Monday’s USDA crop report says South Dakota’s corn crop is stuck in the mud:
Corn condition rated 2 percent very poor, 6 poor, 26 fair, 47 good, and
19 excellent. Corn dented was 84 percent, behind 100 last year and 97 for the five-year average. Mature was 29 percent, well behind 79 last year and 64 average [USDA–National Agricultural Statistics Service, “South Dakota Crop Progress,” 2019.09.30].
Many farmers might be better off feeding that slow corn to the cows, says SDSU Extension feedlot management specialist Warren Rusche:
With the short, wet growing season, producers stand to lose out on profit if their corn isn’t fit to harvest for grain. One way to salvage the crop is to chop it for silage and feed it cattle.
“This may be the only option we have,” Warren Rusche said [Jager Robinson, “Silage May Be Best Option for 2019 Corn,” Tri-State Neighbor, 2019.10.02].
The corn may not be ready for harvest in time to sell to Japan, so maybe we can just feed it all to the cattle for the beef Japan is promising to buy.
Japan’s promise to buy is hinged on the unhinged mind of Chubby. Chubby declared that he has until November 17 to make up his minds on if there is a deal or not. In the meantime, cattle prices are still low. The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) that President Obama put into place and would have been a much better deal for farmers and ranchers to keep them from suffering the effects of tariffs and the trade wars and bribes. Look for that to be reintroduced but under some different name as there are only three consonants in what the rest of our trading partners wanted.
1. You have to have cows to feed them the silage. 2. You have to have a lot to feed the cows in. 3. You have to have the lot close enough to the source of the silage that transportation costs aren’t too high. 4. However many cows can only eat so much. The balance goes to rot.
The thing is, the market value has dropped because the acres that did get planted had higher yields than expected part of Nebraska even did very well. And many farmers enter into contracts to smooth out their income not trying to beat the market, but not just accepting the posted rate when their crop is harvested. My understanding, pls correct and explain if I’m wrong, they will have to pay if they can’t bring in that crop. I’m also told it can be harvested after it freezes or in spring, yes drying is expensive, but they will be doing the math.
As a side note many knowledgable people have told me we’re not ready for hemp as Kristi has said, but it’s still not her place to tell business they must put everything on hold. The growers will figure out a way but not if their big sister puts her foot down.
https://www.sciencealert.com/here-s-the-real-truth-about-that-confusing-red-meat-study
Apparently there is very little evidence proving red meat is bad for you. Apparently there is very little evidence red meat is good for you.
Who the hell do you believe? I eat little red meat because of cost. Thanks to cattle compost (free and delivered to my garden) I have copious amounts of garden fresh taters, onions, tomatoes and, I’m guessing, slightly hot Anaheim peppers, which I won’t touch.
BTW landlord has already put up silage and he likes my garden, too.
I’m in contact with many Japanese chefs and many Japanese citizens. They won’t buy American beef. That’s because of the feed quality and CFO’s. They rightly believe USA food is inferior to 90% of the world’s food. Japan has strict country of origin regulations. GMO’s are outlawed as they are in any country that values it’s food. Travel the world and taste the food. Every top shelf steak house in America features Wagyu beef from Japan not Angus from Nebraska, anymore. It tastes better because of the pride farmers take in it’s production from seed to table. Hey, Monsanto. Look what you’ve done to rural America, just for your stockholders.
Farmers, dumber than a box of hammers. We get the presidency that farmers deserve…Sad. Life is funny like that though. Let the bribing continue. More alcohol to numb the dumb.
“Farmers are struggling with how to emotionally process their pain from the Trump administration’s policies, and anger at the USDA may be a coping mechanism, said Ted Matthews, a Minnesota psychologist who has spent 30 years counseling farmers and rural residents across the Midwest.
“The question I hear from farmers who voted for (Trump) is, ‘We believed him when he said he would help make the farm economy better, that we could save our farms. Now, who do we blame?’” Matthews said.
