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May 8, 2007
· Farm newsman booted in wake of Monsanto expose
· Locally grown replacing organics in popularity
· Dole puts another 5000 acres on the market
· WGA, Bayer unite in Green Field Alliance program
·
Fuel, input costs are up, but so are tomato prices
Farm newsman booted in wake of Monsanto expose
(AlterNet.com) By Russell Mokhiber
If you have heard of Learfield
Communications, it is probably from listening to college football and
basketball games.
The
But it also produces news programming heard
throughout the farm belt.
Learfield was started 35 years ago by Clyde Lear and Derry
Brownfield.
Lear went on to be the chairman of the
company. He bought out his friend and partner Brownfield in 1985.
Brownfield went on to do market news reports
for the Learfield news division until 1997 or so,
when he started broadcasting a daily call-in show called The Common Sense
Coalition.
Derry Brownfield would broadcast The Common
Sense Coalition from the studios of Learfield
Communications.
Learfield would subsidize the program and allow Brownfield to
use its studios and satellite hook-up.
Monsanto happens to be a big advertiser of
the Learfield news division — to the tune of hundreds
of thousands of dollars a year.
Brownfield happens to think that Monsanto is
an evil corporation.
Therein lies the
rub.
For weeks, Brownfield had been ripping
Monsanto on air for its policies of enforcing its seed patents against farmers.
On the April 16 show, Brownfield’s topic was seed industry
concentration in
His guests were Fred Stokes, president of the
Organization for Competitive Markets, and Michael Stumo,
general counsel of the group.
Stokes and Stumo
were promoting a new project to study corporate concentration in the seed
industry.
Monsanto is the dominant player in the global
seed industry and has a reputation for playing rough.
On air, Brownfield quoted from a newly
published Vanity Fair article titled “Monsanto’s Harvest of Fear” by Donald Barlett and James Steele.
“Monsanto relies on a shadowy army of private
investigators and agents in the American heartland to strike fear into farm
country,” Barlett and Steele write. “They fan out
into fields and farm towns, where they secretly videotape and photograph
farmers, store owners, and co-ops, infiltrate community meetings, and gather
information from informants about farming activities. Farmers say that some
Monsanto agents pretend to be surveyors. Others confront farmers on their land
and try to pressure them to sign papers giving Monsanto access to their private
records. Farmers call them the 'seed police’ and use words such as 'Gestapo’
and 'Mafia’ to describe their tactics.”
After reading from the Vanity Fair
article, Brownfield then begins to riff on the Mafia theme.
“Multinational corporations are doing
everything possible to change agriculture — and not for the better,” Brownfield
says on the show. “I know a little bit about this — not a lot, just a little
bit — but Monsanto literally they have Mafia goons out, do they not? They show
up on farmers’ property, they try and harass them, they say if you don’t sign
this, we are going to take you to court. They have literally tried to destroy
agriculture as we know it. They have a goon squad. Maybe that’s not what they
like to be called. But if it was the Mafia, we would call them the goon squad.”
Calling Monsanto’s patent enforcers goons was
apparently the straw that broke this camel’s back.
Brownfield’s stint at Dearfield
was about to end.
Last week, Brownfield was told that he could
no longer broadcast out of the Dearfield studios. His
buddy, Clyde Lear, posted a blog on the Learfield web site
saying that Brownfield’s last show will be in mid-May.
“The Common Sense Coalition grinds to a halt
on our system,” Lear wrote.
“Most of his listeners loved him as did his
affiliates,” Lear wrote about his buddy. “He didn’t mind controversy or taking
on giants like the Monsanto Corporation. He thought they were bad for farmers,
too big for their britches and generally bad for
And then later, in response to listeners who
were upset that Brownfield was being let go, Lear wrote:
“Some seem to think the reason
But in an interview with Corporate Crime
Reporter, Lear admits that the Monsanto issue is what drove his buddy
Brownfield out.
“If the Monsanto issue had not come up, we
would not be here today,” Lear said.
Lear said that the President of Learfield Communications, Roger Gardner, talked recently
with John Raines, Monsanto’s director of public affairs.
“John Raines talked to Roger Gardner about
the difficulties they felt Brownfield is giving them,” Lear said. “(
“The pressure I got came from the president
of the news division, Stan Koenigsfeld,” Lear said.
“Stan is the guy that has responsibility for selling and maintaining the
financial viability of our news division. Stan is a no nonsense guy. So, Stan
comes in and says — why are we doing this? Why do we continue to do this? We
give him all of these things and he spits in our face by lambasting our good
advertisers, without giving them an opportunity for fair and balanced
reporting. And it is not reporting — it’s just entertainment. Why do we
continue to do this?”
Lear says that the complaints have been
mounting over the past five years about Brownfield.
