Agriculture News October 31, 2011

Fuelish Choices - The Brazilian biofuels industry faces a deep political divide. You might call it “the big guy versus the little guy.” For many activists in Brazil, biofuel is a tool for expanding “agribusiness”—an epithet they apply with disdain and distrust. In fact, union members and environmental activists we met with referred to sugarcane ethanol as “agri-fuel” rather than “biofuel.” The

USDA Reports Food at Home Prices Have Risen 6.3% During the Past Year with Eggs, Dairy, Beef and Oils Up Over 10%

The following graph is from a new USDA Report of the Food CPI and Expenditures. I have circled all categories that have risen by more than 5%.You will note that 2009 prices were overall neutral since grocery stores have been trying absorb some of the cost increases for the ailing consumer. One could conclude that our ethanol policy in addition to higher fuel costs are underlying causes of the

A Commercial Mushroom Grower in Colorado

Hazel Dell Organic Mushroom Farm ~ Fort Collins, ColoradoOwner Jim Hammond started growing mushrooms in Santa Cruz, California in 1980, and also grew mushrooms commercially near Watsonville, California at Moss Landing. But since 1991, he and his wife have run Hazel Dell Mushrooms near Fort Collins, Colorado, providing the region's Farmers Markets, Whole Foods stores, and Boulder's eat-local

How Many People Can Live on Earth? (Attenborough Video)

In a Horizon special, naturalist Sir David Attenborough discusses issues related to having 7 billion people on the planet. Note that video #2 relates mostly to agriculture.

Dutch Design Firm Designs 4,000 Acre Park that Will also be a Fully Functioning Farm

h/t City Farmer News. More here.

Cartoon: But is it Gluten Free?

Tundra by Chad Carpenter

Soil: Exporting our Nutrients versus Biointensive Agriculture

It is not often that I request to cross-post another article here on this site, but today I am doing so (and Nourishing the Planet graciously gave me permission) because I think that this article really deserves to be read more widely. Note that emphasis in red is mine and the subject Jake Blem speaks about is the reason I become so upset about our U.S. corn ethanol program and worse, the

U.S. Weekly Grain Market in Review October 28, 2011

~October 28, 2011~Compared to last week, grain and soybeans traded higher. Early in the week mixed signals in the outside markets had grain struggling for position and gaining any momentum. However, On Thursday the stock market was up sharply spilling over into the grains. News of European bailout package and a sharply lower U.S. dollar led grain futures into double digit territory. The higher

Electricity Use Continues to Rise

Total energy consumption is falling in developed nations, but not so for the electricity sector as you can see in the above graph.From 2000 to 2009, increases in electricity demand averaged 0.5% per year. Demand growth is projected to continue at about 1% per year through 2035. Pie Graph of Electricity Generation by Coal, Natural Gas, Nuclear, and Other (2010):Coal is the largest source of

Ten Miniature Cattle Breeds for your Small Farm

"Mini-Cows"Miniature cattle are the perfect size livestock for smaller farms and acreages, they are much easier and safer to handle than standard sized cattle, and they are ideal as organic or grass-fed beef.Butchering one animal provides the right amount of meat for a small family and has more choice-cuts. One "mini-cow" will feed a family of four for six months. Mini-milk cows are perfect for

1984 Photo of Dairy Cows in Vermont

Dairy cows graze in lush pasture in central Vermont. 1984. (usda photo)

A Food Security Presentation by Julian Cribb

In my Monday news recently, I included a link to a 36-minute talk given at the headquarters of deCODE in Reykjavík, Iceland by Australian Julian Cribb, complete with great slides.For anyone interested in getting up to speed on the subject of global food security it is well worth your time:The Coming Famine: risks and opportunities for global food security (Julian Cribb FTSE Iceland October 2011)

Global Top Five Pistachio Producers

Since 1977, U.S. pistachio production has increased rapidly, starting at 1.8 million pounds (shelled basis) to 250.1 million pounds in 2010—a record breaking harvest. The rapid growth in U.S. pistachio production has made it the second largest producer in the world, after Iran. From 2005 to 2009, Iran provided 42 percent of the world total and the United States provided 24 percent. Previously the

Dry Edible Bean Production Has Dropped Sharply

Driven by sharply lower planted area, the U.S. dry edible bean crop is forecast at 20.5 million hundredweight (cwt) this fall, down 36 percent from a year earlier.With the exception of Washington, output is expected to decline from year-earlier levels for each of the 18 surveyed States. The five largest producing States—North Dakota, Michigan, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Idaho—are collectively

