March Against Monsanto. Remind me what you're mad about again?

The other day I was at our local farmers market and I overheard a conversation between the leaders of our buy local foods groups talking about the recent March Against Monsanto. Now after about 15 seconds of hearing what she was saying, lets just say my blood was boiling. But before I go on, let me clarify, I have no beef with people who choose to raise or consume organic, grass feed, antibiotic free, etc etc. types of food products, we need selection and choices for all types of consumers, but what I do have a problem with is people who choose to attack and create criticism off of false claims that hinder others from making educated decisions. My ultimate wish in life is that we would have a culture full of educated consumers who had the freedom to dictate their buying habits off of educated research, but because of ridiculous activist formations like "March Against Monsanto" I don't think that is happening anytime soon.

On Saturday May 25, thousands of people across the globe organized a March Against Monsanto. The group claims  that GMO foods are not sustainable and cause harm through causing cancer tumors, infertility, and birth defects. The group believes that chemicals produced by Monsanto are poisoning our environment and they strongly dislike government and FDA support and approval of GMO foods. This group also says they want to unveil the truth about GMOs, boycott Monsanto, and increase research on the harm caused by consuming GMO foods.

http://erinehnle.com/blog/

So after reading all their claims and missions, I still ask "So you're mad about what again?"

All of the things they are yelling and chanting about, science has conclusively refuted consistently over the past several decades that companies like Monsanto have been submitting these products for approval by the USDA and FDA. So even though these foods have been proven safe and healthy time and time again, people still find a reason to stand up and make a scene.

Since this group is so steaming mad about...well I'm still not sure what exactly, let me walk you through alittle thing I like to call "Farmer Logic".

My dad is a farmer, my uncles are farmers, my brothers are farmers, my friends are farmers, all of these people plant seeds that are GMOs. The leader of March Against Monsanto claims she was inspired to start the movement to protect her two daughters. She was quoted saying "I feel Monsanto threatens their generations health, fertility and longevity."

So "Ms. I'm Steaming Mad And I Don't Know Why", your daughters and myself consume the same GMO foods that my dad is raising and you are saying that he is causing me to be unhealthy, infertile, and live a short life? Well lets think about this, I'm pretty sure my dad loves me just as you do your daughters, so do you really think that he would raise crops that are going to kill me? You are not the only ones who consume these products that farmers are raising. Farmers and their families eat from the same table you do so do you honestly believe that farmers would produce foods that are unsafe for their own family? No, they would not, it's simple "Farmer Logic".

 ...that's what she said

I Don't Give a QUACK, Jack.

Disclaimer: The following blog post uses "fowl" language and extreme sarcasm, but if it pisses you off, I really don't give a QUACK!

DUCK DYNASTY, probably the best thing to happen to America in along time. So if you don't know who the Duck Dynasty guys are, let me first ask, what kind of rock have you been living under?

Well the other night, I was watching Jimmy Kimmel, and Jimmy said that Morrisey (I guess he is a singer of some sort), would not be his musical guest for the night. Morrisey is a vegan animal activist, and he was appalled by the fact that he would be on a show with the Duck Dynasty gang, calling them "serial animal killers" and he said it would ruin his reputation.  So Morrisey told Kimmel it was either him or the duck killers. Well SHOCKER, the boys with guns won!

But the gang felt somewhat bad about the whole situation and felt they could do a little better job with their vegan friends....

So, now for my sermon.  I understand that we all have different views about all aspects of life.  But here is a little tip, if someone doesn't have the same view as you, who gives a QUACK! Mr. Morrisey, I am happy for you that you find ALL animals so beautiful and purpose filled that you choose not to eat them, but I however, prefer to slap animals that were created for consumption between two pieces of bread with a little BBQ sauce.

I don't get why people feel that if someone doesn't agree with what they believe, they feel they have the right to sensor others into making the same choice as them. It doesn't work that way people.

So in closing, Mr. Morrisey, thank you for being passionate about what you believe, but shut the QUACK up and let these guys do what they do.  You don't see them throwing a hissy fit because they were going to be on  a show with a "serial vegetable murderer" do you? Now sit down, chill out, grab a hamburger (well for you Mr. Morrisey maybe just the bun), and watch this great show about a faith filled family who works hard and plays even harder!

...that's what she said

Thanks Boys!

Thanksgiving is the biggest food holiday of the year. The prescription is simple: Eat massive amounts of turkey; or hopefully beef, stuffing, mashed and sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and top it off with pumpkin pie. If, after the feast has concluded, you can muster up the energy, you drag yourself to the couch to watch football and enjoy another of the time-tested Thanksgiving traditions, the nap.

