March 26, 2014
2014 Look at
A supplement to the
C2 ✦ Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Forest City Summit & Britt News Tribune ✦ 2014 Look at Agriculture
Farmer uses, Iowa State’s, USDA’s Annie’s Project day-to-day in the farm business or contributing through other roles on or off the farm, Annie’s AMES — Nicole Jonas operates Red Granite Farm Project fosters decisionmaking skills. The mission with her young family of Annie’s Project is to in Boone. empower farm women to “We have 2.5 acres be better business partners of produce, 150 laying through networks and by hens, and 200 varieties managing and organizing of perennials all locally critical information. grown which we sell at Annie’s Project, an the North Grand Farmagricultural business risk ers Market in Ames, on management education our farm on Fridays or through special events we program for women, has successfully reached hold through the year,” Jonas said in an Iowa State more than 8,000 farmers and ranchers in 30 Extension news release. states. Annie’s Project As self-described owner, laborer and “chief teaches women to better of everything”, Jonas runs manage financial, human resources, legal, marketthe business with help from her husband, who is ing and production risks a horticultural researcher. on the farm. “The best part for me On occasion they hire a was the jump start on the few college students to business plan. I always help out. Jonas likes the meant to write one, but size the business is now. never started on it,” Jonas She and her husband strive to produce about all said. “In other classes in the past we were strongly they can on the land they encouraged to write one, have while maximizing but never forced,” she the best use of her time added with a laugh. Before without needing much taking Annie’s Project outside help. she felt like her business That’s where Annie’s Project comes in. Whether was really just a sideline business. “Taking Annie’s farm women are working From Iowa State University Extension
Project helped me get things lined up, focused, and turned around. It made me realize things I needed to be doing or be doing better on Red Granite Farm and helped me focus on it as a real business.” Jonas knows the importance of continuing to add value to her farm business. Red Granite Farm has planned five special event weekends this year on the last weekends of April, May and June and the first weekends of September and October. During these weekends she has perennials for sale. The Homeshed, a vintage home décor and gardening store run by Katie Olthoff (also an Annie’s Project graduate), is open on these weekends, as well. The shared marketing and customers helps them both. In addition, throughout the year Jonas hosts garden walks, a potting party right before Mother’s Day, and garden club visits. She also finds that giving library talks provides good and free advertisement for her business. Annie’s Project educators also understand the
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business planning. • Human resource management, communication styles, and farm family insurance needs. • Legal issues, estate laws, property title, and employee requirements. • Marketing plans, access to market information, and direct marketing methods. • Production tools, farmland leasing, USDA programs and niche production protocols. • “By bringing local professionals into the classroom, women considering or involved in adding value to their on-farm production will develop new networks and be able to utilize new resources to grow their businesses,” said Margaret Smith, Annie’s Project educator and ISU Extension Value Added Agriculture Program Specialist. Besides presentations, there will be in-class activities and discussions based on participant questions, as well as follow-up activities to complete at home.
Those interested in the Value Added Agriculture Annie’s Project course can find more information and register online at www.aep.iastate.edu/ annie, or contact Lani McKinney at the Value Added Agriculture office at 515-294-9483, or lanim@iastate.edu. “The Value Added Agriculture Annie’s Project course I took was especially nice because of its focus on small niche farms. It wasn’t just focused on corn, soybeans, pigs and cows. The other people taking the class were in the same situation I was so we could share with each other,” says Jonas. The course is part of the Women, Food and Agriculture Network “Harvesting Our Potential” program. Funding is provided by the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA, Grant # 201249400-19573.
