Top posts from 2009: From tweet corn to astroturffed fools

In taking a look at Nebraska Corn Kernel's stats for 2009, the posts below were the most read.

It is an interesting mix - from ethanol and "Tweet corn" to Time magazine and those astroturffed fools at GMA and AMI. It's also good to see that a couple of videos made the list.

1. Chief Ethanol Fuels turns 25
2. Nebraska happiest place in the U.S.
3. Tweet corn – Nebraska farmers on Twitter
4. Corn Farmers Coalition aims to educate
5. Cups of corn in Indiana’s government center
6. Pork and beans recipe contest is back
7. State Fair gives farmers chance to highlight sustaining innovation
8. Several 300+ bushels per acre in corn yield contest
9. Time (magazine) is not on your side
10. Videos: Ethanol blend pump grand opening
11. Video: Mike Rowe on lamb castration
12. Nebraska Corn Board’s FFA photo contest winners
13. U.S. Corn yields second highest ever
14. University report slams corn ethanol myths
15. GMA and AMI: Astroturffed fools

A few other posts that I liked...

• Chicken's biggest problem was too much chicken
• Flashback to 1909 for perspective on anti-ethanol news conference
  
• AVMA report disputes Pew's take on animal antibiotics
• Podcast: Why social media is important for farmers
  
• Using fear to sell movies (and food)
  
• When a burrito loses its integrity
  
• Anti-meat groups using climate change as argument
• Support of HUSU drives Idol fans away from Underwood
  
• Corn genome sequence - 'wiring diagram' - being released
  

That last one - on the genome - has a great graphic of what the genome looks like. If I had a poster of that, I'd hang it on my wall.

National Ag Day Essay Contest Announced

The Agriculture Council of America(ACA) calls on seventh- to 12th-grade students each year to submit an original, 450-word essay about the importance of agriculture. This year’s theme is “American Agriculture: Abundant, Affordable, Amazing,” and the deadline is Feb. 12. Teachers and parents are asked to encourage their students to participate.

This year, the theme highlights the importance of agriculture and how the industry continues to overcome new challenges. These include keeping food affordable, meeting the demands of a growing population with fewer acres, working with legislative influences and addressing consumer concerns. Students may choose to specifically address one or more of these challenges in their essay.

This year’s national winner will receive a $1,000 prize and round-trip ticket to Washington, D.C., to be recognized during the Celebration of Ag Dinner held March 18 at Whitten Patio. At dinner, the winner will have the opportunity to join with industry representatives, members of Congress, federal agency representatives, media and other friends in a celebration of agriculture.

Statewide winners of the contest also will be selected. Each state winner will receive a $100 prize.

Entry applications and official rules for the contest can be found here.

Crop report has ‘record breaking’ written all over it

Nebraska farmers brought in a record 1.58 billion bushel corn crop this growing season -- produced on nearly 4 percent fewer acres than the previous record thanks to a record yield of 178.0 bushels per acre.

“It is encouraging to see USDA report that corn supplies continue to grow,” Don Hutchens, executive director of the Nebraska Corn Board, said in a news release today. “This despite the fact that 354,000 acres with a value of about $221 million are still standing in Nebraska fields. That, too, may be a record for January, but we certainly hope farmers have a chance to get those bushels harvested.”

Nationally, USDA said farmers produced a record 13.15 billion bushels on nearly 8 percent fewer acres than the previous record. National yields blew by the previous record by nearly 5 bushels per acre to 165.2 bushels.

Yet about 5 percent of the nation's crop is still in the field -- with a value of $2.29 billion. USDA said it will resurvey farmers in some states and adjust acres, yields, production and stocks estimates if necessary in its March 10 report. Nebraska will not be part of that survey.

Hutchens said it is important for farmers and grain elevators to monitor grain they have in storage to maintain quality. “This was a crop that struggled to dry down in the field and had to be harvested with a higher moisture content than normal,” he said. “While everyone worked hard to get this done, we know there is some wet corn in bins that may require additional attention come spring.”

With corn production continuing to expand thanks to improved technology, farming practices and know-how, the need to develop and support new markets grows, too, according to Curt Friesen, a member of the Nebraska Corn Board and a farmer from Henderson.

“Nebraska is blessed with 23 operating ethanol plants, some 2.4 million head of cattle on feed, a wealth of other livestock and poultry and a solid processing sector to utilize this record corn crop,” Friesen said. “Every time a bushel of corn is used in the state, positive economic returns ripple through rural communities and the state’s economy as a whole.”

Yet without the efforts of developing and growing those markets, corn farmers and the state’s economy would suffer, said Friesen, who is chairman of the Nebraska Corn Board’s market development committee.

For more on today's USDA reports, click here.

Big corn crop gets bigger, yields blow past previous record

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said this morning that U.S. corn farmers produced an estimated 13.15 billion bushels of corn in 2009-10, a figure that is up 2 percent from the November forecast and 1 percent above the previous record of 13.0 billion bushels set in 2007.

