Big Data and the Farm

A farm near Klingerstown, Pa.

Imagine a world where seeds are automatically planted and crops email you when they need water. That world is already possible and the technologies behind it are gaining popularity.

In the past few years, the larger agribusiness companies, such as Monsanto and DuPont Pioneer, started offering data analysis and prescriptive planting solutions to farmers. Their goal is to increase annual yield on the same amount of land by changing planting practices.

Some farmers use planters equipped with GPS that automatically steer themselves in a straight line, while monitoring their progress on iPads. Tools attached to tractors already collect data about their land, which can then be analyzed and used to plan for the following planting season. This process of analysis can be daunting with data about hundreds of acres of land.

Seed companies see the potential in this data and are encouraging farmers to upload it to their servers. The companies analyze the soil conditions, current seeding rates, past crop yields and other measurements. A custom planning map is created, based on the data. The map is then uploaded to a planter, which can precisely plant seed at different depths and rates, depending on its location on the map.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the technology could increase the 2014 corn harvest from an average of 160 bushels to 200. That would equal an extra $182 in revenue per acre, up from $759.

Like all great movements and advancements in technology, prescriptive planting is not without risks and controversy. Farm advocacy groups are trying to figure out what big data means for agriculture. Common fears are that private data from farms could be exploited by government agencies, sold to commodity corporations or even get stolen by agriculture activists.

In addition, farmers are worried that having access to “real time yield data” around harvest time will cause speculation in the commodities markets, before the government issues official crop-production estimates.

“We’re signing up for things without knowing what we’re giving up,” Mark Nelson, director of commodities at the Kansas Farm Bureau, said.

The American Farm Bureau, which is the nation’s largest farming organization, is leading the debate about big data. In a Farm Industry News article, Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau expressed his concerns and brought up the question of who owns farm data in the first place.

“Proprietary data collected from individual farms is valuable and should remain the property of the farmer,” Stallman said. “As innovation and technology using this data expand to provide farmers new management tools, protecting the privacy of this data is paramount.”

In addition to farmers and industry leaders, Congress is joining the conversation about big data in the agriculture industry.

“Information and data utilization is the way of the future,” Rep. Lynn Jenkins, a republican from Kansas, said. “And just as our federal government struggles with privacy concerns through records at the NSA and various health records, so too must we maintain appropriate privacy protection of individuals from corporate entitles.”

The field of agriculture is rapidly changing and blending with technology. There are many sides of the story to consider.

What is your opinion about agriculture and big data?

What's Ahead for Agriculture?

Here’s a snapshot of the issues and trends that could impact U.S. agriculture during 2014.

Policy Issues
Farm Bill: 
According to the American Farm Bureau, after a two-year delay, a new farm bill is expected to be complete in early 2014. This will provide some much-needed clarity for the U.S. agricultural industry, particularly concerning crop insurance and subsidies.

Water Regulations: 
Another legislative issue on tap for next year includes possible new regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pertaining to water usage and management on farms and ranches.

According to American Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman, the EPA is attempting to expand the reach of the Clean Water Act, which could have serious and detrimental impacts on U.S. agriculture.

“If the EPA proposal were put in place, you could not discharge into any covered water unless you had a federal permit,” said Stallman in The Country Today. “In essence you as farmers and ranchers would have to have a permit relative to water and runoff for anything you wanted to do on your land.”

Land Costs
The value of farmland has risen in recent years throughout most of the Midwest. In Ohio, cropland value rose 12 percent in 2013, with bare cropland averaging $5,600 an acre, according to Barry Ward with the Ohio State University Extension in Farm and Dairy. Ward stated in Farm and Dairy that prices will be flat or fall in 2014. The forecast is expected to be the same for farmland nationwide.

“We’re at a point where land values are going to quit rising so rapidly,” said Terry Kastens, an agricultural economist in a Bloomberg article. “Prices will probably flatten out and may even fall back 10 percent or so, but we’re not going to see a crash.”

Low Prices
The Bucyrus Telegraph Forum recently reported that soybean and corn prices are expected to remain low in 2014, which means farmers might have to stretch profits from 2013 into the new year.

