Losing Ground

I just watched Losing Ground by EWG.  I have to say that I'm not really impressed.  If I were sitting in a DC beltway suburban townhouse, far removed from any modern farm ground, and watched this video I'd think that Iowa is washing into the sea.  But looking out my Iowa farmhouse window, I see that all of my neighbors must be the heroes that the video describe as the few.  It must be somewhere else that farmers are running the ends of their planters off the sides of embankments so that corn can fall into creeks, streams and rivers.  While I will grant you that many of the farms in Iowa do lose soil to wind and water erosion by the very nature of row cropping vs grasslands or hay ground, every farmer I know couldn't afford to let their soil run off of their land to the extent that this video purports.  I will also say that I think many farmers can do much more than they do without taking a financial hit, but in reality it already makes economic sense to stop erosion from your fields.  It already makes economic sense to harvest all of the crop that you plant.  But it makes economic sense (though there may be a moral argument to be made) to take the subsidies that are handed out for production, and they aren't mutually exclusive.  I agree that subsidies aren't fair and are setup to encourage production which can lead to a type of mining of the land (I don't know any farmers who want to mine their land), but the dilemma is more complex than EWG want people in the USA to think about.  America is accustom to cheap food, and food comes from the commodities of corn and beans (See King Corn).  Commodities are only cheap if they are in excess.  If the government has chosen to make food i.e. commodities cheap, then the extension of that policy is subsidies which rewards expanding even when prices are below the cost of production.  And really this is also good for those politicians who support this policy because they can collect the large Ag lobby money which further reinforces the politician's Ag policy.  Now as prices for corn and beans have risen recently, and by extension food costs are rising, if prices keep going up it's a great time to try to look at what expensive food feels like, to understand the complexity of commodity farming, and make decisions for going forward.

Local Foods Brunch

The Market Community Co-op (known locally as "The Market") held its 2nd  annual local foods brunch on Sunday.  The local foods brunch is an opportunity for local growers who sell to The Market to help serve brunch to The Market's customers and give both the customers and growers a chance meet and chat.  Sharon had such a great time last year that I decided to join her this year.  And it really was fun.  What a great opportunity.  It's a huge boost to talk with people who really enjoy what we are so passionate about growing, and we hope that The Market's customers are more educated and passionate about local foods right here in Northwest Iowa.  It's why we like to give farm tours and enjoy having customers visit us on the farm too.  We hope that the more customers know about us and how we raise their food, the more passionate they will become about their food too.

High Tunnel

We started preparing the location for the high tunnel.  Unfortunately the site that we had chosen had a three and a half foot drop from end to end.  That was hardly ideal and meant that we would either have to do a lot of dirt work to get the site level or I would have to build on the steep grade and hope for the best.  I chose neither.  We started looking for a new site that would have less grade but still within reach of our water lines so that we can use drip tape.  The only site that is available is in the pasture directly behind the house.  Since the high tunnel is part of an NRCS program I contacted NRCS and began the discussion regarding the new location.  After a few days they said that I should proceed with my new location.  That is great news!  Now we can finally get started and hopefully get the high tunnel up once the weather cooperates and dries out.

In Like a Lion

This is severe weather awareness month and we had our first severe weather event of the spring last night.  We had 41mph winds with some rain.  The strongest winds and lightning was at about 10PM.  In the dark we wouldn't know the extend of any damage until the sun came up the next morning.  It was an uneasy sleep wondering how everything was holding together and really wondering how the newest eggmobile would handle the winds.  When we woke up this morning I looked out the window and saw that both eggmobiles were still standing down at the south edge of the pasture.  I think the wind was in our favor since it was blowing from the SE and wasn't blowing directly against the tall side of the eggmobiles.  We had no real damage other than a chunk of shingles blown off the peak of the house roof, but that's more of a minor inconvenience and is easily remedied.  All in all we were unscathed by the first spring weather event of 2011.

I don't know if others are jaded but I am in awe of the ducks and geese that migrate through this time of year.  The sky and fields are filled with the sights and sounds of ducks and geese.  It is just amazing.  The wood ducks are paired up and spending time on our wetlands and in the trees in the grove up by the house.  I can't count the number of times that I say wow...