I am in the process of starting small milling company. I would like to start milling Oats. Where can I buy dried whole oats seeds for my milling company located in New Castle, Delaware? Frederick Ebede All Peoples Food 19 King Court New Castle DE 197210
How can I be involved? I feel in my Spirit there should not be hunger in our world with all the blessings we received from God, yet so many people go to bed hungry or they may not even have food when they work in the morning or afternoon. Let us eradicate hunger from the Planet Earth. How can I be involved? I would like to start a farm here in the USA and go to developing nations and help out by training locals and starting farms to provide employment and food on their table. How can I be involved, please?
How can small family poultry farms provide local pastured poultry and eggs if the state regulations are designed for large commercial agriculture?
So much focus is on organically grown food as our only future solution to providing food and good stewardship. Can't we use the years of crop management we already have in place and just do more careful monitoring and teaching about uses? If you know real farmers and ranchers then you know all their real grievances about organics. The likelihood of most farmers/ranchers switching their operations to organic is small. Instead, why not ensure they are working safely and our food is safe, too?
Are consumers aware that chickens are too cheap? Modern chicken farming has gotten way too expensive, I haven't gotten a raise in 8 years. Several poultry companies are going bankrupt. Government mandates and subsidies for ethanol and over production are the reasons. Growing chickens in this market is no longer a way to make even a basic living on the farm.
It seems to me that the question of feeding a population has more to do with logistics and distribution than sheer production capability. Right now, there is more food being produced than is currently consumed, but many areas are hungry just because there are *no grocery stores* where they are. Can you imagine what it's like to have to drive 50 miles to buy some produce that isn't rotting in some gas station convenience store? We need to work harder to eliminate 'food deserts' as well as end food waste, not grow more and more food for saturated markets!
With the unemployment in our country so high, why shouldn't the government subsidize farm laborers, so that people other than immigrants are willing to work in the fields? This would help farmers and ranchers help US citizens find work, and it would tend to manage some problems of the money gap in the agricultural industry. As it stands the raw materials that come from farms and ranches are not valorized until they are processed. Thus processors of farm and ranch production can pay US citizens, while many farms must rely on rock bottom wages to make a profit on non value added harvest.
Along with organic community farms, make the vegetables and produce, dairy and chicken safe and affordable for someone earning even minimum wage!!
I would guess that most of the squabbling about the use of genetic enginneering and pesticides come from those countries with plenty of food or the resources to purchase them. Ask the 10,000 people in the world that die of starvation every day what they think!
I believe that food quality is of a growing importance to consumers; "It is important what I put into my body" What changes can food producers make to gain more trust and earn their way with consumers. New regulations vs. supply and demand
How can we eliminate subsidies to corn/soybeans? If anything is subsidized at all, it should be production of real food, e.g., http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/09/ag-subsidies-fund-junk-food-report-says/
Amidst shrinking government services and rising costs of living, consumers can afford to sustain healthier diets only if they have adequate and reliable incomes. How do the agricultural, food processing and retail industries plan to reconcile the decades-long decline in real wages within the food system and in returns to farmers with the record food prices and record profits that we have seen in the past four years?
I live in an apple growing region. Apples are now in season. Why are the local grocery stores bringing apples in from New Zealand? Can someone please show me the math on that one - I assume that it's cheaper for them - but how can it be?
Farmers are not all about food. Some grow corn and soybeans to be used as fuel, today because the price for fuel is going up. US ethanol policy also influences the economic factors a corn/soybean farmer makes. These types of decision making activities get reported in the news as farmers making a choice of fuel over food. Can you help us understand how grain food producers are really impacted and what other factors are considered before a farmer decides fuel over food?
FROM FARM BUREAU ON JANUARY 14,2011
uk.reuters.com
By Carey Gillam
October is a busy month for Kansas farmer Darin Grimm. With 2,000 acres of corn and soybeans to harvest, the third-generation family farmer is running a combine nearly dawn to dusk.
Two major agricultural companies have joined USFRA in support of the farmers and ranchers representing almost all the major U.S. agricultural commodities.
CHESTERFIELD, Mo. – The new U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) moved a giant step forward Thursday in its drive to deliver its pro-production-agriculture message to the American public. Naming PR firm Ketchum as its primary communications agency, USFRA calls the choice “the next strategic step driving the USFRA mission to strengthen the image of agriculture and enhance public trust in today’s best production practices.”
CHESTERFIELD, Mo. – The new U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) moved a giant step forward Thursday in its drive to deliver its pro-production-agriculture message to the American public. Naming PR firm Ketchum as its primary communications agency, USFRA calls the choice “the next strategic step driving the USFRA mission to strengthen the image of agriculture and enhance public trust in today’s best production practices.”
DuPont Joins More than 40 Producer Organizations to Collaborate in Support of Today’s Farmers and Ranchers
WILMINGTON, Del., June 13, 2011 — DuPont today joined an effort to bolster the image of agriculture and enhance public trust in the U.S. food production system. The initiative is led by the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA), a new initiative represented by more than 40 of the leading farmer- and rancher-led agricultural organizations.
Here today, gone tomorrow. It´s a common sentiment in a fast-changing world. But while most of us won´t be around a century from now, hundreds of millions of people will live in the United States and will need to be fed. If growth trends continue, it´ll be many more millions than the 310 million who live here now. And there will be less farmland and ranchland available to do it with. That´s why sustainability is so crucial to America´s food industry – and America´s future.
