Interest in food among Iowans continues to spike, mirroring national trends. Eighty-five percent of respondents to an annual poll, commissioned by the Iowa Food & Family Project (Iowa FFP), said they think “often” or “sometimes” about how the food they eat is grown. While that percentage was nearly identical to Iowa FFP’s 2012 consumer pulse survey, intensity of interest increased substantially. Fifty-three percent responded “often think about” compared to 45 percent the previous year.

The annual Iowa consumer pulse survey, conducted recently by CampaignHQ of Brooklyn, queried 500 Iowans active in health and fitness activities. Respondents were primarily female, highly affluent and educated and make the majority of their household’s food purchasing decisions. The survey’s margin of error was 4.3 percent.

Iowans overwhelmingly approve of the job farmers do. Sixty percent had a favorable impression of how farmers care for their cattle, hogs and poultry compared to just 8 percent unfavorable (32 percent were neutral/unsure). Forty-eight percent had a positive impression about farmers as environmental stewards compared to 16 percent unfavorable. Thirty-six percent were neutral or unsure.

The high marks given to farmers by food purchasers has remained consistent since the Iowa FFP’s inaugural consumer trust survey conducted in 2011, said CampaignHQ’s Nicole Schlinger. Farmers retain the confidence of their urban neighbors, but that trust must continually be earned.

“Gaining people’s trust is a key way to maintain your social license to operate,” said Laurie Johns, public relations manager for the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, in Mythbusting 101 presentation.  “Shared values are three to five times more important in building trust than demonstrating technical competence.”  Shared values include compassion, responsibility, respect, fairness and truth, Johns said. These values especially resonate with women ages 25 to 54, who make many purchasing decisions within their households.

Increasing consumer confidence in how food is grown by encouraging conversations and providing unique opportunities for farm families and their urban neighbors to become better acquainted is the mission of the Iowa Food & Family Project.  Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds is proud to be one of nearly 40 farm and food retail partners that help support the Iowa FFP’s mission.

Stay tuned for more information about an exciting partnership between Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds and the FFP… more details will be announced soon!

As I write my post today, the weather is giving many Americans a shot of reality!  As much as we like to think we’re in control of our lives, winter storms like this remind us we’re not.  We have to face reality and weather this storm!

Reality is one of those words, which can be misunderstood much like the word sustainable.  The definition of sustainable depends on what group or person is using it.  The definition of reality, on the other hand, can be very specific!

“Reality is the state of things as they actually exist as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them,” says Rhonda Ross, creator of the Thank a Farmer® brand and programming to create understanding between rural and urban societies.  “Reality is the state of quality of having existence or substance.”

Rubbing shoulders with some of the best in entertainment and athletics opened Rhonda to the reality that “anything is possible.”  As a result, she’s accomplished some pretty amazing things.  By age 13, Rhonda was professionally performing her comedy juggling act.  By age 22, she had completed her journalism studies and was singing the National Anthem in venues like Madison Square Garden.

Fortunately for those of us in agriculture, Rhonda is channeling her passion and energy into traveling the countryside, giving kids and their parents a first-hand look at where food comes from.  Her “Thank a Farmer” Facebook page has more than 23,700 fans; she shares interesting facts that on this page that even farmers enjoy.  Rhonda educates others about modern farming in a very entertaining way with her Ag Magic Show.  When she performs at the Iowa State Fair, I always make it a point to visit with her.  I always enjoy learning from her and appreciate her efforts to promote appreciation for what farmers do.

Now back to reality…

I have blogged about many of the ways farmers and our products are perceived.  The way we farm and ranch now is very different from words sung in Old McDonald’s Farm or Disney cartoons.  Today’s agriculture is so vast, and there so many different ways to produce every product that is consumed.

In my own operation, I no-till as much as I can. Does that make the way I farm better than someone that strip tills or minimum tills?  Of course not!  This practice doesn’t work everywhere.

When I visited the Ukraine, I was fascinated by the equipment they used.  Farmers there raise crops very differently than I do.  I use seed that is modified, so that I don’t need as many chemicals and can’t make fewer trips across the field.  Reality is that Ukrainian farmers can’t plant the same seed as I do. They need more tillage and more chemicals to grow their crops.  Right or wrong, this is the reality.

The best way to raise livestock is also an ongoing debate.  In past articles, I have shared struggles with raising pigs outside in Iowa. I try to eliminate all the stress that I can for my animals, so I raise my hogs inside climate-controlled barns.  On a cold, windy day like yesterday with wind chills of 45 degrees below zero, the reality is that my pigs are way better off inside.  Yesterday I shared photos on my Facebook page of how comfortable my pigs really are.  That’s reality!