“It’s clear that commodities markets are not going to have the kind of strength in 2014 that they’ve had the past few years,” said Joe Cornely with the Ohio Farm Bureau. “In particular, there’s a retrenchment in corn prices.”

What 2014 agricultural issues and trends are on your mind? Please share your thoughts.

Photo obtained from www.americanfarminvestors.com.

Estate tax threatens rural farms

The estate tax continues to be a major factor to the disappearance of rural farms nationwide.

For farmers, a greater percentage of their assets are associated with land and equipment, increasing their estate tax burden significantly more than other business owners.

Farm owners are typically referred to as “cash poor, land rich.” On average, 84 percent of farm assets are land, machinery and equipment, but little or no cash.
The estate tax can cause the loss or break up of family farms when heirs are forced to sell assets to pay the tax and/or administrative costs.

For many farmers, selling even a fraction of their business or farm makes it less competitive and unprofitable, forcing the ultimate sale of the entire operation.

According to American Farm Bureau Federation President, Bob Stallman, estate taxes hit farm families worse than other small business owners because the majority of their assets are real-estate based.

"When Uncle Sam comes to pay his respects, surviving family members without enough cash on hand may be forced to sell land, buildings or equipment that they need to keep their operations going,” Stallman stated in an article in Ohio Farmer.

Congress recently passed new legislation in December that affects estate taxes, but only for 2011 and 2012, reducing federal taxation of large estates. The legislation affects families with an individual who dies in 2011 or 2012 and has assets of more than $1 million or an individual that gifts more than $1 million during this period.

According to The Ohio State University Extension, with this law change, an individual can leave a total of $5 million worth of assets with no federal estate or gift tax due. In addition, if the net worth of an individual’s estate, combined with the total counted amount given, exceeds $5 million, the federal estate and/or gift tax rate has been reduced from 45 percent to 35 percent.

These estate tax and gift tax changes will give a reprieve to those with estates valued at more than $1million, but only for the next two years. Those families with large estates who live into 2013 will have to distribute assets to lock in these provisions.

As new rules come into place, it will be interesting to learn what happens to the estate tax. What do you think about the estate tax and the new rules enacted by Congress? Do you know a farmer who has been affected by the tax? Do you think there are alternatives to the estate tax?

Photo obtained from: http://www.estateplanninglawblawg.com/tax%20dollars.jpg

Social-media use among farmers

A decade ago, it was unheard of for farmers to use social media to obtain industry news and generate communication among other farmers and the public.

What a difference time and technology make. Today, it’s more and more common to see farmers joining the social-media world to connect with other farmers and to reach out to the public to educate them about agriculture.

According to the American Farm Bureau’s 2010 Young Farmers and Ranchers Survey, nearly 99 percent of farmers and ranchers between the ages of 18 to 35 have access to and use the Internet, and nearly three quarters of those surveyed have a Facebook page, while 10 percent use Twitter.


"Social media is a great way to connect and learn from others about ideas and practices that can improve farm operations," said Anne Mims-Adrian, Alabama Cooperative Extension System associate director of information. "Often, farmers connect with people they would have never been able to before. They’re able to educate people outside of agriculture and support the agriculture industry using these new online tools."

The Alabama Farmers Co-Op Cooperative Farming News states that there are many ways farmers benefit from using social media, including:

• Sharing information and ideas with other farmers and learning from other farmers, ranchers and associates of agriculture
• Providing quick, responsive networks and communities for farm use and important emerging issues
• Marketing farm and ranch products
• Connecting and interacting with consumers – creating conversations and relationships with them
• Allowing agriculturalists to share positive information
• Educating people who are not associated with agriculture
• Widening the scope of local farmers
  

So, what are some farmers and people in the agriculture industry using social-media to communicate about?

Michele Payn-Knoper, a community catalyst, agriculture advocate and food connector, is the creator of #AgChat, a thought-provoking weekly Twitter chat for people in the business of raising food, feed, fuel and fiber. During the chat, participants share their viewpoints about issues impacting agriculture, such as sustainability, antibiotics, agronomy, animal welfare, bio-energy and more. You can join the conversation every Tuesday from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. EST.

To help farmers stay up-to-date on the latest industry news and current trends Janice Person from Monsanto Company, put together a list of the “Top 10 Twitter Lists to Follow about Agriculture.”