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necessity of growing and diversifying small, niche, beginning and value added agricultural businesses. “With the growth and emphasis on local foods, more people are interested in pursuing this segment of agricultural production,” said Marsha Laux, Annie’s Project state coordinator and program coordinator with Iowa State University Extension’s Value Added Agriculture Program. “This requires careful planning and using the right tools and strategies.” Now another central Iowa value added agriculture course is coming to Ames this March. This special value added agriculture Annie’s Project course takes place in four, six-hour sessions. Course curriculum covers five areas of agricultural risk: financial, human resources, legal, marketing and production. Women will learn more about: • Financial ratios, balance sheets, budgeting, enterprise analysis and
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2014 Look at Agriculture âœŚ Forest City Summit & Britt News Tribune
Wednesday, March 26, 2014 âœŚ C3
Northey shares ag census numbers American market favors more white meat of the chicken while European markets favor dark meat FOREST CITY - The numand other chicken portions, bers are impressive for he said. Iowa in terms of agriculChickens are sold in ture production. Iowa Secretary of Agri- portions rather than as a culture Bill Northey shared whole bird, Northey said. Pork and beef are also some of those figures dursold in portions, rather ing a recent presentation than a whole animal so at the Forest City Rotary Club’s Agriculture Appre- international markets get the portions they want, ciation luncheon. Northey said. “Only three countries “Ten years ago, China in the world produce more was not a (big) importer of corn than Iowa,� Northey soybeans,� Northey said. said. Those countries are the U.S., China and Brazil, “Now, it’s the no. 1 buyer of soybeans. It buys 60 he said. percent of the soybeans.� Iowa is also now “The no. 2 buyer buys second in total ag sales, behind only California, Northey said. The 2012 Census of Agriculture shows that Iowa passed Texas for second place, Northey said. The value of all Iowa ag products was $30.8 million, an increase of about 51 percent from the last census in 2007. Iowa is pumping the total increase in U.S. ag sales which has steadily grown since 2002. In 2002, the total sales of ag products as $12 billion. That increased to $20 billion in 2007 and was $30 billion in 2012, Northey said. “That’s an amazing increase,� Northey said. Northey said an increased demand for products, including ethanol and the ability to produce more are two reasons for the increase in ag sales. Northey said the international market is critical to Iowa and the U.S. ag sales. Countries buy Iowa pork, soybeans and other products. Northey used a chicken as an example of how agri culture has adapted to the international market. The Rae Yost
2014 Look at Agriculture‌
about 10 percent,� he said. In many ways, the U.S. soybean market hinges on China, Northey said. China continues to grow its livestock industry and much of the soybeans it buys is used in soybean meal fed to livestock. Its main livestock is pork, he said. “There are 450 million hogs in China at any one time,� Northey said. “There are 60 to 65 million hogs at any one time in the U.S.,� Northey said. Iowa produces about 20.6 million of those U.S. hogs. “We are the no. 1 pork producer in the U.S.,� Northey said. There are six
hogs for every person in Iowa, he said. Countries that use a lot of pork, such as South Korea, will buy pork from Iowa, Northey said. The state also produces about 3.8 million cattle a year along with about 8.2 million turkeys, 13.8 billion eggs and 250,000 sheep, according to the 2012 Census of Agriculture. “About 25 to 30 percent of the state’s economy is connected to agriculture,� Northey said. “We have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, and Rae Yost, 2014 Look at Agriculture part of that is due to agriIowa Secretary of Ag Bill Northey speaks in Forest City. culture,� Northey said.
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C4 ✦ Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Forest City Summit & Britt News Tribune ✦ 2014 Look at Agriculture
EPA proposal could harm ethanol’s economic impact, Northey says John Urbanchuk’s of AVF Economics released a study on ethanol and The Environmental renewable fuels Protection Agenhe shared at cy’s proposal to the 8th Annual lower the number Iowa Renewable of fuel gallons to Fuels Summit in be produced by late January. renewable fuels Urbanchuck such as ethanol estimated Iowa’s is worrisome, renewable fuels Iowa Secretary of Northey industry accounted Agriculture Bill Northey recently said at an for nearly $5.6 billion in 2013. The biofuel industry event in Forest City. also generated about $4.1 “Oil companies don’t billion in household income want (more) gallons of in the state and supports ethanol replacing gasomore than 62,000 jobs in line,” Northey said. the state economy. Northey said officials Northey said if the EPA from various ethanol-producing states have met with adjusts its proposal and renewable gallons are not EPA director Gina McCarthy and said the EPA missed lowered or not lowered as the mark on the production much, the damage will not be as great. requirement decrease. Some damage has Iowa has 41 ethanol plants that produce about already been done by the 3.8 billion gallons of etha- EPA proposal, even if it has not yet been finalized, nol a year. Northey said. Cellulosic “We use about 1.4 bilfuel plants are suffering lion gallons here in Iowa,” Northey said. “If we can fig- because “they can’t yet ure out how not to mix gas in, compete on price,” he said. “Who is going to buy and we wouldn’t have to use any who is going to build a plant oil. We’d be the only state in the union that could do that.” if they know the EPA can Iowa produces about 30 snap its fingers and change its mind (on renewable percent of all the ethanol standards),” Northey said. made in the U.S. Rae Yost
2014 Look at Agriculture
On Christmas trees There are about 15,000 Christmas tree growers in the U.S., and over 100,000 people employed full or part time in the industry.
While oil companies don’t want more renewable fuels used in the market, the ethanol industry is not that large a threat to them, Northey said.
“We are small compared to the oil fields in Nigeria,” Northey said. Yet, the issue is still worth billions to the agriculture industry, Northey said.
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ethanol helps all crop prices, he said.
Some material for this story was from the Ethanol Producer magazine’s website.
