Reform. The Government gave the highest priority to agricultural development. Measures were taken to improve ways of providing agricultural services, notably through extension and provision of modern inputs to the farmers. In the past, farmers were discouraged from increasing their output due to policies of forcible extraction of marketable surplus at fixed producer prices. That policy has been removed and a decentralized grain marketing system, has been introduced, where by farmers can sell their products in a competitive market. The Transitional government economic direction have been successfully completed, signifying that the policy measures taken were suitable. According to the Ministry of Economic Development and Cooperation, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, which in the year 1990/91 and 1991/92 fell to an even low level of -5.5 and -3.2 percents respectively, rose in 1992/93 to 12.3 percent and grew by 1.3 percent in 1993/94 in real terms in relation to the previous year. The growth trajectory continued for most of the next decade. However, it didn't bring about the needed level of change due to several factors. One of the major reasons was that the growth rate fluctuated highly. Moreover, the growth strategies and interventions were not sufficiently articulated, therefore there effectiveness was undermined. Therefore, after the renewal movement of the EPRDF in 2001, an elaborate scientific policy framework of Rural and Agricultural development was designed. The policy laid down the fundamentals of the direction in a very clear manner. It has underlined that: The world today is one where nations are economically interconnected. Whether it be through international trade, foreign aid or other resource flows, there is no country that is not economically linked with the world at large. Foreign aid, is the most dependent form of this global connection. Such nations as rely on foreign aid, can reduce this dependence. But the economic independence that this implies will remain within the context of global interconnectedness, not outside of it. Different countries play varying roles in this integrated global economy. Some forge their economic relations with other countries on the basis of well-developed and self-reinforcing domestic markets, progressively improving technology and growing capital. Such countries tend to enjoy a prominent position and reap maximum benefits from being part of the global economy. Others, lacking large and self-reinforcing domestic markets, are vulnerable to external shocks. Still others lag behind their global partners, with neither a developed human and financial capital base nor a diversified economy, and limited if any technological developments. The result is that they are in a dependent position within the global economy relying on foreign aid for their very survival. Therefore, it was pint out that in the current global environment; our country is one that depends on foreign aid. In order to improve our position within the global economy, eliminate dependency and more readily partake of the gains from global economic growth, we must ensure rapid and sustainable national growth; constantly improving the level of technology and capital formation within the country. Furthermore, in the process of national economic growth, the domestic economy should be consolidated and a large domestic market created. This would allow us to withstand external shocks that occur due to variable conditions in the international economy that are outside of our control. The rural and agriculture-centered development strategy will help us attain this. The policy also explained that: The rural and agriculture-centered development strategy is our best option for ensuring rapid and sustainable economic growth. It is a strategy that will continuously promote technological development and application as well as greater capital accumulation. Thus it will directly improve our position in the global economy and increase the gains we derive from the integrated world economy. It is a unique strategy that will extricate the country from reliance on external assistance for the most basic commodity; i.e., food, transforming our role from recipients of aid to participants in global economic development. As such it will strengthen our economic independence. Our aim, through the rural and agriculture-centered development strategy, is to increase agricultural production rapidly and on a sustainable basis. Since some 85 percent of the population are engaged in agricultural production, the income of (output from) the vast majority of the population will increase. The policy was immediately accompanied by detailed manuals and implementing agencies. To implement the Rural and Agricultural Development policy, 25 agricultural vocational training colleges (ATVT's) have already been established all over the country and gradated more than 71,000 agricultural development agents are graduated in animal science, plant science and natural resource. Moreover, 8,780 farmers training centers (FTCs) have been built and many farmers are getting trained in various agricultural practices, extension services and on how to adapt new agricultural technologies that enhances agricultural productivity. As a result, for the first time in centuries, the agricultural sector embarked on a virtuous circle of growth bringing dramatic changes in the lives of Ethiopian farmers. The next seven years saw, the agriculture sector registered an 8 per cent average growth consecutively and the number of farmers who used agricultural extension packages reached more than 8 million. That was a direct result of the government's strong commitment to agriculture and rural development as demonstrating by allocating more than 10 per cent of the county's total budget. Therefore, in 2009/2010, the total land covered by the main crops rose several folds to 11.25 million hectare, while agricultural productivity reached to 200 million Quintals. The average productivity of the main crops has increased from 12.1 to 17 Quintals per hectare. The foreign currency required from both agricultural and industrial products reached $1.45 billon US dollar. In 2011, the first year of the GTP, the overall growth rate of agricultural value added was 9 %. The total volume of production of major food crops (cereals, pulses and oilseeds) registered in 2010/11 was 221.8 million quintals. This exceeded the production level of the previous year by 19.36 million quintals. The average productivity of major food crops during the same period was 16.5 quintal per hectare, which is 1.12 quintal/ha higher than the productivity in 2009/10 and 1.0 quintal/ha less than the target for the same year. The land covered by these major food crops was 13.45 mln ha. A total of 818,050 tons of chemical fertilizer and 1028.4 thousands improved seed have been distributed in 2010/11. In addition, 3034 thousands of hectares of land were covered with organic manure in the same period. Efforts were also made to improve the genetic potential of livestock through crossbreeding. The recent report of the GTP confirmed that the progress is on track. In the last fiscal year, Ethiopia registered a 10 percent increase in crop. The Central Statistical Agency (CSA) report also stated that 254 million quintal yield is expected this fiscal year from 12 million hectares of land. That is another 23 million quintal increase from previous year's produce on almost the same amount of land. However, as the Africa Economic Outlook pointed out last year: Despite all the progress in the past decade, the sector's potential remains enormous. While the Agriculture sector's share of the GDP is about 44%, accounts for about 80% of employment and 70% of export earnings; Ethiopia has only cultivated 15% of its arable land potential so far. And, the increased productivity in the past decade has not still reached the top in sub-Saharan Africa. This indicates that there are still enormous untapped opportunities to increase both production and productivity of farmers by promoting labor-intensive modern farming practices. It also indicates the potential to put more land under cultivation both through re-settlement programs and large private commercial farms. The report underlined that: Ethiopia's double digit economic growth over the past eight years has defied standard thinking that it should significantly reduce reliance on agriculture. Indeed, researches indicate that, with this trajectory of growth, the Agricultural crop production is projected to more than 71 million tons in 2030. At that time, Ethiopia will truly be the bread basket of Africa! Sponsored Links Ethiopian mobile phone assembly plants flourish while other African companies close down Tekleberhan Ambaye Construction PLC won a quality award in New York Opinions published on this site are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Tigrai Online. ©2005-2014 Tigraionline.com All rights reserved.

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The 'Indian Cowboys' Of Florida National The 'Indian Cowboys' Of Florida by Linton Weeks 10:01pm Oct 24, 2015 Seminole cowboys mark and brand a calf in the corral during roundup on Florida's Brighton reservation in 1950. Courtesy of State Archives of Florida View Slideshow Seminole cowboys mark and brand a calf in the corral during roundup on Florida's Brighton reservation in 1950. Courtesy of State Archives of Florida Betty Mae Jumper, first female chairperson of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, in 1967. Courtesy of Florida Memory, State Library & Archives of Florida Florida Cowboys Week: Part Two The state of Florida has a rich and diverse tradition of cattle ranching. Recently we explored the black cowboys of Florida. There are other distinctive elements to the state's past as well. "Indian cowboys," for instance. Long thought of as adversaries in conventional American history, cowboys and Native Americans in Florida not only lived side-by-side, they lived — and continue to live — in the same person's skin. For ages, the Seminole cowboy has ranched and roped and ridden the ranges of the Sunshine State. To better understand the history of these cowboys, we engaged Meredith M. Beatrice of the Florida Department of State in a question-and-answer session, lightly edited: NPR: So just what is the origin of the Seminole cowboy tradition? Beatrice: Europeans introduced livestock, such as beef cattle and swine, to the region in the early 16th century. Native Americans known as "Seminoles" migrated into Florida in the 18th century and incorporated livestock into their culture. By the middle of the 18th century, Seminole cattlemen worked large herds in northern and peninsular Florida. The largest documented concentration of Seminole cattle roamed the wet prairies known as Alachua, near modern-day Gainesville. The English naturalist William Bartram visited this area in the 1770s and witnessed "innumerable droves of cattle" tended by Native American cattlemen. NPR: Are there vestiges today of that early cattle culture? Beatrice: Surviving old-Florida place names attest to Seminole cattle operations. For example, Wacahoota — pronounced Wack-a-hoo-tee, now a crossroads near Gainesville — means "cowpens" in one of the dialects spoken by the Seminoles. Jacksonville was once known as Waca-Palatka, or "cowford" — a place cows crossed the St. Johns River. ... Both terms include "waca," which is derived from "vaca" — the Spanish term for cow. Like their fellow Anglo-American cattlemen of the era, Seminoles allowed their animals to range freely, giving rise to the term "cow hunters" to describe the methods of both Native American and pre-fence law-era cracker cowboys." (Florida cowboys were called "crackers" because the long, braided-leather whips they used to drive cattle made a cracking sound, according to the Florida Center for Instructional Technology's Exploring Florida.) NPR: What happened when the United States took over? Beatrice: The acquisition of Florida from Spain by the United States in 1821 signaled the end of an era for Seminole cattlemen. During the three Seminole Wars — 1817-18, 1835-42, and 1855-58 — the U.S. military systematically rounded up and confiscated the vast majority of Seminole herds. The Seminole Wars also resulted in the deportation of the vast majority of Seminoles and their allies — including the Black Seminoles — from Florida. Estimates range, but there were likely less than 500 Seminoles remaining in Florida by the end of the Third Seminole War in 1858. Although it is not well-documented for the period prior to the late 1800s and early 1900s, there were not only Seminole "cowboys," but also "cowgirls," or, more appropriately, cattlemen and cattlewomen. NPR: These cattle ranchers owned property? Beatrice: Like many other indigenous Southerners, the Seminoles are a matrilineal-based society. In short, lineage, and to a certain extent power, passes through the mother's and not the father's line. According to tradition, property, including livestock, does not "belong" to men, but rather is controlled by women — more accurately by matrilineal clans, or lineages of related women. Though strict adherence to these traditions has been tempered somewhat in the recent past by greater exposure to Western norms, matrilineal notions about property and power are still very important to tribal members today and must be understood to accurately portray and understand their culture. The federal government introduced new beef cattle to Florida for use by the Seminoles in the 1930s, as part of the Works Progress Administration's so-called "Indian New Deal." These programs proved to be incredibly successful in the long run. Today, the federally recognized Seminole Tribe of Florida (STOF) operates one of the largest cattle operations in the state. The STOF has also emerged as a leader in the use of technology to track animals for sale and also to market bulls. Working cattle is a firmly established part of modern Seminole culture. Many tribal members work their own herds and also contribute to STOF operations. Betty Mae Jumper, first female chairperson of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, in 1967. NPR: Were the Seminole cowboys part of — or apart from — the other Florida cowboys, and how so? Beatrice: Seminole cattlemen were deliberately excluded during the era which saw the emergence of the so-called "cracker cowboys" of Florida. The Seminoles were largely absent from Florida's cattle economy between circa 1860 and circa 1930, on account of their herds being decimated during the Seminole Wars. The one exception to this was an extended family group who lived in the vicinity of Indiantown until the 1920s. This family, which included future tribal matriarch Betty Mae Jumper, moved to the federal reservation at Dania — later Hollywood — in the mid- to late 1920s when forced from their land and separated from their animals. By the early 20th century, some young men and women from the Brighton area — and later Big Cypress — started to find work with ranchers in places like Okeechobee and west of Fort Pierce. From that point forward, Seminole cattlemen — and cattlewomen — became intertwined with the culture and economy of other Florida cattlemen. NPR: Whatever happened to the "Indian cowboys"? Do they still operate? Beatrice: Today the STOF and its members are considered among the vanguard of Florida's cattle industry. The "Indian cowboy" is a fully modern cattleman or cattlewoman who operates at the cutting edge of the industry, with a history rooted in traditions stretching back nearly 500 years. ___________________________________________________________ (Follow-up. In reporting this story, NPR sought the input of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, but officials didn't respond. We then turned to the Florida Department of State's Division of Historical Sources. After the piece was posted, the Seminole Tribe of Florida challenged some of the statements by the Florida Department of State and posted this essay on its news site. A spokesperson for the Seminole Tribe of Florida also tells us there will be a conference on the subject, "Who Are The Seminoles? Their Culture and Equity in the State of Florida", on Saturday, Dec. 12 in Tallahassee.) Follow me @NPRHistoryDept; lead me by writing lweeks@npr.org #news #u.s. #around the nation #history Tweet Who's Behind The Demonstrators That Stormed Iraq's Green Zone And Parliament? National, Politics & Government A Glimpse Of Listeners' #NPRpoetry — From The Punny To The Profound Support yourpublic radio station

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Coromandel Extranet Partners,Subsidiaries &Joint Ventures Coromandel International Limited, India�s second largest Phosphatic fertilizer player, is in the business segments of Fertilizers, Specialty Nutrients, Crop Protection and Retail. The Company manufactures a wide range of fertilizers and markets around 3.2 million tons making it a leader in its addressable markets. In its endeavor to be a complete plant nutrition solutions Company, Coromandel has also introduced a range of Specialty Nutrient products including Organic Fertilizers. The Crop Protection business produces insecticides, fungicides and herbicides and markets these products in India and across the globe. Coromandel is the second largest manufacturer of Malathion and only the second manufacturer of Phenthoate. Coromandel has also ventured into the retail business setting up more than 700 rural retail centers in the States of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The Company clocked a turnover of Rs. 9,381 Crore during FY 2013-14. lt was ranked among the top 20 best companies to work for by Business Today and was also voted as one of the ten greenest companies in India by TERI, reflecting its commitment to the environment and society. Coromandel is a part of the INR 243 Billion Murugappa Group.

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John Keeling, National Potato Council By Tara Schupner October 21, 2011 | 1:21 pm EDT John Keeling, National Potato Council Photo by File Photo Of all the agriculture-related undertakings John Keeling has been involved with during his extensive career, none have given him more satisfaction than those related to growing. “I’ve always really liked working with the growers,” he said. In his current position as executive vice president and chief executive officer of the Washington, D.C.-based National Potato Council, Keeling has plenty of opportunities to serve potato producers. Keeling, 60, is especially proud of three major accomplishments by the council and the potato industry over the past decade: u Obtaining funds for potato breeding and general research by fostering relationships with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and legislators; u Expanding markets and achieving access to the Mexican market for fresh potatoes ­— which Keeling calls “a big success story” ­— and, u Working with the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance, which Keeling co-chaired, to assume a leadership role in the effort to get specialty crop groups to come together for the first time and work on a common agenda for the 2007 farm bill. Keeling’s family has been in the farming and ranching industries since the 1840s. However, he spent six years as owner and operator of a real estate renovation and sales firm in Richmond, Va., after graduating from Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Va. He returned to agriculture — on the public policy side — after earning a master’s degree in agricultural economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He spent eight years with the American Farm Bureau Federation, where he dealt with a variety of issues including the 1995 farm bill, and two years with the Animal Health Institute. He had just accepted a job with the Washington, D.C.-based National Food Processors Association in 2001 when, on a whim, he sent a resume to the potato council and then interviewed with the organization. “I liked them, and they liked me,” he said, adding that he couldn’t resist the lure of working directly for growers. The National Potato Council was formed in 1947 to represent potato growers through its lobbying efforts and by working with regulatory agencies. “It was a very fulfilling choice,” he said, though sometimes a frustrating one. There is a sense of finality to the growing process, he said, when a grower plants a crop and harvests it. However, on the public policy side, one can spend an entire career working on a single issue. “Sometimes the pace of things can be a little frustrating,” he said. National Potato Council president Justin Dagen, owner of Dagen Farms, Karlstad, Minn., said he has long been captivated by Keeling. “John is incredibly honest, and he’s just a man of integrity,” he said. “He’s got incredible energy and vision.” Robert Guenther, senior vice president of public policy for United Fresh Produce Association, said Keeling is very familiar with the inner workings of Capitol Hill. “He has truly been one of the key forces behind the fresh produce industry in Washington, D.C.,” he said. packer 25john keelingnational potato council About the Author: Tara Schupner

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Caffeine? misc≠w The History of Chocolate [Jack Weatherford's history of Chocolate] For many millennia Cacao grew in the understory of the tropical rainforest the northern Amazon basin. Together with the plethora of plants, animals and insects of the rainforest, it thrived in the shade on the forest floor and lived on the nutrients and water passed down from the canopy above. The history of this this popular plant's use is somewhat clouded by numerous wildly conflicting stories. The myths, legends, propaganda and inaccuracies in the history of Chocolate are profound. Especially suspect are the manufacturers websites!! I have tried to discard the sloppy and biased stories that are clearly inaccurate, but that still leaves some questions! Cacao has been a cultivated crop for at least 3,000 years, probably quite a bit more. Before that it is certain that the seeds of wild Cacao trees were gathered. Initially a few Cacao trees would be planted just inside the heavy rainforest, mixed with both wild and cultivated understory plants. Eventually that grew to more specific plots of Cacao, still under the canopy and within the rainforest. The people who first utilized Cacao were the inhabitants of what is now Venezuela in northwestern South America, where the tree is native. I strongly suspect that they created Cacao as we know it, just as the Inca created the potato using their rather advanced genetic technology. (Most high production food plants, certainly including Potatoes, Squash, Maize (corn) and Bananas, were engineered over many generations by the natives of their respective areas to produce large and plentiful fruit.) The Olmec Civilization (3500 to 2500 years ago) consumed the beverage and it was used to fortify soldiers during marches and in battle. Cacao was clearly highly valued by these people and they spread it northward through trade with their neighbors. It was probably the Maya, over 1500 years ago, who brought Cacao to Yucatan in what is now Mexico. Maya urns were often decorated with images of Cacao Pods. The Aztecs who got Cacao from the Maya, used Cacao in a number of ways, one common way was as a bitter spice in food (such as today's Molé sauce). The common people often used Cacao as a spice, and possibly also as a base for pasta or bread. The most well known way that Cacao was used (and the way that made the deepest impression on the European conquerors) was as a drink. The beans were toasted, ground up, put in hot water and often a bit of maize, vanilla or chilies were added to create the beverage of the Emperor. The water had to be extremely hot for the mixture to work, and from that came the phrase, still used in Mexico, Like Water for Chocolate to mean as hot as anything you can imagine. It seems likely that consumption of this drink was limited to nobility, priesthood, and ritual occasions. (Mixtecs and Oaxaca used it in marriage rites of nobles and deities.) While the Maya drank Chocolate hot, the Aztecs seem to have ofen taken it cold. The term 'food of the gods', (the origin of the genus name Theobroma) is not Aztec, nor Maya, it was coined by a European in the 17th century! It is well known that Cacao Seeds were valued so highly throughout Mesoamerica that they were used for centuries as currency. (One clearly intoxicated writer, who i will NOT cite, actually made the assertion that the Mesoamericans used the seeds simply as currency with no idea whatsoever that they could be used as a food product; his ridiculous suggestion was that it took White Europeans to figure out how to use it!!!!) The Aztecs called the drink, and apparently the bean as well, Xocoatl. From this word comes the pan-European word Chocolate. (I have seen a reference of questionable dependability which suggested that "xocoatl" meant "foam in water", and therefore referred to the drink, not the plant.) The word Cacao comes from comes from the Mayan word for the plant was "Cacau". Because of a spelling error, probably by English traders long ago, these beans became known as Cocoa beans. When Europeans first made contact with the Aztec civilization, Cacao was being cultivated and used extensively. The Spanish Conquistadors quickly noticed the benefits of Chocolate and used it to keep their armies marching long distances with little food. From the Aztecs the Spanish took it to Europe -- where it became part of the then European-wide Imperial quest for more drugs for the polite high society, competing with the British tea and opium, the catholic countries' coffee and the young USA's tobacco. Jack Weatherford has an excellent history of Chocolate in his superb book Indian Givers! Which i recommend highly. I have posted an excerpt here. There is a great deal of differing information about the arrival of Cacao in Europe. Some sources say that Columbus himself brought the first beans, others say it was Cortes, and a whole list of others have their supporters. Actually Columbus never showed much interest in the beans that he thought were sheep turds. (He actually burned an entire cargo of Cacao for this reason.) In any case, although almost every country claims to have been the first in Europe to utilize Chocolate, clearly the Spanish were first. I have seen the improbable suggestion that Spain kept it a secret for 100 years, however it does strike me as possible that it took that long to generate European interest in the strange bitter confection. Initially (in the 1500s), Europeans, primarily the Spanish, were put off by the drink's traditional spicy bitter flavor so they so they began adding European (and recent American import) flavorings to Chocolate, such as vanilla, cinnamon, black pepper and, of course, cane sugar. Chocolate was widely used in Catholic countries after 1569 when Pope Pius V declared that Chocolate (the drink) did not break the fast -- despite the hearty nutritional aspects of Chocolate. Every Pope for 190 years after him, from Gregory XIII to Benedict XIV affirmed this decision -- the popes loved Chocolate. It became a popular way to nourish oneself on the many religious fast days. This may have reached it's climax when Pope Clement XIV was killed with a cup of poisoned Chocolate in 1774! By the middle of the 1600s, Chocolate houses had opened in Europe; this is before coffee houses started up. Chocolate Houses became social clubs, meeting places for the elite, places to visit and to talk politics. It was trendy and extremely expensive. Coffee was much cheaper and therefore not for the elite, but for the masses. Coffee houses inherited the popularity, the community and the political atmosphere from Chocolate houses when the invention of the Dutch press removed the narcotic effect. The coffee house culture went on to incubate the democratic political movements of the 18th & 19th centruies. The drink was foamed, not using the Aztec method of pouring it from one cup into another, but using a molinillo, a wooden whisk-like tool that is twirled between the palms of the hands. (I don't speak any Latin language, but this word is almost identical to the Italian word for mill, i think there .) This is commonly used today to foam Chocolate drinks in Mexico. Machine-made Chocolate was first produced in Barcelona 1780. As Chocolate spread out of Spain, Hapsburg possessions remained at the forefront of Chocolate manufacturing and use, this included Austria and the Spanish Netherlands (which are today Holland and, the world center for Chocolate, Belgium!). Hapsburg Emperor Charles VI transferred his court from Madrid to Vienna in 1711 which certainly advanced the use of Chocolate in Austria. However in 1810 one third of the world's entire Cacao production was consumed by Spain. (Venezuela had 50% of world production.) Germany surpassed Spain for the world lead in Chocolate consumption only in 1900! At this time the way they made the Chocolate drink was to grind the whole bean and add sugar and hot water, it was delicious, mildly intoxicating and somewhat 'Aztec', but apparently too rich and for the European palate. In 1828 the Dutch (Coenraad Van Houten had the patent) developed a press to force about initially 50% and with improvements, 98% of the fat out of Cacao paste -- producing the powder which we are familiar with today. The powder was then mixed with milk, instead of water, to add a little fat, but not nearly as much as was removed. (3% vs. 54%!) The pressing process also produced a major commercially viable by-product: Cocoa Butter! Twenty years later at the Joseph Fry factory, they discovered a way to mix melted Cocoa Butter back into Dutch powder to create a gooey mass which could be molded: the first bar Chocolate. In 1875 two Swiss men, Daniel Peter and Henri Nestlé used the sweetened condensed milk they had developed for concentrated infant food formula in to create milk-chocolate. The low water content of the milk made it possible to mix it with the Chocolate into a bar that did not spoil quickly. Rudolphe Lindt developed the conching process in Switzerland in 1879, producing for the first time, smooth creamy Chocolate bars like we are familiar with today. The New World, Mexico and Costa Rica, but primarily Venezuela, was the main supplier of Cacao until the start of the 20th century when the center of cultivation moved first to the Caribbean and then to Africa (with some also in Asia). In the late 19th century major companies started growing Cacao on large plantations, generally clearing rainforest to provide open land. It was at this time that the extremely low pollination rate of Cacao (1 in 3000) was noticed, but no one paid any attention to it. You will still find scientific sources which suggest this was a natural phenomenon, when in fact, moving Cacao from the rainforest to plantations took it farther away from it's pollinating midges' habitat. Many of the companies that started making Chocolate in the late 19th century, including Hersheys & Cadbury, were based on religious ideals of abstaining from alcohol -- Chocolate was seen as an acceptable substitute! There are various suggestions of when Chocolate was introduced into the USA, ranging from the early 1700s to the late 1800s. I suspect it was earlier, rather than later due to the proximity to the plantations. In 1900 Milton Snavely Hershey, a Mennonite from Pennsylvania, began producing milk-chocolate bars and "kisses" with great success. He was anti-alchohol (As was Cadbury & Fry) and saw Chocolate as a good, profitiable alternitave. In less than ten years he was able to buy two entire towns and name them after him, one previously called Derry Church, Pennsylvania, and the other in Cuba, around his sugar mill! The empire grew even larger during World War I, when Milton Hershey encouraged the US Army to add four Hershey bars to each soldiers daily ration! This completed the sequence that took Chocolate from the divine food of Emperors, through the European Imperial quest for monopolies on mild drugs for high society, into respectability and common usage and finally to candy. Not unlike coca, which followed much the same course through the shady time of patent medicines such as the original colas, through to the time of prohibition to inclusion, at one time, in today's favorite candy-drink Coca Cola! Chocolate remained popular in Europe, and after World War II many Belgian and French Chocolatiers specialized making fine, high grade Chocolate. Eventually, in 1994, the Chocolate war. established standards and started the huge wave of pure Chocolate Bars made of 70% or more, Cacao. [top of the History page], [Jack Weatherford's history], Return to Selection Bar.

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American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) 600 Maryland Ave. SW, Suite 1000W American Farm Bureau’s Stallman Calls for Tax Changes Source: American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Washington, D.C. -- Farmers and ranchers need tax certainty to thrive in a modern economy, and making permanent deductions that expired in 2013 is a good first step, the American Farm Bureau Federation told the House Ways and Means Committee today. “One of the major goals of tax reform should be to provide stable, predictable rules for businesses so that they can grow and create jobs,” American Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman said. “Farm Bureau believes that Congress should end its practice of extending important business tax provisions for one or two years at a time. This practice makes it very difficult for farmers and ranchers to plan and adds immense confusion and complexity.” Stallman addressed the committee as part of a hearing addressing the economic disruption caused by the end of a series of tax deductions over the past several years. Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) recently introduced a discussion draft of the Tax Reform Act of 2014 in an effort to stimulate discussion of how the tax code could be simpler and fairer, while at the same time aiding economic growth, job creation and wages. In written testimony submitted to the Committee, Stallman called for extensions of several now-expired deductions to benefit the economy as a whole, including: Section 179 expensing, which allows small businesses to write off immediately capital investments of as much as $500,000 instead of depreciating them over several years; Bonus depreciation, which is an additional 50 percent bonus depreciation for the purchase of new capital assets, including agricultural equipment; Cellulosic Biofuel Producer Tax Credit: a $1.01 per gallon income tax credit for cellulosic biofuel sold for fuel plus an additional first-year, 50-percent bonus depreciation for cellulosic biofuel production facilities; A $1.00 per-gallon tax credit for production of biodiesel and renewable diesel fuels; The Community and Distributed Wind Investment Tax Credit, which gives the option to take an investment tax credit in lieu of the Production Tax Credit and A provision encouraging donations of conservations casements. Stallman reiterated the importance of Section 179’s immediate expensing to farming. “Farming and ranching is a capital intensive business,” he said. “In order to remain profitable and be competitive, farm equipment, buildings, and storage facilities must be continually upgraded and replaced. This provision allows agricultural producers to reduce maintenance costs, take advantage of labor-saving advances, become more energy efficient and adopt technology that is environmentally friendly. “Smart business planning that anticipates and budgets for annual capital improvements proves challenging for farmers and ranchers because they operate on tight profit margins. The immediate expensing provided by Section 179 allows farmers and ranchers to cash flow purchases that otherwise might be delayed or incur debt expense that impact profitability.” farming operation efficiency farming operation productivity biodiesel farming farm building agriculture produce farming operation farm operation Reducing the spread of antimicrobial resistance on our farms and in our food FAO today pledged to help countries develop strategies for tackling the spread of antimicrobial resistance in their food supply chains, as governments prepare to debate the emerging challenge posed by medicine-resistant "superbugs" next week at the UN General Assembly.The increased use–and abuse–of antimicrobial medicines in both human and animal healthcare has contributed to an increase in the number of disease-causing microbes that are resistant to medicines traditionally used to treat them, like... Skretting Ecuador launch captures progressive spirit of the shrimp farming industry The Skretting Ecuador brand has been officially launched in Ecuador and Peru. Skretting Ecuador will use the company’s worldwide R&D knowledge, combined with its local insight and experience to support shrimp farmers with the overriding aim to increase their production in a more sustainable manner. Skretting Ecuador has been launched to support the growing need for sustainable shrimp and fish feeds in Ecuador, Peru and across Latin America and is ideally positioned to make a major contribution to the... USPOULTRY Releases Fifth Video in Series Highlighting Poultry and Egg Farm Environmental Stewardship U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY) is releasing a fifth video in a series highlighting environmental stewardship on poultry and egg farms. The video features one of USPOULTRY’s Family Farm Environmental Excellence Award winners, Riverhill Farms of Port Republic, Va. Riverhill Farms is owned and operated by Glenn and Sheri Rodes, along with their parents, brothers and extended family. The Rodes raise turkeys, dairy and beef cattle, corn and forage. Their farm has five turkey barns, and they... First Global Vertical Farming Award Winner Announced Illumitex and The Association for Vertical Farming are pleased to announce the winner of the first global vertical farming award, team Inter-Farm-Market from Kualalumpur, Malaysia. The Innovation Award, sponsored by Illumitex, was announced on Monday, May 30, 2016. The winning team will receive $5,000 and team leader Zhao Wei Kim will attend the AVF Summit and GreenTech Conference, held in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Each team was reviewed by a panel of judges: Christine Gould, Dr. Dickson Despommier, Mike Gould,... LEAF announces significant progress in sustainable farming LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) has revealed another year of significant progress in its mission to deliver more sustainable food and farming. The area of land around the world growing LEAF Marque crops increased by 28% since last year,according to the findings of its latest annual Global Impacts Report, which was launched today. LEAF reports strong and steady growth in the number of LEAF Marque certified businesses across the globe, which now totals 992, representing 342,556 hectares in 37 countries.... No comments were found for American Farm Bureau’s Stallman Calls for Tax Changes. Be the first to comment!

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New poinsettia for the nontraditionalist URBANA -- U of I plant scientist Daniel Warnock hopes that one day soon a uniquely marbled pink poinsettia will be available to consumers who like decorating for the holidays with a flare for the unusual. The variety is yet unnamed, but is a natural mutation of a poinsettia variety called Premium Picasso. The topmost leaves which are red on the traditional poinsettia, on this new variety have an unusual almost watercolor wash of pink, red and white. "We work with several companies that breed and distribute poinsettias and when we showed them this natural mutation, they all loved it," said Warnock. Among plant breeders, the mutated variety is called a "sport" of the original. "You could spend years trying to cross-pollinate poinsettias and never get a variety like this one that sported on its own," said Warnock. The task that lies ahead for Warnock is to make the sport predictable and able to be reproduced in the greenhouse. The current plant is still unstable genetically -- which results in some of the top leaves perfectly mottled while the others are solid or only half-way there. Warnock says that of about 50 plants, he will select the two or three that have the desired percentage of splotches and use cuttings from those as parents for the next generation. This process continues until the entire plant consistently and uniformly displays the blotchy look that the distributors were so captivated with. Warnock said that for the past five years he has cooperated with researchers at Kansas State University and Tennessee State University to trial new varieties of poinsettias for commercial companies. The companies get information on when to plant and when to begin pinching the leaves and shading the plants in order to trick the plants so that they will be in full color in time to sell for the holidays. "In order to have a steady supply for the six- to eight-week holiday season, we test varieties that can be timed to be in perfect color for pre-Thanksgiving sales all the way to Christmas," said Warnock. The three universities in the program are at three different latitudes so they get three separate sets of data. "Here in Illinois, it starts getting cloudy in early November and that affects the amount of light coming into the greenhouse. They don't have that problem in Kansas," said Warnock. The topmost leaves change color based on the amount of daylight they are exposed to, much like trees change color in the autumn. The greenhouse is equipped with large black curtains that can be drawn to completely block out the sunlight. Warnock said that some people try to get their poinsettias to turn red again the following year, but it's nearly impossible because the plant's exposure to the light has to be completely controlled. Beginning in September, the plants need to be kept in total darkness from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. "The plants are so sensitive to light that if people open the closet door for one peek during that time period, or even shine a flashlight in, the plants won't change color," said Warnock.

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Missouri 2011 Growing Season Climate Summary Pat Guinan State Climatologist Commercial Agriculture/University of Missouri Extension A challenging growing season was experienced by farmers this year as floods, drought and extreme temperatures impacted the Show Me state. With the exception of May and September, all months from April through October witnessed above normal temperatures, and a wet spring transitioned to a hot, dry summer creating stress on crops and livestock. Statewide precipitation averaged above normal in April and May and below normal from June through October. The clash of air masses was frequent over Missouri during the spring of 2011 and resulted in large weekly temperature swings and unsettled weather. A very mild weather pattern dominated during the first two weeks April and was warmer than the latter half of the month. There were numerous precipitation events during the month including a week long historic rain event across southern Missouri that brought record rainfall and flooding to the region. Most counties across southern Missouri recorded their wettest April on record. Generally, more than a foot of rain fell southeast of a line extending from Newton to Sainte Genevieve counties. Some southeastern locations in Shannon, Carter, Butler and Cape Girardeau counties reported more than 20 inches of rain for the month. Overall, average April rainfall was 7.45 inches for the state, making it the 5th wettest April in the past 117 years. The cool, wet weather during the latter half of the month halted spring planting opportunities across the state May had below normal temperatures and above normal precipitation, but much of the month was dominated by highly contrasting air masses, leading to periods of much warmer than normal and much cooler than normal weather. Numerous rain events throughout the month led to above normal precipitation for most locations. Preliminary numbers indicate the statewide average total for the month was just over 6 inches, or 1- inch above normal. An unusually warm air mass established itself over Missouri during the first ten days of June with oppressive heat impacting the state and several high temperature records broken. Temperatures averaged 8-10 degrees above normal during the period and it was the hottest June 1-10 period since 1934. Most locations experienced 90 degree plus temperatures on a daily basis and some locations in the Bootheel witnessed several days with triple digit heat. A pattern change led to a more seasonable and below normal temperature regime for the remainder of June and was a welcome change for many. Overall, monthly temperatures averaged 1-3 degrees above normal across the northern half of Missouri whereas southern sections averaged 3-6 degrees above normal. Springfield, Joplin and West Plains had their 6th, 4th and 4th hottest June on record, respectively. Precipitation was highly variable during the month with a sharp gradient extending from northeastern through southwestern Missouri. Generally, above normal rain fell across the northeastern half of the state with below normal precipitation across the southwestern half. Amounts increased northeast of a St. Joseph to Cape Girardeau line, from 4.5 inches to more than 12 inches. Totals decreased southwest of this line, from 4.5 inches to less than 1-inch. Some of the highest June rainfall totals occurred in Scotland, Lewis and Clark counties where the communities of Memphis, Monticello and Kahoka reported 13.29, 15.47 and 17.88 inches, respectively. Some of the driest communities were in Christian and Greene counties. A couple observers living near Nixa and Springfield reported 0.53 inches and 0.61 inches, respectively. Flooding along the Missouri River was ongoing for much of June due to record water release occurring from upstream reservoirs in Montana and the Dakotas. These record releases translated to major flooding downstream to St. Joseph, MO and moderate flooding along the Missouri River from Kansas City to Jefferson City, MO. Thousands of acres of cropland were flooded in northwestern Missouri where overtopped levees and levy breeches worsened the situation. Atchison and Holt counties, in the northwest corner of the state, were experiencing numerous impacts with flooded residences, closed roads and inundated cropland. A ridge of high pressure over the southern Plains intensified and expanded northeastward in July, profoundly influencing the weather pattern across the Show-Me state. Hot and dry conditions spread across Missouri and had adverse impacts on people, animals and vegetation. Missouri witnessed its hottest July in more than 30 years. The average statewide temperature for the month was 83°F, slightly over 5 degrees above normal, and the hottest month since July 1980. It was also the 6th hottest July on record and will go down as the 8th hottest month of all time when final numbers are tallied. Hot temperatures and high humidity in July and early August combined to produce very uncomfortable and life threatening conditions. There were lengthy and continuous periods of various heat advisories and warnings impacting the state and, unfortunately, heat related fatalities were reported. Another feature of the prolonged heat wave was high minimum temperatures. The average July minimum temperature for most areas of Missouri was between 72-74°F, or five to six degrees above normal. Most areas of the state reported dry conditions in July and preliminary data indicated a statewide monthly average of 2.34 inches, or more than 1.5 inches below normal. The majority of precipitation events were scattered and highly localized, but there were a few instances of significant rainfall. Heaviest monthly precipitation was confined to northwestern, north central and east central sections, and the eastern Ozarks region. Several northwestern counties reported four to six inches of rain whereas three to four inches were common over north central Missouri and parts of the eastern Ozarks. Less than two inches were typical over northeastern, central, west central, southwestern and far southeastern sections. Some exceptionally dry pockets were found in parts of northeast, west central, southwest and southeast Missouri where less than 0.75 inches were reported for the month. The southwestern district was especially hard hit by the heat and lack of precipitation during July. According to the Missouri Agricultural Statistics Service, 84% of the corn and 91% of the soybean crop was in very poor condition by the end of the month. Complete crop failures were reported in southwest Missouri and burned up pastures were forcing livestock producers to feed hay in some areas. Above normal summertime temperatures persisted throughout much of August, wrapping up another hot summer for the Show Me State. Preliminary numbers indicate average June-August temperatures for the state were slightly under 79°F, and rank the summer of 2011 as the 7th hottest on record, 0.1°F warmer than the summer of 2010. The hottest temperatures for the month occurred during the first and last week of August with more seasonable temperatures occurring during the second and third weeks. Precipitation events were more numerous, and heavier, across parts of Missouri during August than the previous month, bringing some relief to the state. Preliminary numbers indicate a statewide average of nearly 3.7 inches, which is near the 30-year normal. Specifically, totals across the southwestern half of Missouri were near to above normal and averaged between 3-6 inches, whereas rainfall totals were below normal, less than 3-inches, across the northeastern half of the state. Heaviest monthly totals were confined to some south central counties where more than 8-inches were reported across parts of Dallas, Laclede, Phelps, Texas, Dent, Howell, Shannon and Oregon counties. Driest conditions were reported across the northeastern border counties where some locations reported less than 1-inch of rain. A significant weather pattern change in early September translated to cooler conditions for Missouri where monthly average temperatures ranged 2.5 to 3.5 degrees below normal for many locations. Some parts of the Ozarks and far northwestern Missouri had cooler departures running 3.5 to 4.5 degrees below normal for the month. A fairly active and progressive weather pattern dominated much of the month as several frontal boundaries swept through the state and brought periods of precipitation. Most rain events, however, were not widespread, nor heavy, and preliminary data indicated an average statewide total of nearly 2.90 inches, more than 1-inch below normal for the month. According to the Missouri Agricultural Statistics Service, the generally dry weather during September hastened fieldwork activity over much of the state and allowed producers to harvest nearly two thirds of the corn by the end of the month. Soybean harvest was going at a normal pace and nearly 10% was harvested by the end of the month. Nearly 50% of the pastures were in poor to very poor condition at the end of the September due to lingering effects of summer heat and drought that impacted much of state, especially across west central, southwestern and northeastern sections. There were numerous reports of farmers feeding hay as well as hauling water due to dry ponds, springs and creeks. Pasture deterioration was also noted across north central and northwestern sections due to unusually dry September weather. Generally, mild and dry conditions were the rule during October with temperatures averaging near normal across southern Missouri and one to two degrees above normal across northern and central sections. All locations reported below normal rainfall with some unusually dry conditions in northwestern and west central Missouri. Several counties in northwest and west central Missouri received less than 0.25 inches for the month and a couple precipitation observers in Atchison and Harrison counties reported no measurable rainfall for October. Preliminary data were indicating it was the driest October in nearly 50 years across northwestern sections and extreme west central Missouri.

