Writer’s block has never been one of my problems! There are so many things I want to write about that my mind is having a hard time focusing on just one issue. Here’s why…

Today in Iowa is an Election Day. Get to the polls and vote! In our county, we have a primary for board of supervisors. Members of the Franklin County Board of Supervisors plan, finance and deliver services related to public safety, public health, human services, drainage, secondary roads, conservation, economic development and administration. Many of these services affect farmers, so you can be sure I’m interested in the outcome of this race!

Also this week in Des Moines is World Pork Expo! Each year 20,000 pork producers and professionals attend this event on the Iowa State Fairgrounds, so it’s no wonder this event is attended by U.S. secretaries of agriculture, governors, presidential candidates, United States Department of Agriculture officials, trade ambassadors, as well as government dignitaries from the U.S. and other countries. There are many educational presentations and new product demonstrations throughout the 3-day event. In addition to visiting with producers, one highlight for me is the The Big Grill. Can you believe more than 10,000 pork sandwiches are served here during this annual event?

Yesterday I was in Greater Des Moines as Cristen Clark and I were again invited to share our stories with the newest Pork Institute Class at the National Pork Board offices. One of the topics that came up during our training session was the debate about building a pork processing facility in North Iowa. It seems many folks in North Iowa are like the friends of the Little Red Hen. Remember that classic children’s story about the Little Hen who needs help planting wheat, tending to the crop, harvesting it and then baking bread? No one wanted to do the work but everyone wanted to enjoy the delicious loaf of bread.

Bacon Mania has stuck America, but very few folks are willing to allow pork production in their backyard! Although Prestage Farms was considering Mason City as the location of a new processing facility, some Clear Lake residents joined the protest against it. “Say ‘No’ to Factory Farms” and “Preserve Water Quality,” were common messages by the opposition. The term “factory farm” was coined to discredit modern farming, and I have yet to have anyone give me a good definition for it.

How one defines “factory farming” or “modern farming” seems to be similar to the term “sustainable” in that it’s meaning depends on who’s using it and what their special interests are. The definition changes based on a person’s experience and/or perceptions about farming.

Let me share what my perception of family and farming are. Although everyone has a family, we know that not all families are the same. Some farm families have a hard time differentiating “family” from “farming” because their farming operation is a family-run business. It’s so much of who they are and what they do that the two are intertwined, but let’s separate the two for now.

All businesses, big and small, are run by people with families. I’m working with a pig producing family that started on a “family farm” in Minnesota. This farm has been successful enough to grow, so it now involves many families, including mine. Does this make my employer a factory farm? No! I have been very impressed with how this farm family cares about all aspects of their farming operation, including the families who make a living by working on this farm. We want all to have a sense of family, raising pigs in the best most modern way possible!

More than 90 percent of U.S. farms are family farms. I see farms every day. I live right in the middle of great farm country. We have been blessed with abundant natural resources to grow crops and livestock in a very “sustainable” way.

That’s why I’m involved with helping Prestage Farms find the ideal place to locate its plant. I believe welcoming new ideas will help North Iowa prosper. Last week I blogged about how I believe a Prestage facility can breathe new life into rural communities. In particular, locating in Franklin County would be a win-win for the company and for my home county! The economic potential is vast. The benefit to our local schools and down town businesses – which are run by “families” – is vast.

Let’s grasp opportunities and stop outside agitators from spreading fear in our communities. Take the time to understand the benefits of modern farming including benefits to our families, the environment, and yes, even our livestock. If you have questions, or doubts, see for yourself!

Talk to a farmer. See firsthand how farming is being done. And remember to vote!

