The views and opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the author. These views and opinions do not represent those of the Post News Network and/or any/all contributors to this site

by Chuck Jolley

The phrase “Evil Empire” was a hard stone cast at the Soviet Union by Ronald Reagan in 1983. Rage Against the Machine picked it up and used it to title their 1996 album. Steven Grasse used it as a title to his book which was subtitle,”101 Ways that England Ruined the World.” At its most vile, it’s a nickname hung on the hated New York Yankees by Mets fans everywhere.
Today, it’s a handy descriptor that unlettered foodies all across America are trying to make synonymous with Monsanto. Those two “Mother” magazines; Mother Earth and Mother Jones, often seem hell-bent on tattooing that title on everything related to Monsanto.
Wielding that pointy-tipped tattoo needle are people like Rick Paulus. A few days ago, he wrote this for KCET, which bills itself as Southern and Central California’s community television station. “You may have noticed that recently we’ve been ramping up our coverage of what the GMO supergiant Monsanto has been up to lately. Now, there are a few reasons for that.
First and foremost, they’ve simply been in the news more often as they continue their various international machinations and backdoor maneuvering in their attempt to dominate the burgeoning GM industry. These recent moves, as well as the fact that the question of whether GMO’s belong in our food has reached a fever pitch since the Prop 37 debate last year, have put the company in the spotlight.
The second reason is that looming on the calendar has been an event that finally gives people at home a chance to do something if they’re feeling antsy about Monsanto, DuPont and friends. This Saturday, October 12, marks the second March Against Monsanto protest rally. And folks, it’s going to be a doozy.
Wildly exaggerated claims were made about the first March Against Monsanto. If you are to believe the reports, millions of people in over 50 cities around the world showed their rage by participating. Of course, those reports came from the organizers so we might want to subtract a few zeroes from those numbers. Zealots often lose the ability to accurately count things.
Not that I want to give Monsanto a free pass; all companies play a lively game of stub toe from time-to-time. After reading many of the incredibly nasty stories about a monolithic and evil ag empire headquartered in St. Louis and bent on world domination, I thought a visit might be in order.
I contacted Janice Persons who does a lot of their social media for them. “Sure, come on down,” she said.
So I drove to their campus, half expecting to be greeted on a dark and stormy night by the offspring of an unholy union between Darth Vader and Dracula as I approached a medieval castle perched on top of a cloud covered mountain.
And campus is the best description; it reminded me of some of the nicer college campuses I’ve visited; lots of trees and well-maintained green spaces and more buildings than I could count. Enough people work there to comprise a nice-sized town. I half expected to see a line of fraternity and sorority houses on the other side of Olive Street. Already lost, I was staring at several buildings, trying to figure out which one was where I might find Persons when a nice employee asked if he could help. Instead of pointing and saying, “That building, stupid,” he walked me over to the security desk and explained to the guard that I needed help.
Of course, I was on the wrong side of the campus and had to drive to the other end where several other very courteous people helped me find the right building. So far, no storm troopers is Star Wars costumes, just people who seemed to have been hired based on their sense of “nice.”
Janice Persons met me at the door, bought me a cup of coffee and introduced me to
Dr. Gary Hartnell who has, at one time or another in his career, worked with almost every animal in the ag pantheon – “cattle, hogs, goats, water buffalo,” he said only slightly tongue in cheek. We sat down and began to talk. I had my questions researched and ready but threw them away. Rather than try to direct the conversation, I thought it was best left as a free form discussion.
Question: What are you doing now?
Persons: “Our year ends in August and we always look at our business. There’s always something we want to tweak. We’ll be looking at how we engage society. People hear a lot of things about us and it’s largely emotional. So we’re looking at how we should talk with people about Monsanto.”
Our ad campaign, America’s Farmers, will continue and a lot of SEO, too.
Question: A lot of reporters seem to be knee-jerk anti-GMO, anti-Monsanto. Will you be able to get a handle on some ingrained attitudes??
Persons: There have been some people calling on journalists to be journalists, not mouthpieces. Some publications are being a little more serious about reporting. There is a blurring of the lines between editorial content and commentary and people see something in the New York Times and are confused between the two.
If you’re truly an environmentalist, does it make sense to be anti-biotech? Have some people (reporters) taken the time to learn the science behind it? Are they serving the best interests of their audience if they automatically rubber stamp attitudes? Having that discussion makes sense to us.
Question: Are the talking points being set by just a few people or is everyone entering the discussion?
