Today marks the two-year remembrance of the 7.0-magnitude quake that devastated Haiti, killing tens of thousands and leaving more than a half-million people homeless.
“Special Delivery” campaign co-chairs Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds and Ag Secretary Bill Northey will join representatives of GCN, Iowa FFP and Iowa Soybean Association on today’s Jan Mickelson Show from 9-10 a.m. (listen in at 1040 on your AM dial).
The USDA, on Dec. 16, 2011, announced it had deregulated the biotech trait MON 87705, which is found in Monsanto’s Vistive® Gold soybeans.
Many Latham customers are familiar with the first generation of Vistive (low-linolenic) soybeans that produced an oil which reduced the trans-fat levels in food products. This new wave of soybeans will produce an oil that is more similar to olive oil in its content and usefulness, yet will be much easier and cheaper to produce.
In addition to maintaining next-to-zero trans fats in their food products, Vistive Gold soybean oil will allow food companies to significantly reduce saturated fats. As an example, French fries cooked in the fry oil/shortening commonly used results in 23.4% saturated fats and 15.7% trans-fat. Using oil from Vistive Gold soybeans will lower those numbers to 13.2% for saturated fast and 0.3% for trans-fat! Additional testing within the food industry has shown that Vistive Gold soybean oil also has excellent stability and flavor.
This new oil from the Vistive Gold soybeans will enable U.S. soybean growers to compete once again for food oil business while also helping provide a healthier lifestyle for themselves and for consumers. Over the past several years, other vegetable oils including palm, sunflower and canola have taken away a fairly large portion of the global food oils market that soybean oil once held. This was, in large part, due to the heart-healthy consciousness of the general public and the FDA’s mandate for displaying the percentage of trans fats on food product labels.
Soybean varieties that carry the Vistive Gold trait are currently in the Phase 4 (pre-launch) stage of development. Monsanto has also announced that this new trait will be combined with its current Genuity® Roundup Ready® 2 Yield technology, giving farmers soybean varieties that deliver excellent agronomic and yield performance.
Keep watching our website and our blog, TheFieldPosition.com, for updates on this exciting new “golden opportunity”!
There’s a new worker at our plant in Alexander. This one can work nights, weekends and never ever needs a break!
December 1 was the first day on the job for “Willard,” as we’re affectionately calling our new robot. Willard was installed by Chantland Company of Humboldt, Iowa, and Latham crew members spent five days learning how to program the robot and to integrate it into our bagging system. Willard does some heavy lifting! It can stack 18 bags of soybeans per minute, which greatly reduces the amount of physical labor required to move seed from the bagging line to the warehouse.
The addition of Willard frees up team members to complete other tasks, thus increasing our efficiency. Another benefit of Willard is built-in safety. Its electronic eyes will see when a foreign object (like someone’s hand) ventures into the work area; if so, the robot automatically and immediately shuts down.
When your Latham® Hi‑Tech Soybeans get delivered in 2012, know they were probably stacked by “the new guy.” To see video of Latham’s robot in action, go to http://youtu.be/6IyB97uF2nI.
David and Annette Sweeney were married December 1, 1985, during a 26-inch blizzard and at the height of the farm crisis. They weathered these storms and also raised their family in the same house where Annette was raised. Their oldest son, Jim, graduated in December from Iowa State University with a degree in Agricultural Engineering, and this month he began working with Energy Panel Systems in Graetttinger. Their youngest son, Joe, is a member of the 2010-2011 Iowa FFA officer team. He’s a junior at Iowa State University, double-majoring in Agricultural Business and Ag Economics.
“Taking the bull by the horns” is modus operandi for Annette Sweeney, a native of Buckeye, Iowa. This third generation farmer and cattle producer has developed a reputation for researching issues and addressing problems in a straightforward manner. She’s passionate, caring and compassionate to boot. As a result, Annette Sweeney has become one of Iowa agriculture’s biggest advocates.
“Agriculture is truly the backbone of many rural communities, and too many people have the wrong impression of farmers,” says the 56-year-old wife, mother, entrepreneur and former teacher. “I want to provide a voice for agriculture, rural areas and small schools. I also want to make sure decisions are based on science.”
She’s taking her convictions to the Hill. When the Iowa Legislature convenes on Jan. 9, 2012, Rep. Annette Sweeney will resume her duties as chair of the House Agriculture Committee. She says the Legislature’s priorities are jobs and budgets, and she wants to make sure agriculture is at the forefront of those discussions.
