Women in Ag

The Illinois Farm Family Who Inspired Lay’s ‘Last Harvest’ Super Bowl Commercial

Fri, 20 Feb 2026 22:28:26 GMT

It was a one-minute spot that captured hearts on Super Bowl Sunday. Lay’s “Last Harvest” commercial told the story of a farm family passing the torch from one generation to the next, rooted in memories, hard work and the bond between parent and child.

While the story in the Super Bowl ad was fictional, it was inspired by the real-life experiences of third-generation potato producer Tom Neumiller and his daughter Katie Floming, the fourth generation working alongside him at Neumiller Farms in Savanna, Ill.

A Story That Hits Home

Floming, operations manager at Neumiller Farms, recalls watching the commercial for the first time.

“I was so touched. It really hit home for me,” she says. “Growing up, if I wanted to see my parents, I had to go to the farm because they were always working. That’s where we spent our family time, quick meals, then back to work. I loved it. There are no complaints there. Being present at the farm was everything.”

The commercial’s depiction of a young girl chasing her parents through potato fields and learning the ropes mirrored Katie’s own childhood experiences. She laughs as she recalls one particular scene.

“When she came outside wearing white tennis shoes to work, that hit home. I remember showing up in sandals, and my dad would just shake his head. I had to go home and change,” Floming says..

For Neumiller, seeing their family’s life portrayed on such a massive stage was humbling.

“Farmers don’t usually end up in Super Bowl commercials, but this is very nice,” he says. “For that one-minute ad, they captured a farm family and our legacy all in one. It was just amazing.”

Floming adds that the story resonated with many viewers beyond their family.

“It’s very relatable. People would come up at the Super Bowl and say, ‘My grandfather was in that situation’ or ‘My family didn’t have the option to pass it on.’ It’s a story that connects with most people,” she says.

Farming in Northern Illinois: Unique Challenges

Neumiller Farms isn’t a typical potato operation. Neumiller explains growing potatoes in northern Illinois requires creativity, considering they are the lone family growing potatoes in northern Illinois.

“We’re the only ones in the area,” Neumiller says. “You need good water and light, sandy soil. Illinois has pockets of sand, so we’ve become a very mobile farm. We have one farm 150 miles away, another 30 miles south and another 15 miles north. It allows us to manage the light soils and adequate water we need.”

Floming now manages daily operations, but Neumiller remains deeply involved.

“I’m old school. I want to be involved in everything,” he says. “I talk to the managers every day. I get here early and stay around, maybe too long, but I stay involved in everything.”

The family works side by side, literally.

Floming says: “Our desks are right next to each other. We’re constantly feeding off each other, and we always know what’s going on.”

Neumiller smiles, adding: “My wife’s on the other side, and we’ve been married 54 years. She’s been involved in the business from way back.”

“He doesn’t get a break,” Floming quips.

Passing the Torch

Though Neumiller hopes for a few more harvests, Floming embraces the responsibility of continuing the family legacy.

“I’m very thankful to still be farming alongside my dad,” she says. “He’s grown the farm, but it’s my responsibility to keep it going, for our family, our employees and our community. I want to do the best I can to preserve our foundation while building for the future.”

A plaque on the wall of Neumiller Farms signifies seven decades of producing potatoes for Frito-Lay, a partnership that made their story perfect for Lay’s Super Bowl spotlight.

Neumiller reflects on the broader significance: “All of us farmers, we’re not usually in the spotlight. But it’s an honor to show the connection between soil, farming and the food we produce. Sustainability, passing on the farm, doing the job right — it all matters. Our story continues, and that’s what I hope to pass on.”

A Last Harvest That Connected Us All

As Lay’s “Last Harvest” reminded viewers on Super Bowl Sunday, the foods we enjoy come from real families working the land, generation after generation. For the Neumillers, that legacy is alive and thriving, one potato at a time, creating a story that connected us all.

If you thought the 60-second commercial was memorable, watch the full three-minute version on Lay’s YouTube page .

Moment of Truth: The Louisiana Farmer Who Captured Trump's Ear, Put Human Face on Ag Crisis

Fri, 19 Dec 2025 19:29:01 GMT

Rice country is hurting, badly.

Prices have collapsed to levels not seen in four decades, while production costs climb beyond $1,000 an acre. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, rice farmers are projected to lose more than $360 per acre this year. For many operations, that kind of math pushes losses deeper into the red and pushes tough decisions closer to reality.

That financial pressure was front and center at the White House last week as President Donald Trump unveiled his Farmer Bridge Payments, but what captured national attention wasn’t just policy — it was a farmer.

Her words, delivered candidly and unscripted on live television, put a human face on the crisis gripping America’s rice farms and mills.

That producer is Meryl Kennedy.

A Family Business Rooted in Rice

Kennedy is the youngest of four daughters, carrying forward a family operation that stretches back nearly six decades. Her father began farming rice in the late 1960s, and over time the family expanded beyond production into milling and value-added markets. That vertical integration gives Kennedy a front-row view of how price volatility affects not just growers, but entire supply chains.

“So I’m actually second generation,” Kennedy says. “My father started as a farmer back in the late 1960s, and we continue to take rice from the farm to a finished product today.”

After returning home from college, Kennedy helped oversee the startup of the family’s rice mill in 2012. The mill steadily grew, sourcing rice from roughly 60 farm families who relied on the operation as a stable market outlet. For those growers, the health of the mill is closely tied to the health of the farm economy.

“We actually mill rice, distribute it to many large companies throughout the U.S. and internationally,” Kennedy says. “But then my sisters and I have our own brand called Four Sisters that we launch about five years ago.”

As president and CEO of Kennedy Rice Mill and co-founder of Four Sisters Rice, Kennedy balances brand development, export logistics and farmer relationships. That role places her at the intersection of domestic agriculture and global trade, a perspective that proved pivotal when she was invited to Washington.

An Unexpected Moment in the Spotlight

Kennedy was one of eight farmers invited to participate in the White House roundtable on Dec. 8. Like many producers attending policy discussions, she expected a private conversation focused on data and feedback. What she did not know until moments before entering the room is that the discussion will be broadcast live.

“And my sisters and I, because there are four of us — I’m the youngest of four daughters — started our own rice brand a few years ago to just tell the story of American agriculture that hadn’t really been told before,” Kennedy told Trump and the White House Cabinet members who attended the farmer roundtable that day. “But I wish I was here under better terms.”

As the conversation turned to the financial outlook for rice, Kennedy did not sugarcoat the situation. Her remarks reflect what growers have been telling lenders and suppliers for months: Margins are gone, and losses are mounting.

“I know that prices right now are the lowest they’ve been in over 40 years, so we’re going to struggle,” she continued. “We’re going to max out on our payments probably, so that’s something that I know those in Congress can potentially help us with to change.”

Kennedy says the magnitude of the moment did not fully register until after the cameras are rolling. Sitting beside the president, she realized she was speaking not just for her own operation, but for growers across the country.

“In fact, it still seems like it is a dream, I’m going to be honest with you,” she says. “At the beginning of this year, I had a feeling that it was going to be a very difficult year. But it really wasn’t until midway through the year that we just saw a drastic drop in prices that has continued month after month.”

Farmers Asked Her to Speak Up

Kennedy says her decision to engage directly with the administration was driven by the growers who supply her mill. As conditions worsen, those farmers began urging her to use her industry position to push for action.

“And so it really is my farmers urging me a month ago to write a letter to the president,” she says. “To explain the situation to him, to urge him to help our farmers.”

That outreach, Kennedy says, marked a turning point. What began as a letter quickly became a national conversation.

“We wrote that letter, and look what the president does,” she says. “He responded.”

Kennedy explains the collapse in rice prices cannot be understood without looking beyond U.S. borders. Rice, she notes, is not just another commodity; it is a staple food for much of the world, making global market dynamics especially complex.

“Rice is a global commodity. It is the means of survival for most of the planet on a daily basis,” she says. “I truly mean it that rice is more of a currency than it is a commodity.”

While the U.S. ranks fifth in the world for rice exports, Kennedy says heavy subsidization and overproduction by major exporting nations distort markets and undermine U.S. competitiveness.

“And what has been happening is that really since COVID, there’s been truly an overproduction,” she says. “Then we over-subsidize in these nations and then dump rice globally across the world.”

A Candid Exchange With a Call to Action

That backdrop set the stage for one of the most striking moments of the roundtable, as Kennedy directly addressed concerns about dumping and unfair trade practices. The exchange unfolded live, capturing the attention of producers watching from home.

“And we do believe that countries are dumping rice into this country today,” Kennedy said during the roundtable at the White House. “We’ve never seen imports this great.”

When pressed for specifics, she named the countries she believes are contributing to the problem.

“India, Thailand, even China into Puerto Rico,” she said. “Puerto Rico used to be one of the largest markets for U.S. rice. We haven’t shipped rice into Puerto Rico in years.”

As Kennedy listed off the countries, Trump turned to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and asked him to write the countries down. Kennedy said the moment was monumental.

“None of it is scripted,” she says. “He really called me to action, and I responded.”

“When he turns to Secretary Bessent and asks him to write these countries down, it really is a powerful moment,” she adds. “It’s a moment I’ll never forget.”

Aid Helps — But It’s Not Enough

The roundtable featuring farmers on Dec. 8 was intended to announce Farmer Bridge Assistance Payment Program, for which USDA is expected to release payment rates next week. Ahead of that official announcement, University of Arkansas economists estimate rice payments could approach $115 per acre, though statutory payment caps will limit the amount many farmers actually receive.

“You know, I’ve seen some other figures kind of siding more like $50, considering that $155,000 payment cap,” says Mollie Buckler, CEO of U.S. Rice Producers. “While I think it will help some farmers, this is not putting huge profits in their pockets.”

Buckler says the assistance might keep some producers afloat short-term, but it does not address the underlying market imbalance. Without structural changes, she warns, the industry will continue to contract.

“Absolutely,” Buckler says when asked if farmers could be forced out of business. “Possibly even up to a quarter of farmers having to make tough decisions.”

Pressing Trump to Love Rice

Despite the seriousness of the discussion, Kennedy’s exchange with Trump also included a lighter moment that resonated with viewers. The humor underscores a broader effort to build demand for U.S.-grown rice.

“And you love rice, right?” the president asked.

“I love rice,” Kennedy replied. “I’m going to get you to love rice too. The next time, you’re not going to have a button for a Coke, you’re going to have a button for rice.”

It was another moment that stole the spotlight, as Kennedy’s quick-witted response garnered laughs. Kennedy says she even surprised herself in that moment.

“It just came out,” she says. “I encourage everyone that doesn’t eat rice on a daily basis to think about making rice part of your diet.”

A Voice for Farmers

For Kennedy, the experience reinforces the importance of connecting consumers with the people behind their food. She says telling that story is now more crucial than ever as farm families navigate financial uncertainty.

“This has given me a voice to encourage people to think about where their food comes from,” she says. “To think about supporting American farmers.”