Many farmers told Reuters they intend to support Trump again in his re-election bid in 2020.”https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-farmers/many-u-s-farmers-fume-at-washington-not-trump-over-biofuel-trade-policies-idUSKCN1VV11U
No wonder why the young people leave this state of stupidity. I’m an old fart so I stick around because I can and because I don’t really expect much from the place so I’m never disappointed in what I see.
But it’s a bit more complicated than that Porter. Our Standard American Diet is poor, but that is customer driven. It’s cultural. Years ago I remember how horrified my German friends were over American fast food. Europeans do not have reactions to wheat, and yes the wheat they grow there is different but they also import and blend it. Nutritionists think the difference may be because they sit down for meals as an event and to relax. We gulp it down in the car bouncing around and the farmers didn’t have to buy Monsanto, but if that’s where the dollar signs pointed, that’s where they will go, so again I would say it’s driven by demand so it’s time to demand quality food. Many people have really begun to take a keen interest in how their bodies work, digestion, etc, and those people are willing to spend more. It’s why we see the success of Whole Foods, Trader Joes, etc that cater to a different market. It’s always about the money, if you’re willing to spend it to get what you want, etc. You can eat quality in the United States and get the best health care in the world, it’s just about the benjamins.
I have to disagree about the safety of GMO crops. There is just as much scientific consensus on this point as there is about climate change, and yet conspiracy theories sway opinions on both sides of the isle. We need to be consistent in our faith in science if we are to be taken seriously IMO. Same goes for vaccination safety.
Now, I’m no fan of spraying pesticides over every sqare inch of the rural countryside. But that has more to do with my belief in balance between natural systems and human systems.
If we simply had far more fallow CRP acres, and unfarmed public/private prairies and wetlands, then using GMOs, pesticides and fertilizers on prime farm ground wouldn’t be as big of an issue for me. Especially if effective native buffers were used more universally to protect our waterways.
Arguing against the safety of GMOs, while promoting climate science is inconsistent, IMHO.
I’m with you, HC. I worked very hard volunteering on the phone and internet to get just a GMO label on our food. Just a damn label so shoppers can choose. The movement was outspent probably a million to one. What Trump has done to food safety and quality will take a couple decades to repair. Not to mention the tariffs. What a selfish P-rik.
This is just getting bad for farmers , with the china trade deal at a stalemate, China may wait this trade deal out.,Trump will be to busy with impeachment hearings going on to worry about farmers.As land prices will go down beans, corns will go down to.Time for Mike and Thune to take a stand. Don’t count on Dusty to do anything either.
Gluten is gluten no matter if you’re in Europe or in the US. Celiac is prevalent in Ireland more so than any country in Europe. I think that if there were more testing done, we would see huge increases in the numbers of gluten sensitive people starting with babies.
“Celiac disease (gluten sensitive enteropathy) is a condition affecting the small bowel, characterized by permanent intolerance to dietary gluten, and giving rise to varying degrees of malabsorption and diarrhea. With the advent of sensitive screening tests, the condition is being increasingly diagnosed. Celiac disease is more common in the Irish and in those of Irish descent. Simoons (1978, 1981) hypothesized that the present-day prevalence of celiac disease across Europe is related to the interaction between genetic gradients, largely determined by the advance of agriculture, and historical patterns of cereal ingestion. This essay examines Simoons’ hypothesis as it relates to Ireland, reviews the ethnic and genetic mix of those living on the island of Ireland and aspects of Irish dietary history, and considers how these factors may have combined to result in a high frequency of celiac disease.”
Go into any supermarket in Europe and you will find several aisles that are vegan and gluten free. One thing is for sure in Europe, they don’t like American beef or chicken because of the growth hormones and being chlorinated, also GMO is a big deal there, so those crops are really not welcome. We here need to produce beef, chicken and cereal grains differently to utilize the markets to open them up.
