Agriculture is telling its story.
Yes, those of us in the ag industry keep hearing that we need to tell our story, and now the time has come that combines a diverse perspective into the lives of young farmers and ranchers and the way they produce food.
This story is FARMLAND, a documentary from award-winning director,James Moll, that takes a look into the world of farming first-hand through the lives of six young farmers and ranchers. This story shares about their high-risk/high-reward jobs and passion for a way of life that has been passed down from generation to generation, yet continues to evolve.
Moll traveled across the country meeting the young farmers and ranchers and truly just had them share their story.
“I wanted farmers to speak for themselves and tell the story themselves,” Moll said in a recent interview with Agri-Pulse. Listen to all of Moll’s Open Mic audio with Agri-Pulse.
This film was supported in par by U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance, but Moll had the final editorial say on the film. He said he really got to know the story of farmers and ranchers while putting the film together.
“From a personal perspective on farmers and ranchers, I feel like I now know a farmer, I know many of them. But I couldn’t have said that before. I hadn’t even set foot on a farm before. That sounds crazy and knowing what I know now it seems ridiculous that I would grow up in this country and never have been on a farm. But now I can say I know farmers,” said Moll.
There was a Nebraskan featured in the film as well. David Loberg raises corn and soybeans, custom feeds cattle and runs an irrigation business on his fifth-generation family farm near Carroll, Nebraska.
Watch the trailer to catch a glimpse of the stories. Then find a theater near you starting May 1 (click here to find the nearest viewing) to watch this excellent film. Find out more on farmlandfilm.com.
FARMLAND Teaser Trailer 2014 from Farmland on Vimeo.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Nebraska corn farmers will plant 9.4 million acres of corn, about 94% of last year’s total of 9.95 million acres.
With Nebraska corn farmers’ intentions of planting 9.4 million acres of corn this year, farmers will spend about $280 per acre to get the crop in the ground and off to a good start, based on estimates calculated by the University of Nebraska Extension. Multiplied by the 9.4 million acres USDA estimates Nebraska farmers will plant, this figures to nearly $2.6 billion invested by the state’s corn farmers over a two-month period. That figure does not include land costs, labor or equipment – it’s purely inputs like seed, fuel and fertilizer.
Nationally, USDA said farmers intend to plant 91.7 million acres this year, which is 3.7 million fewer acres than the previous year. If realized, total corn plantings could be the lowest planted acreage since 2010. Notably, it would still be the fifth-largest U.S. corn acreage planted since 1944.
“We are looking at adding nearly $3 billion worth of economic activity into our state, which doesn’t even include the additional inputs, land and equipment expenses that come through the rest of the year,” said Tim Scheer, chairman of the Nebraska Corn Board. “This continues to be an economic booster for the rest of the year and those dollars reverberate through the rural economy and multiply to support Main Street, Nebraska.”
Just getting the crops in the ground is one form of economic activity, yet the full economic impact of planting reaches close to $6 billion for our state’s economy.
“Farmers will invest $2.6 billion in seed and fertilizer to get their crop planted, yet the economic value of that crop is even greater when harvested and that corn is converted to meat, milk and eggs, ethanol, distillers grains, bioplastics and more,” said Kelly Brunkhorst, director of research for the Nebraska Corn Board. “Corn is the foundation for all of that, so getting the crop in the ground and off to a good start this spring is critical. Then it’s up to the weather through the growing season to harvest.”
Historically in Nebraska, farmers begin planting in mid-April and wrap up as quickly as possible in May. However, weather is a key element for planting. And this year’s harsh, dry winter brings a concern of the available soil moisture that will be available come planting time. According to the April 14 USDA Nebraska Crop Progress and Condition report, topsoil moisture supplies in Nebraska rated 13 percent very short, 42 short, 45 adequate, and 1 surplus. Subsoil moisture supplies rated 17 percent very short, 43 short, 39 adequate, and 0 surplus.
Another challenge with planting investments this year is lower commodity prices, yet input costs continue to be on the rise. This makes the margin for the cost of production very slim for Nebraska farmers.
“This year will be a much tighter margin basis than we’ve had for several years and farmers will be producing much closer to the cost of production,” said Scheer. “With volatile market activity, hopefully there will be opportunity for farmers to lock in prices to manage their risk.”
A group of Nebraska, Iowa, and Ohio corn farmers have returned from a multi-state trade mission to Brazil excited about the potential relationships and similarities of ethanol fuel.
The objective of this joint mission was to gain a better understanding of Brazil’s role in the worldwide market of energy and agriculture and determine how Nebraska and the United States can be partners with Brazil on worldwide ethanol markets. Participants on the mission included farmer-directors on the Nebraska Corn Board, Debbie Borg from Allen and Dennis Gengenbach from Smithfield, as well as Kim Clark, director of biofuels development on staff with the Nebraska Corn Board. Read Debbie, Dennis and Kim’s blogs from the Brazil mission here.
Brazil is the number one sugarcane producer and exporter in the world. They are also the number two producer of ethanol, following the United States, and the number one ethanol exporter worldwide. It is also mandatory that at least 25% ethanol be blended in each gallon of gasoline.
“The trip was definitely eye opening and educational. All of the commonalities and similarities of Brazilian agriculture in comparison to the United States are amazing,” said Debbie Borg. “The biggest issue they are dealing with is drought. It is very severe and their sugarcane, corn, soybean, and coffee crops are suffering.”
Brazil’s closed-loop ethanol system of producing electricity from bagasse, the byproduct of sugar and ethanol production, is well known. Although the U.S. does not produce electricity from ethanol production, the U.S. produces distillers grains for livestock feed.
“Our ethanol story and the production of distillers grains are important for the ethanol industry in the United States. We need to be better about reaching out to consumers and educating them,” said Dennis Gengenbach.
During the trade mission, the team also:
