Congratulations to three of
Virginia Farm Bureau Federation’s Young Farmers who distinguished themselves at
the American Farm Bureau Federation
annual meeting in Honolulu
earlier this month.
Jason and Paige Pratt
of PulaskiCounty, who won the 2011 VFBF Excellence in Agriculture Award, were runners-up
for the AFBF Excellence in Agriculture Award
The award recognizes individuals for
their involvement in agriculture, leadership ability and involvement and
participation in Farm Bureau and other organizations. In the 10 years that it
has been presented, Virginians have won it three times, most recently in 2011.
Jason Pratt is an agriculture agent for Virginia
Cooperative Extension and works on his family farm with his
father. Paige Pratt is an Extension
specialist at Virginia Tech and
oversees youth livestock programs across the state.
Christy Huffman Kerr of AugustaCounty,
who won the 2011 VFBF Young Farmer Discussion
Meet, advanced to the semifinal round of the AFBF Young Farmers & Ranchers
Discussion Meet. The event is a committee-style discussion of a predetermined
agricultural topic. Participants are judged on their ability to build consensus
and work toward solutions.
Kerr
is an agriculture teacher at WilsonMemorialHigh School in Augusta.
Last week, the Virginia Senate approved SB 464, a bill that
would allow hunting on Sunday on private land with landowners’ permission and
on public waters.
Virginia
is one of 11 states that prohibit hunting on Sunday, and Virginia Farm Bureau
believes lifting that ban would create a lose-lose situation for citizens. The
organization has held that position for years and continues to oppose
legislation that would allow Sunday hunting in Virginia.
Why?
In policy discussions among elected representatives of the
organization, members cited faith-based beliefs as well as the ability of
landowners and horse owners and riders to use the outdoors one day a week in
relative peace and without worrying about their safety.
Bruce Richardson, a NorthamptonCounty
farmer and Farm Bureau member—and a hunter himself—said he thinks SB 464 discriminates
against rural residents.
“Rural residents and those visiting the country should be
able to enjoy a safe walk in the woods or around farm property on Sundays,” he
said.
Corky Shackelford, an AlbemarleCounty
farmer and Farm Bureau member, said he has to watch out for hunters wherever he
goes on his farm.
“I wear a blaze orange hat during deer season, because even
though I post ‘No hunting’ and ‘No trespassing’ signs, hunters go on my land
anyway.
“People who live in the country and those who want to visit
the country deserve a day of safety and peace.”
Rural landowners have a responsibility to be good neighbors,
Richardson said,
and “giving up one day out of seven so people can enjoy peace and quiet is not
too much to ask.”
“Through our grassroots policy process, our members have
voted to oppose hunting on Sunday,” said Wilmer Stoneman, VFBF associate director of governmental relations.
“People are trying to couch this as a private property issue, but if it is,
then you should be able to hunt and fish on private property 24 hours a day,
365 days a year, not just on Sundays.”
Stoneman said that if hunters are allowed to pursue their
sport on Sundays, conflict between hunters and the general public will
increase. “That ultimately will hurt the sport in the long run. We want people
to hunt, but not on Sunday.”
If legislation is passed that allows Sunday hunting on
private lands, it is likely to expand to other property as well, he said.
“If Sunday hunting is overturned in any form, then there
will be another bill next year and another one the next expanding hunting
rights.”
(Salad greens growing in Gary and Jeanie Scott's high tunnel.
Photo by Sara Owens, Virginia Farm Bureau)
In Virginia
the amount of local foods available during the winters does decrease, but it is
still possible to have fresh produce, such as lettuce and leafy salad greens,
during the winter months.
Many farmers’ markets are open year-round, and you can also
grow your own crops in your backyard using a high tunnel.
High tunnels or “hoop houses” are unheated greenhouses that
help farmers and gardeners extend their growing seasons. They use plastic
sheeting that can be raised and lowered to control the temperature inside the
structures.
Gary Scott, owner of Twin Springs Farm in NelsonCounty,
and his wife, Jeanie, use high tunnels on their 76-acre farm. The Scotts use drip
irrigation for watering the plants and row covers to help keep the plants warm
during the chilly winter nights.
“I put the row covers over the plants to keep the frost from
getting to the plants,” Gary Scott
said. “The plants can stand cooler temperatures this way, from the low to mid-20s.”
The tunnels are not heated, so Scott shuts the tunnel doors
at 3 p.m. and pulls the row covers over the crops.
In addition to growing your own crops or going to the
farmers’ market for locally grown foods, you may want to consider joining a
community-supported agriculture operation or farm cooperative, such as Firsthand Farmers
Cooperative. Scott’s farm is part of the cooperative, which is made up of
six Central Virginia farms.
The deadline for spring and summer CSA signups is quickly
approaching. To find a CSA near you, visit the Fresh Food Locator on SaveOurFood.org. You also can locate
farmers’ markets using the Fresh Food Locator.