The Thanksgiving meal is a modern marvel of sorts. Your dinner table will be filled with a cornucopia of foods with growing locations as diverse as their flavors. Many of our cranberries will come from Wisconsin; Minnesota is the state that produces more turkeys than any other, your yummy yams may have came from North Carolina, the sweet potato leader, and there is a good chance your great tasting beef came from Nebraska. Thanksgiving Day dinner is a meal that illustrates how efficient and economical American farmers and ranchers are as well as the entire American agriculture system.

The statistics of Thanksgiving Day dinner can be mind-boggling: Americans will eat over 45 million turkeys this Thursday and over 80 million pounds of cranberries will be consumed. In virtually every corner of our nation, supermarkets will have all the ingredients necessary to make an impressive meal. While the numbers are staggering, it’s simply amazing that our nation’s food system can grow, process, and transport all that food to many locations around the country that can’t support their own agriculture.

With a growing disconnect between farms and consumers, more and more people have no idea where their food comes from. They simply expect grocery stores and restaurants to have what they want, when they want it and at a reasonable price. Thanks to modern American agriculture, they usually do, which is truly amazing when you think about the many facets involved.

Less than 2% of Americans spend their days growing, raising and sharing the nutrients that will soon be eaten by consumers around the world. This is definitely something to thank the people at the beginning of the food chain for, our American farmers and ranchers. 

Due to some great technology, thanking a farmer or rancher can be an easy task. Use social media to thank our producers and to spread the word and encourage others to thank them as well. Are you on Twitter? Then, send out a message with #ThankAFarmer hashtag in it. Or, share links to U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance or other farm organizations on your Facebook wall and encourage others to do the same.  Add a pin to Pinterest about your appreciation for agriculture.  There are thousands of ways to show our farmers and ranchers we care, so I ask you to take a few minutes to do just one.  

As the last of the leaves fall off the trees, Americans across our country will gather with family and friends to celebrate a holiday with roots as deep as our country is old: Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving causes us to reflect on the many blessings of the past year. Let us also remember to thank the American farmers and ranchers who labored to provide the wonderful bounty we are about to enjoy. 

So I would like to take this moment to thank the following: Dustin (the brother from the same mother), Lyle (brother of the doughnut provider), John (aka Schurman), Duane (that funny guy), Kenny (that old guy that lives in the tractor), Brad (the cousin), Lyle (somedays I like to call him Dad), Grandpa Fred ("hey, who's that short little guy", sorry inside joke), Mike (the doughnut provider), Brett (the other brother from the same mother).

Thanks boys! You fill my belly with yummy-ness, and I sure do appreciate it!

...that's what she said

The F Word

Big is celebrated in many ways because it often equates to success. But for some reason in today's world, big farming often gets a bad rap. I ponder this everyday, and especially when I get the opportunity to share with someone what my family does for a living.

Farming and the Nunnenkamp family goes together like peanut butter and jelly. I was never fortunate enough to know my great grandparents but they starting farming the American soil when they immigrated over to the U.S. My grandpa Fred is the oldest of 11 children and I am pretty positive he was born knowing how to farm. Except for a few years where he was overseas serving our great country in World War II, he has spent his life tilling the soil and turning seeds into success. Now 95 years later (he will be 95 in a few weeks, so Happy Early Birthday Grandpa!), he is still doing what he was born to do, FARM. Except now, he has his sons and grandsons by his side, and some days even his great grandson. We are a FAMILY FARM and darn proud of it.

So back to the "big is bad" idea. Big does not mean that a farm is not a family business. Our farm did not start big, it has grown over time.  The size of farm my grandpa had 50 years ago was not big enough to be run by my dad and uncle when they decided to join the operation. And the size of farm my grandpa, dad, and uncle had was not big enough to be run by 3 additional members, my cousin and two brothers as well. And I assume that a few years down the road when the next generation wants to join the farm, expansion will occur again.

In order for farmers to work together and farm as a family, operations have to evolve and grow.  Just because we are bigger than most does not mean that we do things different than any other farmer. We still have the same practices and take care of the environment.  We are stewards to the land and work hard to grow crops the best that we can. It literally breaks my heart when I hear someone say that big farms are, I cant believe I am about to say this F word, "Factory Farms". Yes, we have 450 head of cattle but we raise and care for them the same way as if we had 50 cows.  Yes we have 8,000 acres of crops, but we grow and care for them with the same passion as if we only had 1,000 acres. Just because one farm is bigger than the other doesn't mean one is bad and one is good. We need all kinds and types of farms to create diversity and feed our ever growing world. So it is not fair to label big farms as bad or "factory farms".

