Weeds Have A Place… On Your Plate?

“A weed is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Photo courtesy CBS Sunday Morning

Growing up on a traditional farming operation, weeds were always the enemy. They were the pesky nuisances that were somehow able to survive and prosper in the most disturbed environments. Of course, they were always found entrenched in the most inconvenient place for the farmer, too – the field.

This is why I had the preconception that weeds were bad, bad, bad. Wrongo! Weeds are simply a plant out of place.

I recently took a weed science course in which I discovered that people… were eating…weeds. I was a little taken aback when I learned of this idea.

First, I was concerned about people eating poisonous weeds. (Note: I wasn’t the best at identifying weeds, I later learned through my ID quizzes in the course, so this would be a big concern for me as a weed-eater. Ha!)

Secondly, I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that people ate weeds for enjoyment. It just seemed preposterous to me!

However, after watching a video my instructor showed during class (which can be found at 6:40 on this link, if you’d like to see for yourself), I quickly learned eating weeds is just like eating any other kind of grown plant or crop.

Weeds are actually a valuable food, loaded with antioxidants, vitamins and protein!

A farmer sows his seed, nurtures it, watches it grow, and eventually harvests the plant. This is for weeds and crops alike.

It may not seem like a person who grows organic weeds for consumption is practicing agriculture, but they are.

Both parties grow food for consumption, whether it is growing it for themselves, selling it at a local farmer’s market, or selling it to an agricultural cooperative (also known as a farmers’ co-op) as a traditional farmer would. Another similarity I found was there are even edible-plant tours around Central Park in New York City, comparable to an agri-tour on a farm!

Though many farmers still don’t particularly enjoy weeds growing amongst their crops, I have learned they do have a place in our environment.

I can’t say my research or the video provided has changed my mind about eating weeds, but it has enlightened me on another form of agriculture.

If you are looking for more ways to spice up your meals and you are much braver than me, check out this link for a list of some edible weeds and ways to eat them!

Cheers,
Anissa

P.S. if you are going to eat weeds please make sure to wash them thoroughly before consumption, avoid chemically treated areas, and KNOW YOUR WEEDS!

A Bit More Than Just Planting Seeds

I will admit that prior to three weeks ago, I never had much experience with planting crops – I grew up on a cattle farm – and I still don’t a lot of experience with it now. But after submitting a project for my crop science class, I have a deeper respect for those that grow crops for a living. 

Let's see, the rows have 15 inches between them and three inches between each plant. Wait, why is there so much math in farming?

photo courtesy: SumaGroulX

For my project, a few of my classmates and I were assigned a field and were given a description of what the farmer has done in the past, as well as problems that he has run into recently. Our group had to take on the role of consultants to the farmer and provide educated suggestions for what he should do in the coming year. While none of us were experts on the subject, we ended up submitting a 12-page proposal, highlighting as much information as we could. 

Among the most important information, we had to detail:

• Different types of soil in the field
• Varieties of seeds for the crops that we were planting
• How much fertilizer should be used to keep the plants growing and healthy
• How we should plant the seeds in the ground, how far apart the rows of crops would be and how many seeds we planned to use
• Estimated costs for everything that we would use

I don’t know about you, but what I knew about growing crops was just a fraction of what we covered in this assignment. I even called a family friend that sells different types of seed, asking for his advice and recommendations.

At times, I think it can be easy to assume that the typical procedure for growing crops is to stick the seed in the ground and pray for rain. That might be the most simplistic view of it, at least. When looking at every angle of it, however, it really looks like a science. Farmers have to know what they are doing to ensure that everything on the farm will work out day to day, month to month and year to year. They also have to be able to adapt, which I found out as I had to provide backup solutions to our group’s original suggestions just in case they would not work out.

Have you ever seen a planting season or harvest? Have you seen the farm equipment going down the road early in the morning? Just imagine how long farmers spend out in the field, and then think about how much time is spent out of the field, double and triple-checking everything to make sure that their plants and land not only survive, but thrive.

I may not find myself plowing up the ground or applying fertilizer any time soon, but when I see a farmer out in the field I will know that he has been up for longer than me, and will probably stay up longer than me, more than likely thinking of what more he could do than just putting seeds in the dirt and praying for rain.

Until next time,

Chance

Earth Day is Every Day for Farmers and Ranchers

Earth Day - a day that reminds us all to recycle more, use less and think about future generations when making decisions that can affect our environment for years to come.

But guess what? We should be cognizant of our choices more often than just once per year - as consumers we should be striving to lessen our environmental footprint every day in order to preserve our world for future generations.

