Biotechnology is a modern issue in the agriculture industry. For those of you who may not know, biotechnology is the genetic engineering of living organisms or their components to produce useful, usually commercial products. An example of modern biotechnology is genetic engineering.

            Genetic engineering is the process of transferring individual genes between organisms or modifying the genes in an organism to remove or add a desired trait or characteristic. Genetically Modified (GM) crops or Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) such as BT corn are formed during genetic engineering. Biotechnology can assist farmers in improving yield and profit by reducing the use of costly inputs, improving weed management, reducing tillage for better soil, and improving water and air quality.

            Modern biotechnology can be beneficial in many ways. Farmers use agricultural biotechnology to increase crop yields, prevent damage from pests, and reduce farming’s impact on the environment. Biotechnology is also used to diminish our footprint on the environment, feed the hungry, provide breakthroughs to combat disease, and make convenient products. Biotechnology can unquestionably be a prodigious factor for our world.        

            Everyday researchers explore new benefits of biotechnology. Healthcare researchers are using biotechnology to discover a cure for cancer. Scientists are in the process of developing salt-tolerant and drought resistant crops.

            Our global population is estimated to reach 9.4 billion by the year 2050, which means global food production must increase 70 percent by that year in order to meet our needs. With agricultural biotechnology we may possibly meet those needs. Biotechnology has a great outlook for the future and advancements in biotechnology could improve our world.



**To find out more about biotechnology please visit fb.org
 
It is officially the week that FFA members have been waiting for since the beginning of the year, National FFA Week. This year the National FFA Week theme is “Grow”. This year’s theme is about why the food we grow is important, why the skills we grow are important, and why the families and communities we grow are important. Each day this week I am going to write a blog post pertaining to some form of growth. My posts will be based off of prompts from the National FFA’s “FFA Week Blog Challenge”.

Today’s Theme: “Grow Your Network” 

I am going to discuss two networks which I would like to grow. First, I will talk about my blog. I hope to grow my blog by updating more frequently and gaining more likes, followers, and subscribers. It is important to me to grow my blog because I want to educate others about agriculture and show them how important agriculture is in our daily lives. It is important to the agriculture industry because I would be “ag”vocating and teaching others about agriculture if I grew my blog. Now, I will talk about growth within our FFA chapters. As an FFA member and chapter officer, I think that all chapters should be motivated to grow their chapters. If we see individual chapter growth, it means growth for the FFA as a whole. It is very important for our FFA chapters to grow and teach our members and others about agriculture. It would benefit the agriculture industry by promoting it and motivating others to get involved in agriculture. These are two networks that I would like to grow.

Below are a few ways we can “Grow Our FFA Network” this week:
  • Use the hashtags #ffaweek13 and #grow on Twitter
  • Posting about FFA Week on social media networks
  • Telling others about National FFA Week
  • Participating in National FFA Week
  • Sharing the Dodge “So God Made a Farmer” Video

There are many more ways. If you have any specific ways to “Grow Your Network” please mention them in a comment below!

 
 
 
What is agriculture literacy? Agriculture literacy is the true knowledge and understanding of agriculture. What does agriculture illiteracy mean? Agriculture illiteracy is the failure to understand how important agriculture is and how dependent we all are on it.

Most Americans know very little about agriculture and its value in their daily lives. Agriculture Illiteracy is one of the top twenty illiteracies in our country today. Many people are never informed of the importance that agriculture has and agriculture is entirely too important to be ignored. People need to be informed and need to understand how important agriculture is. If we informed more people about agriculture it would open them up to many of the following opportunities:

  • People could make healthier diet choices if they knew about agriculture and nutrition.
  •  They would be informed of many job opportunities: farm production, agribusiness management and marketing, agricultural research and engineering, food science, processing and retailing, banking, education, landscape architecture, urban planning, energy, etc.
  • They would more clearly understand where their food comes from and how it gets from the farm to the fork. 
  • It would also open them up to so many other opportunities.

If this agriculture illiteracy increases then we could see a decrease in farmers and in crop production in the future which will eventually lead to rising prices on products that rely on agriculture. That would be exceptionally devastating to our country. I believe that all students should be informed in some way about agriculture beginning in kindergarten and lasting until their senior year. People need to be informed about agriculture. One of my goals as an agriculture blogger and FFA member is to promote Ag Literacy and help decrease Ag Illiteracy by informing others about agriculture through this blog. I encourage you to tell others about agriculture and promote Ag Literacy. 


 
Thanksgiving dinner is a dinner that people look forward to all year long. This delicious traditional dinner would not be possible without our nation’s and world’s farmers. The traditional Thanksgiving dinner items such as turkey, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie and all the basic trimming increased less than one percent this year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

I viewed the AFBF’s 27th annual informal price survey of classics found on the Thanksgiving dinner table, which shows that the average expected cost of this year’s dinner for 10 people is $49.48. That is only a 28-cent price increase from last year’s average of $49.20. If you are feeding 10 people the cost would be under $5 a person, so expense really isn’t a problem this year.

The most expensive item this year will be the turkey. It came in at about $22.23, with an increase of 66-cents per whole turkey more than last year. Since 1986, the yearly average for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for 10 people has increased by about $20.74.

The good news for most Americans is that they will pay about the same as last year when shopping at the grocery store for a turkey and trimmings. Those who are looking for a lesser priced turkey can look for special sales and promotions closer to Thanksgiving time.