Smile boys!...or just open your mouth and stare awkwardly, either works.

Being a farmer is NOT an easy job.  There are no weekends off or paid holiday vacations.  The farm doesn't close at 5pm or open at 8am.  It is 24/7.  I was once told that farming is not a job, it is a lifestyle. And that is a fact. My family lives and breaths farming, and agriculture in general. And the best part is that we all breath it together.  Working alongside your family is one of the greatest blessings a person can have.  I am sure there are days when my dad thinks my brothers are idiots or that everybody else thinks that dad is being bossy ( its okay we all love each other :), but at the end of the day I am sure I can speak for them when I say that they wouldn't change it for anything.

So I guess to sum it all up, in the Nunnenkamp family, there are some F- words we like, some F-words I am sure get used when they shouldn't on the farm, and some F-words that definitely don't describe us. But at our farm, F stands for FAMILY.

...that's what she said

Ag Is Sexy...And You Know It!

Thanks to Dr. Ronnie Green, UNL IANR Vice Chancellor, we can all agree that AGRICULTURE IS SEXY. (Dr. Green has coined that phrase this past year) You are probably thinking how is ag sexy? Just watch these three brothers from Kansas show how sexy agriculture truly is!

I'm a "Corn Star"

So, for this weeks County Music Monday, I'm gonna ditch the life lessons and philosophical-ness which I usually try and convey to you all, and replace it with some, well I'm not quite sure yet.  I guess I'm winging this post tonight. haha

So this weeks song is CORN STAR by the one and only Craig Morgan.  I stumbled upon this song about two weeks ago and immediately fell in LOVE with it.  I honestly am a true sucker for funny songs with great innuendos. So thus I present you with.... CORN STAR.

So instead of me relating this song to life, I'm just gonna give you some great CORN facts.  Since my family makes a majority of its living fromcorn production, it only seems fit.
So here we go....  

1. U.S. farmers produce about 40 percent of the world's corn, using only 20 percent of the total area harvested in the world. 
2. One bushel of corn is 56 pounds. That means U.S. farmers produce an average of more than 9,000 pounds of corn per acre. 
   
3. If U.S. farmers used crop production practices from 1931 to produce an amount of corn equivalent to the 2008 crop, it would require 490 million acres—an area more than 120 million acres larger than the state of Alaska.
   
4. Individuals or families own 82 percent of corn farms. Another 6 percent are family-held corporations.
   
5. Less than 15 percent of U.S. corn acres are irrigated.
   
6. Farmers today produce 70 percent more corn per pound of fertilizer than as recently as the 1970s.
   
7. Corn farmers have reduced total fertilizer use by 10 percent since 1980.
   
8. According to the USDA, one acre of corn… removes about 8 tons of carbon dioxide from the air in a growing season…at 180 bushels per acre produces enough oxygen to supply a year’s needs for 131 people.
   
9. Corn production has marched steadily upward for decades while using fewer acres.
   
10. American farmers produced the five largest corn crops in history during the past five years. Even after supplying food-makers, ranchers, ethanol producers and grain exporters, America will again be able to save 10 percent of this year’s harvest for the future.
    
11. Farmers today grow five times as much corn as they did in the 1930s — on 20 percent less land. That is still 13 million acres, or 20,000 square miles, twice the size of Massachusetts.
    
12. The yield per acre has skyrocketed from 24 bushels in 1931 to 154 now, or a six-fold gain.

Now it is sad to say that many people in our world today are uneducated in the facts about farming and ranching in America.  It is not always their fault though, many people have never been exposed to truths about the agriculture industry, because today the average consumer is 3 generations removed from the farm. Because of this fact, most consumers get their thoughts and opinions from public figures, social media, and television, none of which most of the time are connected to production agriculture and report the facts.
 
So again I say, like I always do, it doesn't matter what your choices and opinions are when it comes to your food choices, but it does matter that you are making choices that are based on truth and facts from the people who produce your food.  The ones who work extremely hard to produce the safest and healthiest food for us as consumers to enjoy.

You as a consumer are not the only ones who eat the food that farmers and ranchers produce, they eat it as well.  So don't you think they would want to raise safe and healthy food? Farmers and Ranchers eat from the same table as the rest of us. 

...that's what she said 

Ashley