2015 Ag Week Salute

8/9/2019 2015 Ag Week Salute

1/16

a special supplement to

THE DELPHOS HERALD

outlook on

AgricultureMarch 2015

• Honey Bees Boost Crops

• Gearing up for spring

• Canning & Preserving

• Agriculture in Ohio

• Creating growth

a special supplement toTHE DELPHOS HERALD

outlook on

AgricultureMarch 2015

• Buying locally

• Symposium on food waste• Challenges facing farmers

• Meat industry fights proposal


2/16

2 – The Herald Agricultural Tab March 2015

We Support Our Area Farmers!

650 West Ervin Road, Van Wert, OH 45891419.238.5902 | 866-LEEKINSTLE | LEEKINSTLE.COM

LEE KINSTLEGM SALES AND SERVICE

By Jacqui FatkaThe Farm Service Agency was born out

of the depths of the Great Depression and theNew Deal era of programs promising to re-vive the nation’s economy.

In 1935, a Department of Agricultureagency was born with familiar initials – FSA – which stood for the Farm Security Admin-istration. The agency relocated entire farmcommunities to areas in which, it was hoped,farming could be carried out more protably.

Resettlement was controversial and ex-pensive, so other roles such as providingcredit, farm and home management plan-

Uncle Sam’s farm office: How the Farm Service Agency was bornning, and technical supervision becamemore prominent. Another related programwas Debt Adjustment and Tenure Improve-ment. FSA county supervisors would workwith farmers and their debtors to try to arbi-

trate agreements and head off foreclosures.FSA also promoted co-ops and even pro-vided medical care to poor rural families.One study estimates that families who par-ticipated in FSA programs saw their incomesrise by 69% from 1937 to 1941.

In 1946, the Farmers Home Administra-tion Act consolidated the Farm Security Ad-ministration with the Emergency Crop and

Feed Loan Division of the Farm Credit Ad-ministration. This began the age of insuringloans made by other lenders.

The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933established the Agricultural Adjustment Ad-ministration to stabilize farm prices at a levelon which farmers could survive. The law es-tablished state and county groups farmerscalled “Triple A committees,” which over-saw the rst federal farm program offeringprice support loans to farmers to bring aboutcrop reduction.

Farm Service Agency is created In 1994, a USDA reorganization resulted

in the Consolidated Farm Service Agency,renamed Farm Service Agency in 1995. Thenew FSA encompassed the Agricultural Sta-bilization and Conservation Service, FederalCrop Insurance Corp. and the farm creditportion of the Farmers Home Administra-tion. In May 1996 FCIC became the RiskManagement Agency.

Today, FSA’s responsibilities are orga-nized into ve areas: farm programs, farmloans, commodity operations, management

and state operations.

Reprinted by permission. Farm Futuresmagazine. Copyright Penton Farm Prog-ress.

Mr. and Mrs. Frank Troutman (left) listen to advice from Harold Ash, Hickory PointTownship Community committeeman, as they prepare to sign up for 1942 Agricultural

Adjustment Act farm program in Macon County, Ill., in November 1941.

A farmer visits a U.S. Department of Agri-culture county agents ofce for informationand advice in Kent County, Md., in 1939.


3/16

March 2015 The Herald Agricultural Tab – 3

BY MARY CLARE JALONICKAssociated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the ever-complicated debateover labeling of genetically modied foods, Agriculture Sec-

retary Tom Vilsack offers this idea: Use your smartphone.Vilsack told members of Congress in February that con-

sumers could just use their phones to scan special bar codesor other symbols on food packages in the grocery store.All sorts of information could pop up, such as whether thefood’s ingredients include genetically modied organisms,or GMOs.

“Industry could solve that issue in a heartbeat,” Vilsacksaid during a House hearing on agriculture spending.

