Saturday, September 30, 2006

Saturday Farm Feature: Mike Hergert

It's harvest time in North Dakota, where Mike Hergert is a farm broadcaster at the Red River Farm Network. Mike gives us an update as to how this growing season has stacked up for producers. Mike tells us about the benefits they're seeing from adequate subsoil moisture and explains North Dakota's beet harvest.
On a lighter note, Mike shares his experience running and how he's preparing for the Marine Corp Marathon in Washington, DC next month.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Missouri Soybean Update: JP Dunn

JP Dunn, Manager of Field Services for the Missouri Soybean Association, gives us this week's Missouri Soybean Update. JP has more information about Paseo Biofuels, a new farmer-investor group that has partnered with Cargill's Soybean Processing facility in Kansas City to build a new 40 million gallon biodiesel facility.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Iraqi Palm Dates Making a Renaissance Revival

(Baqubah, Iraq) - The date palm tree has long been the cherished symbol of Iraq. Dates are the second largest export after oil.
During the 1950s, Iraq’s palm orchards produced more than 600 varieties of dates and, by some estimates, accounted for nearly 80% of the world’s supply. During the country’s golden era there were more than 30 million fruit producing trees.

But wars, neglect, improper drainage, and the scurvy of the dreaded Dobas bug left the industry in shambles.

Particularly hard hit was southern Iraq where 16 million date palm trees were cut down, burned and transformed into battlefields during the Iran-Iraq was in the 1980s.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) stepped in last spring and distributed 4,800 date palm offshoots that will produce commercially valuable dates. The offshoots were given to 120 farmers in Muthanna, Basrah and the Basrah Marshlands, with technical assistance from USDA to ensure proper planting and cultivation.

In four years each farmer could realize a gross income boost of $7,000 per year.

The crop was facing another critical challenge - the pesky little Dobas bug which secretes a sticky liquid that interferes with the photosynthesis process.


This past May, Coalition partners and the Iraqi Department of Agriculture began an aggressive pesticide spraying campaign.

“We contracted Moldovan helicopters, painted them with Iraqi flag colors and outfitted the Moldovan pilots with Iraqi uniforms so we could safely treat thousands of acres of trees,” said Lieutenant Colonel Chris Johnson. The results have been astounding. After only one season of spraying, the date crop yield has increased by as much as 70%.

Baqubah was the venue for a mid-September dates festival where farmers, agriculture ministers and the public gathered to celebrate 84 varieties of a bountiful harvest.



Aboud Ahdim Abbas Mohammad, 56, is continuing a family date farming tradition that began in the 1880s.

“The spraying saved 75 of my trees and I’ve seen an 85% increase in date yields over last year’s harvest,” said Mohammad through a translator.

While grateful for the harvest, Mohammad is equally grateful for his life. Gunmen attacked him while he and his sons were harvesting. Thanks to a pistol that he keeps hidden in his traditional clothing he was able to fight his way to safety but not before taking a bullet to the arm.

Attending a visible festival might intimidate some farmers. But not Mohammad.

“Please take my picture. Tell them my name. This is my country and I will not be afraid.”

Photos and story by Paul McKellips, U.S. Department of State, Public Affairs GO Team, on assignment in Baqubah, Iraq.


Missouri Corn Update: Robyn Venn

Missouri Ethanol LLC celebrated their Grand Opening on yesterday with over 3000 people in attendence for tours and the festivities. Robyn Venn is plant manager of Missouri Ethanol and gives us a background on the plant, where the plant is going and the role Missouri Ethanol is plaing in their community.

Monday, September 25, 2006

Kansas Soybean Update: Dennis Hupe

Applications are currently being accepted for the DuPont Young Leader Program. Dennis Hupe with the Kansas Soybean Association is our guest for this week's update and tells listeners more about the program and how producers can apply or nominate an individual.