Happy Independence Day Weekend

This farming family, the Butlers, it seems, have found that singing in their empty silo gives them fantastic acoustics and effects. I and a lot of people agree.



Happy Independence Day. Enjoy your holiday weekend.

Entertainment Overnight --Katy Parody

They did it again:

Quote of the day -- on Monsanto and their GMOs

Lest anyone should think it's from some Left Wing, progressive, corporate-hating person with too many opinions, check out the source for the quote, too:

Quote of the day--on fairness and morality in America

And plenty of us concur.

KCUR. Frank Morris and all our snow get big exposure

From and on NPR today:

Drought-Stricken Farmers 'Giddy' Over Heavy Snow

The snowstorms create some inconveniences for farmers, but they also bring much-needed water

by Frank Morris

Link: http://www.npr.org/2013/03/04/173241623/drought-stricken-plains-farmers-giddy-over-heavy-snow

Very cool Harvesters news today from Richard Petty and Farmland Foods

FARMLAND FOODS ANNOUNCES $50,000 DONATION TO HARVESTERS AS RESULT OF SUMMER “BACON A DIFFERENCE” CAMPAIGN

Above, from left, Mike Brown, President and Chief Operating Officer; Farmland Foods, Dan Weaver, Harvesters Board Member; George Richter, President and Chief Operating Officer; Smithfield Foods Pork Group; Richard Petty, NASCAR driver and member of NASCAR Hall of Fame. Courtesy: Protential LLC

Partnership provides more than 250,000 meals for Kansas Citians and raises awareness of hunger issues in Farmland’s hometown

Kansas City, MO (October 18, 2012)—Farmland Foods and Richard Petty today presented $50,000 to Harvesters—The Community Food Network as a result of a summer-long campaign to raise awareness about hunger in the Kansas City area. During the “Bacon A Difference” campaign, which ran from Memorial Day through Labor Day, Farmland donated 4.3 cents to Harvesters for each bacon package purchased at participating grocery stores in Kansas City.

In addition, today Farmland Foods donated more than 5,000 packages of signature Hickory Smoked, Thick Sliced Hickory Smoked, Lower Sodium/Less Fat, and Re-sealable Applewood Bacon, helping to ensure families, children and seniors across the region have access to much-needed protein.

“On behalf of Farmland, I’d like to offer my heartfelt thanks to all of Kansas City for their exceptional support of our ‘Bacon a Difference’ campaign this summer,” said Mike Brown, President and Chief Operating Officer of Farmland. “It is through your generosity that Farmland is able to provide a staggering 254,000 meals to families, children and seniors in need in our hometown this fall.”

Beyond today’s donation, Farmland also is raising awareness of Harvesters’ mission by featuring the organization on the legendary No. 43 Ford at the Sprint Cup Series Race at the Kansas Speedway this weekend. If the No. 43 Ford wins Sunday’s race, Farmland has pledged to double the donation to Harvesters for a total donation of $100,000.

“Through Farmland’s partnership with Richard Petty Motorsports, we are taking advantage of this unique opportunity to spread the word about hunger relief efforts to a broad audience,” said George Richter, President and Chief Operating Officer of Smithfield Foods Pork Group.

“We are excited to kick off race weekend with Farmland’s generous donation to Harvesters. Our team is proud that Farmland and Harvesters will appear on the No. 43 Ford at the Speedway this Sunday,” said Richard Petty, legendary racecar driver and team owner.

In addition to cash and bacon donations, Farmland is committed to supporting Harvesters’ hunger relief efforts through ongoing employee volunteering and activation. Since April 2012, Farmland employees have donated more than 400 hours of service to Harvesters. This month has been designated ‘Fight Against Hunger’ month at Farmland Foods. Employees are collecting canned goods and nonperishable items with the goal of overflowing the Harvesters barrels stationed through the Farmland offices in Kansas City.

“Farmland Foods has set a high standard for corporate involvement and demonstrated a company-wide commitment to Harvesters’ mission of feeding hungry people today and working to end hunger tomorrow,” remarked Karen Haren, President and CEO of Harvesters.

About Farmland Foods

Farmland Foods, Inc., based in Kansas City, Mo., provides a broad selection of pork products to retail and foodservice customers in the U.S. and abroad across a variety of categories, including bacon, fresh pork, hams, fresh sausage, hot dogs and lunchmeat. Farmland Foods has a large and growing international business, exporting products to more than 60 countries across six continents. Since its founding in 1959, the company has maintained a proud heritage of working side by side with American farm families. Farmland Foods, which reached over $4 billion in sales in 2011, is a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods.

About Harvesters—The Community Food Network

Harvesters is this area’s only food bank and was Feeding America’s 2011 Food Bank of the Year. Serving a 26-county area of northwestern Missouri and northeastern Kansas, Harvesters provides food and related household products to more than 620 not-for-profit agencies including emergency food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, children’s homes and others. Agencies in Harvesters’ network provide food assistance to as many as 66,000 different people each week. Harvesters, which was founded in 1979, is a certified member of Feeding America, a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks, serving all 50 states. For more information, visit www.harvesters.org.

About Richard Petty Motorsports

Richard Petty Motorsports (http://www.richardpettymotorsports.com/), co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty, Andrew Murstein and Douglas Bergeron, fields two teams in competition in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Aric Almirola pilots the famous No. 43 Ford Fusion with primary partners Smithfield Foods, U.S. Air Force and STP, and Marcos Ambrose drives the No. 9 machine with primary partner Stanley and DEWALT. In addition, Michael Annett wheels the No. 43 Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang full time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The team is headquartered in Concord, N.C.