The Food and Drug Administration handles most food-package labeling, so Vilsack’s idea isn’t an ofcial proposal.But the Agriculture secretary suggested it could head offthe debate between the food industry and those who have

pushed for package labels that identify GMOs.He has mentioned the idea for bar codes before, but he

said it could have new life as Congress becomes more involved in the issue. A RepublicanHouse bill would block state efforts to require GMO package labels, legislation that wasintroduced just as Vermont became the rst state to require the labeling in 2014. That lawwill go into effect next year if it survives a legal challenge from the food industry.

Labeling advocates aren’t signing on to Vilsack’s idea. Scott Faber, head of the nationalJust Label It campaign, says most consumers don’t have the know-how to use their phonesto scan a bar code or so-called QR code, a commonly used scannable image.

“Consumers shouldn’t have to have a high-tech smartphone and a 10-gigabyte data planto know what’s in their food,” Faber said.

In response to those concerns, Vilsack has said in the past that there could also be in-storescanners, like those that check prices now.

Vilsack said some food companies have been receptive to the idea, though he didn’t

name any.There’s some indication that food companies are mulling

something similar. A spokesman for the Grocery Manufactur-ers Association, which represents the food industry, said thegroup is “actively discussing ways to further provide consum-

ers with this important information.”Jeff Beckman, a spokesman for The Hershey Co., said the

company is working on new ways it can make ingredient andnutrition information “more readily accessible through newtechnologies.” A spokeswoman for Nestle says that companyis also part of a larger food industry discussion on the topic.

The bar codes would likely be an industry, not government,effort. An FDA spokeswoman said Vilsack’s idea is “not cur-rently under discussion” at that agency. The FDA doesn’t re-quire labeling for genetically modied foods and says they aresafe.

Genetically modied seeds are engineered to have certaintraits, like resistance to herbicides or certain plant diseases.

The majority of the country’s corn and soybean crop is nowgenetically modied, with much of that going to animal feed.

Modied corn and soybeans are also made into popular processed food ingredients like cornoil, corn starch, high-fructose corn syrup and soybean oil.

Consumer advocates pushing for the labeling say shoppers have a right to know what isin their food, arguing that not enough is known about the effects of the technology. Theyhave supported several state efforts to require labeling, with the eventual goal of having afederal standard. The food industry has vigorously opposed the effort, saying labels wouldbe misleading because GMOs are safe.

Vilsack has been supportive of genetically modied crops, saying at the hearing that

there is “no question in my mind” that they are safe. But he has called for the two sides totry to come together.

“A bar code seems the best way of doing it without picking sides,” he said.

Smartphones could tell buyers what’s in food

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Nearly a third of the food produced throughout theworld is wasted. That startling fact is the focus of Wilming-ton College’s sixth annual Food Symposium April 8 underthe theme, “Waste Is a Terrible Thing to Waste.”

In contrast to previous years’ symposiums when a na-tionally known speaker presented a keynote address, thisyear’s event will offer more of a homegrown avor, as re-search by Wilmington College students will be highlightedas “a cornerstone” of the symposium.

“This year we’re pulling students into the food-wasteconversation in a more direct, hands-on way,” said CoreyCockerill, associate professor of communication arts andagriculture, and a member of the symposium organizingcommittee.

Agriculture professor Monte Anderson added that it’s“unbelievable” to those in agriculture — “We’re in thebusiness of feeding the world!” — that more than one infour calories produced ends up wasted.

Indeed, a recent report by the United Nations Environ-ment Program and World Resources Institute indicates thata third of all food produced worldwide — valued at about$1 trillion — gets lost or wasted in food production andconsumption systems.

The day’s schedule includes the Food Waste Fair, from10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., in Hermann Court; a Cookie Bake-off

Symposium to address food wastein Kelly Center, from 1 to 2 p.m.; and a panel discussion inKelly Center, from 2 to 3 p.m. on the topic, “Food WastePrevention: Opportunities and Threats.” Panelists will be an-nounced closer to the event.

