by Gary Truitt – August 27th, 2008
Dennis Avery of the Center for Global Food Issues is one of the world’s best thinkers on the issue of food and agriculture. His research is flawless and his logic impeccable. This recent commentary by Avery points out the hypocrisy of celebrities like Prince Charles and their stand on world food issues.
Prince Charles of England has come out again against the genetically modified foods that are a key hope for producing the extra food needed by our richer, more populous world in the decades just ahead. He must know that, thanks to science, world grain production tripled during his lifetime, from about 700 million tons per year to nearly 2,100 million tons. This achievement was certainly not due to his elitist organic farming, which continues to yield about half as much per acre as conventional farming. For fifty years, we’ve even bombarded seeds with radioactive isotopes to force useful new seed mutations!
Dr. Norman Borlaug, winner of the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize was honored for breeding the high-yield seeds of the Green Revolution of the 1960. What if we hadn’t tripled the world’s crop yields with the Green Revolution? Not only would one billion people have starved, but the fabric of the planet would have been rent by more “hunger wars.” Millions more would have died in the battles, and in the famines and disease epidemics that always accompany wars.
Charles says biotech crops “haven’t raised crop yields.” Nonsense! For openers, biotechnology’s pest-resistant cotton seeds have raised yields by one-third on the 35 million cotton acres in China and India. That has freed 15 million acres for additional food crops in the very countries which are currently adding the most pressure on world food supplies. Biotech varieties also produce higher corn and soy yields.
In Africa, genetically researched corn produces four times as much corn per acre—and an even bigger gain in food security—because new varieties are naturally tolerant of an herbicide called imazopyr. When these corn seeds are soaked in small amounts of the herbicide, the imazopyr suppresses the endemic witchweed, a parasitic weed that invades grain plants through their roots.
We might ask the future King of England: “What about the millions of pounds of pesticide that haven’t been sprayed in the air to protect our crops, because a safe and ubiquitous soil organism called Bacillus thuringiensis, engineered into the plants, kills crop-eating caterpillars?”
And we wish Queen Elizabeth a very long and healthy life.
-Dennis Avery
Avery is a native Hoosier, well of course.
Filed as: HAT Chat
by Gary Truitt – August 22nd, 2008
Just before the start of the Indiana State Fair, Verizon Wireless approached HAT with the idea of testing a new cell phone. The phone has a push to talk feature that allows you to talk to one person or an entire group of people with the push of a button. In addition, the phone was built to “Military spec” which means it is supposed to be indestructible. We decided to put the phones and the technology to the test.
With a large number of reporters covering the fair and lots of breaking news, it was great to use the push to talk feature to communicate with staff members at the fair or in the newsroom. The feature worked well, the connection was quick, and the sound quality good. The only complaint was that the alert sound that indicated you were being paged was not very loud and was not adjustable. This made it hard to hear the alert when in a noisy livestock barn. Also the push to talk button, located on the side of the phone, was small and often difficult to find quickly. Perhaps adding a vibrate alert on the push to talk feature would help.
The phones proved to be sturdy. We dropped them in the dirt, tossed them in equipment bags, and even had one fall off a golf cart. They performed fine. The special noise canceling circuitry in the phones helped them perform well in outside high noise areas, like the midway.
This phone would have applications for farmers, allowing them to communicate from the cab of a combine with the push of a button. Being able to talk to several people at once, would make it easy to coordinate employees. It would also be a quick and easy way to call for supplies or order lunch.
Verizon also has phones that can be tracked for their location. This allows fleet managers to keep track of their drivers. I might ask for those phones for next year’s State Fair, so I will know when my reporters skip out on that dull press conference and visit the dairy bar.
In my interview with Michele Gibson of Verizon, we discuss the many new applications of wireless technology for the modern farming operation.
;audio:http://hoosieragtoday.com/hatchat/verizon.mp3]
Filed as: HAT News Coverage
by Andy Eubank – August 22nd, 2008
Beck’s Hybrid’s Becknology Days opened Thursday with great weather and a great crowd. The Beck’s staff offered many tours so farmers could get an up-close look at the latest Beck’s Practical Farm Research studies. The Bayer CropScience LibertyLink soybeans were included in one of those tours and the varieties are available for 2009. Beck’s is taking orders this week, although Don McAgon from Bayer said with limited supplies this year, there might be a sell-out this weekend.