As rice producers confront one of the toughest years in decades, Kennedy’s message reflects a broader industry plea for fair trade, market transparency and a future where family farms can continue growing a crop that feeds the world.

Where Hope Takes Root: The Grit That Saved a 90-Year-Old Family Farm

Wed, 26 Nov 2025 22:21:32 GMT

In the rolling hills of Napa Valley’s Los Carneros region, the scene often looks idyllic. Morning fog drapes the vineyards, and the quiet hum of farm life feels timeless. But behind the postcard-perfect setting stands a family that has survived nearly 90 years of grit, risk and reinvention — and a fourth-generation farmer who refused to let 2024 be the end of their story.

“I am the fourth generation carrying on this family legacy,” says grape grower Jennifer Thomson, walking the same ground her great-grandmother once chose with remarkable instinct.

A Legacy Born From the Dust Bowl

Long before Napa Valley became synonymous with world-class wine, the Thomson family put down roots here in 1938. Thomson’s great-grandmother, Jenny Ophelia Barnum Thomson — a descendant of the famed Barnum circus family — had the courage to pursue opportunity when most would have turned back.

“It was the Great Dust Bowl and the Great Depression driving many families west for new opportunity,” Thomson says. “As migration was happening toward the West Coast for better economic opportunities, they moved here and were able to purchase this land.”

What she bought wasn’t just acreage. It was a vibrant Carneros hub complete with orchards, worker housing and a blacksmith shop. Women couldn’t legally own land at the time, but the deed was placed in her name for only a day, a testament to the trailblazer she was. Then, the land deed was moved into her husband’s name. But the vision, Thomson says, was her great-grandmother’s.

“For her to have that foresight to take that risk and purchase land here — you think about that today,” Thomson says. “She was doing what any family does: contributing to the family. There was water in the Carneros Creek, there were prunes, pears and apples already planted, and they had the ingenuity and engineering to successfully farm. Sometimes you just have to lead with your intuition, and I think that’s what she was doing.”

A Daughter Returns Home — and a New Fight Begins

Four generations later, that same intuition runs deep. In 2009, Thomson left her job in San Francisco and came home to take over the ranch from her father, George.

“Did I ever think Jen would be the one to take over?” George says with a small laugh. “No. I am surprised. I am thankful.”

When she arrived, the wine industry was in the middle of the 2008–2009 recession.

“When I took over in 2009, my father says to me, ‘You picked the absolute worst time to get into farming,’” Thomson recalls. “And then 2024 and 2025 happened. Farmers ask one another, ‘Is this as bad as 2008 or 2009? Is it better? Worse? Did we just forget?’ Because I took over so young, I already was prepared more than my peers.”

But today’s pressures, she says, feel heavier.

“There are not as many channels for sales, not as many stable partners to work with. If I’m a betting woman, I do think 2025 and going into 2026 will be more of a struggle than ever before for the California wine industry.”

Read More: Grape Growers Desperately Need You to Drink More Wine as They Grapple With a Glut of Uncontracted Grapes

So, why is it so challenging for grape growers today? It’s complex. Not only has demand dwindled, with a Gallup poll showing alcohol consumption is at a 90-year low, but an abundant supply the past few years has suffocated the grape growing region. As more vineyards take vines out, that will help the supply situation, but it’s coming at a cost. The other issue is the sellers, like Thomson, and buyers, as in wineries, haven’t always come to the table to find a solution. Cheap imports have flooded the market, and it’s at a much cheaper price than what it costs to grow grapes in California.

Thomson’s father agrees with her, saying the California grape and wine industry is facing one of its most challenging chapters yet.

“It is very challenging,” George says. “The market is sort of against us. Tastes are changing. There are more government regulations on what you can do with your property to make a living.”

Still, he keeps believing.

“Do I think we’ll get out of this? I have my fingers crossed. With people like Jennifer, I believe they’ll keep working at it. They won’t give in easily,” George says.

The Year the Grapes Had No Home

But nothing prepared the family for what came in 2024.

“This home ranch produces a little over 300 tons of grapes annually,” Jennifer says. “And in 2024, nearly all of those 300 tons are dropped on the ground and go unharvested.”

All of them?

“All of them,” she says quietly.

Demand had plummeted. Oversupply strangled the region. And for the first time in the ranch’s nine-decade history, not a single cluster had a home.

It was a moment when most growers would consider walking away. But Jennifer didn’t.

Refusal to Quit

But this is where the story gets good, and where you’re reminded you can’t underestimate the determination of a family farmer, especially Thomson. After all, grit is woven into this family’s DNA. And she leaned on every ounce of it.

“In 2025, I make a true farmer with good ingenuity,” she says. “I make sure I shake hands. I talk with previous clients. I source new clients. I put a lot of hustle into exploring new relationships and cultivating the ones we already have. And we are fortunate this year to sell all of our grapes.”

Her father says the same drive is what transformed the ranch the moment she took over 15 years ago.

“We were able to make a living at it, at least pay the taxes,” George says. “But the property really never makes money until Jennifer says, ‘I think I can do that.’ I hand her the keys and the checkbook.”

George says he always had an off-farm job, but for this first time in his memory, Thomson’s keen business sense and intuition turned the family vineyard into one that could finally support itself.

“Jennifer turns it around for the first time in my life that the property actually supports itself,” he says, emotion thick in his voice. “How proud am I? Extremely proud. She has the foresight, the hunger, the passion. The intelligence. She had all the parts. She has them now.”

One of the Last Family Farmers Standing

In a region rapidly shifting toward corporate ownership, Jennifer is part of a shrinking group — farmers who still drive their own tractors, repair their own equipment and deliver their own fruit.

“I feel more of a pull to the land than I ever predicted when I first took over,” she says. “I took over to help my family and retain this ranch for future generations. But working alongside our crew for 15 years, working with winery partners who value our family legacy and this 90-year-old ranch — I certainly feel much more drawn to the land than I ever think I would.”

Some estimates point to less than 25% of the growers left in the region are true family farmers, a dwindling group that is fighting to remain rooted here.

Gratitude Amid the Hardship

Despite the hardships, Thomson carries deep gratitude — especially this Thanksgiving season.

“I’m really grateful my great-grandmother has the foresight in 1938 to buy a wonderful piece of land with wonderful water availability,” she says. “I have a great-grandfather and grandfather who worked with the Federal Soil Conservation Department and built an on-stream reservoir. It allows us to irrigate our crops and keeps our vines healthier.”

She is thankful for her community, too.

“I’m thankful for that core group of family farmers. We band together. We support one another. We share our successes and we share our failures. That camaraderie can’t be duplicated.”

A Story Still Being Written

The Thomsons’ story, once born out of Dust Bowl desperation, endures because each generation chooses resilience over retreat. And in 2024 — after a year when every grape fell to the ground — it was Jennifer’s resolve that carried the legacy forward.

Every grape has a home again in 2025. And because of her, the family’s story isn’t just continuing, it’s growing stronger.

Love For Lexi: A Wisconsin Dairy Farm Kid's Big Battle For a New Heart

Mon, 07 Oct 2024 15:35:38 GMT

Lexi Anderson looks like a typical 12-year-old kid. The sixth grader is full of life and so much spunk.

“How long have you been coming to World Dairy Expo,” I asked.

“12 years,” said Lexi.

Her entire life, she’s been traveling to World dairy Expo with her family to show cows. An annual trip that’s always packed with family fun. But Lexi’s life took a dramatic turn nearly 10 months ago, just two months after she showed during the 2023 World Dairy Expo.

“In December of 2023, she [Lexi] started feeling dizzy on the basketball court. And at first, we weren’t really sure what was going on, whether it was dehydration or what it was,” said Tamala Anderson, who is Lexi’s mom.

Unsure how serious it was, it wasn’t until Lexi blacked out on the court that they knew something wasn’t right.

“They decided to bring me in to the doctor. And then we figured out that I had this heart problem,” Lexi said.

The Diagnosis

It wasn’t just a minor problem. The diagnosis? Restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM).

“It’s a hardening of the heart, the lining of the heart. So, the walls of the heart are eventually going to harden and stop pumping” Tamala explained.

“It’s really rare,” Lexi said. “Only like 2% of the world has it.”

Lexi Anderson

(Tamala Anderson)

Restrictive cardiomyopathy is a less common type of cardiomyopathy. According to the Pediatric Cardiomyopathy Registry, the average age of diagnosis is 5 to 6 years.

Lexi’s diagnosis meant her only cure would be a heart transplant

“When we first got the news, it was extremely hard to get that news,” said Tamala. “To hear that your daughter…. sometimes kids only have a year and a half after they’re diagnosed with this. It’s such a hard thing to hear that your daughter could die,” she said.

A heartbreaking diagnosis that shocked the family, but Tamala says they were sent to specialists at the children’s hospital in Milwaukee and got connected with an amazing team of doctors that immediately planted seeds of hope.

“We’ve got a great team. They don’t even let us look at the negative. They told us that we didn’t need to worry about it. They said they we’re going to find it [a heart] and fix it,” Tamala said.

Her New Normal

At 12 years old, Lexi’s life quickly turned to anything but normal. She has doctor visits at least every six weeks with strict orders to cut out physical activity that could stress her heart.

“I got banned from playing all sports, to stop it from growing,” Lexi said.

Lexi’s favorite sport is softball, a sport she can’t play until she receives her heart transplant.

(Tamala Anderson)

Lexi was extremely active before, playing basketball, riding horses and playing softball, which she says is her favorite sport.

“I really miss playing softball,” said Lexi.

“It’s hard,” said Tamala. “I kind of do have her wrapped up in a bubble as she has strict orders at school. All of her teachers know the strict orders. She’s not allowed to run, and she’s not allowed to do any of that stuff that might affect her. So she’s kind of limited in every aspect.”

Lexi loves all things outdoors, which includes riding horses and going fishing.

(Tamala Anderson)

Helpless in so many ways, Tamela did the only thing she could and that was to protect her little girl, all while waiting on the call that could save her life.

“Her timeline went from living 60 years, 80 years, down to we don’t know what,” said Tamala. “We could get a phone call at any time.”

Waiting on the Life-Saving Call

It’s that phone call that Tamala, Lexi and her entire family are anxiously awaiting.

“Honestly, my bags are packed in the car,” said Tamala. “I’ve got Lexi’s bags packed in the car. We’re waiting, and we’re ready.”

“Are you scared at all or are you nervous at all,” I asked Lexi.

“I’m a little nervous. I don’t know when I’m going to be able to get back home. And I don’t know if they’re going to hold me for the three months recovery, but hopefully they let me go home and just recover at my house.”

Love for Lexi

At 12 years old, Lexi’s courage is contagious and her support is inspiring. She has an army of family and friends who are rooting her on, with a group called “Love for Lexi.”

“A couple of her friends at home decided to do a website, it’s called Love for Lexi, where we have Caring Bridge connected,” said Tamala “Some of it’s to raise money. Some of it’s just to let people know how she’s doing.”

Whether it’s at the County Fair or World Dairy Expo, you’ll find Lexi shining in the show ring.