Three Iowa State University (ISU) students have joined Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds as interns for sales and marketing. Their first day on the job was May 10, and it’s been all hands on deck ever since! Our two summer sales interns have been busy assisting with planting research and show plots in Alexander. Meanwhile, our marketing intern has been conducting interviews and writing blogs. (more…)

The month of May is like a set of bookends about Prestage Farms making a bid to build a pork processing facility in North Iowa. In my first blog of the month, I talked about how new businesses could make North Iowa prosper. Protesters, however, swayed the city council’s vote in Mason City and Prestage Farms was sent packing. In a turn of events, now my home county is reaching out to Prestage Farms. That’s why my last blog of this month will give reasons why I believe building a new pork processing facility in Franklin County is a win-win situation.

Here are a few of the reasons why Franklin County is a good fit for Prestage Farms:

• Franklin County’s economy is ag-based, and residents understand the relationship between agriculture and local prosperity. Large numbers of hogs are raised here, so residents know first-hand that people and pigs can coexist harmoniously.
• A processing plant means local producers will have more options to sell their pork. About 26 million pigs are currently raised within 100 miles of Mason City, but this hog supply has outpaced available packing capacity as older facilities closed. Prestage Farms’ new facility would provide a market for about 1 million hogs that already are raised in our area.
• Our proximity to Interstate 35 makes shipping convenient.

Those who opposed Prestage Farms building in Mason City raised concerns about air quality and water supply. Today I plan to provide “the other side of the story” as it relates to each of these topics. I also want to reiterate the positive impact Prestage Farms could have on economic development.

Air Quality

This plant will be more advanced than any in the world. New technologies will negate odors from the livestock barn and rendering facilities. Vegetative buffers will further reduce potential concerns. The holding pond for wastewater treatment will be covered, and the methane captured will be utilized as an energy source. Wastewater treatment and rendering will use the latest technology available for further remediation and conditioning prior to emission.

Water Supply

The County will work closely with the Iowa DNR (Department of Natural Resources) and company engineers to determine waste flows from the plant. The company will pre-treat all water leaving the facility, so nothing harmful will be released into the area watershed. It’s my understanding that testing is required daily to meet local and state regulations.

Economic Development

It was estimated that the Prestage pork project would have an economic impact of $750 million on the region through population growth and spending at local businesses. During the Mason City hearings, it was reported that Prestage would create 922 full-time jobs averaging $15.70/hour plus overtime and full benefits. The lowest paid Prestage employees are expected to make $39,208 annually plus benefits estimated at $12,236,722:

• Affordable Family Healthcare
• Short-term disability insurance after one year of employment
• Company paid life insurance
• Contributions to Health Savings Account
• Paid time off including vacation and holidays
• 401-k match of one-to-one match for first 2% of employee contribution

Stop the Spread of Fear

“It’s becoming mainstream in our culture to petition against something we don’t understand. People have preconceived notions – most of which aren’t even true – and that propagates fear. Fear kills job,” said Reg Morton of Mort’s L.L.C. “For those who operate on fear, I have explained the two options: (1) Fill your towns with people who are working and bringing income into the community; or (2) Let the houses stand empty until someone unemployed and on entitlements moves in.”

“Prestage Farms is an opportunity… we really need to take a strong look at this,” encourages Reg. “There will be positives and negatives that must be considered, but one thing is for sure, our communities need people with jobs in order to remain healthy and vibrant.”

Anti-farm groups had everyone in North Iowa worked in to a tizzy. Myths have half-truths spread faster than wildfire, so in last week’s blog I addressed one of their concerns about nutrient waste management. Not only can pig poop be managed, it can fuel our economy here.

“Agriculture is what fuels us,” said Mason City Mayor Eric Bookmeyer. It fascinates me that we’re willing to stick our nose up… I wonder where we’re at that we are considering not participating in the largest industry in Iowa.” (Click here to watch the rest of his emotional testimony.)

Franklin County has an opportunity to not only participate – but to embrace – agriculture as economic development. We have room for Prestage Farms, and Prestage Farm can help bring new life (literally) to our local communities. Win-win.