Map of Regional Variation in the Outlook for 2011 Farm Business Income

Price strength for grains and oilseeds will result in much higher average net cash incomes for farm businesses in the Heartland (28.2 percent above 2010). Improved cattle and wheat incomes are contributing to the Prairie Gateway region's projected 25 percent increase in average net cash income. Producers in the Northern Crescent region are expected to benefit from higher dairy and grain earnings

U.S. Ending Stocks of Corn, Sorghum, Barley, and Oats 1995 to 2011

source usda

Agriculture News October 24, 2011

Farmers Sense the End of Big Boom - Record Crop Prices Have Driven Up Incomes, but Rising Costs and Cooling Demand Are Starting to Take a Bigger Bite [WSJ]7 Billion: Understanding the Demographic Transition - by Sharon Astyk [Casaubon's Book]Seven Billion by Joel Cohen [NYTs]How Do You Get to 7 Billion People? (Includes good graphic) [WSJ]Growing an acre of corn, soybeans or wheat in 2012 will

Study Examines if Atrazine found throughout Nebraska's Waterways is Causing Endocrine Disruption in Fish

River research spawns revelationsby Elizabeth KumruFish in the Elkhorn River are confused about their sex. Females are becoming defeminized and males are becoming more female. What is it about this Nebraska river that’s causing the fish to undergo a sex change every spring and summer? That’s what Alan Kolok, Ph.D., wants to know.A physiological ecologist and aquatic toxicologist, his research is

Boulder's Own Organic Farmer Indie-Folk Singer Gregory Alan Isakov

Finally, I got to see Boulder's own indie-folk musician song-writer, singer, guitarist, and organic farmer Gregory Alan Isakov in concert last night.Isakkov came to Boulder in 1999 to study horticulture at Naropa (our Buddhist University) and has worked in the area as an organic farmer but his extra-ordinary musical talent has led him to full time performing as he now tours the world with his

Latest Commercial: Yeo Valley Does It Again

You may know or not that Yeo Valley produces the greatest farming commercials around and they become extremely popular in the UK. This one's their latest and its pretty awesome, I'd say. ♬ There's no harm in our pure and natural farming. We are as one with the countryside ♬

Australia, New Zealand, U.S. and the E.U. Are Producing Fewer Sheep

Though global sheep numbers have remained fairly stable since 1960, with inventories remaining close to 1.1 billion throughout the period, sheep numbers in some of the major sheep-consuming and export-oriented producing countries declined steadily. Australia and New Zealand, the largest exporters of lamb and mutton globally, have seen drastic declines, with inventories falling by 17 and 18

The Riskiest Farms Financially are the Largest Farms, Livestock Farms, and Young Farms

Above: When we discuss whether we can weather a storm, who are we talking about? Are we talking about the 389 farms that produce 10 percent of what we have? Are we talking about the 34,000 farms that produce half, or the other 2 million farms that produce the other half? As we look at the risk management ability and risk management tools, the strategies are different in each one of these

A Few Days Worth of Tweets

Follow me here on twitter. Trivia: Nebraska farm boy Evan Williams who founded twitter and blogger once helped his girlfriend housesit for us.——K.M.(Some of these will and some will not be included in Monday's upcoming news.)China's corn crop up 5.6% over last year, yields average in the mid-80-bushel per

U.S. Weekly Grain Market in Review October 21, 2011

~October 21, 2011~Compared to last week, grain bids were higher with soybeans trading lower. The stock and energy markets were volatile this week pressuring the grains, along with the higher dollar adding additional burden. However, the stock and energy markets did rebound helping to strengthen grain prices as wheat and corn closed with modest gains and soybeans slight to moderately lower. Corn

Delinquency Rates on Agricultural Loans are the Lowest of All Loan Types

Above: Given the wide range of commercial banks lending to agriculture, some banking institutions are quite vulnerable to a downturn in the agricultural economy.Losses in consumer, real estate, construction, and development loans have weakened the financial positions of a number of rural and urban banks.However, delinquency rates on agricultural loans at commercial banks are the lowest across

Ukraine's Corn Yield and Production to Set Records this Year

Ukraine’s corn production for 2011/12 is increased 3.0 million tons this month to a record 21.0 million. With harvest more than a third complete, record yields appear to be a foregone conclusion as the early-harvested areas tend to be lower yielding than the late-harvested areas. The growing season was quite favorable, with some dryness at planting, followed by good rains during the growth cycle,

Old Farm Photo: Stacking Hay in New South Wales

Harvest time on the property of R.F. and A.E. Pulver - (undated)"Rose Grove", Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, AU.Thursday is Luddite photo day here at b.p.a.