Oatmeal is the new breakfast of champions. Even fast food restaurants Burger King and McDonald’s have added oatmeal to their list of breakfast offerings.
Oatmeal has come a long way from the pasty mush that I used to eat as a kid, and researchers have found that oatmeal is packed with health benefits. Oats are a good source of fiber and nutrients, including vitamin E, zinc, selenium, copper, iron, manganese and magnesium. They’re also are a good source of protein.
Most oatmeal is made from whole oats that have been rolled and flattened into flakes. Steel-cut oats, which are whole oats cut into thirds, have become a trendy form of the old staple. My friend eats them before working out at the gym; she says they give her energy.
According to the American Cancer Society, the insoluble fiber found in oatmeal has cancer-fighting properties. And the soluble fiber may reduce the bad kind of cholesterol.
Oat consumption in the United States has grown by 5 percent each year since 1997, when the Food and Drug Administration first issued its health claim for oat-based foods, according to the North American Milling Association.
With all that going for it, how can you resist a bowl of hot, steaming oatmeal?
This recipe from Penn State Cooperative Extension is bound to hit the spot. Mix the ingredients in a slow cooker at night, and when you wake up the next morning, breakfast will be ready. How great is that?
Overnight oatmeal
1 cup steel-cut oats 1 cup raisins, cranberries or dried fruit of choice 4 cups water ½ cup milk, half-and-half or buttermilk 2 tablespoons cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice 2 tablespoons maple syrup
In a slow cooker, combine all ingredients. Cook on low heat, covered, for 7 to 9 hours. Stir and serve.
For non-dairy oatmeal, try adding applesauce, apple butter or almond butter instead of a dairy product.
To help animals, donate to local shelters. (Virginia Farm Bureau file photo)
Don’t you hate when something isn’t what it seems? Like when you think you’re giving money to help abused, homeless or neglected kittens and puppies but you’re actually helping to line the pockets of people who want to put an end to all animal production in the United States?
That’s exactly what the Humane Society of the United States is trying to do. HSUS wants people to think that it is an organization devoted to helping the plight of homeless and mistreated cats and dogs. After all, that’s what’s featured on their TV ads that ask for a monthly donation.
But guess what? Donations to the HSUS don’t directly help those animals.
The Humane Society of the United States is not like local humane shelters. Less than one-half of 1 percent of HSUS’ almost $100 million operating budget in 2008 was contributed to domestic pet shelters. But the organization put five times as much into its executive pension plan that year! Its own website even says that it is “not directly affiliated with any local humane societies or other animal organizations.”
HSUS’ ultimate goal is to abolish animal agriculture. Its president, Wayne Pacelle, has admitted as much. HSUS spends millions on programs to shut down meat and dairy producers, eliminate the use of animals in biomedical research labs, phase out pet breeding, zoos, circuses and hunting. If the organization were to get its way, there would be no more steak for dinner, eggs for breakfast or turkey for Thanksgiving. There would be no leather shoes and coats, and no disease-curing research.
HSUS is an animal rights organization, and they assert that animals have the same rights as humans; therefore, raising animals for food is inhumane.
I don’t want animals of any kind to be mistreated, but I don’t want someone telling me I can’t eat meat. I know plenty of farmers who raise animals for human consumption, and they take care of those animals.
Additionally, my mother-in-law suffers from Parkinson’s Disease, and if research on an animal can help find a cure for her, then I’m in favor of that.
Please think about these things the next time you see a TV ad asking you to give money to the HSUS, and remember what they really stand for. If you feel compelled to help out, your donation is probably more than welcome at a local animal shelter or rescue organization, where you know it will truly be used to help cats and dogs.
And Fridays in general? Perfect for making something wholesome and simple for supper. Ask anyone who grew up in a family that eschewed meat on Fridays during Lent. That’s when a lot of mothers and grandmothers (and fathers and grandfathers—my own father among them) raised macaroni and cheese to a high art form.
So here, without further ado, is a melty, vegetable-studded cheese soup recipe, courtesy of NaPaul Farms in Chambersburg, Pa., and the American Dairy Association.
Cheese and Corn Chowder
½ cup water
2 cups diced, peeled potatoes
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
⅓ teaspoon ground cumin
2 cups frozen or canned corn
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded mild Cheddar cheese, divided
1½ cups milk
In a saucepan, combine the water, potatoes, carrots, celery, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add corn, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add ⅔ cup Cheddar and milk, stirring until cheese is melted and chowder is heated through. Top servings with remaining cheese.
The 2012 American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention in Honolulu included farm tours that afforded a look commodities not produced in much of the United States, like pineapples and bananas.