(Tamala Anderson)

That love was put on center stage this summer, when Lexi’s friends Hattie and Holly Hargrave gave the ultimate gift of generosity with a lamb for Lexi.

“We went to a county fair, and I was showing sheep, and I didn’t make the sale, and one of my friends did and that raised over $27,000 and she gave it to me for the benefit,” said Lexi.

“It was amazing,” Tama said. “It was absolutely amazing. Honestly, the first buyer, when the first buyer bought the lamb, I was in tears . Then, he’s like, ‘Nope, I want to sell it again.’ And he so he gave it back and they sold it again. And I mean, it sold four times.

That sale raised $27,000 from four business who all came together to show Lexi love and support.

“We live in a really, really great community,” Tamala said.

“I feel really, really loved,” said Lexi.

Lexi looks happy and normal, but as her heart works in overdrive, the reality is Lexi’s body is tired and worn down.

“Some days it takes her breath away just to walk across the parking lot. Some days she is jumping around saying, ‘I’m ready to go,’” Tamala said.

Success at World Dairy Expo

This week during the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisc, Lexi was determined to go in the ring, and she brought home hardware, as well as memories she won’t forget. One of the best memories was when her cousin won Junior Champion of the World Dairy Expo Junior Show.

“I was super happy, because it’s like a victory for the farm,” said Lexi. “We just cheered each other on and we started supporting each other and stuff.”

That’s who Lexi is; a spirited kid who’s always supporting those around her.

“She’s a great kid, honestly,” said Tamala. “She’s got such a big heart. If she sees someone down or if she sees someone even getting bullied, she’s more of a protector. So she’s just a great kid.”

Lexi’s big heart is now what’s needing saved, but it’s a constant showing of love and support that’s getting this family through.

Leaders in Ag: Anne Runkel Provides the Big Picture and Then Allows Her Team to Get to Work

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:30:09 GMT

Anne Runkel and her team of scientists and engineers are dedicated to developing science-based biological solutions for agriculture. Runkel received her Ph.D. in plant biology at the University of California, Berkeley, contributing to the field of plant cell and molecular biology. She has a long history of conducting research in the field of plant and microbial biology.

Q: How would you describe your leadership style?

A: I provide clear direction and the big picture, but my team is really self-directed. Especially in innovation, it’s important to have space to be creative and solve problems on their own. That’s usually where you find the best solution.

Q: From a leadership standpoint, what have you learned in your position?

A: You start with a great idea but what really what ends up differentiating it into something that makes it to market or solves a real problem is working with different people and collaborating. The execution brings the solution to success.

Q: What strategies do you employ to help bring your team together?

A: People become close as a team when they work on something hard together, so it helps to find opportunities for them to have ownership and solve things together. That’s where I made some of the best connections with my team members. You find the areas where you’re strong and where others can fill the gaps.

Q: What are two of your favorite business tools?

A: My team is from Spain to Florida to North Carolina, and then we partner with the global Mosaic business, so India and China. The ability to speak to one another on video chat is important. But then the other tools I really like are organizing systems that don’t require you necessarily to always have a conversation. You can go and check the status of a project, or update it so that everyone in the business or group that’s working on something is contributing to it.

Q: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

A: I had a mentor who said, “Never say yes — but.” You have to be open-minded to opportunities that might not initially seem exciting or might seem problematic in some way. It’s important to pause and think about it first. The other piece of advice I’ve gotten is to be ruthless with your time management. Especially in a leadership position, you’re going to have many different directions and opportunities to do lots of things. You need to focus that time or none of it gets finished.

Q: What advice would you give to someone just getting started in an ag career?

A: One of the things that was very impactful for me was to be out in the field. Find opportunities to shadow, to help out, to volunteer, wherever you’ll meet people who are actually in the space and spend time in the field. For innovation, the biggest breakthroughs are going to be where you’re really solving a problem a grower has or retailer has, and it’s very difficult to see that if you’re not there.

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A Work Of Art: The 108 Feet Tall Wheat Harvest Mural in Kansas That's Going Viral

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:29:32 GMT

It all started with an aging grain solo.

“It is 108 feet tall and 49 feet wide to be exact,” says Mindy Allen, owner of Mindy’s Murals in Junction City, Kan.

That one structure in Inman, Kan., served as Allen’s blank canvas, and over six weeks she transformed it into her largest mural yet.

As a full-time mural artist based in Kansas, she’s completed so many paintings and murals, Allen admits she’s actually lost count. But her latest masterpiece is one that took her more than a month to complete.

“It’s the largest on all aspects. I mean, largest as far as time frame, size, budget, exposure, every single thing about it. This is the biggest that I’ve ever done,” says Allen.

Odds are you’ve never even heard of Inman, Kansas. It’s situated in the central part of the state, but only boasts a population of just over 1,300 people. Until now, its identity was “a small town outside of McPherson,” but thanks to the larger-than-life mural, Inman has a new claim to fame.

“It took me six weeks, but I did take a lot of days off because of weather,” she says. “Between the wind and the rain, it just took time, but Mother Nature finally was like, ‘ Fine, she’s doing the mural, I’m just going to let her let her go.’ So, she finally let me finish it.”

Other than the weather, her biggest challenge in creating the giant mural was her lift.

“The speed of the lift was the biggest challenge,” she explains. “It just takes a long time to get up to the top or to get to where you want to go, and just maneuvering the lift and making it get to the right spot, it takes a lot of time.”

The process of actually painting the mural is no easy feat, and it’s one that starts with a digital drawing.

“Then, with a digital drawing, when I know the exact height and width of the building, then I can put those measurements onto my digital drawing,” says Allen. “I use a method called a ‘doodle grid.’ I basically just spray paint doodles all over the wall where I’m going to have like main parts of the drawings. And then I take a photo of those doodles and layer those over top of my digital drawing. So then I use that as a grid and I can go back in and with spray paint, I just sketch everything out and draw it so that I know where things are and then I can start painting.”

From the digital drawing of the mural on the left to the actual finished product on the right, it’s a vivid picture that highlights wheat harvest in Kansas. And the idea all started with one man.

“The picture of the farmer standing here and looking at all this, so many of us can drive up and say, ‘That is my dad. I can see my dad doing that.’ So, that just tells the whole story of what it’s all about,” Ron Regehr, with the Inman Museum, told U.S. Farm Report affiliate KWCH.

A man on a mission, he wanted to draw attention to the museum. So, he contacted Allen to bring his idea to life.

“Without him, it wouldn’t have been possible,” she says. “And with them adding onto the museum, he’s really hoping that this would give that a push, as well and, you know, help make that more possible, too.”

What started as a dream, has turned into a picture-perfect reality that’s now a new attraction for this rural Kansas town.

“I love painting, of course. I love doing the murals. But I think that it’s so rewarding when I finished the mural to be able to see how it has affected everybody else as well,” says Allen. “That to me is my favorite part, just knowing that so many people are seeing it and so many people are having a reaction to it and appreciating it. To me, that’s what makes it all worth it. “

Allen is already on to her next project. You can follow her work on her Facebook page .

Pennsylvania's Painterland Sisters See Spectacular Success With “Side” Yogurt Business

Wed, 08 May 2024 19:54:38 GMT

When Stephanie and Hayley Painter started a yogurt business a couple of years ago to help support their family’s Pennsylvania dairy farm, they didn’t envision it quickly becoming the country’s fastest growing yogurt brand in the natural foods space. But that’s exactly what happened. Painterland Sisters Icelandic Yogurt is now sold in 2,200 stores coast to coast.

Stephanie explains how and why she and her sister achieved such success in a brand new podcast called Grow Getters , which explores “Agriculture’s most inventive side hustles.” Hosted by Davis Michaelsen and produced by Farm Journal Studios, Grow Getters takes a lively look at creative ways farmers are plugging into their passions and sometimes exploring new technologies to add revenue to their operations. In agriculture’s challenging economic climate, these resourceful “grow getters” are redefining what it means to be a farmer.

Watch episode one of Grow Getters here.

Forbes Magazine’s “30 Under 30" List

With their organic, nutrient-dense yogurt, made using milk from their farm and from nearby farms, the Painter sisters have taken moonlighting to a whole new level, even landing a spot on Forbes magazine’s most recent “30 Under 30” list .

“We saw cool, powerful women helping their family’s business on the Forbes 30 Under 30, so my sister and I looked at each other and said, ‘We want to do that,’” Stephanie explains on the first Grow Getters podcast. “We want to represent dairy. Farming, right? Agriculture. Wouldn’t that be amazing to make it relatable, to make dairy cool and fun to the general consumer?”

More than achieving accolades, however, the sisters’ mission is to connect consumers with the farmers who are producing their food every day. They’re also committed to continuing the succession process on the family’s fourth-generation farm, preserving and even increasing its value for the next generation coming up quickly behind them.

Read more about the Painter sisters and their exploding business.

Following its debut on May 7 with the Painter sisters, Grow Getters will release a new episode every other Tuesday. Blending stories of side-hustle highs and lows with plenty of humor and even some flashy singing and piano-playing by Davis, Grow Getters is like no other show in today’s ag media world. The goal of the podcast is to celebrate and match the unbridled moxie, energy and creativity of its guests. Subscribe to the Farm Journal YouTube page for the latest episodes.

Georgia Dairy Farmer Teaches NBA Superstars, Including Charles Barkley, How to Milk a Cow by Hand

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 19:46:37 GMT

NBA superstar Charles Barkley told one of his producers that he couldn’t remember the last time he had a glass of milk. The producers smiled and came up with the idea to not only have Barkley, but also his TNT show co-stars, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith, who are also NBA superstar legends, to learn how to hand milk a cow.

The basketball trio were introduced to a Madison, Ga., dairy cow, as Katelin Benkoski from Big Sandy Creek Dairy Farm was tagged by several friends on Facebook for the need for animal actors. More specifically, what they were looking for was a dairy cow in milk that could walk up a ramp and that could handle bright lights and cameras for the TNT show.

The Benkoski family knew just the cow they could use from the farm’s 80-cow herd that would perform well in that kind of spotlight. Rosie, a five-year-old Red and White Holstein cow, who weighs approximately 1,300 pounds, strutted down the ramp into the TNT studio.

“Oh, so she weighs a little less than Shaq,” teased Charles Barkley upon meeting Rosie, who has been shown at several fairs and is often used with milking demonstrations on the farm’s agritourism business.

“I got the call on Monday, and they asked if we could be in Atlanta on Thursday,” Katelin says.

The Benkoski family – John and Julie, along with their three daughters, Katelin, Alissa and Leah – lean into any opportunity that they can to educate people and have good positive feedback for dairy farmers. Although this opportunity was a big hit with the family, Julie was starstruck and John joked that no way the NBA stars grow to be as tall as they were without the help of milk’s nine essential vitamins.

The NBA trio was definitely surprised and visibly nervous to milk Rosie. Only Charles Barkley was willing to pull up a stool and hand milk a cow, but all three stars were interested in the process.