• Row Crop Farmers – a list of individuals who have been listed as growing row crops
• Two lists of AgChat Foundation: Board of Directors and the Advisory Board – A group of people building an effort to empower more farmers to tell their individual stories
• Folks from ACFC10 – a list of people who are attending the first AgChat Foundation training conference
• Ag Media list – a list of working media and other communicators who tell agriculture stories for associations, companies or other organizations
• T-lists on Agriculture – an aggregator that uses data on all the lists about agriculture and then pulls a list of some of the folks they think are the most influential by virtue of having been listed multiple times and tweeting about the following: #AgChat, #Farm, Food, Farm, Farmers, #Ag, Corn, Farmer, Agriculture, #Food, Dairy, USDA, Beef, #ThankaFarmer or Meat
• Agvocate list – a list of agriculture advocates
• Ag Women – a list of women in agriculture
• Ag Bloggers – a list of people who are telling their stories through blogs
• Ag Media Summit – a list that was used to build familiarity around the attendees of the Ag Media Summit. (You can find many Twitter lists that have been created for specific events.)

Facebook has also become a popular social-media outlet for farmers and agriculture organizations. Many are using it as a marketing tool to help sell their produce or share industry news.

• Ohio Farmers Feed US – shares industry news about how farmers are caring for animals and the land, and giving back to the community
• Three Sisters Garden – shares information about their specialty vegetable farm for sale directly to restaurants in the Chicago area

As social media continues to become more and more popular, I will be curious to see if more farmers will use it and to what extent. In the meantime, what do you think about the use of social media in the agriculture industry? Do you find it to be a helpful medium or not?

Photo obtained from: www.penn-olson.com

Workshops to stimulate American Agriculture

A series of workshops throughout the coming months will feature discussions about competition and regulatory issues in agriculture.

These all-day forums, sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of Justice (DOJ), were first announced by Attorney General Eric Holder and Agriculture Sec. Tom Vilsack Aug. 5, 2009.

"In my travels across the country, I hear a consistent theme: producers are worried whether there is a future for them or their children in agriculture, and a viable market is an important factor in what that future looks like," said Vilsack. "These issues are difficult and complex, which is why this is so important and long overdue."

According to a USDA-issued news release, five workshops will promote dialogue among interested parties and foster learning with respect to the appropriate legal and economic analyses of these issues, as well as to listen to and learn from parties with experience in the agriculture sector.

Workshops involve farmers, ranchers, processors, consumer groups, agribusinesses, government officials and academics. This collection of stakeholders will create a forum for discussion and will ensure various industry perspectives.

Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock spoke about the scope of the workshops.

"Agriculture ranks as one of the top sectors of most state economies. And while the agricultural heritage of each of our states differs—sometimes dramatically—the concerns about market concentration, transparency and effective regulation cross geographical boundaries, and are shared concerns irrespective of the crops we produce and the animals we raise."

The first workshop, held March 21 in Ankeny, Iowa, focused on “issues of concern to farmers,” including seed technology, vertical integration, market transparency and buyer power.

Brownfield posted audio from the first workshop featuring its opening commentators.

All meetings are free and open to the public. There is time allotted for public testimony at the conclusion of the workshops.

Upcoming workshops:

• Poultry industry – May 2, in Normal, Ala. – Attention will be given to production contracts in the poultry industry, concentration and buyer power.
• Dairy industry: June 7, in Madison, Wis. – Specific areas of focus may include concentration, marketplace transparency and vertical integration in the dairy industry.
• Livestock industry: August 26, in Fort Collins, Colo. – Specific areas of focus will address beef, hog and other animal sectors and may include enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act and concentration.
• Margins: December 8, in Washington, D.C. – Discussions may be about discrepancies between the prices received by farmers and the prices paid by consumers; discussions from previous workshops will be incorporated into the analysis of agriculture markets nationally.
• Each workshop is designed to highlight the management issues facing a particular agriculture sector.

“According to many farmers and ranchers, the DOJ and USDA workshops are long overdue as an essential step to address concentration of ownership within agriculture,” stated the Kansas Rural Center.

Many in the industry consider the workshops the government’s renewed commitment to strengthening one of its premier industries, while others think that they are the first steps to moderating “Big Ag.” Holder noted that some farmers are “suffering from a lack of free and fair competition in the marketplace.”