The Food Waste Fair will feature student research proj-ects, free food sampling and 20-minute, on-stage demonstra-tions by: Monte and Diane Anderson on food dehydration asa preservation strategy, Mike and Sandra Millard on long-

term food storage methods, WC seniors Ellen Short andBri Knisely giving a food waste bio-digester demonstration,senior A.J. Ganger sharing compost toilet designs and SanFillipo produce’s methods for preventing food waste throughstrategic distribution.

Details on how to register for the Cookie Bake-Off areavailable by visiting: . This activity comes on the heels of extremelysuccessful pie and cake-making contests in 2013 and 2014,respectively.

The Food Symposium is an annual event hosted by Wilm-ington College that focuses on contemporary topics in foodproduction, distribution, consumption, ethics and politics. Itis free of charge.

Did you know?Biosolids are an organic amendment available to gar-

deners. According to the United States EnvironmentalProtection Agency, biosolids are carefully treated andmonitored residuals formed at sewage treatment facilities.They may be recycled into fertilizers to stimulate plantgrowth. Biosolids may help reduce the need for chemical

fertilizers. Biosolids can be safe to use, but homeownersshould be cautious about heavy metal content, pathogenlevels and salts. Rely on only Class A biosolids, whichhave been treated to reduce the bacterial content and areapproved for use in production agriculture. Home gar-deners may want to avoid biosolids in vegetable gardensbecause of the potential for heavy metal content seepinginto the produce.


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It starts first with the seed.

The popularity of organic foods and stores that cater to customers who prefer such

foods continues to grow, and that growth has contributed to a growing awareness amongshoppers of where the food they eat comes from. Many consumers now recognize the im-pact that food production has on the environment, and that recognition has spurred interestin locally grown foods. Locally grown foods are those that are grown within your community or a communitynearby. Such foods do not need to be shipped hundreds of miles before they ultimately findtheir way onto your plate, and many people find that contributes to meals that are morefresh than meals made up of foods shipped from afar. But freshness is not the only benefitto purchasing locally grown foods, which pay various dividends for people and the planet. • Locally grown foods benefit the environment. The phrase “field to plate” is significantto consumers who prefer locally grown foods. That phrase refers to the distance food travelsfrom the grower to the plate on your dinner table. Estimates vary depending on the source,but advocates of locally grown food suggest that it reduces the field to plate distance byan average of 1,300 miles. That’s a significant feather in locally grown foods’ cap, as theCouncil on the Environment of New York City notes that it takes 435 fossil-fuel calories tofly a single five calorie strawberry from California to New York. Buying locally preservesthat energy that is used to transport foods from afar. • Locally grown foods fuel your local economy. In addition to benefitting the environ-ment, locally grown foods stimulate your local economy. Local, independent farmers havelargely fallen by the wayside in the 21st century, as industrial agribusinesses have takenover the produce sections in grocery stores across the country. But local, independent farm-ers are making a comeback, thanks in large part to consumer demand for organic foods.Supporting such farmers who grow their foods locally means you’re putting money backinto your own community, a worthwhile effort at a time when so many small communitiesare struggling economically.

• Buying locally grown foods contributes to biodiversity. According to the United Na-

tions Food and Agriculture Organization, more

than 75 percent of agricultural genetic diversitywas lost in the 20th century. That’s thanks inlarge part to industrial agribusinesses that culti-vate fruits and vegetables that are bred for fastmaturation. But small, local farms typically growa wider variety of fruits and vegetables in an ef-fort to extend their growing seasons. That meansconsumers of locally grown foods have access tomore fruits and vegetables, and therefore moreflavor. • Buying locally maintains beautiful land-scapes. Farmland has been on the decline for de-cades, as cement and asphalt have made millionsof acres of once beautiful farmland disappear.Buying locally helps to maintain the green space your community and surrounding com-munities have left. That makes for great road trips and even helps to sustain local wildlifepopulations. • Locally grown foods can be more nutritious. Fruits and vegetables can rapidly lose nu-trients once they are harvested. That’s problematic when buying such foods from industrialagribusinesses that need substantial time to get their products from the farm to the shelvesat your local grocery chain. But buying from local farmers increases the likelihood that thefruits and vegetables you purchase were just picked and therefore have yet to lose a signifi-cant amount of nutrients. Locally grown foods are growing in popularity, and that popularity can be traced to thefreshness of such foods as well as the numerous additional benefits that locally grown foods

provide.