Katelin says Rosie was the true star and has felt like a diva back on the family’s farm since her TV appearance.

“She definitely thinks she is queen of the herd now,” she says.

Big Sandy Creek Dairy Farm

Big Sandy Creek Dairy Farm was established in 1947 when the girl’s grandparents came down from Connecticut to Georgia. The farm is located about an hour south of Atlanta. The family currently milks 80 Holstein cows and runs a well-established agritourism entity that provides school tours, summer camps and more.

Katelin shares that her mother is a schoolteacher and her father used to be a school bus driver for the local school and the family incorporated their love for education to engage more with their community to tell their dairy’s good story.

“My parents began noticing a disconnect in consumers and agricultural education with a lot of people not knowing where their food comes from,” she said.

The farm’s agritourism business has been going on for nearly two decades, although it paused after Hurricane Katrina, as people did not have the funds to do field trips. They opened their doors again seven years ago and have been part of the Adopt a Cow program for three years.

To watch the TNT segment featuring Big Sandy Creek Farm, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gt_l0b17JQ .

Meet 87-Year-Old Joan Kerns, A True Trailblazer Who Helped Carve Out A Niche For Her Family Nearly 60 Years Ago

Mon, 26 Feb 2024 22:06:28 GMT

Cut by cut. Slice by slice. Every detail counts for Edgewood Locker , a northeast Iowa-based business that’s been spliced together for nearly 60 years in 1966.

With no master plan, it started when Tom, a farmer, and Joan, a nurse at the time, were forced to find a new place to live.

“We were on his dad’s farm for five years when his dad announced he was going to sell the farm. He wanted us to buy it, but we could not afford to buy a huge farm back then,” Joan explains.

So, they found a farm to rent three miles outside of Edgewood, until an accidental fire on that farm sparked another change.

“Talk about an act of fate. We knew the lady who owned that farm was going to make us move, because she believed those stories that we started the fire,” Joan remembers. “Tom came home one day and said, ‘The locker in town is for sale.’ So, we bought it.”

It was that decision that changed the course for the Kerns family. Neither Joan nor Tom knew anything about running a meat locker, but they had the tenacity to make it work.

“Tom wanted to do the actual meat cutting and that sort of thing, and I was going to do all the books and the book work,” says Joan.

The business started out with minimal equipment: only a saw and a grinder at the locker. That didn’t stop the Kerns from seeing phenomenal growth.

“And every year we were in business, we grew. Every year we got bigger. And so, finally, we outgrew our plant,” she says.

The growth wasn’t always easy, and it didn’t come without financial hardships. Joan says the couple borrowed money to expand and grow six different times.

“But I remember, maybe the second or third time Tom said, ‘I’m going to go up to the bank tomorrow and borrow some money for the next addition,’ and I went up to do our daily banking that day. And the girl said, ‘Oh, we can give you the money.’ So, I borrowed the money, got back home and I told him. I said, ‘Well, I got the money borrowed for our new addition.’ Tom said, ‘They let a woman do that?’ That’s the way it was back then,” says Joan.

A Force of Nature

Joan’s son Terry will be the first to tell you how much his mom was a driving force behind the scenes, if she didn’t always get the credit she deserved.

“She’s kind of a force of nature, there’s no doubt about it, and probably even more so than anybody realizes,” says Terry, who’s one of two second-generation owners of Edgewood Locker.

What makes Joan’s role so essential to their growth is the fact Joan’s husband, Tom, was dyslexic. So behind the scenes, Joan handled the paperwork and books, all while raising four kids at home.

Bringing in the Second Generation Straight Out of High School

Joan is still a true trailblazer today, as the Kerns’ unconventional ways and business decisions also helped fuel the family operation.

“The boys had come into the locker business as they graduated from high school, which really let us dream bigger,” says Joan.

That was in the early 1980s. Tom and Joan didn’t just see their sons Terry and Jim as employees, they allowed the boys to buy into the business fresh out of high school.

“It wasn’t popular with their peers that they allowed Jim and me to buy in at such a young age, you know. They gave us a huge opportunity,” remembers Terry.

“And I think that’s why we grew as we did, because they were partners. They were going to be in this, and it made a big difference,” Joan says.

The growth has been impressive over the past 60 years, including building a new facility in the late 1990s that has seen even more expansion since.

“We built this business because she paid attention to detail. And she wanted to make sure it was done right. She still keeps us on our toes,” says Terry.

At 87-years-old, Joan is sharp, and attention to detail may still be one of her greatest strengths.

“She is not afraid to tell us when she thinks we’ve done something wrong,” says Terry.

Bringing in the Third Generation

While Joan doesn’t overlook the small things, she’s also the first to celebrate how much the family business has grown. It now includes four grandkids who have become part-owners.

“Oh my gosh, I did not see that coming. And they each bring their own experience, knowledge, their forte to the business,” says Joan.

“All of us in the third generation, all I feel have a very unique skill set, which allows all of us to bring something different to the table,” says Baili Maurer, one of Joan’s grandchildren who bought in as a third-generation owner.

“None of us really overlap much. We all have our own thing that we do, and it just works,” adds Katie, who’s also one of four grandchildren who are partners.

Katie and Bailli, along with Luke Kerns and Payson Kerns, are the third-generation owners of Edgewood Locker.

“They’ve got experience, they’ve got education in meat science in business. So, as fun as it was to grow with Mom and Dad adding Jim and me, this next generation really has the potential to do amazing things,” says Terry.

Third-Generation Growth

“We’re just doing what we can to take the business to a new level,” says Baili.

“We really expanded into wholesale stores and retail stores carrying our products. And we just keep going with what the second generation and first generation have been doing, as well,” adds Katie.

The growth is evident everywhere you turn. Construction in their retail and lobby area is a clear sign of even more progress.

“We had a major expansion of 19,000-square-feet that we’ve been in now a little over a year and a half, and I think it’s running well,” says Terry. “We remodeled our old processing facility and updated that, and it looks like brand new.”

The decision to expand and remodel their retail and lobby area was propelled by the busiest season for Edgewood Locker: deer season.

“I think last year, we did 3,700 whole-carcass deer, and then over 3,500 batches of boned-out deer that came in, so well over 7,000 different batches to jerky,” Terry says.

With that type of volume, Edgewood Locker has also been able to invest in bigger and better equipment.

“I’d like to say we had this great master plan, but we never had a real plan to say, ‘Well, next year, we’re going to get into wholesaling, or next year, we’re going to do this.’ We just kind of took it as it came. Something presented itself, we ran with it, and ran hard with a lot of it,” says Terry.

A Legacy Worth Sharing

With 130 full-time, part-time and seasonal employees, Edgewood Locker also offers other custom processing, and has products for sale, in more than 100 retail stores across Iowa. And it’s that side of the business the third generation has already helped expand.

“I hope we can just continue the legacy,” says Baili.

“I’m hopeful that we can just keep doing like we’re doing, keep growing where we can and keep expanding things and have it all set up for the fourth generation if they would like to join in someday,” Katie says.

Walls of awards are a product of what Joan and Tom started in 1966, but that isn’t what Joan is most proud of today. The greatest gift just may be the fourth generation and the chance to carry on a business that started on hopes and dreams.

At 16 Years Old, 7th-Gen Iowa Farmer Smashes the Mold as Family's First Female Farmer

Wed, 10 Jan 2024 20:25:48 GMT

Callee Pellett is breaking the mold when it comes to farming. Considering the majority of U.S. farmers today are male and nearly 60-years-old, the 16-year-old farmer in Atlantic, Iowa is not your typical farmer. And it’s how she’s blazing her own trail through drive and dedication, that makes Callee so unique.

According to the last Ag Census, there are 1.2 million female producers, which accounts for 36% of the total number of producers in the U.S. However, if you travel rural America during planting or harvest, it’s often rare you see a female behind the wheel of a tractor or combine. Callee is one of the exceptions.

It didn’t take her long to learn her calling in life, even if it meant she was the only girl.

“I don’t really remember a point that I was not on the farm,” says Callee. “I’ve always been out there, but I really started getting into it when I was like five or six.”

Even at a young age, it was hard to pull her out of the combine, because farming is right where she wanted to be. That love for farming is something Callee’s mom, Stacey, saw from her daughter early on.

“She has been daddy’s girl from day one, and I was daddy’s girl, too, growing up, so I understood that. I’ve always been very supportive of that,” says Stacey. “When Mike would be ready to leave for the farm, she was boots on and probably out the door before he was, and as she’s gotten older, she’s taken it upon herself to just learn more.”

It was then, that Callee didn’t realize being a female farmer wasn’t the norm, but once she got older, she started to notice she was one of the few females who want to farm.

With the support of her parents and grandparents, Callee took a big leap a little over a year ago. At the age of 15, she signed her first lease, the same piece of ground that her dad leased to get his start. The farm of nearly 20 acres is Callee’s crop, from start to finish.

“I make the decision on what crop I’m going to plant. I do my own anhydrous. I do my own planting, and I do my own harvesting,” says Callee.

She’s learned how to make those decisions by farming along her dad, Mike.

“I definitely use his expertise, because I’m not an agronomist, not having gone to school for that yet,” says Callee.

Callee will be the first to admit that some lessons in the field have been harder than others.

“I made the decision on what size rows to plant this year,” says Callee. “I asked him [Dad], and he said, ‘You make the decision.’”

And she did, the decision to plant 20-inch rows this year.

Learning by doing, means Callee’s dream of being a farmer is well underway.

“She’s really taken it upon herself to not just say, ‘Mom and dad, what do I do?’ To see that drive in her to say, ‘I want to do this,’ and then be willing to do the work to learn and earn it,” says Stacey.

The Balancing Act of School, Sports and Farming

No matter if it’s volleyball, softball or track season, or if she’s showing cattle for FFA, Callee has a lot on her plate as a junior in high school. Yet she’s still drawn to the farm, even when she’s not supposed to be.

“Last week, I said, ‘Hey, can you run dinner to dad?’ And she said, sure. And she has softball practice and has to be at the field at 5:45 in the morning, so I told her to not be out late,” says Stacey. “A little after 9 p.m., I called her and said, ‘Where are you?’ She said, ‘Mom, I’m planting, I know it’s late but I’m on my last round. I’ll be there soon.’ You can’t get mad at the fact that she went to the field and she’s out there planting.”

Long Line of Fierce Females, But Not Female Farmers

Callee has some great examples in her life. Whether it’s her grandparents or her parents, she comes from a long line of fierce females, but not female farmers.

There are 14 family members involved in the family operation. But only two of those are female: Callee and her mom. And only Callee is operating equipment, as well as planting and harvesting her own crop.

Last fall, Callee clocked 107 hours in the field. And the way the Pellett’s farm is set up, all 14 farm together, but each family member owns their own ground. Then, all of the equipment is shared, as it belongs to their separate equipment corporation.

“And then we bill each member of the family for their acres,” explains Stacey, who handles the finances for their operation. “We have a per acre fee for planting and a per acre fee for harvest. And that fee covers the ability to use the equipment on your farm, it covers the insurance, the fuel and the maintenance.”