The EU’s rules on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are so restrictive that it is virtually impossible to get an authorization for cultivating a GM crop within the EU—which means that only one GM crop has prior authorization in the EU..”
I doubt farmers can not deal with Monsanto on some level for all their farming needs.
John Deere equipment owners can’t get away from the big greene when it comes to maintenance of their equipment.
Nothing says devoted brand loyalty quite like a monopoly.
Ag Sec Perdue recently said he doubts small farmers will survive for the long haul. When he says “small” he means not corporate behemoths.
Corn can be harvested after the freeze when the combine can get through the fields. However, if it’s not dented no amount of drying is going to change that. In addition, if a heavy snow accompanies or precedes the hard freeze, farmers are still screwed. Likewise if the corn is standing in a couple feet of water.
Farmers and other tech owners are fighting with manufacturers for the “right to repair” their property. John Deere keeps info secret so that farm equipment must be repaired at the dealer. There are no Chiltons Manuals available.
The “Right to Repair” laws farmers are pressuring their state legislatures to pass, would require JD and others to make manuals available. Has SD passed such a law?
As for GMOs, if I recall rightly, “experts” told first responders the air at Ground Zero was safe to breathe.
Moses6, Drumpf worries about no one except his pastey orange arse.He’d throw “it” under the bus if he thought “it” could save the rest of himself.
Some farmers are not dumb as a box of hammers. Some farmers are pretty damn smart as noted.
“Kyle Schwarting is a farmer by trade, and a hacker by necessity. His farm, about 20 minutes outside the city limits of Lincoln, Nebraska, is full of tractors and agricultural equipment, which he picks up in various states of repair from fellow farmers, fixes up, and resells.
“I would say what I’m doing is hacking,” Schwarting tells me, gesturing to a Windows laptop and a USB-to-tractor cable he Frankensteined himself.” https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/kzp7ny/tractor-hacking-right-to-repair
What the hell? If Russia can hack our electoral system and laugh all the way to the bank, then why can’t local farmers hack the Deere?
Okay, so I’m gonna agree with Mike. We have to be skeptical of the “experts.” That includes science and any discipline like religion, government, medicine, what have you that has wanted to place its protective umbrella over us stupid little people. Nobody is above being scrutinized, and nobody is above falling in line with their peers and making huge mistakes it’s repeated itself over and over throughout history, so when TAG says fall in line, no thank you. My little brain is gonna make its own decisions thank you very much. John Deere is trying to prevent people from making their own repairs on their own equipment. These seed companies won’t let you grow their seed and use that seed to grow more crops. No, everybody has to think for themselves and decide what they put in their body and what they don’t. That decision is on each and every person.
Debbo – I have manuals for the JD equipment I operate for my uncle occasionally. They are available to down-load on-line for a fee.
The food in Ecuador – where I spend occasional time in Winter – is 90% 100% organic. There are no CAFOs. Only a few fields are done with tractors at all – let alone large tractors. It is an entirely different dietary experience. People in the US have not experienced the real taste of beef or pork or chicken for decades. The first time I went to the local butcher shop in Quito and bought a chunk of a beef loin, and cut it up as some steaks and such, I couldn’t figure out what was going on when I ate some. Sweet -literally sweet – and juicy vs US beef. Same with pork. AND, not “dieting” at all – I lost weight.
Richard, thanks for the feedback. Do the manuals you have cover the electronic components? What is included?
Debbo, I think our Legislature considered but rejected a right-to-repair bill a few years ago.
I’m thinking about Debbo’s comment on right-to-repair, Richard’s comment about the quality of all that non-CAFO meat in Ecuador, and Porter’s comment about the Japanese opinion of American mega-meat…
..and jumping to Anthony Bourdain’s visit to Puerto Rico, which we happened to watch on Netflix a few days ago. Free trade has actually been bad for Puerto Rico’s food economy, as their markets get flooded with cheap factory food from America and thus depress local production. We get hooked into big systems and Big Macs (and i”m the wrong guy to speak and make policy here, because I still treasure the occasional Big Mac break, due to childhood taste-bud conditioning which I’m disinclined to deprogram) and lose the local self-sufficiency that one would think South Dakota and Republicans would fight for.