Yields were estimated at a record 165.2 bushels per acre, up 2.3 bushels from the November forecast and a whopping 4.9 bushels above the previous record of 160.3 bushels per acre set in 2004.

Production at that level means the total 2009-10 corn supply stands at 14.83 billion bushels (13.15 billion in production plus a 1.67 carry-in plus 10 million in imports).

In Nebraska, USDA gave a crop estimate of 1.58 billion bushels off a yield of 178.0 bushels per acre. Both are records -- with the previous production record coming in 2007 at 1.47 billion bushels and previous yield coming in 2004 at 166 bushels per acre.

Supply/Demand
In its supply and demand report, USDA estimated that corn for feed use would be 5.55 billion, an increase 150 million from December. It left corn for exports unchanged at 2.1 billion and corn for ethanol unchanged at 4.2 billion.

The bottom line is an estimate of ending stocks rising to 1.76 billion bushels, up 89 million from December's estimate.

Corn stocks
USDA said corn stored in all positions as of December 1, 2009, totaled 10.9 billion bushels, which is up 9 percent from December 1, 2008. Of these stocks, 7.45 billion bushels are stored on farms, up 15 percent from a year earlier, while 3.47 billion are stored off farms, which is down 3 percent from last year.

In Nebraska, USDA said 1.33 billion bushels of corn are stored in all positions, with 930 million being stored on farms and 404 million being stored off farms. A year ago 1.19 billion bushels were in storage, with 780 being stored on farms and 407 being stored off farms.

Holzfaster aiming to increase ethanol consumption

As a Paxton, Nebraska, native and past chairman of the Nebraska Corn Board, Jon Holzfaster is leading the National Corn Growers Association’s Ethanol Committee in its role of increasing ethanol consumption.

This committee’s purpose is to make sure that corn farmers are taking a leadership role in the production of ethanol, and are advocating for the increased production of domestic energy resources. One specific goal is to increase the domestic market and overcome the blend wall.

“We will increase the market for ethanol and overcome the blend wall if we achieve a blend up to e15,” Holzfaster said in an interview posted on NCGA's website. “The EPA made some favorable moves last year. They are taking a closer look at e15 right now, but I am excited about what we might see in the future in terms of a move from an e10 to a higher blend.”

According to Holzfaster, the potential for EPA approval of the move to blends up to e15 is exciting and would be a tremendous milestone for corn growers and the ethanol industry. He is also excited about NASCAR’s interest in going green.

“NASCAR is excited about a future partnership with the ethanol industry to not only help promote the fact that they are becoming more environmentally friendly, but also to help the ethanol industry promote their product,” said Holzfaster.

To read more -- and hear the audio interview -  click here.

Tolman urges farmers to help clear industry misconceptions

Rick Tolman’s message about the considerable amount of misinformation concerning agriculture rang loud and clear to more than 150 corn producers and agribusiness exhibitors alike at this week's Freemont Corn Expo.

Tolman, National Corn Growers Association’s chief executive officer, braved the ice, snow and wind to present about the future of farming at the expo.

“The bad news is, agriculture is getting blamed for soil erosion, overuse of chemicals, air pollution, worldwide hunger, obesity, animal welfare, environmental regulations, taxes, 'industrial farms,' subsidies, sustainability, and on and on,” said Tolman. “However, the good news is that you as farmers can help inform the public and consumers about ag’s truth, and NCGA can help.”

He explained that NCGA is a corn focused, grassroots organization that covers the entire spectrum of corn issues every day. Checkoff dollars earned from raising corn are highly leveraged and efficiently used to promoting the industry the entire audience is involved in.

Tolman further focused on how these checkoff dollars are allowing U.S. corn exported around the world, where the demand for U.S. corn is very high.

In an article in the Fremont Tribune, Tolman talked about a misconception that corn is being diverted from the world food supply to provide ethanol, thereby shortchanging people around the world and a cause to world hunger:

That’s not reality, he said, due to the tremendous productivity that exists today.

“The pie is getting bigger because of increased productivity,” he said.

The ethanol boom occurred between 2005 and 2008, but in 2007 the U.S. exported more corn than it ever had.

“If we’re taking more corn from starving people, how could we have record exports?” he asked. “The facts don’t support the emotion.”

Tolman also showed reports from a NCGA consumer research survey, where a strong support for farmers was noted. Nearly all Americans (90 percent) have a positive image of farmers. Looking even further at what consumers view as a trusted news source on issues such as agriculture, farm subsidies, corn products and ethanol, family farmers ranked the highest trusted source (95 percent) followed by doctors, nutritionists and researchers.

“Take this information and use it to promote agriculture,” said Tolman. “Join your ag associations, stay informed as someone heavily invested in production agriculture, and speak out when called on to do so.”

Top Tweets for Nebraska Corn Board

For under year of Tweeting between the Nebraska Corn Kernel blog authors, the Nebraska Corn Board has been able to establish a status among other ag news sources for reputable information, facts and stories of agriculture in Nebraska, across the nation and even have international followers.