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Acting Gov. Kim Guadagno visits Seabrook Brothers & Sons in Upper Deerfield Township on agribusiness tour Lauren T. Taniguchi/South Jersey Times on August 30, 2012 at 7:00 AM, updated August 31, 2012 at 5:22 PM Office of the Governor(From left:) Acting Gov. Kim Guadagno greets Upper Deerfield Mayor Jim Crilley, Henry DuBois Jr. of Spring Brook Farms and Upper Deerfield Township Deputy Mayor Terry O'Neill at Seabrook Brothers & Sons.UPPER DEERFIELD TWP. — Acting Gov. Kim Guadagno concluded a month-long tour of New Jersey’s agribusinesses on Wednesday with a visit to Seabrook Brothers & Sons, a third-generation family-owned and -operated vegetable production company in Upper Deerfield Township.Guadagno toured the Seabrook Brothers & Sons facility on Finley Road with New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher, company President Jim Seabrook Jr. and his father and local officials, observing the farm’s operations and asking questions about its processes, practices and business success.“This stop on our agribusiness tour shows how Cumberland County does this the best in the world, which is a reason why we’re the Garden State,” Guadagno said. “…It’s a billion-dollar industry all the way around, and this is a big part of it.”Seabrook Brothers & Sons processes and freezes approximately 150 millions of pounds of vegetables annually, including crops grown on site, by other South Jersey farmers and outside of the region. A sanitation-compliant Guadagno pulled on a pink hairnet before walking through the warehouse and watching some of the company’s approximately year-round 540 workers clean, blanch, freeze and package a variety of vegetables. Staff photo by Cathy Cramer/The News of Cumberland CountyLt. Gov. Kim Guadagno comes to Seabrook Farms in Upper Deerfield for an agribusiness visit. (From left:) State Secretary of Agriculture Doug Fisher, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, Seabrook Brothers & Sons President James Seabrook Jr. “One of the constant themes to my 34 years in the vegetable business is that the actions of Seabrook Farms personally keep the ‘garden’ in the Garden State,” said Seabrook Jr. “This tour today shows the diversity of Seabrook agriculture. We’re part of the tapestry that keeps this the Garden State.”Seabrook Brothers & Sons sells its own brand of frozen vegetable items under the name Seabrook Farms, while also supplying products for food service companies and private-label retail sales. Beyond representation throughout the United States, the company exports globally to destinations including Israel, Chile, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Bermuda and Canada.“Seabrook’s products are well-known in the international marketplace…,” Guadagno said. “Equally important, the company relies on local South Jersey vendors for the supplies and services that keep its business and products moving domestically and internationally.”Seabrook Jr. said the visit was taking place on a day when a “couple hundred thousand pounds” of green beans, Italian beans and sweet corn were being prepared for shipment, while the farm readied to plant fall crops like collards and kale. The acting governor noted that the state’s 10,300 farms generated sales of about $1.1 billion last year, including nursery and greenhouse plants, sod, fruits and vegetables, field crops, equine, poultry, eggs and dairy. New Jersey ranks among the nation’s largest producers of blueberries, cranberries, peaches, tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, snap beans, spinach and squash. Past New Jersey Board of Agriculture President Henry DuBois Jr., of Spring Brook Farms, which contracts vegetables from its 4,000 acres with Seabrook Brothers & Sons, said he recently had completed a nationwide tour of “sad” agricultural conditions caused by drought, but Cumberland County farmers have been fortunate to find themselves in good shape heading into the fall.Staff photo by Cathy Cramer/The News of Cumberland CountyLt. Gov. Kim Guadagno comes to Seabrook Farms in Upper Deerfield for an agribusiness visit. on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012 (From left: Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, Business Advocate Joseph Constance, State Secretary of Agriculture Doug FisherWhile walking through the farm grounds, Guadagno discussed Seabrook Brothers & Sons’ 21-acre solar panel array with the company president, and she applauded the mayor and township leaders for creating a business-friendly climate that has supported such endeavors.“Towns ask me how to grow their companies, and I remind them that companies go where they feel welcome. Clearly, this company feels welcome here,” she said. Before coming to Upper Deerfield on Wednesday, Guadagno visited Atlantic County’s Tomasello Winery, also a third-generation family-owned business, observing operations that use South Jersey suppliers and vendors to purchase fertilizer, equipment repair services and ingredients and sweeteners for their wines. In addition, the winery buys grapes from local growers to augment its own grape production. Tomasello sells wines in 32 states, China, Korea and Japan, while working to expand into Taiwan with support from the New Jersey Business Action Center, an element of the New Jersey Partnership for Action (PFA).The governor’s office noted that the New Jersey PFA, led by Guadagno, supports the vital role business plays in advancing the state’s economy and creating jobs with a three-pronged, public-private approach to economic development. The Business Action Center, reporting directly to the lieutenant governor, provides the business community with a single point of contact. The center applies a proactive, customer-service approach to businesses’ interactions with state government, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and Choose New Jersey, an independently funded and operated nonprofit corporation created to encourage and nurture economic growth throughout New Jersey.Seabrook Jr. and DuBois agreed they appreciated the opportunity to make contact with the governor’s office at home, and Seabrook Jr. said he planned to “take the lieutenant governor up on her word” to help connect the company with appropriate support if needed.“I thought it was extremely nice of the lieutenant governor to come see in the fields what happens — rather than relying on reports, to see it firsthand,” said Upper Deerfield Township Mayor Jim Crilley. “She really showed genuine interest in what’s going on here.”“It’s fun to see someone come down here, instead of seeing people loading onto buses to Trenton with their number placards and all,” noted Upper Deerfield Township Deputy Mayor Terry O’Neill. “Here’s the number two person in the state down here, which is great.”Businesses in need of assistance are encouraged to call New Jersey’s Business Action Center at 866-534-7789 or visit the state’s business portal at www.newjerseybusiness.gov.Contact Lauren T. Taniguchi at 856-451-1000 ext. 519 or ltaniguchi@southjerseymedia.comFollow @LAUREIV

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Earth Community Awakening to Earth Rights ELC in the News The New Agtivist: Adam Berman, faith-based urban farmer By: Sarah Henry Published: 2-2-2012 Grist Urban Adamah, a one-acre urban farm on a vacant lot in a gritty stretch of Berkeley, has transformed an area better known for liquor stores and light industry into a thriving community gathering space and food hub. Adam Berman founded the farm in the summer of 2010 with just such lofty goals. Urban Adamah (for the Hebrew word for “earth”) offers a fellowship program for young adults, dubbed The Jewish Sustainability Corps, that integrates organic farming, social justice outreach, leadership training, environmental education, and progressive Jewish spiritual practice. There’s yoga, meditation, and singing too. Berman, who directed a Jewish retreat center where he founded a similar fellowship in Connecticut before relocating to Berkeley, got a lucky break when landowner Wareham Development agreed to host the farm rent-free for two years. Hence, the portable feel to the project: The farm has dozens of raised, movable produce pallets, greenhouses, a cob oven, chicken coops on wheels, and large tents that serve as classrooms. Everything on the property could be transported with relative ease, if a new location proves necessary. Raised beds filled with fresh, organic soil also solves the problem of contaminated soil on the property, a former printing press site. The resident fellows serve as hands-on farm educators for local school children and community members and intern with nearby social justice organizations dedicated to addressing poverty, food security, and environmental stewardship. The program also seeks to fill a void by distributing healthy food in under-resourced neighborhoods. It provides classes on raising chickens and palate-bed building to budding urban farmers and holds lectures, workshops, film screenings, and farm celebrations that are attended by people of all ages and religious affiliations. Q. Why Urban Adamah? A. I think of Urban Adamah as Adamah 2.0. It has the immersive, progressive Jewish and environmental component that we developed in Connecticut [at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center] but adds the social justice and community education piece. The farm in Connecticut is an hour from the closest city. Only a few hundred people visit each year. In our first year in Berkeley, a few thousand people came to our farm for community and environmental education events. In Connecticut all the food we grew we ate ourselves or sold at retail. Urban Adamah is about growing food for those in need. Ninety percent of what we grow we give away. Q. Why Berkeley? A. In many ways the Bay Area is the epicenter of the national food movement, and at the same time it’s a microcosm of the disparities of the rich and poor with regards to food access and food justice. You can buy $13 organic fair trade local chocolate bars in Berkeley but can’t find actual tomatoes in neighborhoods in West Oakland, where there isn’t one full-service grocery store. On a personal note, Berkeley feels like home to me. Q. Can you give a rundown of what the farm has accomplished since it started? A. Well, we constructed the fully portable farm from start to finish from February through August. We ran two fellowship programs with 24 fellows. We ran joyful programs in partnership with more than 20 local Jewish organizations. We provided four weeks of summer camp for 80 children and one-time educational programs for loads of local students. We celebrated each of the major Jewish holidays with community-wide farm events. And we produced more than 3,000 pounds of produce and distributed it through our free farm stand, food banks, and community groups. It was a busy year. Q. How important is the spiritual component to the farm’s success? A. It’s huge: The heart-mind-body trifecta informs everything we do. We believe that real change can’t happen in the world without being personally grounded and clear in each of these areas. Q. How would you describe the fellowship experience? A. It’s my hope that this leadership training program offers these young adults the opportunity to become agents of change in their own lives and communities. The fellowships run for three months in the spring, summer, and fall. It’s based on an intensive service-learning model: Fellows live and work together full time and are immersed in a way of life informed by Jewish values and practices. They live in a rented home within biking distance of the farm. The home also serves as an indoor classroom. The fellows work with community-based organizations on direct service projects that address poverty, food security, and environmental stewardship. Q. What’s key to the farm’s relationships with these food justice groups? A. We look for three things in the local organizations — which include City Slicker Farms, Farm Fresh Choice, and Cooking Matters — that we partner with: We want mission alignment, solid supervision, and a place where fellows can have meaningful impact working one day a week. In general that means groups that can facilitate hands-on projects like building gardens or teaching cooking classes. Q. Are there similar Jewish farm models in other parts of the country? A. There’s Kayam in Baltimore, but it’s suburban and doesn’t offer a fellowship. And [the original] Adamah in Connecticut, as I’ve mentioned, which doesn’t have the social justice piece or much local community engagement. Q. What are some of the challenges running this kind of non-profit? A. Raising money for the farm is a challenge: 70 percent of my time is devoted to fundraising. And dealing with pests both large, like rodents, and small, like aphids. Q. What advice do you have for others who want to start something similar? A. Start small. Secure the land. Prove the concept. Get the right staff on board. Q. What do you love about your job? A. It’s entirely in line with my personal values and vision for the world. I love the impact we have. I love the creative and entrepreneurial possibilities that this organization makes possible. I love that my daily life is a mix of program development, working with young adults, business development, meditation, and lots of singing. Published 3 years, 6 months ago under The Good Life Member - 1% for the Planet Earth Law Center | P.O. Box 3283 - Fremont, CA 94539 Copyright © 2015 Earth Law Center. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

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Healdsburg farms, vineyards to use treated sewage water Healdsburg's city council approved a plan to use treated sewage water for farms and vineyards. But not everyone likes that idea. February 16, 2014 6:22:49 PM PST HEALDSBURG, Calif. -- The Healdsburg City Council has approved a plan to use treated sewage water for farms and vineyards. But not everybody likes that idea. Sonoma County is known for its wine. That's why city leaders and winemakers who are staring in the face of historic drought conditions are getting creative with ways to save their season and protect their bread and butter. "Even though we got all that rain, we still won't have enough water to get through the growing season," said Doug McIlroy with Aquarius Ranch. McIlroy grew up in Sonoma County. He has worked, owned, and operated Aquarius Ranch in Healdsburg for more than 40 years. And for the first time, he's afraid. "We're in the middle of the worst drought that we've had in anybody's lifetime," he said. "Nobody even remembers anything as dry as this." Dry conditions and a lack of rain have presented urgent problems, putting every acre of his vineyard, and the dozens throughout Sonoma County like it, at risk. But he thinks there is a solution. "They have wastewater that they need to put into an irrigation system and the farmers south of Healdsburg could easily satisfy that," McIlroy said. The city of Healdsburg decided to provide treated, recycled wastewater for use by ranchers and grape growers. The water would be pulled from the city's sewage plant and given to ranchers and grape growers for free. It's water that Healdsburg Mayor Jim Wood says is safe to use for farming and would not affect the taste of their crops. "We have a really highly treated, tertiary treated disinfected water," he said. Mayor Wood is one of the strongest supporters of the plan to use reclaimed water; a plan that has proven to be successful in areas around Healdsburg. "We don't have in California, a comprehensive ground water policy," Mayor Wood said. "That's something we really need to be working on and there needs to be consistencies so that all these regional boards are working together on the same page and I don't think that's happening. And I think that's one of the problems." Using the water would be strictly voluntary, but critics argue that it isn't clear if the city council has approval from regional regulators to move forward. Some fear the treated water could contaminate the groundwater because of what they call the unique geography of Healdsburg. City leaders are still hoping to get regional regulators on board with their plan, which may be too late for those who need help now. "We live in extraordinary times and I believe the time for action is now," Mayor Wood said. Load Comments

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Status of the Fishery Resource Report 92&endash;9, 1992. HALFMOON LAKE (T1S, R3E, Sec. 1, 6) Surveyed May, 1991 Michael P. Herman Halfmoon Lake is located within the boundaries of the Pinckney Recreation Area and is approximately 6 miles north of the Village of Chelsea (Figure 1). The main part of this lake lies in the northwest part of Washtenaw County and a small portion extends into southwestern Livingston County. Halfmoon Lake is approximately 236 acres in size and part of a chain&endash;of&endash;lakes that are included in the Middle Huron Watershed within the Huron River Basin. There are several lakes upstream from Halfmoon Lake, including Woodburn, Patterson, Watson, Bruin, and Blind. The only outlet of Halfmoon Lake is approximately 20 feet wide and 2&endash;to 3&endash;feet deep; it exits to Hi&endash;Land Lake. Water then flows in a northeasterly direction to the Portage River, Little Portage Lake, Big Portage Lake, and finally to the Huron River just south of the Village of Pinckney. The lake bottom consists primarily of marl in the shallow water areas and muck and pulpy peat in deep water. There are also scattered areas of fibrous peat, gravel, rubble, and sand which are found mainly in the shallows. Halfmoon Lake has steep drop-offs, several submerged islands, and water depths up to 87 feet. Approximately 75% of the lake's surface area has water greater than 10 feet deep. Vegetation is very limited in this lake and includes scattered areas of bulrush, white and yellow water lily, several varieties of pondweed, and Chara or muskgrass. The latest limnology survey was in August of 1991. Temperatures ranged from 77°F at the surface to 54°F at the 25foot depth. Very low dissolved oxygen levels in the thermocline were recorded, making this lake unsuitable for the introduction of rainbow trout. The shoreline of Halfmoon Lake is moderately developed, and about 100 summer and permanent homes presently exist on this lake. The undeveloped portions of the shoreline are a combination of mainly forested and emergent wetlands, as well as some wooded upland. There is a state access site and public swimming beach located on the lake's northeast shore. Bluegills, largemouth bass, yellow perch, and walleye fry were stocked in Halfmoon Lake in the late 1930's and early 1940's. These stocking programs were soon discontinued. Rainbow trout were stocked in Halfmoon Lake in the early 1940's but poor survey returns led to discontinuing these plants in 1945. Rainbow trout stocking resumed in 1955 and continued through 1969; once again, trout plants were discontinued because of poor angler returns. An experimental plant of chinook salmon was made in 1973. A subsequent gill net survey produced no chinooks. A private plant of approximately 12,000 walleye fingerlings was made in 1986 but none have been reported caught. In 1987, approximately 24,000 redear sunfish fingerlings were stocked in this lake. In the summer of 1989, a floating fishing pier was constructed by the Fisheries Division of the DNR and placed on the northeast end of Halfmoon Lake. The following summer, twenty fish cover structures were placed in two groups in approximately 15 feet of water and within casting distance of the fishing pier. The fish structure project was a cooperative effort between the Parks and Fisheries Divisions of the DNR and the Lower Michigan Bass Organization based in Southfield, Michigan. Each structure was built using old Christmas trees which were anchored into a standard size cinder block with cement. Because of heavy pleasure boat traffic and the potential for injury that might result from the location of the fishing pier, it was moved to Crooked Lake which is approximately 1 mile to the east. Fishery Resource Halfmoon Lake was last surveyed in late May, 1991 with six standard 8 x 5 x 3&endash;foot trap nets (Table 1). No gill nets were used since evaluation of the redear sunfish stocking program was the primary objective of this survey. Species captured in descending order of abundance included bluegills, pumpkinseeds, carp, black crappie, longnose gar, rock bass, largemouth bass, bowfin, northern pike, yellow perch, warmouth, and white bass. Bluegills predominated in the survey, comprising 69% by number but only 20% by weight of the total catch. The 384 bluegills in the sample averaged 7.5 inches each, which is an unusually large average size. Nearly all of the bluegills caught in trap nets ware 6.0 inches or longer, or what is considered to be an acceptable size to anglers (Table 1). Based on growth analysis using fish scales, bluegills caught during the 1991 survey exhibited growth rates that were nearly one&endash;inch above state average growth rates (Table 2). Bluegills are targeted for sampling in inland lakes because of their role in determining fish community structure and overall sportfishing quality (Schneider 1981). Even though the goal of lake surveys is to sample all fish species and all sizes present, many times only the bluegill population is adequately sampled because bluegills are usually the most abundant fish. Recently, a ranking system has been developed that allows fish managers to get an idea of the relative quality of a lake's fish population (Schneider 1990). On a scale of 1 to 7, the quality of the bluegill population in Halfmoon Lake was calculated as 6.3 or "excellent". Although black crappie are not a large component of the fishery in Halfmoon Lake, they appeared very healthy and averaged 7.4 inches long. Based on fish scale analysis, crappies exhibited growth that was nearly one&endash;inch above state average rates (Table 2). Not enough northern pike and largemouth bass were captured during the 1991 survey to be statistically significant. However, growth trends indicate that both species are growing well above state average rates (Table 2). Longnose gar and carp comprised a total of over 75% of the survey catch by weight. Although these fish often compete for food and space with all other fish species, growth of bluegill, crappie, bass and pike seem to be unaffected. Pumpkinseeds comprised nearly 10% of the total catch by number. These fish appeared very healthy and robust and over 80% were 6 inches or larger, or what anglers consider to be "keeper" size. Analysis and Discussion Survey records show that species composition has remained relatively unchanged throughout the past 50 years with the exception of carp. Growth trends for bluegill, crappie and largemouth bass in 1991 are comparable to those from surveys of Halfmoon Lake in 1965, 1973, and 1983. Table 3 outlines the estimates of age frequency for bluegills and crappies caught during the May 1991 survey of Halfmoon Lake. Bluegills up to 10 years old were found, which indicates unusually high longevity. Black crappie, on the other hand, seem to be short&endash;lived. In general, bluegill age groups III through VII were well represented. However, the estimated age frequency for age V bluegills was only 16%, which suggests that a weak year class may exist. Conversely, the estimated age frequency for age II crappies was nearly 75%, which suggests a very strong year class. Water temperature, spawning success, weather, food availability, and many other variables contribute to the success or failure of a particular year class of fish. Only one northern pike was caught in trap nets during the present survey. However, pike are better sampled with gill nets, which were not used in 1991. Past surveys of this lake with gill nets have resulted in the capture of relatively good numbers of northern pike. Northern pike caught in 1983 and in 1991 exhibited growth trends that were well above the state average rate. Very few carp have been captured in past surveys of Halfmoon Lake. The 1991 survey resulted in the capture of 47 carp, averaging over 27 inches and over 9 pounds each. Carp dominated the survey by weight, comprising nearly 70% of the entire catch. Although the apparent large population of carp have not yet had a measurable negative impact on the other fish populations sampled, it is possible that changes in the general fish population of Halfmoon Lake may occur in the future if carp numbers continue to increase. No ciscoes were taken in the 1991 survey and they may have become extinct. They were reported in surveys dating back to 1942. Several reports of mid&endash;summer ciscoe mortalities have been received by the Jackson District Fisheries office throughout the years. Surveys subsequent to 1942 resulted in the capture of fewer and fewer ciscoes. Reasons for the decline of ciscoes in Halfmoon Lake may include, but are not limited to, increased predation by northern pike and deteriorating water quality. In general, there is a movement in spring and early summer from shallow to deeper water, when ciscoes move into the colder layers. This seasonal migration may lead to mass mortalities if the layer of water below the thermocline (hypolimnion) becomes depleted of oxygen (McCrimmon 1952). An August, 1991 limnology survey of Halfmoon Lake showed that very little oxygen existed in or below the thermocline. Halfmoon Lake is used mainly by pleasure craft other than fishing boats throughout much of the summer, and there is seasonally intense competition for use of the lake. Even though some anglers report good bluegill and bass fishing success in recent years, the steep drop-offs and the general lack of fish concentrating cover in this lake may make it difficult for anglers to locate fish. As a result, bluegills and other gamefish are probably underutilized. Because pumpkinseeds and redear sunfish have similar food and habitat requirements, redears were expected to flourish in Halfmoon Lake. In addition, the lake has a marl bottom and similar features to other area lakes where redears have done well. It was hoped that the introduction of redear sunfish would give anglers an opportunity to catch a trophy panfish. Based on the growth of redears in other area lakes, redear sunfish stocked in Halfmoon Lake in 1987 should have been at least 8 to 9 inches long in 1991; however, none were caught in the trap nets. The presence of large numbers of carp in this lake may have had a negative effect on redear growth and survival, since redears feed mainly on the bottom and could be in competition with carp for food. Management Direction No redear sunfish were caught during the present survey. It should be noted that the redears stocked into Halfmoon Lake were some of the last fingerlings harvested from the rearing pond in 1987. In general, the last fish harvested from a pond experience increased stress because of reduced water volumes which causes crowding, lowered oxygen levels, turbidity, and increased water temperatures. Additionally, the fingerlings stocked in 1987 were only 1&endash;inch long. The average size of redear fingerlings stocked in other District 13 lakes has been approximately 2 inches. The quality of redear fingerlings stocked into this lake remains suspect. When available, Halfmoon Lake should be stocked with redear sunfish fingerlings for 3 years in succession and the fishery evaluated 3 years later. Halfmoon Lake has a reputation among anglers for catches of large bluegill, as well as crappie and largemouth bass of acceptable size. In general, anglers are satisfied with the existing fishery. Report completed: March 5,1992. McCrimmon, H. R. 1952. Mortality of coregonid fish in Lake Simcoe during spring temperature warm&endash;up. Canadian Field&endash;Naturalist 66(4): 112. Schneider, J. C. 1981. Fish communities in warmwater lakes. Michigan Department of Natural Resources. fisheries Research Report 1890, Ann Arbor. Schneider, J. C. 1990. Classifying bluegill populations from lake survey data. Michigan Department of Natural Resources, fisheries Technical Report 90010, Ann Arbor. Table 1.-Number, weight and length indices of fish collected from Halfmoon Lake with trap nets, May 29, 1991. Percent by number Percent by weight Length range (inches)1 Percent legal size2 Warmouth White bass Longnose gar Bowfin 1Note some fish were measured to 0.1 inch, others to inch group: eg.,"5"=5.0 to 5.9 inches; "12"=12.0 to 12.9 inches; etc. 2Percent legal size or acceptable size for angling. Table 2.-Average total length (inches) at age, and growth relative to the state average, for two species of fish sampled from Halfmoon Lake with trap nets, May 29, 1991. Number of fish aged is given in parenthesis. index1 1Mean growth index is the average deviation from the state average length. Table 3.-Estimated age frequency (percent) of two species of fish caught from Halfmoon Lake with trap nets, May 29, 1991. Web Author: Tina M. Tincher, Librarian Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcome! Send them to tinchert@michigan.gov

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2013: A Year of the Biggest Global Event in Beekeeping The XXXXIII Apimondia International Apicultural Congress of 2013 is anticipated to become the greatest event in the history of world beekeeping industry. Due to the unprecedentedly affordable participation rates and its country-host exclusive location in the heart of dense apicultural region of Eastern Europe, up to 10, 000 participants from over 115 countries are expected. Discover the European Honeyland! Kyiv, Ukraine (PRWEB) The XXXXIII Apimondia International Apicultural Congress will take place between the 29th of September and 4th of October, 2013 in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, supported by the President of Ukraine Victor Yanukovych. It will gather both amateur and professional beekeepers, leading experts of beekeeping sector and specialists in related areas, scientists, representatives of commercial sector, non-profit organizations and government — anyone interested to explore the topic of beekeeping and willing to share their experience. Participants will have an opportunity to get the latest first-hand scientific information from researches worldwide, check-out the cutting-edge technological innovations in beekeeping, present their products - ranging from honey and mead to the most advanced beekeeping equipment, establish new contacts with exporters and importers, listen to scientists' reports, communicate with like minded people, and discover Ukraine — the true European Honeyland. The key program of the Congress will last five days and cover: Scientific Conference themed “Beyond the Hive: Beekeeping and Global Challenges” that encompasses plenary sessions and symposiums of the Apimondia commissions and with the participation of over 800 scientists from around the world to present about 300 scientific papers and 800 poster presentations; The International Exhibition ApiExpo-2013 featuring over 200 participants from all over the world; World Beekeeping Awards, the foremost global competition in excellence, creativity and innovation in beekeeping; Various cultural and social projects, including "The Innovative Technologies in Beekeeping", "The Apimondia Open Public Fair", "Apimondia for Children", "Famous Scientists and Figures in Beekeeping", "Modern Art Gallery", "Beekeeping Museum", a range of educational and practical events, and many more. A number of Technical, Pre- and Post tours will provide a possibility to sight-see both beekeeping and tourist places of interest in different parts of Ukraine — to discover this truly fascinating European Honeyland that is considered to be the largest beekeeping country in Europe and in the world's top five with the annual output of honey reaching 75,000 tons and 400,000 beekeepers tending 3.5 million bee colonies. This goes along with very affordable costs for living, transport and meals, which are much lower in Ukraine than in most European countries. The broader mission of the International Apimondia Congress is to discover how beekeeping can contribute to solving the global problems and to draw attention of the public worldwide to a healthy lifestyle through using beekeeping products. For more information please visit http://apimondia2013.org.ua/en/ About Apimondia Federation Apimondia is the International Federation of Beekeepers’ Associations and other organizations working within the apiculture sector that integrates leading specialists, scientists, businessmen and public figures of beekeeping industry. Today members of Apimondia are represented by different beekeepers association from more than 115 countries. Every two years since 1897, Apimondia holds in different countries International Apicultural Congresses that are the largest events in the world of beekeeping. International Apimondia Congresses have an aim to give an opportunity of exchanging of information, personal experience and achievements among beekeepers, scientist, honey-traders and equipment manufacturers, agents for development, technicians and legislators. The right to host the Congress has to be won in competition among the other applicants by the claiming country. Yuriy Riphyak XXXXIII International Apimondia Congress +38(044)355-04-39

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The Thrill of the Gel Is Gone Photo by Sektormedia/Flickr CCIn January, Grant Achatz attended Madrid Fusion, the annual gastronomical congress of the world's top chefs. This is part three of Achatz's report from Madrid. Read part one and part two. The fourth and final installment will run Friday, March 20. Three days later the congress was drawing to a close, and over 50 chefs from all over the world had taken their turn onstage. I couldn't help but feel a bit empty. Where were the culinary fireworks? The introduction to the next ingredient that was going to enable us to turn oil into powder, serve a gelled liquid hot, or thicken an infusion by simply blending in a magical white substance? Where were the explanations of new techniques? Like the ones used to create raviolis with skins made from themselves, making pasta from stock, and aerating food to produce sponge-like textures? Surely someone was ready with the next method of changing texture and form, like the liquid nitrogen that became popular in the professional kitchen five years ago? Where were the equivalents to the freeze-drying machines? Centrifuges? Rotary evaporators? Vacuum sealers? The lack of inspiration led me to compare this congress to the previous years. As I continued to write the laundry list of ideas that weren't present at this year's congress, the defining elements of the genre of modern cooking -- let's call it molecular gastronomy, just to fuel the fire -- became more and more clear. What also became clear is that it is tough to label, name, or define anything without establishing its starting and ending points.This was a revelation for the modern chef. Suddenly we had a seemingly endless source of inspiration at our disposal. It is premature to me to declare the end of this cooking style, or even the micro pocket of creative focus contained within it. It is also incredibly presumptuous for me declare anything about the identity of fine cooking -- even though it seems the practitioners are the most qualified to do so, because of their intimate knowledge of the subject. Historically, it has always been the scholars, the public, and the media who have had the responsibility to describe the precise meaning, characteristics, and bookends of a period, whether it is in the arts, politics, industry or otherwise. So rather than speak for everyone in the gastronomic universe, I will explain what is going on in my head and in my restaurant in terms of the shifting of thought processes, frustrations we have with the creative avenues of the past eight years, and how all of this is encouraging us to look at other ways to create new paths to help us evolve and innovate. When I look closely at the creative paths that have catapulted modern cooking into popularity and controversy in recent times, a few seem to have become the defining elements. The most popular seems to be looking to industrial mass food production for inspiration. Large companies specializing in packaged ready-to-eat foods, candies, cereals, and beverages spend millions of dollars on research and development each year to improve or develop new products. They look to science to help them do anything from suspending beads of gel in a sweet beverage to creating an edible veneer to help seasoning adhere to chicken breasts to figuring out a way to pack a powerful breath-freshening burst of mint in a strip of film smaller than a postage stamp only to have it disappear as soon as it hits your tongue. As consumers we thrive on these innovative products. I would say we not only accept but in fact demand them with our hard-earned paychecks. With some catchy marketing and a creative slant, companies fulfill the desires of the public while generating tons of money. People frequently ask me,"Where do you come up with stuff?" or "How did you think of that?" My answer is always the same. My passion is cooking and food. Everything I experience I relates back to those two things. So when I buy a pack of gum at the supermarket that has a liquid center of gel, I wonder how it was produced and if I can create a similar sensation at Alinea. I am certainly not the only one who thinks this way, and it is obvious to me that this is how the use of hydrocolloids, modified starches, gums, pectin, and other such ingredients found their way into the professional chef's kitchen. This was a revelation for the modern chef. Suddenly we had a seemingly endless source of inspiration at our disposal. We had a pantry of ingredients that could do the impossible, transforming ingredients in ways never before possible. It was difficult to see this at the time, but the breadth of this wave was quite narrow. When you really look at the techniques critically, the results are all versions of textural transformation involving liquids. But what happens when the wow factor of a hot gelatin wears off? Or the mystery of how a liquid creates a wrapper from itself, its walls gelling to hold the still aqueous center inside? We roll into variations of themes. Flavors of self-encapsulations run the gamut from sweet to savory and back, from being the stand-alone focus of a dish to merely a hidden component. Textural manipulations are manipulated; new "raviolis" are deep-fried, carbonated, and dehydrated. But once the iterations and the extensions have been explored to their peak, creativity slows and eventually stops, until a new source of inspiration is found -- the source I kept waiting for in Madrid. Grant Achatz is chef and owner of Chicago's Alinea. He grew up in the restaurant industry, literally, with restaurateurs as parents and grandparents. previousAIG's Liddy Fears for Employees' SafteynextSounds of silence, part 1

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Garden Talk: October 20, 2011 From NGA Editors Learning about Healthy Foods with Food Corps What is one of the best ways to help adults stay healthy? Helping children develop good nutritional habits early on goes a long way towards assuring not only a healthy childhood, but a healthy adulthood as well. That's the idea behind Food Corps, a new national service organization whose volunteers will address the problems of obesity and diet-related disease by delivering hands-on nutrition education to children in limited-resource communities, helping to build and tend school gardens in these communities, and through farm-to-school programs, bringing high quality local foods into school cafeterias. This new program, which is a partner of the successful AmeriCorps service program that annually sends more than 85,000 volunteers out into communities nationwide, recently sent out its first 50 fellows to 41 host sites in 10 states. These 50 volunteers were selected from among the 1229 people that applied, which FoodCorps co-founder and program director Debra Eschneyer noted made it more competitive than admission to Harvard! The hope is that, beyond their direct impact in the schools and programs they reach in their year of service, these young leaders will go on to become farmers, chefs, educators, and public health leaders who will continue to spread the message of good nutrition to a wider audience. An example of one of FoodCorps programs is at the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health in Arizona. Native American communities have high rates of diet-related type-II diabetes in adults and even children. Four FoodCorps service members, some of whom have been recruited from the tribal communities they are serving, are helping to improve community nutrition and health by promoting native gardens and helping schools source food from tribal farmers. To find out more about FoodCorps, including information on applying to serve, supporting their work with sponsorships and donations, volunteering alongside service members in the field, mentoring service members for careers in food and health, or applying for a garden grant for a project in your community, go to: FoodCorps. Is Fall Foliage Falling Back? We're all used to setting back our clocks in late autumn to "fall back" from daylight savings time. Now, scientists are investigating whether we need to start resetting our "leaf peeping" clock as well. Studies in Europe, Japan, and the U.S. indicate that climate changes due to global warming may be delaying the onset of the changing colors of fall foliage. The appearance of the bright reds, oranges, and yellows of fall leaves as the seasons change comes about as cooling temperatures, decreasing daylengths, and changes in soil moisture levels cause the green chlorophyll in leaves to break down, unmasking the autumnal hues. The timing and intensity of this color change varies with year-to-year fluctuations in fall weather, as well as fluctuations in the growing conditions earlier in the season. So it is hard to know for sure how climate change and fall foliage are related. Still there are indications that climate change is having an effect. In Vermont, state foresters at the Proctor Maple Research Center found that seven out of the last ten growing seasons ended later than the statistical average. And satellite data from NASA showed that in the period from 1982 to 2008, the end of the growing season lengthened by six and one-half days. There may be economic as well as ecological ramifications to changes in the fall foliage show, if later or less colorful fall foliage reduces the numbers of leaf-peeping tourists in areas like New England. The study of timing in nature is called phenology and much of the basic data collected for research in this field comes from interested citizen scientists recording their observations of seasonal changes. The USA National Phenology Network is composed of citizen scientists, government agencies, non-profit groups, educators, and students working together to monitor the impacts of climate change on the plants and animals in the U.S., collecting and sharing information to provide researchers with much more information than they could collect alone. To read more about the scientific efforts to document later fall foliage colors, go to: Burlington Free Press. To find out more about participating in the USA National Phenology Network, go to: USANPN. Roundup All Around New research has come to the disquieting conclusion that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup, the world's most-used herbicide, is present in significant levels in our air and water, far from the points of its application. According to Paul Capel, an environmental chemist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which conducted the research, glyphosate was found in every water sample taken from streams in Mississippi over a two year period and in many of the air samples as well. Similar results were obtained from samples taken in Iowa. Both these states have extensive agricultural acreage with farmers using large quantities of this herbicide to control weeds in farm fields. It is also widely used on golf courses and in residential landscapes. According to the USGS, in 2007 more than 88,000 tons of glyphosate were used in the U.S., up from 11,000 tons fifteen years earlier. The research did not look at the impact of such widespread exposure to glyphosate, but according to a Reuters article on the subject, other studies have raised concerns about the development of glyphosate-resistant ″super weeds″ and the effect of the herbicide on soil and animals. The Environmental Protection Agency is currently reviewing the registration for glyphosate with a decision deadline set for 2015. To read the USGS Technical Announcement, go to USGS. To read the Reuters article, go to: Reuters. If you are expecting to hear some climate-change realism from the crop of Republican presidential candidates, you may have a long wait. In an October 4, 2011 Time Magazine website article, Bryan Walsh points out that belief in the science of climate change was not such a political issue as recently as the 2008 presidential election. But it sure is now. No current major Republican presidential candidate will stand squarely behind the findings of climate science. Instead we have candidates like Rick Perry stating that he doesn't think that ″manmade global warming is settled in science enough.″ As former president Bill Clinton pointed out recently, this puts the U.S. at odds with most of the rest of the international community or, as he bluntly put it, our denial of science makes Americans ″look like a joke.″ How did we get to this point? According to Walsh, ″belief in climate science has become less about the science than about establishing a cultural identity -- you're a denier or a believer depending on whether you're a Republican or a Democrat...It's insanity as a basis for a complex public policy.″ Riley Dunlop and Aaron McCright, sociologists who authored a chapter in the recently published The Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Society, suggest that climate denialism has occurred in part because of a ″long-term, well-financed effort on the part of conservative groups and corporations to distort global-warming science,″ similar to the tactics employed by the tobacco companies to dispute the health dangers of smoking, by maintaining that the science is ″unsettled″ and more research is necessary before any action is taken. But Bryan also points out that even those who acknowledge the science may still be deniers when it comes to accepting the changes that need to be made in order to deal with the threat that climate change poses. Just like losing weight or planning for retirement, he says, it is easy let immediate desires overwhelm long-term benefits. To deal with the enormous threat that global warming and climate change poses, we need to insist that our political leaders keep politics from distorting science so we can all face up to the big challenges ahead. To read the entire article, go to Time Magazine.

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www.Richters.com THE OTTO RICHTER MEMORIAL LECTURES The Otto Richter Memorial Lecture is presented by the International Herb Association at its annual conference in honour of the late Otto Richter, founder of Richters Herbs. Otto Richter was a founding director of the International Herb Growers and Marketers Association, now known as the IHA. Otto Richter was born in 1918 in Austria where he operated a nursery before emigrating to Canada in 1953. In 1969 he and his family began growing and selling herbs in Locust Hill, Ontario, and put out the first mail order herb plant and seed catalogue in 1970. The business quickly grew into the leading supplier of herb plants and seeds in Canada, and after a move to its present location in Goodwood, Ontario, continued to grow, adding many varieties new to the herb world. In addition to running Richters, he served over twenty years with the Metropolitan Toronto Parks Department until his retirement in 1984. He was active in community beautification projects and organized public displays at garden shows and at the 1980 International Floralies Exhibition in Montreal. Otto Richter served as president of Richters Herbs until his death in 1991. The Richter family is very grateful to the International Herb Association for establishing the Otto Richter Memorial Fund in honour of our beloved father and husband. Such gestures of thoughtfulness and kindness prove once again that the herb industry is populated with wonderful and caring people. 1993 Arthur O. Tucker, "Is This Plant a Hoax?" 1995 Varro E. Tyler, "Herbs and Health Care in the Twenty-first Century" 1997 Mark Blumenthal, "Herbs: Out of the Cauldron and into the Clinic" 1998 James E. Simon, "Development of New Herbs, Natural Products and Predictions for the Future" . Privacy Policy

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« County awards contracts for... Work on intersection at merc...» Little lambs 101 Area family educates would-be farmers March 31, 2013 Save | SUNBURY - It's lambing season at Owens Farm, 2611 Mile Post Road. In early March, 104 lambs already had been born, with some 30 more ewes expected to give birth, usually to twins, at any time. This is one of the busiest times of the season. Article Photos JESSICA?WELSHANS/Sun-GazetteYoung lambs are seen at Owens Farm, 2611 Mile Post Road in Sunbury. The Owens family has a Build-Your-Own Farm tour that offers a selection of activities. "You are definitely meeting us at one of the high labor times of the year. We do have to check around the clock," said Caroline Owens, co-owner, wife and mom of three human kids at the farm. Carrying two plastic buckets, she walked to the side of a big red barn that stands on the 212-acre farm. She stepped onto some wide, wooden planks and disappeared inside. Suddenly the fenced-off pasture outside the barn came alive with loud bleating from the sheep - lots of bleating. The sheep swarmed into the yard and ran to a cement feeding trough, calling for Caroline to bring the feed. She came down the planks and emptied her buckets. While the sheep chomped away at their corn, the tiny lambs - some of which are weeks old, others only hours - began to romp around and play in groups. Running and wildly kicking their back legs every so often, the lambs stopped to bleat for their mothers, then went back to playing again. "They are showing off for you," Caroline said. Owens Farm sits atop rolling hills off of a rural road in the countryside between Sunbury and Danville. Its scenery is broken up by small patches of wooded areas, but the barns and farmhouse overlook the pastures where the family - husband Dave, Caroline and their children, Melissa, 14; Kevin, 16; and Kyle, 18 - work the farm all year long. Grass-fed Katahdin hair sheep, Coopworth sheep, Tamworth piglets, chickens, a few horses, cows, border collies and a few barn cats call the farm home, too. In 1992, the Owenses lived in New Hampshire on a small farm. They moved to Pennsylvania in 2008. "It was just so successful, we outgrew the 13-acre farm," Caroline said. Caroline always had been involved with agriculture, even during her high school years. She worked as a vocational agriculture teacher and received degrees from Cornell University and Boston University. Dave, she said, became interested in an independent lifestyle through alternative methods of agriculture. He now works as a engineer and runs his own database and software consulting business. He also is a beekeeper on the farm. After the two started the farm in New Hampshire and began raising their own food and animals for meat, neighbors became interested. "They would come to us and say, 'If you are raising a pig, could you raise one for me and (if there are) any extra lambs, I would like to buy one,'" Caroline said. Animals at Owens Farm are raised with no chemicals, no growth hormones and are grass-fed. Raising non-commercial foods isn't the only thing done at the farm. The Owenses have a drive to educate those who want to learn what life is like on a real, working farm. "It's the sheep camps, adopt-a-sheep program and lambing slumber parties ... anything we can do to show the people what goes on behind the scenes," she said. The educational aspect evolved for the Owenses while they were home-schooling their children back on the New Hampshire farm. Groups in the home-schooling community began to ask for tours. Caroline said it made sense to begin educational tours for others, too. For instance, during lambing season in the late winter weeks of February and the beginning of March, the farm holds Lambing-Time Slumber Parties. Participants come to the farm, check for newborns at night and in the early morning and even watch them being born. They help care for the new lambs and their mothers and sleep in the barn. "They see the whole gamut from taking care of the lambs and helping when there is trouble," she said, "even just walking through a flock of sleeping sheep. It's not all about the learning - some of it is about a unique experience." Sheep Camp, a hands-on interactive learning experience, is offered for kids ages 7 to 12. Each middle school-aged participant gets his or her own sheep for the weeklong camp. "The kids do a lot of activities that, to the child, is fun, but there is actually learning involved," Caroline said. The camps teach subjects such as animal science and fiber arts. Participants will weave, dye and spin the wool of their sheep or learn how it digests foods with its four stomachs. An obstacle course with the sheep helps show how to work with the animal and "get inside its head." "Kids who come to the camp usually have not grown up on farms and this is their first experience with livestock," she said. Such interactive education gives children the chance to experience a farm lifestyle and to learn about themselves. "At some point, all these kids are going to make decisions on what they want to do with their life, career and hobbies. If the kid thinks he is interested in animals and determines he really is, I hope that will further him on his path and career choices," Caroline said. The Adopt-A-Sheep program is a pretty unique offering at Owens Farm. Families or individuals are assigned a sheep and they can follow the life of that specific sheep while it lives on the farm. "The sheep stays here and the family comes to visit. We set up scheduled field trips when significant things happen," Caroline said. "For example, if we are going to bring them all in with the border collie and do foot trimming (the children are invited)." The sheep adopters get hands-on experience helping out caring for the sheep when they visit. "Shearing, that is a biggie. They get to keep the sheep's wool and when the sheep has a lamb, they get an email saying, "Just had twins! Come and visit,' " she added. Most of the farm visits come from local families that have adopted sheep, but Caroline said there are out-of-state residents who also have adopted sheep. "Everyone gets letters once a month. It's like a sheepy penpal," she said. Public education also is important to the family. The farm hopes to show where food comes from and how it is raised there. A Build-Your-Own Farm tour offers a selection of activities from throughout the farm. "From a personal standpoint, we feel like it brings a lot of meaning to us to pass on the knowledge (of farming) to others that would want to do it themselves," she said. "(We are happy to share) the awareness to the consumer and for the little children to be exposed to all of this, to know where food comes from, and (hoping) that they are going to pass that onto other generations." Owens Farm also gives farmer-to-farmer workshops, lambing clinics, sheep 101 and pasteurized pork workshops. "We are trying to help people get started so more people will be successful in having small farms, and (so) that small farms are available to the consumers," she said. "We think its important to be transparent. People have their dentist, doctor, auto mechanic and nowadays I would encourage them to have their farmers," she said. Owens Farm also raises and sells meat and honey. For more information, see www.owensfarm.com. Save | Subscribe to Williamsport Sun-Gazette I am looking for:

