Farm industry feeds communities

With Thanksgiving a mere week away, most of us are anxiously waiting for a day of feasting, though many Americans aren’t fortunate enough to look forward to such food gluttony.

According to the USDA, more than 49 million Americans, one in six people, are food insecure. To help support our country’s food needs, Halex GT, a corn herbicide from agribusiness company Syngenta, partnered with Feeding America, the leading domestic hunger-relief charity, earlier this year.

“Syngenta is helping to weed out hunger one row at a time,” states the company, with the clever campaign tagline of, “Good for communities, good for corn.”
A portion of each sale of Halex GT benefited some of the organization’s 200 food banks dispersed throughout each of the fifty states.

For being a significantly developed country, our country’s hunger prevalence is alarming.

American Hunger Facts (FarmAssist.com)
• More than 2 million rural households are food insecure
• One in eight Americans doesn’t have access to enough food
• There are 16.7 million children who live in food insecure households
• In 2009, 46 percent more people visited a hunger-relief charity than in 2005

Hunger facts are even more distressing when they hit close to home.

The Columbus Dispatch reported recently that Ohio has broken into the top 10 states for hunger, as about one in every seven households struggled or did not have enough money to buy food in 2009. Nearly 680,000 Ohio families – 14.8 percent – were found to be "food insecure" at some point in 2009. More than 1.9 million Ohioans visited a food pantry during the last quarter. Since 2007, demand at Buckeye State pantries has increased by nearly 69 percent.

The agriculture industry is vital to addressing food scarcity. U.S. farmers take on the huge responsibility of feeding not only the American population, but also contribute to feeding people on a global scale. The average American farmer feeds 144 people and uses one acre of land to support 11 people.

An example of the agriculture industry extending its humanitarian scope is the charitable work of The World Soy Foundation (WSF). WSF is a organization dedicated to helping relieve hunger and malnutrition in the world by funding, supporting and helping to coordinate programs that recognize the importance of the use of soybeans in developing sustainable food solutions.

The WSF was awarded funds from The Monsanto Fund, the philanthropic arm of the Monsanto Company – a U.S.-based multinational agricultural biotechnology corporation – to pilot the use of SoyCow Soybean Processing Technology to improve nutrition for a community in South Africa.

SoyCow makes soymilk and yogurt, as well as tofu, soya nuts and soya chips to create sustainable solutions for the protein needs of the people in this South African region.

The corporate giving initiatives of Syngenta and Monsanto are just two examples of the abundant contributions of our nation’s agricultural community to the food supply. Each year, our farmers continue to grow more food using fewer resources. Our farmer’s sustainability and philanthropy is a pillar of our agriculture industry that we all can be proud of.

As we near the holidays, we should each think about how we can mirror this example of giving.

Photo obtained from: examiner.com









Soybean seed to be sold by count

As soybean seed prices increase, so has the switch to sell seed by the count.

Both Syngenta and Monsanto recently announced that they will sell all of their soybean seed by the count for the 2011 growing season – moving away from selling seed by the pound.

When selling by weight, farmers do not know how many seeds are in a bag. And, with soybean seed becoming more expensive, it is important for farmers to not buy more than they need. Selling seed by the count allows them to make better business decisions.

Corn has been sold by the seed count for nearly 45 years.

Beginning in 2011, Syngenta will sell its soybeans based on 140,000 seeds per unit in all packaging types. Most of the bags will weigh between 40 to 60 pounds with a maximum weight limit of 63.6 pounds.

“The move to sell by seed count helps farmers determine costs and will create more accurate orders,” said Doug Tigges, Syngenta Seeds soybean product manager. “That would allow for better management of inventory and could reduce the amount of returns for the company.”

Monsanto’s United States Soybean Product Management Lead, Jennifer Ralston, agrees, “The farmers like it,” she said in a Missouri Farmer Today article.

Monsanto started selling by count in 2009 and required seed companies to sell its Roundup Ready to Yield soybeans in 140,000 seed units. In 2011, they will sell all of their soybean seeds by count.

For farmers and seed companies, selling by count seems to be a win-win situation.

According to the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA), the National Conference on Weights and Measures recently passed a vote to standardize testing methods and procedures to verify seed count labeling, which will positively impact farmers and seed companies.

"The manner in which seed is purchased and sold has significantly changed in recent years and this vote will help provide regulatory uniformity for seed testing," said Andy LaVigne, ASTA president and chief executive officer. “It will have a positive impact on seed companies’ and farmers’ bottom-lines.”

As the benefits to selling soybean seeds by the count continue to outweigh those by weight, it will be interesting to see what other seed companies will follow in Syngenta and Monsanto’s footsteps.

Photo obtained from: www.missourifarmertoday.com.