National Academy of Sciences Releases Sustainable Agriculture Report

On June 29, the National Academy of Sciences released the report Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century. It highlights the extreme challenges American farmers face feeding the world. The report does a great job summarizing the enormous task facing farmers today.
Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century is available in different formats depending you your preference. You can purchase the report as a hardcopy of PDF, download a brief of the report, download an executive summary or scroll down the page a bit. You will find an option to read the report page by page.

I chose to read the news release and scanned the summary, brief and full report. Below are a few paragraphs from the new release.

"Although farming productivity has increased, nowadays farmers are being asked to do more than produce more food for a growing world population," said Julia Kornegay, chair of the committee that wrote the report, and professor and head of the department of horticultural science at North Carolina State University, Raleigh. "Many modern agricultural practices have unintended negative consequences, such as decreased water and air quality, and farmers have to consider these consequences while trying to increase production. If farmers are going to meet future demands, the U.S. agriculture system has to evolve to become sustainable and think broadly -- past the bottom line of producing the most possible."

I Couldn't Have Said It Better

Sometimes people outside of farming are much better about telling agriculture's story than people that live there everyday. A trip I took the last week in June couldn't have illustrated that point any better.

I traveled to Lubbock, Texas, organizing a one-day conference on sustainable agriculture production. It featured some great speakers, and I hope to share their presentations with you soon. The people I met traveling between Manhattan, Kansas, and Lubbock couldn't have been more different.

Celebrity Spotlight - Russ Parsons "The Californian Cook"

It's not everyday that you will find a West Coast chef that is willing to go to bat for modern agriculture. Russ Parsons, the Los Angeles Times food editor known as "The Californian Cook," is one of the best friends agriculture could have in a farm-removed market.

Take some time and check out his work at the Los Angles Times. One of the first articles I read from Parsons was The facts about food and farming. This article alone was enough to make me consider this guy as the next TheBeefUEat.com Celebrity Spotlight, but it gets better.

How to Talk to a Consumer

How many of you know how to pick the perfect cut of beef for your meals but never offer your expertise to consumers at the meat case?

I pride myself on being handy, thrifty, and in general, a pretty good consumer, especially when it comes to beef. However, I'm not as good at sharing my tricks with others, and it's a shame. In a society that's consumer driven, we need smarter consumers.

The main reason for starting this blog was to help everyone be better beef consumers and advocates, and that starts with changing my attitude.

You Aren't a Farmer Without a Farm

I am old enough to know that sometimes you need to step back from life's chaos and simply focus on your priorities. Last month was one of those moments, and unfortunately, that meant letting the blog go idle for a few weeks.

My biggest priority was family with the passing of my grandfather on April 24. It's been more than a month since his funeral, and I still struggle to describe him to friends that never met the man. The funny thing is I can't talk about him without talking about his farm. The two topics are inseparable.

Celebrate Earth Day!

Today, we are celebrating Earth Day for the 40th consecutive year. My family will join more than 800,000 farmers and ranchers in celebrating this day like we do every other, by raising food responsibly to feed the world.

Farmers and ranchers represent America’s first environmentalists. They are charged with the responsibility of using the earth’s limited resources wisely. For many farm families, they have been doing exactly this for generations that go back to the founding of our country.

It's Hot Dog Season

Last night, I attended a K-State baseball game to mark my first of what is sure to be many innings of baseball watched and hot dogs consumed over the next 6 months. I love baseball and ballpark food. Supposedly, I'm not alone. Americans love hot dogs.

The fun folks at the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council dug up some great facts on America's obsession with hot dogs and baseball. Here are some neat hot dog facts for you to chew on.