Everybody Wants Their Product in the Produce Section of the Grocery Store

This is a good discussion:...because shoppers think its fresher and healthier there.

Stewart Brand is Da Man

Perhaps I'm a little late to the Stewart Brand book party, but I am finishing his book, Whole Earth Discipline (2009), and have really, really enjoyed reading it. Here is an environmentalist who became famous with his Whole Earth Catalogue (1968-1985), and was also a man who greatly influenced Steve Jobs. We know this because Jobs said so in his most popular Stanford commencement address (

Food at Home Price Index has increased 6.3% and the Dairy Index is up 10.2% in the Past Year

Today, the report is out from the BLS with the Consumer Price Index for September, 2011. If one wanted to generalize, energy inflation over the past twelve months is very alarming, food inflation over the past twelve months is becoming quite alarming, and for the most part essential categories are rising while nonessentials are not.——K.M.The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U)

2010 Census: Map of Rural High-Minority Counties

Despite relatively low population shares in nonmetro areas nationally (compared with metro areas), specific racial and ethnic groups are concentrated in some rural regions. In 2010, the African American share of population exceeded 20 percent in 290 nonmetro counties, almost all located in the Southeast. The Southwest and West contained the vast majority of the 211 nonmetro counties with 20

California's Fall Vegetable Harvest Looks Good

Higher production expected over 2010 harvestBroccoli: Up 8%.Cantaloupes: Up 4%. Nationally up 11%.Carrots: Up 30% above 2010. Nationally, up 30%. Cauliflower: Up 3%.Celery: Up 4%.Sweet Corn: Up 5%. Nationally, up 12%. Lower production expectedCalifornia's fall harvest of storage onion, head lettuce, honeydew and tomato numbers are expected to be less this year than in 2010 based upon planted

My Critique of "Feeding the World While Protecting the Planet" by Jon Foley's Team - University of Minnesota

If you somehow missed it, Scientific American magazine has a must-read five page article by environmental studies Professor Jon Foley (Univ. of Minnesota) for anyone interested in the subject of global food security, "Can We Feed the World & Sustain the Planet? A five-step global plan could double food production by 2050 while greatly reducing environmental damage." This is an excellent read

Agriculture News October 17, 2011

Please help our house celebrate today as our architecture-degreed college graduate son begins a new job, pursuing a new direction which he is passionate about. His new field of micro brewing is just a little related to agriculture. This past summer our kitchen has been filled with buckets, copper tubing, foraged hops drying, and many beer bottles as he has been concocting and experimenting with

CNBC: Rabobank Predicts Poultry Demand Will Increase 30% Over the Next Decade

. . . and 75% of that growth will occur in the BRIC and other developing nations.

Lady Gaga and a Farming Theme... Again!

We've had the meat dress, the Nebraska barn and cornfield video filming, and now, this.

Garden Wrap-Up Notes ~ Plus Two Bonus Recipes

We are expecting our first freeze three days from now, so I harvested all of the peppers and tomatillos from our garden today, along with some chard, onions, and small tomatoes for the day's pasta. We have far more jalapeno peppers than we need, so this year I will dry most of them and grind them into a powder for use in cooking. (see recipe below)Picked today: This large basket is filled with

Occupy Boulder ~ Occupy Wall Street Cartoons

To follow are a few comics about the Occupy Wall Street Protests. We had a rather nice one here in Boulder today with around 500 participants. My son and I partook in the march down Pearl Street for a while just because we happened to be there anyway. My son is a recent architecture degreed graduate who's come back home to live while trying to find a new direction, by the way. He has many sad

Russia Lacks Tractors, Combines, and Other Modern Farm Equipment, Holding Back Production

photo: flickr via Safariman ~ creative commonsAccording to this Bloomberg article...Russia’s Machines Cost 20 Million Tons of GrainRussia has modern agricultural equipment deficiencies including combines, milk and meat production equipment that are causing them to lose 1 million tons of meat, 7 million tons of milk, and 15 million to 20 million metric tons of grain that cannot be harvested,

