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Sustain to Gain

Sustainability is the name of the game across the board for all US meat industries

PRESS RELEASE UPDATED: 3/29/19

GAINESVILLE, Florida (swampstratcomm)

This week in agriculture, the meat markets in the US are starting to ramp up as we get closer to spring. As a clear staple of the American diet, beef sustainability has become a vital point of discussion. A panel is being drawn together under the title “From Birth to Burger: Industry-Led Beef Supply Chain Animal Welfare & Sustainability Efforts,” meeting in Kansas City to discuss potential practices to help further strengthen the supply chain. The United States is the leading consumer of beef in the world, and third in production, following Australia and Brazil respectively. As the name suggest, the panel, comprised of Kristen Parman, vice president of membership services at Livestock Marketing Association; Debbie Lyons-Blythe, rancher at Blythe Angus; and Justin Nelson, vice president of procurement at Tyson Foods, are looking at every step of beef production, from birth to the final destination in the American kitchen. Bison Bluff Farms is doing their part on the bison side of the isle, in Cobden, Illinois, where they are “working” their bison for the first time since fall, and the last time until the next. Clifton Howell, owner of Bison Bluff Farms, understands the importance of running in depth health inspections on these bison before they enter into the market. His heard has grown from three in 1988 to nearly 400 today. Howell incorporates high nutrient grasses into his bison’s diet to help promote the health of the animal.

              Bison at Bison Bluff Farms. Photo taken by Karen Binder.

Furthermore, beef and bison aren’t the only industries seeking to further sustainability and productivity. AquaBounty, located in Albany, Illinois, is the first to develop and breed genetically modified salmon in the United States. These salmon can be harvested in 18 months as compared to the three year maturity in natural salmon. Over fishing in the oceans has led to the need of an increase in salmon production. The genetically modified salmon eggs are imported to the United States from Canada. The FDA lifted their ban against these modified eggs in March of this year. Right now, 90% of Atlantic salmon is imported to the United States, and these genetically modified fish would greatly reduce this number, eventually driving down the cost to consumers. “The company’s proprietary breed of fish is modified to contain genes from Chinook salmon and an eel-like creature called an ocean pout, which allows it to grow twice as fast, on less food, than a normal Atlantic salmon.” The benefits claims by AquaBounty’s salmon include:

·         Faster harvest growth

·         Better feed conversions

·         Land-Based farms have better control over conditions provided

·         Opportunity to produce salmon closer to consumers and reduce transportation costs

As the population continues to grow, so does consumer dependence upon a healthy and strong meat supply. This trend has impacted meat industries including beef, bison and salmon, but not limited to. Utilizing healthy practices and regulations, furthering the sustainability and creating a better means of production are vital to the US’s consumption and wellbeing. Although the first of its kind in the United States, it will be interesting to see the impact AquaBounty will have on the rest of the meat markets. Could widespread production increase and lower costs lead other meats to follow in their footsteps?

AgriNews is an online agricultural publication site that aims to be relevant, smart, targeted and vital. Their goal is to present readers with information that they can’t get elsewhere is provide factual accurate information to help their readers make better farming decisions. AgriNews has been publishing articles for more than 40 years now, establishing itself has a reputable source in 1977.

 Contact Information:

James Corbin

Tumblr @James5Corbin

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Spring Has Sprung - Or Soon Will

Tips of the trade are given to potential growers, as the spring season draws near

PRESS RELEASE UPDATED: 3/15/19

GAINESVILLE, Florida (swampstratcomm)

This week in agriculture, gardeners and farms alike are gearing up for the upcoming spring season, which is approaching fast. Tips of the trade are being passed along to farmers from Amanda Deering, a clinical assistant professor at Purdue University’s Food Science Department. Deering emphasizes the importance of food safety, driving home the importance of healthy, safe food for consumers. In today’s world, more focus is being put on where consumer’s food products are coming from and how they are being produced. Deering brings three tips to the table to help producers promote their product at market: label your product – consumers like to know where their food is coming from – try to keep your food covered from the environment – protection from the sun, pests and animals helps maintain the health of the food – have some food on display – consumers like to be able to feel and evaluate the product themselves. In early February, the annual Midwestern Herb Garden Show took place at Time Square Mall in Mount Vernon, Illinois. Nearly 36 vendors arrived at the show, packing the house to the point it was standing room only. The key not speak for the event was Mike McGarth, organic gardening expert.