Whoever works in the field, they then get a credit for those hours, to offset their equipment bill. Which means the more Callee works during harvest or in the spring, the more that can go toward her operating costs.

“Just like everybody else gets credit, her 107 hours was applied to her bill. It was more than her bill for the harvest charges. So, that credit carries over to the spring and will help cover her expenses for this spring,” says Stacey.

Learning From Her Mom

Callee is learning a lot already from making the decisions about what crop to grow and the inputs she needs to use, but she’s also learning a lot from her mom.

Stacey has a lot of titles on any given day. Not only does she handle the finances for their farm, but her full time job is with managing state public affairs in the Midwest and Northwest for John Deere. And when she’s not meeting with legislators or doing jobs around the farm, you’ll often find her at her kids’ sporting events

“My favorite title of all of them is mom, of course. I think probably any mom would say that, but that is by far my favorite title,” says Stacey.

Stacey and Mike also have a son named Carter, who’s preparing to graduate high school this month. Unlike Callee, he doesn’t have plans to farm.

“His comment would be, ‘I’m probably going to farm because that’s what all Pellet men do,’ and that’s what he just says, but in reality, farming has always been Callee’s thing,” says Stacey.

Some may view it as their roles are reversed, but Stacey knew sports is where Carter’s heart truly is.

“When he was young, he played with tractors, but by the time he was older, he had a ball in his hand, and he’s never changed that. He’s always been very focused on sports and athletics.”

Carter may not have plans to come back home and farm right now, but as Stacey knows, sometimes life has other plans.

“I had a list of things I would never do,” says Stacey. “I will never leave Texas. I will never live in Corpus Christi, Texas. I will never marry a farmer. There’s a lot more on there, and I’ve done every last one of them.”

Stacey is raising her kids to value work ethic, while also pursuing their passion, whether that’s on or off the farm. And no matter where life takes them, both Stacey and Mike know each day Callee is on the farm is a day full of lessons.

“Sometimes helping her to understand that it’s not always easy,” says Stacey. “She came into farming when corn was $7. Fertilizer prices were record high, as well. But we’re helping her understand that it’s not always going to be $7 corn and $14 beans.”

Callee is finishing up her junior year of high school, but she knows life lessons extend beyond the classroom, or farming the land. Many have come from her mom.

“There’s a lot of lessons that she’s taught me, but I think the biggest thing is balancing it all and making your priorities a thing, because that’s what I’ve watched her do,” says Callee.

7th Generation Farmer

Even at the ripe age of 16, being the seventh generation of this Iowa family farm is something Callee never takes for granted.

“Not all kids get this opportunity and get the opportunity to learn alongside multiple generations, so that’s really cool,” says Callee.

She plans to attend either Iowa State University or Kansas State University after graduating next year, which is proving to be an even harder decision on what career she wants to pursue.

“Then, when I’m done with school, I’ll come back here and I’ll farm,” says Callee.

Reflection on Mother’s Day

While Callee plans to farm, Carter will attend Iowa State in the fall, not majoring in agriculture. That’s perfectly fine for Stacey, as she’s raised two kids who are kind, charismatic and driven to succeed.

“I’m unbelievably proud, because as a parent, all you care about is building something that you can hand off to them, and we did,” says Stacey. “I also truly love the relationship that my in-laws get to have with our kids. I love that Carter has his own thing, and it doesn’t have to be farming, yet we can celebrate him being unbelievably successful in something other than this.”

As for Callee, she admits she’s a daddy’s girl. And she knows no matter the hurdle at hand, she can overcome it, something she’s steadily seen watching her mother’s way.

She Found Her Fiancé Clinging to Life After a Major Anhydrous Leak and Then Miraculously Helped Save Him

Fri, 15 Dec 2023 23:04:13 GMT

This story originally aired on U.S. Farm Report in December 2023. One year after the accident occurred, we are once again sharing the miraculous rescue during our 2024 Harvest of Thanks Special.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

It was calm across the rolling fields of central Iowa on Nov. 19, 2023. It was a Sunday, and Kendra Vander Leest says it was prime for fall fieldwork.

“Before lunch, Joe decided it was fit to pull ammonia,” Kendra says.

Her fiancé, Joe Rempe, spent all afternoon in the field that day applying anhydrous ammonia.

“When evening rolled around, I checked on his Life360 and everything seemed fine at that point.

About 7:30 p.m., she heard the tractor crawling toward the house. She thought it meant Joe was calling it quits for the night.

“I was in the kitchen making our daughter Josie’s bedtime bottle and prepping her bottles for daycare on Monday. I went to put her bottles in our daycare bag and happened to look up, out the window, and I saw the tractor and a plume of anhydrous smoke. At that point, it was like time started moving really slowly,” Kendra says.

A Giant Plume of Smoke

Seeing that plume of smoke, and knowing what it was, her heart dropped.

“I knew it was Joe,” she recalls. “I knew instantly it was Joe. I knew what I was seeing, but it was just surreal.”

Full of fear, she rushed to grab her phone.

“As I’m running up the steps, I’m thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s gone. There’s no way.’ As bad as that is, I thought there’s no way [he’s alive].”

She decided to call him, knowing Joe might not be alive to answer.

“I knew I couldn’t run out there into the plume. Otherwise, I would wind up dead or hurt. So, I called him and he answered,” she says.

“I think she said, ‘Joe!’ All I could say was ‘help me,’” he remembers.

“I hung up and called 911, but I knew by the way he said ‘help me’ he was badly hurt,” Kendra recalls.

The 911 Call

Farm Journal was able to track down the 911 call Kendra made that day.

“Pella 911, where’s your emergency?” says the dispatcher.

“We have an anhydrous ammonia accident,” Kendra says. “I need an ambulance. I need a HazMat crew. This is bad, bad.”

The 911 call even captured the moment Kendra ran outside her house and found Joe.

“I’m on the phone with 911. You need water? Oh, God,” you can hear Kendra say. “Just lay down. I’m going to get water. Lay down. I’m going to get water.”

“All right, he inhaled?” you can hear the 911 dispatch operator ask.

“Yes, his lungs are burned. He said his lungs are burning,” Kendra says.

“The tank is completely unloading, but there’s no houses nearby for anyone to get hurt. It’s, it’s bad,” she says.

Kendra Found Joe Clinging to Life

Kendra says when she rushed outside her house, she found Joe crawling on the gravel road, which was about 200 yards from the tractor. She says he was fighting for his life.

“I could hear him coughing. He was crawling toward the house, and as soon as he heard me, he just collapsed,” she says.

Kendra says the second she saw the plume of smoke, she immediately knew it was anhydrous. That’s because her full-time job is with the Iowa Department of Agriculture in the Feed and Fertilizer Bureau. Part of her job is conducting anhydrous ammonia inspections at retailer facilities across the state. From her training and experience, she knew exactly how bad the damage could be.

“He didn’t have any burns on his skin, so the water I grabbed didn’t really do any good. There was nothing for me to dump the water on. All his burns were internal in his nasal cavities, his throat, his lungs, those were all burned,” she says.

“I was badly luck burned inside,” Joe says.

Fire and rescue responded, and a Life Flight carried Joe to Des Moines. From there, he was transferred to Iowa City.

The Anhydrous Accident

As Kendra was driving to the hospital, she still didn’t know what had just transpired in the field. All she knew is Joe was applying anhydrous, something he’s done for nearly 30 years.

“I had just got hooked up to a new set of twins [anhydrous tanks],” Joe says.

Typically, the anhydrous tanks have a hose holder, but he says that pair of tanks they had received did not.

“So, I tried to put a loop on the hoses. Well, my hose must have come loose. And when I was turning on the corner, the left front tire of the twin tank must have run over my hose and then broke the front or pulled the threads out. And the hose came apart,” he says.

He was toward the back of a nearby field when he heard a pop, and gas immediately started shooting straight toward tractor.

“Gas was blowing right at me. It was hitting the back of the cab, the vapor, and going around the tractor,” Joe says.

He tried to turn different directions to change where the smoke was shooting, but he says there was no wind that day. So, it didn’t do any good.

“The whole field was turned into fog, and I knew I had to go to Plan B. I did not know what to do,” he says.

That’s when Joe decided his only option was to head toward the house, all while he couldn’t see and was losing his ability to breathe.

“I knew where the bottom terrace would come out, so I knew I could follow the terrace,” he remembers.

But as he got to a crossing that was in a low spot of the field, he says he couldn’t see anything.

“I lost where I was. I just drove by feel,” he remembers.

Somehow, Joe made it past the crossing, and at that point, the smoke cleared enough to see a gravel road.

“I came east towards the house, and when I crested the hill I was blacking out, because I was losing air. And I really thought I was pretty close to dying,” he says.

At that point, the tractor stopped moving. Inside the cab of the tractor, Joe’s eyes were already so badly burned, he couldn’t see his phone to call 911 or Kendra.

“And I remember I was so darn scared to get out of the tractor. I only pulled 1.1 acres off that tank, so I knew that sucker had a lot of anhydrous in it, and it kept blowing at the tractor. I was so scared to get out, but I knew I had to because it was my only choice.”

At that point, Joe put on a sweatshirt he had with him, as a way to protect his skin. He also grabbed a bottle of water he knew he had on the floor. After he climbed out of the tractor cab, he tried to run toward the house, but he quickly ran out of air.

“And I went down, so I started crawling,” he says.

Diagnosis: Extensive Internal Burns

When Joe was airlifted to a Des Moines hospital, Kendra says she still didn’t know if he was going to survive.

“Two doctors came in and told us what was going on. They told us they could not intubate him because his throat was swelling shut. And so they cut in a cricothyrotomy, which is an emergency trach, to get air to him,” she says.

The doctors used saline bags with tubes to try and flush his eyes out. Once in Iowa City, Kendra learned even more.

“When I got to Iowa City, they said that he had grade one to grade two burns in his sinus cavities, throat and deep into his lungs,” says Kendra. “It basically burnt his vocal cords, his voice box, and his mouth and tongue were completely swollen.”

Kendra says the anhydrous burned the outer-most layer of his eyes, and even today, Joe can’t see enough to read, nor can he stand bright light.

“The only thing the eye doctor said he can’t fix is the dry eyes. So, he’ll just take gel eyedrops forever, but considering everything that happened, we will take that,” she says.

Kendra Nursed Joe Back to Health

Joe spent 10 days in the hospital, but the real work for Kendra started when they sent Joe home.

“I have taken about a month off work, and the nurses trained me how to take care of him, how to administer his meds, and crush medications,” she says.

It’s something Kendra does every 45 minutes. A home health nurse comes twice a week, but the best nurse, Joe says, is Kendra.

“She’s…. good,” says Joe.

“She Saved Me.”

In this Christmas miracle, Joe knows Kendra is his angel.

“She saved me, there is no doubt in my mind,” he says.

In Joe’s eyes, November 19, 2023, is filled with many miracles, including Kendra seeing that something wasn’t right.