U.S. Weekly Grain Market in Review October 14, 2011

~October 14, 2011~Compared to last week, grain and soybean bids were higher with the most gains posted on beans. The markets opened the week finding support from the sharp break in the US dollar, strength in metals, energy, and higher commodity markets. Prior to the USDA’s Supply and Demand Report and crop production the grains saw sharp gains with corn closing limit up on heavy fund buying;

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Clearly Explains Why Speculation Didn't Drive Oil Prices in 2008

And that applies similarly to food....This past week there have been a couple of news items announcing that a large petition by "450 economists" wants to limit global food commodity speculation which is causing high food prices for the world's poor food consumer. Since I just posted, Round Two. Does Speculation Cause High Food Prices? on this blog ten days ago, I wanted to follow-up by connecting

Yesterday's Hike: Boulder's Bear Peak

After listening to my husband say for more than two years, "I want to climb Bear Peak," we finally did it yesterday. This time of the year one doesn't need to worry about the daily afternoon thunderstorms that roll through here in the summer and the temperature is just right to elevate yourself 2,400 feet by foot to 8,461 feet, giving us a spectacular eagle's eye view of Boulder and 360 degrees

More on Migrant Workers and Future Migrations

I was thrilled to have Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism use my post, "Migrant Farm Workers in the PIGS, America, and Elsewhere: Noting a Balance Sheet Correlation" as her lede news link on Thursday. Unfortunately, I thought the post might have the potential to generate many comments for a variety of reasons but so far has generated none. Imagine well over 1,000 page views by a quality reader base

1992 Photo of Sheep Grazing in Utah

Sheep graze on pastureland in Heber Valley, Utah. 1992.source: usda

Migrant Farm Workers in the PIGS, America, and Elsewhere: Noting a Balance Sheet Correlation

photo source: flickr by ah zut ~ "la cueillette des fraises"strawberry picking in Sonoma done mostly by Hmong farmers.This past week the NYTs article, "Hiring Locally for Farm Work Is No Cure-All" described how a Colorado onion and sweet corn farmer couldn't find enough local help to work in his fields. There are well over 400 reader comments under the article. The NYTs followed up the story

FAO: World Food Costs Declined from 1961 to 2002

K.M.: Industrialized agriculture production methods, along with increased efficiencies in transport, distribution, and storage, has led to lower world wide food prices while requiring much less labor to produce crops. While idealists trump the "cheap food policy," the fact is that few in the developed world will work as farm laborers and here in America, we complain if any food price category

Agriculture News October 10, 2011

How can there be a labor shortage when nearly one out of every 11 people in the nation are unemployed? That’s the question John Harold asked himself last winter when he was trying to figure out how much help he would need to harvest the corn and onions on his 1,000-acre farm here in western Colorado... (NYTs)Room for Debate did a follow-up on the above article, titled "What happened to the

Permaculture in Western Massachusetts at Amherst

Note that the above video shows how they prepared their new food growing garden bed.Link: UMass Permaculture Amhersth/t treehugger

Bucket Irrigation: The Easiest Way to Water Newly Planted Small Trees

A great time-saver for irrigating newly planted trees is to use a recycled 5-gallon plastic bucket. These are often discarded at construction sites. You first need to drill one or two 1/32 inch or smaller holes towards one side of the bottom of the bucket. Set it next to your small tree and fill with water every one to two weeks. You may move it to the opposite side of the tree each time you

NPR Planet Money Reports $9,494 per Acre for Iowa Farmland Plus More Sky High Sales Prices For You

Here's an NPR story reporting on an Iowa farmland sale of 158 acres of corn field selling for $1.5 million, which, according to my calculator equals 9,494 dollars per acre ... (story here)Here are some other recent Iowa farmland sales prices:Linn County, IA - (October) - 46 acres sold for $404,800 ($8,800/A)Story County, IA - (September) - 158 acres sold for $1,564,200 ($9,900/A)Cerro Gordo

Between 2000 and 2010, Iowa's age 25-44 Demographic Declined Eight Percent Overall and Twenty Percent in Rural Areas

The above graph and this report by Dave Swenson, out of Iowa State, describes Iowa's depressing rural demographic trends. ——K.M.Key points:Two-thirds of Iowa’s counties lost population between 2000 and 2010. The national population of adults ages 25 to 44 actually declined slightly over the last decade. The state of Iowa saw this population decline by 8 percent. In "rural" areas, however, this