We have a national agriculture system that pushes farmers to farm more land with bigger machinery that only their corporate overlords are allowed to fix and plant single commodity crops that have no local food value but merely become raw inputs in larger corporate manufacturing (mega-meat, ethanol…). We subsidize stuff that the farmers themselves can’t eat.
There’s just a lack of human and community sense to how we’ve organized modern agriculture.
There is a big difference between experts offering an opinion based on limited data (as in the ground zero example), and scientific consensus arrived at from literally thousands of independent studies over a span of many years.
I am not asking anyone to “fall in line” so don’t put words in my mouth, thank you very much. Feel free to be skeptical of any information you choose.
I’m just pointing out the hypocrisy of believing in scientific consensus on climate change, but not believing in the scientific consensus on the safety of GMOs (and vaccines, for that matter).
Logically if you believe in one, you should believe in the other, since they are both considered in the same standing from the perspective of researchers and experts. If you don’t believe in the safety of GMOs, fine. Don’t make fun of climate-deniers, though.
Again, I’m not pro-pesticide. Research has also shown that pesticide residues exist on many produce items, and I buy organic whenever I can afford it. Specifically fruits and veggies that have been mentioned in the “dirty dozen” list. To me that is a separate issue than the basic question of “are GMOs safe to consume?”.
Check your sources.
https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/insight/monsanto-manipulates-science-make-roundup-appear-safe
Monsanto paid officials to countermand claims that R-U was genotoxic. And, of course, this is the results wingnuts tend to run with in order to protect bigly corporations from having to pay for the damages they do to the public.
If Monsanto/Bayer tells me R-U is safe I would take that with a trainload of salt.
https://usrtk.org/the-fda-does-not-test-whether-gmos-are-safe/
The following is an excerpt from Chapter 2, “Seedy Business: What Big Food is hiding with its slick PR campaign on GMOs,” by Gary Ruskin, co-director of the public watchdog group US Right to Know.
In recent testimony before Congress, the FDA stated that it is “confident that the GE foods in the U.S. marketplace today are as safe as their conventional counterparts.”[1]
However, FDA does not itself test whether genetically engineered foods are safe. The FDA has repeatedly made this clear. As Jason Dietz, a policy analyst at FDA explains about genetically engineered food: “It’s the manufacturer’s responsibility to insure that the product is safe.”[2] Or, as FDA spokesperson Theresa Eisenman said, “it is the manufacturer’s responsibility to ensure that the [GMO] food products it offers for sale are safe…”[3]
Nor does the FDA require independent pre-market safety testing for genetically engineered food. As a matter of practice, the agrichemical companies submit their own studies to the FDA as part of a voluntary “consultation.” Moreover, the FDA does not require the companies to submit full and complete information about these studies. Rather, as the FDA has testified, “After the studies are completed, a summary of the data and information on the safety and nutritional assessment are provided to the FDA for review.”[4]
Just saying. And there is more.
Monsanto is secretly putting invisible 5G transmission genes in their GMO seeds. (just kidding)
All we ask is a label on GMO food so mother’s can choose what their kids eat. Monsanto spent millions to defeat the IM in Colorado. What are they hiding?
Like I said before, the main thing I am arguing is the safety of GMO foods. This has been well established by a super-majority of researchers, working independently. It has nothing to do with Corporate intentions. You have to decide if you believe the science, or if you believe conspiracies.
Yes Biotech and Big Food have deep pockets, but so does Big Oil, and yet they have only been able to buy off a very small but vocal group of “experts” while the vast majority of the climate research community disagree with climate denial.
