By: Ali Steuer, Mentoring Student
Originally posted on the Hog Blog, Nebraska Pork Producers Association
Adapting to a changing and more demanding world, agriculture continues to provide adequate amounts of food to our society. Whether it’s an organic orange farmer in Florida or a small Berkshire hog farm in Nebraska, the world depends on United States agriculture every day. In 1790 nearly 90% of the workforce had a job dependent on agriculture, today that number has shrunk to nearly 2%. Today more than ever, our world is dependent on an efficient, highly productive agricultural industry. With every new day, each one of us has a direct interaction with agriculture without even knowing it, whether it is getting dressed in the morning or ordering a burger at McDonalds. From recently giving a presentation on the production process of hogs at Metro CC in Omaha where a small percentage of students have experiences production agriculture, my blog this week will be about “things you may not know.” The students inquired things that for many of us who grew up experiencing some form of agriculture, would already know. Overall, I was impressed to see that students asked questions and were interested to learn about the pork industry.
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Following a successful campaign in June and July, the Corn Farmers Coalition announced it will extend its summer campaign to educate policy makers in Washington, D.C. More »
This year’s planting estimate numbers released by the USDA on June 30 show the dynamic capabilities of the nation’s farmers. And the rain delays in Ohio set the stage for a Herculean effort that makes the 2011 planting season one for the record books. More »
The public disconnect with food and farming is a growing societal issue. The Corn Farmers Coalition seeks to reconnect us all with America’s family farmers. They play a critical role in our economy and at a more basic level…our sustenance. More »
Washington – For the third year in a row, our nation’s capital will learn about the U.S. family farmers who produce corn, our nation’s top crop, as part of the Corn Farmers Coalition program that debuts today at Union Station, an important venue for reaching policymakers inside “The Beltway.” More »
The gulf between the family farmers who grow crops and those that consume them gets wider and wider. This is especially true when it comes to the complicated farm programs that have become such a critical part of the nation’s producers of food, fuel and fiber. This issue gets a great look and explanation by Craig Fata of the Illinois Farm Bureau on their blog Standing Out in the Field. Enjoy the read and please look for more here in the days ahead as CFC begins gearing up for another Washington, DC educational program this summer. More »
Originally published on Standing Out in the Field
There’s a guy in Illinois who’s a farmer. He farms 5000 acres of corn and soybeans over several areas. He is responsible for all of the business decisions for the operation, including which varieties to plant, when to sell what he harvests and for how much. His tractors and combines are huge machines. They are equipped with laptop computers and the latest GPS technology. As part of his income, he sells seed and cattle equipment to other farmers. He sits on the Board of Directors for a statewide farm organization, often traveling to meetings and conventions and providing input on the operation of county farm bureaus in his district. During busy times, he hires outside employees to help get the job done around the farm. More »
If you think the majority of farms today are large industrialized operations, think again. More than 90 percent of the corn grown in the United States comes from multi-generational family farms like the Borg Farm of Nebraska. More »
Building off a successful campaign conducted across Nebraska a year ago, the Nebraska Corn Board has created a new series of messages that feature several Nebraska farm families sharing facts about how today’s corn farmers are more sustainable than ever. More »