Shoppers at the Midwest Herb and Garden Show (Photo Taken by Karen Binder)

John Pike, an agronomy consultant out of Marion, Illinois dives into the importance of cover crops and good soil in order to receive a good yield. Although the importance of cover crops was stressed by Pike, it was also emphasized that what is right for northern and central Illinois is not the same for the southern part of the state. The reason the variety of cover crops varies throughout different geographies is because of the variance in soil qualities and climate. At the end of the day, Pike has four main points that he brings to all farmers:

1.      Cover crops are a part of a system

2.      Water is the most limiting resource

3.      Farmland is the most expensive resource

4.      Be proud of the soils

As growers of all sorts gear up for the spring season, education aimed at growers is also ramping up. It is important in agriculture to relay successful practices. As less than one percent of the US labor force makes their living through farming, a higher yield is required in order to feed the population. More citizens are turning to grow their own food sources, and an emphasis on healthy foods is being made. As a whole, the agricultural industry is making leaps and bounds through education and utilizing tools such as the internet.

AgriNews is an online agricultural publication site that aims to be relevant, smart, targeted and vital. Their goal is to present readers with information that they can’t get elsewhere is provide factual accurate information to help their readers make better farming decisions. AgriNews has been publishing articles for more than 40 years now, establishing itself has a reputable source in 1977.

 Contact Information:

James Corbin

Tumblr @James5Corbin

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Indiana Celebrates Their Success

Meat Industries Celebrate Their Year, Indiana Agriculture One Step Closer to Sustainability

PRESS RELEASE UPDATED: February 20, 2019

GAINESVILLE, Florida (swampstratcomm)

 This week in agriculture, spirits are high in Indiana as two big celebrations took place over the past few weeks in Indianapolis. On January 26th, the Indiana Beef Cattle Association came together to recognize leaders and contributors of the industry. Awards were given to four individuals selected by a group of nine IBCA members and board members. The winners of this year’s awards include: Robert Peterson –Lifetime Achievement Award – Phillip and Patty Dow – Outstanding Cattleman of the Year – Paul Hogden – Young Cattleman of the Year – and Randy Haymacker – Friend of the Industry Award. On the other side of the isle, an annual pork cooking competition took place in Indianapolis this past week.  Taste of Elegance is an annual competition where pork is cooked on site, and awards are given to those who create the best tasting and most creative plates. Between 13 chefs, six awards were given out. The winner of this year’s Taste of Elegance rewards are: Steve Oakley, Brian Pleasant, Gabriel Sanduno, Craig Mariutto, Brandon Nelson and Blackhawk Winery.

Pictured: Laney Glick, first year competitor (Photo by Ashley Langreck)

Indiana agriculture has been doing a lot of celebrating over the past few weeks, and with due cause. Furthering their agricultural success, Indiana now has shared goals across the industry. These goals are based around managing nutrients – clean water, healthy soil, viable farms. Of course, this is quite an ambitious and ambiguous goal to have. In order to accomplish a mission such as this, it requires all parts to work together to achieve the goal. Ben Wicker, Indiana Agriculture Nutrient Alliance’s executive director said, “Nutrients are essential. They are necessary. Added nutrients, fertilizers and manures, are required for us to be as productive and the best stewards that we can be”. The Indiana Agriculture Nutrient Alliance has set goals for the state in order to achieve the ultimate mission of managing their nutrients efficiently. Their goals are:

·         100 percent of farmers regularly perform soil sampling.

·         100 percent of farmers implement plans for nutrient management.

·         75 percent of Indiana farmers making nutrient applications at planting or               in-season.

·         100 percent of Indiana farmers making frozen and snow covered ground               applications only as a last resort.

·         25 percent increase of Indiana cropland acres using reduced tillage                      systems.

·         10 percent increase of Indiana cropland acres using no-till or strip-till                     systems.

·         Increase living green cover acres to 40 percent of Indiana cropland.

 Indiana agriculture has recently outdone themselves, shining in many aspects of the agricultural industry. While they have used the last few weeks to celebrate and reward themselves, it is very well deserved. Even amongst the celebration, in the same city of Indianapolis we see a great cause that is the Indiana Agriculture Nutrient Alliance come together to set goals for the entire state. These goals are ambitious, however, they are obtainable and reaching these goals would be a tremendous milestone for agriculture as a whole, much less for the state of Indiana. The country is watching, Indiana is leading.

AgriNews is an online agricultural publication site that aims to be relevant, smart, targeted and vital. Their goal is to present readers with information that they can’t get elsewhere and provide factual accurate information to help their readers make better farming decisions. AgriNews has been publishing articles for more than 40 years now, establishing itself has a reputable source in 1977.

