March 22 Is National Agriculture Day

March 21, 2022 by

National Agriculture Day is celebrated on March 22. This 49th anniversary of National Ag Day is being celebrated in classrooms and communities across the country with a 2022 theme of “Growing a Climate for Tomorrow.”

In a virtual Ag Day event, the Agriculture Council of America (ACA) will bring approximately 100 college students to Washington D.C. to “virtually” deliver the Ag Day message to the Hill. A core leadership team of college students will attend D.C. events in person. There will also be a Celebration of Modern Agriculture on the Mall, and the winner of the ACA’s national Ag Day essay contest will be announced.

These events mark a nationwide effort to tell the true story of American agriculture, to remind citizens that agriculture is a part of all of us. Many agricultural associations, corporations, students, and government organizations involved in agriculture are expected to participate.

The National Ag Day program encourages every American to:

  • Understand how food and fiber products are produced.
  • Appreciate the role agriculture plays in providing safe, abundant and affordable products.
  • Value the essential role of agriculture in maintaining a strong economy.
  • Acknowledge and consider career opportunities in the agriculture, food and fiber industry.

For more information on National Ag Day, visit www.agday.org.  

Here’s a short video highlighting some Farm Facts:

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Global Fertilizer Day Is October 13

October 12, 2021 by

Join us in celebrating the world’s farmers. They have set themselves the almost impossible task of feeding more and more people while using less land and fewer resources.

In the next 30 years, the world’s population will increase by almost 50%. Add to that the fact that in the last 40 years, the world has lost a third of its arable land due to erosion or pollution, and additional millions of acres of farmland are being lost each year to industrialization and urbanization. Already, an estimated 25,000 people are dying from hunger each day. With little possibility of further expansion of agricultural land, there is pressure to produce more food on the existing arable land by using soil treatment products and fertilizers.

Fertilizer producers continue to stand ready to help farmers be more effective and efficient in food production. Agricultural fertilizers currently account for 50% of global food production. As fertilizers and farming practices improve, the goal of producing more with less is already being realized. Farmers today grow a bushel of corn using 45% less nitrogen and 59% less phosphate than they did in 1980. Yet, yields continue to improve. Between 1948 and 2015, the average U.S. soybean yield doubled from about 21 to 48 bushels per acre, while the average corn yield grew much more, from 43 to 168 bushels per acre.

Bio Huma Netics—through its fertilizer brands of Huma Gro® and Fertilgold® Organics, along with its natural humates from Mesa Verde Humates®—is committed to standing shoulder to shoulder with farmers as they strive to feed the world’s population by growing more with less.

Read more about Global Fertilizer Day at https://www.tfi.org/GlobalFertilizerDay#get-involved.

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Earth Day 2019: Protect the Pollinators

April 20, 2019 by

The theme of this year’s 49th annual Earth Day on April 22 is “Protect Our Species.” One extremely important aspect of this theme to everyone involved in agriculture is protecting the world’s insect pollinators. The global crop production pollinated by bees is estimated to be valued at $577 billion. Pollinators contribute $24 billion to the U.S. agriculture industry, making up a third of the food consumed by Americans.

Despite bees being considered a keystone species, not nearly enough is being done to preserve this essential contributor to our food production process. Worldwide bee populations are in decline, including the honey bee and many of our wild native bees. It is estimated that commercial honeybee populations in the U.S. have declined by as much as 40% since 2006.

There are many suspected contributors to bee decline, including:

  • Widespread use of pesticides, particularly neonicotinoids that—once absorbed by plants—can be present in pollen and nectar
  • Loss of habitat, including land use changes, habitat fragmentation, loss of bio-diversity
  • Climate change
  • Pests, diseases, viruses, and mold

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) offers advice on how farmers can help pollinators. Some of the principles advocated by the USDA include:

  • Know the habitat on your farm. Look for areas on and around your land that can support native bees. Most native bees are solitary or live in small colonies. Bumble, digger, and sweat bees make up the bulk of pollen bees in most parts of the country.
  • Protect flowering plants and nest sites. Once you know where bees are living and foraging, do what you can to protect these resources from disturbance and pesticides. Bees rely on an abundance and variety of flowers and need blooming plants throughout the growing season. Native plant species are particularly valuable.
  • Enhance habitat with flowering plants and additional nest sites. Most bees love sun and prefer to nest in dry places. Nests are created underground, in twigs and debris, and in dead trees or branches. You can add flowers, leave some ground untilled, and provide bee blocks (tunnels drilled into wood) to increase the number of native bees on your farm.
  • Minimize tillage. Many of our best crop pollinators live underground for most of the year, sometimes at the base of the very plants they pollinate. To protect them, turn over soil only where you need to. Allow crops to bolt. If possible, allow leafy crops like lettuce to flower if they need to be tilled right away. This gives bees additional food sources.
  • Exercise Care with Insecticides. Most insecticides are deadly to bees, and unnecessary herbicide use can remove many of the flowers that they need for food. If you use insecticides, choose ingredients targeted to specific species (for example, Btk—Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki— for pests such as leaf rollers) and the least harmful formulations (i.e., granules or solutions). Spray on calm, dry evenings, soon after dark when bees are not active. Keep in mind that even when crops are not in bloom, some of your best pollinators are visiting nearby flowers, where they may be killed by drifting chemicals.

More information is available at the USDA NRCS Website.

Information about Earth Day and how to protect bees is available on the Earth Day Network Website.

For those of you in the Phoenix area who would like to learn more about protecting pollinators, the University of Arizona Desert Institute of Gardening is holding a seminar from 6–8 pm this Thursday, April 25, at the Maricopa County Extension Office. Click here for details.

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It All Has to Start With The Soil

December 26, 2018 by

The Soil Health Institute has released a 60-minute documentary, Living Soil, that captures the history — and significance — of the soil health movement.

Our soils support 95 percent of all food production, and by 2060, our soils will be asked to give us as much food as we have consumed in the last 500 years. They filter our water. They are one of our most cost-effective reservoirs for sequestering carbon. They are our foundation for biodiversity. And they are vibrantly alive, teeming with 10,000 pounds of biological life in every acre. Yet in the last 150 years, we’ve lost half of the basic building block that makes soil productive. The societal and environmental costs of soil loss and degradation in the United States alone are now estimated to be as high as $85 billion every single year.

Living Soil captures the background of the current soil health movement and its momentum, beginning with painful images of the Dust Bowl, and then transitions to personal experiences of innovative women and men who are managing their land to enhance soil health.

The film features rural and urban farmers from Maryland to California, selling everything from corn to bouquets, united by their care for the soil.

The documentary is directed by Chelsea Myers, founder of Tiny Attic, a video production company located in Columbia, Mo. that specializes in documenting real moments and real people.

To view the documentary, visit https://livingsoilfilm.com.

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