Good thing that farmers and ranchers have been working towards sustainability and resource conservation for as long as they have been producing food. Here are some hard facts about food production and resource conservation:

• Farmers who grow crops like corn, soybeans and wheat, will practice crop rotation which is the process of changing what is planted in a particular location on a farm from season to season. This helps with nutrient management of the soil and soil erosion.
• Hog farmers use manure from their farm as a valuable organic fertilizer that is readily used by crop farmers to help build beneficial carbon content in soil.
• Hog farmers have also streamlined their production practices which have led to a 35% decrease in carbon footprint from 1959-2009. That's quite an improvement!
• The beef industry reduced its water use and greenhouse gas emissions by 3% and 2%, respectively

The beef industry works towards sustainable production every year.
Courtesy www.factsaboutbeef.com

What are you doing in your life to lessen your environmental footprint? How could you improve?

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

How Do Farmers Use Water?

When you think of water, what do you think of? Maybe you think of a refreshing drink on a hot day. Maybe you think of irrigating your lawn. Maybe you think of a farmer irrigating their crops. One thing that is certain is that water is an important resource that needs to be preserved.

So you may be wondering to yourself just where the water goes that is used by so many people world-wide. According to the United Nations, food production uses approximately 70% of the world's fresh water supply while 20% is for industry use and the other for 10% domestic use. With water being a hot-button issue these days to both consumers and agricultural producers, I wanted to take this time to explain some ways that producers are efficiently using water to combat climate change and a growing population.

Drip irrigation allows a producer to place water at the top of the soil or on the roots of a plant. The irrigation system accomplishes this by setting up a network of tubing, valves and emitters that manage how much water is dispersed to plants. This minimizes water runoff and increases efficiency to help producers better allocate their use of water. Traditional systems are operated by gravity, but some systems have become solar powered.

Drought tolerant seeds enable farmers to grow crops in areas that may have a very limited water supply. This has been achieved through the identification of a gene in a specific crop's genome being mapped out over time. As more of the genes are being identified among various crops, the potential for increases in yields and decreases in resource use such as water bring monumental economic and environmental benefits to producers.

Rotational grazing systems make it possible for livestock producers to alternate the grazing ranges for their animals. This practice allows the ground and soil to recover from the animal hooves breaking up the soil. Through this system, organic matter is returned back into the soil while also reducing water runoff. With organic matter being returned to the soil there is increased water holding capacity for crop production if the producer chooses to return that ground to crop production in the future.

If you are interested in learning more about these techniques, or others, I strongly encourage you to check out this link that discusses water conservation efforts in farming and gardening.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, send them my way. I would love to hear them!

Signing off,
Wyatt Pracht

Rain makes corn.... and is a good thing!

I've started off a rather somber post with a song - I hope you enjoy having it stuck in your head for the rest of the day - also, I LOVE the intro to this song. These farmers are really adamant about the critical role rain plays in food production.

Corn makes lots of other things besides whiskey by the way; cereals, baking powder, vegetable oil. You get the point.

As you've probably noticed, there hasn't been much rain in the midwest this year - or in general, actually. In fact, a report from the USDA as of August 1 highlighted pointed out the following sad facts:

- 65% of U.S. farms are in areas experiencing drought
- Severe or greater drought is impacting 65 pecent of cattle production, and about 75 percent of corn and soybean production.
- As of August 1, more than half of U.S. counties had been designated as disaster areas by USDA in 2012, mainly due to drought.

I live in God's country (Kansas) and we've needed rain badly for the past 2-3 months. In fact, the state of Kansas has placed all 105 counties into a drought emergency status and all but 3 Kansas counties have been declared a disaster. The good news is that it's supposed to rain tonight; the bad news is that when we really needed the rain, it was nowhere to be found.

In May, which is a very crucial time on the corn growing timeline (most corn is planted in late April), Kansas received a statewide average of 1.10 inches of rain. That's not very much to get good seedling growth started. June and July didn't treat us much better which has really had a negative effect on both corn and soybean growth.

For visual explanation let's look at this ear of corn

that came from this field near my hometown in Anderson County, Kansas. That's my husband's hand and that ear of corn is only about 4.5 inches long. This is a sad, sad sight for farmers.

Folks, it's August 8. Corn fields aren't supposed to look like this for another six weeks or so. There are just a few tiny specks of green in that field, some fields don't have any green in them and the corn stalks are half the height of this field.

Then compare to this ear of corn from Wood County, Ohio, where they've gotten  more rain this year than we Kansans- about 2.6 inches in May. That number is still a decrease from their normal precipitation but if you look at the difference that an inch of rain can have on a corn crop, that's a pretty important inch!

Here they are side by side - again, the corn from Ohio is on the left and although it's not near the size that farmers would like, it is better than our poor little Kansas ears.

            

So what does all of this rain and crop talk mean for you, the consumer? Unfortunately, food prices will likely increase in the long run and let me explain how.

Livestock producers (beef, pork) are having to cull their herds to avoid spending so much money on feeds. This could lead to a short-term increase in the meat supply which will lower costs. However, in the long run, once the shortage of corn and soybeans reaches the retail end (cornmeal, flour, cereal) we'll likely see an increase in grocery prices.

