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CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Iowa Agribusiness Network!
CLICK HERE for the latest market quotes from the Brownfield Ag News Network!
A study finds an early tool of genetic engineering in crops shows benefits beyond its original intent. So-called B-T seeds are engineered with genetics from soil bacteria that kill specific insects. Researchers now say B-T seeds provide additional environmental benefits. Steve Naranjo, with the U-S-D-A Agricultural Research Service, is one of the paper’s authors. Naranjo says, “Because we can now control certain major pest insects in the crop through this gene being expressed in the plant, that eliminates -largely- the need to spray insecticides to do the same job.”
Naranjo cautions that insects are adaptable and can develop resistance to even the best tools, so he suggests farmers use technology alongside crop rotation and other strategies. Iowa State University entomologist Erin Hodgson, who was not involved with the study, says B-T has been fairly successful in corn. “Eventually, over time, I think the insects will win,” Hodgson says. “So, in some cases like corn borer, it’s worked really well. In other cases like corn rootworm, it hasn’t held up as strongly.”
The review of hundreds of studies shows B-T seeds offer protection even to adjoining fields where the seeds haven’t been planted. Globally, B-T crops have been grown on more than one-billion acres.
(Thanks to Amy Mayer, Iowa Public Radio)
URBANDALE, Iowa (AP) — Is the “ugly produce'” trend already reaching the end of its shelf life in supermarkets? Walmart and Whole Foods in recent years tried selling some blemished fruits and vegetables at a discount, produce they said might otherwise be trashed because it’s not quite the right size, shape or color. But the two chains and others quietly ended their tests, suggesting dented apples and undersized potatoes may not be all that appealing in stores where better looking fruits and vegetables are on display. “Customers didn’t accept it as much as we had hoped,” said Mona Golub of Price Chopper, a grocery chain in the Northeast that also discontinued its offering of ugly produce.
Still, some stores and home delivery startups haven’t given up on the idea of selling less-than-perfect produce to reduce food waste and say they’re doing well. At a Hy-Vee store in Iowa, a recent display of “Misfits” produce included packs of apples, lemons and oranges that were either too big or small, or otherwise substandard in appearance. A sign explained that “6 million pounds of fresh produce goes unused each year,” though the packages didn’t specify why the produce might have otherwise been thrown away. “I like the cost savings and it is good to help and not throw so much away,” said shopper Brian Tice, who bought a pack of small oranges.
Another shopper, Jamie Shae, said she didn’t realize there was anything special about the fruit “I happened to see the bags of lemons,” said Shae, who was in a rush and grabbed two bags. Shopper Joan Hitzel, who was browsing other produce nearby, said she thought the Misfits were a good idea given the tons of food that gets thrown away, but didn’t plan to buy any that day. The supplier of the Misfits produce to supermarkets, Robinson Fresh, said about 300 grocery locations still sell the fruits and vegetables, including the Hy-Vee stores. Kroger also said it still plans to introduce its “Pickuliar Picks” this spring.
But among other regional chains that have stopped carrying ugly produce are Meijer in the Midwest, Hannaford based in Maine and Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle, which cited “inconsistent customer interest” for pulling the plug on its “Produce with Personality.” Walmart no longer offers the damaged “I’m Perfect” apples it introduced in Florida in 2016. The efforts channeled growing interest in reducing food waste. Government agencies say the best way to reduce waste is to stop producing too much food. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that 31 percent of the 430 billion pounds of the nation’s food supply goes uneaten. That does not include the fruits and vegetables that get tossed at the farm level, before foods reach stores.
For fruits and vegetables that don’t meet supermarket standards, some may get processed for products like juices and some go to food banks. Startups delivering ugly produce say there’s so much they’re not taking from food banks. Shopper preferences may not be the only challenge for ugly produce in supermarkets. “Retailers really prize their produce sections,” said Imperfect Produce CEO Ben Simon, whose company had partnered with Whole Foods on a test at the chain. Grocers might worry that cheaper produce will cannibalize sales of regular produce, or give off a bad image, he said. Delivery startups say they’re seeing interest in their services. But they are up against shoppers who inspect the fruits and vegetables they buy and those who worry about all the packaging.
“I’ve been food shopping online, and I started thinking about all the boxes, all that cardboard,” said Nyasha Wilson, a New York City resident who carefully selects apples for ripeness at a farmer’s market.
The companies say they might at least change shoppers’ views on discarded produce. Evan Lutz, CEO of the startup Hungry Harvest, said most of it is just too small or slightly discolored. “The vast majority that would go to waste isn’t really that ugly,” he said.
AMES, Iowa ― Iowa State University Extension and Outreach will host a MarketReady workshop for area producers in Atlantic next Tuesday, February 26. The training is designed to provide local food producers with the skills and knowledge needed to make sound decisions about diversifying operations into wholesale, retail, and institutional market outlets. The workshop will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Cass County Community Center, 805 West 10th St., Atlantic. Pre-registration is required for this event, and the registration deadline is this Friday, Feb. 22. Registration can be done by stopping in the Cass County Extension Office, visiting the website (below) or calling (712) 243-1132.
This training will focus on best marketing practices when dealing with these market outlets, including communications and relationship building, regulations, packaging and labeling, grading, pricing, logistics, and more. The workshop will wrap up with a buyer panel from 2-3 PM. The intent of this part of the program is for buyers to meet farmers and producers, and for both sides of the sales transaction to understand what the other needs in order to supply and buy local food.