Fear of the unknown is always a powerful motivator. Unfortunately, some anti-farm groups and other activists have worked overtime recently to put North Iowans into a tizzy to stop a pork processing plant from being built in our region. Many half-truths and misconceptions were shared online by these folks, so today I’m going to give you my scoop on pig poop!

One of the naysayers’ biggest objections was that “factory farms” would build more big barns to supply the packing plant with pigs. Of course, more pigs mean more pig poop! The naysayers made it sound like pig farms would be polluting the countryside, and I’ll explain the value of “organic nutrients” in a bit. First, I want to address the degrading term “factory farm.” Ironically, the 98% of farm corporations are family farms. “Farm corporation” is really a business structure. In most cases, family members are the so-called stock holders. Wanda Patsche, who blogs at Minnesota Farm Living, does a great job of explaining the “Top 5 Myths of Farm Corporations.”

Now back to pig poop… I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been farming for 60 years. Through the years, farming practices have changed dramatically. When I was younger and my family raised pigs on pasture, we didn’t need to spread any manure. The pigs simply went where they went, but it was a poor way of distributing the “fertilizer.” These organic nutrients definitely weren’t spread evenly across the pasture. (Side note: Poop was commonly used as fertilizer back then because (1) it was readily available. Nearly every farmer raised both crops and livestock; (2) it was free, and everyone was conscientious about making the most of their resources; and (3) commercial fertilizer wasn’t available like it is today.)

Over time, we changed how we raised pigs. We moved them to the farm yard so we could better control what they ate. I remember hoping for a big rain shower on Fridays, so Mother Nature would clean the feeding lots and save me from using a scoop shovel on Saturday. At that time, we didn’t fully appreciate the value of placing this manure on the field to fertilize the crop. We also didn’t understand that the runoff from these feedlots was eventually running into the creek across the road from our farm buildings.

We learned that lesson, so we changed our practices. We also learned the importance of evenly distributing nutrients across all fields. Back in the “good ol’ days,” we saved time and labor by spreading the manure on the fields closest to our pig lots. The fields farthest from the pigs always were the least fertile as a result. We also didn’t factor in the volatility of nitrogen in the fertilizer. Frankly, we didn’t know that nitrogen migrated in water underground. We’ve learned so much about the movement of nutrients through the soil and water.

Today we are very careful how we use fertilizer! Livestock producers are required to file with the State of Iowa a manure management plan, or a poop plan to manage the fertilizer produced by our pigs. While this regulation has many downsides, I’ll focus on the good that has come from it. Today’s livestock farmers are taking an intentional approach to placing very valuable fertilizer, a.k.a. poop, where it may be used by the plants grown for crops. We must soil test and analyze our soils to understand how much poop they need to grow our crops.

Pig farmers are required to test the pig poop to know how much nutritional value is available to the crops. Then we calculate to determine the right amount of poop to spread on each acre to enhance soil productivity and crop yields. There is a whole lot of science and technology that goes in to using pig poop as fertilizer today! We can use GPS technology to provide the exact amount of plant food for every stalk of corn. Talk about a stark contrast to the days when I would slop the pigs with my Grandpa Jensen! Using a little pail, I’d feed the pigs whey from the Coulter creamery.

Today’s pig farmers are doing their best to take care of our resources. Not only do we precisely measure where the poop is placed on a farm field, but the way we store our pig poop also is studied and regulated. Pig manure must be stored in an enclosed tank, so none of the nutrient value is lost. Then the pig poop is taken directly to the field by tank or via an “umbilical cord,” which is a long hose that connects the storage tank to a tillage tool that puts the poop directly in to the soil where crops grow. While inserting manure into the soil greatly helps control the odor, the fact is all poop smells! The good news that smell doesn’t last forever.

Pigs and people can exist in harmony. Chances are, most Iowans have no idea that at any given time there are 20 million pigs being raised in our great state. Yes, 20 million! The reason you can drive by so many modern pig barns without realizing there are animals inside is because modern pig barns are a very big improvement over how we raised pigs in the “good ol’ days.” Modern pig farming is better for our environment. It’s better for our pigs. And it’s better for me and all the many people that care for our livestock every day!