Furthermore, if producers are selling off parts of the herd now, they will have less to sell in 10-12 months which will probably lead to a long-term increase in meat prices.

So, if in the next 6 months you notice meat prices decrease only to increase again, please don't be upset with the farmer or grocery store. Farmers, especially livestock producers, are getting hit very hard this year. Many crop producers have insurance but that type of reassurance isn't available for beef, pork and poultry producers. They must feed their livestock regardless of feed prices because they're committed to utmost care for their animals. To read more about the strain on livestock producers and the perilous conditions that Mother Nature has created, you can read this blog post by pork producer, Chris Chinn.

We'd love to hear your thoughts and concerns about the drought or your situation. Leave us some comment love!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Technology Has Brought Us A Long Way

I am not a very tech-savvy person. At all. I still don't know how to use Bluetooth and that's been around for about 8 years, maybe more? Anyway, just because I don't understand it doesn't mean I don't appreciate it. Technology has made it easier for parents to teach their children the ABC's at young ages, has improved health care, has globalized  industry and in general has improved our quality of life (although the occasional IT headache does occur). Additionally, technology has made agriculture immensely more productive over time.

What do I mean? Think about it - in the 60's and 70's Norman Borlaug and his associates created new varieties of corn, rice and wheat that vastly improved the amount of food farmers could produce. In some countries of the world, for example in East Africa, food intake went up by 50%. This was achievable with the application of technology.

In his annual letter, Bill Gates highlights these facts and others about the need for technology to feed our growing world. That's right, Bill Gates has gone agvocate. Well, not really but he does make a great case for our industry.

Bill points out that in the 19th century, the majority of the U.S. workforce was in agriculture. Today, less than 2% of people are responsible for all U.S. food production however, in countries like Uganda 75% of the citizens produce the food. U.S. farmers are so productive that the average family spends less than 10% (8.9% in 2009) of their annual income on food. That is a microscopic amount compared to a country like China who in 2009 spent 37% of their income on food.

It's also brought to attention that only $3 billion a year is spent researching the seven most important crops. This amount needs to increase for the sake of our productivity - especially as our climate continues to change which could cause a 25% decrease in the crop yield if we continue to see droughts and floods like this past year. Research into soil science and crop production can help us to be more efficient with our resources, which is especially important with climate change, urbanization and our growing world population. He suggests we need to increase that amount if we want to be able to meet the demand for food over the next 50 years

Before I close, I'd like to share this picture with you. A little Food For Thought, if you will (cliche, I know):

With this picture I'm not trying to say taxes are high, I'm pointing out the extreme affordability of our food supply. We are very blessed in the states to have such 'cheap' food that has been brought about through research, hard working farmers and technology.

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

To read Bill Gates full letter, click here. Photo credit from here

Sweet Corn vs. Field Corn

One of my favorite summer time foods is sweet corn! Nearly every year since I was a little girl my family has had our own sweet corn patch on our farm. Sweet corn is the type of corn people typically grow in their vegetable gardens. It can even be grown year round in some warm weather climates. This type of corn is harvested when the kernels are immature and still in the milk stage, and is used primarily for human consumption. Families all across the world have several different choices when consuming sweet corn. Many may prefer it fresh right off the cob, from a can, or even frozen. It's even the third leading vegetable used for processing following potatoes and tomatoes. Over 700,000 acres of sweet corn are grown in the United States each year for both fresh market and for processing. This statistic makes the U.S. both the leading producer and exporter of sweet corn! 700,000 acres may seem like a lot of corn, but sweet corn production really only accounts for roughly 1% of the corn produced across the country.

If you've taken a drive lately through much of the Midwest, you more than likely may have noticed the many corn fields, often stretching for miles along the highways. Field corn, also known as dent or feed corn, makes up more than 90% of the corn you see growing in the fields. So what makes this corn different than what ends up on my dinner plate? Well, field corn is hard on the outside and starchy on the inside, unlike sweet corn . While most often considered a food for animals, it can be found in many products you use everyday! After the corn is harvested, it is usually stored at a local grain elevator or on a farm's bin site which not only stores the corn, but also dry it to protect the quality of the kernels. From storage, the corn is taken to many different places depending on what it is going to be used for. Some corn is taken to feed mills where it is made into livestock feed. A lot of the corn produced in the U.S. today also goes to ethanol plants so that it can be made into fuel for people to use, plus the corn can also be sent to barges on local rivers where it travels down the rivers to be exported and eventually end up in other countries. The rest of the corn is sent to various processing plants where it can be made into various types of household products. Many of which you might never have thought of. For example, did you know corn was used to make crayons, chips, vitamins, paint, plastic and...it is also used as a food ingredient in the form of corn cereal, corn starch, corn oil and corn syrup!

Next time your on a road trip this summer, ask your friends and family if they know the difference between sweet corn and field corn...

Happy Summer!

Kiley