“We need to remember that agriculture is a business – a $77 billion dollar business for Iowa. It’s too important to overlook,” says Annette, who learned the business of farming first-hand – literally – through blood and sweat and a few tears.
After the untimely death of her father in 1983, Annette moved from Illinois where she was teaching middle school English and speech/drama, to her native Iowa. She took over the family’s 1,350-acre row crop and purebred Charolais cow/calf operation.
“I put my nose to the grindstone and did everything I could to keep our farm afloat. I was driven to succeed because I didn’t want to have to sell off anything that my family had worked for,” she explains. “My dad didn’t have any life insurance, and at the time of his death, there was no spousal exclusion. The tax burden was horrendous. We had 90 head of seedstock, and the crop needed to get planted. The spring of 1984, I literally grabbed the owner’s manual off the shelf for the planter and headed for the field.”
Fortunately, the determined 26-year-old was blessed by help and counsel from trusted family friends and advisors. Steve Mayo, manager of the elevator at Buckeye, graciously spent three days teaching Annette the basics of grain marketing. Attorney Carl Letz of Eldora spent another week – free of charge – going over tax codes and giving tips. A CPA friend helped Annette understand W2’s and other employment forms. Dr. Gerald McDaniel from Radcliffe didn’t charge to teach her how to vaccinate cattle. In addition, Annette went to school and learned how to AI (artificially inseminate) cows.
With experiences like this, it’s no wonder Annette relates so well with Iowa farmers!
“I’m really enjoying my position as House Ag Chair and the opportunity to meet more farmers across the state,” says Annette, who’s running for re-election in House District 44. “It continues to amaze me how many Iowans have a drive to succeed, not only for themselves, for the benefit of their communities and for their state.”
For updates from the Iowa Statehouse, “like” Rep. Sweeney’s legislative Facebook page. It will help keep you updated on issues affecting the state of Iowa, as well as some issues across the nation as Annette Sweeney is representing Iowa agriculture on the national level.
When her schedule allows, Annette enjoys gathering with family and friends around the kitchen table. The Sweeney family’s favorite meals are beef roast with vegetables or steak on the grill. But in honor of January Soup Month, today Annette shares one of her family’s favorite chowder recipes.
During a live broadcast this week, the following question was posed to Franklin County farmer Larry Sailer: How are you using social media to assist with farming? Facebook, Twitter and blogs have become virtual coffee shops.
Advocacy – helping others understand farming practices and educates the masses about important issues impacting agriculture and farmers.
Community Building – connects consumers with producers; helps farmers connect with the people their feeding; and connects people who have similar interests.
Relationship building – getting better acquainted with people you already know and meeting others with whom you can network and work together for a common cause.
Farmers Do Text. (In fact, I set up all of the farm stops for the WHO Radio 2011 Crop Tour through texting!) They also tweet and post status updates on Facebook, too.
“Twitter and Facebook are popular,” agrees Deb Brown of Debworks, a marketing organization based in Hampton, Iowa, that uses traditional and new media to help businesses get noticed. “Fifty-seven percent of Franklin County residents are on Facebook; it’s the new ‘party line’.”
I just love Deb’s sound bite but can’t help but wonder how many politicos connected “party line” to Democrats v. Republicans rather than the shared telephone lines that were common in rural areas when I was a kid.
Aren’t double entredrés great? The more I think about it, the more fitting I find it that social media has become the new party line. Rather than “drawing a line in the sand,” we can use social media to connect “two or more users in an exchange” of ideas. Regardless of whether people or Democrats or Republican, we can unite around common interests including family and community, food and fun!
Social Media is New "Party Line" during Iowa Caucus
Naturally, all Americans look forward to the time between Christmas and New Year’s. It’s often filled with rest, relaxation and anticipation for the future. Even if adults are working that week, it reminds me of taking summer classes while a college student: You do the work but the atmosphere is a lot more relaxed.
That is unless you’re an Iowan and it’s the week before the first-in-the-nation caucus! Then your telephone rings several times a day – even interrupts family gatherings as you celebrate the holidays – with political candidates trying to win your support. (On the upside, it beats having bill collectors call!) You can find 24/7 news coverage of the upcoming landmark political event as even the “local news station” is providing its own angle.
