Democratic Barack Obama has backed ethanol subsidies and existing farm programs, but recently the presidential candidate "appeared to link farming with some of the nation's leading health problems, including obesity and heart disease," according to the Des Moines Register's Philip Brasher . Obama told Time magazine that agriculture is "partly responsible for the explosion in our health care costs because they're contributing to type 2 diabetes, stroke and heart disease, obesity, all the things that are driving our huge explosion in health care costs." Obama said farming was contributing more greenhouse gases than transportion. The Obama campaign later said the candidate was paraphrasing a recent article by Michael Pollan in the New York Times Magazine (cover above).
A spokesman for the Corn Growers Association said Obama's remarks are "in conflict with what's he's been saying about agriculture, no question about it." Brasher notes that in the U.S. transportation creates more greenhouse gases than farming (although the opposite is true in the rest of the world).
"Subsidies for corn have reduced its cost as a food ingredient and as livestock feed," Brasher wrote. "But a study to be published soon in the journal Food Policy found no evidence that corn subsidies have affected the consumption of corn sweeteners."
Thirteen states and the federal government filed suit to block the purchase of National Beef Packing Co. by Brazil's JBS SA, contending the combined company would exert too much control over the $30 billion cattle and retail meat markets. The two companies together would create the nation's largest beef packer, slaughtering 35% of U.S. cattle. If the deal went through, 80% of the nation's domestic fed cattle packing capacity would be controlled by three companies: JBS Tyson Foods and Cargill.
The sale has been opposed by cattle groups, which have zealously fought to keep open markets. JBS, which has acquired 31 companies since 1993, said it would "vigorously contest" the suit. JBS will also acquire Smithfield Beef, but the federal government will not oppose that purchase.
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, applauded the move but said he remained "concerned over the impacts of JBS's acquisition of Smithfield's beef division on independent cattle producers." "Consolidation in the agricultural markets often comes at the expense of consumers and smaller farming operations, and the merger ought to be stopped," Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson said in a statement.
When the New York Times wrote about food, the editors consulted web site designers, filmmakers and authors. Maybe next time they'll talk to a farmer. Or maybe two.
Higher temperatures brought on by global warming will decrease crop yields in the Midwest by about 4 percent, according to a recent Department of Agriculture study. But increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will offset some of that decline, increasing crop yields.
The Des Moines Register's Philip Brasher writes Sunday of the tradeoffs for agriculture in the gradual warming of the atmosphere. Brasher reports: "The USDA study estimates Midwest soybean yields could increase by nearly 10 percent over the next 30 years, mostly because of the increased carbon dioxide levels. Corn yields would fall 3 percent. The increased carbon dioxide only slightly offsets the impact of increased heat on corn."
Other scientists believe the lab results showing increased yields from carbon dioxide will be lessened in the fields And, "There is a dark side to the increase in carbon dioxide, too: a potential increase in weeds that are resistant to herbicides. Think weeds on steroids."
Congress adopted country of origin labeling six years ago and it finally takes effect today. Too bad you still don't know where Spam comes from.
Consumers overwhelmingly are in favor of the rules, which require labels on most foods that show where the food was raised — especially as tainted dairy products from China are being pulled from grocery store shelves worldwide. But not everyone is happy with the way the U.S. Department of Agriculture has implemented the rules. "USDA may be trying to dodge congressional intent,'' said Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the Democrat who heads the House subcommittee that oversees the department's funding.
For instance, mixed vegetables are exempt from the regs. So is mixed meat (i.e., Spam and other processed foods. The U.S. Cattlemen's Association and R-CALF object to regs that would allow packers to label beef as coming from "mixed" countries even if an animal was born, raised and slaughtered exclusively in the U.S.
Iowa farmers are about ready to harvest the second-largest corn and soybean crops on record, but the Des Moines Register says the state's fields are filled with fear. "I've never seen such nervousness on the eve of a harvest," said Kyle Phillips, who has farmed 2,800 acres in Marion County west of Knoxville since 1974.
"Iowa farmers have more at stake than ever," reports Dan Piller. Average net income rose 70 percent from 2003 to '07 and land values have more than doubled. But farmers know that every boom has a bust around the corner. Piller wrote, "But farmers remember the grim lessons from two decades ago. When profits disappear, paper land wealth dissolves as well. They fear the good times for agriculture may be fleeting."
Sure, prices are higher, but so is the cost of fuel, seed and fertilizer. Deere has said it will raise farm implement prices 9 percent for combines by the end of the year. Meanwhile, $8 a bushel corn has dropped to $5.50.
The American Farm Bureau wants to know what the next president thinks about many things. FB News asked Obama and McCain to answer a stack of questions about trade and taxes, immigration and energy, climate change and, yep, the Farm Bill.
"Where Obama seems to come out stronger on issues like the farm bill and renewable fuels, McCain might look better on taxes and government regulation of farms and livestock operations," said Linda Johnson, who directs policy implementation for the American Farm Bureau Federation. "Farmers and ranchers have to weigh it all and see where the candidates stand with them. For many it could be a tough choice this year."
Pumpkins across New England are suffering from too much drink. Fields have gotten so much water that this year's jack-o'-lantern crop are popping and bursting "like a balloon stuck on the nozzle of a garden hose," reports Michael Levenson in The Boston Globe. "Like I've said for years: They're going to grow, or they're going to blow, and both instances happened," said Berard of Sanford, Maine, whose gargantuan gourds have taken top honors 12 times at the state's Pumpkin and Squash Weigh-In.
Heavy rains slowed soybean and corn crops in the Midwest, but we had no idea what havoc was being wrought in the nation's pumpkin patch. (Massachusetts counts 510 pumpkin farms; Maine, 335; Vermont, 211; New Hampshire, 210; and Rhode Island, 68.) Part of the problem was rain. (Boston was six inches over average for the summer months.) Part of the problem, according to one grower, is that bees fly less in the rain and so a good number of plants failed to pollinate. Nobody expects a pumpkin from this year's crop to beat the 1,689-pounder that set the record at last year's Topsfield Fair.