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Corporate capture: Europe trade talks threaten environment Posted May. 29, 2014 / Posted by: Bill Waren On Friday, May 23, the United States and the European Union concluded weeklong negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (also called the Trans Atlantic Free Trade Agreement). This fifth negotiating round was held behind closed doors in the Washington, D.C. area. TAFTA negotiating documents were classified as government secrets, even as several hundred corporate lobbyists who are “cleared advisors” to the U.S. Trade Representative were granted privileged access. Tariff issues are a secondary matter in these talks. Generally speaking, tariffs on transatlantic trade in goods are low. Negotiators, therefore, focused last week -- as they will throughout the course of U.S.-EU talks -- on lowering regulatory “barriers” to transatlantic trade and investment. Such “barriers” include environmental and public health protections -- such as those related to climate change, food safety, genetically-engineered products and toxic chemicals, among many others. Here are a few of the threats posed by TAFTA to sensible regulatory protections for the environment, public health and the climate that Friends of the Earth raised last week in discussions with negotiators, participants at “stakeholder events,” and the press. Fossil fuel exports. The boom in oil, coal, and liquefied natural gas exports is fueling climate change, but international trade agreements encourage international commerce in these carbon-polluting products. Friends of the Earth believes that TAFTA negotiators should steer a different course: one that creates enough policy space for bold governmental action to curb fossil fuel exports. For example, Friends of the Earth condemned statements in congressional testimony by Michael Froman, the U.S. Trade Representative, challenging an EU fuel quality directive that would limit shipments to Europe of dirty Canadian tar sands oil, including that which would flow through pipelines like the proposed Keystone XL system for export from U.S. ports. On Monday, May 19, as TAFTA negotiations kicked off, a leaked draft negotiating text for the E.U. on energy issues was published online. An analysis of the leaked text by the European NGO, Power Shift, and Sierra Club shows that the draft European proposal for TAFTA energy provisions would “expand fossil fuel exports from the U.S. to the EU.” “This proposal exposes the contradiction of policy makers who promise to do everything they can to act on climate and then push a trade and investment agreements that would devastate our climate,” said Peter Fuchs, executive director of PowerShift. Investment tribunals. U.S. Trade Representative Froman is also pushing for an investment chapter in TAFTA that would allow firms to sue governments for millions or billions in money damages if environmental or public health regulations interfere with expected future profits. This would discourage government action, for just a few examples, restricting oil and gas drilling, imposing pollution controls, or limiting the use of hydraulic fracturing. Toxic chemicals. TAFTA poses risks to the EU’s health-protective approach to chemical regulation, called REACH. If the American Chemistry Council gets its way, the TAFTA process could “harmonize down” European chemical regulations so that they approach low federal standards in the U.S., namely the failed Toxic Substances Control Act. In coming years, this could also prevent comprehensive reform of federal chemicals regulation, resulting in weaker rules for chemicals associated with breast cancer, autism and infertility. More immediately, it would undercut more effective toxic chemical regulation currently on the books in California and other states. Genetically engineered products. TAFTA could open the door for U.S. exports of genetically engineered goods into Europe, where market access is currently restricted -- or at least labeling is required -- because of safety concerns. This could threaten ecosystems, public health and the livelihoods of small farmers, among other adverse consequences. Gene patents. Friends of the Earth fears that U.S. negotiators will propose, as they have in Trans Pacific Partnership trade negotiations, that intellectual property provisions cover and protect patents on plants, animals and other life forms. We support a ban on gene patenting that covers human genes and all the genes that occur naturally on the planet. By giving corporations monopolies over the use of parts of the genetic code that have evolved naturally and are part of our common natural and human heritage, gene patents are inherently dangerous and unfair Government procurement. Friends of the Earth believes that green purchasing preferences should not be limited by TAFTA government procurement rules that might be based almost exclusively on product cost and performance. For example, a TAFTA procurement chapter should allow governments to impose procurement rules that require products to be made with recycled or organic materials or meet energy efficiency standards. And, governments should be able to discriminate against products made with environmentally destructive methods. Trade agreement prohibitions on “buy local” purchasing policies should not undercut government policies intended to encourage the growth of green industries, such as solar and other renewable energy ventures. Similarly, school lunch programs that favor healthy food produced by local farmers, rather than giant agribusiness, should not be endangered. Food safety. Industry lobbyists have called for TAFTA provisions that would make it much easier to challenge safeguards related to food safety and animal health. European firms are seeking to relax U.S. regulatory safeguards related to mad cow disease. But U.S. agri-business has even more ambitious plans to lower food safety standards in Europe, seeking to deregulate EU restrictions on imports of beef treated with growth hormones, chicken washed in chlorine and meat produced with growth stimulants, among others. Earlier this year, Friends of the Earth and 28 other organizations wrote a letter to Trade Representative Froman expressing concern “over possible measures in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership that could have sweeping ramifications for how meat is produced in the United States and EU in coming decades… Rather than an opportunity to raise standards that protect public health and the environment, the meat and feed industries on both sides of the Atlantic are seeking to proliferate destructive practices in the animal agriculture industry.” In order to appear responsive to an outraged European public and press, both U.S. and EU officials have made broad and artfully disingenuous statements that might sound like support for at least some existing food safety measures in Europe. The Chief U.S. negotiator Dan Mullaney went so far as to tell the press that “The United States has no intention of forcing Europeans to eat anything a European does not want to eat” -- a statement totally at odds with USTR’s recent public comments, including Mullaney’s own wisecrack at last week's meeting belittling European concerns about “bleached chicken.”. Even if a few EU food safety regulations, such as restrictions on hormone-treated beef, are technically “reserved” (or grandfathered) in a final TTIP agreement and stay on the books, they could prove difficult to interpret and enforce, and might be impossible to update. These rules could be required to meet tough regulatory review standards proposed by the United States and the U.S.-EU High Level Working Group. Interpretations and enforcement actions are generally regarded as “measures” covered by trade agreements. They could be subject to review under standards that ignore “the precautionary principle” as it is now applied in Europe. They could be required to meet restrictive TAFTA standards related to sanitary measures, technical barriers, regulatory coherence, cost-benefit analysis and so forth that have been proposed by the U.S. and the HLWG. In any case, how can the public be assured that the U.S. has not “out-lawyered” EU negotiators on this and other technical issues in the TAFTA text on food safety if the text is a secret? End the secrecy and the corporate capture of the TAFTA negotiating process. The U.S and the EU should release the negotiating text of TAFTA as it develops after each round of negotiations. In that way, the public, in the United States and Europe, could make an informed judgment. On Monday, May 19, as TAFTA negotiations got underway, Friends of the Earth Europe -- on behalf of 257 organizations around the globe -- released a joint civil society call for this veil of secrecy over the talks to be lifted. Erich Pica, president of Friends of the Earth U.S., reasonably asked: “Why keep these negotiations secret? Why do corporate lobbyists have privileged access to negotiators and text and not the public?” ENDNOTE: Special thanks to Ted Majdos, Adam Russel, and Kate Colwell for photos of the fifth round of TAFTA negotiations. Categories: Advocacy, Blog, Economics for the Earth, Issue Briefs / Tags: Bill waren, Trade blog comments powered by Disqus Economics for the Earth

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Home : Brands : Cocamide Betaine Cocamide Betaine Native to the Philippines and Southeastern Asia, the Mandarin Orange tree (Citrus Reticulata) is widely grown throughout China, the East Indies, Japan, and India. The Mandarin is known by many names including Clementine, Satsuma, Tangerine, Owari, and Tangor. Having arrived in Europe and America in the early 1800s, this fruit is now grown in many other countries that can offer the proper growing conditions. In particular, it is grown in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, California, Georgia, and Texas. Mexico is noted for supplying excessive amounts of Mandarins, influencing the price greatly. Some of these varieties may involve a cross between a different citrus fruit and the Mandarin orange itself. A small, perennial, citrus tree, the Citrus Reticulata produces a small orange fruit known as either tangerines or mandarins. However, over a long period of time, this particular evergreen tree can grow to a height of as much as twenty-five feet. Offering a wide span of tree limbs covered with thorns, broad leaves, and slender twigs, the tree generally produces a single white flower, although sometimes it produces a small profusion of sweet-smelling blossoms. Pollination occurs through the presence and activity of bees. The fruit is easily recognizable by its tender, juicy, red-orange flesh and its easily peeled, bright orange skin. It takes anywhere from six to ten months for the fruit to ripen sufficiently for harvest, with fruit located on the outer branches ripening more quickly than fruit on the interior of the tree. more information Shop Cocamide Betaine Products Cocamide betaine is a synthetic compound produced by combining cocamide and glycine betaine. Cocamide is derived from the fatty acids found in coconut oil. Betaine is found in wheat bran, wheat germ, spinach, beets, and some seafood. Both cocamide and glycine betaine can also be derived from synthetic sources. Cocamide betaine may be found on ingredients lists under a number of different names, including cocamidopropyl betaine, coco betaine, CAB, and CAPB. All of these variations on this compound perform a very similar function. Cocamide betaine is a mild surfactant that appears as in ingredient in a variety of skin and hair care products that are designed to be combined with water. These include soaps, bath foams, shampoos, and face washes. The mild nature of cocamide betaine makes it a popular choice with manufacturers of baby cleansing products. It can be difficult to combine oily substances with water because the molecules naturally repel one another. The molecules in cocamide betaine form a link between water and the skin care product, because one side of the molecule is attracted to water (hydrophilic) and the other to oil (lipophilic). By lowering the surface tension of the water, cocamide betaine enables skin and hair care products to produce foam or bubbles. The foaming action of cleansing products helps them to combine with dirt and grime, ensuring that the surfaces of the skin and hair are left completely clean when the product is rinsed off. Cocamide betaine also has a mild germicidal and antiseptic action, which is linked to its wide PH range. Prior to cocamide betaine being discovered, cocamide DEA was an extremely popular surfactant in hair and skin products. However, many individuals experienced irritation and allergic reactions to cocamide DEA. Cocamide betaine was developed as a solution to this issue. Although cocamide betaine is designed as a mild surfactant that should not irritate the skin, some people with sensitive skin can experience skin irritation when using cocamide betaine. Clinical tests have suggested that the skin irritation linked to cocamide betaine may be the result of impurities that arise during the manufacturing process. These impurities include irritants such as amidoamine (AA) and dimethylaminopropylamine (DMAPA). It is possible to control the production of these by-products during the manufacturing process, making purer forms of cocamide betaine less irritating. Cocamide betaine also has a mild germicidal and antiseptic action, which is linked to its wide PH range. This makes it an ideal ingredient in foaming facial cleansers, facial scrubs, and exfoliants designed to tackle oily, acne-prone skin. Acne blackheads and whiteheads are formed when dirt and grime entering pores blocked with plugs of sebum and keratin. Foaming cleansers that contain the surfactant cocamide betaine are able to penetrate deep in to the pores, ensuring that even minute particles of dirt are completely removed when the product is rinsed off using water. Cocamide betaine can also be found in cosmetics, where it is used as a thickener and emulsifying agent. Cocamide betaine can also be found in cosmetics, where it is used as a thickener and emulsifying agent. In cosmetics, cocamide betaine is included as an ingredient to ensure that other oil-based and water-based ingredients combine effectively and do not separate out over time. Oil and water molecules have a natural tendency to repel each other. If separation occurs, the product may look unattractive and may not perform the desired function. Including cocamide betaine in cosmetic products helps manufacturers to increase the shelf-life of cosmetic products. In hair conditioners, cocamide betaine has an antistatic action which prevents flyaway hair. Static can build up in hair as a result of the friction that occurs when it is brushed or combed. Static build up can be worse in hair that has become dry and dehydrated, as the surface area becomes rough. Cocamide betaine also acts as a humectant, helping hair to retain moisture as the molecules in cocamide betaine are able to form a link between the hair and water. In hair coloring products, such as hair dye, cocamide betaine forms a useful function by binding the molecules in the colorant to the hair shaft. This gives better color retention and delivers long-lasting color to the user of the hair coloring product. This is made possible because of cocamide betaine’s compatibility with other surfactants, no matter whether they are anionic, cationic, or nonionic. Because cocamide betaine is derived from coconut oil, it can cause irritation of the skin in individuals who are allergic.

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Programmes/projects Print this page | Close Mission What we do Employment also in AGA website... Gateway to Animal Welfare FAO Resources on Animal Welfare FAOcast - podcasts on animal welfare Salone Internazionale del Gusto - Terra Madre FAO Director-General opening Salone del Gusto/Terra Madre Slow Food Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity Capacity building to implement good animal welfare practices – Report of the FAO Expert Meeting Animal welfare and the intensification of animal production - An alternative interpretation FOLLOW US FAO Animal Welfare Contact Daniela Battaglia Livestock Production Officer Animal Production Service FAO HQ, Room C-581 Viale delle Terme di Caracalla Rome 00153, Italy. Tel: +39 06 570 56773 daniela.battaglia@fao.org Putting Small-Scale Farmers at Centre Stage in the Efforts Towards Higher Animal Welfare FAO and Slow Food addressed together the challenge of enhancing the welfare of farm animal while at the same time supporting small-scale farmers in this process. Experts, academics, small-scale farmers, civil society and intergovernmental organizations came together on 29 October 2012 at the Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre 2012 to discuss the importance of introducing better animal welfare systems and supporting small-scale farmers in their implementation. With the proliferation of animal welfare standards, including the ones set by the private sector, small-scale farmers seriously risk not being able to stand up to the competition in terms of resources, technology and knowledge and being increasingly marginalized. The speakers of the conference Animal Welfare: a Win-Win Opportunity for Animals, Farmers and Consumers, jointly organized by the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), collectively raised a voice in favour of making farmers the protagonists of this moment in which animal welfare is progressively being recognized as a common good and its benefit for farmers, animals and citizens alike are being understood. Speakers included top animal welfare expert Mateus Paranhos Da Costa, who spoke about the importance of training programmes and how they can significantly improve the conditions of farm animals. Speaking about the situation of animal welfare in Brazil, Mateus underlined the importance of changing the focus from pointing out what is wrong to understanding how to solve the problem. Richard Haigh from the Zulu Sheep Presidium contributed to the meeting with his practical experience raising sheep and underlined that farming must revolve around responsibility, relationships, attitudes and legacy. Aurelia Maria Castellanos Quintero, of the Cuban Association of Animal Production emphasized the importance of spreading good practices of farmers through effective communication. FAO data indicates that around 1 billion people depend on animals as a source of income, food, cultural identity and social status. It is estimated that 60% of families that live in rural areas keep animals. Animal welfare is of crucial importance to these communities, due to the fact that a secure supply of food depends on the health and productivity of animals, and these in turn depend on the care and nutrition that animals receive. The livelihood of farming families and the link with animal welfare will therefore be an issue of attention in 2014, the UN declared International Year of Family Farming. The conference was a concrete example of the successful collaboration between FAO and Slow Food that was called upon by FAO Director-General Jose’ Graziano da Silva in his opening speech at the Salone del Gusto – Terra Madre. Slow Food is a non-profit, global, grassroots organization with over 100,000 members in 150 countries who are linking the pleasure of good food with a commitment to their community and the environment and practice small-scale and sustainable production of quality foods. The five days 2012 edition of the Salone Internazionale del Gusto and Terra Madre registered an overall attendance of 220 000 people from over 95 countries. Over 16,000 people, took part in 56 conferences. At the heart of these conferences, and the event as a whole, were young people, whether farmers, activists or students. To take better into account and to respond more adequately to the new interest and sensibility of younger generations towards themes such as animal welfare and sustainability of the livestock sector, FAO made full use of social network communication media. For this purpose, the conference was live twitted and broadcasted. The conference Animal Welfare: a Win-Win Opportunity for Animals, Farmers and Consumers set the basis for a collaboration that will lead to higher attention to the role and needs of small-farmers in the process of enhancing sustainability of the livestock sector and animal welfare. More specifically, it will conduce also to an in-depth analysis of the links between animal and food security and safety, human and animal health, protection of biodiversity, economical and environmental sustainability and the livelihood of small-scale farmers. The conference recognized that the collaboration should also target more specifically young farmers and leverage their high sensibility on these issues. Comments: AGA Webmaster FAO,

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North Carolina Digital HistoryRecent North CarolinaThe environment 4.5 Regulating hog farms Joby Warrick and Stuart Leavenworth, "Waste spill revives hog legislation. House looks again at farm regulations" The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina. June 29, 1995.Provided by Raleigh News & Observer. The hog waste spill in Onslow County that choked thousands of fish in the New River last week has breathed new life into legislation that may help prevent similar mishaps. Republicans in the state House of Representatives resurrected two bills Wednesday that would increase regulation of the state’s pork industry — including one that would require hog farm operators to be trained in the safe handling of livestock waste. But at the same time, the House Appropriations Committee balked at Gov. Jim Hunt’s request for more money to enforce existing livestock regulations. State regulators say a lack of enforcement renders the rules meaningless and leaves them unable to keep up with a pork industry that has more than doubled its production since 1990. Also Wednesday, investigators gathered more data indicating possible mistakes by the operators of Oceanview Farms Ltd., the hog farm near Richlands where a waste lagoon dike collapsed. The federal Natural Resources Conservation Service issued a report confirming that the dike ruptured at the point where workers had installed an irrigation pipeline. The pipeline was not in place when the farm was certified to begin operations in January, the report said. Also, the level of liquid in the 30-million-gallon lagoon appears to have been dangerously high — “at or near the top of the embankment” — when the collapse occurred, the NRCS statement said. “Recent heavy rains did contribute to the height of the lagoon’s effluent,” it said. “However, such storms and wet conditions are anticipated and are within the structure’s designed capacity.” The accident spilled 25 million gallons of hog waste into tributaries of the New River and virtually wiped out the fish stock in a stretch of the river between Richlands and the outskirts of Jacksonville. It also unleashed a flood of new calls for greater accountability for North Carolina’s pork industry, which has exploded in recent years to surpass tobacco as the state’s top agricultural money-maker. “Some people are saying the General Assembly can’t be held responsible for an act of God,” said Rep. Howard Hunter Jr., a Northampton County Democrat. “Well, I say maybe this is God telling us we ought to do something before things get worse.” There were signs Wednesday that some legislators were ready to heed that call. In the House Rules Committee, representatives dusted off a bill that would require new hog farms to be located at least 1,500 feet from neighboring homes and 2,500 feet from churches and schools. A week earlier, lawmakers had effectively killed the same bill by replacing it with a proposal for a study of pork industry problems. The rules committee endorsed a separate measure that would require hog farm operators to undergo special training in order to handle animal waste. Managers would have to complete a six-hour course but would not be required to pass a test. Both bills were sponsored by Democratic Sen. Charlie Albertson of Duplin County, and both have been passed by the Senate. On the House side, Republicans acknowledged that the Onslow County spill had prompted a reconsideration. “There was a general consensus that in light of recent events in Eastern North Carolina, these are good bills,” said Don Follmer, a spokesman for the House Republican leadership. “It was good politics to go ahead and schedule a vote.” Some of the state’s biggest pork producers have expressed support for both bills. Most of the larger companies already employ a staff of waste management experts, and virtually all of them have signed voluntary agreements pledging to maintain a buffer of at least 1,500 feet between farms and neighboring homes. State environmental officials welcomed the renewed interest in the bills, but some complained about the House’s failure to allocate additional money for enforcement. The latest House draft of the state’s expansion budget includes virtually none of the money the administration requested for enforcing livestock regulations. Hog production in North Carolina, now the nation’s No. 2 producer, increased from just over 6 million animals to almost 12 million between 1991 and 1994, and much of that growth came on large corporate farms like the Oceanview operation where the dike collapsed. Because of a lack of staff, state regulators do not routinely inspect hog operations to make sure they are operating according to laws and regulations. “This is a critical juncture for the state in deciding how we’re going to manage livestock operations,” said Steve Tedder, head of the state Division of Environmental Management’s Water Quality Section. “Without this money, there’s not much opportunity for improvement.” Meanwhile, teams from DEM’s Wilmington office continued their monitoring of the New River, where oxygen levels have nearly recovered a week after the spill. A DEM spokesman revised downward the state’s estimate of the number of fish killed in the accident to 2,650. Although conditions are improving for the river’s remaining fish, officials were still concerned about high bacteria levels in the water, as well as the potential for further spills in a region soggy from near-record rainfall in June. David Moreau, a water quality scientist who chairs the state’s Environmental Management Commission, said the commission might need to consider some type of statewide monitoring requirement for hog lagoons in the wake of the spill — but not until the current investigation is completed. “We owe it to everyone to do a full review, find out what happened, why it happened, and explore what needs to be done,” said Moreau, director of the UNC Water Resources Research Institute. “I realize there is resistance to regulations and the problems the legislature has faced. But there may be things we could do that would not be terribly onerous but would help the situation.” At the very least, Moreau said, hog farms could be required to keep records on lagoon waste levels and spraying practices. Environmental activists, however, want the EMC and lawmakers to go further, either by beefing up inspection of lagoons or by limiting their development. “There should be a very close, completely unbiased look at the engineering of these hog lagoons and how they can fail,” said Therese Vick, a Northampton County resident who helped people in northeastern counties organize against hog farms. But Robert McLeod, an agronomist for Carroll Farms Inc. of Warsaw, the state’s No. 2 pork producer, said the recent rainy weather has helped to demonstrate that the vast majority of farms are well-engineered and well-run. “To me,” he said, “the real story is that some farms have had 25 inches of rain and the lagoons still performed up to specifications. Next: Cane Creek Reservoir Contents: Recent North Carolina Chapter 4: The environment Previous: The impact of hog farms As you read As you learned on the previous page, the spill of hog waste into the New River in Onslow County in 1995 was the largest accident of this kind in the history of the state. It was surpassed in 1999 when millions of gallons of hog waste spilled into rivers across the state as a result of Hurricane Floyd. In 1995, prior to the accident in Onslow County, environmental activists had been calling for stricter regulations on the hog industry, but they had been unsuccessful in their attempts to have legislation passed in the North Carolina House and Senate. Only a few days prior to the disaster in Onslow County, lawmakers had voted against passing new legislation and instead called for a study to be conducted about the hog industry and to determine if new regulations were needed. The accident in Onslow forced lawmakers to take action. This newspaper article from the Raleign News and Observer discusses the actions taken by politicians in North Carolina following the spill in Onslow County. In 1997, North Carolina state legislature declared a four-year moratorium (or freeze) on the construction of new farms with more than 250 hogs. This moratorium was extended in 2003 for an additional four years. Questions to consider What was the environmental impact of the spill in Onslow county? What actions did lawmakers take in the days following the spill? What were some of the new measures proposed in the state legislature? What were some of the mistakes made on the Oceanview Farms that led to this disaster? What ultimately led to the collapse of the dike wall? How many gallons of waste spilled into the river? Did everyone agree that action needed to be taken? What were some of the dissenting views? Learn more The impact of hog farms Newspaper article about a 1995 spill of hog waste into the New River in southeastern North Carolina. Includes historical background.Key industries: Hog farming An overview of the recent growth of the hog industry in North Carolina and of the controversies surrounding it. Search LEARN NC for more resources on North Carolina, coastal plains, environmental history, farming, history, hogs, livestock, politics, and pollution. Definitionsbalk v. To object.effluent n. Something that flows out or forth, especially a stream flowing out of a body of water, an outflow from a sewer or sewage system, or a discharge of liquid waste as from a factory or nuclear plant.onerous adj. Burdensome; difficult.agronomist n. One who studies the management of rural land. Download this page in PDF format Share: Credits Joby Warrick and Stuart Leavenworth, "Waste spill revives hog legislation. House looks again at farm regulations" The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina. June 29, 1995.Commentary and sidebar notes by L. Maren Wood.Provided by Raleigh News & Observer.The text of this page is copyright ©1995. All Rights Reserved. Images and other media may be licensed separately; see captions for more information and read the fine print. North Carolina Digital History: Credits and acknowledgments LEARN NC, a program of the UNC School of Education, finds the most innovative and successful practices in K-12 education and makes them available to the teachers and students of North Carolina - and the world.

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Lifestyles Print Email Font ResizeHome LifeBroomfield Enterprise Gardening Feb. 24: Fair focuses on bringing habitats to home gardensAnn MontagueCSU Master GardenerPosted: 02/24/2013 12:00:00 AM MSTFor the past few years, the Broomfield Open Space Foundation, along with Broomfield's Open Space and Trails Department, has held a Habitat Fair with speakers and informational presentations focused on pollinators, wildlife and their habitats. This year these groups are joining forces with the Broomfield Master Gardeners and the Butterfly Pavilion to offer information on creating and maintaining garden habitats for both people and wildlife. You might be wondering why wildlife habitats are important to us since we are in a metro area. As our cities and towns have sprawled into unspoiled areas, we've altered, destroyed or fragmented habitats. Indigenous plant species have been replaced by acres of Kentucky bluegrass, concrete and asphalt. The food plants insects and birds normally visited in the area are gone. Only a small percentage of species adapt. Each year news articles and documentaries report another plant species or animal that is on the endangered list or that has become extinct because of habitat loss. Often this coverage focuses on tropical rain forests. But it is important to remember that this is happening in the United States as well. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service estimates that more than 85 percent of forest habitats in the United States have been permanently destroyed. Sources estimate that only 20 percent of the original shortgrass prairie of Colorado exists in an unaltered state. The rest has been converted to cropland and urban development or degraded by overgrazing. Why is all of this important? It is thanks to pollinators — bees and other insects — that we are able to enjoy our orange juice or coffee in the morning. In our back yards, they pollinate the fruits and vegetables that grow in our gardens. The vast majority of flowering plants rely on pollinators to set seed or fruit. It's hard to think of a food that isn't a plant or relies on plants. The same goes for our wildlife — from bees to bears. Their food comes from plants, too. As gardeners we are in a unique position to make a difference. We can create a habitat — a refuge for wildlife — in our own back yards. A habitat garden can help sustain native plant and wildlife diversity. It can become a home for songbirds and butterflies. It can be a rest stop for migratory birds. It can be a feeding station for hummingbirds and bees — all the while attracting pollinators for your garden crops. Come explore gardening and habitat building in an urban environment. The Broomfield Garden Fair: Habitats for Wildlife and People will be held from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday in the Lakeshore Room at the Broomfield Community Center, 280 Lamar St. The event is free. Colorado State University Extension in the City and County of Broomfield provides unbiased, research-based information about 4-H youth development, family and consumer issues, gardening, horticulture and natural resources. As part of a nationwide system, Extension brings the research and resources of the university to the community. The Broomfield County Extension office is at 1 DesCombes Drive, Broomfield, 80020. For information, call 720-887-2286. Print Email Font ResizeReturn to Top RELATED

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Go bananas! Pretty peas? Three farmer’s markets around town offer fresh Jersey produce Jun 09, 2013 | 3603 views | 0 | 104 | | view slideshow (2 images) Jersey Fresh was on full display in Hoboken on Thursday, when the first of three farmer’s markets in town opened its sidewalk for the first time this season. The unofficially-dubbed “Uptown Market,” located on Hudson Street between Thirteenth and Fourteenth Streets, sported a bevy of fruits, vegetables, baked goods, frozen entrees, cheeses, jams, and even an entire booth devoted strictly to pickled items. The market, which operates on a different day of the week than its downtown counterpart, is open every Thursday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m until Oct. 31.A similar downtown market at Washington and Newark streets will be open every Tuesday, starting the third week in June, from 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., until the middle of November._____________ “Our markets offer Hoboken an interesting extension of what’s already here.” - Julie Harari____________The uptown and downtown farmer’s markets are managed largely by private citizens through a partnership with the Hoboken Quality of Life Coalition, which in turn has a partnership with the city. A third farmer’s market, the Hoboken Families Farmer’s Market in Garden Street Mews just north of Fourteenth Street, is privately owned by Bijou Properties, a real estate developer. That market launched at the beginning of this month and takes place every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. through Nov. 23. It often includes live music or other entertainment. Unique approachThe city’s markets have existed in different capacities over 15 years. According to Julie Harari, one of the four residents who has spearheaded the markets’ recent management and development, the goal of the markets is not to “cannibalize what’s already available in Hoboken, but to complement it.” “I think there are lots of unique things about our markets,” she said. “They’re focused on nutrition education and freshness, like any market, but I think they offer Hoboken an interesting extension of what’s already here.”Everything sold at the markets is grown in New Jersey. Because the markets operate in the afternoon, nearly everything that’s sold is picked that day. The farmers can prove it, too. “If you take a bite out of one of these strawberries, you’ll see that it’s red inside,” said a farmer from Stony Hill Gardens, in Chester. “That means it was picked when it was ripe, like this morning. The reason store-bought strawberries are white inside is because they were picked when they were still green.”And though not everything sold at the market is organic, Dale Davis, Stony Hill’s owner, says that’s not a bad thing. “People think organic means nothing gets sprayed with pesticides ever, but it’s almost the opposite,” said Davis. “We do a thing called integrated pest management, with Rutgers, where we count our pests per acre and when we reach a designated threshold, we spray only to kill the one pest. Organic growers will spray their entire crops with an ‘organic’ pesticide, but it kills everything and is far more toxic.”Diverse vendorsMargaret Mallon, one of Harari’s colleagues (along with John Branciforte and Nora Martinez DiBenedetto), said she thought the markets’ greatest strength lies in the diversity of the vendors and their products. “I’m getting educated to how many types of apples there are, to be honest,” she said, though her favorite items are the strawberries, which she looks forward to every year.There is great variety, especially at the uptown market, where the famed Pickle King of Paterson pickles everything from, well, pickles, to salad dressings, fish, vegetables and shrimp salads. Gina’s Bakery from Montclair sells a wide range of breads, pizzas, and pastries. And then, of course, there is Hoboken Farms, a company that’s actually located in the suburbs. The name was inspired by owner Brad Finkle’s grandmother telling him as a child to go to the “Hoboken farms,” meaning the produce carts that frequent Washington Street in the late 20th century. The traveling farm has since created a marinara sauce ranked the tastiest in the country by The Wall Street Journal. They sell a number of other items, including fresh mozzarella, breads, and frozen chicken pot pies, crab cakes, and sweet and hot sausages.Mallon noted that one of the best things about the markets’ diversity is the anticipation of not knowing exactly what’s for dinner, but only that it will be fresh and delicious. “It’s nice going to the market, talking to the farmers, asking what’s good today, what can I make with what’s here, things like that,” she said.Harari called the market experience “pleasant living” and something that fits in well with Hoboken’s culture.“It’s a big city convenience with a small town feel,” she said. Dean DeChiaro may be reached at deand@hudsonreporter.com Hoboken council to consider 30-year abatement deal with developer than includes givebacks

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HomeAll Publications Mexico's Agriculture Development: Perspectives and OutlookBook InformationUN Symbol: UNCTAD/DITC/TNCD/2012/2/Rev.1Order from UN PublicationsFull Report HighlightMexico’s Agricultural Development: Perspectives and Outlook (Outlook) is the response by UNCTAD to a request made by SAGARPA to address the issue of Mexican agricultural development and policy with an integrated, holistic approach. The Outlook addresses key issues affecting agricultural production and trade of those commodities identified by the Mexican authorities as being of strategic importance for the country. It encompasses both macroeconomic and microeconomic issues with links to commodities, trade policy and trade agreements, competition and competitiveness, and food and energy security. It also identifies complementary measures and enabling policies, such as infrastructural investment, research and development, and trade facilitation. Furthermore, the Outlook demonstrates close integration with the national development outlook of Mexico, which ensures ongoing consistency with overall national development priorities, including enhancing food security, and reducing poverty, consistent with United Nations Millennium Development Goal 1. Extensive primary research has been carried out to facilitate this diagnosis, including data collection, numerous videoconferences and interviews with many stakeholders within Mexico’s agricultural sector, including various Mexican government agencies. This component was coordinated by the SAGARPA and the Permanent Mission of Mexico in Geneva. Agriculture remains a very important sector for Mexico. Despite the declining contribution of the sector to GDP, and the shrinking of agricultural labour force, about half of the rural population was employed in the sector in 2011. Poverty in rural areas in Mexico is high and has been increasing. In 2008, 61 per cent of the rural population (with an average annual income of 3,800 pesos) was classified as poor, as compared to a national rate of 45 per cent. In 2007, small farms represented approximately 73 per cent of total production units. Indeed, small and medium producers employ a majority of the rural population but their potential to provide a decent livelihood for themselves and to constitute a viable base for expanding economic activity in rural areas is curtailed by a variety of constraints. These include rising costs of factor inputs, land possession issues, adverse climatic conditions, increasing competition from below-cost imports, structural rigidities and some public policies, which although designed to benefit small and medium holders have not had the intended impact. There is the need for public policy and private action (possibly public–private partnerships) to address the root causes of the continued economic marginalization of small holders, and of agriculture generally, in order to enhance the sector’s resilience and ensure food security. It is in this context that this diagnosis was undertaken not only to provide extensive analysis and a comprehensive discussion of the agricultural sector in Mexico but also to identify realistic policy recommendations that provide workable solutions to enhancing the development impact of the agricultural sector. It is important, however, that agricultural development is regarded as an opportunity within the Mexican economy to be exploited to create jobs, reduce poverty and enhance food security, rather than a problem; and that SAGARPA can, and indeed must, be an integral part of the rejuvenation and the sustainable development process of Mexican agriculture.DownloadsMexico's Agriculture Development: Perspectives and Outlook (UNCTAD/DITC/TNCD/2012/2/Rev.1) 09 Apr 2014, ‭(Hidden)‬ jQuery Code PUBLICATIONSFlagship ReportsSeriesPolicy BriefsMeeting Documentation

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New US-EU talks threatened by agriculture spats By DESMOND BUTLER and DON MELVIN (AP) WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama used Washington’s grandest stage _ the State of the Union speech _ to announce negotiations with Europe aimed at creating the world’s largest free trade agreement. Just weeks later, there are signs that old agriculture disputes could be deal-killers. European Union leaders don’t want the negotiations to include discussions on their restrictions on genetically modified crops and other regulations that keep U.S. farm products out of Europe. But Obama says it’s hard to imagine an agreement that doesn’t address those issues. Powerful U.S. agricultural lobbies will do their best to make sure Congress rejects any pact that fails to address the restrictions. "Any free trade agreement that doesn’t cover agriculture is in trouble," said Cathleen Enright, executive vice president at the Biotechnology Industry Organization, which promotes biotechnology, including genetically modified products. That would threaten the dream of a behemoth free trade deal between the world’s two largest trading partners that together account for more than half of the world economy. It would lower tariffs and remove other trade barriers for most industries. Some analysts say the deal could boost each economy by more than a half-percentage point annually and significantly lower the cost of goods and services for consumers. Agricultural issues have long bedeviled attempts to expand free trade across the Atlantic and have led each side to file complaints against the other before the World Trade Organization, an arbitrator in trade disputes. While the U.S. protests EU restrictions, Europeans want the U.S. to reduce agricultural subsidies. Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, have been a core part of the dispute. Agricultural scientists change the genetic makeup of agricultural products to improve their quality and boost production. In Europe, there is widespread public opposition to GMOs. The EU argues that the risks of altering the genetic pool are unknown. It has strict rules and imposes a heavy burden of proof before such crops can be grown or imported in the EU. U.S. companies say that genetically modified products have been proved safe by scientific studies and are being excluded based on irrational fears. They accuse Europe of trying to help their own farmers by keeping out American products. While they have little expectation that the EU would end the restrictions, they say it would be a victory if it clarified what it describes as opaque rules and also set timelines for considering products. Regulators now take what they call a precautionary approach, declining approval of products until they can be more certain of their safety. But any move to water down the regulations could provoke a backlash in Europe. "My reading of the mood in Europe around genetically modified crops is that it’s extremely negative," said Paul DeGrauwe, a professor of economics at the London School of Economics. "It’s going to be very difficult." Indeed, the top EU trade negotiator, Commissioner Karel De Gucht, seemed to rule out a compromise in remarks this month: "A future deal will not change the existing legislation. Let me repeat: no change." The U.S. and the EU have similarly intractable disagreements on what the two sides call sanitary issues in meats. U.S. poultry products are restricted in the EU because U.S. companies use chlorine to sanitize the meat. Pork is also restricted because U.S. farmers use a feed additive that makes pigs leaner. The two sides partially resolved disputes over U.S. beef after an agreement that U.S. farmers would restrict hormones in cows intended for the European market. Some European officials say the agricultural differences should be discussed after a major trade deal is completed. This month, French President Francois Hollande called for excluding sensitive issues, including the sanitary standards, from the talks. In the past, France has been among the most adamant of the European countries about protecting agricultural interests. Obama, in a talk with his export council this month, suggested this could be a deal-breaker. "There are certain countries whose agricultural sector is very strong, who tended to block at critical junctures the kinds of broad-based trade agreements that would make it a good deal for us," he said. "If one of the areas where we’ve got the greatest comparative advantage is cordoned off from an overall trade deal, it’s very hard to get something going." Powerful U.S. agricultural groups could probably block a trade deal from winning approval in Congress. In interviews, representatives of many of these groups said they would oppose a deal that didn’t address the regulatory differences. Robert Thompson, an academic at Johns Hopkins University and a former economist for the Agriculture Department, said that the agricultural issues could easily upend the talks. "I’m not expecting an agreement to emerge any time soon," he said. "I’m thinking years." Of course, the rhetoric at the beginning of talks might not preclude compromise in the end. In his talk with the export council, Obama expressed optimism. He noted that austerity measures in response to the debt crisis in the EU have caused European countries to look to a free trade deal as a rare opportunity to boost the economy and improve competitiveness. "I think they are hungrier for a deal than they have been in the past," he said. ___ Melvin reported from Brussels. ___ Follow Desmond Butler on Twitter at http://twitter.com/desmondbutler Follow Don Melvin on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Don_Melvin (Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Risk Management That's Sized To Fit John Russnogle When times were simpler, you had an adequate risk management program if you bought crop insurance and contracted enough grain to cover your production costs. Not so anymore - though slicing weather and marketing risks is still an important key to risk management. Risk exposure today, however, has entered a host of new arenas. And the consequences go far beyond lost crop income. "Farmers need to think in terms of an integrated approach to risk management that includes business, family and personal goals and missions. It's much more than just marketing," says Dave Kohl, Virginia Tech. Kohl is a high-energy economist who travels farm country annually, delivering his message on the future of agriculture and how different farmers fit into it. "In the 1960s and 1970s, risk management focus was more on inflation, interest rates and, particularly, financial leverage," he says. "In that era, risk centered on production and the mechanical and chemical technology that applied to it. There was a quasi-global perspective with some political risk." In the new era of risk, many of the categories remain, but the focus has shifted. Technology, for example, is more and more related to the information-based society rather than production. The risk management issues you face will be determined partly by the size of your operation. Kohl categorizes farm businesses as megafarms and large family farms (5% of all farm operations) with annual sales exceeding $400,000; "tweener" farms (25% of all operations), those with annual incomes from $50,000 to $250,000; and "lifestyle" farms (70% of the total) that rely on off-farm income to support the business. He developed risk management checkups, shown at left, for farmers in each category to help them analyze their ability to handle risk. Areas that you score low in (2 is lowest, 10 is highest) are areas where your operation is at risk. They need attention. Environmental issues have introduced risk management concerns that didn't exist a generation ago. "On bigger farms, particularly in livestock, we're going to see industries migrate to the least risky areas," says Kohl. Possibly the biggest risk facing the large producers is labor, including family workers. A lot of the risk centers around the employers and their ability to manage labor, according to Kohl. "Many of these owners have never had experience managing people, but their operations are becoming so complex that they have to manage others." Another "new era" risk is public and political posturing at the international, national, state and local levels. "On bigger farms, there's a tendency to market across the country and outside of it," Kohl says. "Any type of political or public pressure can change your whole game plan. They have a larger scope of risk than your tweener or lifestyle farms." Time management is a risk faced by farmers of all sizes. "I've seen a number of these big farms get wrecked because they are just working too much. If you spend more than 3,000 hours working or managing a farm and another 500 hours outside the farm with other church and organizational activities, either the farm goes down, the family goes down, or there are mental, spiritual and health problems," Kohl says. "You just burn out. That's across the line, regardless of size. It cuts across all cultures." Technology and information affects different-sized operations in different ways. "It's giving the large guys a competitive edge. Just as some soybeans growers produce a certain bean for an Asian market. They can access the market and meet its demands with the next crop. For part-time farmers, technology concerns deal more with their ability to make money off the farm so they can enjoy life on the farm." Of course, financial risk is a part of every farmer's business. "For the megafarms, it's called profits and earnings - it's what drives the business," Kohl says. The part-timers are trying to minimize their loss and maximize their lifestyle. Their risk management is having an outside source of income. "For the tweener, the basic issue of finance is having enough on-farm or off-farm income to give them a satisfying standard of living. That's where you come back to this integrated approach. A lot of the tweener farmers are throwing their hands up today because they can't generate enough profits to support the business and the family." As you work your way through the risk management checkup, you need to share it with your family, lender, accountant and consultants, says Kohl. "Regardless of farm size, you need outside expertise and you should have them all participate in evaluating your business." It takes time to put a total risk management plan in place. "You won't see instantaneous results, particularly on some of the softer-type issues," Kohl says. "It's different than a crop consultant recommending a new hybrid or fertilizer program that results in a 5-bu increase." For ways to better manage those key areas of crop prices and weather risks, study the articles within this special report and the upcoming one in our February issue. Source URL: http://cornandsoybeandigest.com/risk-management-thats-sized-fit