“If she was over there, or another spot, she wouldn’t have seen me. She had to be right there, and she happened to be looking [outside]. I would say there was about 15 to 20 miracles from that tractor to the corner of the yard, to Des Moines and to Iowa City.”

Joe fought for his life that day and now shares his story of survival.

“I started yelling to myself, in my head, ‘You cannot die. You cannot leave Kendra by herself,’” he says.

Joe’s story of survival is also thanks to Kendra, who’s cherishing the fact she can celebrate this Christmas with all their family.

At Just 22 Years Old, She's a Farmhand Who's Found Social Media Success In a Remarkable Way

Fri, 03 Nov 2023 15:28:14 GMT

From glimpses of harvest, to a peek at producing crops in the northern plains, anyone can follow “Ag with Emma” online, but it’s how the 22-year-old’s journey in agriculture started that is truly unique.

“There’s not a lot of people in my situation that can openly like travel to go network with people and see their farm and showcase what their family has built on generations,” Emma says. “And I just think it’s a really cool opportunity to be able to show that.”

There wasn’t a blueprint or playbook to follow. Instead, Ag With Emma was born out of a curiosity to share what she knew.

“I started sharing ag facts every day on my story like, ‘Oh, there’s only 10 GMOs,’ or ‘cows have four different stomach compartments.’ Then I decided I wanted to make that more of a public story, so I created a different social media account. “

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Emma (@agwithemma)

She says her grandparents then started asking questions about what she did at work. And that sparked another idea.

“Anyone can share an ag fact on the internet, but when you start personalizing those facts and your story, then that’s what really makes a difference with your audience and other people that want to learn about the industry,” she says.

Today, Ag With Emma’s YouTube account has more than 170,000 subscribers. Some of her videos have already racked up more than 32 million views .

“I never liked being in front of a camera,” Emma admits. “And I still kind of get shy about it. But since I use my phone, it’s kind of more natural.”

Nearly two years into her journey, taking risks and going the unconventional route has become Emma’s MO. She’s not a farmer’s daughter and didn’t grow up on a typical family farm. Instead, she was involved in agriculture various ways growing up, and she fell in love with it.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Emma (@agwithemma)

After high school, Emma went to a community college in southern Idaho to get her associate degree. She then took the logical next step and enrolled at a university.

“But once I got into the university stuff, I decided that because I was a transfer student, it’s always a little harder as a transfer student, and I just didn’t feel connected,” Emma says.

She describes it as feeling trapped. So, just a month into her second semester, she decided to drop out.

“There are so many people out here and so many people willing to take a chance on you and like, help you learn that you shouldn’t have to sit in a desk at school to pay for things you don’t like,” she says.

She left school and started working on a farm in southern Idaho. From there, she hopped into a different opportunity: working with a custom harvesting crew.

“My parents thought I was crazy. My parents always supported me, but they can still think you’re crazy,” she says. “I’ve always an been academically goal based kid with like a 4.0. I had a bunch of scholarships. So, when I dropped out, everyone was like, ‘Emma, what are you doing?’”

That risk she took nearly two years ago has turned into so many more opportunities than even Emma ever imagined.

“It’s just fun. And it’s cool,” Emma says. “I’m happy when I’m outdoors and working on a farm. And I love to work hard. So, when I’m home at the end of the day, and I’m exhausted, I love it. You get to learn new things all the time, because you never stop learning.

In that first year Emma started working on various farms and sharing her story, her journey was packed full with too many lessons and memories to even count.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Emma (@agwithemma)

“There’s just something about agriculture that you just learn so much about yourself and about life in general, but you just feel way more connected to your job,” she says.

Since leaving college in 2022, Emma’s worked on about seven different farming operations, but she’s also sprinkled other jobs throughout. And at each job, she shares a slice of life from each farm.

“There’s some farmers that are comfortable with it. Like, that’s part of the reason that I work here. And then there’s other farms that I work on that might not let me share it all, which is completely fine,” she says.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Emma (@agwithemma)

Emma’s already met so many different farmers and dabbled in agriculture in many different ways. She currently works on a farm in North Dakota, and this fall marks her first time harvesting sunflowers.

“I didn’t even know you harvest sunflowers with a combine but now I know,” Emma says with a smile. “I’ve been helping get them ready for sunflower harvest and you just learn as you go.”

It’s not just U.S. farms Emma is exploring and sharing. Last winter, she even took a trip to Australia.

“I went down the route after customer harvest was done. And then I went and harvested down there,” she says. “It kind of taught me about different things that farmers have to face in different areas.”

Emma still has big dreams, and her journey around the globe is just getting started.

“Even Canada is super different from coast to coast, and I also want to go to South Africa and Brazil. Those are the big ones,” he says.

Emma ultimately wants to operate equipment on all seven continents, but her ultimate goal is much bigger than that.

“Eventually, I want to get into owning something, or maybe doing some on my own. Maybe I’ll own farm ground, maybe I’ll start trucking. That’s the part of the Ag with Emma that I don’t limit down because, you know, it goes with the risk,” she says.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Emma (@agwithemma)

With each stop, and each farm, Emma’s constantly in motion, sharing it all, even if she knows this career comes with what she calls ‘calculated risks.’

“It’s definitely still risky. I have like weeks that I’m like, ‘What am I even doing?’ And then I think that I have to go do something else. So, every time I go to find new adventure, it’s a risk because you never know what’s going to happen. You never know what you’re going to learn. And you just have to calculate that risk and keep moving forward,” Emma says.

Tyne’s Women of Ag is a series to feature fierce females in agriculture. Read and watch more from the ongoing series sponsored by John Deere:

At 16 Years Old, 7th-Gen Iowa Farmer Smashes the Mold as Family’s First Female Farmer

From Father to Daughter: At Just 26 Years Old, Zoe Kent Took the Reins of Her Family’s Farm

She First Resented the Farm, But Her Husband Encouraged Her to Learn New Things, And She’s Now Inspiring Others

Saying Adios to Corporate Career, How Mary Pat Sass’ Leap of Faith is Now Inspiring Others Through Social Media

Pasture to Plate: A Culture-Driven Beef Business

Wed, 26 Jul 2023 17:09:52 GMT

The Ducheneaux family reconnects consumers with their food source

Kelsey Ducheneaux-Scott sat on her front porch, stared out across rolling pastures and thought, “What the hell did I do?” She had just heaved box after box into freezers in the living room, kitchen and laundry room — carefully dispensing 1,700 lb. of ground beef.

Exhausted from the haul (and hoping the circuits wouldn’t blow due to strategically placed freezers) Ducheneaux-Scott couldn’t believe the sheer amount of work before her. How was she going to sell so much grass-fed burger in three months, before her next butcher appointment? Anxiety and stress seeped in during that cold March night in 2020. Little did she know how quickly that product would move.

“COVID hit and there was no beef in any of our stores,” Ducheneaux-Scott recalls. “We sold out of that 1,700 lb. in a matter of three weeks. People realized how easily local grocery stores can be disrupted here in rural South Dakota.”

PASTURE TO PLATE

With a focus on feeding those around her, Ducheneaux-Scott is leading a transformation of her family’s operation. DX Ranch was established in the 1930s near Eagle Butte, S.D., on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation. It began with beef cattle and draft horses.

Today, Ducheneaux-Scott and her husband, Monte Scott, work alongside her family raising quarter horses and 280 head of cow-calf pairs in a regenerative production system.

“I am a fourth-generation rancher on DX Ranch, and I’m the 125th generation to steward this landscape,” Ducheneaux-Scott says. “We’ve focused on ensuring we’re not just thinking about the livestock above ground but also thinking about the livestock below ground.”

FATHER-DAUGHTER DUO

For her entire life, Ducheneaux-Scott has worked alongside her father, Zach Ducheneaux. That was until early 2021, when Ducheneaux was selected by the Biden administration to serve as the Farm Service Agency administrator (he received the call for the position while they were at the sale barn).

Luckily, Ducheneaux had prepared his daughter to be a leader on the ranch and in life. They are members of the Lakota tribe, which is a matriarchal society.

“My dad never let me think I couldn’t do something because I was a girl,” Ducheneaux-Scott says. “He empowered me to believe I could do things better because I was a girl and had a different perspective.”

After college, Ducheneaux-Scott wanted to be a rancher and bought into the family’s cowherd in 2016.

“I was obsessive in watching those calves grow that year,” she says. “I might as well have had names and birth certificates for every calf.”

After selling that calf crop, Ducheneaux-Scott headed back to the ranch and pondered the future.

“I drove through two counties that face food insecurity,” she says. “I thought, golly, the system is so broken. We have up to 80,000 head of cattle grazing on 3.2 million acres here on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation, and there isn’t any local beef being packaged and made available for purchase. The beef grown here is phenomenal, but none of us get to actually eat it.”

At home, she scribbled down a bunch of ideas and started a business plan. That plan morphed into DX Beef , which has a simple mission: Provide nutritious and local beef that improves its communities.

The direct-to-consumer business featuring their 100% grass-fed beef has expanded in the past two years and is helping the family move away from the commodity market model.

“For the first 90 years of our existence, we’d largely been victim to the commodity markets just like everyone else,” Ducheneaux says. “Behind the effort of Kelsey, in 2020, for the first time, we sold more beef in the box than we did on the hoof. A tremendous advocate for buying, selling and serving

locally, she’s found a way to provide healthier, grass-finished beef to our fellow reservation residents at a price they can afford.”

In 2019, the family sold 12 head of cattle through their business. In 2020, they sold close to 80. This year the total will top 110.

All beef is processed and mostly sold through their online store. To meet local needs, it is sold by the pound or portion of the whole beef. They even do wholesale orders for nearby restaurants.

CULTURE AND TRADITION

The hurdles of small-scale direct marketing are difficult to overcome. Yet Ducheneaux-Scott is seeing great success thanks to her marketing and organizational skills. Through storytelling, which is rooted in their Lakota culture, the family uses technology to share the story of their ranch and products.

“Family comes before the dollar in this operation,” Ducheneaux says. “We’re not solely about monetizing the value of that product, and we realize there are other values to our beef.”

Their story is shaped by their love and respect for the 7,000 acres of tribal land they manage through a tribal lease.

“I’m a grass and soil nerd,” Ducheneaux-Scott says. “Soil health is so critical to a resilient ecosystem. Our grazing system is focused on mimicking nature. This ecosystem evolved from having cloven-hoofed bison and other wildlife graze at a pace that allowed for a robust rest period, so we practice rotational grazing.”

The DX Ranch herd is an Angus base, influenced with breeds that will help the cattle handle the sometimes-brutal central South Dakota climate, Ducheneaux-Scott says. From changing their calving season to May to decrease cattle stress to steadily increasing soil health, the Ducheneaux family aims to work with Mother Nature.

“We have flexibility in our management so we can listen to what the landscape is telling us because she knows better than we do,” Ducheneaux-Scott says. “We

are simply another biological species that’s a part of this greater ecosystem.”