Vilsack commented that insights gleaned from the workshops would be used in consideration of the 2012 Farm Bill. Lessons learned will be used to structure broad policies rather than develop a massive oversight system. Government officials were quick to note that potential anti-competitive practices are being studied and antitrust regulations will continually be further enforced.

“‘This is not just about farmers and ranchers,” Vilsack said. “It’s really about the survival of rural America.”

Is the format of the meetings conducive to change? Should other topics be addressed and discussed?

*Photo obtained from farmamerica.org










The Farmers’ Almanac, is it better than your local weather personality?

Since 1818, the Farmers’ Almanac, most famous for it’s uncanny ability to accurately predict the weather, has been assisting farmers with everything from the best days to plant and fish to natural remedies to cure a cold.

In a recent article by the Christian Science Monitor, Chris Gaylord compared Punxsutawney Phil to the Farmers’ Almanac. He mentioned that maybe Punxsutawney Phil is more like the Farmers' Almanac because it predicts temperature trends for an entire year. A survey by the Weather Underground shows varying reports on the annual guide – ranging from 50 to 80 percent accuracy. Better than a groundhog.

In the month of February, the United States (especially the Northeast) was dumped on by snow, snow and more snow, just like the Farmers’ Almanac predicted.

“For the Middle Atlantic and Northeast States, we are predicting a major snow storm in mid-February; possibly even blizzard conditions.”

Whitman, Mass. Highway Superintendent Roger Stolte, said “No one can predict – except maybe the Farmer’s Almanac – how much snow we’re going to get each year,” in a recent article discussing how costly snow removal has been for their town this year.

So will farmers have an easier spring? According to the almanac, “Spring showers will be abundant, and there is threat of an active tornado season.” With a rough winter, will farmers be able to get their crops in on time? When will they catch a break? The almanac is calling for “near-normal summer precipitation.” Which should give farmers the break they deserve.

How does the Farmer’s Almanac predict the weather so accurately? The editors base their calculations on numerous factors such as sunspots, moon phases and other astronomical conditions. But editors do admit, they are not perfect.

“Although many longtime Almanac followers claim that our forecasts are 80 percent to 85 percent accurate, it should be noted that weather forecasting still remains an inexact science. Therefore, our forecasts may sometimes be imperfect. If you are planning an outdoor event, we recommend that you also check forecasts from local sources.”

But the almanac predicts more than just the weather. It includes money-saving tips, recipes for homemade dishes and what days are best to take vacation.

The majority of editions of the publication include articles advocating for a change in some accepted social practices. Articles such as:

• “How Much Daylight Are We Really Saving” a recommendation for a revised Daylight Saving Time schedule (2007)
• “A Cure for Doctors’ Office Delays” an article demanding more prompt medical service and calling for a “Patients’ Bill of Rights” (1996)
• “Pennies Make No Sense” a story which sought to eliminate the penny, and to permanently replace the dollar bill with less costly-to-produce dollar coins (1989)

For 2010, the publication has included tips about how to save a buck with “Keep Frugal Living a Priority” and how to “go green” with “Dollars and Sense of Going Green.”

In 2007, Farmers’ Almanac took its readers online by re-launching its original 1997 Web site, FarmersAlmanac.com. This interactive Web site features videos, weather predictions, recipes and much more.

How often do you refer to the Farmers’ Almanac to help you with your planting and harvesting decisions? Do you feel that this publication is a useful tool?







Congress initiates first female ag chair

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) replaces Sen. Tom Harkin as our nation’s chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

Former Ag Chairman Harkin filled the vacant Health, Labor, Education and Pension Committee chair seat, left vacant after the passing of Sen. Ted Kennedy.

This is another first for Lincoln, who became the youngest female senator at age 38 in 1998.

Since 1825, the committee has been responsible for legislative oversight of all matters relating to the nation's agriculture industry, farming programs, forestry and logging, and legislation relating to nutrition and health.

Born and raised in Arkansas, Lincoln considers herself qualified both personally and professionally for the position. Lincoln is confident that her background as a farmer’s daughter and her service in Congress have prepared her for the role.