Buying locally Home grown foods pay dividends


6/16


Though farming was once big business inthe United States, by 2012 less than 1 per-cent of Americans were professional farm-ers. Many challenges face today’s farmers,many of which are largely unknown to thegeneral public.

Many people have an outdated view ofa farm as a small, family-owned and oper-ated parcel of land where l ivestock is raisedin open pens and crops are hand-harvestedwhen ripe. The reality is that modern-dayfarms have had to overhaul operations tomeet demand and remain competitivelypriced while adapting to the ever-changingways technology infiltrates all parts of life.Each of these factors present obstacles fortoday’s farmers.

TechnologyRural farming communities are expected

to make an effort to integrate modern tech-nology into an industry that has been aroundfor centuries. But such a transition in ruralareas, where communications systems maynot be as up-to-date as those in urban areas,

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is not always so easy.According to the Manitoba Rural Adapta-

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Decrease in farmingas an occupation

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Many farmers have come under scrutinyfor how farming impacts the environment.A growing emphasis on sustainability andconservation has led many people to protest

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the environment. Many farmers, however,have altered their methods to be more envi-

ronmentally friendly and self-sustainable inthe process.

Climate change is another environmentalissue farmers must deal with. Strong stormsand severe droughts have made farmingeven more challenging.

Financial fall-outThe ongoing recession of the last half-de-

cade has also affected farmers. In Novemberof 2012, the United States Bureau of LaborStatistics indicated that the unemploymentrate within the agriculture, forestry, fishing,

and hunting industries was at 13.6 percent,far higher than the national unemploymentrate. As a result, many farm families havefound themselves stuck between a rock and ahard place, as rising costs for equipment andtechnology are being coupled with decreas-ing profits and rising unemployment.

Further complicating matters is compe-tition from corporations and internationalfood producers who have made it difficultfor family farmers to turn a significant profit.Many family farmers rely on loans and lines

of credit to survive, but thanks to changes inthe financial sector that saw banks becomeless willing to extend lines of credit, somefarmers are facing bankruptcy.

Though it can be easy for those who do notwork in the agricultural industry to overlookthe struggles facing today’s agricultural pro-fessionals, a greater understanding of thosestruggles and the challenges that lay aheadcan benefit the industry and its employeesdown the road.


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INFLUENCE GAME:Meat industry fights new dietary proposal

MARY CLARE JALONICK

Associated Press An occasional look at howbehind-the-scenes influence

is wielded in Washington

WASHINGTON (AP) — The meat industryis seeing red.

Meat companies have tried to rehabilitate animage tarnished in recent years by health andenvironmental concerns. Now the industry isswiftly and aggressively working to discredit aproposal for new dietary guidelines that recom-mends people eat less red and processed meat.

The proposal last month by a governmentadvisory committee also relegates the healthbenefits of lean meat to a footnote to the mainrecommendations.

“We’ve been put in a position over the yearsto almost be apologizing for our product, we’renot going to do that anymore,” said Barry Car-penter, the president and CEO of the NorthAmerican Meat Institute.

The meat industry long has been one of themore powerful lobbies in Washington, enjoy-ing an especially close relationship with the Ag-riculture Department, which has inspectors inmeat processing plants.

ogether, the meat processing and livestockindustries spent about $7 million on lobbying

last year and donated more than $5 million tomembers o Congress in the last election cycle,according to the political money and influencetracking website OpenSecrets.org.