Contact Information: James Corbin Tumblr @James5Corbin

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Lumber Industry Grows, Milk Industry Curdles

Lumber sales increase while milk prices fall.

 PRESS RELEASED UPDATED: February 8, 2019

 GAINESVILLE, Florida (swampstratcomm)

 This week in agriculture, some familiar trends resurface in the markets as the lumber industry has seen some good profits and the milk industry continues to see a downtrend in prices. Familiarity, however, is not always pleasant. Scouring through AgriNews, we delve into the professional minds in these industries. In the instance of the milk industry, the prices of milk have been declining now for the past four years, and are expecting to continue down these tracks unless some major changes in the industry occur. Mark Stephenson believes that the milk industry will not see a full recovery until the US is exporting 17 to 18 percent of its milk production. The production of milk per cow per day has been increasing, which is a good thing, considering that Stephens also states that Wisconsin loses between 3.5 and 4% of its dairy farms per year. In fact, as a whole, the number of dairy farms in Wisconsin has been consistently on the decline since the 1930s.

The market looks much brighter in the timber industry, particularly in that of Indiana. Comparing timber acreage between Illinois and Indiana, the two states are nearly identical. Indiana, however, has been using a secret weapon that has made them nearly five-times as profitable as Illinois. Forester Jay Hayek, University of Illinois Extension forestry specialist, revealed the secret to the operation: education. In the state of Indiana, timber owners have been consulting with professionals about when and where to sell their lumber and it has made all the difference. Timber is like no other commodity in its variability between lumber qualities. Between factors such as species of tree, tree volume, disease and wood use, grading a log takes a lot of expertise and advice. In addition to these variables, timber prices haven’t been tracked by the Illinois National Agricultural Statistics Service in nearly eight years. If Illinois were to seek professional advice and help, it is widely believed that they would see a growth from their $35-million revenues from 2018. As Hayek stated, “I cannot overemphasize working with a professional forester”.

 Acquiring a greater knowledge of agriculture leads to greater investment and business opportunities. Comprehension of the dairy industry may steer one away from investing in the industry, while understanding that a growth in exports may reflect a future boom in the market. The importance of knowledge in further reflected through the comparison of Indiana and Illinois timber sectors. Because of education and communicating with professionals, Indiana has seen almost five-times the profit off nearly the same amount of acres of timber. Seeking professional help and furthering one’s agricultural education illuminates new avenues of success.

AgriNews is an online agricultural publication site that aims to be relevant, smart, targeted and vital. Their goal is to present readers with information that they can’t get elsewhere and provide factual accurate information to help their readers make better farming decisions. AgriNews has been publishing articles for more than 40 years now, establishing itself has a reputable source in 1977.

Contact Information: James Corbin Tumblr @James5Corbin

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#swampstratcomm #GatorWalk

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Agribusinesses Scramble to Meet Demands

No honey isn’t sweet.

PRESS RELEASE UPDATED: January 25, 2019

GAINESVILLE, Florida (Agrinews)

This week in agriculture, based on the articles published on agrinews-pubs.com, the talk amongst those in the industry revolves around the growing demand and the monumental stress it is putting on those in the field. As the population continues to grow rapidly, and the amount of farms continues to deteriorate, farmers are being asked to produce more and more crops and livestock than ever before. In many cases, those farms that do not adopt modern agricultural technologies are not able to survive and are forced to close their doors after generations of farming. Eric Dolbeare has been traveling the world for more than a decade now, beginning his work in Iraq in 2008, to share his knowledge of agriculture and spread modern practices to help better promote the growth of agriculture in order to keep up with the massive population growth. “Without access to modern hybrid seed technology, farmers were unable to experience the gains in production seen by other farmers using this technology around the world, according to a U.S. military news release. The strain of the demand compounds between generations and is making it increasingly difficult for family farms to be passed down. Thankfully, Purdue University has been offering several workshops with the focus and intent of succession planning of farm businesses. Traditionally, families have had a difficult time even addressing the issue of allocating assets between generations and these workshops aim to teach the right way to properly pass down these businesses.

Accompanied with the problems arising due to the growing demand brings to attention the article of the week to attention. Pollinators are potentially the most important clog in the machine that is agriculture. Without pollinators such as honey bees and monarch butterflies, many of the foods man consumes would not ever make it to the table, and a large portion of the food supply would be cut off. According to Brianne Lowe, a wildlife biologist with the Indiana Natural Resources Conservation Service, “one out of every three bites of food that humans eat is because of pollinators pollinating our food”. The importance of these pollinators cannot be stressed enough. According to the article, there are certain times of the year where pollinators have an ample amount of food, however, the problem arises where these food supplies are much less and this is the problem that conservationists are trying to address. Planting plants that attract pollinators is beneficial for everyone from farmers, to the bees, and from the field to the pantry.