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SoyInfo Center HomeHistorical Bibliographies & Sourcebooks on Soy (PDF, Free)Search Database KeywordsSoyaScan DatabaseSoy LibraryA Comprehensive History of SoyAbout UsOur BooksSoy TimelinesSoy Graphics CollectionSoy Image GalleryConsulting ServicesPublications and EssaysExternal Links History of Soymilk and Dairy-like Soymilk Products - Page 1 by William Shurtleff and Akiko Aoyagi A Chapter from the Unpublished Manuscript, History of Soybeans and Soyfoods, 1100 B.C. to the 1980s ©Copyright 2004 Soyinfo Center, Lafayette, California For updated and greatly expanded free information on this subject, on our website go to "Historical Bibliographies and Sourcebooks on Soy," then click on the corresponding subject. A lengthy digital book will appear in PDF format. It is searchable using Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader. Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 Soymilk is an aqueous extraction of the soybean resembling milk. The nutritional composition, appearance, and flavor of good quality soymilk is remarkably similar to that of cow's milk. All traditional soymilks were filtered, whereby the okara (insoluble soybean pulp) was removed. Some modern soymilks are suspended, containing all of the original soybean except its hull, while others are made from soy protein isolates. Etymology : The standard Chinese (Mandarin) term for soymilk is doujiang ; it first appeared in A.D. 82. Dou means "bean" (usually soybean). The character for chiang ( ) is different from the character for milk ( ). Chiang means "liquid, beverage, or drink," and is used to refer to a great variety of extracts or syrups. The Cantonese term for soymilk, written with the same characters, is tou-chuang . In the Pinyin writing system, the term is doujiang?? The Japanese word for soymilk is tonyu. To means "bean" (usually soybean), and nyu means "milk." The word for cow's milk, for example, is gyu-nyu . Starting in the 1970s commercial soymilk in Japan typically contained both the words tonyu and "soymilk" on the label. The dairy industry did not object to the latter term. The present American English term "soymilk" evolved slowly, through many metamorphoses. The earliest references to soymilk were all in connection with the tofu making process, where the soymilk was mentioned only in passing. It was referred to variously as "the solution of legumin" (Kellner 1889), "this filtered stuff" (Rein 1889), "the fresh milky liquid" (Inouye 1895), "the milky white liquid" or "the filtrate of the cooked soybeans resembles milk" (Blasedale 1899). The earliest ancestor of the present term "soymilk" was "soy-bean milk," first mentioned by Trimble in 1897. In 1911 Li Yu-ying, in a US patent, referred to it as "soja milk," and the same year a Scientific American translation of an article by the Frechman Beltzer referred to it as "soya milk." In 1915 The Lancet in England called it "vegetable milk, synthetic milk, or artificial milk made from soy bean." In 1916 a British researcher, Melhuish, in a US patent, first referred to it as "soy milk" and "soy bean milk," two terms which have come to be widely used up until the present. It was also called "bean milk" by Johnson (1916, reporting from China), "soy-bean milk or vegetable milk" (Piper & Morse 1916), and "soybean milk" (Piper & Morse 1923). The first known use of the modern term "soymilk," spelled as one word, was by Helen Mackay in 1940. By the 1970s four terms were widely used: "soymilk, "soy milk," "soybean milk," and "soy beverage,' the latter having been introduced by researchers at the University of Illinois in the early 1970s. By the 1980s, "soymilk" and "soy beverage" had come to predominate. The former, the standard term adopted by the Soyfoods Association of North America, was used more in scientific and trade writing; it worked much better as an adjective (e.g. soymilk yogurt) than alternative spellings. The latter term was used more on labels and in commercial descriptions since, in the US the term "milk" could apparently be used legally only to refer to the lacteal secretion of a mammal. Actually most US soymilks were labeled only with fanciful names such as Soy Fresh, Vitasoy, Soy Moo, Soy-Ya!, Nutrosoya, or Numu (Leviton 1981). It should be noted, however, that terms such as "soymilk" had been the "common or usual" term in the US for over 80 years, a criterion which, we feel, should justify its commercial usage. Thus we and researchers from Cornell University have consistently used the term "soymilk" and urged its formal and legal adoption, despite pressures from the dairy industry to squelch it. In France, the earliest known name for soymilk was the charming "fromage de pois liquide," ("liquid tofu," as used by Champion in 1866). In 1880 Paillieux coined its first real name, "le lait de soya." It was also referred to as "une imitation du lait" or "une emulsion laiteuse" (Egasse 1888) and "le lait vegetal" (Charles 1907, Demolon 1910). Its modern name, "le lait de soja," was coined by the soymilk pioneer Li Yu-ying, in 1911. Early Germans writing about soymilk generally referred to it as "vegetabile milch" (Fischer 1914). The modern term "sojamilch," was coined by Fuerstenberg in 1917. The Dutch term "sojamelk," was used 1937 by Lanzing and Van Veen. The British term "soya bean milk" was being used by Kale in 1936. Varieties of Soymilk . The many types of soymilk can be classified in a number of different ways: By Degree of Filtration : (1) Filtered (or clarified) soymilk has had the okara or fiber filtered out. Traditionally the Chinese filtered soymilk before cooking, the Japanese after; (2) Suspended soymilk, made from wet-ground dehulled soybeans or from soy flour contains all of soybean fiber except that in the hull. By Added Flavor or Nutrients: (1) Plain soymilk contains only soybeans and water. (2) Dairylike soymilk typically contains a little added sweetener, oil, salt, and often vanilla to give it a flavor similar to that of cow's milk; (3) Soymilk soft drinks or sweetened soymilks typically contain added sweeteners and flavorings (such as coffee, fruit juices, vegetable juices, etc.); (4) Cultured soymilks may be any of the above types that have undergone a typically lactic acid fermentation; (5) Soymilk infant formulas are fortified with methionine, vitamins, and/or minerals to meet the needs of infants; (6) Soymilk blends are mixtures of soymilk and other dairy or vegetable milks. By Consistency : (1) Liquid soymilk may be either filtered, suspended, or isolate-based; (2) Powdered soymilk, typically made by spray drying; (3) Condensed soymilk. By Method of Eliminating Off Flavors : (1) Traditional soymilk is made by grinding soaked soybeans with a little cold water; no attempt is made to remove off flavors. Techniques developed since 1900 include the boiling water grind (hot grind), pre-blanch, defatted soy meal, vacuum deodorization, soy protein isolate, and lactic enzyme fermentation. Most of these will be detailed later. Stages of Growth : The spread in popularity of soymilk from its home in China to the rest of the world is a recent phenomenon, which can be divided into four major periods: (1) Ancient times to 1900 . Soymilk was made in small soymilk or tofu shops and consumed only in China; (2) 1900-1949 . Scientific interest developed in soymilk, its nutritional value, and its use for feeding infants in China or those allergic to cow's milk in the West. A few small soy dairies were started, both in China and the West; (3) 1950-1969 . The success of Hong Kong's Vitasoy, which had been introduced as the first soymilk soft drink, inspired many companies in East Asia to introduce similar products, which became very popular; (4) 1970-1981 . In the early 1970s new methods were developed, mostly in the United States (such as the soy protein isolate, hot grind, cotyledon pre-blanch, and defatted soy meal methods), which led to major improvements in soymilk flavor by largely eliminating so-called beany flavors, which had been a major obstacle to introduction of soymilk outside of China. It was also realized that soymilk, even at relatively low volume production, could be retailed for 15-25% less than cow's milk, which had always been relatively expensive in densely populated East Asia. The introduction of the Tetra Pak and Tetra Brik containers in the early 1970s made it possible to market soymilk in a colorful, disposable container that gave a shelf life of 6 months or more without refrigeration. All of these factors led a number of East Asia's and the world's largest food companies to make a strong commitment to manufacturing and marketing soymilk. Excellent products, reasonably priced and extensively advertised fueled the soymilk boom in East Asia. Soymilk began to be popular outside of Chinese-speaking Asia. Regional marketing in East Asia was begun by Nestle in about 1979. Soymilk began to catch on in Latin America, starting with Brazil. HISTORY IN CHINESE-SPEAKING ASIA We have chosen to divide the history of soymilk in Asia into two sections. The first concerns the history of those areas strongly influenced by Chinese culture; it is there that soymilk caught on first and is now used most extensively. In the other parts of Asia, such as Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia, soymilk has just begun to be popular. Origin and Early Development . According to popular tradition, soymilk was developed in the second century B.C. by Liu An, king of Huai-nan, who is also said to have developed tofu at the same time. There is no historical evidence and probably no historical basis, however, for this legend, which first appeared in the late 1500s in the Pen-ts'ao kang-mu by Li Shih-chen. Actually, Li only attributed the development of tofu to Liu An, making no mention of soymilk. Later writers in both Asia and the West added soymilk development to Liu An's feats, reasoning that he could not have made tofu without first having made soymilk. For more about Liu An, see Chapter 13. The earliest reference to soymilk (doujiang) in China appeared in about A.D. 82 in the Lun Heng by Wang Ch'ung. In the chapter called "Four Taboos" ( Szu-Hui ) it is stated that makers of soymilk fear that thunder will spoil their product. After that date there are a number of early references, as by the famous Taoist sage, Sun Szu-miao ( ), who left quite a few books on medicine and pharmacology. His comments on soymilk are quoted in the Sung dynasty pharmacopoeia, Pen ts'ao yen i , written in about 1116 by K'ou Tsung-shih. It is interesting to note that the earliest mention of soymilk in China appears long before the first mention of tofu ( ). One might be tempted to conclude from this scant evidence that soymilk was popular before tofu and that tofu evolved from soymilk. Yet neither of these deductions may be true: early travelers to China, who mention tofu frequently, never mention soymilk or its use as a drink until the mid 1900s; many Chinese work that discuss the various types of soyfoods in detail make no mention of soymilk; even as late as 1848, Wu, in his extensive treatise on the soybean and soyfoods, made no mention of soymilk; and tofu may have evolved from a thick soup made of fresh soybean puree rather than from filtered soymilk, as explained in Chapter 13. It is also possible that the term doujiang actually referred to this soybean puree soup or soy slurry rather than to a filtered soymilk. Evidence for this point of view is found in the fact that the most popular traditional way of serving soymilk is as a spicy hot breakfast soup (xian doujiang), to which many soup-like garnishes (such as bonito flakes, bits of shrimp, diced leeks, salt pickles, salt, and spices) are added at the table. It is also served as a warm sweetened beverage ( tian doujiang ) drunk early in the morning or late at night. Both preparations are typically accompanied by #yu-tiao taso-p'i , long and twisted deep-fried crullers wrapped in flaky sesame tortillas, which are dipped in the piping hot soymilk as they are enjoyed. We know nothing of when or where these soymilk-based souplike dishes were developed or how their popularity spread. Yet in 1928 Tso, an expert on soymilk, wrote: "Soybean milk is a native food used in certain parts of the country as a morning beverage but is little used as part of the diet for children." Most people in East Asia have not traditionally consumed animal milks or dairy products, despite an abundance of milk-producing animals such as cows, buffaloes, and goats. The nonmilking zone embraces all of Southeast Asia from Burma eastwards including China, Korea, and Japan. Nearby dairying peoples were the Mongols to the north and the Tibetans and Indians to the west. There are various sound reasons that animal milks have not been used in East Asia; (1) Physiological : Some 85% of the people in the nonmilking zone above the age of three years have low levels of the intestinal enzyme lactase that breaks down the lactose in animal milks into glucose and galactose, which can then be readily absorbed by the body. This, it should be emphasized, is the same condition that prevails in other land mammals and is believed to be the normal pattern found among primitive peoples: animal milk appears to be intended for baby animals only. Like the majority of people in the world, East Asians are lactose intolerant, and when they consume animal milks they often feel bloated and gaseous, and experience diarrhea, indigestion, stomach pains or cramps, general discomfort, and even vomiting. Other Asian peoples have circumvented this problem by simply fermenting the dairy milk (as with Lactobacillus to make yogurt), which breaks down the lactose; (2) Ecological : The densely populated portions of East Asia have never had much pasture land for grazing cattle or other milk animals, nor have they been able or willing to afford the luxury of feeding a milk cow 4 pounds of grains and soy protein to get 1 pound of milk protein in return. By contrast, the soybean produces more protein (as in the form of soymilk) per unit area of land than any other conventional farm crop. Thus soymilk provides more nutrition from less land at lower cost than dairy milk; (3) Cultural and Economic : The Chinese first encountered dairy products in the culture of the nomadic Mongolians, whom they considered barbarians and who later partially conquered China under Genghis Khan. The Chinese chose, by not adopting the dairy habit, to differentiate their culture from that of the barbarians. In addition, there was also probably a feeling that reliance on dairy products would mean reliance on trade with the barbarians, which would have tipped the balance of trade too far in the Mongols' and Central Asians' favor (Anderson, in Chang 1977, pp 326, 341); (4) Culinary : Many, if not most, Chinese dislike the taste of milk from cows or other animals. They describe it as having a dominant "animal-like" flavor just as many Westerners describe soymilk as having a "beany" flavor. In fact, a cookery book written during the Ching dynasty even gave a method for deodorizing cow's milk. Both the Chinese and Western preferences in milks are obviously acquired, but once the pattern is established it is hard to break. Moreover, there have been exceptions to the pattern of animal milk avoidance in Chinese history. The T'ang nobility, for example, used small amounts of animal milk, as did some Chinese ethnic minorities (Chang 1977). In the basic Chinese method for making soymilk, the soybeans were washed, soaked overnight, and ground to a thick puree using a vertical-axis hand turned stone mill. The puree was mixed with (usually cold) water, then placed in a cloth-lined bamboo colander to allow the uncooked soymilk to filter through. The okara (insoluble residue) remaining in the cloth was washed several times with cold water, then the ends of the cloth were folded over the okara and it was pressed with a large rock to extract more soymilk. Finally the soymilk was boiled for 10-20 minutes before serving. The Japanese later modified this method in two basic ways: (1) the slurry was boiled before extraction of the soymilk, a few drops of shell ash mixed with vegetable oil being added to prevent boiling over; and (2) the okara was pressed using a lever press or other mechanic press to extract the soymilk. Roots of East Asia's Soymilk Renaissance . The remarkable expansion of interest in and production of soymilk that was to take place in Chinese Asia starting in the 1950s and 1960s traces its origins back to the early 1900s. The first known Chinese soymilk pioneer was Li Yu-ying. As early as 1905 he was speaking in Paris about soymilk as a substitute for cow's milk and by 1910 he was running a soy dairy on the outskirts of Paris, making a creative line of soymilk products (see Chapter 29). In 1916 Johnson, a US commercial attache in China, reported on the "Manufacture of Bean Milk at Changsha," and suggested this as an opportunity for the US to sell milk bottles and caps to China. By 1917 the Tzu yuan (Commercial Press New Dictionary), under the term tou-chiang , had a table showing the composition of nutrients in soymilk and cow's milk. In 1919 Palen wrote that "In Shanghai, Peking, and Dalny (Dairen, Manchuria) Chinese companies are supplying hospitals and individuals with an 8 or 10 ounce bottle of concentrated (soy) milk per days at a cost of $1.00 (Mex.) per month." (Horvath, 1927, noted that the protein content of this "concentrated" milk was still generally below that of cow's milk.) In 1923 Piper and Morse showed a ?? of nutrients in soymilk and cow's milk. In 1923 Piper and Morse showed a photograph of soymilk being sold at Changsha in bottles, carried in baskets suspended from shoulder poles carried by delivery boys. Based apparently on correspondence with Westerners living in China, they wrote: "In China this milk is drunk by the Chinese in the early morning with some sugar added. It is also eaten as a thin broth with some salted pickles. Vegetable milk is extensively used throughout China for infant feeding. In many of the cities and town, factories are engaged solely in the manufacture of vegetable milk (soybean milk). This milk which is bottled is delivered each morning to regular customers . . . The bottles in use are purchased secondhand on the streets in Changsha. They are cleaned and when filled with milk are sealed with paper." Several Chinese writers would later deny that soymilk was widely used in infant feeding at that time. There was a major growth of interest in soymilk in China, starting in the early 1920s and, oddly enough, much of this new interest was due to the influence of three Westerners doing research on soyfoods in China: Dr. William H. Adolph, a professor of chemistry at Shantung Christian University, Dr. A. A. Horvath, a Russian scientist working at the Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) and Dr. Harry W. Miller, a Seventh-day Adventist medical missionary and physician working in Shanghai. In 1920 Adolph and Kiang published "The Nutritive Value of Soybean Products" in the National Medical Journal of China . This article, which contained the first nutritional analysis of soymilk ever done in China, stimulated a great deal of subsequent research. In 1932 Adolph and Kao showed that soymilk was a good source of iron. Horvath had joined the staff of PUMC in 1923. Working under a Rockefeller grant, he was put in charge of a new soybean research laboratory and program. he reported that by 1925 soymilk was being made, sold, and delivered by big factories in Peking in small (200-220 ml) bottles labeled "Bean Milk." "Bean milk," he wrote, is popularly known as "the poor man's milk, and bean curd the poor man's cheese." He also noted that: much of the commercial soymilk was low in fat due to the Chinese custom of removing up to 30 fat-rich films of yuba from it first. The yuba was sold separately; the Chinese for centuries considered the taste and odor of cow's milk intolerable and those of soymilk agreeable; and in China there is a custom to give weak or anemic people a bowl of hot soymilk (about 400 ml) mixed with 2 eggs and about 2 ounces of sugar. This was to be consumed daily for 100 days. Between 1926 and 1931 Dr. Ernest Tso, Horvath's co-worker, published a series of six very important nutritional studies on soymilk, including the first studies on fiber-free soymilk in human or infant nutrition, starting in 1928. (Ruhrah and others in the US had done nutritional studies on suspended soymilks, made from soy flour, starting in 1910). Tso, in 1928, was also the first to demonstrate the possibility of raising an infant exclusively on fortified soymilk from the time of birth. The work on soymilk and infant nutrition done at PUMC by Tso and his colleagues Yee, Chen, Chang, Wan, Chu, Guy, and Yeh, continued until the late 1930s. They showed that fortified soymilk made a good substitute for cow's milk and cost much less. Tso and his co-workers were also aware of Sobee, a suspended soymilk made from soy flour in the US by Mead Johnson. In 1929 Tso published a nutritional study of this product. By 1938 Guy, who started merely researching soymilk nutrition, was producing soymilk at a Health Station in Peking, bottling it, and distributing it each morning to undernourished infants. Dr. Miller, who first arrived in China in 1903, began his research on soymilk in China in 1925 or 1926; he made small amounts for use in nursing homes and hospitals, for feeding infants, children, and nurses. In January 1936 Dr. Miller, aided by his son Willis, opened a modern soymilk plant in Shanghai, the first of its kind in East Asia. It produced natural, chocolate, and acidophilus soymilk, 3,000 quarts and 4,000 half-pints a day. In April 1936 Miller and Wen published the results of their soymilk infant feeding studies in the Chinese Medical Journal . In May 1937 he was granted a US Patent for his Shanghai soymilk process. His work there thrived until August 1937, when his plant was destroyed by bombs and gunfire from the Japanese invasion. In 1939 Miller returned to America and began producing Soyalac. At the same time that Dr. Miller was running his soy dairy in Shanghai, another one was being run independently in the same city by Ms. Nellie Lee, a Chinese graduate of Mt. Holyoke College (who worked for five years to spread the gospel of soymilk to the masses) and Julean Arnold of California, a financial advisor to one of China's top Marshalls; they had learned the soymilk process from Dr. Miller and from Drs. Tso (mentioned above) and Ho of Peking Union Medical College. The project was funded by the China Nutritional Aid Council, established in 1937 for the express purpose of popularizing soymilk. Set up in one of Dr. Fu's Children's Hospital in Shanghai, the soy dairy provided fresh soymilk free of charge for 25,000-37,000 Chinese refugee children a day as they fled the Japanese forces. The soymilk formula had been developed by Dr. Horvath and contained added calcium lactate, salt, and sugar. The project also distributed millions of biscuits containing okara remaining from the soy dairy process (Arnold 1945). In 1938 an Adventist-run soy dairy started in Canton. Howard Hoover, a Seventh-day Adventist, had visited Dr. Miller in Shanghai, then started his own soy dairy and health-food plant in a mission school in Canton. Smith (1961) showed an interesting photograph of bottled soymilk, carried with shoulder poles, being sold on streets of Canton in 1948. During the Japanese invasion of China soymilk was used extensively in refugee camps, especially for feeding infants and children. It saved many lives, while offering a unique opportunity for further observing its nutritional value (Smith and Beckel 1946; Ni 1939). Hou et al (1939*) reported studies showing that children receiving soymilk gained more weight than those not receiving it. After the War, the Chinese government took an increased interest in soymilk; they commissioned Willis Miller to build them a soymilk plant in Shanghai, patterned after Dr. Miller's plant in the US (Smith 1949). People's Republic of China (1949 to 1980s) . As has long been the custom, soymilk today is generally prepared either in local tofu shops (people have a pitcher filled up when they bring their morning tofu) or in specialty soymilk shops, which serve it as a hot morning beverage in either of two forms: sweetened ( tian doujiang ) or as a kind of spicy, salted soymilk soup ( xian doujiang ), often served with long, deep-fried, twisted wheat crullers (youtiao) (Shurtleff and Aoyagi 1975). Both of these traditional dishes, using fairly thin, soymilk with a beany and often pronounced scorched flavor, are still widely consumed for breakfast in China today. A visitor to China in 1981 reported that many children drank soymilk, which was not the case traditionally, and that it often had an egg mixed in to furnish tryptophan, an essential amino acid. Interest in modern soymilks, sold packaged like soft drinks or in other new forms, began to increase rapidly during the early 1980s and by 1983 was one of the "hottest" food subjects in China. Reasons for this growth of interest include the success of Vitasoy in Hong Kong and Yeo Hiap Send in Singapore, the spectacular rise of soymilk consumption in Japan, the great need for a low cost and nutritious beverage in China, promotional efforts by foreign companies selling soymilk equipment and technology, and the growing recognition by decision makers in China that the soybean will be one of the key protein sources of the future. Indeed during this period the image of soymilk in China, at least among government officials, was dramatically upgraded from that of a tradition, often poor quality product, to that of a modern, healthful, economical, and nutritious beverage, that could play a key role in China's modernization program by improving the diet and health of people of all ages. Starting in the late 1970s, a parallel interest developed in modernizing and greatly expanding China's dairy milk industry. While animal milks were never a basic part of the traditional Chinese diet, starting in the 1930s, some affluent city dwellers started to drink cow's milk. By the early 1980s per capital national consumption was about 1 kg (2.2 lb) per year compared with 125 kg (275 lb) in the USA. Yet milk is tightly rationed in China, being available only for nursing mothers, children under the age of 3, and seniors over the age of 70. Much of this milk is recombined milk. The Chinese government, however, has committed itself to a major effort to expand dairy milk production and to promote it as an excellent and prestigious protein source, especially since 1980. Large dairy farms have been built in Guangzhou province in cooperation with Hong Kong businessmen. The most modern of these is the Kwong Ming Dairy Farm in Shum chu, just across the border from Hong Kong, which started operation in 1980 as a joint venture of the Hong Kong Soya Bean Products Co., Ltd. and the Government of China. Investigations by Danish dairy companies in China during 1979 and 1980 led to an agreement for a Danish delegation to develop a written report on how to improve the Chinese Dairy Industry. The Chinese set the ambitious goal of supplying each Chinese person with 250 ml (about 1 cup) of milk (either dairy or soy) per day by the year 2,000. This is 91.2 liters per year. To help implement this goal, the Danish government and seven Danish dairy companies developed "Master Plan 2,000," which related to all aspects of dairy milk production, from farms, feeds, and breeding stock, to processing plants and packaged, finished products. The first contracts were signed in April 1982 with financing from the Danish International Development Agency (Danida). A 137-page book Dairy Development Proposal: The People's Republic of China--1983 was published by the Danes. The soymilk component of this long-term plan, not mentioned in the book/proposal is now being developed and the key question is what proportion of the total milk will be soymilk and what will be dairy milks. Top level Chinese decisions makers recognize that soymilk has numerous advantages over cow's milk: it is less expensive to produce, makes more efficient use of scarce agricultural land, is a traditional popular food, creates no problems with lactose intolerance (a fairly widespread problem with cow's milk in China), and can be produced from soybeans that grow near major population centers (good grazing land is usually in remote areas, leading to large shipping costs, but most of China's dairy cows are concentrated in the suburbs of cities or in industrial and mining districts. Moreover soymilk is comparable in nutritional value cow's milk, except that it contains only about one-third as much calcium and no vitamin B-12. A number of China's top decision makers believe that soymilk will be much more able than dairy milk to meet China's growing needs. Yet to produce 250 ml of soymilk a day for every person in China, given that 1 kg of soybeans yields 6 liters of soymilk, would take about 15.2 million tonnes of soybeans, much more than the 9 million tonnes grown in China in 1983 for all purposes. This shows the need for increasing production of both. Hopefully dairy cows will be raised on forages grown on land that cannot grow for human consumption. K.S. Lo, a Hong Kong Chinese who founded the company that makes Vitasoy, noted that if he were setting milk policy in China, so as to bring the greatest net nutritional benefits to the greatest number of people, he would produce 90% soymilk and 10% dairy milk. Another interesting possibility is for the development of a combined soymilk-cow's milk dairy, which would allow (1) savings on purchase of packaging, storage, spray drying, and shipping equipment, (2) use of some soymilk as a calf milk replacer, (3) use the soy pulp (okara) from soymilk production as a cattle fodder or to make tempeh, (4) common distribution and marketing systems, and (5) better plant utilization. It has long been said that Chinese prefer soymilk with the traditional "beany flavor." Extensive research over several decades by Vitasoy in Hong Kong has shown that Chinese in that city like soymilk best when 60-65% of the beany flavor has been removed and where there is none of the traditional scorched or burned flavor. Be that as it may, Chinese decision makers seem to strongly prefer soymilk with no beany flavor, perhaps feeling that it is a more modern product. Eventually the opinions of the decisions and the taste preferences of the masses must be harmonized. There are also regional differences in flavor preferences. Plain and dairylike soymilks have been found to be more popular in the south, while sweetened and chocolate are more popular in the north. Unlike Americans and Europeans, Chinese prefer dairylike soymilk with little or no added fat. The Chinese have been diligent in researching modern soymilk production. In January 1983 the American Soybean Association sponsored and funded a trip which sent a delegation of six people from the Ministry of Light Industry (MinLight) in Beijing on a ?? day trip to study soymilk production in Hong Kong (Vitasoy), Thailand (Greenspot), and Japan (Kibun, etc.). It is said that Kibun's soymilk was found to have the best flavor. Because of the prestige and popularity that soymilk has acquired in China, various ministries have started to compete with one another to become the leader in the field. These include MinLight, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Agriculture, the State Farm Bureau (Soybean Processing Division), not to mention various provincial government organizations, and their research institutes and colleges. This rivalry, where one might expect cooperation, can be both wasteful and bewildering. Basically, however, the initiative belongs to ministries in Beijing, with MinLight in the lead; others will probably follow their lead. Already a number of new, experimental soymilk products are on the market in China, usually developed by Ministry or university research labs and produced on a pilot plant scale. In 1980 the Beijing Foodstuff Corp. developed a sweetened powdered soymilk called Dou Jiang Fen (soymilk powder), consisting of equal amounts of spray dried soymilk and sugar; housewives buy it for breakfast use. A related product is Dou Ru Fen , a powdered white soy-dairy blend, sold in a 205 gm plastic bag. It contains 10% nonfat dried cow's milk, 40% traditional spray-dried soymilk, and an astonishing 50% sugar. Introduced in about 1979, roughly 1,000 tonnes a year were being made by 1983. A similar product containing chocolate, Ke Ke Douru Fen , was also sold in 250 gm bags in Beijing. In Wuxi city a company is spray drying soymilk to make a "longevity tonic" and a baby food. In Zhengzhou a powdered product called Doufu Fen (tofu powder), based on either whole soy flour or powdered soymilk, is widely sold in 500 gm bags and used to make soymilk, soymilk curds ( doufu hua ) and tofu. In Heilongjiang, China's leading soybean producing province, several experimental soymilks have been developed. The Bureau of State Farm's Wan Da Shan Foodstuff Factory has developed a soy-dairy blend called "Instant Cow's Milk Malted Soymilk Powdered." The factory makes its own soymilk by traditional methods. The Soybean Research Institute at Harbin has developed a new soy beverage, for which it received an award. Perhaps this is he summertime soft drink called Jimbo, sold in Harbin. A visitor to China in 1981 reported that many children now drink soymilk, often mixed with an egg to add nutrients plus the amino acid tryptophan. Guo (1982) reported that flash-desolventized soybean meal is being studied for use in place of whole soybeans to make soymilk. As China prepares to launch modern soymilk plants, the American Soybean Association hopes to lead the way by donating a pilot plant in 1983-84. And already a number of foreign manufacturers of soymilk and soymilk equipment have their eyes on what is unquestionably the world's largest potential soymilk market, with 1 billion prospective customers. Vitasoy, which has been working to negotiate a joint venture with the Chinese since the 1970s, is rumored to have started production at a modern plant in Shanghai in 1983. The Swedish dairy firm of Alfa Laval linked with Japan's Kibun and the Danish Turnkey Dairies (perhaps linked with Vitasoy) are vying fiercely to be chosen as the suppliers of equipment for the first generation of modern Chinese soymilk plants. Soymilk plant projects are now shaping up in Beijing, Shanghai, Hunan, Tianjin, Shenyang, Guangzhou, Zhengzhou, and Heilongjiang. The Heilongjiang Bureau of State Farm has plans to build six plants to make soymilk powder, using 30 tons of soymilk a day, the last plant being completed by 1987. It hopes to export this powder, and also to make fluid soymilk for consumption in the province. A keen race among foreign suppliers is just starting. The Chinese are doing careful analyses of each supplier's equipment and process in terms of equipment cost, processing cost (including labor, energy, water, etc.), soymilk flavor, and protein and solids recovery. Foreign companies are asking how the Chinese will pay for these plants (international loans, vendor's agreeing to buy back some of the soymilk produced to be sold abroad), how members of joint ventures with the Chinese government (the inevitable partner) will get profits out of China in hard currency, and if the Chinese government will just buy one plant, then copy it to make the rest, or if they will continue to buy many. China foresees many uses for soymilk. First, of course, is as a nutritious and thirst quenching beverage that the masses can afford. Flavors of interest are plain, sweetened, malt, dairylike, fruit (orange, apple, pineapple), chocolate, and lactic fermented. Ice cream, ice sticks (like Popsicles) and yogurt (in returnable crockery pots) all look promising, as do infant formulas or foods and milk replacers in other foods such as breads or pasta. The beverages will probably be sold in glass bottles or plastic bags (Stand-Pack or Pre-Pak), which are less expensive than the fashionable Tetra Brik. With Vitasoy in 250 ml Tetra Brik selling for US $0.18 in Hong Kong Supermarkets in June 1983, the Chinese hope that they can sell their soymilk for significantly less. The future of soymilk in China looks promising, especially if the Chinese can find ways to develop sustained and mutually satisfactory business relationships and technology transfer programs with foreign companies and soymilk professionals. It remains to be seen whether China will emphasize low-cost nutritious drinks for the people, such as soymilk, or take the easier and more glamorous, but less nutritious and unhealthful approach, of emphasizing Western soft drinks, made under franchises or joint ventures, as with Coca-Cola. By 1983 China had Coca-Cola plants with 100 million bottles a year capacity and was also importing canned Coke. Yet one indication of the future may be found in a front-page article in the Asian Wall Street Journal (14 June 1983), reporting how official Chinese publications had blasted Coke as being unhealthy (loaded with sugar, caffeine, phosphoric acid), too expensive, and a drain on the nation's foreign exchange. As a socialist country, China has the ability to play down such detrimental junk foods in favor of a top quality product such as soymilk. Hong Kong and Vitasoy . The early work that had been done in China starting in the 1920s bore its first real fruit in Hong Kong, where the first major step in East Asia's modern soymilk renaissance took place in 1940. That year the Hong Kong Soya Bean Products Co. began to make Vitamilk (renamed Vitasoy in the mid 1950s). The company had hard times during its early years and went out of business in December 1941 as World War II began. But in 1945 it started up again under the direction of K.S. Lo. The vitamin-fortified soymilk, marketed in standard half-pint milk bottles with a paper cap and hood, was now distributed through soft drink outlets, rather than being delivered door to door as a milk substitute, as it had been previously. In 1953 Vitasoy was first sold like a soft drink, in soft drink bottles, sterilized to give it a long shelf life. The new concept and new marketing channels led to immediate success. By 1964 Vitasoy had (temporarily) passed Coca-Cola to become Hong Kong's best-selling soft drink. Sales skyrocketed from 8.4 million bottles in 1955 to 42 million in 1960, 100.8 million in 1970, and 129.6 million in 1980. In 1975 Vitasoy was first sold in UHT/aseptic Tetra Brik cartons, which gave a big boost to its popularity, and in 1979 it started to be exported worldwide. The full story of Vitasoy is told in Chapter 42. In 1979 Nestle started marketing their Bonus soymilk in Hong Kong. Starting in the early to mid 1950s, the new concept of soymilk soft drinks, which K.S. Lo had pioneered and made commercially successful in Hong Kong, began to catch on elsewhere in Southeast Asia, especially in areas having large Chinese populations, where soymilk has always been fairly popular. Singapore . Soymilk soft drinks in Singapore were pioneered by the Yeo Hiap Seng Company, which had started operations there in 1935 as a soy sauce manufacturer. In 1952 Yeo Hiap Seng introduced Vitabean, a vitamin fortified soymilk soft drink, in Singapore and Malaysia. In 1967 Vitabean was first sold in Tetra Pak cartons. By 1976 production had climbed to 50 million bottles and cartons a year, and by 198 to 75 million (250,000 a day), prompting the company to build a new plant to double its capacity. In 1979 Nestle started making and marketing soymilk in Singapore; the company was controlled by Swiss-based Nestle with Singapore partners owning a certain percentage. Their Bonus soymilk, sold in Tetra Pack, did very well. By 1981 there were six large soymilk producers in Singapore. Magnolia Dairies, one of the largest, which also sells cow's milk, was selling some 40 million bottles and cartons a year of vitamin-enriched soymilk soft drinks. By 1981 there were also some 260 small soy dairies in Singapore. Soymilk was advertised almost daily on TV and in the print media, but only for brand promotion. Taiwan . For decades, throughout Taipei and other main cities in Taiwan, there have been small stands, cafes, or restaurants specializing in soymilk. The open pot of soymilk simmering near the storefront serves to lure in customers, especially for breakfast and late night snacks. Starting in the 1960s and 1970s, the introduction of soymilk soft drinks began to give this traditional beverage a modern image, and consumption steadily increased. Miller (1965) noted that whereas in 1962-63, there was only one soymilk plant in Taipei, by 1965 more than 12 had sprung up all over Taiwan. The Taiwan Farmer's Cooperative, consisting of many small producers that sell bottled soymilk, is an example of a decentralized commercial success. In 1980 there were at least six soymilk plants operated by local Farmers' Associations, which marketed their soymilk only locally, within their townships. The largest of these, Lo-tung, produced 5,820,000 bottles a year; the smallest produced 350,000. In 1978, President Enterprise Corp., the first of the large nationwide soymilk plants in Taiwan, started production. By 1981 they were producing 52,000,000 packs of soymilk a year (200,000 a day) in various flavors including eggs, milk, peanut, and strawberry; they were the largest producer. Other large soymilk makers were Tsin Tsin (1978) and Wei Chuan (1980; 13,000,000 packs a year in egg and peanut flavors). In addition, many people still go to their local tofu shop in the morning and fill up a large jug with hot soymilk for home use. Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 Copyright 2016

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POWER FOR GOODPOWER FOR GOOD PARTNERSPARTNERS Entrepreneurism Edible Crops About Good Earth Power Philosophy | Team Good Earth Power International Alawi Zawawi Group Chairman & Co-Founder of Good Earth Power Ltd Mr Zawawi is also the Chairman of the Omani family conglomerate, the Zawawi Group. The Zawawi Group is a large family multinational with numerous businesses in the Gulf, USA, Africa, India and Europe spanning the defence, construction, retail, and tourism industries. Jason Rosamond Group Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder of Good Earth Power Ltd Mr Rosamond has a background in technology having been a Partner and MD of UK IT company Agilisys. Jason has leveraged his technology background to source unique technologies from across the globe allowing the creation of the Good Earth Power ecosystem. Maya Minkova Community Development Director & Co-Founder of Good Earth Power Ltd Ms Minkova has a background in Change Management and Sustainable Development. Leveraging her knowledge and passions, she has created the Power for Good model for inclusive sustainable community development. Maya focuses on the integration of the community and its leaders which is at the centre of the Good Earth Power Ecosystem model through the Power for Good programme, deploying the wide range of Good Earth Power technologies to derive sustainable community benefit. Prior to Good Earth Power, Maya was employed at Shell where she managed large-scale global projects. Walid Kamhawi Mr Kamhawi was a Managing Director of Blackstone Group, working out of the New York, London, and Hong Kong offices over the course of 15 years. He has exceptional experience and expertise in debt and equity based financial transactions across numerous sectors ranging from energy to telecommunications. Walid has his own investment management and advisory firm based out of Dubai, HK Capital Holdings Inc. General Mzheri General Mzheri has many years military experience and his duties have included a long spell with the United Nations peacekeeping forces. His vast military experience is crucial to the anti-poaching patrols and border patrols carried out by Good Earth Power. He is fluent in various African dialects and is our main line of communication with various chiefs and communities throughout southern Africa. Fayez Al Nassar Wildlife Ambassador Mr Al Nassar is the ambassador of Good Earth Power in its humanitarian mission to protect the wildlife of Africa. Fayez is from the prominent Al Nassar family of Kuwait, patrons of global wildlife and environmental protection activities. Wynand Pretorius Dr Pretorius and his dedicated team of infrastructure engineers, planners and logisticians are responsible to implement the Ponta Techobanine inter-regional rail and deep-water port project involving Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Swaziland. The rail and port components of the project, once operational, will have the largest geographical coverage and potential throughput of coal in the world. Wynand has been involved in transportation planning, project management and policy formulation for more than 25 years. Peter D McNulty Water Resources Director Mr McNulty has over 20 years’ experience in designing, building and operating water treatment systems to address a variety of environmental issues, primarily for the oil, power, and marine industries. In 1997, he founded and served as President of N.E.I. Treatment Systems until joining Good Earth Power. He has extensive experience with US Federal and International environmental regulations, such as permitting, compliance monitoring, and reporting and is a member of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and the International Water Association (IWA). Clay Taber Agriculture Director Clay has spent much of the last 23 years working in the Emerging Markets. He has assisted in the structuring and finance of large businesses on four continents. Having been trained at some of the world’s largest banks, for the past six years he has been developing large scale agricultural projects on behalf of major international investors throughout Africa. He has extensive knowledge of the African property and agriculture markets, and has structured community backed developments throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. Good Earth Power P.O.Box 712 MSQ 115 Sultanate of Oman ABOUT Philosophy Team POWER FOR GOOD Press Releases CONTACT US Copyright © 2011 Good Earth Power. All Rights Reserved | TERMS & CONDITIONS | PRIVACY POLICY