"The American farmer and rancher could not have a better friend in Washington than Senator Blanche Lincoln,” said Mark Williams, president, Southwest Council of Agribusiness.

Lincoln’s former committee involvement:

• Served on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry since January 1999; has served as chairwoman of the subcommittee on Rural Revitalization, Conservation, Forestry and Credit
• Served as chairwoman of the subcommittee on Production, Income Protection and Price Support
• Played a role in the 2008 farm bill debate
• Served as chair of Rural Outreach since 2005
• Founded bipartisan Senate Hunger Caucus in 2004
• Served on the House Committee on Agriculture from 1993-1995

Several high-profile individuals from a variety of industry segments have publicly declared their support of Lincoln, including American Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman:

"Senator Lincoln has represented the interests of agriculture and rural America since her election to the House of Representatives as a moderate Democrat in 1992 and her election to the Senate in 1998. She has deep ties to farming and hails from a seventh-generation Arkansas farm family. We know she will continue to be a strong voice for our industry and will continue as a consistent leader on key Farm Bureau issues such as those that relate to farm policy, the environment and estate-tax reform."

Progressive Farmer ag reporter Chris Clayton said, “Lincoln is also likely going to be more skeptical of climate legislation because it may offer little benefit for rice growers or producers of other southern crops. She was quoted in mid-August saying Congress should just focus on a renewable-energy bill and drop the cap-and-trade emissions plan.”

Some believe her strong sentiments will definitely affect policy, including journalist Phil Brasher of the Des Moines Register, “Lincoln is as vigorous a proponent for large farms and livestock interests (think Arkansas-based Tyson Foods) as there is in Congress. Pair her with the panel’s senior Republican, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, and you have a powerful one-two punch for the southern perspective on agricultural policy.”

Interestingly, Lincoln is up for re-election in 2010, causing others to consider her new position as a self-seeking political move. Will she prove herself as the authority on a number of significant issues? Only time will tell.

Do you think having a chairwoman will impact legislation? What, if any, influence will her home state have on her decision-making process? Should other congressional members have been considered?

Food Inc. – Stirring the Pot

“You’ll never look at dinner the same way again” is “Food Inc.’s” tagline, a documentary with strong thoughts about corporate farming and the mechanics of the U.S. food system.

Director Robert Kenner created an aggressive film to offer Americans a detailed peek into food production from farm to plate. “Food Inc.” tackles several controversial issues related to our society’s food industry and unsubtly encourages vegetarianism and large-scale commercial organic production.

The documentary faults a food system dedicated to efficiency by highlighting divisive topics.

“Corn has conquered our world,” the film declares, citing that 90 percent of grocery-store goods contain corn or soybean ingredients, or both. The film contends that subsidizing such commodity crops is making the U.S. overweight. Consumers pay less for foods created from these food bases, which are higher in fat and calories, than they do for healthier options that are more costly to produce, preserve and store for farmers and companies.

“Food Inc.” also targets Monsanto, an agriculture company that sells seeds and other agricultural products, as monopolizing the seed industry. The company has patented multiple seed varieties that are staples within the industry. Monsanto is portrayed as an evil bully forcing farmers to purchase its seed to remain in business. The company is accused of wrongfully suing those that save and replant its year-to-year contracted seed instead of buying a new supply as legally obligated.

Of course Kenner showcases graphic scenes of animals in slaughterhouses and images of animals that are seemingly suffering on farms to lecture on the animal-cruelty angle.

Reactions have been mixed. Film critic Elizabeth Oppriecht wrote, “Personally? I left ‘Food, Inc.’, went straight to lunch and had a big ole’ fried-chicken salad. Much more reliable research should be and needs to be done to support or refute many of the insinuations made by the film. There are many obvious holes in the information presented.”

Advocates of the film include restaurant chain Chipotle, which is advertising the film throughout its nationwide locations, as well as cooking gurus Martha Stewart and Alice Walters and other celebrities.

Monsanto counteracted the “one-sided, biased” film with a Web site dedicated to presenting facts about misinformation presented by movie producers at (http://www.monsanto.com/foodinc/), where consumers can also e-mail the company with their questions. The company refutes an allegation that it declined to be interviewed and says that it actually invited the film crew to a trade show of which they chose not to attend.