If there is ever an Iowa Hall of Pride for Agriculture, 89-year-old Don Greiman of Garner should be its first inductee. He’s never missed a day of the Iowa State Fair in 49 years! If all goes according to plan, he’ll spend another 11 days at the 2016 Iowa State Fair, giving tours to VIPs like Reba McIntire.

“One of the most memorable experiences I’ve had was getting to meet Reba one-on-one,” he says with his signature grin. “She was the nicest person to visit with and made me feel so at ease.”

Through the years, Don has hosted several grandstand entertainers, presidential candidates and national television broadcasters including Martha Stewart and Fox News’ Ainsley Earhardt. Don recalls the daily livestock shows from memory and can tell you the best places on the grounds to grab a corn dog or ice cream. He also gives behind-the-scenes tours as part of his duties as an Iowa State Fair ambassador, a title he’s held since 2011 after he retired from the fair board.

Don served on the Iowa State Fair Board for 44 years and is only person to have served twice as fair board president. He also was instrumental in forming the Blue Ribbon Foundation in 1993 to help renovate and preserve buildings on the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

With so many years of making memories at the fair, former Executive Director of the Blue Ribbon Foundation John Putney suggested to Don that he write a book about it. A Blue Ribbon Life: Memories of the Iowa State Fair was co-written with ISU theater professor Jane Cox.

All proceeds from books sales have – and still do – go toward the Blue Ribbon Foundation. If you love Iowa history, Iowa agriculture and/or the Iowa State Fair, this book is a must read! (It also might make someone a nice Father’s Day gift. Hint. Hint.)

Copies of Don’s book are available online and during the Iowa State Fair. (SIDE BAR: The Blue Ribbon Foundation was very responsive to the email I submitted from its website. When my order didn’t go through, a quick call to the office got it resolved and my book was in the mail within 24 hours.)

“A Blue Ribbon Life” also chronicles the beginning of the Greiman family’s cattle herd, which is among the oldest purebred Angus herds in America. Don’s grandfather, Fred Greiman, emigrated from Germany and eventually settled in Garner, Iowa. He developed a reputation for raising the finest horses and worked diligently to build his cattle herd.

When delivering Shorthorns to market in Chicago, Fred fell in love with the Angus breed. He wanted to add some to his herd because they had smoother body styles with excellent carcass. Fred decided to sell a rail car full of Shorthorns and use the proceeds to purchase an Angus bull from a sale being held in Chicago on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Those Angus cattle were beautiful but they didn’t come cheap. The opening bid for an Angus yearling bull went for more than Fred’s whole rail car full of cattle brought! Although he didn’t purchase any then, he kept his eyes open for opportunity.

In 1896, Fred was in the train depot when he saw a poster advertising that a South Dakota farmer was interested in trading a Percheron stallion for an Angus bull. The two farmers corresponded by mail. After some months, they agreed to exchange animals. Fred placed his prize-winning Percheron stud on a railcar and eagerly awaited for the arrival of his Angus bull.

“My grandfather couldn’t wait for that bull to come in!” explains Don. “When he went to the train station, he found a ‘wild and wooly’ 400-pound bull calf in a crate. It certainly didn’t look to be a good trade at the time, but that bull ended up paying out. He was crossed with Shorthorns cattle and their offspring was sold at a premium.”

In those days, a farmer would ride the rail with his cattle to Chicago. They’d leave on Saturday afternoon, so the cattle could be fed and watered on Sunday. The sale was then held on Mondays. When Don’s grandpa sold his first crossbred Angus-Shorthorn, he topped the market and was told by the buyer that he’d always be able to merchandise cattle like that…

(There’s more to this story than can be told in just one blog! Be sure to read “Part II” this Friday on TheFieldPosition.com.)