Meat industry executives say their push isabout the American perception o red meat,rather than just dollars, though the guidelinescan have an eventual impact on governmentpurchases or the military and school lunches.

Carpenter’s group recently released a videoof the slaughter process to counter criticismabout the way animals are killed. It also is try-ing to better engage with consumers throughsocial media, tweeting links to its “Meat Myth-crushers” site, which looks at nutrition and

other issues from the industry’s point of view.Now, they are pushing the departments oAgriculture and Health and Human Services,which will write final dietary guidelines byyear’s end. Tey are meeting with officials andasking them to do what they have done in thepast: prominently recommend lean meats aspart o a healthy diet. Tey also are asking theirmany, mostly Republican, allies in Congress topressure the Obama administration.

Congress appears ready to help.“Te secretaries share responsibility or

these flawed recommendations,” said HouseAgriculture Chairman Michael Conaway, R-

exas. Conaway was among the House mem-bers who wrote the departments last week

about the overall recommendations, includ-ing advice that people eat a more sustainable,plant-based diet because it is better or the en-

vironment.Agriculture Secretary om Vilsack has not

said what the final guidelines will look like. Buthe has pledged to keep them ocused on nutri-tion and diet, giving the meat industry somehope that perhaps at least the environmentalportion could be lef out.

A spending bill passed by Congress in De-cember asked him “to only include nutritionand dietary inormation, not extraneous ac-tors” in the guidelines.

Environmental groups are lobbying on the

issue, pushing the departments to keep thatlanguage. Meat executives counter their prod-uct is rich in nutrients and helps people getenough protein in their diets. Processed meatis ofen lean, they say.

Carpenter said he believes the report is en-couraging people to eat less lean meat. “Teact that they put it in as a ootnote really con-

vinces me that that’s true,” he said.Not true, say members o the advisory com-

mittee.“Tese patterns can be achieved without

eliminating any ood group,” said Barbara Mil-len, head o the advisory committee, reerring

to the diets the committee described.“I am really sorry that someone took offense

to a ootnote,” said Miriam Nelson, anothercommittee member. She said the guidelines area technical, scientific report and are written toshow a range o diets.

“Tis is not an attack on lean meat. It’s onthe amount and how we’re eating meats over-all,” Nelson said.

Other meat groups also are criticizing theguidelines.

“It appears the advisory committee wasmore interested in addressing what’s trendyamong oodies than providing science-basedadvice or the average American’s diet,” How-ard Hill, outgoing president o the NationalPork Producers Council, said last month. Te

National Cattlemen’s Bee Association and theNational Chicken Council also challenged thereport.

Tis is not the first time the red meat hascampaigned against dietary guidelines. In 1977,the first guidelines, issued by a Senate panel,said Americans should “reduce consumptiono meat and increase consumption o poultryand fish.”

Meat groups pushed back, and the Sen-ate panel heard them out. A revised versionincluded new language on meat: “Decreaseconsumption o animal at, and choose meats,

poultry and fish that will reduce saturated atintake.”

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Researchers have determined that precipitation and temperature variations over the past20 years have suppressed the U.S. average soybean yield gain — how much it improvesevery year — by around 30 percent, contributing to an industry loss of $11 billion nation-wide.

In Ohio alone, that soybean yield suppression is estimated to have cost some $2.9 bil-lion during the past 20 years, according to a new study co-authored by a field crops expert

in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State Uni-versity.Global annual temperatures have increased by 0.4 C (0.72 F) since 1980, with several

regions exhibiting even greater increases, said Laura Lindsey, a soybean and small grainsspecialist with Ohio State University Extension and a co-author of the study. OSU Exten-sion is the college’s outreach arm.

And for every 1 C (1.8 F) rise in temperature during the growing season, soybean yieldsfell by about 2.4 percent, the study found.