Think tanks, OTOH, can and will be bought by special interests. Many are legitimate, but there are too many of them that are simply propaganda-for-hire machines.
Transparency in the food industry is absolutely a consumer’s rights issue, though. I’m for labeling. Of course the industry will attempt to outspend their opponents on labeling. That’s a given. Labeling GMOs will hurt their sales. It doesn’t mean GMOs are unsafe.
This is an interesting discussion. You can sum it up by stating that the only thing that matters in this country is that big business gets big profits! That is pretty much it. If you think that the health of the consumer is first in line I think you need to think on that some more. Throw in the fact that the food has to be cheap because if its cheap there is more room for all of big business and banking to take money out of your pockets in other way’s.
Wanted to also mention that when the fight began with the EU over GMO crops a group of farmers in the US offered to sell non GMO crops to the EU and our government stopped them. Don’t remember the exact detail’s though.
Also, the EPA had to make a special effort to come out on the side of Monsanto/Bayer just a couple weeks ago and announce that Roundup did not cause cancer. Kinda tells you who is in charge. Farmers are 6 times more likely to come down with Non Hodgkin Lymphoma than the general population. Wonder whats causing that?????
It does seem that every herbicide/insecticide that we were told in our youth were safe enough to swim in has now been banned or severely restricted.
Herbicides, like Agent Orange, are too profitable to ban, they are relabeled and shipped to third world countries to wreak havoc there.
I believe that GMOs are safe because I think there has been sufficient independent scientific research and consensus on the issue. In addition, I have two good friends who are retired scientists and usually ahead of the curve regarding what’s going on with corporate creeps. They say GMOs, as they currently exist, are safe. I guess if they’re wrong, I’m wrong and the 3 of us will go down together. Glub, glub.
I won’t now and have never said GMO’s aren’t safe. They should be labeled because they’re not pure. Remember when there were generic vegetables in the produce area at the market? Know where they went? Those less than pure veg are now mixed in with all the previously top grade veg. The generic were popular because they tasted the same. The only difference was appearance. This caused more regular veg to go unsold. As a chef, culinary research asserts that GMO food doesn’t taste as good. Were it labeled it would be less popular and become the future generic grade, with the same result … more overall spoilage of perishables. Lots of groceries are labeled non-GMO and they cost more. If every GMO item was labeled correctly, they would have to be discounted. Big ag is not going to lose a nickel to provide better choice; in America, anyway. Thus, millions are spent to deceive.
TAG – FYI – NO researchers operate completely “independently”. ALL of them are dependent on funding – from somewhere.
I wouldn’t say that GMO’s are harmful on their own but the agriculture that has evolved because of them is. Recent test’s found Round Up in all your Cheerios and your oat meal. There is NO reason to use Round Up on oats except that a recent farming practice has evolved to spray the field when its almost ready to harvest so that it will all be ready at the same time and any weeds will be dried up and easier to combine. Same practice is being used on wheat.
The patent on Round Up Ready #1 beans has now run out and we should be able to buy them and save our seed from them as was common before GMO’s. Monsanto made sure that there were no Round Up #1’s planted that anyone could save seed from when the patent expired. Sooo, we have one variety of them that are available to the public and they are not adapted to our growing region. Nor are they high yielding.
Land grant university’s always were in the business of plant breeding but they have seen their research money go away unless they were working for big agribusiness.
A friend mentioned that since weeds have become genetically modified on their own so that many of them are now resistant to Round Up, that he was thinking of growing non GMO beans again. Couldn’t find any viable competitive beans that would yield. So that is what we are up against. We really have NO choice for non GMO unless we are going to try to find a market for organically grown. We could then make up the loss of revenue from lower yielding beans. That market is limited pretty much to the folks making Tofu for human consumption I believe.
With organic beans you run the risk of contamination from GMO beans and that means your organic beans become the property of the impregnator all over again. We’ve seen this dance before and it was ugly the first time around.
You are right Mike. I’d forgotten about that fight.