Cost for the workshop is $20 per person or $35 per couple (or two employees from the same farm). The fee includes training materials, lunch, and refreshments. Pre-registration is required by 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22. To register, visit www.extension.iastate.edu/cass, stop by the Cass County Extension Office, or call (712) 243-1132 by 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22. For more information about the workshop, contact Emily Coll, program assistant with ISU Extension and Outreach Local Foods and Value Added Agriculture Programs, at ecoll@iastate.edu or (515) 296-0586.
(Radio Iowa) — Efforts to save the monarch butterfly in Iowa may be starting to pay off. A report from the World Wildlife Fund finds monarchs overwintering in Mexico covered about 15 acres of forest canopy, twice the previous year’s population and a level not seen in a decade. Steve Bradbury, a professor of natural resource ecology and management at Iowa State University, says it’s excellent news. “This past year’s survey information from Mexico was definitely encouraging,” Bradbury says. “Our goal, our nation’s goal and all of the work going on in states in the Midwest and Southern Plains, is to try to maintain that 15 acres as an average over the coming 10-to-20 years.”
While the population rebound is a big plus, Bradbury says consistent long-term gains rely on advancing conservation efforts that are critical to help monarchs survive and reproduce in Iowa and the Upper Midwest. “What we see this past year is certainly a signal,” Bradbury says. “Starting to get that habitat in the ground is good, but there was also just the most perfect weather conditions that helped make that happen.” In recent years, cities, farmers and individual Iowans have joined to create or to preserve habitat that’s vital to monarchs, including the cultivation of milkweed and nectar plant gardens. “Getting new habitat in the ground is picking up the pace,” he says, “and people being really careful about the habitat that’s already on the landscape and protecting it.”
The Iowa Monarch Conservation Strategy aims to maintain a yearly population of 225-million adult monarchs, or roughly that 15 acres of forest canopy. About 40-percent of all monarchs that overwinter in Mexico are estimated to come from Iowa and neighboring Midwestern states. Bradbury says expanding monarch habitat in Iowa will play a major role in the recovery of the species.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Working in grain bins can be deadly, so insurers want to remind farmers of the dangers. Nationwide insurance is helping sponsor a campaign to educate farmers about safety procedures they can use when working in grain bins. Farmers should wear proper safety gear when they enter grain bins and test the atmosphere for toxic gases.
Brad Liggett with Nationwide says the insurer is also working with other groups to train first responders and provide grain bin rescue tubes to fire departments. Since 2014, 77 fire departments in 24 states have received the rescue tubes that help protect someone stuck in the grain while responders work to rescue them.
(Radio Iowa) — A pilot program in its first year at Big Creek State Park near Des Moines is using black locust trees as a raw material for hand-crafting wooden log chairs. Iowa D-N-R park manager Chad Kelchen says the trees are considered an invasive species so it’s a bonus to be able to make use of them in a worthwhile fashion. “It’s not the furniture component I’m after,” Kelchen says. “I’m after the whole end user, that’s the ultimate goal. I’m tired of just piling the stuff and burning it. Somebody’s got to have a use for it.”
State law allows the public to harvest the black locust trees with a special permit. Kelchen says since the trees are invasive, this is a great way to repurpose them. “When you start talking furniture and stripping down these big trees, standing out in the timber, it’s hard to get an idea of what you’re looking at doing,” he says. “When I talked the first person into it, he talked his friends into it and they had a lot of fun. And that’s what this program is about, having fun, learning a little bit and getting something done.”
So far, two volunteer groups have participated in constructing three log chairs through 40 hours of in-kind service. The chairs will not be sold. Instead, they will be used at cabins at Springbrook State Park, in Guthrie County. Kelchen says it’s likely the program will be offered again next winter.
(Thanks to Pat Blank at Iowa Public Radio)
(Radio Iowa) — Thousands of Iowa F-F-A members will be celebrating National F-F-A Week, starting Saturday and all next week. Scott Johnson, executive director of the Iowa F-F-A Association, says these young people are tomorrow’s leaders of America’s number-one industry, agriculture. Drive Your Tractor to School Day remains one of the organization’s most popular events in Iowa — and one of the most visible. “I remember from my experiences teaching, it was always weather-pending,” Johnson says. “If FFA Week happened to be colder, Drive Your Tractor to School Day would almost always occur but sometimes it didn’t occur during FFA Week. You had to wait for it to be warmer for those old diesel engines to be able to fire up and survive a day in the open parking lot.”
F-F-A membership in Iowa hit an all-time high last year with more than 15-thousand-400 students wearing the familiar blue jackets. Johnson says membership has continued to grow over the past several years. “We’ve experienced about a 20% growth in membership,” Johnson says. “When I started in this position in 2012, we were right around 12,000 to 12,300. Now, we’re at 15,000.” The number of chapters statewide last year hit 242, which was also a record, one Johnson hopes to again surpass this year. The Iowa F-F-A Association provides leadership, personal growth and career success training through agricultural education, what he says is a growing field. “We see a few schools that are adding a second ag instructor,” Johnson says. “We continue to see schools adding new programs. We look forward to the opportunity to bring on-board a number of chapters for the 2019-2020 school year.”
The week gives members an opportunity to educate the public about agriculture through events including: service activities, appreciation breakfasts, dress-up days and Agricultural Olympics.
(on the web at IowaFFA.com)
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