World Food Day 2014 - #wfd2014

Today is World Food Day and the theme is Family Farmers: Feeding the World, Caring for the Earth. Well ain't that the truth?!

Did you know that worldwide, family farmers account for 500 million farms (97% of US farms and ranches are family owned and operated)?! That is a load of families investing their time, passion and energy into feeding the world and making sure that the land can sustain the next generation.

Some other cool nuggets of information about family farming around the world:

• Family owned farms are responsible for at least 56% of agriculture production worldwide
• Family farms are the main source of rice production - especially in Asia (although rice is grown here in the US in states like Texas, California and Arkansas).
• Family farmers in the US produce 84% of all produce.
• Farmers and ranchers work everyday, worldwide, to sustain the land and natural resources for the next generation.

You can read more about World Food Day efforts to feed the world and end world hunger by looking at this inforgraphic or visiting www.worldfooddayusa.org.

Photo courtesy FAO

How are you celebrating World Food Day? Are you taking a farm tour? Are you going to #toastafarmer when you drink milk at supper tonight?

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

The thoughts and opinions of this blog post strictly represent that of Brandi Buzzard Frobose and are NOT representative of any other entity or organization.

Wordless Wednesday: Sustainable Beef Production

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National Ag Day in Kansas

National Ag Day  - whoo hoo!  Across the U.S., thousands of farmers, ranchers, agriculture students and leaders are celebrating the rich heritage that is American Agriculture. Whether it be wearing a green farming t-shirt, handing out beef samples at the local grocery store or promoting agriculture via social media outlets, everyone in ag is doing their part today.

Which leads me to explaining how I'll be spending part of my National Ag Day. I'm very honored to have been invited to sit on a panel of producers, professionals and leaders for a Dialogue on Kansas Agriculture at the State Capitol in Topeka today - and boy am I nervous!

The other panelists:

Dr. Mike Apley, Kansas State University
Doug Hofbauer, President and CEO of Frontier Farm Credit
Bob Petersen, Executive Director of Kansas Agribusiness Council
Jay Garretson, Farmer
Diana Floyd, RD, LD, Kansas Department of Education Child Nutrition Consultant

I'm overwhelmed at the years of knowledge and industry experience that I will be surrounded by but it will very exciting to share ideas and thoughts with the other panelists as well as the audience.

We'll be answering questions regarding animal welfare (I hope I get one of those - that's my thing), food safety, education and technology, environmental stewardship and many other various ag topics.

You can get involved too! Greg Akagi, farm broadcaster for WIBW, will be the moderator and was fielding questions via Twitter yesterday to ask the panelists. It's probably not too late to get your question in - Greg's handle on Twitter is @GregAkagi.

I hope you'll listen/view the panel - it might hit some nerves, it might stir up emotion but it will definitely be promoting agriculture and be informative for all involved! The event will be live streamed on the Kansas Department of Agriculture website -- agriculture.ks.gov/ksagday

Today and everyday, I extremely thankful that I live in a country with an abundant, affordable and safe food supply produced by the best people I know - America's farmers and ranchers. Thank you!

How are you representing agriculture today? Share below! You can follow along in today's agriculture discussions by following #agday13 and #ksagday!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

I Don't Want to Live Without Meat in 2050

I just read an article on Yahoo! that said the world may be forced into vegetarianism by the year 2050, according to some scientists at the Stockholm International Water Institute in Sweden. Here is a link to the article -- http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/vegetarian-2050-190426669.html.

Hell no. I refuse to live in a society where there is no meat. I would starve. Literally. If I didn't die of energy depletion first. 

There's a few things I want to point out on this...

- Cattle spend about 75% of their life eating grass in pastures. In the Flint Hills, where I live, if there were no cattle grazing this land it wouldn't be used. Rolling hills with lots of rock aren't viable for crop production. So putting those acres into crop production isn't realistic.

- Another point that the author makes, who does a very poor job of presenting an unbiased story, is that we can't really produce more food. Wrong! We can produce more food - farmers and ranchers are becoming more productive every year and if legislators in D.C. would listen to producers who have real experience instead of listening to lobbyists, they would know that we can continue to improve our efficiency with science, technology and gasp! the help of GMO's.

- I'd really like to see the study that cites 70% of all water is for agriculture - I want to see how this data is presented. Notice that doesn't say 'animal agriculture' just agriculture in general. Furthermore, I don't know of a cause that is more important than food production that we should be funneling water towards - aside from drinking water. Maybe we should start reusing water from purification plants for water in our toilets, yard spouts, washing machines and dishwashers.

These are just my opinions - but I'd love to hear yours.

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Real quick addendum: Cutting meat completely out of production is NOT going to feed the people who are starving in other countries. The infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa needs to improve, for example. There could be 4 tons of food arrive to major societal hubs in food deprived countries but if there is no way for the food to be moved to rural, impoverished areas or if the local government uses food provisions as a way to control people, then all the food aid in the world won't help. There is more than just food production at the center of those issues - it's a web of underlying causes that need to be addressed to stop world hunger.

Earth Day is NOT Every Day!

It’s that time of the year again when we all resolve to recycle more, consume fewer non-renewables and to ride our bikes to work. Yes, it’s Earth Day and the media storm leading up to now has been full of “Every day is Earth Day for farmers and ranchers” messages on Twitter, Facebook and blogs. So why aren’t I writing a similar post? Because in fact, every day is NOT Earth Day. Tomorrow won’t be Earth Day, tomorrow is Saturday and I’m going to the zoo to see a koala and Sunday is Easter. Easter and Earth Day don’t share the same date, duh.

