I’ve read that 99.9% of all species have become extinct! Extinction happened before man had anything to do with “climate change.” The difference in our present age, however, is the fact that man thinks he is in control. Now we want to control climate!

Some folks believe that adjusting how we create energy will save the planet. Fewer carbon dioxide emissions, they say, will stop climate change. The truth is, one major volcanic eruption can make more “pollution” than was made throughout history by all mankind!

Every time an attempt is made to change one thing, other things unexpectedly get changed – most times these unexpected changes are not for the better. Take the spotted owl for example. With the passage of the Endangered Species and the National Forest Management Acts, the logging industry was basically shut down in the Northwest.

Saving one species of bird was put ahead of mankind, but the desired results were not accomplished. The number of spotted owl didn’t increase, and now scientists believe the aggression of barred owls has actually led to the decline. Not only were logging families devastated and entire regions suffered economic hardship, but the “untouched” forests grew a massive amount of combustible material. Without man’s management of the forest, massive forest fires occur every year and create massive amounts of air pollution. Are we saving that birds or old forests… or are we just making huge mistakes?

Mankind has been given the power to make decisions. We have the ability to make a difference. In my chosen career of farming, we have made huge advances in producing food. The U.S. free market system has been the biggest catalyst, yet man likes to step in and interfere. As our society has grown, so has the amount of government intervention.

Government officials are always trying to make things better. My question remains, “What will be the 100 after-effects of trying to fix one problem?” Are we better without coal? Is green energy the answer or will it cause unknown problems for the future? Can government involvement fix the problem by breaking one industry and replacing it with another?

Taxes, regulation and rule by force interferes with the free market. Taking land from private individuals – like the Hammand family of Oregon and Texas ranchers like Ken Aderholt for “the public good” will have long-term effects. The examples of government overreach and the use of eminent domain just keep on growing, and I’m genuinely concerned about losing the freedom to operate here.

It’s time to return power to the people!  Our country was not made great by a president overpassing congress and ignoring the constitution. In fact, our forefathers were very intentional in how they formed our government because one person was not supposed to have that kind of power.

We have an election bearing down on us. Are the candidates saying what they think you want to hear, or are they laying out a plan for a better future? Are they promising “free” stuff? Remember, free stuff will have hundreds of effects because someone has to pay for it!

Now is the time to learn the issues and examine how the candidates really think. Whom we elect makes a difference!

Guest blog post by April Hemmes, Franklin County Iowa farmer who is also a board member for the Iowa Soybean Association and the United Soybean Board

Goooood Mooor-Ning Vietnaaam!

The moment the sun rose over Ho Chi Minh City, my mind replayed the voice of Robin Williams as funny radio host Adrian Cronauer in the 1987 hit movie Good Morning Vietnam.  Ho Chi Minh City, population 8 million, is located in southern Vietnam by the delta. With so many people living on a land mass that’s slightly larger than New Mexico, you see scooters everywhere. This was my view every morning.

I had the pleasure of traveling July 30 through August 7, 2015, to Ho Chi Minh City with nine other soybean farmers from across the United States plus four United Soybean Board members. We were hosted in the regions we visited by U.S. Soybean. Through a global network of international offices, the U.S. Soybean Exports Council builds a preference for U.S. soybeans and soybean products. This group also advocates for the use of soy in feed, aquaculture and human consumption, as well as promotes the benefits of soy use through education. The number of aquaculture feed mills in Vietnam using U.S. soybean meal in aquaculture has risen dramatically in recent years, so our delegation was sent to provide more technical information about the superiority of U.S. Soy compared to soybeans of other origins.

Our first stop on this tour was a feed mill and malting plant, located along a deep channel of the river to allow shipments by boat. This particular malting plant is expanding due to an increase demand for beer in Vietnam. Vietnam ranks third for beer consumption in Asia, behind China and Singapore. The highlight for me was seeing Panamax ships, the mid-sized cargo ships that are capable of passing through the lock chambers of the Panama Canal, being unloaded. One was full of grain and the other was filled with containers. It’s very hard to explain how big one of these ships is, but it takes 4 days to unload it!  The containers can be filled with anything from cars to soybeans or electronics to raw goods for the textile industry.

We also had time to stop by a market. Markets play a crucial role in Vietnamese life as that’s where people find essential items from clothing and shoe to foods, drinks, spice and fruits. The range of produce grown in the area and available at market is amazing! Although it’s rare to find someone here who speaks a foreign language, we did enjoy our visit.

During our “See for Yourself” marketing mission, we watching many presentations and learned a lot of facts about Vietnam. One in particular that struck me is that well over half of the population is under the age of 25.  Amazing! Less than 20% of the population is over age 55, so they have no memory of the war here.