In Ohio, that translates into about a third of a bushel per acre per year yield loss, Lind-sey said.

“During the past 20 years, temperature and precipitation have been changing, and thatchange is associated with yield reductions and economic loss that is region-specific,” shesaid. “States including Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa and

North Dakota have experienced negative impacts on yield due to weather variables.“Missouri suffered the most negative impact with an estimated loss of $5 billion during

the past 20 years, while Ohio had the next highest loss, at $2.9 billion.”The study, which appears in the February 2015 journal Nature Plants, was co-authored

by James E. Specht, researcher with the University of Nebraska; and Spyridon Mourtzinis,Francisco J. Arriaga and Shawn P. Conley, all researchers with the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The study is based on data gleaned from 12 states, including data from Ohio State re-searchers’ Ohio Soybean Performance Trials, which document temperatures, changes in

cultural practices, soybean varieties and technology in soybean production from 1970 to thepresent, Lindsey said.The U.S. is one of the world’s largest soybean exporters, with some 80 percent of its

soybeans being grown in the upper Midwest. Since most of that production is not irrigated,soybean production in the region is highly affected by weather conditions during the grow-ing season, according to the study.

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It’s The Bees Knees A hive of bees ies over 55,000 miles to bringyou one pound of honey. A honey bee can y 15

miles per hour. Honey bees must tap two million owers tomake one pound of honey. Each worker honey beemakes 1/12th teaspoon of honey in its lifetime. Honey bees visit 50-100 owers during onehoney collecting trip. Bees have been producing honey from ower-ing plants for at least 10 million years! And maybeeven as long as 20 million ayears! Flowers and other blossoming plants have nec-tarines that produce sugary nectar. Worker beessuck up the nectar and water and store it in a spe-cial honey stomach. When the stomach is full thebee returns to the hive and puts the nectar in an

empty honeycomb. Natural chemicals from thebee’s head glands and the evaporation of the waterfrom the nectar change the nectar into honey. In one day a honey bee can y 12 miles and pol-linate up to 10,000 owers. Honeybee workers must visit 2 million owersto make one pound of honey.

Fabulous Forests An acre of trees can remove about 13 tons ofdust and gases every year from the surroundingenvironment. Almost a third of the world’s total land area iscovered by forests. Some tissue-making machines can produce as

many as 6000 feet of toilet tissue every minute outof trees. About 1.5 million tons of ground cocoa beansfrom the tropical tree are used each year to makechocolate and cocoa products. That’s greater thanthe weight of more than 300,000 elephants! Every year in the United States each personuses the equivalent of one tree, 100 feet tall and 16inches in diameter, to fulll their wood and paperneeds. Thirty to 40 gallons of sugar maple sap mustbe boiled down to make just one gallon of maplesyrup. Many farmers grow more than just grains, vege-

table and livestock. Some farmers grow trees. Thisis called a woodlot. A woodlot is not an originalforest, because the timber has been cut down be-fore. Sometimes the trees in a woodlot have beencut down four, ve, ore even six times. After thetrees have been cut down, the farmer lets themgrow up again, until they are big enough to be har-vested once more.

Udderly Amazing In a year’s time a dairy cow produces 1,500gallons or 6,000 quarts of milk. A Jersey cow willgive as much as 3 to 4 gallons or around 16 quartsof milk each day. Dairy cows provide us with milk and milk by-

products like cheese, butter, and ice cream. Inaddition, milk is also used to manufacture glue,paint, and plastics. Straight from the cow, the temperature of cow’smilk is about 97 degrees Fahrenheit. The average U.S. dairy cow produces 22.5 quartsof milk each day. That’s about 16,000 glasses ofmilk per year – enough for about 40 people. Onecow can give 200,000 glasses of milk in a lifetime. It takes approximately 1.4 gallons of milk tomake 1 gallon of ice cream.

