Renewable Energy Education Field Day Webinars March 14

Two webinars addressing on-farm anaerobic digester systems took place March 14, 2012, as part of the continuing series of Renewable Energy Education Field Days.   The March 14 webinars examined finance issues for installation and maintenance of a digester system, and technology options to consider when deciding which type of system to install. A video of the webinars will be available. The topics for these webinars were requested by participants in the Virtual Renewable Energy Education Field Day on Oct. 26, 2011. That webinar is archived and available on the web.  The first Renewable Energy Biomass Education Field Day in November 2010 focused on biomass. The Field Day programs offer practical, science-based information on implementing biomass-based renewable energy technologies on the land. 

A Dialogue on Food and Agriculture in the 21st Century

Farm Foundation, NFP has launched a new initiative to deliberate critical issues facing today’s food and agricultural systems.  This unique project, A Dialogue on Food and Agriculture in the 21^st Century, will involve multiple activities designed to promote discussions across the food and agriculture value chain—from producers to consumers.  “The need to double the world’s agricultural production by 2050 is a challenge that cannot be relegated to the back burner,” said Neilson C. Conklin, President of Farm Foundation, NFP.  “It is critical that attention be focused today on the complex issues of producing an adequate food supply while protecting natural resources.  Rather than confrontation, we need civil, nonpartisan deliberations on the opportunities and challenges before us.  And we need to begin now.” Read more here.

Demand shocks help drive 2011 ag commodity, food price increases

A new report from Farm Foundation, NFP finds that while some of the same factors that drove commodity and food price increases in 2008 are at work today, new and very different factors have also emerged.  The report, What's Driving Food Prices in 2011?, cites the role of two persistent demand shocks--corn for biofuels production and soybeans for China--in the mix of factors pushing commodity prices in recent months.  Other significant factors include weather-related production shortfalls, changes in cropping patterns and a weak and volatile U.S. dollar.  

The report, authored by Purdue University economists Wallace Tyner, Philip Abbott and Christopher Hurt, builds on work done in 2008 and 2009. 

"The focus of this report is to broaden understanding of the nature and interactions of the respective factors, the implications for public policy and whether circumstances have created a new era that will shift U.S. food and agricultural policy to one of shortages from one of abundance," says Farm Foundation, NFP President Neil Conklin. Read the full report.

National meeting examined conservation policy issues

The National Agricultural Landscapes Forum April 7-8, 2011, in Washington, D.C., examined natural resource conservation policy issues.  The meeting was part of USDA work required by Congress in the Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act (RCA). USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is the lead agency working on the RCA, and is collaborating with nine other USDA agencies.  To complete this project, NRCS collaborated with Farm Foundation, NFP and the American Farmland Trust.

Input gathered through six regional round table meetings completed across the nation in recent weeks was used in building the national forum. The RCA provides broad strategic assessment and planning authority for USDA. The regional round tables and the April 7-8 national meeting are part of efforts to ensure that USDA programs for the conservation of soil, water and related resources are responsive to the long-term needs of the nation. 

GAP Report highlights need to increase rate of ag productivity growth 

The current rate of agricultural productivity growth is lagging the world's expanding demands, according to the 2010 GAP Report™ released Oct. 13, 2010, by Farm Foundation, NFP and Global Harvest Initiative (GHI). To close "…the gap without additional inputs, we must increase the rate of productivity growth an average of 25% more per year over the next 40 years,” said Farm Foundation, NFP President Neil Conklin, who authored the report. Read the report at www.globalharvestinitiative.org. The report is part of a project collaboration by Farm Foundation, NFP, GHI and USDA's Economic Research Service to examine global agricultural productivity growth.  As part of that project, a global network of researchers has been established to encourage research on agricultural productivity. The network’s new Web site is www.agproductivity.org.

Symposium on zoonotic diseases 

Zoonotic diseases—transmissible diseases shared between animals and humans—were the focus of an international symposium Sept. 23-24 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Washington. D.C.  Collaborating with more than a dozen partners, Farm Foundation, NFP, organized this symposium to examine the relationship of zoonotic diseases, animal production systems and human health. The program targeted the broad cross-section of disciplines involved with the prevention and management of zoonotic diseases.  These professionals include public health officials, veterinarians, virologists, agricultural producers, public policy makers and media representatives. Presentations from the conference have been posted.