Listen as Kelsey Ducheneaux-Scott discusses her operation with Andrew McCrea on the “Farming the Countryside” podcast:

OTHERS BEFORE ONESELF

As a producer, business owner and member of her nation, Ducheneaux-Scott says she is driven by the opportunity and honor to feed others.

“I’ve come to appreciate having someone tell say your beef tasted good or how they brought their family together around our product,” she says. “Those are the experiences that make feeding cows in a blizzard, slopping through the mud to check calves and sleepless nights all worth it.”

Snapshot of DX Ranch

Operation: DX Ranch includes quarter horses and 280 head of cow-calf pairs in a regenerative production system on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation near Eagle Butte, S.D. The ranch is also home to DX Beef, a direct-to-consumer business featuring their 100% grass-fed beef.

Family: Following in the footsteps of her father, Zach Ducheneaux, Kelsey Ducheneaux-Scott is the fourth generation of her family to ranch. She and her husband, Monte Scott, work with several members of her family in the operation.

Leadership: Ducheneaux-Scott is the director of programs for the Intertribal Agriculture Council, which provides a voice for the Native American community on ag policy and programs. In 2021, Ducheneaux was selected to lead the Farm Service Agency, where he oversees 10,000 employees.

Travel to Gettysburg, S.D., and virtually visit DX Ranch.

Nominate the Nation's Best Female Farmers

Mon, 24 Jul 2023 15:48:48 GMT

The 2023 Executive Women in Agriculture Trailblazer Award will be given to a female producer who is a shining example for her peers. The winner will be an advocate for agriculture and represent an innovative farming or ranching operation.

Entrants are judged on agricultural advocacy (50%), farm business innovation (30%) and industry or community leadership (20%).

Learn more about the EWA Trailblazer Award Application .

To apply, complete the entry form below and attach your resume and two letters of reference from an industry peer, banker or agribusiness leader. Winners agree to be recognized in articles published in Top Producer magazine and online. Any financial information remains confidential unless entrants agree to its release.

The deadline to enter is Sept. 30, 2022.

PRIZES INCLUDE:

A trip for two to attend the Top Producer Summit in Nashville, Tenn. (Jan. 23-25)
Other prizes provided by award sponsors

Fill out the EWA Trailblazer Award Application.

Read about the 2021 winner, Jennie Schmidt of Sudlersville, Md.

Read about the 2020 winners, Shelly Boshart Davis and Macey Wessels of Tangent, Ore.

Read about the 2019 winner, April Hemmes of Hampton, Iowa

Questions? Contact Sara Schafer at 660-537-0587 or sschafer@farmjournal.com.

Are You Worried About Glufosinate Supplies in 2023? Good News. There Isn't a Shortage This Year

Fri, 03 Feb 2023 02:20:28 GMT

As farmers prepare to plant this spring, 2023 isn’t shaping up to be as much of a guessing game as last season in terms of some inputs and especially supplies of certain herbicides . Despite warnings from weed scientists last fall, BASF says the company isn’t seeing a shortage of glufosinate this year.

2022 posed continuous supply chain challenges in just about every sector of agriculture, and glufosinate and glyphosate were hot topics. When farmers reported problems finding certain herbicides in 2022, they resorted to plan B or C for weed control.

However, 2023 is starting off on a much better foot, according to Kate Greif, senior marketing strategy lead for BASF.

“We’re happy to tell you, we feel very confident in our ability to see an increase in supply of Liberty for the 2023 growing season,” Greif told Farm Journal.

Related Story: $100 an Acre Herbicide Costs Won’t be Unusual Next Season

Greif points out growers still need to talk to their local retailers, but on a national level, the situation has significantly improved in a year.

“It’s also all about shipping and logistics,” Greif adds. “Industry wide, the majority of Liberty and many of our products get sprayed in a very short window in a calendar season. So, what we’re really focused on doing as an organization is expanding our shipping windows. We do have product moving throughout the entire year, rather than trying to get it just in time to the farmers at the time when they need it.”

It wasn’t just active ingredients that posed sourcing problems last year. Greif says the supply chain issues even hit things you wouldn’t expect, like the packaging of those products.

“We saw things as simple as problems getting caps for jobs in the last few years. And so really what we’ve learned from that is plan earlier, plan more often,” says Greif. “And then ultimately, we’ve built a lot of contingency plans within our production systems to ensure that we’re going to be able to get these products to farmers and to get them to them on a timely basis.”

Related Story: Manufacturers Explain Supply Challenges In Crop Protection

While the supply chain on the chemical side is shaping up to be better than last year, it’s also good news for growers trying to lock in all tools they need to combat tough-to-control weeds.

“We absolutely are seeing where there’s going to be more availability to phosphonate this year and at this point, based on our forecast, enough to be able to meet the market demand,” she adds.

Related Story: Expert Warns Key Herbicides Will be in Short Supply Again in 2023

Is it Too Late to Control Tar Spot Now Spreading in Your Fields? Purdue Expert Provides Answers

Fri, 03 Feb 2023 02:10:23 GMT

An aerial view of Indiana’s corn crop this year shows lush green fields just before harvest, a welcome sight after signs and concerns about drought this summer.

“Luckily, because of the dry conditions we had at the end of June and middle of July, it slowed the diseases down that we worried about,” says Darcy Telenko, assistant professor field crop extension pathologist at Purdue University .

Telenko not only studies various plant diseases and the timing of when those diseases sprout in fields, but also how and when fungicide applications can help control those diseases.

She says while dryness caused concern about yield impacts, it was a welcome change in terms of battling plant diseases for Indiana farmers. Rains and other factors caused conditions ripe for increasing disease pressure in Indiana the past few years, specifically tar spot .

“In 2021, the problem was the disease started about July 3 or July 4,” she says.

Tar Spot Had a Late Start in 2022

Telenko digs into multiple corn diseases, and while the first sign of tar spot was reported around August 15 in Indiana this year, the yield hit that some growers saw in 2021 is something that continued to to haunt their management decisions this year.

“When we first started seeing tar spot several years ago, we gave an estimate about 20 to 60 bushels per acre is the [yield loss] we saw, but I bet there were fields last year that had 50% yield losses,” she adds.

Telenko says in years where the disease pops up earlier, multiple cycles then occur after that during the growing season.

“When it starts early, it’s going to shut down those leaves and lead to rapid blighting, and if we’re not to that black layer timeframe, then we’re going to lose some of that weight in that that ear,” says Telenko.

Why Tar Spot is So Difficult to Control

Tar spot starts in the leaf, and once it consumes the leaf material, the plant shuts down all the leaves that are working to feed the ear and fill the grain.

“The problem is with this disease is compared to the others is it changes rapidly, we go from having nice green corn, you may have 10% or 5% infection and you don’t know what’s there to two weeks later, the corn is brown,” says Telenko.

But even then, she says fighting the disease with fungicide can only happen if the timing of that application is right.

“If you’ve had a consistent problem with it, maybe you need to be ready to put a fungicide out,” she says. “Our work has shown we can go with that standard timing that we go with gray leaf spot at that VT stage, that early tassel to silking. That timing can provide some good yield protection.”

When to Apply Fungicide

She says automatically apply fungicide at the same time every year may not be necessary if the disease pressure hasn’t popped up yet, or started appearing earlier than normal. That’s why she suggests farmers be proactive and possibly shift their fungicide applications earlier or later, depending on the window of when the disease pressure hits.

“And last year was one of the years where we could have gone earlier with a late vegetative application and maybe come back in with a second application and protected yield,” says Telenko. “This year, because it came in too late, we may have been able to wait and hold on to our applications and maybe only needed one application to get us to the end of the season.”

Even if you find growing tar spot pressure as late as September, just like growers in Indiana are seeing this year, Telenko says research shows it’s too late to apply fungicide.

“If we’re beyond R3, so the early milk stages of the corn, we’re not recommending a fungicide application,” she says. “The timing applications that i’ve looked at when we went out at our four and our five really didn’t slow the disease down really didn’t give us that yield protection that we were looking for.”

How Widespread Is Tar Spot?

This map shows tar spot has mainly been concentrated in the upper Midwest, with pockets even on the east coast and southern Georgia, proving tar spot isn’t just a problem Indiana farmers are facing. That’s why Telenko is also researching whether aerial versus ground fungicide applications show any difference for battling disease pressure like tar spot.

“In some of the work that I and others have done, it doesn’t matter as long as you get in the product where it needs to be within that canopy. This disease is going to show you, though, and find those areas that were skipped, or we didn’t get enough coverage down. This is the one disease it’s going to test all the application equipment,” says Telenko.

From evaluating fungicide efficacy to a NIFA care grant looking at irrigation timing and the impact it could have on the amount of disease pressure farmers face, Telenko’s research is already reaching beyond these Indiana fields as growers already work toward plans to play offense against potential diseases next year.

“We’ve shown that it least over winters for one year in the plant debris,” says Telenko. “We don’t know if it’s more than one year. So I’ve been in fields here in Indiana before where we really had a widespread epidemic, where the the field had tar spot in the previous corn with soybean corn rotation. So, it is survived at least a couple years before the disease ramped up and caused yield losses,” she says.

Telenko advises producers to know the risk on their own farm, and that may vary by field. She says that will help growers prepare for the next growing season.

Why a New App Designed by Iowa State Could Be a Game Changer to Identify and Diagnose Unwanted Pests

Fri, 03 Feb 2023 02:09:49 GMT

In fields across Iowa, unwanted pests are on the prowl year after year, but a new app could help farmers not only detect which pests are in their field, but also give insights on how to treat the field if it’s a yield-robbing pest.

“It is the first of its kind in the sense we are trying to cater the needs of farmer by putting these management practices or strategies linked with insect detection,” says Arti Singh, assistant professor in Department of Agronomy at Iowa State University.

The main goal is to make pest management simpler, which is why the app is a one-stop shop that first identifies the pest, but also gives management advice by recommending on next steps.

“They go into a field, they take a picture, and in real time, it tells them which insect it is, whether it’s a beneficial insect or if it’s a harmful insect,” she adds. “It also gives them the scientific name and common name of the insect.”

The app is already able to identify 2,000 different insects today, but by early next year, it will have the capability detecting and diagnosing more than 4,000 pests. The growth of the app’s capability is being driven by the power of artificial intelligence.

“We use a concept called deep learning, which is the subset of artificial intelligence, where we collect these images, and we pass it through a network, if you will, and the network is essentially extracting all different kinds of features of this of the images and then making a decision on which insect class it belongs to,” says Baskar Ganapathysubramanian, professor associate chair for Research Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University.

In order to double the amount of insects it can detect by early next year, millions of images will need to be collected, a process that’s already underway.

“I think the large amount of data that we have been collecting, both from sensors, from images, from drones and from citizen scientists, has provided a wonderful opportunity for us to train new kinds of artificial intelligence models on this data so that we can facilitate decision support and enable farmers to do what they do better, faster and easier way,” says Ganapathysubramanian.

While creating a pest identification has a goal of simplicity for the end user, the data on the front end can be noisy.