A cow has 4 stomachs. They are: the rumen,where the food is rst stored, the reticulum wherefood that has been more thoroughly chewed is

stored once the cow has chewed the cud and hasswallowed it; the omasum where extra water issqueezed out, and nally the food goes to the ab -omasum. Some of the digested food is then storedin the cow’s udder where it is made into milk. Cows are ruminants or cud-chewing animalseating hay, corn, soybeans, grass, wheat, and en-silage. Each cow eats 20 to 25 pounds of grain,40 to 60 pounds of ensilage, 30 pounds of hay anddrinks about 15 to 25 gallons of water a day. Cows are sedentary animals spending up to 8hours a day chewing the cud while standing stillor lying down to rest after grazing. When goingto be milked, a certain cow in an established herdalways leads the others with the weaker and oldercattle trailing behind the group. A typical, full grown Holstein cow weighs about1,400 pounds and produces 60 pounds of milk perday. One day’s production is 2.6 pounds of butter or7 gallons of milk or 6 pounds of cheese. A dairy cow consumes 35 gallons of water, 20pounds of grain and concentrated feed and 35pounds of hay or silage (a mixture of corn andgrass) in just one day. It usually takes about 20 minutes for a cow to bemilked. On average a cow is milked 2 to 3 timesa day. Hamburger meat from a single steer will make

about 720 quarter pound hamburger patties. That’senough for a family of 4 to enjoy hamburgers eachday for nearly 6 months.

New Ways to Help the Planet Farmers and ranchers provide food and habitatfor 75% of the nations wildlife. Plant and animal biotechnology have resultedin new antibodies for immunizations. Agriculturehas also contributed to research that has helped de-velop surgical techniques and pharmaceuticals thathelp save lives. Ethanol and new bio-diesel fuels made fromcorn, soybeans and other grains are benecial tothe environment and helps contribute to energy in-dependence for the U.S.

Agriculture is Part of Your Life Products we use in our everyday lives comefrom plant and animal byproducts produced byAmerica’s farmers and ranchers: - Health care:Pharmaceuticals, surgical sutures, ointments, latexgloves, x-ray lm, gelatin for capsules and heartvalves. Construction: Lumber, paints, brushes, tar paper,dry wall and tool handles. Transportation: Fuel, lubricants, antifreeze, tiresand upholstery. Manufacturing: Adhesives, solvents and deter-

gents. Printing: Paper, ink and lm. Personal Care Products: Shampoo, cosmetics,lotions, nger nail polish and toothpaste. Educa-tion: Crayons, textbooks, chalk, desks, pencils andpaper. Sports: Uniforms, baseball bats, leather equip-ment and shoes.

5 Servings of Fruits & Vegetables A Day Onions contain a mild antibiotic that ghts in-fections, soothes burns, tames bee stings and re-

lieves the itch of athletes foot. Archeologists have found evidence that humanshave enjoyed eating apples since 6500 B.C. Each

of us eats more than 19 pounds of apples annually. Grapes are one of the oldest cultivated fruits.They have been around for more than 8,000 years. Americans eat about 125 pounds of potatoesa year, about half from fresh potatoes and half inprocessed foods.

Don’t Be Sheepish There are 914 different breeds of sheep in theworld. There are 35 breeds in the U.S. Wool is a natural ber grown from sheep. The steps to making some of your favorite clothes: Sheep are sheared in the spring, their wool isremoved in one piece called a eece. Next, the eece is washed in big tubs to removedirt, grease and grass, this process is called scour-ing. The clean, dry wool is then carded. Cardingmeans to comb the wool to straighten the bers. The next process is called spinning. This is whenthe wool will be spun into yarn. Finally, the yarn is knitted or woven into fabric.

Snack Time It takes a combine 9 seconds to harvest enoughwheat to make 70 loaves of bread. Americans consume 1.12 billion pounds of pop-corn a year. Soybean oil is the most widely used edible oil

in the United States; you can nd it in mayonnaise,salad dressing, process cheese products, dessertfrostings and much more. Peanuts are not actually nuts. Peanuts, like soy-beans, are members of the legume family. There are 340 million M&M’s produced daily.

