The Missouri grain inspection program that faced budget cuts has survived. The Missouri House passed the budget for the state Department of Agriculture on a vote of 149 to 3 which included funding for the department’s grain division. The entire state budget was passed on Thursday.
Steve Taylor, Missouri Agribusiness Association (MO-AG) Executive Director, says with so many cuts in other areas of the state budget they consider it a success that proposed cuts for the grain division were restored.
We all have a bad day every once in a while and sometimes nothing makes us feel better than our favorite comfort foods. While they may taste delicious – and make us feel better – they often times aren’t the healthiest options. Registered Dietician Sarah-Jane Bedwell says we don’t have to remove comfort foods from our diets completely.
The St. Louis Cardinals mascot, Fredbird, visited a southwest Missouri farm this week. The Cards are partnering with major Missouri commodity and agribusiness groups again this year to bring videos to Busch stadium about Missouri farming.
It’s part of the Missouri Farmers Care Coalition’s Safe at the Plate campaign where videos are taken at farms and shown between innings during Cardinal’s games.
This week, the crew visited the family farm of Kyle Kirby, in Liberal, Missouri, who’s representing corn growers…
“We want them to know that their food is safe. It’s really hard to get that platform. You know, I could stand on my farm and scream to the top of my lungs and no one really hears that needs the message. But, you put 40,000 people in Busch Stadium every night and it’s just an excellent place to get our message through.”
Kirby says they’ve gotten great feedback from the videos, which started last year. He tells Brownfield Ag News, “Oh, it’s been nothing but positive. And, you know, what we do see a lot is that we get comments from the consumer saying ‘Wow, I didn’t know that’ or ‘I didn’t know this and now that I do it makes me feel better about what I’m buying at the store.’ And that’s our goal – that’s really our goal is to make everyone comfortable with what goes on out here on the farm.”
The Kirby family is one of five farm families in this year’s campaign. The other videos will feature Fredbird at family hog, cattle, dairy and soybean operations. Kyle Kirby is a member of the Missouri Corn Merchandising Council board.
A southwest Missouri corn grower says he’s had a couple of setbacks during spring planting but he expects a good outcome in his area and throughout the state this year.
Kyle Kirby farms in Liberal, Missouri, and says that twice this season, a half a foot of rain has slowed his corn planting down.
“We are going to have to go back and replant a little bit of that for the third time but I would say 80 to 85 percent of the corn in this part of the country looks good,” Kirby tells Brownfield Ag News.
And, says Kirby, they’re much further along than last year, when corn planting wasn’t completed until the end of May – following by a sweltering drought that damaged crops. Kirby says things this year are looking up for Missouri corn growers.
“Missouri really is looking for a big corn crop this year. We haven’t had one for two or three just because of all the problems because of flooding on the rivers and the drought, such as last summer. But, things really look up this year. I believe we’ll have a big crop,” says Kirby.
Kyle Kirby is on the board of the Missouri Corn Merchandising Council.
Testimony on farm credit programs for the next farm bill is being heard by a House Ag subcommittee and much was said in opening statements about the importance of crop insurance.
Jeff Gerhart, chairman of the Bank of Newman Grove, Nebraska spoke on behalf of Independent Community Bankers of America.
“Maintaining crop insurance funding is an extremely important aspect of the farm safety net. While crop insurance is not part of the credit title it allows lenders to extend credit. It gives us assurances producers will repay loans even in the event of bad weather or falling prices.”
Gerhart says as a crop insurance agent himself, crop insurance is a necessary risk management tool for farm customers.
Planning your garden with canning in mind for later? Do your homework first. Water bath and pressure canning are the gold standards for canning foods – and – canning expert Vera Massey with the University of Missouri Extension says other canning methods are too risky. (Other methods of food preservation such as dehydration and freezing do not carry the same risks as canning.)
HEALTHY LIVING PROGRAM – Don’t fall for “new” canning methods (1:30 mp3)
National Center for Home Food Preservation
The 4-H Healthy Living program has gotten a big boost with a $1 Million gift. Four-H officials say Molina Healthcare’s gift and partnership with 4-H will help make the program available to “financially vulnerable youth and their families” in more communities.
National 4-H Council president and CEO Donald Floyd Junior says it’ll help create positive changes given “today’s health crisis” by educating more kids and their families about obesity, smoking prevention – and – other health issues.
About 2-and-a-half million youth participate in 4-H Healthy Living programs. There are six-million 4-H members nationwide.
The president of the Ohio Produce Growers and Marketers Association says there are parts of the Farm Bill that must remain and be strengthened for specialty crop growers.
Lisa Schacht of Schacht Family Farms in Canal Winchester, Ohio, testified this week before the House Agriculture subcommittee on Nutrition and Horticulture. She and her husband have a fruit and vegetable farm that sells directly to consumers and to wholesalers.
Schacht says the Specialty Block Grant Program and research initiative of the Farm Bill have been crucial to their success. And, she says, nutrition programs such as SNAP are a plus for growers.
“Any effort that raises nutrition awareness has good potential to generate more revenue at the producer level. As well, this is putting more nutritious, safe food in the hands of American people.”
Schacht says more education is needed about consumer benefits of eating fresh produce. She says fruit and vegetable producers are not looking for direct payment for support but for flexible tools that will promote the best production possible.
If you’d like to preserve the foods grown in a home garden there are quite a few things to know. Let’s start with selection of produce to plant and grow and preserve later. Vera Massey, University of Missouri Extension Nutrition and Health Education Specialist, has some suggestions for the best varieties to preserve.
The Missouri Grain Inspection Program reportedly has survived budget debate in the state House and Senate. The Missouri legislature must pass a budget bill by week’s end.
Steve Taylor, the head of the Missouri Agribusiness Association (MO-AG), says very few House budget expenditures were retained, but the grain inspection program was one of them.
Meanwhile, several omnibus agriculture bills contain a provision to the grain dealer licensing law that exempts small feed manufacturers.
“Very much like the provision that was enacted last year relative to farmers who are making purchases of less than 50,000 bushels per fiscal year. That is a change from a dollar threshold of $100,000 per fiscal year.”
Missouri Farm Bureau legislative affairs director Leslie Holloway tells Brownfield the exemption is needed.
“Due to current grain prices that dollar threshold was really out of date and the bushel threshold was more appropriate for the current market conditions.”
Holloway says with only two weeks left in the session, and the focus on the budget right now, it’s hard to predict what facets of the combined ag bills will pass.
The Brownfield Blog
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