“‘Food Inc.’ is counter-productive to the serious dialogue surrounding the critical topic of our nation’s food supply,” states the company’s Web site.

The documentary ends with a call-to-action for consumers, inciting them to practice animal-rights and environmentally conscious food purchasing with the motive, “You can change the world with every bite.”

Agriculture provides millions of industry-related jobs to Americans and is responsible for feeding not only our nation, but foreign countries as well. Corporate farming is designed to produce a low-cost, convenient and abundant food supply in a way that organic farming cannot compete with.

Will “Food Inc.” jeopardize the success of meatpacking companies and commodity crops? Will the U.S. witness an influx of organic spending at the supermarket? Will the federal government attempt to modify food-production laws?

Technology in Agriculture

Long gone are the days of the horse-drawn plow and scythe. Farmers today are utilizing an array of modern technologies that have advanced the agricultural industry to an unanticipated state.

In 1830, 300 hours of manual labor were required to produce just five acres of wheat. Today, the same yield is produced in less than two hours (AgClassroom.org).

Agricultural progress is the direct result of the innovation of the farming industry as well as federal research and the implementation of federal policies.

Chemically enhanced fertilizers, genetically altered seed and disease-and-weather resistant crops are a few of the principal technologies that advanced the industry. Now, the focus is about equipment and comes in the form of satellite-information technologies that have revolutionized farming accuracy and precision.

Gossip-worthy gadgets:
• Autonomous tractors: Though still a concept for the future, more engineering companies are developing driverless tractors that will farm using computers and cameras. “Autonomous tractors — ones that operate without a human in the loop — are definitely what we’re all trying to do. It’s the next great frontier for the ag equipment market,” said Aaron Senneff, manager of hardware and systems engineering for John Deere. Selling points include saved time and opportunities for farmers with disabilities.
• Auto steering: A precursor to autonomous tractors, auto steering is the hands-free navigation of farm equipment using satellite technology, although a farmer is still needed in the hot seat to initially start the process. Auto steering greatly reduces overlapping. Other advantages can be viewed in this YouTube video.
• Fleet-management technology: Instead of using cell phones to call farm partners for status updates and whereabouts, more and more farmers are using software similar to what is used in the trucking industry to do their busywork. Not only do systems provide vehicle locations, but they can also monitor vehicle speeds and machinery information such as engine temperature and fluid levels. Some systems boast “immediate service response” capability similar to GM’s On Star.
• Internet in the cab: USB, WiFi adapters in tractor and combine cabs allow farmers to send e-mails, order parts and access market news and weather updates while simultaneously prepping, planting or harvesting. The cab literally becomes “an office on wheels.”
• On-the-go sensing: GPS sensors log information such as soil condition, depth of tillage, number of seeds planted and product application levels for heightened efficiency which, “greatly increases the capacity for measuring the variability that is inherent in all agricultural fields,” said Bruce Erikson, Purdue ag economist.
• Vision-based side dressing: A sensor-equipped computer evaluates crop growth and assesses fertilizer needs based on conclusions – removing the guessing game for producers.

Many agricultural groups have realized a significant cost benefit from implementing some of these new technologies.

Technology has shaped the direction of American farming development. Conventional machinery and methods are being replaced with computers, sensors and GPS tools to till, spray, plant and plow. Farmers and consumers alike can be grateful for innovations that are more cost effective and have potential to produce greater, more dependable yields with less crop damage and manual labor.

But, not everyone thinks modern agriculture is ideal. It comes with a price tag, causing financial problems for some smaller farming operations that struggle to compete in a burgeoning industry. Critics assert that devices are replacing people and ousting the nostalgic family farm tradition. Others bring up environmental concerns in regards to overproduction and misuse of land because of technology’s ability for mass returns.

What are your thoughts about technology’s impact on American agriculture? What technologies have you witnessed being utilized in your farm community? What would the ultimate farming technology be?

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and how it affects agriculture

On Feb. 17, President Barack Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, otherwise known as the economic stimulus package. The intent of the bill is to provide a stimulus to the U.S. economy in the wake of the economic downturn. The bill includes federal tax cuts, expansion of unemployment benefits and other social-welfare provisions and domestic spending in education, health care and infrastructure, including the energy sector.