You May Find this “Corny” One bushel of corn will sweeten more than 400cans of pop. There are about 600 kernels on each ear of corn. Farmers grow corn on every continent exceptAntarctica. Each tassel on a corn plant releases as many as5 million grains of pollen.

America’s Bread Basket Each American consumers, on average, 53pounds of bread per year. Assuming a sandwich was eaten for breakfast,lunch and dinner, it would take 168 days to eatthe amount of bread produced from one bushel ofwheat. A family of four could live for 10 years off thebread produced by one acre of wheat. One bushel of wheat will produce 73 one-poundloaves of bread.

Piggy, Piggy

Pigs can’t sweat. Pigs have no sweat glands, thatis why they roll around in mud to cool off. Heart valves from hogs are used to replace dam-aged or diseased human heart valves. A pig can run a 7-minute mile. A baby pig, or piglet, weighs about 3 1/2 poundsat birth and will double its weight in just 7 days.

We Depend on Each Other Farmers use computers designed and built in cit-ies to track market information, maintain balance

spreadsheets, and monitor weather satellites. The environment and everyone in it benetsfrom research on biodegradable plant products that

break down easily in landlls. Agriculture land provides food and habitat for75% of the nation’s wildlife. Deer, moose, fowland other species have shown signicant popula-tion increases in the past several years. Genetic engineering with plants and animalshas resulted in new antibodies for immunizations.Other research has developed surgical techniquesand pharmaceuticals from agriculture that helpsave lives. Ethanol and new bio-diesel fuels made fromcorn and other grains are benecial to the environ-ment and promote energy security.

Soybeans Soy crayons have been created to replace toxicpetroleum-wax crayons, soy crayons are sager touse, brighter in color, and less expensive to pro-duce. One acre (43,560 square feet) of soybeans canproduce 82,368 crayons. Soybean oil is the most widely used vegetableoil. It is found in margarine’s, salad dressings,canned foods, sauces, bakery goods, and processedfried foods.

Crazy about Cotton U.S. textile mills presently convert over half otthe cotton they use into clothing.

The majority of cotton is used for men’s andboys’ clothing, with jeans, underwear, and shirtstopping the list. If all of the cotton produced annually in the U.S.were used to make one product, such as blue jeans,it would make 5 Billion pair. One bale of cotton can produce 1,217 men’s t-shirts or 313,600 one-hundred dollar ($100) bills. Cotton’s home uses range from bedspreads towindow shades. It is by far the dominant ber intowels and washcloths. Cotton is also popular insheets and pillowcases. Industrial products containing cotton includewall coverings, book bindings, and zipper tapes.The biggest cotton users in the this category aremanufacturers of medical supplies, industrialthread, and tarpaulins. Cotton is a food crop. Almost 200 million gal-lons of cottonseed oil are used in food productssuch as margarine and salad dressing. Cottonseedand cottonseed meal are used in feed for livestockand poultry. And even products such as toothpaste,ice cream, and the paper money used to buy themcontain by-products of the cotton seed.

The Food We Eat In 1996, each American consumed an averageof 77 pounds more of commercially grown vegeta-bles than in 1970, 63 pounds more grain products,

54 pounds more fruits, 32 pounds more poultry, 10gallons more milk lower in fat than whole milk,20.5 pounds less red meat, 73 fewer eggs, and 17gallons less whole milk. More than 96 billion pounds of edible “surplus”food is thrown away in the U.S. Each year. It isestimated that almost 27% of our food supply iswasted. Americans are eating about 14 pounds of turkeya piece each year, more than double the rate 20years ago.

Fun Facts: Flora, Fauna and Food for Thought


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Documents

2015 Ag Week Salute