Farmers and ranchers use their many years of experience plus current technology to continually improve how they raise crops and livestock.  There are reasons I farm the way I do, yet others use emotions to debate it – and to sway the debate!

Emotion plays a big role in the ongoing GMO food labeling debate, too.  A stigma is being created that will keep some people from buying a product labeled this way.  Reality is, non-withstanding all the junk studies, there’s no proof that GMOs are harmful to our health. Fact is, organic and conventionally grown foods do not vary significantly from a nutritional perspective.  Plus, organic food is not guaranteed to be free of pesticides.  Reality is, Americans have many food choices available.

“Today is what you make of it!” I often tell my kids. “There is a silver lining to every cloud,” is another one of my favorite sayings. But today even I am searching for the silver lining as temperatures dip, wind chills hit 45 to 50 below zero, and the wind gusts at 30 miles per hour. Winter Storm Ion is moving across the U.S., bringing the coldest temperatures we’ve experienced in almost two decades.

My Facebook feed is filling up today with posts from friends, who have rescued newborn calves from the elements and moved their newborn lambs into the garage. Faucets are freezing and equipment is breaking. As one of my friends posted, “Expect things to break and breakdown.”

This weather isn’t fit for beast nor man. While farmers are busy caring for their livestock, they must also remember to take care of themselves:

• Dress for the weather – Wear loose-fitting layers. Cover your head. Wear mittens instead of gloves.
• Eat and drink warm foods – Soup, hot dishes and hot chocolate will help you warm you on the inside.  (Sorry to disappoint a few folks, but the age-old practice of drinking alcoholic beverages to keep the body warm in cold weather is the exact opposite of what you should do.)
• Clean and organize – Go vacuum a few rooms or walk up and down the stairs.  Moderate exercise will get your body warm without breaking a sweat, which would obviously cool your body.

We certainly appreciate America’s farmers, who work 365 days a year, regardless of the weather.  We also appreciate all of service workers, who provide behind-the-scenes support including electricians, heating repairmen, truck drivers and others. In honor of all of these hardworking agriculturists, today we’re going to give away this beautiful “God Made a Farmer” plaque by Isabel Bloom. Everyone who likes Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds‘ Facebook page by 5 PM today will be entered in a random drawing.

by Roger Zylstra, president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association

On November 15, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its proposed renewable volume obligations (RVOs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).  Despite its lack of statutory authority to do so, the EPA proposed cutting minimum ethanol use from 14.4 billion gallons to 13.01 billion gallons. If finalized, this cut of 1.39 billion gallons will have economic and environmental consequences felt nationwide.

This is serious – as serious as anything I’ve dealt with in my 30 years of farming. As a corn farmer, I view the ethanol market as a home-grown value added opportunity. As a livestock producer, I know that all of agriculture is connected and better grain prices typically bring better livestock value. I have been to D.C. recently to present verbal comments to the EPA to convey just this message.

In a recent Cedar Rapids Gazette article, Iowa Governor Branstad is quote as saying he believes the EPA is “making a huge mistake” to reduce the renewable fuel standard, which in turn could push the price of corn below the cost of production, drive down farm land prices and cut the demand for farm machinery.

Governor Branstad is right; our farm futures hang in a delicate balance. Corn production is at 14 billion bushels with a 2 billion bushel carryover and corn prices are at cost of production. According to Iowa State economists, the economic impact on Iowa agriculture is projected to be near $1.4 billion.

I see corn not sold sitting in my bins with prices at cost or below the cost of production.  When farmers are squeezed, they aren’t able to spend money. When there isn’t money circulating through local economies, town square businesses close and communities struggle to keep people in town and students in the school. We know what happens in depressed agricultural times because it happened in the 1980s farm crisis.

The federal government estimated that farmland values plummeted nearly 60% in the Midwest in just four short years in the mid-80s. In that same time, record production and grain limits brought low prices plus exports decreased more than 20%. I don’t have a crystal ball, but research and some real life 1980s experience, tells me we aren’t nearing a proposed “blend wall” as the EPA proposes, but rather we are sending farmers crashing into a wall by reducing market growth through ethanol production.

Iowa might be miles from Washington D.C., but those miles are covered by many hard working farmers like us who are about to be squeezed by policy limiting our ability to farm today as well as our future ability to produce a crop and make a living.  We have the corn; we have the ethanol plants; and we have the infrastructure in place to help lighten our surmounting energy needs.

The EPA’s attempts to reduce the RVOs for 2014 are misguided.  Please contact the EPA today to tell them how this decision impacts your farm and community. Submit your views to the EPA by clicking on this link or sending your written comments via US mail to:

Environmental Protection Agency
Mailcode: 2822T Air and Radiation Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0479
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.
Washington, DC 20460