In his Jan. 8 welcome remarks to convention participants, however, Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie said the state has moved away from a monoculture of sugarcare and pineapple plantations. Hawaii is experiencing "an agricultural renaissance" of diverse and entrepreneurial production, Abercrombie said. Improved food security is a motivating factor, as the state currently imports more of its food than in past decades.
"We are within a few days of being unable to sustain ourselves if we are not able to move towards more self-sustenance when it comes to agriculture," Abercrombie said.
President Bob Stallman delivered his opening address at the American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention on Jan. 8. (Photo courtesy of AFBF)
In his opening address to the 2012 American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention last week, AFBF President Bob Stallman noted the attention that the Occupy Wall Street movement has garnered for America’s “99 percent” who are concerned about their economic well-being.
Meanwhile, he noted, across the nation “Farm Bureau members are occupying the farm fields, the pastures, the livestock barns. We are occupying the orchards and the vineyards. We are occupying the combine and, yes, even the saddle.
“Ours is an occupation of production. … We are the 1 percent that is producing food and fiber for the other 99 percent.”
I checked his math.
The U.S. Census Bureau reports an average of 112,611,029 households in the United States between 2005 and 2009. That time period is when the U.S. Department of Agriculture conducted most recent Census of Agriculture – in 2008, working with stats from 2007. The census found 2,204,792 farms in the United States.
That would make U.S. farms—the majority of which are family operations—1.95 percent of U.S. households.
Pretty close.
Stallman cited some other percentages as well.
“U.S. agricultural productivity has increased by nearly 50 percent since 1982,” he told convention participants. “Over a 20-year period, corn yields are up 41 percent. Soil loss has fallen by 70 percent per bushel, water use by 27 percent.” And other crops have seen similar improvements, he added.
About 7,000 famers and their families attended the AFBF convention. It’s always held in January, but it’s not always held somewhere nice and warm like Hawaii. Each year, participants are able to sample local culture, and this year the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture held a luau at Honolulu’s Polynesian Cultural Center.
Stallman, a Texan, noted some similarities to celebrations back home
“Anytime you cook a pig in a pit for 10 to 12 hours,” he said, “it’s just hard to go wrong.”
Fresh Virginia apples are still available and can
be used in an assortment of flavorful recipes. The recipe, courtesy of the Virginia Apple Grower’s Association, is sure to please apple
loving taste buds.
Combine
apples and cider in a slow-cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until
apples are soft.
Puree
in a food sieve or food mill. Return mixture to pot; and add sugar and spices.
Cover
and cook on low for 1 to 2 hours. For a thicker apple butter, uncover, and cook
on high until mixture reaches the desired consistency, stirring occasionally.
Store apple butter
in the refrigerator, or pour hot apple butter into hot canning jars, leaving a
quarter-inch headspace. Adjust caps for canning, and process in a boiling water
bath for 10 minutes.
(Backyard chickens working in a raised bed. Photo by Sara Owens, Virginia Farm Bureau)
A
lot of homeowners are starting to keep chickens in their backyards so that they
can have fresh eggs. It may be a little early to start thinking about your 2012 vegetable garden, but here’s something to
consider: Keep chickens in your garden.
“Backyard
chickens are one of the hottest new trends in gardening,” said horticulturalist
Mark Viette. “For many of us, backyard
chickens allow us to get back to nature and the old ways of gardening.”
Chickens
kept in the garden feed on old vegetables, eat pests, loosen the soil and
provide natural fertilizer. All that activity prepares the garden for the next
group of plants, Viette said.
Chickens
will eat weeds and feed on old beans or anything that falls to the ground. If
you add compost to the soil, the chickens will work it in.
“Chickens
really reinvigorate the garden, plus you can have fresh eggs to eat,” Viette
said.
Before
adding chickens to your landscape, check local regulations and consult reference
works available in print and online for novice poultry owners.
After
summer’s harvest, planting cover crops such as buckwheat, clover and winter rye
will help loosen the soil. The chickens will flatten the crops, but the roots
will grow deep down and help prepare your garden for spring.
Information on keeping your backyard chickens healthy is available from USDA, by clicking here.
You may have heard the term
“grassroots” and wondered what it meant when it’s used to describe an
organization
For Virginia
Farm Bureau Federation, grassroots means that Farm Bureau’s
policies originate with its members, at the local level.
That process provides every
Farm Bureau producer member with an opportunity to participate and voice his or
her concerns regarding important agricultural issues.
Right now, more than 90 Virginia Farm Bureau members are in Honolulu attending the American Farm Bureau Federation
Annual Convention. Eight of those members were selected by their peers to serve
as voting delegates and help AFBF shape its national policies.
Virginia
Farm Bureau’s
governmental relations staff will also be at the state Capitol while this
year’s General Assembly is in session, to represent members’ interests.
Their work is guided by a year-long
process that starts with regional policy development meetings held each March
through May. It is at those meetings that issues and concerns of producer
members are first discussed, and where members generate feedback on long-term
focus areas.