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From Arkansas to Afghanistan and back David Bennett Memphis Gin Show tie-in Agriculture Development Team One -- largely composed of Mid-Southerners -- recount year of Afghanistan deployment. Focused on updating country's agricultural practices. Barriers numerous, threat of violence near constant. DAVID PAUL HAFER, left, and fellow agriculture team-member inspect wheat grown in southern Afghanistan. Promo Image (large) Several years ago, unable to quash the Taliban with bullets alone, military brass figured they’d try a different approach, one that would bolster the agrarian roots of the desperately poor in southern Afghanistan. That’s how, in 2010, the Agriculture Development Team One – a joint Air Force/National Guard counter insurgency effort – came to be surrounded by the chaotic ruckus kicked up by thousands and thousands of sheep and goats. Word had spread like wildfire through the mountainous desolation: the Americans would vaccinate and treat herds. The hand-to-mouth populace latched onto the golden opportunity and the team worked for days on the animals. In the year-plus the team spent in Afghanistan’s dangerous Zabul Province it was a scene that would repeat itself many times. The team, largely composed of Mid-South men, arrived in Afghanistan in February of 2010. A troop surge was ongoing and it was early March before they reached their base, which proved to be nothing except a bare patch of ground a bit over 7,000 feet in elevation. Tents were pitched, generators brought in, everything built from scratch. Some 50 miles from the notorious Pakistan border, the base was in a historical area. About a mile away sat a castle built for Alexander the Great – certainly nice, but small consolation weighed against the near-constant threat of violence. David Paul Hafer is a young east Arkansan raised in a farming family south of Helena. He was even younger when, after earning a degree in agricultural business and farming for a few years, the events of 9/11 spurred him to join the National Guard. He rented the farmland out and was sent to Iraq in 2008. When he returned home, Hafer joined the agriculture team bound for Afghanistan in 2010. Also on the team was Addison Taylor, who’d been raised on an Arkansas rice farm in Jefferson County’s Altheimer. Taylor was managing the family farm when, he says, “We were notified about the deployment at the end of October and would start training on our mission in November for departure in January. We had short notice to get our affairs in order.” The team consisted of “guys who came from all sorts of agricultural backgrounds: agronomy, animal science, poultry, whatever,” says Hafer. Prior to leaving, “we went through an intense, week-long training program with the University of Arkansas Extension Service. It was saturation sessions, getting everyone up to speed on whatever field they’d be covering once we were in-country.” Once there, Hafer and colleagues spoke with “Special Operation guys. ‘Here’s who we are, here’s what we’re doing.’ They were very happy to see us because they didn’t have enough to offer the (locals). They needed to build up some goodwill. They’d walk into a village and the residents would say ‘okay, now what?’ “Once our team hit the ground, though, they were able to tell the villagers ‘we’re the Special Forces. Plus, we have these guys who are going to help you with your farming. If you have any problems, visit with them and they’ll help you fix it.’” Strategic planning and assessments of terrain and local populations followed. “None of it was anything like we’d previously planned or trained for,” says Taylor. Locals were illiterate and “none of the people knew what was even on the other side of the river from them. At the same time, we were being pulled in many directions by all of the units in the battle space, from U.S. Special Operation guys to the Romanian Army.” Hafer found unexpected benefits from having sweated with the Extension Service during summers while attending the University of Arkansas. Asked to put together projects to help educate Afghan farmers, he drew on that work. “I was asked to build a couple of model farms while in Afghanistan. These were demonstration farms – one in the south part of the province we were in, one in the north. “I tried to pull everything the university does – sort of cobbling together all the verification projects and the like – and put it on one little farm to show the Afghans. We had everything from grapes to wheat to chickens.” Then, the team planned to put together an education center on the demonstration farms, a place where Afghan farmers could receive up-to-date farming advice. “We envisioned it as kind of what we do with Extension agents in the States.” Optimism/difficulties Optimism was high but difficulties abounded. “It was tough because the education system there is not comparable to the West,” says Hafer. “A college degree earned there is probably equivalent to a ninth-grade or high-school education here. That’s a great divide to overcome. “Things were tough for multiple reasons. One, the security where we were at was lacking. If we weren’t in the most dangerous place in the country, it was second-most. That meant getting Afghan ‘Extension agents’ to work with us was a feat in itself, never mind matching up educational requirements we knew were needed.” Along with one of the Air Force personnel, Hafer and Taylor decided that in addition to the demonstration farms they’d put together a series of agricultural seminars. “We developed a plan to go to as many of the 13 districts that we could to get the Afghan government officials out there,” says Taylor. “We came up with the idea from the medical seminars that the Special Forces guys did to teach the locals. We took the idea and made it fit for agriculture … and it lasted the rest of the tour. We would go and do a recon of the area and speak to the locals in a town hall-type setting, called a ‘Shurra,’ about three weeks before we would have the seminars.” Suicide bomb threats weren’t uncommon and, Taylor says, more than once “some of the locals we were working with got kidnapped. It was bad for the Taliban to have the Afghan government helping the locals and we met resistance at many of the events -- both attacks on us and the Afghans.” At one point, team members traveled to the university in Kabul and spoke with professors and Extension agents. “We said ‘we’ll send Chinook helicopters to pick you up and we’ll fly you wherever we need to go in the province,’” says Hafer. Whenever possible, the idea was to put an Afghan face on the team’s efforts, allow the Afghans any glory. Every district in the province has a center where elders and tribal chiefs hold court. Those are where the team put on two- and three-day seminars and pushed the leaders to the front. Presentations were provided on all sorts of crops. “Maybe we’d have an expert on pomegranates, which is a major crop there. If a farmer came in and was having trouble, hopefully the lecture would help him. Then, they’d sidebar after the lecture and get advice about their specific situation.” Hafer found the lack of roads and isolation of Afghan village life hard to comprehend. The agricultural seminars were a simple way to bring villages together. “Honestly, some of these folks could see another village in the distance. But for their entire lives they’d not travel over and meet them -- live and die and never even know who their neighbors are. “Things are very primitive. These villages are out in the middle of nowhere. One village we walked into, the people thought we were Russians.” Navigating bureaucracy Navigating entrenched Afghan bureaucracy was also a struggle for the team. Two men they quickly learned to keep happy: the DAIL (Director of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock) at the provincial level, and the MAIL (Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock), Afghanistan’s top agricultural official. “We had to run everything through these guys. If you tried to do something without going through the right channels, you’d shoot yourself in the foot. They’d sandbag you and corruption is rampant. It’s incredibly corrupt over there. It took us a while to find people we could work with.” Still, the team’s work progressed. “Towards the summer, we were hitting the agricultural seminars heavy. And if a farmer stayed through the whole seminar, we’d give them X amount of vaccinations, tools, all kinds of things they’d never have been able to afford on their own.” It was a bit of dilemma deciding what sort of aid to provide the Afghans. “Some of the humanitarian organizations would give a tractor or generators and other types of modern equipment,” says Taylor. “That wasn’t a good idea. If you gave them something like a tractor, it would break down and they have no part stores to fix it and had no education of how to even start. It also would cause problems by creating a welfare type dependency – ‘why buy it or build it, when the Americans will give it to us.’ It also showed favoritism and made locals targets for the Taliban when we left.” The team decided to provide locals with tools. Doing so meant “we could educate them on the proper and best uses of the tools, like back pack sprayers and vet supplies,” says Taylor. Wheat was a large focus of Hafer’s. “The seasons in Afghanistan are like ours – they also plant wheat in the fall. In that respect, we didn’t have to do any work-arounds. Of course, there were other crops we weren’t as familiar with like pomegranates and almonds.” It became readily apparent that the Afghan’s crop genetics were poor. “They don’t know to keep the best seed to replant and eat the poorer seed. They did the complete opposite. They’d eat the best wheat and plant the garbage. This had been in practice for so long that the genetics were very bad. “We went searching for a new wheat variety that would fit their needs. They have a bad rust problem and in order to deal with it, we had a variety flown in and established a wheat distribution program. If we couldn’t truck the variety to villages, we’d put it in helicopters and fly it to them.” At the same time, the team educated the villagers on the importance of proper wheat farming. “They typically planted wheat and barley together and wondered why the two weren’t performing. Well, one crop was competing with the other. They accepted that sort of advice.” But some things the Afghans wouldn’t change. An example, says Hafer, was simply to trellis grapes. “They wouldn’t trellis, period. Grapes there are grown on long earth mounds, draped over them. “We talked a farmer into allowing us to take a small spot of his grapes. We cut the mound out from under them and put them on a trellis. By the end of the season, those grapes looked three times better than the rest.” It didn’t matter. “They told us ‘we put in so much work on the mounds, we’re going to keep doing it that way.’ Those are the situations where you just shrug and move on.” Meanwhile, the Afghan’s irrigation methods were “very, very efficient” – a good thing after a decade-long drought. “They make use of a system that is thousands of years old that incorporates ‘karezes.’ That’s a series of vertical shafts in a row that usually start next to a mountain or on a mountainside. Believe or not, one guy goes into those shafts and they dig a horizontal shaft beneath the vertical shafts all the way to end. Water then collects in those shafts – usually associated with a spring.” Cisterns are also built up. In a village there is usually a central irrigation system. From that, there will be five or six canals connected. All day long, men sit at the central hub timing the water flow. “Every family receives a certain amount of water for their orchard or whatever through one of the canals. When their time of running water is over, they pack the canal with mud and break open the barrier to another canal so that family can get their share. “It’s amazing. I’d almost swear they can make water run uphill. Water was so precious and they wasted none.” Harvest and soil tests Wheat was harvested using small hand sickles. Afghan farmers use everything from the plant, cut at dirt-level. The straw is almost as valuable as the wheat itself, used to “feed animals, make beds, whatever. “They usually have a thrasher pulled by a tractor. Once a village has harvested its wheat, the thrasher will come through and charge everyone a certain amount per bushel. They take the wheat by hand and throw it in the thrasher. The thrashed wheat is piled up on the ground, it’s bagged and put on donkeys and off they go.” Hafer was surprised at the number of tractors the villagers have. Many of the villages are so poor that the tractor is community-owned. “They’ll take the tractor and work the land up, plant the wheat and then water it like we do rice. They have a tool that looks kind of like a snow shovel with a rope on the end. One guy pulls the rope and that’s how they make levees. They reform the levees once the field is worked up and then plant the wheat by hand. “We tried to help them understand why yields were so bad. You could walk fields and see big wads of seed in spots with very little around it. But that was another thing we couldn’t come to a middle ground on. “Then, once the seed is out, they flash flood the field. The water is dropped off and that’s how the wheat seed is germinated. They do it that way because it never rains – it rained twice while we were there.” As for soil tests, Hafer backpacked a mobile soil test kit everywhere. Anytime he traveled to a new village and got the elders’ permission, “I’d go out and test fields or orchards right on the spot. Fertility was awful nearly everywhere – zero nitrogen, very low potash and phosphorous. “I hated to categorize these villages in terms of strategic importance, but that was how things were set up. If a village was ranked high, I’d call and have the DAIL send in X amount of fertilizer and other necessities.” Sometimes that fertilizer was trucked, other time flown in. The chances of a convoy being hit by a road-side bomb were so high, “you never knew if inputs being trucked in would make it. It was a crap shoot. But eventually we’d show the villagers how to put out the fertilizers.” Demonstration farms America is a go-go nation and citizens have been conditioned to expect quick results. Often to the team’s frustration, that wasn’t the case in Afghanistan. “Over there, they want to talk about things, go slow. And they don’t just want to talk once, but five or six times. It can take months to get anything done.” The demonstration farm in the south was set up in a nursery that had been started years earlier by a non-governmental organization. “When their money ran out, they walked off and left it. I went in to set the farm up and lived with the Romanian infantry. We had a tractor, worked the land into shape and put a fence all around it. A building was renovated and we used it to hold classes and provide office space for the area Extension agent. “There was also a school there, which was so important. The boys and girls were educated separately.” The whole set-up was vital for the area. Besides learning to read and write, the children were also taught to farm. “There is a big gap in the generation of Afghans due to the decades of war there. They’ve lost a lot of the fundamental knowledge about farming to violence.” And, slowly, the team saw the tide turning; saw their efforts beginning to pay off. “Once the people saw we were there to help them and make this work, we were accepted and appreciated. Hordes of people would show up.” When the team left, the southern demonstration farm was operational. The northern farm was in the beginning stages and will be much larger with areas for pasture management, alternative and drought-resistant grasses. Despite barely escaping some “hairy situations,” Hafer came to admire the Afghans. He says they are “toughest people I’ve ever seen. You could see it in their eyes. They are incredibly resilient. “We’d be 10,000 feet up a mountain, shivering in the freezing cold and barely able to stand it with all this special clothing on. The locals would be standing outside in sandals, without coats, smoking cigarettes. We’d just shake our heads and think ‘How on earth is that possible?’” Hafer has shaken hands with the Taliban. “They typically dress better than the locals, look healthier, and are usually bigger. You could tell they wanted to do us in, and would have if they could get around all our guns. They knew we’d smoke their heads.” The team also worked with many Mujahedeen fighters that took on the Soviets in the 1980s. One, Rosie Mohammed, had a great-great-grandfather who was a king. Rosie, says Hafer, “had the stroke and had been one of the bigwigs when they were fighting the Russians. It was gentlemen like Rosie that had stepped up to the Taliban and said ‘we’re sick of this. You won’t let our kids go to school. You’ve held us down and we’re tired of being stupid. You’ve had your chance and now we’re going to work with the Americans.’ “And Rosie’s village drove the Taliban out. It can be done. “The mission we were on was so important because the whole country revolves around agriculture. And it’s not over -- the mission is ongoing and we need to support it.” The original agriculture team was replaced by a second from Arkansas: AR ADT 02. “We were glad to see their faces after the long year and tried to set them up for success … so they could continue to execute the missions that worked,” says Taylor. “We didn’t want them wasting time trying to do things that others back home had told them worked. ... We helped shape the way that the Coalition forces approached the winning of hearts and minds and really helped (the Afghans) build up agriculture, something that would last long after we were gone.” Gin Show/Whole-farm management Following their work in Afghanistan, the agriculture team returned home in February of 2011 and integrated back into regular life for a couple of months. Since then, Hafer has been working with fellow team-member and Arkansan, Addison Taylor. Addison’s mother, an estate planning and agriculture attorney in Fayetteville (who is also the daughter and wife of cotton farmers), “had been toying with the idea of putting together a company that would cover the whole farm management picture,” explains Hafer. “Some companies do only certain aspects of farm management. She wanted to put together something that would specialize in everything under one roof: state laws, ag laws, farm management and the rest.” Hafer was asked to fill the senior farm management position at the newly-formed Farmland Strategies. “Addison had seen me work overseas in many environments and I’d seen him. We know what each other is capable of. “So, this summer we started with the ASFMRA (American Society Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers) farm management track. It takes about three years to get – it isn’t easy to achieve and they’re rightfully proud of it.” Taylor and Hafer also earned real estate licenses and are working on requirements to become accredited farm managers with the Society. Since then, “we’ve been out beating the bushes. Starting something from nothing is not easy. It can be a bit overwhelming at first. But the thing is, in Afghanistan we really did start something from nothing (so this is not) new to us.” For more, visit www.farmlandstrategies.com or the company’s booth at the upcoming gin show in Memphis. Source URL: http://deltafarmpress.com/management/arkansas-afghanistan-and-back

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/ Sustainable Agricultural Systems Laboratory Mulbry, Walter Rice, Clifford Climate Change, Soils, and Emissions (212) Agricultural and Industrial Byproducts (214) Research Project: BIOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF MANURE AND ORGANIC RESIDUALS TO CAPTURE NUTRIENTS AND TRANSFORM CONTAMINANTS Sustainable Agricultural Systems Laboratory Development and evaluation of manure treatment systems. Specific objectives: (1) Develop treatment technologies and management practices to reduce the concentrations of pharmaceutically active compounds (antibiotics and natural hormones) in manures, litters, and biosolids utilized in agricultural settings; (2) Develop management practices and technologies to minimize greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from manure and litter storage and from composting operations by manipulating the biological, chemical, and physical processes influencing production and release of ammonia and greenhouse gases during composting; (3) Develop technology and management practices that improve the economics and treatment efficiency of anaerobic digestion of animal manures and other organic feedstocks (e.g. food wastes, crops/residues) for waste treatment and energy production. 1b. Approach (from AD-416) Modern livestock production involves the use of large amounts of nutrient inputs as well as antibiotics. Untreated manure is either stored or immediately applied to farmland as a fertilizer. When manure is applied to fields, manure components (nutrients, microorganisms, and remaining antibiotic residues) may reach surface water by volatilization, run-off or leaching. The goal of this research is to improve our basic understanding of two common manure treatment practices (composting and anaerobic digestion) so as to maximize their benefits and minimize their economic and environmental costs. The first objective is to evaluate the efficacy of a series of minimal management options for composting manure and poultry litter on-farm to reduce concentrations of ten widely used pharmaceutically active compounds. Treatments are designed to span a range of practical management options – from the current practice of stockpiling the manure/litter to amending it with straw (to increase aeration) and adding insulating layers of straw. The second objective seeks to reduce the environmental footprint of composting by reducing methane, nitrous oxide, and ammonia emissions during composting. Greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions will be measured using replicate pilot-scale compost piles composed of manure/bedding from the BARC dairy and food/green wastes from local food processors. The first set of treatments will test the timing and frequency of compost mixing and turning. Subsequent experiments will measure and compare gas emissions from replicate piles constructed at initial bulk densities and from piles covered with 7-30 cm layers of finished compost. The third objective involves an evaluation of a relatively low-cost anaerobic digestion system that has significant potential for use on small farms. Six replicate pilot-scale plug-flow digesters, with two operational designs will be studied to provide long-term research on a system that has not been fully explored. Treatment efficiency, capital and operational costs, and gas utilization strategies will be evaluated for each type of system. Costs and benefits of different treatment strategies will be compared to existing manure management practices. 3. Progress Report Although composting is an effective practice for stabilizing manure nutrients prior to land application, emissions of ammonia, methane, and nitrous oxide during composting are negative environmental consequences of this process. There is a need to determine the emissions of these gases during typical farm-scale composting operations and to test the effectiveness of different management measures to reduce emissions. Pilot-scale dairy manure composting studies were completed during the year using a photoacoustic gas analyzer for measuring ammonia, methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions. There is a global need to reduce dependency on fossil energy and to make use of sustainable energy feedstocks. Current anaerobic digestion technology in the U.S. is focused on large-scale dairy farms (greater than 500 cows). However, the vast majority of dairies (in the U.S. and elsewhere) have less than 200 cows. There is an urgent need to develop and support inexpensive anaerobic digestion systems for these small farms. One approach to increase biogas production at small dairies is to develop low cost digester systems. Nine pilot-scale low-cost digesters are under construction at the BARC dairy. Use of these digesters in concert with conventional digesters will allow direct comparison of biogas production under different loading rates and operating conditions. 1. Greenhouse gas emissions from dairy manure composting operations. Manure management practices are widely regarded to significantly affect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from livestock operations. Unfortunately, there is relatively little specific information regarding the effect of different management practices on GHG emissions that is useful to producers. Manure composting is thought to reduce total GHG emissions relative to emissions from untreated manure. The objective of this study was to characterize emissions from pilot-scale dairy manure compost piles. Results from unmixed flat-top or conically shaped piles suggest that pile shape does not significantly influence GHG emissions. However, preliminary results suggest that pile composition may have a large effect on overall emissions. In the BARC dairy in Beltsville, Maryland, solids are screened out of the scraped manure slurry prior to anaerobic digestion of the manure liquids. The screened solids are composted along with manure and bedding from other parts of the dairy. Our preliminary results showed that emissions of methane (an undesirable greenhouse gas) increased with increasing amounts of dairy solids in the compost piles. Although screened dairy solids are typically present as a minor component in compost piles, additional studies are needed to determine the effect (if any) of low levels of screened dairy solids on methane emissions. 2. Over four billion pounds of chicken feather waste is generated by the U.S. poultry industry each year. Although feathers are typically disposed of in landfills, a new use for feather fiber is as a component of biopolymers. The primary advantage of feather-based biopolymers is that they reduce the use of petroleum-based feedstocks. However, an added benefit of some biopolymers is that they degrade relatively quickly under composting conditions. Since the fate of feather-based biopolymers during composting has not been studied previously, the aim of this study was to characterize the biodegradability of two biopolymers containing different amounts of poultry feather fiber. Our results showed that feather fiber was not degraded in either biopolymer after composting feather-fiber biopolymer fragments under standard conditions (60 days at 135 F). Raw feather fiber (primarily composed of the protein keratin) is itself quite resistant to microbial breakdown. However, results from other studies have shown that raw feather fiber can be degraded using special keratinase-producing fungi and bacteria. Additional studies are needed to see whether these organisms can speed the degradation of feather-fiber bioplastics. 3. Although algal cultivation and algae-based wastewater treatment systems have been in use for decades, there is renewed interest in such systems because of the potential use of the algal byproduct as a fertilizer or biofuel feedstock. Given the possible use of algal systems for treating varied sources of agricultural wastewater, robust and inexpensive methods of analysis for algal components are needed. At the present time, most algal samples are analyzed by conventional wet chemical methods, such as the Kjeldahl procedure for total nitrogen and phosphorus or by combustion techniques for total carbon or nitrogen. These procedures, while accurate, can be time consuming and expensive, and they generate chemical wastes. Infrared reflectance spectroscopy is an alternative method of analysis for determining the composition of a wide variety of materials ranging from forages and grains, food products, manure, and soil. Infrared spectroscopy can accurately and rapidly determine sample composition, while greatly reducing the waste associated with conventional analysis systems. The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) and mid-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (MIRS) to determine the composition of algal samples. Results showed that that both NIRS and MIRS can accurately determine ash and total nitrogen concentrations, but not phosphorus, sugar, lipid, or fatty acid concentrations in algal samples. Given these results, it may be possible to adapt and develop inexpensive infrared-based analyzers for determining ash and nitrogen concentrations in algal samples. Review Publications Ahn, H., Smith, M.C., Schmidt, W.F., Huda, M.S., Reeves III, J.B., Mulbry III, W.W. 2011. Biodegradability of injection molded bioplastics containing polylactic acid and poultry feather fiber. Bioresource Technology. 102:4930-4933. Ahn, H., Mulbry III, W.W., White, J.W., Ingram, S.K. 2010. Pile mixing increases greenhouse gas emissions during composting of dairy manure. Bioresource Technology. 102:2904-2909. Adey, W., Kangas, P., Mulbry Iii, W.W. 2011. Algal turf scrubbing: cleaning surface waters with solar energy while producing a biofuel. Bioscience. 61:434-441.

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Stink Bug's Resurfacing May Squash Farmers' Hopes For A Strong 2013 Sabri Ben-Anchour The stink bug population is six times larger this year than last. Matt Rourke/AP If you live along the East Coast, there's a pretty good chance that stink bugs may be lurking in your attic or even behind your curtains. The invasive insects from Asia, which exude a rubber-like stench when you crush them, are a nuisance for you, but a serious pest for farmers. Crop producers received a reprieve from the bugs in 2012, but the insects may be coming back and with a greater spread of attack. Bob Black says he was not in a good place in 2010. "This thing is really gonna put a big chapter in my book of life," he said. "I've never had anything affect me like this." Black runs Catoctin Mountain Orchards in Thurmont, Md., and like other farmers across the region, he was being assaulted by brown marmorated stink bugs. They disfigure all kinds of crops, ranging from corn to peaches. One year they hit Black's apples. "One of my late varieties, Pink Lady — which a lot of people like — that's the latest apple," he says. "We had 50 percent damage on that." That was more than a year ago. In 2012, things improved a little. "Unfortunately they're still around here," Black says. "We do have some damage again, but nothing like ... 2010." He says he never wants to go through that again. Stink bug attacks can be impossible to predict. They can come out of nowhere because they can live just about anywhere — a wheat field or a patch of woods. Overall, last year wasn't so bad. There are two reasons for that: One, an early spring season gave crops a head start against the bugs; and two, a plethora of bugs died in 2011. "For some reason that we don't fully understand, there was high nymphal mortality in the fall of 2011, so that translated into fewer adult bugs in spring 2012," Chris Bergh, an entomologist at Virginia Tech, explains. That gives farmers little comfort though because experts are unsure why they all died. Tracy Leskey, an entomologist with the U.S. Agricultural Research Service, says the insect populations have recovered and in larger numbers — six times more than in the previous year. For now, they're hibernating in barns, fields and people's attics. When they emerge this spring, farmers will have a few weapons ready: new pheromone traps to give an early warning and some EPA-approved pesticides to use on an emergency basis. Researchers are still considering bringing the bugs' natural parasites over from China. But until a more permanent solution is found, farmers will be keeping their eyes on their fields and their spray tanks full. Support WAMU 88.5

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Walden talks farm bill, health care with wheat growers By GEORGE PLAVENEO Media group Last changed: November 8, 2013 10:37AM U.S. Rep. Greg Walden talks about the Affordable Care Act during a meeting of the Oregon Wheat Growers League on Thursday in Pendleton. Buy this photo U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, center, speaks with Clint Reeder, left, and Jim Harris before the start of a meeting of the Oregon Wheat Growers League on Nov. 7 in Pendleton. Buy this photo Farm bill, Obamacare are hot topics during Rep. Greg Walden's visit with wheat farmers. While Congress is making progress on a new five-year farm bill, U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., said a few key issues remain unresolved.Specifically, a proposed new insurance program for dairy producers and budget cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are left to negotiate. But Walden assured a group of Umatilla County wheat growers Thursday in Pendleton that their crop insurance is protected, and the safety net will be there for American farmers.Walden kept much of his focus on agricultural concerns as guest speaker at the Oregon Wheat Growers League fall county workshop, though the discussion changed course at times to the recent federal government shutdown and controversial rollout of the Affordable Care Act. All over the district, Walden said he hears stories about families facing cancellation of their health care policies or renewal at higher rates.“Clearly, the health care law is of concern,” Walden said. “Premiums are going up dramatically for some. Worse is the co-pay.”One grower questioned why Walden voted against legislation to end the government shutdown a month ago. The congressman agreed the shutdown should not have happened, but leaders in Washington, D.C. needed to figure out a long-term solution, he said, instead of kicking the can down the road for another 90 days.The White House rejected everything Republicans put on the table to meet halfway on debt and spending, Walden said. Ultimately, they would accept only a clean debt ceiling increase, and now face the same situation heading into Jan. 15.“I don’t think the shutdown was a good idea, either, and it was never our intention to wind up there,” Walden said. “It’s really frustrating.”On the farm bill, Walden said the House aims for reform in the food stamp program that has doubled in size and quadrupled in cost. Driving between Ontario and Baker City, Walden said he swapped calls with Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, and they are committed to getting the bill done.“I’ll do my part to try and get this farm bill done the right way,” Walden said.Blake Rowe, CEO of the Oregon Wheat Growers League, also briefly discussed the farm bill during a workshop presentation. Other topics ranged from financial overview to research by Oregon State University, and a recap of the year’s startling discovery of genetically modified “Roundup Ready” wheat growing in a fallow Eastern Oregon field.The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is still investigating how and why the incident occurred. There is no timetable for when results will be announced. What is certain, Rowe said, is the exemplary way growers worked to reassure overseas trade partners that temporarily backed off new imports.“It was a very positive message,” Rowe said. “Nobody can question we put our customers’ interests first.”Genetically modified wheat remains a possibility. The product will eventually come into the market, Rowe said, and now is the time for growers to start thinking about what they can and cannot do.As for the farm bill, Rowe said they are working closely with national organizations and their congressional delegation to protect priority programs including crop insurance, conservation, research and export promotion. The most important thing, however, is that it get passed.“We understand we won’t win on all the issues,” Rowe said. “That’s why they call it a negotiation.”

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Advertisement Home > Regulatory > Legislative > Farmers, new administration need to ‘hit the ground running’ Farmers, new administration need to ‘hit the ground running’ Forrest Laws | Southwest Farm Press EMAIL Comments 0 More About: American Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman says his organization is eager to work with the new Congress and President-elect Barack Obama’s new administration to do whatever it takes to help get the country back on its feet. Speaking at a press conference prior to the AFBF’s annual meeting in San Antonio, Stallman said America’s farmers and the country as a whole face many challenges that must be dealt with as soon as President Obama takes office Jan. 20. “President-elect Obama has told us he wants discussion and constructive debate,” said Stallman, a rice and cattle producer from Columbus, Texas. “He wants a healthy agricultural economy and he likes decisions based on science. That is good news for Farm Bureau and agriculture.” Stallman told farm editors he had a direct message for the incoming U.S. president: “We, the farmers and ranchers of Farm Bureau, are ready to roll up our sleeves and move forward. We feed the nation, and no matter which national priority – the economy, energy, immigration, trade and environment – that you choose to pursue, we are ready to hit the ground running.” Stallman said one of the biggest issues that Farm Bureau members want to see addressed is the need for a reliable supply of legal workers willing to work in agriculture. “Too many of our current workers are unfortunately caught up in an immigration system that is broken,” Stallman said. “And too often, farmers face the consequences. We urge Congress to enact meaningful immigration reform for agriculture now.” Stallman also called for a new start on global trade negotiations. The World Trade Organization has been unable to make any significant progress on the Doha Round negotiations following their collapse in Geneva last July. “Clearly, the Doha Round talks have stalled,” he said. “Trade must be a tool for economic growth and not an excuse for erecting new barriers. We will work with any partner ready to find a new path forward to create real trade growth and development. Trade talks must focus on increasing trade, not preventing it.” The Environmental Protection Agency’s new rule dealing with manure management on concentrated animal feeding operations also must be addressed. “We are challenging the rule in court based on our belief that EPA has exceeded its authority to regulate livestock farms under the Clean Water Act,” Stallman noted. Members of Congress and the new administration are setting their sights on climate change, and Stallman said farmers and ranchers will be active in the debate. “Where science indicates a real risk or harm, we will play our part in reducing or eliminating that risk,” he said. “We also will caution lawmakers to make sure that science is not hijacked by those with a particular policy agenda.” Stallman renewed the call for a comprehensive energy plan that embraces all aspects of the nation’s energy needs. “I am proud to say that we successfully advocated for a strong energy title in the farm bill, part of which was to aid in the transition to cellulosic-based renewable energy,” he said. “Ag-based energy such as biofuels, wind and electricity from waste digesters are capable of powering an important share of our nation’s renewable energy future.” The American Farm Bureau Federation is beginning its 90th year of representing the nation’s farmers and ranchers. The group’s annual meeting will continue through Wednesday, Jan. 14. email: flaws@farmpress.com Print Please Log In or Register to post comments. Advertisement Related ArticlesTexas congressman says new farm bill needed now Educating Congress on agriculture: crafting a new farm bill USDA awards $6 million to help farmers with new farm bill NSAC offers Farm Bill assistance guide for new farmers Cotton producers, other farmers may see steeper budget cuts in new farm bill Advertisement Connect With Us TwitterFacebookRSSPodcast Hot Topics

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Rolling Plains producers consider canola Kay Ledbetter Kay Ledbetter, Texas A&M University Growing interest has been sparked by some success of winter canola on the Rolling Plains. At twice the price of wheat, it looks promising, but it also has twice its share of problems, Texas AgriLife Research scientists said. Dr. John Sij, AgriLife Research cropping systems coordinator and agronomist, and David Jones, a research associate, have been planting canola on the AgriLife Research station south of Chillicothe for seven years now. Canola stands for Canadian Oil Low Acid, Sij said. They want to caution producers that canola, like any crop, has its own set of issues to consider, and that it is important to read as much literature as possible to know management expectations before anything is planted. "I just hope this year doesn't give people a false sense of security," Sij said, speaking of the 3,000-plus pounds-per-acre yields realized in the National Winter Canola Variety Trial. "You could get $400 per acre based off yields and price this year at harvest, but those are not typical," he said. The average yield is closer to 1,500 pounds per acre, or $220 per acre. "It's kind of new to this area," Sij said, although canola has been around for awhile. "It's a good rotation crop. Producers are already using Roundup Ready canola to clean up wheat fields if they have grass problems." Jones said in the seven years it has been planted on the research fields, two crops were failures due to freeze and one year it lodged under heavy rains and severe storms. This past year was the best of the seven by far. The canola at the research station is planted as a part of the National Great Plains Winter Canola Variety Trials, coordinated by Kansas State University. Jones planted 78 varieties in two different trials this past year. The overall trial average yield was 2,700 pounds per acre. Winter canola is low in erucic acid, so it is not like other rapeseeds that are of concern, Sij said. The erucic acid has been bred out of the summer and winter varieties. Canola oil is touted as "healthy" oil, and that is part of the reason it is bringing about double the price of wheat right now. In the Rolling Plains of Texas, canola is planted about the same time as wheat but has a narrower planting window. Canola should be planted in late September to about mid-October. "It has to be early enough to establish winter-hardiness," Jones said, "which means about four weeks before the first freeze." While the industry is trying to get more of the crop grown, it is still planted on a limited enough acreage that the closest market is in Oklahoma City, the researchers said. However, if a producer can plant enough acreage or volume and produce the same amount of bushels per acre as wheat – but at twice the price – it is of interest, said Jones. "But management is much more intense," he said. "You have to be more timely than you are with wheat." Concerns producers should consider the short planting window and potential aphid damage before planting and entering into a contract, Sij said. "Aphid populations can explode and they will do significant damage," he said. "You have to stay on top of it." Also, late winter freezes and drought are problems. The crop blooms from late March into April and a freeze during that period can hurt production. "It also requires moisture," he said. "The plant has big leaves and drought can impact its survivability.” Key times for moisture are at plant establishment and as it comes out of dormancy and begins to bloom, Jones said. Harvest also presents another set of concerns. Canola has pods which can shatter easily, so producers have to be careful how they harvest it. Before it gets completely mature, it can be rolled with a pusher, which causes it to dry and allows a more efficient harvest, Sij said. Source URL: http://southwestfarmpress.com/grains/rolling-plains-producers-consider-canola

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Todd Staples: The TT Interview The Texas commissioner of agriculture on the "catastrophic" devastation he's seen from the worst one-year drought in recorded Texas history, what the feds and state are doing and what needs to happen to cope with a potential multiyear drought. by Kate Galbraith Texas Commissioner of Agriculture, Todd Staples - August 29, 2011. Todd Wiseman Todd Staples has seen easier days. Now in his second term as Texas agriculture commissioner, Staples is coping with a full-blown crisis as the worst one-year drought in the state's history drags on, destroying crops and forcing ranchers to sell their livestock, unless they can afford to import hay from states as far away as South Dakota. Staples holds an agricultural economics degree from Texas A&M University and has long been involved with Future Farmers of America. He got his start in politics at age 25 when he ran for city council in the East Texas town of Palestine, where he was born and raised. Later he served in both the Texas House and the Senate before being elected agriculture commissioner for the first time in 2006 (he was re-elected last year). Staples spoke to the Tribune about the devastation he's seeing around Texas. The state and the feds are trying to help, but fundamentally, Staples says, "When it comes to short-term for agriculture, there are not many options." Except rain. This interview was edited and slightly condensed for clarity. TT: Where have you traveled recently within the state, and what are you seeing in terms of the drought? Staples: Well, I had two unique experiences last week. I flew into both San Angelo and the Rio Grande Valley. And when I flew into San Angelo and you look out the window it looks like wintertime — solid brown except for green treetops. And that's pretty indicative of the entire state. But the other extreme was the Rio Grande Valley and McAllen and Mercedes and Brownsville and South Padre Island for the Texas produce convention. And there's actually green grass and cows grazing that aren't just struggling for every blade of grass. And so it was refreshing to see that at least one small area of Texas for at least another week or two has some green grass to be able to survive. But it is truly catastrophic what I've seen across Texas. TT: $5.2 billion of losses — and counting. Staples: And counting. And that is a very conservative number because it really only covers the livestock losses of a little in excess of $2 billion, cotton of about $1.8 billion, lost hay of around $750 [million], and then I think corn and maybe some grain sorghum. It doesn't include produce and vegetables. It doesn't include citrus and other row crops. So that's only a snapshot. And with each passing day, it gets worse. And I was at the Dallas farmers market, I think it was their 75th anniversary, earlier this year, and I was talking to some produce growers in different regions. And the intense heat is what has made this year and this drought cycle — I think it's what led Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon [the state climatologist] to conclude that this is the worst single-year drought in history, with the lack of moisture coupled with the intense, intense, just depredating heat that we're facing. TT: One thing I've been wondering is what percent of farmers — farmers and ranchers — have insurance? Staples: Well, that's the good news. That many of them will be able to survive potentially through this on the row crop side of things because there is a well-established crop insurance when it comes to cotton and corn and grain sorghum. Livestock and dairy, though, there is no insurance. One dairy farmer ... earlier this year, I met with her, and she said, "We're paying $300 a ton for alfalfa," and I said, "Really, what did you pay last winter?" And she said, "$185 [per ton], and we were crying then." And that was early, early in the summer. My little small operation that I still have in East Texas, I paid like $252 [per ton] for range cubes, and then I bought some along through early in the summer, and the last I paid was like $322 per ton. So producers in the beef cattle industry have never gotten out of the winter cycle. They've just gone from feeding in cold weather to feeding in hot weather. TT: What are you hearing from back home in Palestine? Staples: Devastating. Many producers have actually liquidated their herds — just carried everything they have to the sale barns, because [they were struggling to find hay and were running out of pasture]. And it was kind of a methodical process. Some early on saw it happening and read the weather forecast accurately and said, "Look, you can't survive this." Others like me were optimistic, thinking one day without rain means closer to rain one day away, and so we would keep our hay pastures that we don't graze on in wintertime, we'd turn out cattle in there and rotate them in and out, waiting for it to rain. And it never rained. And so they'd just actually — start carrying their heavier calves to sale and then the younger, lighter weight calves to sale, and then culled cows to the sale, and then you'd get into your breeding stock. It's passed onto generations sometimes, those genetics, that are gone now. TT: Talk to me about what the state and the feds are doing to assist. Staples: Couple of different fronts. The disaster declarations have been forthcoming. The feds have released the Conservation Reserve Program lands in some areas for emergency grazing and haying. Low-interest loans are available through the federal programs. Loans don't mean that much in these difficult circumstances because the ability to pay back has just been decimated. I mean, to say this is a crisis is a true understatement to the men and women who are struggling every day to manage through these circumstances. And before I talk about what the state's doing, I might point out that droughts of this nature, the worst in this state's history, are just unplanned, unexpected, unwelcome natural disasters. Texas has a great record of tracking hurricanes coming in and taking precautions to mitigate the damage and the chaos that ensues. But something of this nature is just truly catastrophic of unprecedented proportions, and so there's no amount of planning that you can prepare for. So you do have to manage through it. But nonetheless we are doing things that are of a temporary nature. We have a new and expanded hay hotline that is bringing information together of hay sellers, grazing lands that are available. They're not in Texas but in other parts of the country. [Information on transportation providers is included, too.] We have modernized that hay hotline to include those new elements, and we've also included pricing and weights in there that hasn't been in there previously. This is coming down to staying in business or just completely getting out for the foreseeable future. And so knowing the tonnage and the cost and the quality of hay is very important when you determine whether to ship it in or not. TT: Some [ranchers] I talked to several weeks ago in San Angelo at a cattle auction — I asked them about the hay hotline and they said, "Well it's not very useful because nobody's got hay." And so how do you deal with that? Staples: We've reached out with texasagriculture.gov/hayhotline. A lot of [hay providers] are from out of state even. I recently sent a letter to every commissioner or director or secretary of agriculture in the United States asking them to promote our hay hotline, to get their sellers of hay to put their information on there where [Texans] can have access to it. We've asked for hay waivers, and Gov. Perry has been responsive. And now Louisiana, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas and South Dakota have all either enacted hay waivers (or I think Nebraska had regulations that were similar) that relieves height and weight restrictions so you can get more hay. Because the biggest cost, where there is a surplus of hay, is just the transportation cost of getting it to Texas. TT: So we're transporting hay from South Dakota to Texas? Staples: Yes. Yes. It's just unbelievable. TT: How much does that cost? Staples: Too much. Really too much for the economics to work out for any time period. And now, what is it, almost Sept. 1, the growing season is getting shorter. Even urban Texans know — it's getting darker longer in the mornings when they wake up and it's getting darker earlier in the evening. ... So if it starts raining today, we're still in a world of hurt when it comes to having the available resources we need. Right now farmers are preparing their wheat pastures, their winter wheat pastures, that are so important to the Texas livestock industry to graze these feeder cattle to get them up to a good weight before they put them in the feedlots, and without any moisture — I mean, it's so bad. Earlier this year, early, we had 2 million acres of dry-land cotton that was abandoned. Even irrigated crops in some instances have been abandoned this year. TT: The state climatologist, John Nielsen-Gammon, said that we are likely to be at the start of a multiyear drought. If this goes on, are there any other tools in the toolbox, so to speak, to help farmers and ranchers around the state. Staples: Weathermen have not been my best friend this year. Each weather prediction — forecast — extends it even further til now even to 2012. One thing that's important in this state is that the Legislature passed Proposition 2 that's going to be on ballot this November that will allow for a self-funded revolving bond that will be administered by the Texas Water Development Board. And this is really for municipalities and communities and and water districts. Because now over 800 water providers have issued restrictions, and that number's going to continue to grow. But when it comes to short term for agriculture, there are not many options. I mean, that's the short of it. The long of it — research has led the way where am consumers enjoy the most reliable, the safest and the most affordable food supply than anywhere in the world. We have drought-tolerant crops, greater yields have been made available through research. Our extension system is phenomenal because it takes data and puts it in the hands of farmers and ranchers, who use those production practices and techniques [of which] we're a major exporter. And it's a big part of our economy, it's a big part of jobs. Rural communities are being crippled today because there's no production. No production means no tires are bought. New tractors aren't bought. New pickups aren't bought. New clothes aren't bought. These are dire circumstances in many ares. TT: Will the Texas agriculture sector be able to recover from this drought, and ... how long will recovery take? And will some people just get out of the business to stay out? Staples: This will end the agriculture careers of some operators. Some families will be abandoning what was generations of production. But the real answer is that Texans are survivors. Texans have a heritage of overcoming difficult circumstances and being stronger than ever before. The sheer size of this state, and the diverse environmental conditions creates challenges. Our farmers and ranchers face political battles across the seas that close export markets to our products. They face policy battles internally that presents challenges. And they faced — we haven't even talked about the wildfire consequences associated with this drought. The latest numbers I saw from the Forest Service indicates that almost 20,000 different wildfires have been battled since this season began, scorching over 3.5 million acres, which, by the way, is equivalent to the combined acreage in ... several Northeastern states. TT: I talked to, again, the state climatologists, and scientists are saying that climate change could make droughts like this worse — hotter and dryer. Staples: And that's a reality of what we face. We know the climate changes. And we know that we're experiencing one of the hottest cycles of recorded history and for a prolonged period. And hopefully we will cycle out of this, back to several years of cooler temperatures that allows us to overcome and to get production practices. But it requires us to plan. And I think Texans in the 1950s recognized this. ... If you will remember there was a massive buildup in the '50s of water supplies. Because we were in a crisis. Our population then was ... substantially less than it was today. So we built up available water supplies per capita that positioned us well and we had a continual rise of available water per capita until we got to the '70s and '80s, and our construction of reservoirs stopped, and our population continued to rise, so the per capita availability started going back to where today we're about where we were in the 1950s in available water per population. So Texans have some serious issues. In 1997 I was a part of the Legislature that adopted the statewide water plan and empowered the Water Development Board to put together what I think was something that all Texans, regardless of your political perspective about what good comes out of Austin, can agree [was good]. The Legislature created a water planning system that was from the bottom up, when we created the 16 regional water plans. This was phenomenally important because it put the water planners in the local regions in the driver's seat to determine the needs of their specific communities and regions. Then that's compiled at the state level to where we were going through this water planning cycle and identifying the forecasted needs and trying to reach them. Texans have some real decisions to make. New reservoirs are a part of that water planning process. It's not the only solution, but it's a big, big part of the solution. And many people from all walks of political life don't want to see new water reservoirs constructed. And I have hunted and fished and played in a lot of river bottoms, and I love it — it is an experience that every Texan and every person even from Washington, D.C., should have the opportunity to do. But we have to have new water resources or we're going to be an economy that cannot sustain our growth and our jobs that we know are very critical. But we also need to have policies that encourage the movement of water when we have more water than we need for the planning process on the horizon but that also discourages the movement of water when it only shifts a problem from one region of the state to the other. Our friends in Oklahoma and Louisiana — we have ongoing dialogues about moving water into Texas. We have to continue that discussion, work through the legal hurdles, and it needs to be profitable for the area where that water's moved from. That is a realistic consideration that has to be factored into what we're doing. TT: You mentioned the '50s. Did your parents or grandparents live through that? Staples: They did. And [it was] just unprecedented. ... I've talked to producers in their 80s, from all walks of life, and they look me in the eye and say, "Staples, we don't know when it's been this bad. This dry. And this hot." And you'll remember, earlier this year we had sustained winds that were just drying out the topsoil. And so you have a combination of factors that led to the dire consequences that we're facing today.

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Advertisement Home > Penn resigns USDA position Penn resigns USDA position Comments 0 J.B. Penn, undersecretary of agriculture for farm and foreign agricultural services and one of the few members of USDA's top hierarchy with ties to the Mid-South, has submitted his resignation, effective at the end of August. A native of Lynn, Ark., and a graduate of Arkansas State University, Penn had overseen the activities of the Farm Service agency, the Foreign Agricultural Service and the Risk Management Agency since being sworn in as undersecretary in May 2001. His resignation letter said only that he planned to return to the private sector. Penn was serving as senior vice president and manager of the Washington, D.C., office of Sparks Companies, Inc., when he was tapped by then-Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman to become undersecretary for farm and foreign agricultural services, the third highest-ranking post at USDA. Prior to joining Sparks, he was president of the Washington, D.C.-based Economic Perspectives, Inc., an agricultural policy consulting firm. Although he hailed from the Mid-South, Penn's political and economic philosophy differed markedly from cotton and rice farmers who make up the majority of producers in the region, according to Washington observers. While the majority of the latter have been strong supporters of farm programs, Penn reportedly was one of USDA's chief proponents of the farm program reform that was expected to be the cornerstone of the administration's approach to the 2007 farm bill. Print Please Log In or Register to post comments. Advertisement Related ArticlesHawks resigns USDA position Penn submits resignation as undersecretary of agriculture COLUMN: USDA's Penn top farm bill defender COLUMN: USDA's Penn farm bill defender USDA seeks nominees for Cotton Board positions Advertisement Connect With Us TwitterFacebookRSSPodcast Hot Topics

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The Drought Keeps Pushing Up Beef Prices, and It May Soon Impact Your Barbecue Budget Tuesday, February 18, 2014 at 11:25 a.m. Brisket: Outperforming your 401k. Catherine Downes Beef: It's what's for rich people.Prices of Texas' most loved protein source continue to rise this year, reflecting the impact of more than three years of drought. Weather conditions have forced ranchers to cull their herds in response to water access and feed prices, and the U.S. cattle heard has fallen to its lowest level since 1950. It's projected to dip further.The continuing decline is only expected to push beef prices higher, to levels that might soon affect the most staunch beef consumers on earth: Texas Barbecue fans.Jill Bergus runs Lockhart Smokehouse with her husband Jeff, and she says their beef costs have been rising about 7 percent per year for the last three years. "We've been able to keep our prices steady since we've opened, " Jill says of her restaurant menu, "but I think it's something we're going to have to re-evaluate.Justin Fourton, who owns Pecan Lodge at the Farmers Market, says he has yet to raise prices, either. "We're taking a hit, more or less," he says. If prices continue to rise at their current rate through spring and into summer, though, "I don't think we'll have a choice."Hiking menu prices is not to be taken lightly, as customers are very sensitive to changes, according to Bergus. If she raises the price for a pound of smoked brisket too high, customers can decide to grab some pastor tacos for lunch instead. So when price of brisket rises, owners are pretty much forced to absorb it.They could always switch to pork barbecue, but if that happens enough Texas may start to smell a bit like Tennessee."Yeah, we thought about putting more turkey on," says Fourton. "But it just won't work. There's not enough demand for it."