As the world continues to grow and times continue to change, it is important to keep track of what is important to us as a population. Farmers make up an astoundingly small portion of our labor force and the strain is becoming immense. The pressures have trickled down as far as the very animals that pollinate our food supply, perhaps the greatest contributor to the food cycle as we know it. Understanding that each and every person plays a part in creating a sustainable food supply is vital for future generations.

AgriNews is an online agricultural publication site that aims to be relevant, smart, targeted and vital. Their goal is to present readers with information that they can’t get elsewhere is provide factual accurate information to help their readers make better farming decisions. AgriNews has been publishing articles for more than 40 years now, establishing itself has a reputable source in 1977.

Contact Information: James Corbin Tumblr @James5Corbin

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Agribusinesses Scramble to Meet Demands

No honey isn’t sweet.

PRESS RELEASE UPDATED: January 25, 2019

GAINESVILLE, Florida (Agrinews)

This week in agriculture, based on the articles published on agrinews-pubs.com, the talk amongst those in the industry revolves around the growing demand and the monumental stress it is putting on those in the field. As the population continues to grow rapidly, and the amount of farms continues to deteriorate, farmers are being asked to produce more and more crops and livestock than ever before. In many cases, those farms that do not adopt modern agricultural technologies are not able to survive and are forced to close their doors after generations of farming. Eric Dolbeare has been traveling the world for more than a decade now, beginning his work in Iraq in 2008, to share his knowledge of agriculture and spread modern practices to help better promote the growth of agriculture in order to keep up with the massive population growth. “Without access to modern hybrid seed technology, farmers were unable to experience the gains in production seen by other farmers using this technology around the world, according to a U.S. military news release. The strain of the demand compounds between generations and is making it increasingly difficult for family farms to be passed down. Thankfully, Purdue University has been offering several workshops with the focus and intent of succession planning of farm businesses. Traditionally, families have had a difficult time even addressing the issue of allocating assets between generations and these workshops aim to teach the right way to properly pass down these businesses.

Accompanied with the problems arising due to the growing demand brings to attention the article of the week to attention. Pollinators are potentially the most important clog in the machine that is agriculture. Without pollinators such as honey bees and monarch butterflies, many of the foods man consumes would not ever make it to the table, and a large portion of the food supply would be cut off. According to Brianne Lowe, a wildlife biologist with the Indiana Natural Resources Conservation Service, “one out of every three bites of food that humans eat is because of pollinators pollinating our food”. The importance of these pollinators cannot be stressed enough. According to the article, there are certain times of the year where pollinators have an ample amount of food, however, the problem arises where these food supplies are much less and this is the problem that conservationists are trying to address. Planting plants that attract pollinators is beneficial for everyone from farmers, to the bees, and from the field to the pantry.

As the world continues to grow and times continue to change, it is important to keep track of what is important to us as a population. Farmers make up an astoundingly small portion of our labor force and the strain is becoming immense. The pressures have trickled down as far as the very animals that pollinate our food supply, perhaps the greatest contributor to the food cycle as we know it. Understanding that each and every person plays a part in creating a sustainable food supply is vital for future generations.

AgriNews is an online agricultural publication site that aims to be relevant, smart, targeted and vital. Their goal is to present readers with information that they can’t get elsewhere and provide factual accurate information to help their readers make better farming decisions. AgriNews has been publishing articles for more than 40 years now, establishing itself has a reputable source in 1977.

Contact Information: James Corbin Tumblr @James5Corbin

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Dodge - “Grab Life”

This ad first released during Super Bowl XLVII, in 2013. I was immediately enamored by this ad campaign, as it was something unlike anything I had ever seen before on any television advertisement; much less in comparison to anything that had ever been aired during the greatest advertisement event in the world, which the Super Bowl has recently become. Dodge has always used its Ram truck advertisements to target the working class American, however, this campaign went above and beyond. Encapsulating exactly who the American farmer is - a God fearing, resilient group - Dodge played the heart strings of thousands of Americans upon the airing of this ad. I, personally, felt a great deal of pride in this campaign as I myself have grown up on a farm, and have been apart of the lifestyle portrayed in the advertisement. In a politically correct world, it was risky for Dodge to run a campaign based around religion and the one percent of the American labor force, but they did it, and for that I salute them.