American consumers have enjoyed the stable food costs over the years. This Thanksgiving while you are eating your turkey and the rest of your meal remember those who made the meal possible at such a stable price, farmers.

Thank a farmer this THANKSgiving holiday.

 
As we all know this year has been a tough year for farming in our country due to crops having to undergo many harsh situations. The amount of crops in the United States and other places in North American have been low due to record breaking heat, severe drought, wildfires, and hurricane effects.

While mostly missing the fall harvest, Hurricane Sandy still left a negative effect on crops in eastern North America. Sandy’s rough winds and flooding rains damaged crops along its 2,000 mile path. The major damage was done to some urban farms in New York City.

Sandy started in the Caribbean causing many deaths and destruction of agricultural land. Much of this destruction was in Haiti, where flooding rains and landslides wiped out roads and farmland. Most of the crops in Haiti that survived Hurricane Issac were destroyed during Sandy. Food security may even be an issue in Haiti due to Hurricane Sandy.

Cuba was also negatively affected by Sandy. Many of the country’s coffee farms were destroyed overnight. It is possible that Cuba may produce its lowest output in coffee beans in more than a century.  Crops such as bananas, tomatoes, and watermelons were lost in the Bahamas.

Localized crop damage in New York City has been severe due to seawater flooding. Many rooftop gardens escaped the flooding but some plants did not. Some of the farm raised bees in New York City also got washed away.

I wish the best to all of those affected by Hurricane Sandy and they will be continued to be remembered in my prayers. If you would like to learn more about the effects of Hurricane Sandy please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Sandy. To help the victims of Hurricane Sandy please visit the sites below:

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/articles/hurricane_sandy/

http://www.billygraham.org/crisisresponse

 
What is the “farm bill”? 

The Farm bill is a statute that can regulate farm production and prices. It creates jobs, protects our environments and natural resources, revitalizes rural economies, invests in education, promotes renewable energy, and improves public health and nutrition. 

The bill does not just benefit farmers, it benefits everyone. It provides funds to grow, promote, and purchase safe and healthy foods. In the long run it benefits each and every one of us; whether we know it or not.

            The farm bill offers many programs that are designed to help farmers during the current drought crisis. The drought is causing farmers’ crops across the nation to dry out and die. However, if the bill does not pass soon farmers could lose a lot of hard earned money. I think right now we really need a temporary drought relief package to help out farmers losing crops and money due to what is possibly the worst drought in 50 years.  There is expected to see a drop in bushels of corn produced as compared to last year, even though farmers have planted more this year than any time in the past 75 years. The longer it takes to pass this bill, the more money we are losing.

            One of the problems we are facing is that farmers need to plan, just as any other business and industry does. They need to know what their future is going to hold. They cannot know this without a lot of the programs, policies, etc. that is included in the farm bill. A lot of the debate is being focused on food assistance programs for the poor, which makes up for a lot of the bill’s spending. If we rush to pass this bill it should not be at the expense of jobs and struggling families, especially because it could take away from school lunches, which is sometimes the only meal that kids from these struggling families may receive each day.

            It has been expected that little will happen between now and the presidential election (November 6th). However, I feel that there will be a push to pass something disaster related in September because of the severity of the drought. Hopefully seeing the conditions the drought is causing across the country congress will act soon. We are simply running out of time to pass this bill. 

 

Aquaculture Defined: Aquaculture, also known as aqua farming, is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and aquatic plants. Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions. Mariculture refers to aquaculture practiced in marine environments and in underwater habitats.

As you know, or maybe you don’t, Alabama is one of the leading states in aquaculture sales. Alabama ranks third nationally behind the states of Mississippi and Arkansas. The states of Louisiana and Florida are also in the top five, ranking fourth and fifth. There are 4,028 aquaculture farms in the U.S. Alabama has the fourth highest amount of farms in the U.S. with 215 farms. Alabama has about 25,000 water acres of fish farms, where commercial farmers produce 25 different aquatic species. Alabama’s most dominant species is farm raised catfish, in which Alabama ranks 2nd nationally in annual sales. In 2008, Alabama catfish sales totaled $93.3 million. Alabama’s three large-scale processors sell catfish to all 50 states, Canada, Europe, and Asia. Alabama is also home to the world’s largest catfish processing plant. Alabama produces about $98 million worth of catfish a year. Other species that Alabama aquaculture farmers raise are shrimp, tilapia, and crawfish. 

Thought to Ponder: Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana produce 95% of the catfish grown in the U.S. 
 
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The Alabama FFA Foundation Specialty Tag is now available for pre-commitments at your county tag office. Persons desiring to support FFA programs in Alabama by purchasing pre-commitments must complete a “Commitment to Purchase” application for the Alabama FFA Foundation distinctive plate and remit the additional $50 fee to their county license plate issuing office. The county returns the original copy of the application form and a commitment to purchase tag receipt indicating receipt of the additional fee to the applicant. The “Commitment to Purchase” application can be completed even if it is not time for your tag to be renewed. The $50 fee is an annual fee in addition to the standard tag registration fees. Once the precommitments meet the required amount (1,000), applicants will have an unlimited time to return to the county office and receive their license plate. In order to receive the plate, applicants must present the ORIGINAL copy of the “Commitment to Purchase” application form and tag receipt. Once tags become available, anyone may purchase an Alabama FFA Foundation distinctive plate. 


To find out more about purchasing your FFA tag visit the Alabama FFA Website