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2014 Look at Agriculture ✦ Forest City Summit & Britt News Tribune
Wednesday, March 26, 2014 ✦ C5
Perfect
A box of tomatoes is ready to be shipped from the Perfect Circle Corporation.
circle
Sam Jefson, Forest City Summit
Business provides organic tomatoes to consumers Sam Jefson
2014 Look at Agriculture
LAKE MILLS - This is not your average Iowa tomato garden. Perfect Circle Corporation in rural Lake Mills differs from normal by producing organic tomatoes all year. “There are only two other facilities in North America that grow tomatoes year-round,” said facility manager Mark Hommez. “It’s pretty unusual.” The one-acre facility broke ground in May 2009
and started seeding that November. Today it houses 12,000, 100 percent organic certified tomato plants. Plants are grown in compost and organized in rows like corn and soybeans in the greenhouse. How is it efficient to heat a one-acre greenhouse during the winter? The answer can be found in the location of the facility which is across the road from a Waste Management landfill. “That’s why we are sitting where we are,” said Hommez. “What makes this possible is the landfill.”
Anaerobic microbes break down garbage at the landfill. The microbes put off methane gas that travels across the street to a building where it is converted to power for energy. Methane is converted to electricity by six, 16-cylinder engines turning large turbines. Perfect Circle creates heat by using excess water from the large engines. “It is no different than the engine in your car,” Hommez said. “They need to be cooled.”
CARPET-ON-THE-COB: Better for the Environment
Water runs through the engines and is re-routed to Perfect Circle through a heat exchanger to heat the greenhouse during cold winter months. Heat from the engines produces more than enough warmth to keep the greenhouse at 76 degrees during the day and 62 degrees at night. “Just like humans, plants need sleep too,”
Hommez said of why the temperature is reduced at night. It takes 13 to 14 weeks for a plant to complete the growing cycle. Once ripened, they are picked, packaged and placed in coolers until it’s time to ship out. “The whole idea is to market the product to stores within a couple hundred mile radius,”
Hommez said. “The typical vegetable travels 1,500 miles from where it’s grown to where it’s sold.” The strategy allows the Perfect Circle Corporation to reduce its carbon footprint and focus on freshness and taste. “We can pick tomatoes with color to them,” Hommez said. “This avoids artificial ripening.” Tomatoes produced at the facility primarily end up in the Minneapolis area. But local grocery stores like Bill’s Family Foods in Forest City and Garner, the Britt Food Center and some area restaurants carry the tomatoes as well. Doug Richards, store manager at the Britt Food Center picks up Perfect Circle tomatoes for his store once a week. “Nothing in the market replicates the taste of a Perfect Circle tomato,” said Richards. “It’s worth so much more because it doesn’t come from Florida, California or Texas. This way the produce is See Tomatoes, C6
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C6 ✦ Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Forest City Summit & Britt News Tribune ✦ 2014 Look at Agriculture
Iowa Beef Center wants surveys from producers From the ISU Iowa Beef Center
AMES - Iowa feedlot operators may soon be receiving a survey in the mail from Iowa Beef Center. As part of its ongoing commitment to providing accurate and timely information to the state’s 2014 Look at Agriculture beef industry, IBC is now asking the feedlot segment Cattle graze in a pasture in Hancock County. for opinions on a variety of topics, according to director Dan Loy. “Growth opportunities and challenges exist in cattle production, and we want to identify both of those so we can assist in profitable, sustainable growth of the industry,” he said. “To do so, we need help from Iowa feedlot operators and that’s why we developed this survey.” Participation is entirely voluntary and all responses will be kept in strict confidence, Loy said. Individuals who will analyze the responses will not have access to any identification of survey participants. “We place a high value on the input of producers because their first-hand knowledge and need for information will drive future research, education, and extension and outreach programming from IBC,” he said. “This in turn will assist us in meeting future needs of Iowa beef producers as well.” The survey was mailed Feb. 25, so producers in the selected group should have received the mailing. A postage-paid envelope is included for convenience, and Loy said anyone with questions is welcome to call him at 515-294-1058.
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Tomatoes: Customers comment about freshness From C5 picked the day before and hits the shelf right away.” The freshness is something Richards himself enjoys.
“I eat one a day,” he said. “It’s perfect to have on a salad.” Hearing those type of compliments are rewarding for Hommez and
the eight employees at the facility. “People really seem to enjoy having a local product as an option,” Hommez said.
