You have to have some fat in your diet to be healthy, but not all fat is created equal. Jim White, a registered dietician, says the best way to get the recommended amounts of healthy fats is to eat foods with mono and poly-unsaturated fatty acids, because they decrease the cholesterol in the body and boost brain energy. He says we should avoid trans-fats and be wary of “zero transfats” on food labels.
Food drive for Missouri disaster victims
May 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment
To assist those affected by the recent weather disasters in Missouri, the state Ag Department with the Central Missouri Food Bank is holding a Mid-Missouri food drive Wednesday, May 25.
Canned and non-perishable food items along with cash donations will be accepted Wednesday morning to help the disaster victims in the Joplin area and in southeast Missouri. The proceeds and donations will be directly donated to the Food Bank of Central Missouri.
The Ag Department will also donate produce from Missouri’s Growing Together Garden (located at the ag dept.) to the Food Bank.
Donations may be left at the Missouri Department of Agriculture located on Missouri Blvd in Jefferson City.
Wet ground, slow planting season for Ohio
May 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Some Ohio producers say it’s one of the worst spring plantings they have ever had. The wet farm ground continued to make it difficult to plant corn this past week. As of Sunday, corn was 11 percent planted in the state, 76 percent behind last year and almost 70 percent behind the five-year average. Two percent of corn is emerged.
Four percent of beans are planted, which is 44 percent behind last year and 50 percent behind the five year average. Only one percent of soybeans have emerged in the state.
Winter wheat is 96 percent jointed, which is close to last year and the average. Wheat is headed 11 percent with conditions 72 percent good to excellent. Hay acreage is in 81 percent good to fair condition in the state.
Indiana corn planting almost halfway complete
May 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
With three days suitable for fieldwork and 49 percent of corn acreage planted, planting progressed at a rapid pace in Indiana last week.
That’s slightly lower than last year’s 88 percent planted and the five year average. 20 percent of corn is emerged, which is significantly lower than last year and the average.
17 percent of soybeans have been planted, well below last year’s 49 percent and 43 percent on average. Only three percent of beans are emerged.
Some winter wheat is showing stress because of recent excessive moisture. Wheat acreage is 96 percent jointed, similar to last year and average. 46 percent of wheat has headed compared with 77 percent last year. Wheat condition is 59 percent good to excellent.
Pasture is rated 60 percent good to excellent compared to almost 80 percent last year. Livestock remain in good condition as well.
Plenty of rice varieties to buy and eat
May 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
More varieties of rice are available at grocery stores and specialty food stores these days.
Shaily Jeriwala with the U.S. Rice Federation says although they’re different, all rice is created equal in nutritional value. U.S. farmers produce many types of rice. Besides the basic three: long, medium and short grain rice – they grow many specialty varieties.
Dairy grant available for MO producers
May 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Missouri dairy producers are eligible to apply for the Missouri Small Business Development Authority’s 2011 Business Planning Grant Program.
The grant allows producers to work with a business planning professional to help begin, modernize, expand or increase production of Missouri dairy farms. The grant finances up to 90 percent of the cost of the business plan up to five thousand dollars.
To apply, see the Mo Department of Agriculture’s website.
Applications are due June 30.
SD Beef Council donates Steaks for Troops
May 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment
All-American Beef Battalion in partnership with the South Dakota Beef Industry Council provided a steak dinner for the South Dakota National Guard’s 200th Engineer Company and their families.
Otherwise known as Steaks for Troops, the dinner provided the 200th Engineer Company with rib eye steaks and quarter pound hotdogs before a one year long deployment to Afghanistan. The Beef Battalion has fed over 80 thousand people over three years.
The South Dakota Beef Industry Council donated one thousand dollars to the weevent.
Four-state dairy nutrition conference in Iowa
May 19, 2011 By 2 Comments
Dairy producers are invited to the Four-State Dairy Nutrition and Management Conference held June eighth through ninth in Iowa.
Held at the Grand River Center in Dubuque, the conference will address the latest research information on Dairy industry issues. The conference is put on by Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa extension agencies.
Topics for the two-day conference include feeding strategies to reduce heat stress, forage rations, robotic milkers and precision feeding. Speakers include representatives from Cornell University, University of Wisconsin, University of Missouri and the University of Minnesota.
Agriculture to have more cuts in 2012
May 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Pat Westhoff
Agriculture is expected to have more program funding cuts in the 2012 federal budget.
Pat Westhoff, co-director of the Food & Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri, says agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration could be cut 13 percent.
“It’s very tough to know what Congress will choose to do as they try to hit the targets in front of us. If you look at the basic farm programs there’s two of those who have most of the expected spending 0ver the next ten years- the crop insurance program and direct payments. So we expect there will be a lot of pressure in those programs as we go forward,” says Westhoff.
Biofuels are expected to have a positive influence. Missouri Soybean Association CEO Dale Ludwig says in terms of budget cuts, biofuels have helped boost commodity prices, influencing how much the Federal Government spends in direct payments.
“If you look at the number of people that we have involved in agriculture, it’s a real easy decision for Congress to say things are good in agriculture, the debt that we have in the country, we’ve got to figure out where to save some money somewhere and we’re not going to affect alot of people and alot of votes when we do it,” says Ludwig.
Westhoff and Ludwig were among the participants of the annual Breimeyer Seminar held Monday at the University of Missouri, Columbia.
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