More U.S. Soybeans go towards Biodiesel, Less for Food

Domestic use of soybean oil for 2011/12 is forecast to rise to 17.75 billion pounds from 16.6 billion this year. Nearly all of next year’s gain is projected for the production of biodiesel, which has been accelerating quickly over the last few months. USDA forecasts that soybean oil used for methyl esters (biodiesel) will expand to 3.6 billion pounds in 2011/12 from 2.4 billion this season.Likely

Timing and Longer Time Frame are Key to Investing in Farming

Using Morgan Stanley's failed venture into farm investing in the Ukraine and selling its distressed investment at the wrong time, Bloomberg's Alan Katz has a good video here with some good farming scenes in the Ukraine. (This region is improving farming infrastructure and buying equipment rapidly, but it takes time and does not happen overnight.) Haven't those with dirt under their fingernails

U.S. Weekly Grain Market in Review October 7, 2011

~October 7, 2011~Compared to last week, grain and soybean bids were sharply lower. The grain markets suffered early in the week on continued concerns over the financial markets as the Dow was down with sharp losses along with crude oil and the dollar higher. However, outside markets recovered later in the week limiting the losses. Harvest is in full swing across the corn-belt as the weather has

1952 Photo of Flood on Iowa Farm

Floodwaters overtake this farm near Council Bluffs, Iowa - source: usda

A Few Notes of Interest from the 2011 Prairie Festival at the Land Institute in Salina, Kansas

The artist talk this year was by Lisa Grossman and it did not disappoint, as she so eloquently described to us her zen like approach to plein air painting of the Kansas prairie and sky landscapes and likened the process to haiku. Originally from Pennsylvania, she now lives in Lawrence, Kansas. [more of her art here]____________________For those who are not aware of the fact, the Land Institute is

Slow Money October Gathering Offers Ways to Invest in Slow Food

Note that the following is a guest post by writer Julene Bair about the upcoming Slow Money national gathering in SanFrancisco.——K.M.Food security, whether it’s on the personal or international level, is too important to be taken for granted. This is true especially now, when food systems are threatened by chemical pollution, the loss of topsoil, and the limits of aquifers and oil. The Slow Food

Coal Production in the Top Five Producing Nations Grew by 98% from 2000-2010

One of the reasons I don't beat the drum daily about climate change is that I think it is a behemoth that has a life of its own. I suspect eventually that man will try to mitigate its effects, because I don't think coal burning or human addiction to fossil fuels can be curtailed because of our short sighted selfishness. Shoot me, someone, for saying that but I think I'm a realist. Look at this,

The Number of Hog Producers in the U.S. Declined Sixty Percent in the Decade Ending in 2009

Large operations produced an increasing share of outputbetween 1998 and 2009Between 1998 and 2009, the total number of hog operations fell by about 60 percent, and the average inventory grew from 2,589 to 7,930 head. Over this period, the number of hog operations producing fewer than 300 animal units declined rapidly, resulting in a shift in production to larger operation. In 2009, over half of

Round Two. Does Speculation Cause High Food Prices?

They've been pouring across my desk lately, the seemingly credible main stream news and high level PDF studies proclaiming that the global food commodity prices are being driven by speculation.Since my March 2011 post, Are Speculators to Blame for High Food Commodity Prices? No, and this Explains Why, has anything changed? Where is all of this media momentum coming from of late?Blaming

Agriculture News October 3, 2011

Corn slumped 23 percent in September, the biggest monthly slide in records going back to 1959. [Bloomberg]Analysis: Corn export dominance to bend, not break - "After supplying four out of every five kernels of corn traded internationally in the mid-1990s, U.S. market share was projected to shrink to 45 percent this season, with U.S. dominance particularly hard hit in the past 10 years." [

Trailer: Le Quattro Volte

An old goatherd takes his flock to feed in the high pastures of Calabria then milks them at his stalls at a spectacular hilltop village, where the rhythm and ritual of life appears unchanged in centuries. His cure-all for his failing health is the blessed ash from ceremonies at the local church. He dies, and at his death a newborn goat takes its first breath. It suits the off-beat and curiously

Watch these French Cows Enjoy Jazz Music

The New Hot 5, American-based jazz band plays for a herd of cows in Autrans, France. . (h/t rjs)