It´s been said that the average American today has a richer, healthier, more varied diet than the wealthiest people enjoyed a century ago. A visit to any supermarket confirms that impression.
The way people shop for food has changed almost as much as the food they shop for. And it continues to evolve. For some people, it´s a case of “back to the future”-- relying on locally sourced products and farmers' markets, or making a daily trip to the grocery, the produce market and the butcher.
Farmers and ranchers are not stupid hicks. Many of us have degrees from universities. It's difficult to be truly competitive in any agriculture market without knowing scientifically what we are doing in pretty precise terms. It's not and really never has been stick a seed in the ground and hope for the best. I spend a lot of time on precision for everything. I don't do this because I inherited it and have no other options. I do what I do because I love it and it is my passion. Ask me what I do. I'd love to share.
For several generations now, we have had access to cheap food in large part due to agricultural subsidies as well as mass production. Many have the impression that buying produce and other foodstuffs at places like a farmer's market is for the rich folks because it costs more. The reality in the markets I attend is that our prices are usually competitive with regular grocery stores because we earn 100% of our customers' food dollars while the farmers whose produce eventually ends up in grocery stores are usually getting somewhere along the likes of about 10% of consumer food dollars. Our produce is not often more expensive and when it is, it is only because we have to cover our costs or we won't be there next year. the prices we charge are based more on what we need to earn on our products to break even and earn a little profit in order to pay ourselves or invest in our farm for the future.
Everything we see going on today is a goal to bring worldwide Population Control into effect now, and It was the Plan in 1971 with the NSSM200 study, http://www.population-security.org/11-CH3.html , ( and Kissinger is still in there advising these Government Bureaucrats today so tell me he's just there for coffee) , and its still the plan today , http://blogcritics.org/politics/article/the-two-for-one-solution/ "Seven big problems for 7 billion people . http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44990504/ns/us_news-life/
The world markets are telling us this by their unsustainable growth patterns over the last 12-14 years, compare these charts, http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/historical/djia1900.html , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wheat_yields_in_developing_countries_1951-2004.png , the stagnant growth in equity and supply in grain is obvious, and you cannot have sustainable growth in any durable goods unless the bread basket is growing with it .
I think we need to expand this feed production because the math suggests it can reduce feed inflation, and out of the nearly 300 millions acres of farmland of which 80 million plus are used to produce current feed for livestock today and this farmland can be used for human food production if we integrate this alternative feed production method into the overall feed production the amount of seed needed to feed the entire Livestock group in the USA could be produced off 10 million acres instead of the current 80 million plus acres we use today to produce the same amount of feed. This opens up a way to grow and expand the overall food chain and debate with the anti-population growth society who are advocating population controls be implemented on world societies, taking away freedom and liberty to think freely . Welcome to Fodder Solutions http://www.foddersolutions.org/home, and take a look at this, www.verticalfarm.com
The food I produce for market is the same food I feed my children and grandchildren. The water we drink comes from the wells located on our farm - the same wells used for our animals. I truly care about the well-being of my livestock and many times their well-being takes precedence over my family. I trust you to build cars and airplanes. I trust the pilots who fly me and my family to any place in this world. In short, I trust every other American to do the job assigned them in a responsible and accomplished manner. Please allow me your confidence in my competence to provide you with safe, affordable, abundant food choices.
As part of a farm family, it is important to me that Americans know my family and I are the ones that produce the food on their dinner plate. It's not a corporation! We do our best each day to ensure the food we produce is safe for our family and yours to consume. Our production practices are sound and we care greatly for our land and our livestock. Our choice to become active in the family farm wasn't motivated by dollar signs but by tradition, heritage and hope. Farming is our life! Farming is not an easy life. It is not a life you choose because of the great hours or the pay. Our family chooses to farm because it is in our blood... it’s a tradition dating back 260 years and 4 generations on the same piece of land. We farm because we love the lifestyle and the opportunity to raise our son with a deeper understanding of life. Everything on the farm happens in a cycle, we witness the cycle daily... it’s a wonderful life to live even with the challenges we face.
Food Costs
Certified Organic
This expanded, full-feature edition includes expanded conversations between farmers and ranchers and consumers about how food is grown and raised.
Farmers and ranchers are listening and want to answer Americans' questions about how their food is grown and raised.
Learn how America's farmers and ranchers are committed to continually working to improve how agriculture affects people, the planet and business.
An emotional portrayal of farmers discussing the science behind a cattle feedlot and the care involved in raising the cows. The environmental practices they observe and are constantly improving upon are showcased. Learn more about the future of food and ask farmers and ranchers a question on fooddialogues.com
A family of farmers showcase the art of dairy farming and the caring for the cows they raise. They demonstrate how technology has positively changed the ways milk is produced. Find more about the future of food and ask farmers and ranchers a question on fooddialogues.com
Farmers showcase how they care for the pigs they raise and discuss how technology has positively changed the ways animals are born and raised on farms today. Find more about the future of food and ask farmers and ranchers your questions on fooddialogues.com
This is the first of four video recaps of the successful Food Dialogues Town Hall held on September 22, 2011 in Washington D.C., New York, Indiana and California.
This is the second of four video recaps of the successful Food Dialogues Town Hall held on September 22, 2011 in Washington D.C., New York, Indiana and California.