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2014 Look at Agriculture ✦ Forest City Summit & Britt News Tribune
Wednesday, March 26, 2014 ✦ C7
Pork producers need to check insurance on suffocation coverage water vapor in the air, someone says that they he explained. didn’t get the alarm. “Latent heat is the This provides a better CARROLL — Many dew-point temperature, pork producers carry suf- paper trail.” Brumm said producers and that’s what will get focation insurance for you into trouble.” cannot rely on the hightheir hog buildings, said When power goes out, temperature alarm. Power Mike Brumm, president Brumm said there is a of Brumm Swine Consul- to the controller may go cascade of events, beginout, he added, but there tancy in Mankato, Minn., ning with a rapid rise in air may still be power to the only to find out the hard temperature. building site. way their coverage was “As air temperature Curtains can malinadequate. Before the rises, the ability to lose function as well. Brumm check is written for the heat to the air decreases, premium, Brumm advised advised to check them at and heat loss becomes least four times a year. producers to make sure latent heat. “You want to verify they understand what they “Latent heat increases those drop releases, and are buying. when you do, you want to humidity in the air, and “You need to communicate with your insurance write it down and date and within an hour, no heat loss is possible due to the sign it,” he says. “This is agent on the meaning required for many suffoca- latent heat. Death occurs of suffocation,” Brumm because of organ failure told producers here at the tion policies.” caused by the heat. The same process recent Iowa Pork ProducBrumm said pigs in the should be followed with er’s Association regional later stages of finishing are auto-start generators, pork conference. putting out 800 BTUs per Brumm added. “Pigs do not suffocate hour, per pig. Override systems are in the buildings, they die With large pigs, a designed to operate the from heat. We’ve had response must occur ventilation system if a cases of producers sufwithin a half-hour, he controller does not work. fering heavy losses only But, Brumm said produc- noted. With nursery to discover they were pigs, that response times ers are still dealing with not insured.” stretches out to an hour. He recommended pro- electricity. Producers also must “I would recommend ducers acquire something pay attention when pumpthat you label each therin writing saying they mostat. You don’t want to ing pits, Brumm said. are covered for pig death Because of the make a mistake.” losses, especially losses increased feeding of dry Finishing pigs put out due to suffocation. distillers, he said sulfur a tremendous amount of Some policies exclude levels in the feed are contract growers, Brumm heat, Brumm said. higher, resulting in even There are two kinds said. Contract growers more of a risk in hydrogen of heat: sensible heat, need to work with the owner of the pigs to make which is dry and measured sulfide spikes. “Avoid rooster tailing sure insurance coverage is with a thermometer; and and splashing when you latent heat, where heat adequate, he said. are agitating the pits,” is involved in holding Disposal and cleanup expenses need to be included in the insurance policy, he added. Buildings are required to have emergency alarm systems, and Brumm said many insurance companies are requirBritt 641-843-3813 ing some type of voice Leland 641-567-3321 alarm system. “With this, a person Thompson 641-584-2271 will start calling people on the calling tree when the Rake 641-566-3351 alarm goes off. “Too many times Jeff DeYoung
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Brumm advised. “Avoid agitating above the surface, uncover only one port at a time, and cover the port with a tarp.”
Producers must ensure fresh air is available to pigs and humans at all times, he added. Once the pits have been
pumped, all covers need to be secured and ventilation rates should be increased for at least one to two hours after pumping.
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C8 ✦ Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Forest City Summit & Britt News Tribune ✦ 2014 Look at Agriculture
Soybean farmers decreasing environmental footprint From the National Soybean Association
March 25 was National Agriculture Day, a day to celebrate American farmers for their commitment to the land they farm and the people who use the food, feed, fuel and fiber they produce. In recent years, U.S. soybean farmers have grown more efficient in growing their crops, increasing yields while decreasing the size of their environmental footprint. “U.S. soybean farmers aren’t just raising a crop for economic gain,” says Nancy Kavazanjian, a checkoff farmer-leader from Beaver Dam, Wis. “Like all American farmers, we care so much for our land and we’re in it for the long term. So many of us have inherited our land and want to pass it down to our children. Everything we do is centered on making the land better.” More than 95 percent of U.S. soybean farmers participate in farm programs administered by the U.S. Department of
2014 Look at Agriculture
A farmer combines soybeans during the 2013 harvest. Agriculture. And through the use of sustainablefarming practices, U.S. soybean farmers have decreased energy use and greenhouse-gas emissions by more than 45 percent since 1980, and increased irrigation efficiency by more than 40 percent since 1980. Thanks in part to American farmers, the United States enjoys the
most abundant, affordable and safe food supply in the world. And many countries beyond U.S. borders enjoy the bounty of U.S. soybean farmers’ annual crop, as
Consumer Information well. Both domestically Act, the USDA Agriculand internationally, the tural Marketing Service food industry uses the majority of U.S. soybean oil to bake and fry food. And animal agriculture accounts for 97 percent of U.S. soybean meal consumption, using it in feed for the chickens, swine, fish and other animals that contribute to our food supply. The 70 farmerdirectors of USB oversee the investments of the soy checkoff to maximize profit opportunities for all U.S. soybean farmers. These volunteers invest and leverage checkoff funds to increase the value of U.S. soy meal and oil, to ensure U.S. soybean farmers and their customers have the freedom and infrastructure to operate, and to meet the needs of U.S. soy’s customers. As stipulated in the federal Soybean Promotion, Research and
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