Local livestock conundrum — AgMinute for July 9, 2013

A lack of coordination with meat packers is often a bigger barrier to success for "local" livestock producers than insufficient slaughter capacity, a USDA study finds.

Read about how farmers are confronting controversy over biotechnology in "Surviving a Biotech Backlash," a free ebook from Capital Press.

Microloan revolution — AgMinute for Jan. 21, 2013

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has created a new loan program to help small farmers, including growers who want to take advantage of the soaring interest in locally produced food.

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Small farm worries — AgMinute for Jan. 17, 2013

While many small farmers and packers will be exempt from recently proposed federal food safety rules, experts say they may still be affected. Food companies will likely be reluctant to buy crops for raw consumption from growers who don't comply.

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Whole Foods hope — Idaho AgMinute for Dec. 5, 2012

The recent opening of a Whole Foods store in Boise has energized producers in the region.

AgMinute is sponsored by "Western Innovators," which is available at http://amzn.to/WesternInnovators

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AgMinute for Aug. 22, 2012

Using the USDA's dietary guidelines, Idaho has created a visual nutrition guide that shows people how they can eat healthy and local at the same time. My Idaho Plate is an adaptation of the USDA's colorful My Plate, which was unveiled last year.

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Podcast: Banking profits, big local food, Idaho revenue, and export growth

In this podcast, editors and reporters highlight some of the stories in this week's edition. We'll talk about how changes in the lending climate and the Federal Reserve are affecting farming operations, big trends in local food, soaring revenue for Idaho growers, and growing overseas demand for American meat and dairy products. The Capital Press also congratulates Julie Fox and Al Drake of Eastern Washington on their sky-high engagement.

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Is the green movement fading?

One poll suggests it may be. From CNSNews.com:

Automakers beware! Hybrid cars may dominate at the Detroit Auto Show, but fewer Americans said they purchased a hybrid car in 2010 than in 2009, according to a new Harris Interactive Poll.

In fact, only 8 percent of those surveyed said they "purchased a hybrid or more fuel efficient car" in 2010. That compares with 13 percent who said they had in 2009.

Only 1 percent of Americans said they bought a hybrid car -- down from 2 percent the year before.

The poll, released on Monday, also shows that fewer Americans overall are "going green," as compared to 2009.

In addition to purchasing a hybrid, American adults were less likely to engage in a host of "green" behaviors in their daily life in 2010, including:

-- "Making an effort to use less water" (57 percent in 2010 vs. 60 percent in 2009)

-- "Purchasing locally grown produce" (33 percent vs. 39 percent)

-- "Purchasing locally manufactured products" (23 percent vs. 29 percent)

-- "Purchasing organic products" (15 percent vs. 17 percent)

-- "Composting food and organic waste" (15 percent vs. 17 percent).

More here.

Urban farming

As urban sprawl takes over farmland, some people are trying to bring the farm downtown.

AeroGrow is attempting to bring a niche farming technology to the kitchen for people who love fresh herbs and vegetables but don't want (or can't have) a full garden. While it may not offer a lot of opportunities for the average farmer or nursery (it's proprietary and marketed via TV), its success shows there is a segment of urbanites willing to spend for a touch of fresh flavor.

The plants are greener on the other side of the wall too, as vertical gardening demonstrates. It's expensive, at $900 to $1,800 a square meter, but if environmentalism gets more popular, more people and companies will pay a lot for a green facade.

It shouldn't be that surprising that kitchen tomatoes and jungle walls are growing in popularity — people are even raising chickens in New York City.

Picky about picking

Lars Larson, not exactly known for his nuanced political views, has been getting a lot of airtime out of illegal immigration lately. So much so that Oregon Association of Nurseries Executive Director John Aguirre set things straight in the October edition of Digger:

[Lou] Dobbs and Larson like to chant, “What don’t you understand about illegal? Illegal is illegal.” This calculated rhetoric is meant to shift the reference point of their listeners — from viewing immigrants not as people, but as dangerous criminals. This type of speech supports other tools of the propagandists: appeals to fear and to prejudice. Larson and Dobbs argue that immigrants generate a disproportionate amount of mayhem and violent crime. Dobbs said on his show that illegal immigrants represent one-third of inmates in the federal prison system. But, according to the U.S. Justice Department, 6 percent of prisoners in this country are noncitizens, compared with the 7 percent they represent of our total population.

Aguirre was invited to call in to Larson's show, but he didn't get to say much, though he did invite Mr. Larson to try working eight hours in the fields.

Up until recently, every planting season in Cambodia government officials would be sent out into the paddies to transplant rice shoots. Even children in elementary school were sent out to help plant their teachers' fields.

If such a plan were instituted in Oregon, except radio hosts were asked to work in the field alongside court clerks, I think there would be far less opposition to loosening up immigration.

Beavers serve up tasty win for Oregon's governor

There's some tasty North Carolina barbecue grub coming out West, thanks to the Oregon State Beavers' repeat drubbing of the University of North Carolina Tar Heels for the NCAA baseball championship.

Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley make a friendly wager on the outcome of the championship series late last week.