I spoke with Don about LibertyLink and the Bayer CropScience company, and that interview is here:
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Filed as: HAT News Coverage
by Gary Truitt – August 21st, 2008
Last week Purdue presented the annual Woman in Agriculture Award. One of the women honored was Beth Bechdol. Bechdol has been a true behind the scenes movers and shaker of Indiana agriculture. Bechdol served Indiana agriculture most recently as deputy director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture where she helped lead the process to craft a strategic plan for the industry. She also participated and helped plan six governor and lieutenant governor trade missions to Asia, Central America, Europe, and Mexico. She helped Indiana‘s agriculture industry through her work in Washington, D.C., at the U.S. Department of Agriculture as chief of staff to the Undersecretary for farm and foreign agricultural services and by serving as deputy staff economist on the Senate Agriculture Committee with Sen. Richard G. Lugar. She resides on her family farm in Auburn, where she represents the sixth generation of family members to live there. She is currently serving as director of agribusiness strategies at Ice Miller LLP. She is also an advisor to the Daniels campaign on agriculture.
When you stop and think about it, there are a number of women who are in key positions to influence and direct Indiana Agriculture. Tammy Lawson heads up the Soil Conservation Service; Jane Hardisty heads Indiana NRCS; Julie Wickard is Executive Director of the Indiana Beef Cattle Association; Jane Ade Stevens runs the GINA program; Beth Archer heads the AgriInstitute; Deb Abbott is a high ranking department head at ISDA; Cindy Hoye runs the State Fair; Jeanette Merritt runs the Wine grape Council; Renee McKee is a top official at Purdue, directing the state’s 4-H program; and of course Indiana’s Secretary of Agriculture is Becky Skillman.
For an industry dominated by men, we sure have a lot of women running Indiana agriculture. Keep it up ladies; you’re doing a great job!
Filed as: HAT Chat
by Gary Truitt – August 19th, 2008
Tom Beckman of Prairie Farmer and I were two of the ag journalists who participated in the Lt. Governor Debate last week at the Indiana State Fair. I have written about the debate in my on-line commentary Change: Is It Really What We Want? Beckman has posted a column on the Prairie farmer web site that deals with how the candidates dealt, or didn’t deal, with the property tax issue.
“Neither candidate had concrete answers for how to further improve the property tax system to relieve farmers of what may be an unfair share of the burden. Oxley hinted that the property tax debacle stemmed from failure to act in the Republican-controlled House in ‘05. Skillman pointed out that several property tax levies were totally removed, and that farmers are also homeowners, and that as such, they should see relief on that portion of their property tax bill this year. After the debate, farmers in the crowd commented to Beckman that while that might be so, the higher value on assessed bare farmland was resulting in higher tax bills. From reports so far, while increases are variable county to county, farmers who also own land are seeing 20 to 30% increases in their overall property tax bill.”
The property tax issue is causeing problems for the Daniels campaign in farm country. One campaign official told me they are having trouble solidifying farmer support because of the property tax issue. It seems most producers are very pleased with how the Governor has addressed agriculture but are not happy with the tax solution.
Democrats are quick to make political hay out of this. But keep in mind, the property tax bill was passed with the votes of both Democrats and Republicans. Also keep in mind that it was both parties that got us into this mess in the first place.
The Daniels campaign could lock up the farm vote with the promise to address their property tax concerns.
You can listen to the complete debate at Hoosier Ag Today.
Filed as: HAT Chat
by Gary Truitt – August 15th, 2008
During the Indiana State Fair, Hoosier Ag Today has been headquartered in the Mac Reynolds Barn on the north side of the fairgrounds. This is a new building at the fair and named in honor of the founder of Reynolds Farm Equipment. Mac Reynolds was a long time supporter of the Fair and a traditional fixture in Machinery Field. The new building is a fitting tribute to his legacy.
Not only is the new barn filled with the latest John Deere equipment, it is also surrounded by a wide display of Deere equipment large and small. This large display has drawn an interesting crowd. A lot of farmers come by to look at the latest large tractors and sprayers; while rural residents stop in to check out the lawnmower and utility tractor line up. Inside the barn they are selling John Deere merchandise of all kinds and doing a booming business.
