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September 29, 2011
· Ag heavyweights hit the PR trail
· $300K to showcase giant potato
· Court backs Bunge in GM corn case
· Monsanto acquires biorational start-up
· Topless Rihanna no hit with Irish farmer
Ag heavyweights hit the PR trail
(The New York Times) – LAST week, a new public-relations campaign about agriculture got off to a splashy start. With full-page ads in newspapers and panel discussions live-streamed on the Internet, the newly formed U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance began what it called a bid to “reshape the dialogue” about the American food supply.
“When did agriculture become a dirty word?” the
Chris Galen, a founding member of the group and head of communications for the National Milk Producers Federation, said, “There is a feeling across the board in agriculture that Americans have concerns about the food supply, and those are best addressed by farmers.”
To assure Americans that food is safe, abundant and affordable, farmers can use their voices and faces to fight the label “Big Ag,” the organization’s leaders say. But the group’s members include the largest agriculture marketing groups in the country, with billions of dollars to spend. They include the American Egg Board (“The Incredible Edible Egg”) and the National Pork Board (“The Other White Meat”).
Its $11 million annual budget will come partly from mandatory marketing fees that the Department of Agriculture helps collect from farmers, and from corporations like Monsanto, the producer of genetically engineered seed, and DuPont, a major producer of chemical pesticides. Each company has committed to an annual contribution of $500,000.
Yet Bonnie West, a spokeswoman for the American National Cattlewomen, a booster group for beef consumption, said her members felt like “small potatoes” in the national debate over food.
The “big potatoes” for the group seem to be advocates and authors like Eric Schlosser (“Fast Food Nation”) and Michael Pollan (“The Omnivore’s Dilemma”), and the filmmaker Robert Kenner (“Food, Inc.”), whose work has criticized industrial agricultural practices like huge feedlots, tight confinement of animals, the widespread use of hormones and antibiotics and the billions of dollars in federal subsidies that they say support an otherwise unsustainable system.
It is a source of pride for their allies that there is now a perceived need for an organized response to their critiques.
“I see the existence of this group as a triumph for the good
food movement,” said Marion Nestle, the
Words like “organic,” “sustainable” and “local” have become powerful to many American consumers. Because of popular demand, mass-market chains like Wal-Mart now stock organic produce and milk; restaurant chains like Red Lobster and McDonald’s have begun to identify the sources of their raw ingredients.
The battle is over more than labels. Also at stake is the
$25 billion annual budget for discretionary spending by the Agriculture Department, and crop subsidies worth even more. Bob
Stallman, chairman of the
Under the Farm Bill, dozens of subsidies are set to expire in 2012, which some say is the reason for the escalation of the current debate.
“In this age of budget cuts, everyone in agriculture is
fiercely protecting their funds,” Ms. Nestle said. “Unfortunately,
But the battlefield itself has changed.
“We wouldn’t be having this conversation if it weren’t for the rise of social media,” Mr. Galen said of the alliance.
During the panel discussions, which can be watched online at
fooddialogues.com, the group worked feverishly to generate comments on Twitter.
The discussions, which were held across the country, included people from
across the farming and food policy spectrum, including Agriculture Secretary
Tom Vilsack, and were hosted by Claire Shipman of ABC
News. (Ms. Shipman and the chef John Besh of
Even movements like Meatless Mondays, Slow Food and the Organic Consumers Association have had big impact through online campaigns; the documentary “Food, Inc.” alone has almost 400,000 fans on Facebook.
After it was nominated for an Academy Award and gained wide distribution, groups like the American Meat Producers Association responded with an escalation of online content, including sites like meatmythbusters.com.
“Today, fewer than 5 percent of Americans live on farms,”
the meat association said on that site. “For many people, the news media, books
and movies are their sources for information about how
The idea that Americans who do not live in rural areas are
uninformed about farming is a theme for the
“Farmers and ranchers used to have more of a voice, but now people are so distant from where their food comes from,” Ms. West said of the cattlewomen group. “People assume pesticides and antibiotics are bad, and that farmers and ranchers use them only to make a quick buck, and that couldn’t be farther from the truth.”
Organic farmers are noticeably absent from the
“As a rule, we like to be for things, not against them, but this represents everything we are working against,” said Bill Deusing, head of the Northeast Organic Farming Association.
Myra Goodman, a founder of the organic collective Earthbound
Farms, is among the large-scale growers who have so far declined to join the
“If in practice it turns out to be a forum for honest, inclusive, productive discussions about the state of our food system, it could be good,” she said. “If it turns out to be all about protecting the status quo, then it won’t be so productive.”