Honestly, I came home from this See for Yourself program feeling optimistic! There is much optimism in Vietnam. Although the economy has grown through agriculture and manufacturing, the average annual income is $2,000. Vietnamese can earn more by moving to the city and getting either a manufacturing job or service industry. Generally speaking, these people are happy and they believe life is only going to get better.

It’s hard to describe the sense of duty I feel because people around the world depend on the quality of the crops we produce in America. I highly recommend that farmers “See for Yourself” what the checkoff’s role is in developing and maintaining worldwide markets. Click here to apply for the 2016 See It Yourself Program by April, 1 2016.

As one year comes to an end and people around the world make plans to usher in a New Year, we find ourselves taking stock of all that happened in 2015 and resolving to make improvements in the year ahead. Did you know that only 45 percent of Americans usually make New Year’s Resolutions and only 8 percent actually achieve their resolutions?

Talk about a sobering fact! I honestly was surprised and did a little more digging. My theory is that the reason so many people don’t achieve their resolutions is because the type of resolutions they’re setting. These were the Top 5 Resolutions for 2015:

1. Lose Weight
2. Get Organized
3. Spend Less. Save More.
4. Enjoy life to the fullest. (Really… what does this mean?)
5. Stay fit.

Any former 4-H’er can glance at this list of “resolutions” and realize that a person is more apt to have success by setting “SMART “goals. Leadership for Dummies states the following characteristics make up the SMART acronym:

• Specific: Each goal specifies your target exactly. Saying you want to lose 10 pounds is more specific that merely “lose weight.”
• Measurable: One of the big problems with setting goals is being able to evaluate success. Saying you want to “lose 10 pounds by March 15” is more specific and measurable.
• Achievable: A goal that is within your reach increases motivation. Saying you want to lose 10 pounds by January 15 is probably not achievable (nor healthy). If you weigh yourself regularly and see that you’re losing a pound or so per week, that will motivate you to watch what your diet and continue your exercise program in the week ahead.
• Realistic: A realistic goal is one that you have the resources to realize.
• Time: SMART goals are written with an end in mind. If you don’t have a deadline, the goal is too vague and the target is unclear. Time is a motivational factor in achieving goals. (I want to lose ten pounds is a goal. But I want to lose ten pounds by Spring Break provides a deadline.)

Why Set Goals? Successful people – whether they’re top-level athletes or business owners – have goal setting in common. Setting goals creates long-term vision and short-term motivation. For example, my son aspires to take his basketball game to the next level. He’s in eighth grade, but he aspires to play basketball in college. He’s motivated enough to create his own year-round workout schedule, however, he really needs to “get his head in the game.” He needs to be as mentally prepared as he is physically prepared.

In the book Mind Gym, it states that extraordinary people live their lives backwards. They create a future and then live it by how they A.C.T.:

What goals are you setting for 2016? In yesterday’s blog post, Mark Grundmeier wrote about the record-breaking yields achieved in 2015. Great yields don’t just happen, as we all know. Great yields require planning that begins with seed selection and seed treatment to fertility programs, as well as weed and pest management.

At Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds, we’d appreciate an opportunity to work with you on a FieldXField^SM basis for the 2016 planting season. We’d appreciate an opportunity to write down your production goal and help develop a plan to achieve it. Email or call 1-877-G0-LATHAM (1.877.465.2842) to schedule an appointment with a Latham® representative!

Related Posts:

• Reach New Soybean Yield Goals in the Year Ahead
• Ring in the New Year with Fire & Ice
• Beginning the New Year with Family Traditions

“Free range” isn’t all that picturesque when snow drifts are thigh-high and winds are blowing at 30 miles per hour. As I sit here – all cozy in my house – watching a blizzard roaring outside, I’m comforted by the fact that I don’t have pigs outside in this nasty weather. I recall years ago when I tried to herd pigs through snow banks to the feeder. I had to haul hot water from the house to thaw their water. That was not ideal for sure!

There is no doubt in my mind that the way we raise pigs today is better for all involved. Pigs stay nice and warm inside computer-controlled barns with access to fresh feed, fresh water and fresh air. Modern pig farmers engaged in #RealPigFarming keep a close eye on their livestock. If a pig gets sick, we can recognize the symptoms and promptly treat it with antibiotics as prescribed by a veterinarian. Stress causes illness, and I know being outside in a blizzard like yesterday would be stressful! I could always count on sick pigs after a snow storm when I was raising them outside.

Reminiscing about the “good old days” makes me give thought to what is “natural.” I’m not talking about “natural” so much as the way we used to raise livestock before modern technology but, you know, in nature before man intervened. When I was young, I watched Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom and remember seeing the hardships suffered by animals in the wild. It’s natural for one animal to become another animal’s food source. After all, that’s how they survive. Survival of the fittest.