But I’m not complaining! I honestly believe it’s an honor for Iowa to host the caucus. We have the privilege of exercising our freedom to vote, take part in the political process, plus showcase all that Iowa and its wonderful small towns have to offer. And that’s exactly what happened when CNN’s Starting Point with Soledad O’Brian rolled into the Hawkeye State.
CNN producers met right before the New Year with Franklin County residents including Larry Sailer, farmer and Franklin County Farm Bureau member, and Deb During Brown of Hampton, founder of Debworks, who specializes in using traditional and new media to connect people.
“CNN found more stories about our bloggers tour,” writes Brown in a Dec. 30 blog post. “Residents of Franklin County were actually using social media! Suddenly the topic changed from politics to how rural communities were using social media. Larry Sailer – a farmer in the county, myself, Claire Celsi – businesswomen and blogger from Des Moines and Michael Libbie – advertising man and blogger will be on a live panel Monday morning. Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien – here we come!”
Click here to watch a news clip of Franklin County residents and bloggers, who were interviewed Monday on CCN’s Starting Point.
Farmers, support education in your community and help strengthen your rural communities by applying for a grant from America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education. Applications will be accepted from January 6 through April 15, 2012. Nominating your public school is as simple as completing a one page form.
Grants will be awarded based on merit, need and community support. That mean the more farmers who nominate a school district, the more it demonstrates community support and thus strengthens that school district’s application. So, encourage all of your friends and family members to apply! A little grassroots organization could go a long way toward helping your school.
Skeptical? Your odds are much better receiving a grant from the rural education fund than from winning the Publisher’s Clearing House. Just ask the folks who farm near Wells, Minnesota. Last year the United South Central School District in Wells, Minnesota, received a $25,000 grant for new lab equipment and graphing calculators.
America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education is sponsored by the Monsanto Fund to help farmers positively impact their communities by supporting local school districts. Specifically, the program gives farmers the opportunity to nominate a public school district in their community to compete for a merit-based grant of either $10,000 or $25,000. The program is available in 1,245 counties in 39 states. Overall, the program will donate more than $2.3 million to school districts.
Grant recipients will be selected by America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education Advisory council, a group of 26 farmers from across the country. Grants will be announced in August 2012.
For more information, visit GrowRuralEducation.com or call 1-877-267-3332. NOTE: The referenced website, including an online application form, will not be updated with 2012 information until closer to the application period. In the meantime, you can download a hard copy form here.
Motorists have one more “tool” for their winter survival kit, thanks to a new smartphone application. It’s available – free – for both Android and iOS systems.
“The app will help you find your current location, call 911, notify your friends and family, calculate how long you can run your engine to keep warm and stay safe from carbon monoxide poisoning,” says Iowa State University Extension Safety Specialist Charles Schwab in a recent Wallaces Farmer article. “You can use the Winter Survival Kit app to store important phone and policy numbers for insurance or roadside assistance. You can also designate emergency contacts you want to alert when you become stranded.”
The Winter Survival Kit app can be used to determine geographic location. It’s gas calculator estimates how long the car engine will run on the remaining fuel plus every 30 minutes it will remind motorists to turn off the vehicle’s engine and check the exhaust pipe for snow buildup to avoid deadly carbon monoxide poisoning. In addition, the Winter Survival Kit app provides information on preparing one’s vehicle for winter driving and on staying safe when stranded in a storm or stuck in snow. Click here to read the entire Wallaces Farmer article, “Phone App Is Winter Preparedness Tool for Motorists.”
Many farm-related activities, such as feeding the cattle and plowing the farm yard, must be done no matter what the thermometer reads. That’s why it’s important for farmers to take special precautions, so the cold temperatures don’t take their toll.
Wear mittens instead of gloves. Mittens allow your fingers to remain in contact with each other, enabling your hands to stay warmer.
Cover your head and ears. The head, neck and ears lose heat faster than any other part of the body.
Stay dry.
Do not drink alcoholic beverages. Alcohol actually causes the body to lose heat more rapidly.
Watch for frostbite and other signs of hypothermia like numbness or disorientation. If you suspect frostbite or hypothermia, it’s important to:
Seek immediate shelter in a warm place.
Handle any frostbitten area gently. Don’t rub them!
Replace cold, wet and clothing with dry items.
Warm the body gradually, not by a stove or fire.