“Different people use different kinds of cameras, different people use different kinds of phones, at different locations in different resolutions,” says Ganapathysubramanian. “So, how do you account for all those things while you design insect detection app is something that we have to deal with.”

Another challenge is the sheer amount of data that the app will need to process. Ganapathysubramanian says some pests will have more than 100,000 images, while other insects may only have 20 photos, and many of those pests have similar characteristics.

“There are also some beetles that looks very, very similar, but they actually belong to different class, so how do you distinguish between two similar looking images, but they actually belong to wildly different classes where one class could be a beneficial pest insect and the other class could be actually a pest, or perhaps an invasive species.”

While artificial intelligence is key, the human element is still a vital piece of the puzzle. However, the sheer amount of data creates a challenge with sorting through all the data.

“You have lot of images, it takes an entomologist, actually to decide what it each individual image, which class it belongs to, but if we have 20 million images like these, it’s difficult for an entomologist to go and look at and rank and read each individual image,” explains Ganapathysubramanian.

The app will help farmers solve pest problems not only today, but also tomorrow, as deep learning continues to evolve with the pests and diseases farmers face.

“We don’t know about these new crops which insect pests or diseases can be a problem, says Singh. “If we have this library of insect pests, and we can use the smartphone app to identify in a timely way and mitigate, I think this will be a game changer for farmers.”

While the app is off to a strong start, the researchers say their work is far from over, as the technology could soon harvest solutions across the U.S. And the researchers say it’s because artificial intelligence, data science and the large amount of data that they’re collecting, are coming together to provide real-time insight and solutions for farmers.

Farmers Faced with Yields Cut in Half, Missy Bauer's 3 Tips to Salvage Fields Tormented By Tar Spot

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 23:25:04 GMT

Tar spot is tearing through Midwest cornfields, causing quick maturity and a massive reduction in yields in some corn hybrids. The corn disease shows up as small, raised black spots scattered across corn leaves. When conditions are right, it causes susceptible hybrids to suffer severe yield loss, a problem that’s playing out across the Midwest this year.

“There are a lot of fields with heavy tar spot pressure, which caused premature plant death. The earlier the fields died, the bigger the yield reduction we’re seeing now,” says Missy Bauer of B&M Crop Consulting , who’s also Farm Journal’s Associate Field Agronomist. “We are hearing a lot of reports of 60 up to even 100 bushel per acre yield hits, where these plants really got killed prematurely from the tar spot.”

Bauer says the high humidity and wetter conditions this summer were two factors that fueled an environment for tar spot to explode.

First documented in the U.S. in 2015, the plant disease is fairly new, but the issue started surfacing in August this year. And heading into harvest, Bauer says it’s almost unbelievable to see how big of an impact tar spot is having on yields. In some cases, she’s seen irrigated corn fields yielding half of what the farmer would normally see. And she says it’s all rooted in kernel size, not ear size.

“Most of the ear size as far as kernel count has been really similar to previous years. Our issue is we had no plant health, no plant greenness to actually fill these kernels,” Bauer says, standing in a field impacted by tar spot. “When you think about kernel size, and kernels per bushel, we have a huge difference between where this tar spot has prematurely killed these plants.”

The Harvest Dilemma

Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie says the amount of tar spot in Illinois fields is unprecedented. In a recent “ Boots in the Field Report ,” he pointed out heavily infected fields, particularly those with D hybrids, have essentially progressed from August 31 to October 31, roughly a week’s span – and not in a good way.

Irrigated farm fields in Michigan that showed a lot of promise heading into harvest are quickly seeing the storyline change. USDA’s latest Crop Progress Report shows 2% of the Michigan corn crop is harvested, one point ahead of average. And how quickly a field can be harvested may be the difference in salvaging what’s left, versus losing even more crop in the field.

“What we’re trying to do from here is really just prevent harvest disasters as far as down corn,” explains Bauer. “A lot of this corn is starting to go down, because there’s no integrity left in the stalks. We’re just one more storm or one more wind event away from a lot more corn falling down. So, what you need to do is get out and do some scouting and prioritize your harvest plan for which fields are getting harvested first.”

Three Steps to Prioritize Harvest and Minimize Yield Loss

Bauer says there are three main tests a farmer should be doing if he or she sees tar spot in the field.

The first step is to split the actual stalks open to gauge stalk health, says Bauer.

“When you split these stalks open this time of the year, we should still see some integrity down in these stalks,” Bauer says, showing a stalk she split open. “You can see that there’s still some plant juices down in here, so it’s not what we call cannibalized. If it’s cannibalized, it has turned into Styrofoam appearance and there’s no integrity left in here.”

The second step is to do what Bauer calls the “pinch test.”

“Down here at the base of these plants, just take your thumb and your fingers here and try to pinch these together, and you can hear that crack, and a lot of these out here in this particular field are doing that,” she says.

Another key test, the “push test,” can help farmers see which hybrids are more susceptible to falling over due to tar spot.

“You grab the plant right about the height of the ear, and I want you to extend the stalk over toward the other row a full arm length, says Bauer. “When these are just snapping off, and they’re not coming back at us, then we know we’ve got a greater potential for that down corn. You can see here, I’ve got several in a row that are just snapping off. That’s not what we want to see right now at the front side of harvest, being that we’re still in September.”

Bauer says the extent of the damage from tar spot is very hybrid specific, but by farmers scouting fields and seeing which fields are more susceptible to falling down, it will help them prioritize their field harvest order. At this point, Bauer says that’s the best recommendation to avoid even more yield loss in fields.

USDA Deputy Secretary Jewel Bronaugh Exits to Spend More Time With Family

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 21:25:34 GMT

USDA’s second-highest ranking executive, Jewel Bronaugh, announced her resignation on Thursday as Agriculture Deputy Secretary. In a statement , she said she’s looking forward to taking some time off to spend more quality time with her mom, husband and four children.

Bronaugh was confirmed by the Senate to the post in May 2021 after serving as Virginia’s agriculture director for three years.

“Serving in the Biden-Harris Administration and having the opportunity to make history alongside Secretary Vilsack has truly been the greatest honor of my professional career. I continue to be in awe of all we have accomplished during these first two years,” Bronaugh said in a statement . “We are making historic investments in advancing equity and opportunity at USDA and have significantly bolstered food assistance programs to support those most in need. We are helping U.S. agriculture lead the way in climate-smart agriculture, opening more, new and better markets for our producers through trade missions to the UK and East Africa and other partner nations across the world and we are providing new and unprecedented support for underserved producers and rural communities. “

She noted other achievements including USDA’s first-ever Equity Commission, which will leave a lasting imprint for generations to come.

“Undersecretary Bronaugh was always available to listen to the concerns of the meat and poultry industry. I appreciate her establishing open lines of communication from day one. She will be missed at the Department but I look forward to working with her as she begins her next chapter,” said North American Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts.

Deputy Secretary Bronaugh’s time at the Department of Agriculture was historic, serving as the first African American woman in the role, said Ranking Member of the House Agriculture Committee David Scott.

“During her time as Deputy, she uplifted American agriculture and our rural communities, something she has long done throughout her career. She is a wonderful champion for our food and agriculture sectors in this country, and I offer my sincere gratitude for her service,” Scott said in a statement .

Bronaugh encouraged the next generation of agriculture leaders in her statement to keep working hard and dreaming big.

From Raising Cattle to Now Reindeer, How One Family is Sharing the Magic Of Christmas On Their Farm

Fri, 23 Dec 2022 20:30:01 GMT

“Rudolph the Red-nose Reindeer” is a song that captured kids’ hearts when it first topped the charts in 1949. It then became a television special hit 15 years later, and it’s still a Christmas-hit today.

Unlike the fictional characters in the movie and songs, reindeer at Prescott Family Reindeer Farm are actually real.

“We obviously have our real reindeer, Noel and Tinsel,” says Sara Prescott, owner of Prescott Family Reindeer Farm.

She says the fact reindeer do exist is one of the biggest misconceptions of reindeer today.

“We have people that come up all the time and say, okay, but what are these, and we tell them they are real reindeer,” she says.

Rooted in Family and a Desire to Spread Christmas Cheer

Prescott will tell you the story behind their reindeer farm is magical, but it all starts with family.

“Being on a family farm means a lot of different things,” she says. “To us, it means tradition, it means building something together as a family.”

That’s exactly what the Prescotts do each year as their farm of 240 acres in Vanzandt, Mo. is rooted in a deep desire to give everyone a full Christmas experience.

“They’re very stout, hearty animals,” says Prescott “So, we wanted it not to just be a petting zoo, but we wanted you to be able to fall in love with our animals, just the way that we do.”

The Journey South

It all started three years ago when the Prescotts moved to southern Missouri from central Illinois.

“While we were in central Illinois, we did a ton of educational opportunities for people to come out to the farm and share our story, visit with the animals,” she says. “And when we moved here, we wanted to expand on that.”

The Prescotts were well equipped for raising beef cattle. Afterall, that’s what their family had always done, but when they moved, they decided to venture into something new.

“We didn’t want to impose on other businesses here in our local area. So we really tried to find a different niche market. And honestly, reindeer were perfect,” she says.

The Prescotts love their reindeer. That passion for raising reindeer was a gift during a visit to another farm in Illinois.

“Our reindeer process actually started five years ago in Canton, Illinois when we visited our first reindeer farm, and that was the Snowman’s Reindeer Farm , and they are amazing people and they actually helped us to fall in love with reindeer just on our visit there.”

From Cattle to Reindeer

When the Prescotts moved to Missouri, Sara started researching how to raise reindeer, and she quickly discovered it was a natural fit for their family farm.

“We raise the reindeer very much like we raise the cattle,” she says. “I would say the biggest difference between cows and reindeer are the cattle don’t love it when it’s zero degrees. But the reindeer, that’s their happiest time.”

Cattle and reindeer are both ruminant animals, but reindeer just prefer to eat different treats.

“Our reindeer actually are not on grass. Reindeer actually don’t eat much grass,” she says. “Their main diet out in nature would be a lot more leaves and sticks, that kind of stuff that they’re looking for.”

Her Pampered Pets

Sara calls them her pampered pets, with big fans and pools to play in during the heat of the summer, but as you can imagine, it’s in the winter months that these reindeer really shine.

“We’re super excited that Santa and Mrs. Claus join us each weekend from the North Pole. They come down obviously to visit with the reindeer. We hope that Noel and Tinsel will make the flight team this year and be able to be flying around for Christmas Eve.”

Magical Christmas Experience on the Farm

With both Santa and Mrs. Claus on the farm, plus photo props and other fun activities around the farm, the Prescotts work each winter to bring others an enchanting experience.

“We also have crafts, a gift shop, you can write letters to Santa, hot cocoa, games; basically, all the things that you need to check off your Christmas tradition list,” she says.

This experience isn’t created overnight. The Prescotts and their three kids start decorating for Christmas in July, all in hopes of sharing their passion for raising reindeer and help others make memories in the most magical way.