The VFBF
Legislative Committee—made up of Farm Bureau producer members—also meets in May
to recommend long-term priority issues and long-term focus areas.
CountyFarm Bureaus begin developing policy recommendations from
May through October. In October, the VFBF
Legislative Committee meetings again to recommend short-term priority issues.
The VFBF board of directors gives
final approval to priority issues in October. All policies that come out of
this year-long process with the most support move on to the VFBF Resolutions Committee meeting in early
November.
All resolutions that are
approved by the Resolutions Committee are brought up again at the VFBF Annual Convention, which takes place in late
November or early December. The resolutions are voted on by delegates from each
countyFarm Bureau. Afterwards, the delegates select
members to serve as delegates to represent Virginia
Farm Bureau at the AFBF convention, and state-level policies
are identified for when the state legislature convenes the following January.
From there, the process
starts over again in the spring.
Beets make this a healthy winter soup (Photo by Kathy Dixon, Virginia Farm Bureau).
Do you remember “the soup Nazi” on an episode of the TV show Seinfeld? The restaurateur’s soup was so good that he controlled who got it and when. If you were turned away, it was a sad day.
The good news is that soup is easy to make yourself. So when the weather is cold and you can’t get warm with layers of clothes or even a crackling fire, it’s time to heat up with a nice, hot bowl of soup.
Soup can be a nutritious meal that’s easy to prepare. After the holidays, I like to simmer the leftover ham bone with black-eyed peas and other veggies.
During the work week in the winter, I often cut up vegetables, onions and garlic and add broth, seasonings and beans in a slow-cooker at night. Then the next morning I add meat, put on the lid, turn the dial and let it simmer all day. When I come home from work, voila! Dinner’s ready.
The following is a recipe from chef John Maxwell, who used to host a cooking segment on Virginia Farm Bureau’s monthly television program, Down Home Virginia, which has been renamed Real Virginia. I had the pleasure of sampling this soup, and I was overwhelmed by its deliciousness. I’ve since made it for friends and neighbors, and they all love it as well. The key ingredient is beets, which are grown year-round in Virginia. You should be able to find fresh beets at a local grocery store or winter farmers’ market.
Beef Borscht
1 pound beets 2 carrots 1 turnip 1 onion, chopped 1 pound beef tips, short rib 8 cups beef stock 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar 2 bay leaves 1 teaspoon sugar salt and pepper to taste 1 bunch fresh dill 1 bunch fresh parsley 1 bunch beet greens, chopped into thick ribbons 7 ounces cabbage sour cream for garnish
Tie the dill and parsley into a bouquet. Add the herbs, beet greens and cabbage to the pot, and simmer for another 30 minutes. Remove the herbs and bay leaf, and serve with sour cream.
This Lamancha dairy goat at Night Sky Farm in Campbell County will produce lots of high-butterfat milk. Lamanchas are known for their short ears and valued for their high milk production (Photo by Kathy Dixon, Virginia Farm Bureau).
Most of this plentiful produce was grown right here in Virginia (Photo by Kathy Dixon, Virginia Farm Bureau).
“People with food have many problems. A person with no food has only one problem.”
This is a quote from an unknown source, but obviously a wise one. In our land of plenty, it’s hard to imagine what it would be like without a plentiful, safe food supply, because that’s what we have.
From kiwis in December to cranberries in June, grocery stores are filled with whatever we want, basically whenever we want it. I went to a Christmas brunch at which we were served mixed fruit including watermelon. My father-in-law commented that we sure are lucky because when he was growing up, the only time he ate watermelon was when it was in season in the summer.
Worldwide, people are not as blessed.
According to University of Illinois agricultural economist Robert Thompson, about 1 billion people (one of every seven) suffer from hunger. He says hunger is due mainly to poverty; 70 percent of the extreme poor live in rural areas, and most are farmers.
On top of the world’s current hunger problem, the population is expected to increase 38 percent by 2050. That means world food demand could double by then. With population growth, urbanization and broad-based economic development, many low-income countries’ food consumption will outstrip their production capacity, and they will become larger net importers.
With all of this going on, the question becomes the world’s farmers will provide enough food. Thompson says there is only about 12 percent more arable land available worldwide. That area could be doubled, but it would destroy forests and wildlife. So the only alternative is to increase productivity on non-erodible soils already being farmed.
U.S. farmers are already using biotechnology that enables them to improve the nutrition of crops, conserve water needed for irrigation and reduce losses from disease and insects. Our farmers will continue to produce food to feed us, as well as our neighbors in other parts of the world.
So as you make your new year’s resolutions to exercise and cut back on the amount of food you eat, think about how good we have it here – thanks to our farmers. Don’t ever take our plentiful food supply for granted, because there’s no guarantee it will always be here. And that would be a problem.