Most interesting of all have been the city folks. Both children and adults are fascinated with the tractors. The kids climb on them and the parents take photos. Larry Reynolds told me there is just something about a tractor - especially a John Deere tractor - that fascinates people. When the State Fair Queen Kristen Schmitt stopped by the Reynolds barn, even she climbed aboard a John Deere.
Listen to an interview with Larry Reynolds
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Filed as: HAT News Coverage
by Gary Truitt – August 12th, 2008
The August USDA crop production report is always an important report since it is the first real official estimate of the size of our corn and soybean crops. This year, however, with floods, delayed plantings, and volatile markets, the report took on added significance.
“It’s been an amazing recovery for Indiana’s corn crop considering the challenging weather,” said Chris Hurt, Purdue Extension agriculture economist. Hurt; Ken Klemme, Indiana State Department of Agriculture interim director; and Greg Preston, director of USDA’s Indiana Office of Agriculture Statistics Service presented crop production projections and analysis during the fair’s annual crop briefing. The briefing followed the release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s August crop report.
Listen to the Purdue Crop report Briefing
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Read more about the Purdue briefing
Filed as: HAT News Coverage
by Gary Truitt – August 11th, 2008
When Indiana’s state government decided to jump start the Hoosier renewable fields industry, they needed a lot of help. This help came from Purdue, private industry, commodity groups, and private citizens. Two years ago. the state started recognizing some of these individuals with the Paul Dana Award. Named in honor the late IRL driver who was responsible for introducing the IRL to ethanol, the Dana Award is presented to those who have helped grow the Indiana renewable fuels industry.
This year the award was presented to the Indiana Soybean Alliance and Indiana Corn. These two farmer-funded organizations have implemented programs that have helped grow the Indiana ethanol and soy-diesel industries. From research to consumer promotion, the corn and soybean checkoffs have been a major force in the Indiana renewable fuels revival.
The Dana Awards is one of the best ideas state government has ever had, and the choice of the corn and soybean organizations was inspired. All Hoosier corn and soybean growers should take pride in being a part of this new energy effort.
This year’s award was presented by Lt. Governor Becky Skillman at the Indiana State Fair. Listen to the ceremony by clicking the link below.
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Filed as: HAT News Coverage – Uncategorized
by Andy Eubank – August 7th, 2008
Throughout the run of the 2008 Indiana State Fair the Purdue Extension Service will be waiting for Hoosier farmers and consumers to stop by for a visit. They are located in the Our Land Pavilion with 6 displays that represent issues important to Extension clientele. But the displays and staff are primarily there for Indiana consumers to get up to speed on Purdue’s research into the issues. There are some great opportunities for Indiana’s little consumers too, the kids!
Following a brief media tour to eductate us on the the Purdue fair effort, I spoke with director of Purdue Extension, Dr. Chuck Hibberd. He is genuine in his desire for Purdue Extension Educators to meet with the citizens of the state. And he is pretty impressed with this state’s fair.
Listen to the interview here at hatchat:
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Filed as: HAT News Coverage
by Gary Truitt – August 6th, 2008
The Ham Breakfast put on by the Indiana Pork Producers Association is the best way to start the State Fair. Over the years it has become a gathering place for the Indiana ag community as well as politicians large and small. At 6:45 am, a large group started gathering in back of the Farm Bureau building. It was a group made up of people from government agencies, higher education, extension, farm organizations, the media, agribusiness, charitable organizations, and farmers.
The fellowship and camaraderie that characterizes the ag community was very much in evidence. The food was great and the speeches were long. Governor Daniels and Congressman Mike Pence gave excellent presentations filled with humor and substance. Most of the other presentations were less than memorable. Democratic candidate for Governor Jill Long Thompson made a rare appearance before a farm meeting but presented little in the way of meaningful proposals on state farm policy.
Not only is this a great way to start the Fair, but it is a great chance to bring together the leadership of the state’s ag community. Many important contacts and vital conversations occur at the Ham breakfast. The hot air balloon race gets all the credit, but for me the Ham Breakfast is the official start of the Fair. The pork producers should be commended for keeping this tradition alive.
Filed as: HAT News Coverage