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Home + Garden → Voting ends soon for Seeds of Change grant money to benefit local farms, community gardens and school children Suzanne Sproul, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin To vote, visit the Seeds of Change website at www.seedsofchangegrant.com. Individuals can search by city, ZIP code or garden name. Participants can vote once a day through April 21. Residents can vote to help educate individuals of all ages about the importance of local gardens and its tie to nutritious food.Schoolchildren, food and nutrition programs and other garden- or farm-related organizations are getting down and dirty in a friendly competition in hopes of earning seed money. Seeds of Change of Rancho Dominguez is offering $190,000 to help support school/community gardens and farms. This is the third year that the maker of organically grown seeds and organic foods has sponsored the national program. The company invited grassroots programs to participate and they have responded in droves. The list of those vying for the prizes is lengthy and contains entries from gardens large and small. Southern California is well-represented in the hunt for grant dollars.Now through Monday, individuals can vote for their favorite group. The top 50 organizations that receive the most votes will move on to the final judging phase. In that phase, two will be chosen to receive $20,000 each and 15 will receive $10,000 each. “We want to enable communities to teach people where food comes from while supporting sustainable practices,” said Manish Amin, associate brand manager for Seeds of Change. “We are passionate about how food is grown and the people who grow it.”The Seeds of Change grants are designed to help enhance the environmental, economic and social well-being of gardens, farms, farmers and communities across the country. The program is funded by the company’s “1 Percent Fund,” its commitment to donate 1 percent of its global net sales to community-based nutrition, gardening and farming programs, Amin said. Four examples of local gardens hoping for success are the Lopez Community School Garden in Pomona, Long Beach Grows Unity Farm, the CORE Academy Outdoor Lab at Arroyo Valley High School in San Bernardino and Kindred Spirits Care Farm in Reseda.“Our garden is relatively new, having been given two acres of land to Lopez School in August 2013,” said Jesus Peralta, the school principal. “Our long-term goals for our site include classroom and family plots, an orchard, a vineyard, an ethno-botanic garden to help instructors teach California history and to draw in pollinators and an accessibility garden for Lopez’s special education preschool students.” Grant money would be used to install infrastructure, such as drip irrigation on a timer, buy fruit trees and seedlings for permanent plantings, and buy seed for the school’s interim projects — a large pumpkin patch and a watermelon patch. “We are anticipating that our garden can give our urban students hands-on experience growing plants from seed, harvesting and collecting seeds to complete the cycle, exploring the relationship between food and pollinators/beneficial insects, and gardening for health,” Peralta said. “Our ethno-botanic garden will give students an opportunity to see how food systems have changed in California from Native American gathering and foraging to the advent of agriculture during the Mission and Gold Rush eras and the present. Students should understand and appreciate the connection between water, climate, season and food.” He noted that Lopez Elementary already has achieved the important goal of involving the community in the school and garden. During four workdays, more than 150 students and parents volunteered. Long Beach Grows created the city’s first community farm co-op, Unity Farm. If selected for grant money, Donna Marykwas said it would be used to relocate the site.“Our host asked for his land back to build a parking lot,” she said. “Right now we are in transition. We are looking for space and considering our options. Our goal is half an acre from someone supportive of urban agriculture.“Ours is unlike any other project in Long Beach. Rather than everybody working in their own garden plots, we all work together on shared land, sharing in the labor, sharing in the harvest, sharing with the community and learning from each other. This empowers people to grow at least some of their own food.” It works because supporters transform underutilized land into local food productivity, bringing people together to build a healthier community and reducing the reliance on conventional, long-distance agriculture, according to Marykwas.“Organic isn’t good enough,” she said. “We don’t use synthetic chemicals as pesticides or fertilizers or even organic pesticides that are toxic. Instead, we use safe organic approaches for pest control and soil building.“Long Beach Grows’ vision is a city that feeds itself. Long Beach is far from this. Quality real food is accessible primarily to the wealthy. The goal should be access to affordable, quality, culturally appropriate food to communities that need it. One way is through community farm co-ops throughout the city, in every neighborhood.” There are many other ways in which farming cooperatively is more environmentally sustainable, she said. “This is why we ask for support of Long Beach Grows, to relocate our farm co-op so that we may continue to bring healthy food and relevant education to people who need it and want it,” she said.Agriculture and sustainable growing is part of a four-year curriculum at the CORE Academy Outdoor Lab at Arroyo Valley High School. CORE stands for cultivating organic recycling environmentalists, according to Laura Gallardo, program coordinator and agriculture teacher. “What we are trying to do is train our kids in learning about sustainable systems and edible landscaping,” Gallardo said. “This is a completely voluntary program but students learn practical skills and elective credit. And the program is integrated into their classroom studies. Gardening is the learning base. We started with 100 students and now we have 250.”The program would use grant money to expand the present one-acre site to include an orchard and allow for student instruction on pruning and design elements. “We want to provide opportunities to our students so they can have some work experience and good college transcripts as well as allowing them to be well-rounded people,” she said. Kindred Spirits Care Farm in Reseda sits on one acre of high school farmland to help at-risk children. “It is a truly an urban farm complete with farm animals — chickens, geese, ducks, goats and a pig,” said Karen Snook, executive director. “The farm acts as a living laboratory where the kids can see, feel and actively engage with physics, chemistry, horticulture and business. The greenhouse, compost bin and veggie garden are used for learning about sustainable living, nutrition, nature and self-reliance. And we share the learning with anyone and everyone willing to participate.” Families, other schools, volunteers and members of the public are welcome to participate. Whatever produce is not used to feed the students or sold at the farmers market is given to the local food bank. “A grant will help us build a new greenhouse and bring irrigation to the veggie garden,” Snook said. “The current tiny greenhouse was built by a parent many years ago with fiberglass panels, wood slats and good intentions, but it can’t last much longer. We need a new one, but this urban school farm suffers from chronic underfunding.” A new greenhouse would allow students to start seeds in flats and observe them in detail as they grow. Potential science experiments abound. “Ideally, we would have a greenhouse big enough that many people at once could view planting demonstrations, and other learning events. And it could be a place where each child could have his own set of plants to learn personal responsibility and reap the rewards of nurturing his own plants from seed to table,” she said. Click here to subscribe to Digital & Home Delivery - 50% off Reach the author at ssproul@scng.com Full bio and more articles by Suzanne Sproul

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Smile, You're on Weedcam! Bio-economic weed computer models focus weed control to lower costs and herbicide use. The problem is simple and ubiquitous. If you've ever grown a garden, it's highly probable that your good plants shared precious soil, water, and nutrients with weeds. Preventing or controlling weeds isn't easy. You can treat them chemically or get down in the dirt and pull them out by hand. And chances are they will grow back in a couple of weeks. Now imagine if your garden covered 1,000 acres or more. That's the dilemma facing today's crop producers. Right after World War II, American farmers took advantage of new chemicals like 2,4-D to control weeds in corn. It was cheap and effective, though it has largely been abandoned because of environmental concerns. Today's agricultural chemical prices have skyrocketed, partly because of increased oil prices (many chemicals are petroleum-based) and partly because of high research and development costs. Mounting concerns over water polluted by agricultural chemicals further complicate the picture. But farmers can't afford to ignore the issue. Losses from weeds for 46 major commodities in the United States were estimated at $4.1 billion in 1991. Without herbicides, it is estimated, losses would have been more than $19 billion. So agriculture's challenge is formidable: sustain food production by controlling weeds, but do it with fewer chemicals to avoid contaminating soil and water. To meet this challenge, crop producers must be armed with as much information as possible about weeds, control options, and consequences. Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station researchers Donald Lybecker, a professor of agriculture and resource economics, and Phillip Westra, professor of bioagricultural sciences and pest management, joined forces with United States Department of Agriculture researcher Edward Schweizer to meet the challenge head- on. They combined their crop and weed science expertise with the number-crunching power of computers to develop bio-economic models that give farmers realistic choices for weed control schemes. "What's neat about the bio-economic weed computer model," Lybecker says, "is that it integrates scientific information and data with specific information that producers provide about their crops." A model named Weedcam focuses on irrigated corn production. After corn plants emerge, the producer counts weeds and weed species, measures distribution of the weeds, and records the maturity of the corn and weeds. The computer factors all this with current prices of herbicides available for weed control, costs of custom or self-application of herbicides, efficiency or effectiveness of treatments using various herbicides, and expected price of the crop at harvest. The computer program then delivers weed control choices to the producer with associated costs and estimated profitability. But that's not the end of the story. The information is archived for future use in a computer database called the Weed Bank. The number of weeds counted in the field, for example, is an important factor regarding application of pre-emergence herbicides in succeeding crops. Results show that growers who use computer models like Weedcam are about 80 percent more successful in reducing weeds, cutting herbicide applications and costs, and improving profitability than growers who make decisions without their help. Though that's a significant improvement, Lybecker and Westra are constantly tinkering with the models to make them better. "Like any process, we need to fine tune it," Lybecker says. They are considering ways to factor in mechanical weed control, effects of weeds left in the field, and information about risks associated with various levels of control. And finally, the models could include an environmental quality index that rates expected impact on the environment by different weed control schemes. "The models are doing the job of helping us become smarter about weed control," says Lybecker. "They're useful to crop consultants, Cooperative Extension professionals, and farmers in that never-ending battle against those pesky weeds."

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Farmhouse Pavia, the best farmhouses in Pavia Farmhouse LombardyFarmhouse Borgo Priolo Discover Pavia Guide to vacation Pavia The Lombardy province of Pavia has over seventy thousand inhabitants. Its history is closely connected with its proximity to the Ticino river: Ticinum was the name of Pavia when it was the ancient capital of the Lombard kingdom. One of the monuments not to be missed for its beauty and history is the Basilica of San Michele. The Basilica of San Michele was the scene of the coronation of the Carolingian kings Berengar II, Adalberto II and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Pavia Cathedral is surmounted by an imposing dome, the third largest in Italy. The famous Certosa monastery was built in the second half of the fourteenth century, during the rule of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan. Pavia is an historical university city. The University of Pavia is among the most prestigious in Italy. The University of Pavia was founded by Emperor Lothario in 825. One of the oldest in Europe, its university professors have included Ugo Foscolo, Alessandro Volta and other distinguished figures of this calibre. The province of Pavia is mainly devoted to agriculture, producing wine, rice and cereals. The Oltrepò Pavese wine is familiar to lovers of Bacchus. Indeed, the Oltrepò Pavese area is rightly described as "shaped like a cluster of grapes". Oltrepò Pavese consists of plains, hills and mountains. Wine production flourishes, especially in the hillside area that rises to 300m above sea level. The Lomellina area is known for its castles and many ancient traditions. The Lomellina is a particularly wet zone, which has encouraged the cultivation of rice, a crop of great importance to the area. Historically the Lomellina has been heavily contested by the large cities bordering it.

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Russia Invests in American Cows By Anatoly Medetsky Jun. 07 2013 00:00 Last edited 19:10 WikipediaMiratorg now has over 72,000 Aberdeen Angus cattle grazing locally. The right species of foreign agent can get incentives to prosper and propagate in Russia, as shown by a deal announced Thursday. A unit of state-controlled lender Sberbank said it agreed to loan 1 billion rubles ($33 million) to an agricultural company for expanding its herd of U.S. bovines. Owned by Miratorg Agribusiness Holding, the herd of 12,000 meat cows and bulls from Arkansas grazes in the country's westernmost region of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea. One of Russia's largest agricultural investors, Miratorg brought in the first shipment of the Aberdeen Angus cattle to the region in December. A unique long term loan is allowing a local agricultural investor to expand its herd of American bovine. It also runs the country's biggest beef farm near Bryansk, where the Aberdeen Angus herd consists of more than 60,000 head. Miratorg is betting on the government's plan to reduce dependence on foreign agricultural products. Russia is now the world's biggest beef importer, with an annual bill of $3 billion. The loan sets a milestone for the farming industry. It's the first time an agricultural company borrowed for a period of 15 years. Enabling these sort of long-term loans, the Cabinet in December extended to as many years the time period for which it will refund the interest paid on them. "The fact … allows us to feel more confident when carrying out major projects with long production cycles," Miratorg President Viktor Linnik said in a statement. There have been cattle imports by other farms around Russia, and U.S. breeder Darrell Stevenson even set up a ranch to facilitate the animal immigrants infiltration of local pastures. The enthusiasm about U.S. livestock came before Russia banned imports of U.S. beef — as well as pork and chicken — in February, saying it didn't like the use of feed additive ractopamine. The government is unlikely to lift the restriction soon, as some observers believe the measure relates more to politics than to safety issues. It may have been retaliation for recent U.S. legislation that punishes Russian officials implicated in human rights violations. Contact the author at medetsky@imedia.ru Facebook

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Klamath Basin farmers get rights to grow and market new purple potato by | August 16, 2009 CORVALLIS, OR -- Klamath Basin Fresh Direct, an association of potato farmers along the Oregon-California border, has been awarded exclusive rights to grow and market a new purple fingerling developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and three Northwest universities. The potato is called Purple Pelisse, named for an intense hue inside and out. The tuber is the first specialty spud that Oregon State University, the University of Idaho, Washington State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have jointly made available for public consumption. It is called a specialty because it is not like a traditional potato with white flesh and brown skin, such as russets, commonly used for french fries. Dan Chin, chairman of the association, said that his company was interested in the Purple Pelisse because it is looking to expand its color spectrum with a potato that it can grow on a small scale for a niche market. Klamath Basin Fresh Direct produces two potatoes: a red-skinned spud and a small, white- skinned variety. "Right now, there's not a good purple fingerling on the market," Mr. Chin said in a press release. "But this one has good flavor and looks good. It fits the bill for what we think a consumer might want." Mr. Chin said that Klamath Basin Fresh Direct, which beat four other bids, plans to market it as a potato that can be boiled, fried and roasted. The group plans to change the name of the potato, which it will grow organically and market to high-end supermarkets and restaurants in the United States. He hopes to eventually promote it overseas. In November, Mr. Chin will take it to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and the Philippines as part of a trade mission with the Oregon Department of Agriculture. The eye-catching potato, which takes its name from a cloak, is unusual because few purple fingerlings are available to the public, according to Isabel Vales, a potato breeder at OSU. But the Purple Pelisse is more than just a rare breed. It also has three times greater potential to protect cells from damage caused by free radicals compared with the russet Burbank, according to a study conducted by Shelley Jansky, a research geneticist with the USDA. Ms. Jansky stressed, however, that this ability depended on where and in what year the potatoes were grown. The new tater's possible health benefits come from antioxidants, which are mainly in the form of anthocyanin pigments and vitamin C. Anthocyanins cause the purple color and aren't found in brown-skinned, white-fleshed potatoes. The Purple Pelisse will not be available in supermarkets or restaurants until at least the fall of 2011, since it will take that long to produce enough seed potatoes for commercial production. Videos

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Contact A Location Near You free-shipping Free Shipping Dadant Beekeeping Products american-made-stainless Dadant.com USDA Provides $8 Million to Help Boost Declining Honey Bee Population Five Midwest States Receive Additional Incentives to Establish Honey Bee Habitats WASHINGTON, June 20, 2014 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), today announced $8 million in Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) incentives for Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin farmers and ranchers who establish new habitats for declining honey bee populations. More than half of the commercially managed honey bees are in these five states during the summer. Today’s announcement comes in addition to $3 million USDA designated to the Midwest states to support bee populations earlier this year through the Natural Resources Conservation Service Environmental Quality Incentives Program. “American agricultural production relies on having a healthy honey bee population,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “In recent years, factors such as diseases, parasites, pesticides or habitat loss have contributed to a significant decline in the honey bee population. This $8 million is part of the Administration’s ongoing strategy to reverse these trends and establish more plant habitat on Conservation Reserve Program lands to restore the bee population.” The new CRP pollinator initiative is designed to further enhance current CRP land, allowing it to provide better access to nutritious pollinator forage. The program allows for managing or replacing existing vegetation, known as ‘covers’, with lower cost, high nutrition seed mixes that can support distinct blooming cycles of plants that benefit pollinators. Honey bees, the pollinator workhorse of U.S. fruit and vegetable agriculture, will have more blooms from which to collect nectar and pollen to sustain and promote colony growth and honey production throughout the growing season. By assisting honey bees, the pollinator initiative helps USDA continue to secure the food supply. More than $15 billion worth of agricultural production, including over 130 fruits and vegetables, depend on the health and well-being of honey bees. Now is a critical time for efforts to support honey bee populations. The honey bee population in the United States has been declining for decades. The number of managed U.S. honey bee colonies dropped from 6 million in 1947, to just 2.5 million today. This week, President Obama issued a memorandum directing U.S. government agencies to take additional steps to protect and restore domestic populations of pollinators, including honey bees. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy will co-chair a new Pollinator Health Task Force to focus federal efforts to conduct research and take action to help pollinators recover from population losses. This includes a public education campaign to teach people ways that they can help pollinators in their own homes or businesses. USDA is already actively pursuing solutions to the multiple problems affecting honey bee health. The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) maintains four laboratories across the country conducting research into all aspects of bee genetics, breeding, biology and physiology, with special focus on bee nutrition, control of pathogens and parasites, the effects of pesticide exposure and the interactions between each of these factors. The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) supports bee research efforts through grants and research to Land Grant Universities. The Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) conducts national honey bee pest and disease surveys and provides border inspections to prevent new invasive bee pests from entering the U.S. The Farm Service Agency (FSA) and NRCS work on improved forage and habitat for bees through programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and EQIP. Additionally, the Economic Research Service (ERS) is currently examining the direct economic costs of the pollinator problem and the associated indirect economic impacts, and the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) conducts limited surveys of honey production, number of colonies, price, and value of production which provide some data essential for research by the other agencies. The CRP pollinator initiative, administered by the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA), takes advantage of the new pollinator seed mixes developed by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. FSA also recently announced the restart of continuous enrollments in CRP, including its Pollinator Habitat Initiative to enroll 100,000 acres of longer lasting meadows of high-quality native wildflowers that support honey bees, pollinators and other wildlife populations. For more information about new the pollinator initiative in the five Midwestern states, the continuous enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program, and the pollinator habitat initiative, agricultural producers are encouraged to contact their local FSA office or go online at www.fsa.usda.gov. Dadant & Sons, Inc. | 51 South 2nd St | Hamilton, IL 62341 | phone: 217.847.3324 | email: dadant@dadant.com© 2015 Dadant & Sons, Inc. | website by Clever Ogre | Admin

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Tom Gorey BLM Seeks Bids for New Long-Term Pastures to Care for Wild Horses As part of its responsibility to manage and protect wild horses and burros, the Bureau of Land Management is soliciting bids for new long-term pasture facilities – located in the continental United States west of the Mississippi River – that provide a free-roaming environment. The solicitation is for one or more pasture facilities accommodating 800 to 2,000 wild horses. Each pasture facility must be able to provide humane care for a one-year period, with a renewal option under BLM contract for a five- to 10-year period. The BLM may require having one or two public and/or media tours hosted by agency staff and the contractor during the life of the contract. The solicitation is open until October 1, 2012, and is 100 percent set aside for small businesses under the North American Industry Classification System.The BLM’s bidding requirements are posted in solicitation L12PS00589, the details of which are available at http://www.fedconnect.net. To obtain the solicitation: (1) click on "Search Public Opportunities"; (2) under Search Criteria, select "Reference Number"; (3) put in the solicitation number (L12PS00589); and (4) click "Search” and the solicitation information will appear. The solicitation form describes what to submit and where to send it. Applicants must be registered at http://www.ccr.gov to be considered for a contract award.The BLM manages wild horses and burros as part of its overall multiple-use mission. Under the authority of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, the BLM manages and protects these special animals – declared by Congress to be “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West” – while ensuring that population levels are in balance with other public rangeland resources and uses. To make sure that healthy herds thrive on healthy rangelands, the BLM must remove thousands of animals from the range each year to control the size of herds, which have virtually no predators and can double in population every four years. The current free-roaming population of BLM-managed wild horses and burros is estimated to be 37,300, which exceeds by nearly 11,000 the number determined by the BLM to be the appropriate management level. Off the range, as of June 2012, there are more than 45,000 wild horses and burros cared for in either short-term corrals or long-term pastures. All these animals, whether on or off the range, are protected by the BLM under the 1971 law. The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. In Fiscal Year 2015, the BLM generated $4.1 billion in receipts from activities occurring on public lands.

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Climate Corporation wants to push precision ag to new heights Jan 20, 2017 Pigposium III slated for Feb. 28 in Forrest City Jan 18, 2017 2017 Farm and Gin Show: A first look at all that’s new Know cost of growing a bushel ‘to the cent’ Jan 13, 2017 Bush budget includes new payment limits Forrest Laws Farm Press Editorial Staff | Feb 18, 2005 You can't say that the Bush administration “pulled any punches” in announcing its budget proposal to cut agricultural spending by $587 million in fiscal 2006, in part, by capping farm program payments at $250,000 per farmer per year. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, in office less than a month, dealt with questions such as whether the proposal meant the administration was changing the rules on farmers “in the middle of the game” and “why it decided to take on payment limits” head on. “Farmers are going to understand that our country cannot run a deficit at this level and expect anything good to come out of that over the long term,” said Johanns. “Farmers will understand that we have to deal with the deficit if they are going to have a long-term future in agriculture — not only for their generation but for the next generation.” Under the president's proposal for agriculture, Congress will be asked to lower the payment limit cap for individuals to $250,000 for commodity payments, including all types of marketing loan gains, eliminating the three-entity rule, and basing marketing loans on historical production. The budget also proposes reducing direct payments to row crop farmers and dairy payments by 5 percent; requiring the dairy price-support program to minimize expenditures; and extending the Milk Income Loss Contract program for two years. It would also impose a sugar marketing assessment to be paid by sugar processors on all processed sugar. Administration sources said the plan would make 15 percent of crop output ineligible for “non-recourse” loans, long a marketing tool of farmers who can forfeit the loan collateral to the government if prices do not rise sufficiently to warrant redeeming it from the loan. Asked why, when the administration could reduce spending in any number of ways, it chose to make cuts by lowering the payment limits, Johanns said the administration was attempting to spread the pain of deficit reduction. “If this budget sends a signal about anything it's that everybody is going to be a part of this initiative,” he said. “As I studied this budget, what impressed me about it was just simply the effort to make choices that were maybe difficult choices but they were the right choices in terms of that message that we all have to be a part of the deficit reduction process.” Under the three-entity rule, farmers were able to receive maximum payments of $360,000 for themselves and through participation in two other entities. Reducing the limit to $250,000 is expected to fall hardest on cotton and rice producers, who have higher input costs for their major crops Johanns said 2006 CCC outlays are projected to decline by about $5 billion, in part due to projected commodity-price recovery. Further, the administration's proposal to reform farm support programs will account for savings of about $587 million in CCC outlays. Over a 10-year period, these reforms are expected to save nearly $5.7 billion Congressional opposition to the proposals was muted, although Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran of Mississippi earlier promised to “work as hard as I can to prevent any changes to the 2002 farm bill.” Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., called the proposal “long overdue,” and said he would work to pass the lower payment limits. Johanns said he does not believe reducing farm programs payments would have a negative impact on the U.S. government's bargaining position in the Doha Round of World Trade Organization negotiations. Some opponents of spending cuts have said they would send the wrong signal in the middle of efforts to change world trading rules. “The person most equipped is Ambassador Robert Zoellick because he's involved in that on a day-to-day basis,” said Johanns. “But I really don't see this having a negative impact on the negotiations of the Doha Round. My belief is that strengthening our economy is always a good thing, and that's exactly how I see this budget.” The administration proposal would also save about $140 million on federal crop insurance subsidies by tying the receipt of direct payments from farm programs to the purchase of crop insurance and changes in fees, premium rates and delivery expenses beginning in 2007. “Net outlays for crop insurance have grown nearly 50 percent between 2001 and 2004 with the implementation of the crop insurance reforms of 2000,” said Johanns. “At the same time, producers have continued to receive disaster payments through ad hoc disaster programs. “The president's budget includes proposals to enhance crop insurance coverage, and reduce costs to deliver the program, so that crop insurance will provide coverage that is sufficient to sustain most farmers in times of loss.” In a press briefing after the White House announced the president's fiscal 2006 budget proposals, Johanns defended the USDA portion of the budget as meeting the Agriculture Department's most important priorities, while exercising fiscal discipline to help meet the president's deficit reduction goals. “The president's agriculture budget is fiscally responsible, insures a strong safety net for farmers and ranchers and increases resources to help those in need,” said Johanns. “It provides funds to protect America's food supply and agriculture systems, improve nutrition and health, conserve and enhance our natural resources and enhance economic opportunities for agricultural producers.” Johanns said that total USDA outlays increased from about $72 billion in 2004 to $94.9 billion in 2005 and are projected to remain at roughly that level in 2006 at $94.6 billion. Most of the 2004 increase came from higher CCC outlays for commodity programs ($13 billion) and domestic nutrition assistance ($7 billion). “The higher 2005 CCC outlays reflect higher loan deficiency and other crop payments due to lower crop prices and disaster payments,” he said. “Outlays for CCC are estimated to decline by about $5 billion between 2005, which included outlays from disaster supplemental funds, and 2006.” The president's budget proposes $3.8 billion to continue implementation of the conservation programs authorized in the 2002 farm bill, including $2 billion for the Conservation Reserve Program. It would also provide $72 million in additional resources to extend the Conservation Security Program into about 200 additional watersheds in 2006. The remainder of the $3.8 billion will support enrollment of an additional 25 million acres in conservation programs, largely in EQIP. The budget also proposes $376 million in USDA funding for the multi-agency Food and Agriculture Defense Initiative, which is funded at nearly $600 million government-wide. This initiative, which is aimed at shielding the public from bioterrorism threats, would receive $317 million for programs and $59 million to complete construction of the National Centers for Animal Health in Ames, Iowa. Funding for programs reflects a $140 million increase above 2005, including: $37 million in increases to strengthen the Food Emergency Response Network and the Regional Diagnostic Network to insure the capacity to respond quickly to food emergencies and plant and animal diseases; $35 million in increases for research to develop the means to quickly identify pathogens, develop improved vaccines and better understand the genes that provide disease resistance; and $51 million in funds to enhance surveillance and monitoring activities to quickly detect pest and disease threats. The 2006 budget proposes funding for continued testing and implementation of the National Animal Identification System and an increase of $7.5 million for an enhanced BSE research program. “The additional research funding is directed to increasing our scientific understanding of the disease and developing the technology needed by regulatory agencies to establish science-based policies and control programs,” said Johanns. e-mail: [email protected]

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/ Sidney, Montana / Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory / Pest Management Research Research Project: REDUCING THE IMPACT OF INVASIVE WEEDS IN NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS RANGELANDS THROUGH BIOLOGICAL CONTROL AND COMMUNITY RESTORATION Pest Management Research Title: Propagule pressure, genetic structure, and geographic origins of Chondrilla juncea (Asteraceae): An apomictic invader on three continents) Author Gaskin, John Schwarzlaender, Mark Kinter, Lynn Smith, Jim Novak, Steve Submitted to: American Journal of Botany Citation: Gaskin, J.F., Schwarzlaender, M., Kinter, L., Smith, J., Novak, S. 2013. Propagule pressure, genetic structure, and geographic origins of Chondrilla juncea (Asteraceae): An apomictic invader on three continents. American Journal of Botany. 100(9):1871–1882. Interpretive Summary: Rush skeletonweed is an important invasive plant in western North America, and considered the worst invasive plant in Idaho and the most problematic weed of wheat growing regions in Australia. Some of the rush skeletonweed varieties in the USA and Australia are resistant to biological control fungi used to control them. We used genetic data to identify how many genotypes of rush skeletonweed are in the invaded countries, and then we compared those to collections from the source range (Eurasia) so that we could find the origins of invasive genotypes. We were able to find exact matches for five of the 13 invasive genotypes, and highly similar matches for three other genotypes . This will allow biological control researchers to go to exact locations in Eurasia to search for additional fungi that should attack these invasive genotypes. Also, we determined where the USA and Australia genotypes are distributed so that future releases of fungi will not be wasted on areas where plants genotypes are known to be resistant to a specific strain of fungus. Assessing the propagule pressure and geographic origins of invasive populations using molecular markers provides insights into the invasion process. Rush skeletonweed (Chondrilla juncea) is an apomictic perennial plant that is invasive in Australia, Argentina, Canada and the USA. Invasive biotypes from various invaded areas have been described using morphology, phenology, allozyme diversity, and resistance to control agents. However, no study has comprehensively compared native and invasive populations from the three invaded regions using a highly polymorphic molecular marker system. In this study, we analyzed 1056 native range plants from Eurasia and 1156 plants from three invaded regions (North America, Australia and Argentina) using Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphic (AFLP) techniques. We found 682 unique AFLP genotypes in the native range, but only 13 in the three invaded regions. Each invaded region contained distinct AFLP genotypes, suggesting independent introduction events, probably with different geographic origins. This comparison of native and invasive populations indicates that relatively low propagule pressure is associated with the introduction of rush skeletonweed around the globe. Our results increased the number of known genotypes in North America from three to seven, but we failed to find additional genotypes in Australia and Argentina. AMOVA analysis indicated that genetic diversity in the native range is partitioned equally within and among populations. In Argentina, most of the genetic diversity is found within populations, whereas in North America and Australia diversity is mostly found among populations. There was a significant correlation between geographical and genetic distance in the native range, and we found exact AFLP genotype matches between the native and invasive ranges for five of the 13 invasive genotypes. We found high genetic similarity (> 0.95) for three other genotypes. The results of this analysis shed new light onto the invasion of rush skeletonweed around the globe, and they also hold significance for the management of this destructive plant, especially future biological control efforts.

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العربية中文englishfrançaisРусскийEspañol Who we areWhy we partnerHow to partnerStrategiesNews ArchivePartnerships in actionEvents Home > Partnerships > News Archive Civil SocietyPrivate SectorFAO-AcademiaParliamentary alliancesOthersSouth-south coperation IFPRI and FAO Joint Statement - Partnership for Better Food Security and Nutrition 21 Sep 2016 The first ever visit of FAO Director-General to IFPRI’s headquarters in Washington last week celebrated four decades of rich partnership that has generated cutting-edge technical knowledge and enhanced expertise for supporting food security and improved nutrition. In warmly welcoming FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva, IFPRI’s Director General Shenggen Fan noted that the IFPRI-FAO partnership is built on a shared commitment to make agriculture and food systems more inclusive, productive, resilient, and sustainable. Together, FAO and IFPRI have helped enhance the capacity of policy makers to make evidence-based policy decisions, create information resources and networks for food security, strengthen the focus... 10 key questions to understand South-South Cooperation Day, 12 September 12 Sep 2016 12 September 2016, Rome – Today marks the UN’s South-South Cooperation (SSC) day. Here we seize the opportunity to review some key issues which help understand why South-South Cooperation is an effective and efficient mean to achieving a world without hunger. So, did you really know… 1.Why 12 September is the South-South Cooperation Day? The General Assembly of the United Nations decided back in 2003 to observe this day every year to highlight the importance of South-South Cooperation “as an important element of international cooperation for development, which offers viable opportunities for developing countries and countries with economies in transition in their... $15 million in USAID funding looks to spark ‘new era’ in agricultural data collection 07 Sep 2016 7 September 2016, Rome - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and FAO have signed a $15 million agreement aimed at boosting the capacity of developing countries to track key agricultural data -information that is essential to good policymaking and that will help track progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Dominican Guadalupe Valdez appointed Special Ambassador for Zero Hunger 02 Sep 2016 Guadalupe Valdez, a prominent Dominican economist and former Congresswoman, has been named Special Ambassador for Zero Hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean, in recognition of her contributions to the fulfilment of the right to food throughout the region. The Zero Hunger Challenge is a global initiative launched by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and aims to eradicate hunger worldwide. "My pledge to fight to eradicate hunger and malnutrition is a non-negotiable ethical commitment, not only to my country but to all peoples of the world," Guadalupe... The Parliamentary Fronts against Hunger of eight countries of Mesoamerica and Colombia join their efforts to eradicate hunger 25 Aug 2016 The Parliamentarians, who gathered together in San José, Costa Rica, are working to achieve the new Sustainable Development Goals, and especially the Goal2 which aims at ending hunger and malnutrition by 2030. The first meeting of Mesoamerica's Parliamentary Fronts and Colombia will strengthen their cooperation, exchange experiences and define the priority areas of the legislative agendas of Mesoamerica and Colombia. During the meeting, the Parliamentary Fronts against Hunger of Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Costa Rica,... New Parliamentary Alliance to Shore Up Food Security and Nutrition in Africa 01 Aug 2016 FAO, the Pan-African Parliament and the Parliamentary Front against Hunger together for Food and Nutrition Security in Africa Johannesburg - The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) delivered a workshop with PAP Parliamentarians in South Africa, to advance... Bucking the trend by investing in traditional agriculture in the Cook Islands 20 Jul 2016 What led Tini Jack and her husband Gelling, a couple from the Cook Islands, give up comfortable government jobs with guaranteed salaries to plant staples? It was the opportunity to set up a successful business. Today, in the Cook Island, the agribusiness sector has a high potential for development, in particular to meet a largely unsatisfied market demand. For decades farmers have left their land to engage in tertiary sector activities. Today farming remains generally small scale. These trends have led to an alarming decrease in agricultural production, an inability to supply domestic markets at competitive prices and high dependence on food... FAO and Norway strengthen long-lasting partnership 07 Jul 2016 7 July 2016, Rome – FAO and Norway have agreed to continue an already fruitful cooperation in the strategic areas of fisheries, the right to food, climate-smart agriculture, deforestation, gender equity and food loss and waste. An agreement signed today by FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva and Norway’s Ambassador to FAO, Inge Nordang, paves the way for the continuation of a longstanding successful collaboration. It also covers funding and joint work on emergencies and response to natural disasters. Norway is among FAO’s top 20 resource partners and has been the third largest donor country of voluntary contributions to the organization in... Republic of Singapore joins FAO APO Programme 27 Jun 2016 The Republic of Singapore joined the FAO Associate Professionals Programme (APO) in January, becoming the fourth Asian country to enlist in the scheme. Other participants have included the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Japan and the Republic of Korea. Singapore joined FAO as a member country in 2013. Candidates will be selected after completing written tests and interviews, as carried out by FAO. Qualification requirements include superior academic qualifications, fluency in one UN official language and knowledge of a second one, and a keen interest in a career in international development. Applicants must also be under 35 years of... « Previous 1 2 3 4 5 ... 21 Next »

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You are hereHome › Knowledge Center › Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) What are the Rusts? Stem Rust Stem Rust, Puccinia graminis f. sp. Tritici, also known as black rust, is a feared disease in most wheat regions of the world because an apparently healthy crop three weeks before harvest could be reduced to a black tangle of broken stems and shrivelled grain by harvest. The widespread use of resistant cultivars worldwide has reduced the disease as a significant factor in production. However, the emergence of Ug99 has renewed the threat of stem rust. Primary Hosts: Bread and durum wheats, barley, triticale Alternate Hosts: Berberis vulgaris Stripe Rust Stripe rust, Puccinia striiformis f.sp. Tritici, also known as yellow rust, is principally a disease of wheat grown in cooler climates (2° to 15°C), which are generally associated with higher elevations, northern latitudes or cooler years. It takes its name from the characteristic stripe of uredinia that produce yellow-colored urediniospores. Because of the disease’s early attack, stunted and weakened plants often occur. Losses can be severe (50 percent) due to shriveled grain and damaged tillers. In extreme situations, stripe rust can cause 100 percent losses. Primary Hosts: Bread and durum wheats, triticale, a few barley cultivars Alternate Hosts: Unknown Leaf Rust Leaf rust, Puccinia recondite, is also known as brown rust. In temperate zones it is destructive on winter wheat because the pathogen overwinters. Infections can lead up to 20% yield loss - exacerbated by dying leaves which fertilize the fungus. It is the most prevalent of all the wheat rust diseases, occurring in most wheat growing regions. Primary Hosts: Bread and durum wheats, triticale Alternate Hosts: Thalictrum, Anchusa, Isopyrum, Clematis What is Ug99? Ug99 is a lineage of wheat stem rust (Puccinia graminis f.​ sp.​ tritici), that is currently present in wheat fields in several countries in Africa and the Middle East.​ Surveillance experts predict it could spread rapidly through these regions and possibly further afield, potentially causing a wheat production disaster that would affect food security worldwide.​ It can cause major crop crop losses and is virulent against resistance genes that have previously protected wheat against stem rust.​ Although Ug99-resistant varieties of wheat do exist, a screen of 200,000 wheat varieties used in 22 African and Asian countries found that only 5-10% of the wheat grown in these countries consisted of varieties with adequate resistance.​ There are now eight known races of Ug99.​ They are all closely related and are believed to have evolved from a common ancestor, but differ in their virulence/​avirulence profiles.​ Where is Ug99? The original race of Ug99, which is designated as 'TTKSK' under the North American nomenclature system, was first identified in Uganda in 1998, and characterized in 1999 (hence the name Ug99).​ It has since been detected in Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Eritrea, Yemen, Iran, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and South Africa.​ For more information, please refer to the Pathotype Tracker at RustTracker.org Where might it go next? The overall hypothesis is that the Ug99 pathogen will continue to push into the Middle East, and onward.​ Movement is predicted to follow predominant west to east airflows.​ The exact timing or nature of future events cannot be predicted with certainty, as disease outcomes will depend on prevailing environmental conditions, host susceptibility, and a range of other factors.​ Outputs from the HYSPLIT trajectory model, using the confirmed 2007 Ug99 Iranian sites as sources, support the idea that airflows would likely move toward the east, but also indicate the possibility of more northerly movements into the Caucasus and Central Asia.​ Do I need to worry about Ug99? Yes, any country where wheat is grown is susceptible to the threat of Ug99.​ For example, wind models suggest that Ug99 has the potential to reach India from Yemen.​ The Ug99 spores can also travel via human movements, which are much more unpredictable than wind movements.​ However, at the same time, the BGRI states that there is no need to panic.​ If scientists and research groups continue to collaborate with government agencies, then the threat will continue to be mitigated.​ Have Ug99 resistant varieties been tested or released? Yes.​ Here is the map that identifies Ug99 resistant varieties that have been released or are in advanced testing stages since the project’s inception in 2008.​ Each variety is also tested for stripe rust resistance which makes adaption by farmers more likely.​ View Ug99 resistant varieties in a larger map

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Monsanto’s Glyphosate Most Heavily Used Weed-Killer in History Monsanto’s glyphosate, it’s signature herbicide first marketed as “Roundup,” is now the most widely and heavily applied weed-killer in the history of chemical agriculture in both the US and globally, according to a landmark report published in Environmental Sciences Europe. Since 1974 in the US, over 1.6 billion kilograms of glyphosate active ingredient have been applied, or 19 % of estimated global use of glyphosate (8.6 billion kilograms). Globally, glyphosate use has risen almost 15-fold since so-called “Roundup Ready,” genetically engineered glyphosate-tolerant crops were introduced in 1996. Two-thirds of the total volume of glyphosate applied in the US from 1974 to 2014 has been sprayed in just the last 10 years. The corresponding share globally is 72 %. In 2014, enough glyphosate was sprayed to leave more than three-quarters of a pound of the active ingredient on every harvested acre of cropland in the US and almost a half pound per acre on all cropland worldwide. Genetically engineered herbicide-tolerant crops now account for about 56% of global glyphosate use. In the US, no pesticide has come remotely close to such intensive and widespread use. This is likely the case globally, but published global pesticide use data are sparse. Glyphosate will likely remain the most widely applied pesticide worldwide for years to come, and interest will grow in quantifying ecological and human health impacts. Accurate, accessible time-series data on glyphosate use will accelerate research progress. Read the full paper “Trends in glyphosate herbicide use in the United States and Globally,” by Charles Benbrook, Ph.D at Environmental Sciences Europe here Amount of basic science in medical journals has fallen by 40-60%Caracas has highest murder rate in the world, St Louis highest in US

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Grand World International Co., Ltd. Grand World International Co.,Ltd. was established in 1997 by a group of young entrepreneur who foresees the potential of Thai fruits and vegetables as one of the most delicious edibles in the world. They didn�t only want to keep the distinctive taste alone; they wanted to share the unique taste worldwide. Thai fruits, exotic and uniquely different, are Grand World International�s main products. We desire to develop and export the best, freshest and most delicious Thai fruits and vegetables to every market all over the world. Not only do we desire that, we are determined to export Thai fruits and vegetables for consumers in every country to taste the sweetness, bitterness, sourness and freshness of Thai fruits and vegetables easily and conveniently without needing to travel all the way to Thailand to savor the taste of tropical Thai fruits. Another motive of us is to support agriculturists in Thailand, who devote themselves in producing the finest fruits and vegetables, and improve their income as well as to advance the production technology and quality to match and, maybe, exceed the International Standards. To reinforce our motives, our policy is to produce the best quality, freshest and most delicious products by selecting the best raw materials from the best sources of productions. We have been approved by the standards in Thailand (GAP or Good Agricultural Practice) as well as being approved by the standards of manufacturing our products (GMP or Good Manufacturing Practice). With more than 10 years of experience, we have developed and improved in every way which makes us an acknowledged and famous company and having customers worldwide. Our exportation varies from exporting by ships to exporting by planes. As well as exporting fruits and vegetables, both available in fresh and frozen form which we export no less than 5000 products each year. Furthermore, our company has focus more on studying and researching ways to produce new products using new technologies for our customers to taste the magnificent taste of Thai fruits and vegetables in a variety of forms. Home Fruits Season 89/43 M.15 Enterprize Park, Bangna-Trad Rd., Bangkaew, Bangplee, Samutprakarn 10540, Thailand. Tel. +66-2-751-4111, +66-2-170-9618 Fax. +66-2-170-9619 E-mail. info@grandworld.co.th © Copyright 2010 All Rights Reserved. Web design By 1001Click

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> Honeybee End? Sign Up for Free NewsLetter Email Address Published March 11, 2011 01:45 PM Honeybee End? Mystery Ailment Strikes HoneybeesFebruary 12, 2007 12:00 AM Bee colonies continue to declineApril 21, 2008 07:39 AM Bee PoliticsJanuary 15, 2013 03:09 PM Wild Bees Can Be Effective PollinatorsMarch 25, 2009 12:03 PM The mysterious collapse of honey-bee colonies is becoming a global phenomenon. Declines in managed bee colonies, seen increasingly in Europe and the US in the past decade, are also now being observed in China and Japan and there are the first signs of African collapses from Egypt, according to the report from the United Nations. Beekeepers in Western countries have been reporting slow declines of stocks for many years, apparently due to impaired protein production, changes in agricultural practice, or unpredictable weather. In early 2007, abnormally high die-offs (30-70% of hives) of European honey bee colonies occurred in the U.S. and Québec; such a decline seems unprecedented in recent history. This has been dubbed Colony collapse disorder (CCD); it is unclear whether this is simply an accelerated phase of the general decline due to more adverse conditions in 2006, or a novel phenomenon. More than a dozen factors, ranging from declines in flowering plants and the use of memory-damaging insecticides to the world-wide spread of pests and air pollution, may be behind the emerging decline of bee colonies across many parts of the globe. ADVERTISEMENT Bees are generalist floral visitors, and will pollinate a large variety of plants, but by no means all plants. Of all the honey bee species, only Apis mellifera has been used extensively for commercial pollination of crops and other plants. The value of these pollination services is commonly measured in the billions of dollars.Currently being used as pollinators in managed pollination are honey bees, bumblebees, alfalfa leafcutter bees, and orchard mason bees. Humans also can be pollinators, as the gardener who may hand pollinates squash blossoms.Declines in managed bee colonies date back to the mid 1960s in Europe but have accelerated since 1998, especially in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom.In North America, losses of honey bee colonies since 2004 have left the continent with fewer managed pollinators than at any time in the past 50 years.Chinese bee keepers, who manage both western and eastern species of honey bees, have recently faced several inexplicable and complex symptoms of colony losses in both species.A quarter of beekeepers in Japan have been confronted with sudden losses of their bee colonies.In Africa, beekeepers along the Egyptian Nile have been reporting signs of CCD although to date there are no other confirmed reports from the rest of the continent.There seem to be multiple factors involved in CCD. Habitat degradation, including the loss of flowering plant species that provide food for bees, is among the key factors behind the decline of wild-living pollinators.An Anglo-Dutch study has found that since the 1980s, there has been a 70 per cent drop in key wild flowers among, for example, the mint, pea and perennial herb families.Parasites and Pests, such as the well known Varroa mite which feeds on bee fluids, are also a factor.Other parasites include the small hive beetle, which damages honeycombs, stored honey and pollen. Endemic to sub-Saharan Africa, it has spread to North America and Australia and may come to Europe.Bees may also be suffering from competition by 'alien species' such as the Africanized bee in the United States and the Asian hornet which feed on European honey bees. The hornet has now colonized nearly half of France since 2004.Air pollution may be interfering with the ability of bees to find flowering plants and thus food.Electromagnetic fields from sources such as power lines might also be changing bee behavior. Bees are sensitive as they have small abdominal crystals that contain lead.Herbicides and pesticides may be reducing the availability of wild flowers and plants needed for food and for the larval stages of some pollinators. Laboratory studies have found that some insecticides and fungicides can act together to be 1,000 times more toxic to bees.Some insecticides, including those applied to seeds and which can migrate to the entire plant as it grows, and others used to treat cats, fish, birds and rabbits, may also be taking their toll.Studies have shown that such chemicals can affect the sense of direction, memory and brain metabolism in beesThe management of hives may also be adding to the problem. Some of the treatments against pests may actually be harmful to bees and a growing habit of re-using equipment and food from dead colonies might be spreading disease and chemicals to new hives.Transporting bees from one farm to another in order to provide pollination services increasingly unavailable from nature could be an additional factor. In the United States, trucks carrying up to 20 million bees are common and each year over two million colonies travel across the continent. Mortality rates, following transportation, can be as much as 10 per cent of a colonyThe full report, Global Bee Colony Disorders and other Threats to Insect Pollinators, can be downloaded at:http://www.unep.org/dewa/Portals/67/pdf/Global_Bee_Colony_Disorder_and_Threats_insect_pollinators.pdfFor more information: http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=664&ArticleID=6923&l=en&t=long Tweet

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There are between 180 and 200 species of honeysuckle (genus Lonicera), most of which are native to Asia, although some originate in Europe and North America. They vary widely in form - some species grow as vines, others as bushes;most are deciduous, but some keep their leaves year-round - but they all have small, sweet-smelling trumpet-shaped flowers. Honeysuckle is valued by gardeners for its scent and because it attracts butterflies, bees and hummingbirds, but the plant has a reputation of being aggressively invasive unless kept well-pruned. Many species are cultivated for their flowers or as ground cover, but the most commonly found are Italian (L. caprifolium), European or English (L. periclymenum) and Japanese (L. japonica). Honeysuckle is also sometimes referred to as woodbine. The plant occasionally called Meadow honeysuckle is actually from a different genus, Trifolium pretense.Honeysuckle has a long history in traditional Chinese medicine, in which stems of the plant were used to make a tea to detoxify the body. In Europe, and later in America, the flowers were dried to make a tea or flower buds were crushed and mixed with honey for a syrup;these treatments were used to relieve sore throats. The leaves and berries were avoided as they can be mildly toxic and cause irritation.Currently, honeysuckle oil is steam distilled from the flowers and flower buds. Used in massage and aromatherapy, the oil is considered to have a relaxing and calming effect and, conversely, has the reputation of causing very romantic dreams. When applied topically, products containing honeysuckle oil have been found to have anti-inflammatory benefits, particularly for treating contact dermatitis. The oil also has some antibacterial effects on the skin, although this has not been proven in clinical tests. Honeysuckle oil is primarily used commercially in perfumes and as a scent in soap, body washes, shampoos (particularly baby shampoos) and candles.