Contact your local emergency medical services for help with frostbite or hypothermia.
Farm children are at risk whether they are helping out with the chores or just enjoying the many adventures that might exist on a sunny, but bitterly cold day. Snowmobiling, sledding or just having a snowball fight with Grandpa may be dangerous.
Children may not be able to identify the signals of danger, so help them stay safe by monitoring their actions frequently. Winter can be a beautiful and fun time of the year to enjoy the farm if precautions are taken to prevent the cold from endangering those who are experiencing its glory. For more information on farm safety, visit www.fs4jk.org
guest blog post submitted by Deb Brown of debworks
Deb Brown is the CMO, chief foot soldier, answering machine and traveler at Debworks. Debworks is a marketing organization, traditional and new media, dedicated to getting the word out about your business. www.debworks.com | deb@debworks.com 641-580-0103
What if you made the decision to purchase one product locally? You might be surprised at the huge impact just one purchase could have on a small town.
Let’s just consider what would happen if every resident of Greater Franklin County decided to buy their toilet paper locally. There are 15,000 people in Greater Franklin County and the average person uses 105 rolls of toilet paper a year. Do the math – just this item would keep almost $2 million dollars in sales in our county. Two million! It would also generate $140,000 in sales taxes.
Last year it was estimated that the amount actually spent on toilet paper in Greater Franklin County was $335,800 – that’s lost revenue of $1,631,244! We haven’t even covered the fact that revenue spent in local businesses tends to stay in the county. They pay their employees and local taxes, shop for products locally themselves, contribute to non-profit organizations locally and generally support the local community.
Debworks has a commitment to shopping local. The first thing that comes to mind is shopping at the retail stores. And we do that. But we’ve expanded our commitment to say – we support local too. I live and work in Franklin County and think it’s important that we learn to work together not only to improve quality of life, but also to strengthen our businesses.
What does that mean? Easy enough – shop local! (See www.debworks.com/5-things-consider) But it’s more than just shopping local. It’s also working together. John F. Kennedy said “a rising tide lifts all boats” (he took it from a New England Chamber of Commerce). That means if we all work together, we all get better together.
We’re doing a few things in Franklin County that are making a difference:
1. Thinking about advertising and promotion in an artistic kind of way.
Our Franklin County Arts Council puts on two big productions a year. At the winter event, it’s a live radio play done on a stage set in the 1940’s. There are 6-8 commercials between the acts. These commercials are from local companies! So not only is your commercial seen live at both showings, it is recorded and played on the radio (and you get the spot for your use) and it is also filmed and you receive that as well. We like the idea “write once, use many times” – and this works well! You are supporting the arts, and getting your name out there too. Win-win.
We invited 10 bloggers and their families into our community. We fed them, housed them and entertained them for a weekend. In turn, they wrote about their adventure in Franklin County. The short tail on this is – we got immediate blog coverage from Midwest bloggers. The long tail is – we are still getting noticed and talked about. CNN found Franklin County and asked some of our residents to come to Des Moines and talk about the caucus with them. We’ve been featured in newspapers around the state for this tour. Uptake author Jody Halsted is still posting there about Franklin County. It continues to be a productive venture.
3. Debworks and Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds are putting together a Partnership Seminar to be held at the end of the month at TownsEnd Winery.
We’ve invited a few local businesses to attend and brainstorm on different ways to partner this year. We’re looking at the calendar for the year’s events (thanks to the Chamber for keeping a great community calendar!) and figuring out how we can be involved and partner up with other businesses. For example, Shannon’s Pumpkin Patch might partner up with Country Heritage Bed and Breakfast. For visitors traveling out of town to visit the Harriman Nielsen Historic Farm over their Festival weekend, they could stay at the B and B and take home a great pumpkin from Shannon’s Pumpkin Patch and attend the Festival. Just imagine what the winery, the Soybean Association and the downtown retailers could dream up!
So why not take a good, hard look at what is available in your community. What is the Historical Society doing? How about County Conservation? Don’t forget the Farm Bureau and Soybean Association. Now – how can you as a business owner create some fun things that bring people to you? As a consumer – where can you shop local and help support your community?
submitted by Aaron Putze
Also, be sure to read a guest editorial about the campaign in today’s Des Moines Register and share it via Facebook and Twitter. The Register will also provide ongoing updates as the campaign progresses. To date, more than a dozen SafeTHomes have been donated!