Persons: The people who are into this are a small portion of the population but they are very vocal so they guide the discussion. We’re making a change in how we talk with people about the subject. We’ve been highly science-driven, very fact-driven and we need to engage them on an emotional level, too. We have to say we personally care about this. We have to show people the complexities of the issues and the problems we need to solve. We have to give people the facts but be personal about it, too.
Hartnell: The arguments often come from a mother, and it resonates from her emotionally. We have to understand how the social side enters the conversation.
Question: But Monsanto is the big guy, the leader in the industry, by far. . .
Persons: I don’t think it’s a Monsanto issue, it’s an industry issue. It’s easy in agriculture to say Monsanto is an outlier and there is something (bad) there. We are the leader, though so we tend to be the lightning rod.
Question: Monsanto is ahead of the rest of the industry and many people want to remember farming or maybe even return it to that nostalgic small family farm: an old farm house with a red barn out back and a few chickens in the front yard, maybe 40 acres or so being worked by the immediate family. They don’t like the corporate farm image, even if that corporation was formed by the family that runs the business so the could reap some tax benefits. So where are we going with modern agriculture?
Hartnell: It’s about efficiency, doing more with what we have and still providing a living for the farmer. We have an obligation to them.
Persons: We can still provide products to the small farmer. It’s not like we serve just one side of agriculture. We have organic customers, too. We supply seed to them. It’s been five years since we’ve been advertising, “I am American’s Farmer” – print television, billboards. Debbie Lyons Blythe will be part of it this year, she was America’s farm mom last year.
Question: Let’s set aside the general public’s opinion for a few minutes. What do farmers think about you?
Persons: Call some farmers and ask them. I think most farmers appreciate our technology, they would like it cheaper. They understand why we do what we do. They understand the complexity of agriculture.
Question: Where will the ag community be in 10 years?
Persons: It will include biotech and improved genetics, a lot of precision technologies, precision farming. We have to become more efficient.
Question: The cattle industry is perfectly OK with genetics, they’ve been breeding animals for improved genetics for years but there are some who say “But GMO’s aren’t good.” What do you say to them?
Hartnell: (Talking about consumers) When you say GMO, they don’t understand it and when they don’t understand it, they’re going to say no. When you ask, “Do you want dihydrogen oxide in your food, they’re going to say no. When you tell them what it is, they’re Ok with it. They did a survey in Europe that asked people if they wanted DNA in their food. Thirty percent said they didn’t want it in their food. They didn’t know what it was.
Some cattlemen want to differentiate their product, too, and if they know people don’t want GMO’s, they’ll avoid feeding those products to their animals.
Question: Where do I find good, third party people who will talk sensibly about GMO’s?
Hartnell: You can contact the universities; Nebraska, Kansas State, Ohio State, Texas A&M and people like Jude Capper. Country Extension, too. There are a lot of people out there.
Question: Farmers are blocked from re-using seed stock?
Hartnell: Hybrid seeds have been around for over 50 years. It’s been a long time since most farmers reused their seed stock. They’ve been buying seeds for a long time. If you buy software, you have to sign an agreement not to reuse it. Farmers know that.
Persons: It’s like iTunes, you have to sign off before you can buy an app for your phone. It’s the same thing farmers do today, they understand it.
Befitting the campus atmosphere of the place, an unheard bell rang, signaling it was time for class to end. Persons and Hartnell had places to go and meetings to attend. We shook hands and I walked back to my car which, by now had been left in a parking lot half way back to Kansas.
I glanced back. Hartnell was not playing with bizarre laboratory glassware and cackling maniacally. Persons was merely walking back to her office with no signs of a straw bound stick at her disposal. Maybe if I came back at Halloween, I might see that stuff. Today, it was just a campus full of regular but uncommonly courteous people earning a good living.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Chuck Jolley, a veteran food-industry journalist and commentator.

The Ellis County Extension Office reminds you to be sure to cast your vote in Thursday’s Extension Council Elections. See the details below.

Vote in Extension Council Elections
Plan to vote in the annual Extension Council Elections on Thursday, October 17. New members of the Extension Council are publicly elected each year to serve on program committees in agriculture, family & consumer sciences, community development and 4-H & youth. Extension Council members assist Extension agents in identifying targeted issues and developing educational programs to meet local needs.
Voting will be held from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Ellis County Extension Office, 601 Main Street, Suite A, in Hays. The voting will continue from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the KSU Ag Research Center in Hays in conjunction with the Farmer Appreciation Night event. The election closes at 7:00 p.m. Any Ellis County resident, 18 years or older, is eligible to vote.

The views and opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the author. These views and opinions do not represent those of the Post News Network and/or any/all contributors to this site

Is Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins(KS 02) reckless and irresponsible? