Producing enough sustainable food

Ahhh. Sustainable. A word that is so overused, yet so important to agriculture. And also to consumers who want to use it as much as possible when it comes to their food. And we’re taking food. Everyone wants it. Everyone needs it. This YouTube video came out yesterday and it does pretty darn good job […]

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Firefighters care about ag, too

This last Sunday was the Goehner Volunteer Fire Department’s 55th Annual Spaghetti feed in Goehner, Nebraska. This isn’t just some jarred spaghetti sauce, it’s famous for a recipe that hasn’t changed since 1957 when it was given to the firemen by a priest in a neighboring community.  The annual spaghetti feed raises funds for the […]

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Bill Gates, a voice of reason for modern agriculture

With all of the negative media and crazy animal activists, it’s good to have a voice outside of agriculture serving as a great spokesperson. That’s why I was more than pleased to see a common household name, Bill Gates, as one of those voices. An article from Drovers CattleNetwork says yes, the Microsoft founder is […]

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What the Panama Canal means to agriculture

What does agriculture and the tropics have in common? The Panama Canal – the highway of agricultural products from the Atlantic to the Pacific. I had the great opportunity to experience it this past week. As my involvement with the US Grains Council has increased, so have my opportunities to see the importance of agriculture […]

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Today’s Agriculture

Modern agriculture. Kind of hard to really “show” all of modern agriculture and the new technology farmers & ranchers use in a fair/trade show type of setting. But Pennsylvania did it. At the 2012 Pennsylvania Farm Show, the “Today’s Agriculture” exhibit put together an “experience” – an innovative display that brings the farm to families.  […]

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McDonald’s new ads feature farmers

McDonald’s is focusing on quality ingredients and the farmers who provide them in its new ad campaign. In December, they shared a 15-second preview clip featuring potato farmer Frank Martinez and his crops. Last night, I saw a commercial featuring Steve Fogelsong who provides beef to McDonald’s for their hamburgers. The ads remind me of […]

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Wrap it up and move on | 2011 & 2012

As we wrap up 2011 and look what may happen in agriculture in 2012, I wanted to share a few excerpts I read on Corn & Soybean Digest online by David Kohl and Kent Thiesse. 2011 Year in Review by Kohl: Interconnectedness and convergence In the early part of 2011, it appeared that the U.S. […]

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Celebrate Food Day – Every Day

The Animal Agriculture Alliance has a great resource to talk about the upcoming Food Day: www.realfarmersrealfood.com. The organizers of Food Day, (read more about them and who is involved here), have six initiatives to pursuade people into what they believe the right methods are to achieve a healthy lifestyle. Real Farmers, Real Food has five […]

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Livestock ID/traceability important for export markets

When I was in Japan in July for the Nebraska corn-fed beef mission with the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), we had the chance to visit a large and very nice supermarket. In that supermarket, it specifically partitioned out the different countries that the meat was from: U.S. beef in one section; Aussie beef right […]

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