But, perhaps Kulongoski ought to send the package he wagered anyway. Those folks in Carolina have seen what Oregon has to offer on the baseball diamond in the College World Series for two consecutive years now. Maybe they should also get a taste of the agriculture and food products we have out West too.

Congratulations to my alma mater OSU!

Here's the press release below Gov. Kulongoski's office issued today congratulating Oregon State.

NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 25, 2007


Governor Congratulates Beavers on World Series Repeat, Commends UNC and Governor Easley on a Thrilling Weekend
Governors Kulongoski and Easley had agreed to a gentlemen’s wager on the series

Salem – Today Governor Ted Kulongoski offered his hearty congratulations to the Oregon State Beavers baseball team for their repeat championship in the NCAA College World Series this weekend with a pair of impressive 11-4 and 9-3 victories over the University of North Carolina Tar Heels.

“I think I can safely say that for at least one day, all Oregonians – all Beavers, all Ducks, all Vikings, even all Pilots – stand united in saying that we couldn’t be more proud of you,” said Governor Kulongoski. “Pat Casey and every member of the team have done an amazing job, putting the rest of the nation on notice that Beaver baseball is a force to be reckoned with.”

Last week, Kulongoski made a gentleman’s bet with North Carolina Governor Mike Easley on the outcome of the series. Governor Easley wagered one pound of barbecue, one bottle of barbecue sauce and one pint of slaw from both Wilber’s Barbecue of Goldsboro and the Barbecue Center Inc. of Lexington and a case of Cheerwine if the Beavers won. Governor Kulongoski put up a basket of products made in Oregon including a sampling of Pacific seafood, Oregon artisan cheeses, Oregon Brewers Guild craft beer and hazelnuts – perfect snack foods for an afternoon of baseball.

“The beavers showed up too strong in Omaha,” said Governor Easley. “Governor Kulongoski was their strongest supporter and I congratulate him and Oregon State on a great championship. I hope we will get a chance to play again next year. Go Beavers!”

“I appreciate Governor Easley’s kind words and the tasty North Carolina barbecue – a great way to enjoy this victory,” said Governor Kulongoski. “I look forward to next year and, who knows, perhaps another great rematch next season?”

The Beavers defeated the Tar Heels in the championships of the 2006 NCAA World Series. The Beavers are the first back-to-back champions since Louisiana State University in 1996-1997.

Better than what?

Did you see the Today Show this morning? The were featuring a story about which is better, locally grown produce or organic produce. Here's a link to the text version posted on the Today Show website, which also includes a link to the video story as it aired this morning.

As part of the videotaped portion of the story, it featured an overlay of text at the bottom of the screen, which read "Today's Health: Is the organic food craze over?"

If you look closely, you can tell where the idea for the story came from. Specifically, it came from the March 2 issue of Time magazine.

Time magazine's current issue also features an article headlined "Eating better than organic,"
in which the writer, John Cloud takes nearly 5,000 words to tell us why he would pick one apple over another.

He starts off his article like this:

Not long ago I had an apple problem. Wavering in the produce section of a Manhattan grocery store, I was unable to decide between an organic apple and a nonorganic apple (which was labeled conventional, since that sounds better than "sprayed with pesticides that might kill you"). It shouldn't have been a tough choice — who wants to eat pesticide residue? — but the organic apples had been grown in California. The conventional ones were from right here in New York State. I know I've been listening to too much npr because I started wondering: How much Middle Eastern oil did it take to get that California apple to me? Which farmer should I support--the one who rejected pesticides in California or the one who was, in some romantic sense, a neighbor? Most important, didn't the apple's taste suffer after the fruit was crated and refrigerated and jostled for thousands of miles?

A casual reader of the Time article, or casual watcher of the Today Show may assume the stories explore the issue of food safety. But they don't. Not even close. Although it's not hard to tell where Cloud is coming from in his views of agricultural chemicals from his choice of words, namely "sprayed with pesticides that might kill you" and "who wants to eat pesticide residue?"

Well, no one wants to eat pesticide residue, but nowhere in Cloud's 5,000 word screed does he substantiate that anyone in the U.S. is eating pesticide residue or harmful levels of pesticide residue. And no where in his piece does he offer facts about consumers eating produce poisoned by pesticide residue which caused deaths.

If you pick though Cloud's piece and the Today Show piece by nutritionist Joy Bauer, you can actually find nuggets that tell you eating produce, regardless of how it is grown or how far away it is grown, makes for a healthier diet.

"No matter how you get your produce, get ample amounts of fruits and vegetables," Bauer tells Today Show host Meredith Vieira.

If you can sift through the inflammatory, scary language, you will find that whether people decide to buy organic or locally grown produce isn't really a matter of food safety, it's a matter of personal taste and social choice.

However, neither piece really benefits the American farmer, regardless of whether the farmer grows using organic, sustainable or conventional means. Next door, in the next state or across the country, efforts to differentiate one type of product from another to market to consumer choice are now being used by consumers, long-winded writers and unimaginative reporters who are somehow inferring from all this that our food is dangerous, in spite of the fact that life expectancy grows ever longer (as the Capital Press wrote about in a recent editorial). Because farmers grow food for the rest of us, apparently some of us have plenty of time — and money — to fret over worries about how everyone is out to poison them.