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!

Upson Lecture Series: Vance Crowe

Vance Crowe - Director of Millennial Engagement, Monsanto

Farmers and ranchers wear a number of different hats - manager, botanist, animal scientist, nutritionist and many more. All in order to grown safe food for a hungry world. However, in the past decade or so they have also had to start wearing the hat of marketing practitioner by opening their doors to people who are interested in the food grown on farms and ranches. Many of these interested consumers are millennials who are cognizant of their food choices and are constantly searching for information.

To give light to some of the thinking behind the consumer trend to discover more about the food we eat, Food For Thought is hosting the next installment of the Upson Lecture Series by featuring Vance Crowe, Director of Millennial Engagement for Monsanto. Crowe will speak at Forum Hall on K-State's campus on November 10 at 7 pm and will address common consumer misperceptions about food production and from where those misperceptions stem with his lecture titled "Crossing Over the Mountain: Understanding Memes and Networks to Outcompete the Fear of Modern Agriculture.”

Be sure to join us on K-State's campus at 7 pm on November 10 for an exciting discussion about transparency in food production!

The event is free and open to the public - the Upson Lecture Series has been fully endowed by the generous support of the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine classes of 1962 and 1966.

For more information about the lecture, contact Brandi Buzzard Frobose, a Food For Thought
member, at bbuzzard13@gmail.com  or Lindy Bilberry, the lecture series’ coordinator
at bilberry@ksu.edu.

Do You Have Farmer Style?

The Peterson Farm Brothers sure do - check them out on Facebook and you'll find three young men who are enthusiastically sharing the day to day activities of farm life through their hilarious song parodies. Remember this?




That little ditty has amassed almost 8 million views on YouTube and led to the brothers being featured on national television and news outlets promoting agriculture. They have presented at the FFA National Convention, agribusiness meetings and were most recently recognized at the final K-State home football game. They are doing great things for agriculture and we are excited that Greg (the eldest brother) is a member of Food For Thought! Last night, the Peterson Farm Bros released their newest parody hit titled Farmer Style which is a parody on Gangnam Style, the smash hit that has taken over the music charts. Have a look!
 





This is a great video because not only is it entertaining, it mentions some important agriculture aspects. The constant reference to the importance of hay and forage is evident but they also hammer home that they are a family farm and are passionate about agriculture. Congrats on another great job Peterson Bros. - Food For Thought and the agriculture community are thrilled that you're on our side. Keep up the fantastic work! If you want more info on the Peterson Farm Bros, you can check out their YouTube page, Facebook page or follow Greg on Twitter (@gregpeterson33).

What do you think of the video? We want to hear you feedback? Should the Peterson Farm Bros do another parody? Which song?

 Until next time,
 ~ Buzzard ~

ULS Secretary Rodman - Success!

Well, Secretary Rodman spoke about Kansas Agriculture in the year 2025 on Monday night and we are thrilled with the turnout - almost 250 people showed up to learn more about our state's most important industry. Thanks to all who attended and we hope you gained a better perspective of Kansas' role in global agriculture.

As previously announced, the hashtag #ULSRodman was the handle to follow and there were some great tweets by the audience. We've also included some pictures from the evening.

A great turnout for our guest, Secretary Rodman

Secertary Rodman addressed many important issues including water conservation, population and food interactions, future opportunities for young people in agriculture and the desire and capability for Kansas agriculture to expand and meet global food demand.

Thanks again for all who attended - we appreciate your support of agriculture, Food For Thought and bridging the gap!

Until next time,

~ Buzzard ~

Upson Lecture with Secretary Dale Rodman Tonight!

Tonight is the night!

 

Tonight we welcome Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Dale Rodman to Kansas State University. Secretary Rodman will be speaking on the topic of Kansas Agriculture in 2025 in the Main Ballroom in the Student Union at 7 pm. Many factors affecting agriculture and food production will be discussed and Rodman will answer questions following the lecture.

 

If you are unable to make the lecture, be sure to follow along using the #ULSRodman hashtag on Twitter. Updates will also be posted to Facebook and you can also follow the @fftgroup Twitter handle.

 

We are looking forward to an informative lecture that will shed light on the challenges that lie ahead for Kansas agriculture. Don't miss out!

 

Until next time,

~ Buzzard ~



Fall Upson Lecture Series Speaker

Finally!

Food For Thought is thrilled to announce that our Fall Upson Lecture Series speaker will be Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Dale Rodman!

The lecture will take place in the K-State Student Union Main Ballroom at 7 pm on November 5 - put it on your calendar!

Secretary Rodman will address pertinent issues surrounding the recent drought and how it has affected food production and the agriculture industry’s challenge of feeding the world. Furthermore, the impending increase in the cost of food, which affects families from all demographics, will be discussed at length. The lecture is free and open to the public and will be followed by a question and answer session.

We're very excited about this lecture - it promises to be a very informative evening that will highlight some very critical issues in the agriculture industry! 

Tell your friends and be sure to follow our Facebook page and twitter feed (@fftgroup) for updates and information. If you have questions, feel free to post them in the comments section, tweet or Facebook us and we'll get back to you!

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 ~

I'm An Agronomist

So I'm not really an agronomist but that is the name of a website created by Iowa State University that is dedicated to agronomy education. I found the site while visiting a few friends in Ames, IA this past weekend who had an "I'm An Agronomist" magnet on their fridge. Good advertising, I think.

Anyway, here on Food For Thought, we strive to provide a window into all aspects of agriculture so today I thought an inside look at agronomy would be a change-up.

The motto of I'm An Agronomist is "applying science to fuel and feed our global society" - very catchy and very true. The website addresses issues like bio-energy development, how to confront world hunger and protecting human health. I'm pretty interested in feeding 9 billion people in 50 years so I clicked on the World Hunger link and was pleasantly surprised at the tactics agronomists are using to help solve our world hunger problems:

There are now 854 million undernourished people in our world 820 million in developing countries, 25 million in countries formerly controlled by the Soviet Union, and 9 million in industrialized countries. These numbers reflect the intersection of complex historical, economic and political problems that together have created chronic poverty. The companion to poverty is hunger fed by a lack of access to fertile land and resources to grow food, and /or a lack of sufficient opportunity to generate income to buy food.

The solution to hunger must start from the ground up especially since many of the worlds hungry also live in rural areas. Agronomists use skills and knowledge across the areas of soils, agroecology, climate, crop diversity, and plant breeding to help identify and analyze systemic problems facing the agriculture of an area. Contributing this training to the knowledge and practices of local farmers, in the context of their culture, could generate creative ideas that have the potential to take aim at one of the most unjust and unacceptable problems of our time. In this way, agronomists are, "confronters of world hunger"

I was also interested in the human health portion and after checking out that particular page I learned some nifty info on healthier soybean oils. I'm a supporter of fried chicken, chicken fried steak, fried potatoes, etc - so healthier oils to use while preparing those tasty dishes is relatively important to me.
Neat, huh? I also found a cool podcast link, YouTube videos from ISU's Agronomy Channel and if you're ready to bleed agronomy, red and gold --- several desktop wallpaper themes.

I enjoyed reading more about agronomy and the different technologies utilized in crop production, and I hope you'll give the I'm An Agronomist website a look.

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~