“And I’ve been saying to Stan, settle down,
it will all be alright,” Lear said. “But I imagine Stan is getting a lot of
pressure from his sales executives. We have three that call on Monsanto for
different products. And I would assume that he is getting pressure from those
sales executives. When those sales executives call on Monsanto, Monsanto is
complaining to the sales executives. That is where the connection happens. But
you would have to talk to them about the kind of leverage Monsanto is putting
on them. They have never to my knowledge threatened to pull any advertising.”
Lear finally confronted Brownfield.
“I went to him and said —
Lear said he was the only one in the company
who could approach Brownfield.
“I’m the only one who can talk to him,” Lear
said. “No one else in the company will go to him. He is kind of persona non
grata. He is one of the guys who helped start the company years ago. He was my
partner for years until 1985 when I bought him out. He is a dear friend of
mine. So, there is no one else — all of the rest of the guys are half my age.
They won’t go to him. They are afraid of him. They just won’t go and talk to
him.”
“They all came to me and said — go talk to
“We have explained to Monsanto, in any way we
can, that the Brownfield Network has nothing to do with
“And they ask — how else do you help him? If
he weren’t doing the show, would this problem disappear?”
“So my guys came to me and said — we’ve got
to do something about this.”
“So, I went in to
“He said — '
“So, I said — will you let Monsanto be on the
air? And he said — I’m not going to give them a forum. But then he changed his
mind and said — yeah, bring them on. I’ll let them on
the show.”
Lear then went to hole up with his
executives. And his execs told him — “It’s bigger than this now. We just don’t
need to be associated with him.”
“So, I just walked back there and said to
Given that he was willing put Monsanto on his
show, why not keep him on?
“Maybe we should have,” Lear said.
Would you reconsider your decision?
“I don’t think so,” Lear says. “It is just
not a business I want to be in anymore.”
Lear says he feels sad about parting with his
old buddy, but he wants to help set up an internet radio studio for Derry out
of
“We are helping him build a new facility in
his home,” Lear says. “But we won’t have a connection to him. Then we can
easily say to Monsanto — we don’t have a thing to do with
Brownfield said he couldn’t comment on the
situation until after May 30.
Russell Mokhiber
is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Crime
Reporter.
Locally grown replacing organics in popularity
(progressivegrocer.com) – This year, shoppers are opting to
choose locally grown produce over organic alternatives, according to the 16th
annual Shopping for Health 2008 survey released yesterday by the Food Marketing
Institute (FMI) and Prevention at the FMI Show in
"Shoppers' new interest in locally grown food reflects their strong desire
to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables," said Cary Silvers, director of
consumer insights for Rodale, the publisher of Prevention, who presented the
findings at the FMI Show. "The battle between organic and locally grown
represents who shoppers believe can deliver the freshest produce."
Meanwhile consumers who once purchased organic but no longer do cited the
following reasons for their change in behavior:
-- 70 percent say it's too expensive.
-- 39 percent cite the lack of perceivable difference between organic and
nonorganic foods.
-- 33 percent are concerned about the safety of organic produce.
In addition to the findings on local and organic trends, the study revealed
some of the "product swaps" consumers make to try and eat healthier.
The swaps that consumers say they would make include:
-- Healthier alternatives in the same product category, for example, those with
less fat or fewer calories. Consumers reported they would purchase healthier
salad dressings (41 percent), potato chips (36 percent), and ice cream (27
percent).
-- 100-calorie packs of cookies: 23 percent said they would purchase this over
any other alternative, but 20 percent of cookie-eaters would not change their
habits at all.
--Drink less soda: 29 percent of consumers choose this alternative, but 28
percent would not change their consumption.
Other findings from the report include the following:
-- More than one in three shoppers (38 percent) said they had started a diet in
2007.
-- Two-thirds (66 percent) of these shoppers were still on a diet by November
2007.
-- More than half of dieters (57 percent) said they are on no specific diet
regimen; theare merely watching their calories.
The 2008 Shopping for Health survey of
Dole puts another 5000 acres on the market
(honoluluadvertiser.com) – Dole Food Co. has expanded its
effort to raise cash by selling
Dole spokesman Marty Ordman and CB Richard Ellis
officials declined to identify the property except to say it is in Central O'ahu. Most, if not all, of Dole's Central O'ahu land is in
None of the land being put up for sale is farmed by Dole, which grows
pineapples on 2,700 acres, and coffee and cacao on an additional 195 acres. The
company owned by billionaire David Murdock has said it intends to continue its
agricultural operations in
O'ahu land held for sale by Dole represents roughly
25 percent of what the company owns on the island, most of which is
pastureland, part of the forestry reserve or leased to others largely for farm
use.
According to the most recent information from the state Data Book in 2006, Dole
was the seventh-largest
Dole's land sale plan on O'ahu will add to thousands
of acres of agricultural land in the state that has been on the market or sold
in recent years. Much of the prior selloff was the result of major pineapple
producer Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. shutting down local operations in 2006.