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Get Outside Students and Nature A Lot to Digest with Composting on Campus NWF | March 31, 2009 Dr. Nicholas J. Smith-Sebasto empties food waste into MSU's aerobic composter. (Mike Peters/ Montclair State University)There is a certain waste stream on college and university campuses that can travel two very different paths. One path, which ends at the local landfill, leads to the uncontrolled release of methane, a greenhouse gas (GHG) 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide. The other path creates a nutrient-rich fertilizer that can be used for gardens and landscaping. This waste stream is made primarily of food scraps, and it constitutes roughly a quarter of a school’s entire waste picture. “Your biggest waste stream that’s currently landfilled, and has a high methane generation potential, is food waste,” explains Dr. Sally Brown, associate professor at the University of Washington and renowned waste management expert. “Less than one percent of food waste in the U.S. is currently diverted from landfills.” At the household level, according to the EPA, food waste coupled with yard trimmings constitutes 24 percent of the U.S. municipal waste stream. Schools and scientists across the country have been studying and implementing composting programs in an effort to address their food-waste stream. According to its proponents, composting not only addresses the release of methane during the foods’ decay process, it also addresses many issues tied to soil improvement measures. “The benefits of compost use,” continues Dr. Brown, “also include fertilizer avoidance, carbon sequestration, the potential to get herbicide avoidance, and then you get a whole bunch of environmental benefits that aren’t necessarily related to greenhouse gases, such as improved water-holding capacity and increased soil tilth.” (Tilth is the measure of the health of soil, so good ’tilth’ is soil that has the proper structure and level of nutrients to grow healthy crops.) Composting, however, comes with its own set of choices. There are several methods of composting available; each varies from one another in regards of project scope, time to reach compost maturity and price, and a laundry list of pros and cons. All of these factors have played varied roles in how colleges and universities treat their food waste, if they treat it at all. This vermicomposting facility on Southern Illinois University-Carbondale's campus is a model for a planned project at Western Michigan University. (Sarah Campbell)Common large-scale composting methods include windrow piles, aerated static piles, vermicomposting (using worms), in-vessel aerobic (with oxygen) composters, as well as anaerobic (without oxygen) digesters. All of these methods use structures and equipment more advanced than a simple backyard compost bin, but the end product is pretty much the same-a nutrient-rich soil amendment. The top two factors that come into play for colleges and universities when choosing which method will best address their composting needs are cost and space. Some schools have money, but not space. Some schools have acres they can devote to building windrow piles, but limited funds to buy an in-vessel composter. Some schools have space and money, but fear the odors associated (often wrongly) with composting. One school trying to make a choice about composting right now is Western Michigan University (WMU). Taking all the aforementioned factors into consideration, as well as considering the environmental costs associated with energy and transportation requirements, “the one [compost method] that stands out right now is vermicomposting,” says Sarah Campbell, a post-graduate researcher for WMU. Vermicomposting uses earthworms to break down, through digestion, organic waste materials. Castings from the earthworms contain micro-organisms which are nutrient-rich and help the soil’s water-holding capacity. Vermicomposting on covered raised beds is also well-suited for colder climates. Campbell was hired by WMU after graduating in 2007 so she could continue working on establishing a compost program that will handle all of the school’s food waste and have no-net GHG emissions, a project she started in one of her undergraduate environmental studies courses. For Campbell, vermicomposting is one of the less-expensive, more easily managed composting methods. It will be able to handle the 262 tons of food waste generated by the 24,800-student university each year. “And people are really interested in vermicomposting,” says Campbell. “It doesn’t just seem like a waste-management thing. It’s an opportunity to get people excited about composting.” WMU is looking to launch its composting program “as soon as possible,” according to Campbell, but still needs to iron out a few financial details. Students’ interest in composting is something that Mark Darling has seen come and go at Ithaca College over the last 15 years. Darling is Ithaca’s supervisor for recycling and resource management programs, and he was there when the school started its compost program back in 1993. “We started composting because no one else was doing it in the community,” Darling explains, “and there wasn’t anyone who could take our food scraps.” The school built an aerated static pile at one end of their campus. This method was preferred because of its small footprint (the size of a small building) and better odor control than windrow piles. “Up until last year, we were composting on-site,” says Darling, “and then we switched to hauling our stuff to a local composter. We just didn’t see that our composting program was furthering our educational mission. It wasn’t involved with our curriculum. We didn’t have students doing it. We had students coming out and looking at it, but it wasn’t sparking any interest, in terms of students wanting to get right in there and get dirty. So it wasn’t really a hard to make the decision to switch to an off-campus provider.” During the 2007-2008 school year, Ithaca hauled 265 tons of food waste and compostable serving-ware six miles down the road at the cost of $40 per ton, which is cheaper than the $70 per ton it costs to remove traditional waste. The decrease in price is because food waste is a commodity for the composting business. The food waste and serving-ware diverted from the landfill was equal to roughly 15-17 percent of Ithaca’s total waste stream. Another school spending about $40 a ton to compost its food waste, but without taking it off-campus, is Montclair State University (MSU). In the summer of 2007, MSU acquired the first large-scale, in-vessel aerobic composter in the state of New Jersey, and one of the very few university-based aerobic composters in the country. “To date, we have processed about 50,000 pounds of food scraps,” says Dr. Nicholas Smith-Sebasto, associate professor at MSU and the one responsible for bringing the composter to campus. Several years ago, Smith-Sebasto was asked to consider how the school could improve its role in conservation. Montclair was the first university in the nation to sign a comprehensive memorandum of understanding with the EPA about ‘green’ practices. “One of the things that seemed to be the very lowest-hanging fruit was food waste,” says Smith-Sebasto. “Our agenda is to completely eliminate food waste on campus.” Dr. Smith-Sebasto shows off the end results. (Mike Peters/ Montclairs State University)MSU’s in-vessel aerobic composter turns and mixes food scraps and wood chips (but not yard trimmings) with a large auger four times an hour, four times each day, and the result is the production of stable compost in only five days. Windrow piles can take up to six months to reach maturation. Another important bonus to the in-vessel aerobic system used on the campus is its capability to process proteins, such as meat, fish and dairy products, which not all windrow or static pile composting methods can handle. And it’s very small. “My whole unit,” says Smith-Sebasto, “only takes up space about the size of a parking spot. You could even put this thing on a roof if you wanted to.” Using the aerobic composter as a teaching tool, Smith-Sebasto has given hands-on demonstrations to thousands of people so far, from college and elementary school students to representatives from the EPA, local municipalities and supermarkets. “They are all absolutely blown away,” he says, “by the quality of the compost, the fact that there’s very little odor, and how quiet the system is.” Units like the one MSU uses, capable of processing two tons of food waste a day, can cost less than $25,000. “Montclair State University is the second-largest university in the most densely-populated state in the country,” explains Smith-Sebasto. “Frank Sinatra was close, but a little bit off. It’s not, ‘if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere.’ I think if we can do this in New Jersey-successfully establish a food composting program in an urban school like ours-anything else is going to be easy.” “I get three to five emails a week from people all over the country asking about this project,” says Smith-Sebasto. Many of the emails are coming from other universities, and as far away as Anchorage, Alaska. And after he explains how simply the composter works, “they all ask why in the world is everyone not doing this.” “You know, we hear all this talk about global climate change and how are we going to reduce our impact,” says Smith-Sebasto, “and there’s a lot of grandiose ideas out there, but there’s such a rich idea that’s as simple as rotting some food, and it’s something we can do today.” A Pound of Worms, and Other Key World Changing Concepts: WorldChanging Putting Recycling in Perspective: Greening the Campus ‘Zero Waste’ Policy Takes Effect for New Stadium at UC-Davis: Buildings & Grounds Get Outside, Students and Nature | ClimateEdu Share & Save Tweet Give Now to Make a Difference Never Miss A Story!

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Search results 36 - 42 of 92 for the tag Children Following the crops The Environmental Protection Agency’s Documerica project marked the start of Bill Gillette's work photographing migrant labor and sparked his interest in...Children Farmers and Farms From fighting wars to fighting tuberculosis This store, near Ruidoso, New Mexico, was photographed as part of a collection of photographs highlighting the advancements of public health and sanitation in the...Animal Future First Lady Eleanor Anna Roosevelt, niece of President Theodore Roosevelt and the future wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt, poses for a portrait in a photography studio in...Children Future First Lady in fur Nancy Davis was photographed in her fur-trimmed coat and hat around 1928. The future wife of Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, was born on July...Children Gathering on the porch This photograph was taken around 1880 at Fort Grant, Arizona. The fort was established in 1872 at the foot of Mount Graham, in southeastern Arizona. Soldiers from the...Arizona Gerald Ford, Jr. This 1918 photograph shows Gerald R. Ford, Jr., who grew up to become the 38th President of the United States. Ford was raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He wears a...Children Helping with the harvest In 1942, the “Bracero” Program opened the door for Mexican laborers to take various agriculture and railroad jobs. For over 20 years, families like the one...Children

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(above) Aymara indigenous people carry bundles of corn crops at the Titikaka lake, near Copacabana, Bolivia. Photograph: Dado Galdieri/AP Will Bolivia make the breakthrough on food security and the environment? June 20, 2011 - Guardian Evo Morales' government is poised to pass a law that ensures Bolivians can feed themselves, and protects the environment A new law that is being debated in Bolivia is expected to pave the way for the government of President Evo Morales to ensure food security while preserving national sovereignty and protecting the environment. The law reflects a concept of life in Bolivia that is centred around Suma Qamaña or living well. For Bolivians, these two Aymaran words are not about Fellini's dolce vita: instead, they are about all people living well in harmony with the Pachamama, or Mother Earth. The president is soon expected to sign the Law of Productive, Communal and Agricultural Revolution. The government says it will invest $500m (£308m) in sustainable policies that guarantee the local and self-sufficient production of high quality food, while preserving and respecting the country's immense biodiversity. A key part of the proposals in this "food revolution" is Bolivia's intention to produce its own seeds. "[They] are a major factor in food production," said Carlos Romero, the minister who proposed the draft law. "But in recent years we've seen an increase in their price across the world, because of a rise in oil prices and the monopoly exercised on seeds by a few corporations. That's why we want to create state-owned companies that produce seeds." Bolivia hasn't been immune to the global volatility of food prices. Earlier this year, for example, it had to import sugar, after shortages led prices to double and sparked protests among consumers. Prices of locally-produced indigenous food, such as quinoa, are also at a record highs: some highland communities have taken to eating rice and pasta instead of their traditional – and more nutritious – crops. Climate change, price speculation and foreign demand have taken much of the blame, but for Demetrio Pérez, president of Anapo, an association of more than 14,000 wheat, soya and corn producers in the country's fertile eastern plains, consumers are also too reliant on imports. "We depend too much on Argentina and Brazil," Pérez said. "So what better way to produce our own seeds? If we use the latest technology and have a good harvest, prices can go down and we can convert Bolivia into an exporting country. However, the government has said it does not want to use the technology big business would like to embrace, for example, to modify food genetically. Ciro Kopp, an agricultural engineer at the National Council for Food and Nutrition, says that, before aiming to become a large exporter, Bolivia's priority should be to guarantee food sovereignty and security for its people. "About 20 to 25 years ago, 70 to 80% of what we ate was produced locally in Bolivia," he said, "but then we embraced the agro-industrial model and now 70 to 80% of what we eat comes from the agro-industry, which makes us dependent on technologies and price controls from abroad. So, in the same way that industrialists received support from the government in the past, now it's small farmers who need help." Kopp believes the country has become too dependent on monocultures, and that only by protecting the genetic make-up of its native crops from an invasion of foreign species, can Bolivians regain a diversified production and a better diet. "Bolivia is a centre of origin of several Andean crops such as potatoes, quinoa, chili and corn," he said. "It is essential to strengthen the systems of production, natural selection and exchange of seeds that farmers have been doing for centuries. Our focus should be first of all to feed the country. If our priority is to export, what are people going to eat?" Bolivia's representative to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation, Elisa Panadés, agreed that the law is a step in the right direction. "Bolivia is creating the conditions to strengthen small producers who are the most vulnerable and affected by the isolation of where many of them live and by climate change," she said. "[They] cannot compete fairly in local, regional or global markets, because of poor road conditions and lack of access to seeds and fertilisers." She added that supporting small farmers would improve not only food security but also their living conditions. Bolivia has notorious institutional weaknesses. Analysts warn against repeating the mistakes of the past, when governments did not monitor food production closely enough, causing shortages and price hikes. For now, however, the general consensus is that if the new law is applied well, Bolivia could succeed in guaranteeing food security with sovereignty for its people – as well as keep its biodiversity intact.

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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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DID YOU GUESS IT?? Common Milkweed Seeds and Seedpod This Can You Guess It?? Photo is featured in the September 2006 Nebline Newsletter Common milkweed (Asclepiadaceae) is a perennial growing up to 5' tall. Perennial plants like the milkweed live more than two years. Common milkweed has pink flowers that bloom from June into August. The seed pods (follicles) are spindle-shaped and covered with tubercles. In the fall, the pods release seeds which float on the wind. The plant has a milky sap. You can find common milkweed throughout southeastern Nebraska. It is common in mixed grass and tallgrass prairies. You'll also find it in ditches and in weedy, waste areas. The plant is considered a pest in field crops. Common milkweed is an important food source bees, butterflies and some birds. It is best known for its important relationship with monarch butterflies. The common milkweed provides for a unique self-defense system for the monarch butterfly. The leaves of the plant contain a toxin that doesn't hurt the caterpillars. Instead, the leaf-eating caterpillars become poisonous to most predators. When the caterpillar becomes an adult butterly, the toxins remain and adult butterfly is poisonous to most predators. Cases are known where domestic livestock has been poisoned by milkweeds but this occured because the animals were forced to eat the plants. Common milkweed, like all milkweeds, has a bad taste and livestock will usually avoid the plant. Common milkweed has been used as a food source for humans. It was a staple in the diet of many American Indian tribes who were able to make the plant edible by careful preparation. The roots of the plant were used to treat diseases of the lungs and thorax and were listed in the U. S. Pharmacopeia in the late 1800s. In World War II, the follicles (seed pods) were gathered for their fluffy seeds. The "fluff" was used in emergency flotation devices. USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Nebraska Statewide Aboretum Butterfly Gardening - UNL Extension Did you miss a Can You Guess It?? See more photos & resources here. Home Page University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension in Lancaster County Confidentiality Statement University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension educational programs abide with the nondiscrimination policies of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the United States Department of Agriculture.

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Sonoma County – Viticulture February 18, 2011 0 “Warm days, cool nights.” This descriptive phrase appears on such a variety of wine labels and brochures that one would believe that the entire state of California has these ideal grape growing conditions. Coastal climates do have warm days with cooler nights while the inland climates can be very hot during the day and stay that way well into the night. The advantage of the cooling marine influence is that grapes grown under such conditions mature slowly, develop a higher degree of acidity, a lower pH, good color, and mature varietal fruit qualities. The coastal influence is even visual in Sonoma County. The thick blanket of coastal fog rises up and out of the Tomales Bay in the late afternoon and moves up the Russian River Valley. By early evening, the cooling fog has curled north of Santa Rosa to Windsor, fading away by the time it reaches Healdsburg. When the fog reaches Sonoma Mountain, it divides, wrapping around both the northern and southern sides of the mountain. The northern arm reaches through Santa Rosa, descending down the Valley of the Moon. The southern arm moves along Highway 116 into the Sonoma Valley. By following the fog, the viticultural areas of Sonoma County can be described as either coastal warm or coastal coosee note at end of article). This classification is based on the degree to which the fog affects the area’s average daily temperature, the photosynthesis of the vine and the rate of grape maturity. The areas which are affected by the cooling blanket of coastal fog are considered coastal cool. The fog lowers the daily average temperature considerably, allowing grapes to mature slowly. The areas without the cooling fog, such as those north of Healdsburg, are considered coastal warm. The reasoning behind this classification is to guide winegrowers on what varieties to plant in which viticultural area. In coastal cool areas, such as the Russian River Valley, it is advisable to plant early ripening varieties such as Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Gewürztraminer, for these varieties will reach sill maturity before the threat of late autumn rains and cooler weather conditions. Cabernet Sauvignon, a late ripening grape, may be a bit risky in a cool area, and would be better suited to a coastal warm area such as the Alexander Valley. While from a climatic standpoint, Sonoma County can be divided into coastal warm and coastal cool, these classifications are only generalizations. There are a numerous exceptions and variations depending on microclimate, soil conditions, and individual vineyard management. The terms coastal warm and coastal cool were established by Robert Sissons of the University of California Cooperative Extension in Sonoma County. The terms supplement the commonly used climatic classification system devised by Professors Amerine and Winkler (1944) of Regions I – V which uses a method of average daily temperature within each 24 hour period. The number of degrees above 50 degrees F are totaled. The total number of degrees above 50 degrees F over a certain period of time (usually recorded between the summer months during grape maturity) are called “degree days.” Based on these degree days, grape growing areas are segregated into five climatic regions. The coolest region, Region I, ranges 2,500 degree days or less while the hottest region, Region V, ranges between 4,001 to 5,200+ degree days. The reason Sissons prefers to use the terms coastal cool and coastal warm as opposed to Region I or II us that the heat summation system used by Winkler and Amerine bases the average daily temperature of these areas on the extreme high and extreme low temperature readings. This does not fully take into account the amount of time a vine is actually exposed to a certain temperature. The terms coastal cool and coastal warm incorporate a method of heat summation which takes into account not only the highs and lows but the number of hours at which temperatures remain in the highly effective photosynthesis range of 70 degrees to 90 degrees F. Courtesy of Sonoma County Wineries Association Database used with permission of Vintage Wine Lover’s Software. Share On Sonoma County - History You must be logged in to post a comment. Recent Posts Few districts have more of the character of the old California than Sonoma County, and grapes and wine have been integral... Recent Posts

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Changing dairy industry leaves some farmers in the dust By Abbie Fentress Swanson Feb 6, 2014 TweetShareGoogle+Email View Slideshow Donnie Davidson turns off the lights in his dairy parlor. His family has been producing grade A milk in Holden, Mo., since the 1930s. Abbie Fentress Swanson/Harvest Public Media Donnie Davidson decided to shut down his dairy in November after a roof on one of his barns collapsed from the winter’s snow. The roof would have cost $20,000 to rebuild. To keep the dairy going, he also would have had to hire help and upgrade a silo. Donnie Davidson clambers over a fence to greet the last animals in his herd. Abbie Fentress Swanson/Harvest Public Media Donnie Davidson plans to sell the milking equipment in his parlor this spring. Instead of staying in the dairy business, he is building a beef herd and growing corn and soybeans. Abbie Fentress Swanson/Harvest Public Media Tom Oelrichs milks 100 Holsteins at O-Rich Dairy in Mora, Mo., with his brother Randy and nephew Russ. To keep the dairy sustainable, the Oelrichs family grows 1,200 acres of corn and soybeans, and makes biodiesel from crushed soybeans. Abbie Fentress Swanson/Harvest Public Media Listen Listening... / 4:22 Donnie Davidson’s family has been producing bottled milk in Holden, Mo., since the 1930s. But the 63-year-old farmer decided to sell his herd of 50 milking cows in November after the roof on one of his barns collapsed from last winter’s snow. Rebuilding the barn would have cost about $20,000. Then there were the costs of renovating a silo and paying for hired help since Davidson’s children won’t be taking over the business. It made financial sense to close the dairy, and grow crops and build a herd of beef cattle instead. In the past decade, more than half the nation’s dairy farms have gone out of business, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. About 2,500 dairies closed their doors in Missouri. Thousands more have shut down in Iowa, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska and Colorado. “It’s just a sign of the times: You’ve got to get bigger to survive,” Davidson said. “When I graduated from high school, the herds were smaller numbers and I varied very little from that. That might be the reason mine did not go on – because I didn’t increase, I just tried to stay the same.” A decade ago, Harlan Borman’s farm was one of the last dairies left in Kingdom City, Mo. Then he and his wife Judy stopped milking cows in 2006 because they were getting older and did not want to rely on outside labor to keep the dairy running. Borman says he remembers when more than 30 dairies dotted the landscape of Calloway County, where they still raise cattle and grow crops. “About every other farm, every third farm, you'd see would be a dairy farm,” Harlan Borman said. Even as the number of dairies dwindles, milk production is rising. Thanks to advances like robotic milking and selective breeding, the industry is more efficient than ever. Dairies are producing 20 percent more milk than they did just ten years ago. But ramping up production is costly and often out of reach for some small dairies. “To compete on an international scale, you have to be a certain size to do that,” said Bob Schoening, an agricultural economist with the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service dairy program. “Obviously, if you have a big dairy farm where you can just back up a tractor trailer and fill it up and take it to a plant, that is going to be a lot more efficient, a lot less expensive to transport, than if you’ve got to go to 10 farms to get that amount of milk.” Consolidation in the dairy industry is a national trend. In other states where dairies have been disappearing - like in Kansas, Iowa and Colorado – milk production has increased because large operations have moved in. Not so in Missouri, where production has fallen by 38 percent since 2000. “In Kansas, you’ve got a lot of wide open spaces with a lot of agricultural land available that a big dairy farmer can come in and accumulate that land to put his dairy farm on,” Schoening said. “You really don’t see that as much in Missouri. You don’t have the population density out there. So you can put your dairy farm out there and, for the most part, you’re not worrying about a lot of real close neighbors.” The challenges of running a sustainable dairy in a state with a shrinking number of dairy farmers are not lost on Tom Oelrichs, who milks about 100 Holsteins with his brother and nephew in Mora, Mo. “It's difficult because we've lost our infrastructure, our equipment dealers, because there aren't the people, the dairies, left for them to earn a living,” Oelrichs said. Oelrichs remembers the time when there was a bottling plant located nearby in Pettis County. Now the closest one is 60 miles away. Though fluid milk is perishable, it can travel substantial distances. But dairy farmers like Oelrichs have to pay the increased fuel costs for trucks to transport that milk. “Milk haulers have to drive longer distances to pick up that load of milk and deliver it to the bottling plant,” Oelrichs said. “So it has increased our cost to do business because we've lost those other people.” Oelrichs says he and other dairy farmers in Missouri may have to pass these costs onto consumers. If the state continues to lose milk production, it could also be harder to find local milk, ice cream, cheese and butter at the grocery store. Then there’s the larger economic impact of losing a $2 billion dairy industry for the state of Missouri, while across the border, Kansas lures big dairies and processing plants to set up shop. That’s why some states in the Midwest, including Kansas, Iowa and Colorado, offer incentives for home-grown dairies. “We have got plenty of grass for grazing and we're close to corn and other forages, so Missouri’s not a bad state to dairy in,” said Oelrichs. “We need a few incentives to keep up with the other states that are offering those same incentives.” But it could be too little, too late. Economists predict the global demand for dairy products will break records this year. And that will put more pressure on dairy farms to grow even larger and get even more milk from their operations. Tags: dairybusinessconsolidationexportsTweetShareGoogle+Email 'The Moo Man' casts light on challenges facing small dairies 3 years ago Here's the short story on cow tails 4 years ago Field Notes: Fractionated dairy ingredients may be ingredient of profit 4 years ago View the discussion thread. © 2016 KBIA

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Stephen Hawley Support the Public Assistance Integrity Act District Office121 N. Main Street Suite 100 Albion, NY 14411 District Office DirectionsAlbany OfficeRoom 329 LOB Albany Office DirectionsHawleyS@nyassembly.gov Hawley’s Albany Update JUNE IS DAIRY MONTHJune 14, 2007 Since 1939, New York state has recognized June as Dairy Month to help stabilize the demand for milk and dairy products during periods of peak production. Today, Dairy Month is an annual celebration honoring America’s dairy farmers and the safe, wholesome products they produce daily. Milk is an important commodity for New York and particularly Western New York, where many of our farms produce dairy products that are distributed throughout the state and nation. This week, my Assembly colleagues and I joined state agriculture representatives and members of New York’s dairy industry at the annual Dairy Day reception in Albany. The event, which has become a legislative tradition, was held in recognition of the importance of dairy farming to New York state. In order to deliver the much-needed aid for dairy farmers after last year’s low milk prices, I helped to secure $30 million in this year’s state budget for the Dairy Assistance Program that provides cash payments to eligible dairy farmers equaling the difference of the target price established by the commissioner of Agriculture and Markets. While the $30 million in aid is a good step in relieving Dairy Farmers from elevated operating costs, it falls short of the $60 million I sought. I will continue to fight for increased funding of the Dairy Assistance Program to ensure the dairy industry remains a vital source of economic growth. In order to bring further assistance to the agriculture industry, I have proposed legislation that would provide $30 million in agricultural aid for dairy farmers and crop production with preference given to those who have sustained weather-related losses. A productive agriculture industry is crucial to our region’s economic success, which is why I am committed to pursuing legislation that aids in its long-term viability. Please join me in June to celebrate the hardworking dairy farmers who are so vital to the economic success of New York. The next time you are wiping away your milk mustache, remember the dairy farmers who work tirelessly to provide us with the finest dairy products anywhere in the world. Assembly Home Contact Webmaster

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Theme For State Fair 'The Year Of The Soybean' Last updated on Friday, June 17, 2011 (INDIANAPOLIS, IN) - The theme for the 2011 Indiana State Fair is “The Year of the Soybean” and that means there will be soy in the food. Judges gathered at the fairgrounds Thursday to sample and rank this year's selections for the signature fair food contest. The judges will rank their favorites among the top 5 finalists. The details and opinions of each dish will be posted to a website for the general public to vote and select the ultimate winner. All of the dishes must have some connection to soy. Vendor Monica Yurick has won the contest 3 times with such creations as deep-fried corn fritters, deep-fried bananas foster cheesecake on a stick and deep-fried pizza. This year, Yurick is a finalist with a spicy deep-fried tofu on a stick and that's served with a spicy ranch dipping sauce. Other finalists include a bacon-flavored pork burger from the Indiana Pork Producers and a grilled cheese sandwich on sourdough bread from the American Dairy Association. Both groups hail the soybean as a primary ingredient in livestock feed, nourishing the pig that becomes the pork and the dairy cow that produces the milk for the cheese.

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Fair trade branded 'unfair' A report by the Adam Smith Institute says fair trade offers a better deal to some producers at the expense of the great majority of farmers A fair trade coffee shop set up by Oxfam in Covent Garden, London. Photograph: Sean Smith Rebecca Smithers, consumer affairs correspondent Monday 25 February 2008 10.59 EST The burgeoning fair trade movement which allows consumers to buy ethically sourced products such as tea, coffee and bananas is little more than "marketing hype" which benefits a minority of farmers in developing countries at the expense of all the others, a leading thinktank claims today. At the start of the annual Fairtrade Fortnight, a highly critical report by the Adam Smith Institute (ASI) warns that it is little more than a marketing exercise intended to maintain fair trade's predominance in an increasingly competitive marketplace. It says fair trade is "unfair" because if offers only a very small number of farmers a higher, fixed priced for their goods. These higher prices come at the expense of the great majority of farmers, it says, who - unable to qualify for Fairtrade certification - are left even worse off. Fair trade products will be showcased by retailers in the coming fortnight, as new figures show that British shoppers' interest in fair trade has more than doubled in the past five years. Analysts IGD report that nearly a quarter of shoppers claim to have recently bought fair trade products, up from 11% in 2003. IGD predicts growth in annual fair trade spending will average 11% over the next five years to total £585m by 2012. Gerardine Padbury, senior consumer analyst at IGD, said: "People are taking a renewed interest in where their food comes from and how it is produced." She said fair trade sales were likely to remain strong in an economic downturn, with only 6% of shoppers saying they will cut back on ethical purchasing because of a tighter household budget. But the ASI report, Unfair Trade, by Marc Sidwell, says there are many "inconvenient truths" about the movement. It says many of the farmers helped by fair trade are in Mexico, a relatively developed country, while few are in places like Ethiopia. It claims that four-fifths of the produce sold by Fairtrade-certified farmers ends up in non-fair trade goods, and typically just 10% of the premium consumers pay for fair trade actually goes to the producer. The ASI's policy director, Tom Clougherty, said: "At best, fair trade is a marketing device that does the poor little good. At worst, it may inadvertently be harming some of the planet's most vulnerable people. "If we really want to aid international development, we should instead work to abolish barriers to trade in the rich world, and help the developing world to the same. Free trade is the most effective poverty reduction strategy the world has ever seen." But Harriet Lamb, director of the Fairtrade Foundation, said: "Fair trade is already making a big difference to the lives of more than seven million people in the developing world, but there are millions more we'd like to reach. 2007 was a phenomenal year of growth for fair trade bananas, for example, with one in every five bananas bought from supermarkets now Fairtrade certified. On the other hand, this means four in five bananas still aren't fair trade, and we're determined to change those odds."

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Challenges in paradise The Haraguchi family faces many challenges in keeping its taro farm, also home of an historic rice mill, going in the Hanalei Valley on the north shore of Kauai. Published on November 15, 2013 8:12AM Last changed on November 15, 2013 8:13AM Dan Wheat/Capital Press Lyndsey Haraguchi-Nakayama, fifth-generation farmer in Kauai’s Hanalei Valley holds taro plant showing corm or tuber that are eaten as a vegetable and in making poi. The leaves are also edible. Stalks are used in replanting. Buy this photo Dan Wheat/Capital Press Lyndsey Haraguchi-Nakayama, fifth-generation farmer in Kauai’s Hanalei Valley holds a taro plant showing the corm or tuber used as a vegetable and in making poi. The leaves are edible. Stalks are used in replanting. The Haraguchi farm lies to the right of the Hanalei River and was used for scenes in the 1983 film, “Uncommon Valor.” The farm is part of the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge, and farming practices must be approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Francis Giltamag, farmworker, uses old Haraguchi family tools to grind taro to mix with coconut for tourists to eat outside the family’s historic rice mill on Aug. 21. Lyndsey Haraguchi-Nakayama talks to tourists in background. Buy this photo HANALEI, Hawaii — The picturesque Hanalei Valley, with lush fields and single-lane highway bridges, has a quaintness and beauty on Kauai's north shore that tourists and movie producers find appealing.But the valley is important for more than its beauty. It is where much of the state’s taro — used to make the traditional Hawaiian food poi — is grown.Though their crop is unusual in the United States, the farmers here face challenges similar to those of their colleagues in other states — and some that are strikingly different.Five generations of the Haraguchi family have farmed on the island. The family now hopes their farm can survive into the sixth generation.It’s not easy, family members say. Only 30 acres remain in production on 55 acres leased from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that is part of the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge.Taro is a perennial tropical plant grown in Hawaii, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and Europe for its corm, or root tuber, that is eaten as a starchy vegetable. Its leaves are also edible, and it is believed to be one of the earliest cultivated plants.Hawaiian taro production has been declining in recent years for several reasons, including high costs, disease, apple snails that eat the base of the plants, protected bird species that eat the crop and flash floods, Lyndsey Haraguchi-Nakayama, 34, the fifth-generation farmer of the family, said.Labor and fuel costs are also increasing, but taro prices remain low, bringing just 50 to 60 cents per pound.Because of these factors, the number of Hawaiian taro farms is shrinking — from 173 in the USDA Agricultural Census of 2002 to 158 in 2007.Kauai produces 81 percent of the taro in the state, but Haraguchi-Nakayama said only a few farmers, including herself, are trying to keep growing taro through her generation.“You have to be a little stubborn, have a little perseverance to be a farmer right now,” she said.Survival of their farm and of taro in Hawaii is a question mark, she said.“We pray every day our farm will be able to survive to the next generation, but when it comes down to it, whether perseverance or prayer, it’s all in God’s hands,” Haraguchi-Nakayama said. Declining production Hawaiian taro production peaked at 1,020 acres and 14.2 million pounds in 1948, according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. The crop’s value peaked at $3.7 million in 2000. Since then, taro acreage and value have continued to shrink until last year 3.5 million pounds of taro valued at $2.3 million was grown on 400 acres.The more than half a dozen taro farms that remain in the Hanalei Valley are challenged in working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge, said Roy Yamakawa, administrator of the University of Hawaii Extension in Kauai.Three of the five endangered bird species that live on the refuge consume 30 percent of the taro crop, Haraguchi-Nakayama said. They are the Nene, which is the state bird; the ’Alae ’Ula Moorhen; and the ’Alae Ke’oKe’o-Coot.The state is working with the agency “to try to make it a win-win for everyone regarding the birds so they can peacefully coexist,” said Mark Hudson, state NASS statistician in Honolulu.The Haraguchis are respectful and protective of the wildlife. Virtually all their farming practices have to be approved by the Fish and Wildlife Service.Beside nature’s challenges, there’s the dynamic of younger locals and new residents to Hawaii who prefer foods that are cheaper and more familiar, Yamakawa said.“Fewer people are eating poi also because the price of poi has gone up significantly in the last five years from $4 to $7 to $8 per pound,” he said.“Taro is an acquired taste and traditional cultural food. If you don’t grow up with it, you don’t stick with it,” Yamakawa said. Love of family and farm Haraguchi-Nakayama has a deep love for her family and the farm that is evident in weekly tours she gives tourists.Proceeds from the tours go to a nonprofit organization that keeps the family’s rice mill — the last in Hawaii — in operation as a museum. The guided tours are the only public access allowed on the farm.She tells about being immersed in farm life early on, diving into a watery, muddy taro field head-first while reaching for a taro leaf when she was 2 years old. She helped her father drive tractors to higher ground out of a flood’s reach when she was 6.She remembers working the taro barefoot before sharp-shelled apple snails infested the fields, forcing workers to wear rubber boots to protect their feet. Boots make the work slower and more tiring.Haraguchi-Nakayama got her bachelor’s degree in tropical horticulture from the University of Hawaii in Manoa and her master’s degree in business administration from Hawaii Pacific University in Honolulu.She married her husband, Brad Nakayama, in 2005. He helps on the farm and loves to cook. Using family recipes, he makes all the food for the family’s Hanalei Taro & Juice Co. farm fresh products.They also have a daughter, 6, and son, 3.Haraguchi-Nakayama’s parents, Rodney and Karol Haraguchi, remain active in the farm, as are Rodney’s parents, William and Janet Haraguchi, who are 91 and 89, respectively. William still drives a tractor pulling a platform to level fields for planting, a task he did using horses until the mid-1980s.His grandparents started farming in the valley. Rice history The museum rice mill, now known as the Ho’opulapula Haraguichi Rice Mill is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built by Chinese and operated from the 1800s until the early 1960s. The Haraguchi family bought it in 1924. It was rebuilt in 1930 following a fire and in 1982 and 1992, following hurricanes Iwa and Iniki, respectively. Artifacts were saved and a nonprofit organization was formed to preserve the mill as a hands-on educational tool for school children and adults.It was the last rice mill operating in Hawaii and kept going as long as it did because it had a diesel engine that made it more reliable than others. It also kept more rice kernels whole than other mills.The Hanalei pier, now a favorite of photographers and used for swimming and fishing, was built in the 1920s for shipping rice to the other islands.Rice vanished because production was too small and not mechanized. The paddies were also plagued by floods and disease. The Haraguchis grew okra, cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, bell peppers and cabbage during and after World War II. They still do some of that but since the 1970s they have concentrated on taro. In 1983, the family replanted a field to rice for the movie, “Uncommon Valor,” to look like Vietnam. It starred Patrick Swayze and Gene Hackman. Growing taro Seven employees work the Haraguchi taro fields, pushing metal sleds, designed by Rodney, full of harvested taro over watery, muddy fields to roads where they are bagged and loaded into a pickup truck. Tubers and some leaves are harvested. Those that aren’t go back into the soil. Stems become huli, new plants used to replant.Crops take 14 to 16 months to mature. Planting is staggered to maintain constant production. Differences in color reflect different stages of growth.Pesticides are not used to control diseases or the apple snails because taro leaves naturally repel liquids. The Haraguchis also want to keep production natural and protect the birds. Pesticides are not registered for use on wetland taro, and even if they were the USFWS may not allow them, Yamakawa said.Wild boars pose a special problem.“Two to three wild boars can come through and wipe out over an acre of taro in one night,” Haraguchi-Nakayama said.That happens only occasionally, as does a newer problem affecting the farm — thieves stealing rare coconuts and cutting down trees for the bananas.A still greater threat is frequent flash floods.
There are dry and wetland varieties of taro, but the Haraguchi family grows wetland varieties using gravity irrigation canals fed by the Hanalei River. Saturation of fields gives added color and texture to the plants.But too much water is disruptive.“When you can count over a dozen waterfalls off Mount Namolokama and Mamalahoa, it’s pouring rain in Hanalei and the river is brown and rising, you know a flood is coming,” Haraguchi-Nakayama said. Flash floods are common, averaging five a year, because Kauai’s mountains are among the wettest places on earth, averaging 460 inches of rain annually.The Haraguchis have evacuated numerous times, seen damage to their houses and equipment and seen acres of huli washed out to sea by floods more than 5 feet deep across the farm. New marketing Most of the Haraguchi family’s taro goes to poi millers who bake or steam it, add water and mash it to various consistencies for local consumption. A small percentage is used in value-added products from family recipes sold at the family’s Hanalei Taro & Juice Co.“Growing up with taro, it’s taro burgers, taro hummus, Kulolo, taro mochi cake, taro lavosh, taro cookies and taro pancakes. As a farmer we don’t want to waste anything,” Haraguchi-Nakayama said.“People say it’s bland, that it tastes like wallpaper paste,” she said. “But most cultural staples are bland but not eaten alone.”Taro can be tasty when other ingredients are added, she said. It adds calcium to the Taro & Juice Co.’s smoothies and without dairy is great for people who are lactose intolerant, she said.Gerber, the maker of baby food, and McDonald’s have inquired with the Haraguchis about producing taro for their products, but the family replied that they can’t supply enough to meet those needs.“We are doing our best,” Haraguchi-Nakayama said, “to meet local needs for sustainability and cultural importance for the Hawaiian islands.”