The fact of the matter is that every day isn’t Earth Day so why do we pretend that anything is different today? Farmers and ranchers practice environmental conservation every single day of the year so, ipso facto, today is nothing special (except for that it’s Good Friday, that’s very important). Just another day on the ranch (you see where this is going).

Take for example Tom Price, a 6^th generation hog farmer in Ohio. Ninety-nine percent of the manure from his farm is combined with yard trimmings, composted and then used for flower beds in neighboring communities. Located near a river, Price says, “We do everything in our power to keep it as clean as possible because that river is drinking water for people south of us. We have a great deal of responsibility to put clean water into that river so that those people drinking water get the cleanest water possible.” Price says that filter strips play a vital role in managing runoff by slowing down the water and filtering out contaminants. Click here to learn more about Price’s hog farm and compost facilities.

Cattle ranchers are working hard to maintain a steady supply of safe, wholesome beef for a growing world while preserving and reducing their impact on the environment. For example, according to research by Washington State University, from 1977 to 2007 beef producers have lowered the carbon footprint generated from producing 1 lb. of beef by 14%. And they’ve done it using 15% less water and 11% fewer fossil fuels. Two words: efficiency and technology. For more facts about beef and sustainability, you can check out BEEF Magazine's resource page.

Finally, EPA studies show that U.S. livestock production accounts for less than 2.4% of total GHG emissions. In fact, EPA Administrator, Lisa Jackson, on a recent farm tour in Iowa stated that “What I learned is that there is a lot of innovation going on. This innovation is aimed at making their business more efficient and has a benefit for air quality and water quality.” Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture also stated, “The farmers and ranchers we visited with today - and hundreds of thousands like them around the country - are our nation’s first and finest conservationists. They understand better than anyone that you cannot continually take from the land without giving back, and they have taken incredible strides to protect the land they rely on.” The nation’s leaders are sitting up and taking notice of the agriculture industry’s efforts at environmental sustainability.

So while you’re driving around this weekend to visit family during Easter (which makes me extremely jealous of you, btw) remember that Earth Day 2011 was nothing special or extraordinary – it was just another day on the farm for the hundreds of thousands of American farmers and ranchers.

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

PETA's Extreme Agenda

The most recent addition to PETA's crazy list is a Sin Tax on meat. That's right, a sin tax. If you don't believe me, read it for yourself.

PETA puts meat in the same category as alcohol, cigarettes and gasoline - because they allege that meat imposes “health and environment costs from using animals for food." Bologna, I say.

In this blog post, Chery Day, of Day Angus, corrects many of the misconceptions about production agriculture and meat. Cheryl does a great job of refuting PETA's outlandish claims with proven scientific facts.

I hope this PETA nonsense frustrates you as much as it does me.

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Heineman Speaks Out

I'm becoming a pretty big fan of Nebraska - not their football program but of their Governor, Dave Heineman, and his devotion to the preservation of the Cornhusker state's agriculture industry.

At the Governor's Ag Conference on Wednesday, Heineman discussed the need for 'common sense legislation from the Environmental Protection Agency" and again expressed his motivation to combat any action that the Humane Society of the United States may take in Nebraska. "The simple truth is that this is an organization that is anti-agriculture and they're out to destroy the number one industry in the state. We are going to fight them we are going to defeat them," said Heineman. I like this man. To see a video clip of the conference click here.

Other topics at the Ag Conference included international food demands and alternative fuel production.
Side note: I am thrilled to report that earlier this week the House of Representatives voted to block funding for EPA's greenhouse gas regulations in 2011. Yippee!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Earth Day in SEK

Hello blogging fans! I hope you all celebrated Earth Day by taking out the recycling and sharing how farmers practice environmentally friendly production methods every day. Recently, I attended the Master's of Beef Advocacy Commencement that took place on the KSU campus. Daren Williams, Exec. Director of Communications for NCBA, encouraged all participants to submit letters to the editor about how Earth Day is everyday for farmers. I sent my letter in to the newspaper in the closest town, Garnett (my hometown of Colony, KS, population 343, doesn't have a newspaper) and unfortunately it wasn't printed. However, I figured someone should read it so I've posted it below! Happy reading!

Dear Editor:


The 40th Anniversary of Earth Day is fast approaching and I decided to take it upon myself to compile a list of environmental practices I, and fellow agriculturalists, do to preserve our environment.

- Provide a habitat for Kansas’ wildlife in our green, grassy pastures

- Graze our cattle on grass for as long as possible to preserve and oxygenate topsoil

- Recycle the constant flow of Dr. Pepper cans that accumulate in the feed truck

- Efficiently raise beef on land that is otherwise not viable for crop production

- Convert some of the waste products created by my animals (cattle, horses) to make compost for my backyard vegetable garden
- Utilize the best management livestock production practices that have been passed down from generation to generation in order to allow us to do more with less
- Adopt new technology as it comes along to reduce our carbon footprint

This is far from the entirety of the environmental initiatives farmers exemplify. However, it’s the daily ‘go green’ practices that farmers, ranchers and agriculturalists exhibit everyday that will allow our children and grandchildren to enjoy the same blue skies and green grass in their childhood that we were so fortunate to experience.

I’ll leave you with this line from the old Alabama song Pass it on Down, “So let's leave some blue up above us; Let's leave some green on the ground; It's only ours to borrow, let's save some for tomorrow; Leave it and pass it on down.” Happy Earth Day!


Until next time,
~Buzzard~