After Florida-based Del Monte quit pineapple production in
Dole's move to sell land also is occurring outside
Last year, the company reported a net loss of $58 million on revenue of $6.9
billion, down from a $90 million loss on revenue of $6.2 billion in 2006. To
raise cash, Dole last year sold $41.7 million of assets, and at the end of last
year held another $76.2 million in assets for sale, including a fresh-cut
flower distribution facility in
WGA, Bayer unite in Green Field Alliance
(Wire Services) – The United Fresh 2008 brought together
representatives of the fresh fruit and vegetable industry in
“Based on our food chain partnership philosophy, we are initiating and
supporting activities to facilitate partnerships for the benefit of all players
in the food chain - from field to fork”, said Gregg Storey, food chain
relations manager at Bayer CropScience LP. “In the
Green Field
“The goal of this unique partnership is to enhance the value programs and
services that are vital to the growth and success of Western Grower’s members”,
said Brent Crossland, Marketing Manager at Bayer
CropScience.
A percentage of every Bayer CropScience product sale purchased by Western
Grower members will go directly to the Green Field Alliance Funds. This funding
facilitates the dissemination of scientific and technical information to members,
staff, policy makers and the public. The funds are also used to tackle four
priority issues for Western Growers: food safety, federal farm policy,
immigration and transportation.
“It is safe to say that the Green Field Alliance partnership has helped to
effectively advance the health and vitality of the American produce industry
and that Bayer CropScience, through its financial commitments, is a solid and
unparalleled partner in these efforts”, said Hank Giclas,
Vice President, Strategic Planning, Science &
Technology Western Growers.
Integrated crop protection for high
quality fruit and vegetable production
Bayer CropScience has initiated food chain partnerships in various crops in
many countries worldwide. “A wide range of affordable, high quality fruits and
vegetables available all year round provides the basis for healthy nutrition”,
explained Storey. “We look forward to launching further food chain partnership
projects in additional crops and countries.”
Bayer CropScience supports integrated crop production according to good
agricultural practice as an important element of sustainable agriculture. The
solutions offered by Bayer CropScience in food chain partnership projects
include activities such as the development and implementation of integrated
crop protection tailored to meet local requirements and support for growers in
the production of high quality fruits and vegetables. Company experts provide
importers and exporters with information on international trading standards
relating to crop protection and help to avoid trade barriers.
Fuel, input costs are up, but so are tomato prices
(cfbf.com) – As
"The price of processing
tomatoes has gone up 11 percent since last year, so we're hopeful that we'll
have a good crop to end up on the positive side," said Tony Turkovich of Button and Turkovich,
a farming operation near Winters in Yolo County.
Turkovich grows 1,200 acres of conventional and
organic tomatoes. He produces canning tomatoes for Pacific Coast Producers in
The
average base price of processing tomatoes is $70 per ton this year, compared to
$63 per ton in 2007, said Ross Siragusa, president of
the Sacramento-based California Tomato Growers Association. "It's $70 and
if you add late- and early-season premiums, it comes out as a weighted average
of $72.60."
While tighter tomato supplies,
the weak U.S. dollar, low carryover stocks of grains worldwide and other
factors have driven up prices, farmers are also faced with higher input costs.
The CTGA estimates that total costs have risen by 5 percent. Certain expenses
have increased dramatically for growers.
"Fuel is up close to 30
percent compared to the same date last year," Turkovich
said. "Fertilizer is up 80 percent, some chemicals have more than doubled,
water is going to be more expensive and availability is going to be a
challenge."
In addition, on Jan. 1 the
minimum wage rose from $7.50 to $8 an hour.
Farmers are doing what they can
to reduce their expenses.
"We have an ongoing effort
at trying to become more efficient," Turkovich
said.
To this end, he utilizes reduced
tillage to cut down the number of tractor passes through the field and drip
irrigation to minimize water use.
In recent years Turkovich has primarily used surface water, but due to
potentially limited water availability, he plans to pump well water to
supplement his surface water. "We're trying to get the electricity hooked
up to the pumps that we haven't used for a number of years," he said.
Martin Medina, farm manager at
Button and Turkovich, said, "One of the ways
that we're trying to make our tractors more efficient is by using wider
equipment. That includes the 25-foot lister,
cultivator and planter. It saves labor, fuel and time by going with wider
equipment."
In addition, the farming
operation can reduce labor costs by using a carousel transplanter
because it requires only five employees, in contrast to the 10 employees needed
on a finger transplanter.
"With the carousel planter,
we're reducing the labor costs specifically on that one by reducing the number
of transplant laborers,"
Although there was a shortfall of
rain during the 2006-07 season, the water situation
improved this past winter. The wet winter was followed by a dry March, when
Gene Miyao,
University of California Cooperative Extension vegetable crops advisor, said,
"I think the story regarding cultural practices will be attempts at
reducing fuel usage and perhaps fertilizer input because of escalating
costs."