Providing tweets to our followers with web links allows us to track how many viewers are reading the information.

This is valuable to show what our followers are most interested in and to provide more of that specific information. For those on Twitter not tracking their tweets, I would suggest using bit.ly, as you can easily copy in the link (which then shortens it), and use the shortened link in your tweet. You can use this site to go back and see how many times someone clicked on that link.

Here is a list of our Top Tweets in which viewers read the most for 2009:
1. Good read: “It’s Time for Farmers to Tweet!” http://bit.ly/6DivFX

2. Study: Raising pigs indoors healthier for animals, people http://bit.ly/4SeFgr #oink

3. #HSUS ‘Rescues,’ Forgets Baltimore’s Horses http://bit.ly/5wlC3L

4. Register 4 @NECornBoard and @NEDeptAG webinar on Advantages of Feeding in #Nebraska, December 16 at 12:30 CST http://bit.ly/58EXrc #livestock

5. ~5% of #corn crop goes to make food ingredients, chemicals, fabrics & plastic. #cornsTALKwed http://bit.ly/7rbJkM

6. Technology, knowledge improve water management and irrigation across #Nebraska http://bit.ly/6rzj0C

7. You can’t have Christmas without Corn! Read the newest blog post on the holiday season. http://bit.ly/7Vdyzs

8. Podcast: Farmers can reach out and tell their story http://bit.ly/5xSFBQ

9. Nebraska Produces Record Amount of #Ethanol. http://bit.ly/4rDDpI

10. #Beef made the list to 25 Ridiculously Healthy Foods http://bit.ly/7EJAxF #food

11. Bogus Times, Grist articles on HFCS add to echo chamber http://bit.ly/8s2Mol

12. Testimony presented on corn checkoff http://bit.ly/IjF05

13. September proclaimed Renewable Fuels Month in Nebraska http://bit.ly/Q94QO

14. What is the corn checkoff? http://bit.ly/7kMFT

15. Corn genome sequence - 'wiring diagram' - being released http://bit.ly/3Q5suZ

16. Nebraska Ag Classic includes topics on social media, dealing with animal rights groups http://bit.ly/41GChy

17. Nebraska corn 48 percent harvested http://bit.ly/1HgOLH

18. Chief Ethanol Fuels turns 25 http://bit.ly/ATD7A

FFA helps highlight agriculture at Rose Parade

FFA members from across the country - including Katie Frenzen of Fullerton, Nebraska (below) - rung in the the New Year in California by helping put the finishing touches on the FFA entry in the 121st Tournament of Roses Parade.

During the parade, Frenzen walked beside the float, which honors the association for its work guiding students toward careers in agriculture. At least one FFA member from each state and Puerto Rico, along with four representatives of the Stars Over America program, participated in the parade.

Frenzen is president of the Nebraska FFA.

An estimated 42 million people in the U.S., and 100 million people worldwide watch the Rose Parade. This year, the National FFA Organization was able to share the message of the importance of agriculture through their float, "FFA Today."

At 75 feet long, 30 feet tall and 18 feet wide, the FFA float was one of the largest in the parade. It featured three gigantic sculptures depicting FFA members engaging in agricultural, educational and development activities. The float was highlighted by several elements from the FFA emblem, each with a significant meaning. Alongside the emblem was a sleek horse, a combine, barn and windmill, a stand of evergreens, a grove of fruit trees, and finally urban buildings and a communications satellite -- contrasted with the rural features to display the scope of FFA activities.

The float was designed to represent all FFA members, past and present, as well as portray a most positive image of agriculture into rural, suburban and urban-based homes, and share the message of the diversity of agriculture.

All of the FFA float costs and expenses were underwritten entirely by RFD-TV and the sponsors and advertisers associated with RFD-TV's live broadcast of the 2010 Tournament of Roses Parade and Equestfest.

State-wide forum on rural jobs set for Friday

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development office in Nebraska is holding a statewide video forum on rural jobs and small business credits this Friday - January 8 - from 10 a.m. to noon (CST).

The video conference forum is being at eight locations in the state.

According to information on the meeting, the USDA is leading an effort to hear from rural America on its ideas on what is needed to create jobs and economic development in rural communities across the country. This meeting is one effort to get input from Nebraskans.

While USDA Rural Development Nebraska is the convener of the meeting, co-conveners include a number of Nebraska groups, from banking to colleges. Included on the list is the Nebraska Farm Bureau and the Nebraska Ethanol Board.

For more information on the meeting, click here.

Podcast: A review of 2009 with an eye towards 2010

In this week's podcast, Brandon Hunnicutt (@cornfedfarmer), a farmer from Giltner and president of the Nebraska Corn Growers Association,  gives a quick review of 2009, a look into 2010 and provides details on the Freemont Corn Expo, which is scheduled for January 6.



Nebraska Corn Kernel podcasts are also available iTunes! Click here to subscribe.