Kudos to you, Mr. Petty, and your organization and thank you. Many thanks to you, Farmland and yes, Harvesters, for sure.

Parody, right out of the heartland

A great parody for you from the heartland. Guys, celebrating the family farm, not corporate ones.

While you're at it, note those K-State t-shirts, too. What a hoot.

KC and NW Missouri on NPR this weekend

So they covered our KCMO School District, Gates Barbecue and now this--farming and building a tractor and other items from scratch up in nearby Maysville. Heads up to The Kansas City Star: these people came in the area and rooted out fresh, relevant stories from our area. Maybe your reporters could do the same? It's a thought. I know you used to. Link: http://www.npr.org/2012/02/19/147110017/building-a-village-one-home-brewed-tool-at-a-time

Quote of the day

"People are fed by the food industry, which pays no attention to health and are treated by the health industry, which pays no attention to food." --Wendell Berry, American man of letters, academic, cultural and economic critic, and farmer. Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendell_Berry

More great work from our own "Harvest Public Media"

I wrote here, some time ago, about what was, at that time, our new "Harvest Public Media" people from the area and region. From their description page, they describe themselves this way: "Harvest Public Media is one of seven Local Journalism Centers nationwide created with the support of a two-year grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The initiative is intended to strengthen collaboration among six Midwest public broadcasting stations." They are throughout the Midwest and one of the participating stations is our own KCUR 89.3 FM as well as the Kansas Public Radio (KPR) group. Today, they gave a report on NPR on McDonald's "McRib" sandwich and its local, Nebraska origin: From Nebraska Lab To McDonald's Tray: The McRib's Strange Journey. Whether you eat the things or not, I think you'll find the brief story interesting, at least. They cover more, different, excellent stories about food in all its aspects than virtually any other source. Just more great stuff from Harvest Public Media. Thanks, y'all! Links: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/11/04/142018151/from-nebraska-lab-to-mcdonalds-tray-the-mcribs-strange-journey?ps=cprs; http://harvestpublicmedia.org/; http://www.kcur.org; http://

FDR's "2nd Bill of Rights"

After watching Michael Moore's "Capitalism: A Love Story" yesterday, I learned President Franklin Roosevelt actually proposed a "2nd Bill of Rights" in 1944, a year before his death. Would that we would have gotten these things. It was a brief speech but here's what he called for. You can either click on the link below or go watch and listen to the speech online, of course, but he basically laid out a plan calling for 8 "rights" we should all have, as Americans. They were: The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation; The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation; The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living; The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad; The right of every family to a decent home; The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health; The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment; The right to a good education. He ended by saying this: For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world." FDR was brilliant on so many issues and situations. He wasn't perfect or flawless by any means but he was correct about the Great Depression and what we needed to do in most cases and he was certainly, absolutely correct on this. And we'll apparently never have them. Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Bill_of_Rights

Another great, local idea: Harvest Public Media

Something good needs to be said about this new--to me, anyway--development that is Harvest Public Media.

What a cool idea.

More importantly, it serves such a great function, locally, regionally and nationally for farming and agriculture news and information.

It is a production/reporting group, as nearly as I can explain it and they report on global food security, according to the site, and all that goes along with farming and farm production throughout the country.

They are also, apparently, an outgrowth of our own local area NPR radio stations, too, which is really great.  Their site tells more about them, naturally:

OUR MISSION:   Global demand for food and fuel is rising, and the push and pull for resources has serious ramifications for our country’s economic recovery and prosperity. Today’s emerging agenda for agriculture is headlined by energy and climate change, food safety, biofuels, animal production and welfare, human health, water quality, and local food systems. By examining these local, regional and national issues and their implications, Harvest Public Media seeks to create a rich multimedia resource devoted to food, fuel and field.

HOW WE REPORT:  Most Harvest Public Media stories begin with radio — regular reports are aired on our six member stations in the Midwest. But Harvest also explores issues through online analyses, television reports, podcasts, photography, video, blogs and social networking.  

FUNDING:  Harvest Public Media is one of seven Local Journalism Centers nationwide created with the support of a two-year grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.  The initiative is intended to strengthen collaboration among six Midwest public broadcasting stations. Additional editorial support comes from American Public Media, National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting System.

PARTNER STATIONS: KCUR in Kansas City (lead station); Iowa Public Radio; NET which operates statewide public TV and radio networks; KBIA in Columbia, Mo.; High Plains Public Radio/KANZ in Garden City, Kan.; and Kansas Public Radio/KNAU in Lawrence.

I've heard some of their reporting on NPR, nationally, already, too and they are stories we just wouldn't otherwise get, but for their creation and existence.

Some of the stories they're reporting on right now, for instance, are:

--Making (not so much) hay
--Stripped down: How ecosystems could help farmland weather climate change
--Floods, droughts, pests, oh my!
--No need to worry about Chinese buying farmland in Iowa

I thought it important to maybe put this out here, so more people know they're there, what they do and what we can look for from them and use their information for.  I thought it important, too, to just say how great it is and how rather proud I am of the fact that it's a local product, born and raised right here in the heartland.

So kudos and many congratulations and thanks to Harvest Public Media and the people and stations making all this information available to us.  Terrific job!

Link:  http://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/

Sold out? Are you kidding me?

Okay, do me a favor and tell me why, after watching this, that the idiots who put this on said it was sold out and wouldn't sell me a ticket. Does that field look crowded to you?