Processing tomato growers will
receive an average base price of $70 per ton this year, compared to $63 per ton
in 2007.
He noted that growers may combine
operations such as cultivating and fertilizing in one pass. In addition, "With
fertilizers, more attention may be paid to adjusting application rates based on
residual carryover of nitrogen from the previous crop."
The projected statewide
production is 11.8 million tons, compared to 12.1 million tons in 2007, the
USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service reported. This year's estimated
acreage is 288,000 acres, compared to 296,000 acres last year.
"We survey the processors
and these figures for 2008 are basically what they intend to contract, and the
tonnage is what they feel they want to run through their plants," said
Jack Rutz, deputy director of the USDA NASS
California Field Office. While the tonnage is expected to drop from the
previous year, "It's coming off of a very large crop, and at 11.8 million
tons, it would still be large."
Siragusa said, "I think it's highly
unlikely that we'll have 288,000 acres. I think we'll have significantly
less."
A CTGA survey of growers
indicated that they will plant about 265,000 acres, he noted. "The 265,000
acres is roughly a 10 percent reduction from last year. That number seems
pretty reasonable. If you take 265,000 acres and assume 40 tons per acre, we'll
end up with a crop of 10.6 million tons, compared to the 11.8 million that NASS
came out with."
The price has gone up because
tomato canneries and other processors need a steady supply of tomatoes; as a
result of tighter supplies, they are paying higher prices to farmers.
Meanwhile, world prices for
wheat, corn, soybeans, rice and other staple crops have increased due to low
global carryover stocks. As a result, some
In addition, alternative crops
such as wheat and safflower are becoming increasingly attractive because there
is less risk involved in producing them. These crops require less water and
labor. Moreover, "You have a much more predictable yield with a number of
other crops versus tomatoes," Siragusa said.
"A tomato grower's yield can easily swing 15 percent plus or minus, and if
you're on the down side, you're not making any money."
Furthermore, whereas it costs
about $2,400 to grow an acre of tomatoes, other crops cost significantly less
to produce, such as safflower, which costs around $500 an acre, he said.
Miyao noted, "The high returns
for alternative crops like wheat, corn, safflower and alfalfa have allowed
growers to reevaluate their cropping plans for this year and perhaps several
years into the future. We've seen movement by tomato growers to some permanent
crops like almonds in the past several years. Now, there are several crop
alternatives that appear financially attractive and with less risk."
The reduction of tomato acreage
poses the greatest challenge, Siragusa said.
"I am concerned that the
industry will be unable to get enough acres--that's my biggest concern,"
he said. "I worry that other crops that are lower risk or with lower water
input will take more acres out. Look at the demographics of growers: Growers
are getting older and are less inclined to take a big risk, and processing
tomatoes are a risky crop. I think growers and processors need to work together
to find a way to maintain a solid acre base."
He added, "Just as
While supply is down, Siragusa said, "The weak dollar has increased the
demand for processing tomatoes for the export markets. Tomatoes in
Worldwide demand for tomatoes is
roughly 33 million tons, he said, with projected growth of 750,000 tons to 1
million tons a year.
Chris Rufer,
owner of The Morning Star Co., the nation's largest tomato processor, based in
The European Union is decoupling,
or changing, its subsidy system, which is creating the potential for
To supply the flourishing tomato
market, farmers are doing all they can to increase their yields.
Richard Stewart, partner of the
Woodland-based TS&L Seed Co., said, "As far as the seed industry goes,
it's by observation that tomato growers are increasing their budgeted tons per
acre due to the newest processing-tomato genetics that have considerably higher
yield potential than in years past. Secondly, we've seen a trend toward high
soluble-solid tomato packs and less focus on viscosity-type tomatoes--that is
processor-driven."
Stewart is also a partner in
Westside Transplants, based in Firebaugh, which is building a new greenhouse
facility in
"This is the newest
processing tomato-transplant facility this far north," he said. "It
brings us closer in proximity to customers to reduce transportation
costs."
In terms of pest control,
environmental conditions have been favorable as growers plant their tomatoes.
"Moderately mild and dry
weather is not usually good for springtime diseases like bacterial speck or
other diseases," Miyao said.
Last year, the virus that causes
tomato yellow leaf curl disease was first identified in
"We don't expect that this
virus will become a problem in the
As tomato planting continues
throughout the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, farmers are hopeful that the
weather will cooperate and pest problems don't flare up so they can try to
supply the growing demand for their tomatoes.
"We're cautiously
optimistic," Turkovich said. "The
conditions for planting are extremely good right now. Barring any major disease
or weather problem, hopefully we'll have a decent crop and it will be a
profitable year."
End Transmission