$300K to showcase giant potato
(IdahoReporter.com)
– Move over, Oscar Mayer; Your Weinermobile is about
to have some competition. A giant potato, hauled on a semi, will hit the road
in 2012 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Idaho Potato Commission
marketing
Frank Muir, head of the group, told IdahoReporter.com Monday that there is a $700,000 budget for the 2012 anniversary celebration, which includes the cost of taking the giant potato across the country. The commission is spending $269,200 to design, decorate and build the custom tractor trailer along with the potato.
After its completion, the group will spend a project $58,000
in fuel for the diesel truck, which has planned stops in
The idea for the project,
Muir said the giant potato truck tour will mean more income
for
The commission is also making a $100,000 donation to Meals on Wheels in conjunction with the anniversary celebration. “By working with Meals on Wheels, we are also raising awareness for a very worthy cause,” Muir concluded.
The truck will be unveiled Dec. 17 in
This is the second major public relationship move made by the commission this year. In August, the group announced a deal to take over the naming rights of the December college football bowl game. Days later, the Capital Press, an agriculture news service, reported the deal with worth $2.49 million through six years.
As part of the package for the naming rights, the commission gets five 30-second television advertising spots on ESPN during the game, along with four radio ads slots.
Muir told the Capital Press that the bowl is a significant
investment for
The commission receives no state money, but is funded
through a tax on potatoes produced by
Court backs Bunge in GM corn case
(stlToday.com) – A federal district court has ruled that St. Louis-based grain handler, Bunge North America, does not have to accept a biotech corn produced by Syngenta AG.
Syngenta, the world’s largest agri-chemical company, sued Bunge last month after Bunge rejected Syngenta’s Agrisure Viptera corn.
Bunge, which runs grain elevators and receiving stations, said it was "unable to accept" delivery of the corn because the bio-engineered corn is not cleared for approval in export markets.
This week a federal court judge wrote, "Bunge’s decision to reject Viptera corn at all of its locations was a legitimate and reasonable business decision. The injunction would impost prodigious costs on Bunge for a situation that Bunge did not create."
Syngenta received approval from
Monsanto acquires biorational start-up
(Wire Services)
Beeologics is focused on biological research. Current projects in its pipeline – including a product candidate being developed to help protect bee health – use a naturally-occurring process to provide targeted pest and disease control.
The expertise Beeologics has developed will enable Monsanto to further explore the use of biologicals broadly in agriculture. Monsanto will use the base technology from Beeologics as a part of its continuing discovery and development pipeline. Biological products will continue to play an increasingly important role in supporting the sustainability of many agricultural systems. Both companies expect that their combined research could provide farmers with novel approaches to the challenges they face.
Monsanto, which has proven expertise in managing a technology pipeline, will support the Beeologics team and its Technology Advisory Board in advancing its pipeline. Beeologics' work to promote bee health will continue under Monsanto's ownership.
About Monsanto Company
Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality. Monsanto remains focused on enabling both small-holder and large-scale farmers to produce more from their land while conserving more of our world's natural resources such as water and energy. To learn more about our business and our commitments, please visit: www.monsanto.com. Follow our business on Twitter® at www.twitter.com/MonsantoCo, on the company blog, Beyond the Rows® at www.monsantoblog.com, or subscribe to our News Release RSS Feed.
About Beeologics
Beeologics is an international
firm dedicated to restoring bee health and protecting the future of insect
pollination. Through continuous research, scientific innovation, and a focus on
applicable solutions, Beeologics is developing a line
of products to specifically address the long-term well being of the bees. With
offices and laboratories in the
Topless Rihanna no hit with Irish farmer
(The Telegram) – RIHANNA was forced to flee a topless photo shoot after a farmer told her to cover up.
Farmer Alan Graham, 61, was furious after Rihanna posed topless on his land for a racy video shoot.
The 23-year-old singer was forced to beat a hasty retreat
from Mr Graham’s muddy field in
Rihanna had been filming the video for her latest single, We Found Love, with Scottish DJ Calvin Harris – which at one point saw the singer go topless – when Mr Graham spotted her stripping down to a bikini made up of red handkerchiefs.
The furious farmer, who asked for filming to be halted, defended his actions yesterday, saying Rihanna’s behaviour was ‘inappropriate’.
Mr
Graham had agreed for one of his fields in
The father-of-four, a member the Democratic Unionist Party on North Down Borough Council, said: ‘I had never heard of Rihanna until someone called me requesting the use of my land. I knew on Monday who she was.'
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