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Novus International Partners with Agricultural Marketing Firm St. Louis, Missouri, December 17, 2008 — Novus International, a leader in animal health and nutrition has selected AdFarm as its global agency of record for all integrated marketing communications services. Novus is a leading developer of animal health and nutrition programs for the poultry, pork, beef, dairy, aquaculture and companion animal industries. With more than 25 locations throughout the world, Novus currently provides products and programs for animal health and nutrition in more than 80 countries. Novus selected AdFarm based on a proposal for long-term global branding strategies. The move to a partner for external marketing represents the continuing and predicted growth of Novus. "As our business experiences record growth, we are very excited to work side-by-side with AdFarm," said Tricia Beal, Director of Global Communications for Novus. "They have already provided valuable insight into our markets and they're going to be an important partner as we move forward." The Novus business adds to AdFarm's growing roster of animal health clients in the United States, including The American Hereford Association, Intervet/Schering-Plough and Hubbard Feeds. Bob Wilhelm, Managing Director of the US operation of AdFarm said the Novus business, as the second major U.S. new business win in the last five months, represents growth for both the agency and its new client. "While we are obviously excited to bring our animal health expertise to their company; we also feel a kinship with the individuals who are managing the growth of Novus," said Wilhelm. "Because of our complete focus on agriculture, AdFarm is seeing consistent growth in the U.S. and globally, so we're very pleased to work with Novus as they do the same." Source URL: http://beefmagazine.com/novus-international-partners-agricultural-marketing-firm

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National beekeeper of year focuses on dying bees Published: April 6, 2013, 4:09 pm LOGAN, Utah (AP) — A Utah man is trying to use his recognition as this year’s national beekeeper of the year to focus attention on a major threat to the industry: colony collapse disorder. Darren Cox of Cache County, who has 5,000 hives in Utah, California and Wyoming, received the award from the American Honey Producers Association earlier this year. He said he is seeking solutions to stop colony collapse disorder, in which honey bees suddenly disappear or die. The disorder wipes out thousands of colonies each year and threatens the pollination of fruits, nuts and vegetables that people depend on to survive. The disorder is spreading nationwide, he said, and the die-off was 70 percent at his hives this past winter. “This winter (we experienced) the largest die-off of bees ever in the history of the United States,” the fourth-generation beekeeper told The Herald Journal of Logan. “We’ve had historic die-offs in the past, but we’ve never had a stress factor like this.” Since it was recognized in 2006, colony collapse disorder has destroyed colonies at a rate of about 30 percent a year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Before that, losses were about 15 percent a year from pests and diseases. No one has determined its cause, but most researchers point to a combination of factors, including pesticide contamination, poor nutrition and bee diseases. To help prevent bee deaths, Cox urges farmers to spray crops with pesticides at night instead of daytime when bees are more active. There are other things beekeepers can do to mitigate the problem, he added. “The first thing they can do is provide a habitat, make sure (there are) plenty of healthy, pollinator-friendly plants,” Cox said. “Then they can make sure to use the best management practices possible, and make sure mites are kept in threshold limits.” Cox’s family started keeping bees in St. George in the late 1800s, and Cox Honey was incorporated as a family business in 1929. Cox took over operation of Cox Honey from his father, Duane Cox, in 2002. Darren Cox said he was honored to win the national award. “It was quite a surprise to be able to win it,” he told the Deseret News. “Coming as a Utah boy from the Beehive State, it’s pretty cool.” Clouds of crisis, controversy surround Rutgers Deadliest submarine disaster in US remembered

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Bands of Operation View All Operators Where It All Began The Vargas Cattle Ranch was founded in 1907 by Antonio Francisco Vargas Antonio emigrated to the United States, from the Azores Islands of Portugal. Antonio and his three brothers (Francisco, Manuel and Joseph), arrived in the United States at different times, with Antonio arriving last (in Boston, MA) in 1891. Antonio quickly headed out to California where he met up with his brothers and other extended family members. For the next ten years, the Vargas brothers worked hard as sharecroppers on such East Bay farms and ranches as the Curtner Ranch (now the suburb of Warm Springs) and the Patterson Ranch (now the Ardenwood Farm). While marrying and raising young children, the Vargas brothers begin spending their life savings on their own farms and ranches. In 1907, Antonio bought approximately 100 acres of pasture land in the hills east of the town of Mission San Jose, situated on County Road 1619. At about the same time, Manuel purchased a ranch on the same road. In 1912, Antonio purchased a 486-acre parcel on Morrison Canyon Road - about one mile from his home. At about the same time, Manuel purchased the ajoining 589-acre parcel. Cattle-raising operations now could expand greatly with the ability to rotate the livestock to alternate pastures when grazing had depleted the wild oat hay, indigenous to these hills. These disparate sites also made operations more complex, and it wasn't unusual to see the family driving herds of cattle up Vargas Road and Morrison Canyon Road. In 1937, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company purchased a right-of-way to run overhead high-voltage lines that would extend north to serve a new steel mill being built in the town of Niles. This deal cuminated with a name change for the road that the Vargas families had resided on for the past thirty years - Vargas Road was born. In 1913, Antonio married Emma Elvira Telles. The house that the family lived in was built by Antonio in 1912, and presented to his wife as a wedding present. Emma gave birth to two sons, Abel and his younger brother John. Abel and John were born in the family home that still stands today. Tragically, John was stricken with Diptheria and died at the age of 6. Antonio ran the ranch with Abel at his side. Abel attended Mission San Jose schools, graduating from Washington High School in 1931. While Abel's classmates went off to serve their country in World War II, Abel was given a dispensation to remain at home and raise cattle for the US Beef Industry, which was one of the many resources that kept the nation strong. As Abel was becoming a young man, his father Antonio grew sick and could no longer handle the business of the ranch. Abel pressed on and ran operations, often running as many as 150 head of cattle. Antonio Francisco Vargas passed away in 1951. Although the family was grieving for their loss, the ranch business needed to continue, and cattle were sold at the Stockton Livestock Market twice a year. These operations demanded quarterly cattle roundups where neighboring ranchers came to help with this demanding physical work. A New Generation of Vargas' Abel married Pearl Anderson in 1952, and they raised six children: Charlene, Pamela, Abel Anthony Jr. (Tony), John, Michele (Miki) and Paul. With this growing family, Abel knew that the only way to make ends meet was to get a second job. For most of his working life, Abel Vargas was by day a union construction laborer (working on construction projects all over the San Francisco Bay Area) and by nights and weekends a cattle rancher. Ranching Operations All of the children were expected to work on the ranch, and there were always plenty of chores. As with all cattle ranches, there was a never-ending need for oat hay. Abel and his children worked during the haymaking season, tilling, sowing, and discing the soil. After the oat hay was mature, the family set to work on cutting the hay with their small Ford tractor (which did just about everything else on the ranch too!). Next came raking the hay into windrows. After that, Abel contracted his cousin, Joseph (Bud) Telles, to come up and bale the hay using his Massey Ferguson hay baler pulled by his Caterpillar tractor. After the bales dried in the sun for one month, the family set to work bringing the bales into the two barns for storage. During the cold, wet winter months, the family would go to the pastures once a day to feed the hay bales to the hungry cattle. Most years, both barns became practically empty by the time the indigenous wild oat hay became tall enough for the cattle to graze again. In lean years, where farming yields were small, Abel went into debt buying hay bales from Central Valley farmers. Abel Takes A Hobby In 1960, Abel became interested in radio communications. He obtained an FCC license for the new Citizen's Band service. Abel was granted the callsign KLA-1600. As years went by, Abel met many many wonderful people that were CB operators - on the air, and attending SF Bay Area CB Coffee Breaks (socials). Abel's QSL card provided courtesy of Carl Costa (W6KGO) Abel had a few friends that were Amateur Radio operators, and he was always in awe of their knowledge and the amazing things that Hams would do with their radios. In 1965, Abel invited a group of local Amateurs to setup Field Day operations on the Morrison Canyon Road property. The Field Day camp contained six or more tents, with many strange-looking antennas spread all over. John Vargas remembers the following... "I was just a small boy, but I distinctly remember being led into the tent of an operator wearing headphones, and he was in intense concentration. I remember later hearing that this operator had just made contact with another operator in South Africa. This singular event held a lasting impression in my mind about Amateur Radio." "I'll never know why my Dad never became an Amateur Radio operator, but I think he may have nudged me a little bit in this direction." One thing is clear - Abel Vargas loved radio communications, and his passion for it continued well into the 1970s. With his simple 5-watt, 23-channel Cobra base rig and his vertical antenna atop a 30-foot tower, Abel made contacts all over the United States. The four walls of his simple bedroom were covered with QSL cards. John describes the mystique radio held in his mind as follows... "I remember as a child, marveling at the strange and wonderful places that Dad had visited, virtually. I wished that I could one day go to those places just like my Dad did." The Future of the Vargas Ranch Abel Vargas passed away in 1988, and is survived by his wife, Pearl, and his children, Charlene, Pam, Tony, John and Miki. All of the Vargas children have raised their own families, and Abel would be proud to know that he has eleven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. The cattle-raising tradition continues at the Vargas Ranch. Tony continues to raise a small herd of cattle on the ranch, while the Vieux Family (lifelong neighbors and friends) lease the property for grazing throughout the year. John resides in the suburbs of Fremont. Pam lives in the Central Valley. Charlene lives in Georgia. Tony and Miki both still reside in homes located on the 100-acre parcel. In 1992, the 486-acre parcel was sold by Pearl to the East Bay Regional Park District. One day this land will become part of the Vargas Plateau Regional Park. The legacy of Antonio Francisco Vargas is alive and well, here on the Vargas Plateau! © Copyright 2008 Vargas Design, All Rights Reserved

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COBWEB CORNERS: The trucks take over By Mel McFarland In the 1920s there was an interesting invasion going on, Trucks! The question as to whether the horse and wagon or the truck was most efficient or economical was being argued by farmers. In 1918 the cost for using horse and wagon from farm to town was about 80 cents a ton mile, which means 80 cents to haul a ton of product a mile. To use a truck was 75 cents a ton mile. The cost for operating either was such that it was no big advantage to switch if you had a good team of horses, and many big farms had several teams. The truck had proved its value during the war, and even the Army was getting rid of its horses and horse-drawn vehicles. Every year the cost of using horses was going up, and the cost for trucks was going down. In some areas, horses were still quite a bit cheaper than trucks, but on average the trucks were winning. Out in the Great Plains there were two problems that really caused difficulty for trucks. No places to get fuel! It was a long way from many towns out to farms, and then the same to the fields. The truck's reliability was a major concern, too, as the roads were not made for cars, much less trucks. On short distances in and around towns, trucks were great. To the "modern" farmer, who wanted the latest aids, trucks and their cousin, the tractor, were in demand. The old traditionalists may have had a steam tractor, but gas trucks? The increased efficiency of trucks and gasoline vehicles would make great advances in the 1920s. It helped that more mechanics were being trained to work on engines. The increased demand for many crops brought demands for improved production and transportation. As the demand for better roads for cars brought new highway construction, trucks saw the benefit as well. There was even a truck manufactured in Colorado Springs for our altitude and mountains. It was soon put out of business when better ones came along. Horses could still be found in fields up into the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s. When World War II came along, most farmers had tractors and trucks. Since then almost everyone wants a truck.

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Garden Talk: November 4, 2010 Landscapes for Life Would you like to have your garden be more in tune with nature? Are you interested in designing a landscape that not only looks good, but can be maintained with sustainable practices? If so, you can get lots of advice and ideas by visiting Landscape for Life, a new Web site developed by the United States Botanic Garden and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas at Austin. This site provides information on practical approaches homeowners can use to "green" their gardens based on the principles outlined in SITES, the Sustainable Sites Initiative. This national rating system for sustainable landscapes, first developed for landscape professionals, has been adapted to reflect practices that can be put to use in any home landscape and to explain the potential benefits they provide. Along with comparisons of conventional and sustainable landscape practices, you'll find information on how to manage water sustainably, nurture healthy soil, select plants and landscape materials with sustainability in mind, limit you exposure to pesticides and VOC pollutants, reduce light pollution and grow a food garden. Checklists are available to help you choose a new house site, plan a new garden or renovate an existing one, and know what to ask when hiring a landscape designer or contractor. The Web content is also available as a downloadable workbook. As Holly Shimuzu, executive director of the U.S. Botanic Garden notes, "Conventional gardens often work against nature. We hope to enlist the power of all those home gardeners who want to give the benefits of nature a helping hand with a regenerative, sustainable garden. What a difference that can make." For more information on landscapes that give back, go to: Landscape for Life. Homegrown Harvest If you're looking for a food gardening book full of not only helpful information but plentiful- and gorgeous- instructional photos as well, look no further than this new offering from the American Horticultural Society. Homegrown Harvest: A season-by-season guide to a sustainable kitchen garden, compiled by garden expert Rita Pelczar (Mitchell Beazley, 2010, $32.50) is organized into early, mid and late sections for spring, summer, fall and winter so you know just what to do and when to do it in the food garden. From asparagus to zucchini, apples to strawberries, there is advice on planting, caring for and harvesting edible crops throughout the growing season and in all regions of the country. Interspersed is advice on a wide range of topics, such as soil preparation, growing vegetables in containers, storing homegrown fruits and vegetables, kitchen garden design and growing edible flowers. There is also a section with handy charts giving the timing for sowing and harvesting vegetables and fruits for different climatic regions, and the symptoms and controls for both vegetable and fruit pests and diseases. This would make a great holiday gift for a new gardener- or you might even ask Santa to leave a copy under the tree for you! For more information on this book and the American Horticultural Society, go to: AHS. Take Two Cockroaches and Call Me in the Morning Most gardeners know that, when it comes to the insect world, we have friends as well as enemies. While some insects cause problems for us in our gardens and homes, many more are beneficials, working hard to pollinate plants, keep the "bad bugs" at bay, and provide food for other creatures in the food web. But it's been hard to take anything other than a negative view of that ubiquitous, hardy and very "yucky" pest, the cockroach. Until now that is. Recent research by microbiologist Simon Lee at the University of Nottingham in England has shown that the brains of cockroaches and locusts are teeming with antimicrobial compounds that are effective against some nasty, antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. (And don't you just wonder what made him even think of testing roach brains to begin with?) As reported in the October 9, 2010 issue of Science News, extracts made from the ground up brains of both the American cockroach and the desert locust were lethal to more than 90% of a type of E.coli that causes meningitis and also killed MRSA, a virulent, antibiotic-resistant staph bacterium. The scientists hope that this discovery will lead to the development of new medicines to fight the serious infectious diseases these germs cause. So while it may be too much to expect folks to look kindly on a roach scuttling across the kitchen floor at night, perhaps its image will be somewhat rehabilitated by this news- maybe. For more information on this research, go to: Cockroach Brains. Nutrition News Need more reasons to grow- and eat- lots of fruits and vegetables? How about keeping your bones strong? In an article in the November 2010 issue of Nutrition Action Health Letter, published by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Bess Dawson-Hughes, director of the Bone Metabolism Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, explained that as we age, our bodies become less efficient at handling the acid load generated by our diets. And this increased acidity can lead to increased bone loss. The foods that increase acidity the most are grains- in foods like bread, rice and pasta- and proteins because they release sulfuric and other acids into the bloodstream as they're metabolized. Foods that help neutralize acidity are ones that break down into bicarbonate as they are digested. The top foods for combating excess acidity are fruits and vegetables. Spinach, zucchini and carrots, raisins, apricots and kiwi are all great choices for improving the acid-base balance of your diet. (And she notes that acidic fruits like citrus do not contribute to excess body acidity- they're bone-protective as well.) In fact Dr. Dawson-Hughes recommends eating at least 11 servings a day of fruits and vegetables as one of the best ways to neutralize excess acid in our bodies and keep our bones strong. She also notes that weight-bearing exercise like walking is helpful in keeping bones strong. While she doesn't mention gardening specifically, all the walking, lifting and digging that gardening entails certainly won't hurt our bone health either! For more information about Nutrition Action Health Letter, go to: Center for Science in the Public Interest. Report Index

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by Kasia Boddy Add to cart They are sometimes called storksbills and originated in South Africa. They may be star-shaped or funnel-shaped, and they range in color from white, pink, and orange-red to fuchsia and deep purple. The geranium and its many species, much loved and also much loathed, have developed since the seventeenth century into one of the most popular garden plants. In this book, Kasia Boddy tells the story of geranium’s seemingly inexorable rise, unearthing the role it has played in everything from plant-hunting and commercial cultivation to alternative medicine, the philanthropic imagination, and changing styles in horticultural fashion. Boddy shows how geraniums became the latest fad for wealthy collectors and enterprising nurserymen after they were first collected by Dutch plant-hunters on the sandy flats near present-day Cape Town. She explains that the flower would not be rare for long—scarlet hybrids were soon found on every cottage windowsill and in every park bedding display, and the backlash against the innocent plant followed quickly on the heels of its ubiquity. Today, geraniums can be found throughout the world, grown as annuals in the regions too cold for them to regenerate. In addition to exploring the history of geraniums, Boddy reveals the plant’s other uses, including how they are cultivated and distilled for their scents of citrus, mint, pine, rose, and various spices to use in perfumes. With their edible leaves, they are also used to flavor desserts, cakes, jellies, and teas, and some people believe that certain species provide an effective treatment for a cough. Featuring over one hundred illustrations, Geranium shows how the plant is portrayed in painting, literature, film, and popular culture, and provides an intriguing example of the global industrialization of plant production. Reaktion Books; February 2013218 pages; ISBN 9781780230580Read online, or download in secure PDF format Title: Geranium Author: Kasia Boddy Buy, download and read Geranium (eBook) by Kasia Boddy today! Nature > Flowers

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Pa. Pair Talks Agriculture To Students, Community By Tammie Gitt THE SENTINEL CARLISLE, Pa. (AP) – Last year, a farming family lost its silo. No one called the family to ask what they could do to help. Neighboring farmers just showed up and did what needed to be done, said Jason Nailor of Mechanicsburg. “It happens like that a lot,” his wife, Sherisa, said. “It's a testament to the profession and industry itself.” It's a testament to the Nailors' love of the farming community and their efforts to promote it that has earned them the 2012 Young Farmer and Rancher “Excellence in Ag” Award from the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. “For us, it was an easy decision to get involved,” Sherisa said. “The thought of raising our kids in farming life was attractive.” While Jason was born and raised on a farm, Sherisa came to the farming community through high school agricultural science classes. “That's where I met Jason,” she said. “It was always his dream to have a dairy farm, so when we had the chance, that's what we did.” Jason operates a 100-cow dairy farm, where he also grows 40 acres of corn and 25 acres of hay to feed his cows. He is also active in the Cumberland County Farm Bureau, serving on the board of directors, Young Farmer and Rancher Committee and the Local Affairs Committee. Like Sherisa, he is active with the FFA Alumni. Education Sherisa is an agricultural science teacher at Big Spring High School who was worked to broaden the program and increase the number of students participating in FFA. In the past six years, enrollment in the agricultural science classes has increased by 35 percent while the FFA membership at the school has nearly doubled. Sherisa credits the growth in the program to the variety of skills taught by its teachers. Students appreciate the variety of offerings that include mechanics, masonry, welding and biotechnology, among others. “Once they're hooked on agriculture, they're hooked,” Sherisa said. “There's so much out there that they don't know that everything seems to spark their interest.” Big Spring School District is still largely rural, but nationwide, this is becoming less and less of the case as students are further removed from the farms that produce their food. “I think that kids get involved in FFA for the leadership, and what they learn about agriculture and food supply is a secondary bonus,” Sherisa said. Some of the students now are the second, third or fourth generation removed from farming, she said. Many of them appreciate that the farm makes food, but don't have an understanding about the consequences of farmland decreasing as the population expands. Industry That's where Jason's work with the farm bureau comes in. Many of the meetings discuss ways to grow more food on less acreage, he said. Agriculture is still the number one industry in the state and, compared to other counties, Cumberland County has a strong base of young producers who want to do better than the generation before them, Sherisa said. These young farmers are also alert to what is happening in the legislature with farming issues. Jason agreed, adding that the mindset of the younger farmers is broader and more accepting of the technology that allows them to do twice as much as before. “We are going to need help in the future if we're going to continue to feed the world,” Sherisa said. One of the problems with attracting funding to farming programs is that so many different programs fall under the realm of the Department of Agriculture. Everything – from dog registrations to puppy mills to gas pumps – is regulated by the department. Even casinos fall under its purview. “Everything is underfunded and understaffed,” Sherisa said. “ Everyone wants a piece of the budget.” Even if Sherisa's students don't go into agriculture-related fields, they will become educated consumers, knowing the steps food takes from the farm to the table and understanding how the cost is determined. Eighty percent of the cost of food comes after leaving the producer, Sherisa said. “A lot of the last food (price) increases we saw were due to the fuel,” Jason said. Funding That's not to say the producer doesn't confront high costs. Recently, agricultural preservation funding came under scrutiny during the Cumberland County budget debate. The program protects land from being used for non-agricultural purchases, keeping prices down. Jason warned against removing such funding from the budget. “You will see farms disappear right and left in Cumberland County,” Jason said. Jason said he was recently looking at land priced between $25,000 and $30,000 an acre. “You'd never get out of the mortgage,” he said. Plus there's the equipment cost. When a friend told him that he bought a house for $200,000, Jason told him that amount wouldn't even buy a combine. Still, Jason and Sherisa are willing to help those interested in getting into the business. “We want to help people get back into it,” Jason said. “If you have the love for it, it's rewarding.” They aren't the only ones. A lot of farmers are willing help new farmers strategize and share equipment. “We just need a better way to connect them with those who will help or pass on the torch,” Sherisa said. Return to top

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Farmers can apply for emergency loan due to damaged crops By Mayaan Schechter Sep 5 7:50 am AP Photo/Bruce Smith FILE S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley, left, state Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers, center, and farmer John Pendarvis survey fields showing the effects of this summer's heavy rains on Pendarvis' farm outside Harleyville, Aug. 19. Aiken County farmers have approximately eight months to apply for an emergency loan program if more than 30 percent of their crops have been damaged due to excessive rain and flooding. Gov. Nikki Haley requested a disaster declaration on Aug. 19 for the entire state due to crop damage by flooding and rain. Haley requested 36 counties, including Aiken, be designated as Primary Disaster Counties, and the remaining 10 be labeled Contiguous Disaster Counties. Those include Abbeville, Anderson, Chester, Fairfield, Greenwood, Kershaw, Lancaster, Lexington, McCormick and Oconee. The U.S. Department of Agriculture approved Haley's request so farmers can become eligible for low-interest emergency loans through the next eight months. “We determine if it's a quality loss, or a quantity loss like yield reduction due to weather,” said Lynn Huggins, farm loan manager of the USDA Farm Service Agency. “When we confer to dollar figure, at least 30 percent loss over a normal years production is what we look at. If they have a 30 percent loss, they can borrow up to about 90 percent of that loss. Depending on what they use, depends on the term.” Gibson Solomons, Aiken County executive director of the USDA Farm Service Agency, said because of rain, the majority of Aiken County's crops have been damaged. “A lot of wheat has been damaged, and it didn't get harvested because it's been so wet, and it's more than 30 percent in pretty much all of the farms,” Solomons said. Solomon said most of the wheat crop was not harvested because the ground is too wet, and corn was affected. “Cotton has also been affected,” Solomons said. “We've had kind of a cool summer, and cotton likes heat. It takes a lot of heat to make the crop and drier weather.” This was the wettest summer across the Midlands and Central Savannah River Area since 2003, according to the National Weather Service. Many areas across the region received between 150 and 250 percent of normal rainfall. “They have eight months from Aug. 28 to apply,” Solomons said. “Their losses, their security they have, assets and their ability to repay the loan is all taken into account. We've already had some people call and ask questions.” Interested farmers can call the local Farm Service Agency at 803-649-4221 For more information, visit www.fsa.usda.gov. Maayan Schechter is the city beat reporter with Aiken Standard. An Atlanta native, she has a mass communications-journalism degree from the University of North Carolina Asheville.

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The Myth of Good Italian Food The Myth of Good Italian Food recounts a two-year investigation into the Italian food system, debunking the common belief that ‘Italians eat better’ with a story of homogenization and globalization common to agro-industrial food production worldwide. First published in 2006 in Italian, the best-seller has been revised and translated into English, published in e-book format, with a preface from Slow Food’s president Carlo Petrini. Too often, and almost everywhere, food is insidious, dangerous and carries a long list of problems that are repeated worldwide: pesticides, mercury, bird flu, E-coli 0157 and so on. What the author Paolo Conti describes, however, is a kind of war. A fight in Italy as well as the rest of Europe and the world, between technofood and ecofood: food produced with the indiscriminate use of technology and ruling over nature as opposed to production in harmony with the Earth and its resources. Regarding this argument, Conti writes: «The era that we live in is dominated by technology. By using a range of techniques, we believe that we can rule over nature. Food is no exception. There is no establishment in the Western World that seriously opposes the indiscriminate use of technology in the preparation and processing of food. Technofood is now the norm in supermarkets. Even in Italy, where a less elaborate, more natural diet has been the preference for decades. Ecofood, the combination of less technological food alternatives that are more sustainable on a long-term basis, does exist: it offers a universe of alternatives and represents a practical answer to the problem, in many ways it is the better, more economically viable solution. But it is losing the battle. Even in Europe, where precautionary principles should force us to be more careful. Even in Italy, where we still believe in eating and exporting good, wholesome and genuine food. Many Italian food companies use “all-natural” as their primary selling point. The words “nature”, “field”, and “real flavors” stand out on the packages, but the aroma and flavor we get when we open the box seldom belongs to the food contained within it. Artificial flavors are now customary in many products: they deceive our senses by convincing our brains that we smell and taste things that no longer exist. Food has changed. Food companies use very few raw materials and transform them to increase their profits, while leading us to believe that food is the same as it once was». The solutions aren’t simple, but they are possible. The first key to overcoming technofood and restoring a natural balance is knowledge: a necessity of life, to continue to enhance our collective consciousness and to ensure that we eat a better future. Click here to purchase the The Myth of Good Italian Food e-book. 5% of sales revenue will be donated to Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity Click here to read an extract from the preface by Slow Food president Carlo Petrini.

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Guarding the Country Against Foreign Animal Diseases Listen to podcast. Aerial view of Plum Island, an 840-acre island located 1.5 miles off the northeastern tip of Long Island, New York. The island is home to ARS’s Foreign Animal Disease Research Unit, where ARS scientists collaborate with colleagues from the Department of Homeland Security and USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to protect America’s livestock from foreign animal diseases. (K6085-5) A deadly animal virus is on the loose, treading through Russia and knocking on the doors of Eastern Europe and Asia. After its introduction into the Republic of Georgia and the Caucasus region in 2007 and spread into Russia, the virus that causes African swine fever (ASF) was spotted for the first time last year in Ukraine, putting European and Asian countries on high alert. The virus moves quickly, killing 100 percent of infected pigs within a week in some instances. Standing between a possible U.S. invasion by foreign animal diseases like ASF is the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, situated off the northeastern tip of Long Island, New York. For almost 60 years, the center has served as somewhat of a fortress, where a small force of scientists tackles dangerous diseases that threaten the health of livestock and world economies. In 1954, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service took over Plum Island from the U.S. Army to establish laboratories where scientists could find ways to prevent and control exotic diseases that threaten U.S. livestock production and global food security. The primary objective was to develop methods to detect and prevent foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)—an economically devastating disease. FMD was eradicated from the United States in 1929, but today it is spreading throughout Asia and Africa. Recent outbreaks have occurred in the United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Japan, and South Korea. Working with other agencies, scientists in the ARS Foreign Animal Disease Research Unit (FADRU), at Plum Island, also keep diseases like ASF, classical swine fever, and vesicular stomatitis at bay. In 1984, a USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) team took over diagnostic work, leaving the basic research to ARS scientists. Another change occurred in 2003, when Plum Island operations were transferred to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which works with USDA in the advanced development of vaccines and diagnostic tests to help control and respond to disease outbreaks. The MS Plum Island makes the crossing between New York’s Orient Point and Plum Island several times a day, carrying passengers and cargo as part of normal Plum Island Animal Disease Center operations. Two other boats—the MS Shahan and JJ Callis—are in the fleet of passenger and cargo marine vessel supporting daily work and operations at the center. Tracking FMD: The Infection Site The Plum Island center provides a safe setting for studying FMD, which affects cloven-hoofed animals like cattle, swine, sheep, goats, and deer. The highly contagious disease is rarely fatal in adult animals, but it debilitates its victims and can cause large-scale death of young animals. Incursions of FMD cause profound economic consequences through isolation from trade, loss in milk production, severe lameness, and massive depopulations. When the virus has been introduced in FMD-virus-free countries, millions of animals—infected and uninfected—have been euthanized after outbreaks to prevent the virus from spreading. A breakthrough in FMD research came in 2010 when veterinary medical officer Jonathan Arzt identified the site where FMD virus initiates infection in cattle. Working with FADRU research leader Luis Rodriguez and microbiologist Juan Pacheco, Arzt found that the virus selectively infects epithelial cells in the back of the cow’s throat. Research associate Paul Lawrence prepares a gel to analyze expression of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) proteins as part of microbiologist Elizabeth Rieder’s research on novel FMDV vaccines. “Now that we’ve determined the actual route the virus takes in infected cattle, we can try to develop new vaccines and biotherapeutics to target and prevent virus infection of the primary site and potentially control and eradicate FMD,” Arzt says. “Blocking the initial site of infection is the best way to achieve complete protection.” There are seven FMD virus serotypes—O, A, C, Asia-1, SAT-1, SAT-2, and SAT-3. Scientists detected the infection site using serotype O and have since had the same success with serotype A. “The work with serotype A elevates our level of confidence even higher,” Arzt says. “We now know that what we found with serotype O was not an anomaly or isolated finding.” In other work, scientists have helped build an infrastructure for testing, biosecurity measures, and identification of FMD virus strains in Vietnam and Pakistan. “Our goal is to help them discover how FMD outbreaks are initiated under natural conditions so they can protect their own herds, but it also gives us an advance look at the FMD virus strains that are currently emerging and circulating,” Arzt says. In efforts to develop an effective vaccine against African swine fever virus (ASFV), graduate student Erin Howey (foreground) performs immunofluorescent screening of porcine tissues for ASFV with veterinary medical officer Jonathan Arzt. In the last 15 years, FADRU scientists have proven that interferons—proteins made and released by host cells in response to the presence of viruses or other pathogens—protect against FMD. Interferons act as antiviral agents that kill the virus or stop it from multiplying and reproducing. “They are the first line of defense and response against viral infection,” says microbiologist Teresa de los Santos. “They protect animals immediately, giving the vaccine time to induce the immune response needed to fight the disease.” This is potentially a very important tool for controlling FMD outbreaks, because FMD spreads very rapidly; by the time animals are vaccinated, the virus may have already spread to other herds. There are three families of interferons—type I (interferon alpha-beta), type II (interferon gamma), and type III (interferon lambda). Retired ARS chemist Marvin Grubman demonstrated that type I is very effective in controlling FMD virus infection in swine. Disease protection and prevention of livestock of various species, including cattle, is a prime function of ARS scientists and collaborators at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center. (K4117-15) “We can inoculate swine with a viral vector containing the gene coding for swine type I interferon and then challenge them with FMD virus 1 day later and protect them,” Grubman says. “Type I interferon protection could last approximately 5 days, so we still have a couple of days to cover before the vaccine immunity kicks in at about day 7 post vaccination.” Vaccines require 7 days to induce protection against FMD, leaving vaccinated animals susceptible to infection during that time. Therefore, scientists are trying to cover that window of susceptibility by combining interferons with vaccines. By combining type I and type II interferons, Grubman produced another patented antiviral vaccine-delivery technology that rapidly blocks FMD virus in pigs. In combination with a vaccine, it provides thorough protection from day 1 until the vaccine immune response kicks in. However, this approach has not been as successful in cattle. De los Santos and FADRU computational biologist James Zhu have discovered a solution to the problem of rapid protection of cattle. The Plum Island team was the first to report and identify a type III interferon in cattle. They also demonstrated that type III interferon is effective against FMD virus in cattle as early as 1 day after vaccination. Microbiologist Teresa de los Santos uses an automatic liquid handling system to prepare multi-well plates to study immune responses of swine to foot-and-mouth disease virus infection using real-time PCR. “We first discovered that a member of the type III interferon family could actually inhibit FMDV replication in cell cultures,” de los Santos says. “We then inoculated cattle with a viral vector that delivered bovine type III interferon and challenged with FMD virus 24 hours later. We saw a significant delay in the appearance of clinical signs in animals that received type III interferon as compared to those given type I interferon or no treatment. In other experiments, where cows were naturally exposed to FMD virus, the type III interferon treatment was even more protective.” Scientists also constructed a mutant virus—called “SAP-mutant”—which has a mutation in one of the virus’s proteins, named “leader.” They used the SAP-mutant to develop an attenuated (weakened) FMD vaccine, which when administered to pigs can protect them against challenge with virulent FMD virus. Working with Zhu and other colleagues, de los Santos used a “reverse genetics” approach to understand the basis of attenuation of the SAP-mutant. Unlike classical genetics, which seeks to find the genetic basis of a trait or phenotype, reverse genetics attempts to find what trait appears as the result of a particular gene mutation. “We learned that the SAP-mutant virus was unable to interact with some host proteins involved in innate immunity,” de los Santos says. “Therefore, the virus was less infectious and could potentially serve as the basis for an effective live attenuated FMD vaccine candidate.” Computational biologist James Zhu scans a microarray containing over 44,000 features of the bovine genome. Differential gene expression is used to understand the response of cattle to foot-and-mouth disease virus infection. Producing FMD Vaccines Safely In other research, a team led by microbiologist Elizabeth Rieder has designed new technology for producing FMD vaccine without the need of virulent virus. “We cloned the FMD virus genetic material in a plasmid [a small DNA molecule], which allows us to introduce mutations and produce deletions in the virus and understand the functions of particular parts of the virus genome,” Rieder says. Researchers identified a sequence that, if removed, renders the FMD virus harmless to animals while still leaving it capable of growing in cell culture. “It has allowed us to understand how the virus amplifies itself, interacts with a host animal, and inhibits its defense mechanism and how different parts of the virus genome function,” Rieder says. “This is important basic knowledge we can use in developing vaccines or biotherapeutics.” Scientists used this technology to produce a new FMD vaccine. This technique is safer than current technology, which uses naturally occurring (wild-type) virus, because the attenuated FMD virus doesn’t cause disease in animals, Rieder says. In addition, the virus used in the vaccine has been labeled with unique markers to differentiate it from wild-type virus found in outbreaks. A patent has been filed for the new technology, which is being developed for vaccine production by a private company. Molecular biologist Elizabeth Rieder (background) and research associate Devendra Rai view the effect of mutations on the three-dimensional structure of the FMDV polymerase protein in studies to develop FMD vaccines. Insights From Human Technology Immunologist William Golde and his team were the first to try—in swine—a technology used by physicians to type humans for organ transplants. The team used it in swine and cattle to specifically measure immune responses to FMD vaccines. The technology, called “major histocompatibility complex (MHC) tetramers,” allows scientist to follow immune responses mediated by individual T-cells. MHC is a molecule located on the surface of a cell that mediates interactions of white blood cells with other body cells. “The human technology translated very readily to swine and cattle,” says Golde. “Combining it with new technologies to track individual B cells [antibody-producing cells], we’ve been able to track immune responses to vaccines and to infections with greater accuracy.” Golde’s other work includes testing an automated, needle-free, vaccine-delivery device called “DermVac,” which induces stronger immunity with less FMD vaccine. Animals vaccinated by this method, with just a fraction of the recommended vaccine dose, were protected from disease when infected with FMD at 7 or 28 days after vaccination. “We achieved effective protection against FMD with less than the recommended vaccine dose,” Golde says, “showing that the vaccine’s potency was enhanced when delivered with this device.” In research on immune system response to FMDV infection and vaccination, immunologist William Golde looks at cattle white blood cells to be characterized by fluorescent antibody cell sorting. A Classic Case of Pig Virus Although classical swine fever (CSF) has been eradicated in the United States, the contagious, sometimes fatal disease is present in wildlife in Europe, where infected wild boar can transmit it to domestic pigs. “Once the disease is detected, all animals in close proximity of infected pigs must be destroyed, creating a huge economic problem,” says microbiologist Manuel Borca. “Vaccination is banned in Europe, but it would be considered if a marker vaccine is developed.” A marker vaccine allows vaccinated animals to be distinguished from those infected with wild-type virus. Under the leadership of Borca, scientists at Plum Island have been using different strategies to develop virus strains for vaccines that meet these criteria. They identified 10 to 12 different areas of the virus genome that, if mutated, cause the virus to become attenuated. Using this approach, a CSF virus was genetically manipulated not only to attenuate it, but also to introduce a genetic marker that can distinguish it from wild-type virus. Borca received a patent for this marker virus, which produces early immunity within the first week of vaccination. Earlier CSF work at Plum Island included the development of a rapid diagnostic test, based on real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction), which detects the virus in infected animals 2 to 4 days before clinical signs appear. “The test was further validated using field samples in the Dominican Republic,” Borca says. “We showed that it works in field conditions.” ARS discoveries are providing vital information to help fight this economically devastating disease, which affects cattle and other cloven-hoofed animals. Spread of a Deadly Swine Disease An outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in the Republic of Georgia and surrounding countries in 2007 prompted ARS to renew efforts to find ways to prevent or control this serious disease, for which there is no cure or vaccine. Concern over ASF is heightened by its unrelenting spread towards Europe since 2007. Its clinical signs are similar to those of CSF, but ASF is more uniformly fatal. Pigs suffer from high fever, hemorrhages, vomiting, and loss of appetite. “African swine fever has many strains that are extremely infectious,” Borca explains. “All infected animals die within a week.” All attempts to produce effective vaccines have been unsuccessful so far because of the complexity and large size of the ASF virus. “It has a large genome of more than 150 genes, making everything more complicated,” Borca says. “It is more difficult to research the ASF virus than the smaller viruses, like CSF.” Veterinary medical officer Jonathan Arzt (left) and microbiologist Luis Rodriguez discuss distribution and characterization of FMDV-positive cells at the primary site of infection in the bovine nasopharynx, a potential target for more effective FMD vaccines. In earlier years, scientists at Plum Island made significant progress in understanding the role of particular ASF virus genes in causing disease. Borca was part of a team that was able to characterize several genes that are important in virulence. “If you eliminated some of those genes, the virus became somewhat attenuated,” Borca says. “This approach was used at that time to develop less-virulent viruses that could be tested as vaccine candidates.” Animals given the attenuated viruses and later challenged with a virulent virus were protected against ASF, he says. After a 7-year lapse in ASF studies due to limited funding, research has been reinitiated by ARS scientists, under Borca’s leadership, using these same techniques. “In the last 2 years, we have produced recombinant viruses, using the ASF strain that is killing thousands of animals in the Caucasus region, by eliminating the genes previously identified as important for attenuating the virus,” Borca says. “We are now testing those viruses in animals to see if they are attenuated and if they could be used as vaccine candidates.” A Blistering Battle Another livestock invader is vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), which rarely occurs in the United States but can infect humans and some wildlife species. “It looks like foot-and-mouth disease—blisters on the tongue, mouth, and fleshy parts of the feet,” Rodriguez says. “However, VSV affects horses, and FMD does not.” No effective vaccines are available for the disease, and the virus is transmitted by insects. “Black flies and sand flies are involved, as are the tiny culicoides insects, also called ‘no-see-ems,’” Rodriguez says. Working with scientists in Mexico, Rodriguez recently traced the origin of a large number of 2008 outbreaks in northern Mexico to southern Mexico. He identified the virus strain and predicted that it might spread to the United States. Indeed, this virus was the cause of outbreaks in New Mexico in 2012. “We discovered that the virus that occurred in the United States actually comes from Mexico, but we don’t know how it gets here,” he says. “We think it’s by insects and have found that if we protect animals from bug bites, we can decrease the impact of the outbreak.” Teamwork’s the Key to Success While ARS scientists at Plum Island work with universities, industries, international organizations, and governments, their innovative technologies and discoveries are enhanced by APHIS and DHS support. The main goal is to prevent and control foreign animal diseases by developing improved tools for diagnosing diseases and creating safe, faster acting vaccines and biotherapeutics. APHIS confirms diagnostic tests and technologies for surveillance, detection, and response to disease threats. DHS assists in developing vaccines and other countermeasures required for an effective response to a foreign-animal-disease outbreak on U.S. soil. This diligent teamwork at Plum Island helps protect livestock, humans, and food supplies from diseases that put America at risk.—By Sandra Avant, Agricultural Research Service Information Staff. This research is part of Animal Health, an ARS national program (#103) described at www.nps.ars.usda.gov. To reach scientists mentioned in this article, contact Sandra Avant, USDA-ARS Information Staff, 5601 Sunnyside Ave., Beltsville, MD 20705-5128; (301) 504-1627. "Guarding the Country Against Foreign Animal Diseases" was published in the October 2013 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.

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Drought drives interest in Idaho water seminar Sean EllisCapital Press Published: October 29, 2013 10:40AM Sean Ellis/Capital Press Pioneer Irrigation District’s Phyllis Canal flows by a sugar beet field near Nampa, Idaho, in September. The Idaho Water Users Association’s 30th Annual Fall Water Law and Resource Issues Seminar Nov. 21-22 will include presentations on several state and federal water-related issues. Buy this photo A November water seminar in Boise will include presentations on several state and federal water-related issues that could impact the pricing and availability of water. Drought conditions during the 2013 season have created a high level of interest in the seminar. BOISE — Drought conditions during the 2013 growing season have spurred interest in the Idaho Water Users Association’s 30th Annual Fall Water Law and Resource Issues Seminar.“Water issues are always of interest to folks in Idaho but when there are severe droughts like we had this year … it makes people focus on them even more,” said IWUA Executive Director said Norm Semanko.This year’s seminar will take place Nov 21-22 in Boise and people began registering for it online “even before we sent the program to the printer,” Semanko said.“The drought conditions this year have generated an unusually high interest in the issues that affect both the supply of water and the issues that can impact an organization’s ability to both secure and use water,” he said.The IWUA includes about 300 irrigation districts and canal companies, agri-businesses, hydropower and aquaculture interests, and people and firms around the state that manage water supplies for more than 2 million acres of irrigated farmland in Idaho.The seminar always includes a wide range of state and federal issues important to IWUA members, said Brian Olmstead, general manager of Twin Falls Canal Co.Olmstead said he usually attends the event as well as several members of his board and some of his staff.“You always learn something at this meeting,” he said.This year’s seminar will include a view from both sides of the border on the renegotiation of the Columbia River treaty between the United States and Canada. A Canadian official will provide Canada’s view regarding the future of the treaty and a Bonneville Power Administration official will provide this country’s take.Olmstead is concerned the updated treaty could result in more flood control efforts in Idaho’s upper Snake River reservoir system, which supplies water to a large number of Idaho farmers.“We don’t want more flood control responsibility in Idaho,” Olmstead said.“We don’t want to make it any harder to fill the Snake River reservoirs. It’s hard enough already.”California attorney Jennifer Spaletta, who represents several irrigation districts in other states that have had their water taken by the federal government, will provide an update on those cases.“It’s a world we haven’t had to live in (here in Idaho) but that’s of real interest to our guys,” Semanko said.The seminar will include a presentation by a Bureau of Reclamation official on how recent changes to the agency’s operating manual could impact water transfers and pricing.“We’re trying to get a (beat) on exactly what those policy changes might mean for irrigators,” Semanko said.Other topics include the ins and outs of irrigation district elections, best practices for water quality trading, a legal update on ditch rights, water rights and special use permits on federal lands, and a look at the latest Idaho Department of Water Resources rulings.For more information about the seminar, contact the IWUA at (208) 344-6690 or visit the group’s website at www.iwua.org

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