Animals are a link in the food chain. The first thing people in emerging economies want when they can afford it is animal protein. (Click here to see how food consumption has evolved in China, for example.) Right now we have the luxury of too much food, but what’s going to happen as the world approaches 2050 and our population soars to 9 billion (#feedthe9)? Will the next world war be fought over food?

Right now, we have an overeating problem in this country. We eat more calories than we burn, but depriving our bodies of certain foods isn’t the answer to weight loss. Certain foods satisfy better than others. (Bacon. Bacon. Bacon.) When the body is deprived of what it needs, it makes a body want to consume more. Increasing calorie intake with less manual labor results in heavier Americans, and the newest nutritional data shows it. P.S. I’m not talking about the USDA recommendations that are biased by radical groups with an agenda! It’s a fact that Americans aren’t making the best food choices, regardless of what health professionals recommend and government regulations mandate!

Balance is key. Eat sensibly. Splurge a little. Enjoy your food. Enjoy the New Year. “No More Food Fights!” makes a lot of sense!

I’m really loving this “global warming” so far this winter! It must be true… After all, temperatures have been unseasonably warm. Nearly 3 inches of rain fell from Saturday through Monday in North Central Iowa. Our creeks are running rapidly. The grass is truly green. The view out my window looks like we should be preparing for Easter, not Christmas.  Did Al Gore really have it right?!

Speakers at Sunday’s climate change awareness event in Des Moines believe it. They said the warm weather we experienced over the weekend was a case in point. One of these speakers was Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie, who had attended the climate change conference in Paris.

Earlier this week, President Obama called the global climate accord to limit greenhouse gas emissions “a turning point for the world.” That’s not exactly what I would call it! All the doom and gloom we have heard about our planet since November 30 would be comical if it wasn’t such a huge problem.

The biggest outcome of the Paris Agreement, as I see it, will be huge taxation of the world’s people. Taking away money that could be used for building economies. Money that will be tied up by governments, which we all know are not very efficient users of our money.

Secretary Kerry says there is money to be made! What he doesn’t share, or I’m sure even understand, is that taxation does not build an economy. How does taxing, or regulating people and companies until they’re broke, and then giving those dollars to “green” energy companies build an economy? Where are the people with the economic degrees hiding anyway?!

In other news… Des Moines Water Works (DMWW) CEO Bill Stowe’s feelings are hurt by television advertisements. The narrator in these ads says, “He’s wasting hundreds of thousands on an outrageous lawsuit targeting farmers. Now Stowe is using legal tricks to keep public documents from those trying to find actual solutions.”

Apparently The Des Moines Register believes it must help defend Stowe’s honor by running an editorial with the headline, “Ads are a smear campaign against Stowe.” Seriously? When a man casts the first stone as Stowe did, he has to expect a ripple effect. I think Bill had better put on his big boy pants! Not only has he filed an unprecedented lawsuit against rural Iowa counties, but he is a public figure. As a result, he should expect to be a lightning rod.

The more I think about it, the more I want to thank Stowe. Let me explain… He has brought something that farmers have always known into the public light. Farmers know their livelihoods depend on Mother Earth. We know that if we take care of our soil and water that it takes care of us. (Unless the government gets in the way and screws it all up!) Stowe’s lawsuit against several drainage districts in Northwest Iowa has started a lot of conversations.

With the recent warm weather and record rain falls this week, much of Des Moines is being flooded again. I’m sure Stowe has closed the flood gates, protecting the water supply for 500,000 people. I have toured the DMWW facilities, and it’s pretty impressive. But I couldn’t help noticing all of the low ground and creeks running through Water Works Park. I also noticed the banks of the creek were not very protected, so lot of erosion was occurring just upstream from the water plant. Curious, I used Google Earth to follow that water supply. Honestly, DMWW should ask for some expert advice from a farmer to help get that erosion under control!

Despite claims made by Stowe that farmers are doing nothing to keep the water clean, the facts show otherwise. Iowa agriculture is leading the nation with groundbreaking new technology that was in place one year before Stowe filed his lawsuit. And farmers have been implementing conservation practices for years prior to that! “Iowa farmers voluntarily spend tens of millions of dollars out of their own pockets each year, to do right by the land and take great pride in seeing results. Results are imperative to the long-term success of their farm. But one type of conservation practice won’t work on every farm, for every terrain, for every crop they grow.”

This lawsuit has nothing to do with clean water and everything to do with advancing a political position! The DMWW is spending more money on a lawsuit than it costs to remove the trace amount of nitrogen they remove – and then discharge into the river downstream with additional pollutants.

Let’s keep looking for better ways. I’m always open to improvements, and I can show the huge gains that have been made during the last 40 years on my own farm. I wish more Americans understood sustainability has been practiced since the 1930s, and I wish our water woes would end!

Ongoing conversation and information exchange is a good thing. It’s certainly more productive than name calling and stone casting, although I expect we’ll see more of this before real progress is made. Let’s work together for the betterment of all!