This bill and Obama’s proposed budget for the upcoming year are causing agricultural associations to take notice. There are definitely mixed feelings among farmers and agricultural groups on the benefits and/or drawbacks of the two.

Obama is calling for the elimination of direct payments to large farming operations, reduced subsides for federal crop insurance programs, the elimination of storage payments on cotton and the phasing out of farm-program payments to growers with incomes of more than $500,000 over a three-year period.

“The president’s proposed limit penalizes the farms that are responsible for the majority of food, feed and fiber production in the U.S.,” said Jay Hardwick, National Cotton Council chairman, in a recent article in Southwest Farm Press. “According to the 2007 Census of Agriculture, farms with sales of $500,000 or more accounted for almost three-fourths of all agricultural products sold.”

The National Cotton Council (NCC) stated that Obama’s proposed program changes “fail to recognize the work recently completed by Congress on the Food, Conservation and Energy Act (FCEA) of 2008 [otherwise known as the Farm Bill].”

According to the Southwest Farm Press article, leaders of the National Cotton Council, the National Corn Growers Association and the American Soybean Association state that they would oppose any attempts to change the provisions they fought to include in the 2008 Farm Bill.

“We’re very concerned about that statement. We’re not sure if he was talking about huge corporate farms or other parts of our industry,” said National Corn Growers Association President Bob Dickey when asked about the president’s proposal.

The Farm Bill is a five-year agricultural policy bill. It continues America's long history of agricultural subsidy, as well as pursuing areas such as energy, conservation, nutrition and rural development.

On the other end of the spectrum, in an article in North Platte Telegraph, the American Farm Bureau and National Farmers Union are pleased with the stimulus package’s commitment to renewable energy and broadband service for rural America.

“The tax incentives for renewable energy, particularly for new renewable fuels, will help build an industry that will provide farmers and ranchers with income and the rural economy with jobs, while contributing to a cleaner environment and reduced dependence on imported oil, ” said Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation.

So what do you think of Obama’s stimulus package and proposed budget impact on agriculture?

The Graying Farmer: The Future of U.S. Agriculture

While we await the 2008 agricultural census results, the trends in some of the data are fairly predictable. A prominent feature of the 2002 statistics, the “graying” of the American farmer, continues to be a cause of concern for many.

In 2002, the census conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed that the average age of America’s estimated 2 million farmers was 55.3 years. With only 5.8 percent of farmers under the age of 35, some fear that the retirement of older farmers and a shift to large-scale operations will have a negative impact on the industry.

“There’s a real cause for concern,” said Chuck Hassebrook, executive director of the Center for Rural Affairs in Lyons, Neb. “We need a new generation of farmers to reinvigorate farming and our communities.”

Not all have a negative outlook, however. According to a new survey conducted by the American Farm Bureau Federation earlier this year, the next generation of farmers are ready to step up to the plate.

The study, which surveyed farmers and ranchers ages 18 to 35, found that the vast majority of young farmers (83 percent) are more optimistic about farming than they were five years earlier. In addition, 92 percent see themselves remaining in farming for the rest of their lives and 95 percent would like to see their children follow in their footsteps.

Young farmers are earth-savvy as well. Taking care of the environment, practicing conservation tillage and utilizing new technology were a priority of those surveyed. High levels of involvement in agricultural organizations like the Farm Bureau and Future Farmers of America is also encouraging.

The availability of land, overall profitability, urbanization, government regulations and the cost of health care were cited as the biggest challenges faced by young farmers. Though these are very real obstacles, many are finding ways to give these fresh faces a hand.

Some states now offer low-interest loans, tax breaks and mentorship programs for new farmers. Colleges and universities are also getting in on the act. The University of Oregon introduced its Small Farms Program to offer guidance and education for both young and old farmers across the state. Drawing a different demographic, the new organic and small farm niche has opened the doors for a new “hip” generation of farmers.

“Young farmers are an emerging social movement,” said Severine von Tscharner Fleming, who is making a documentary called “The Greenhorns” about the trend.

Do you think that this enthusiastic generation will prove to capable of handling the future of American agriculture? Will this organic movement, new technology and a “green” focus lead us to where we need to go? Let me know your thoughts.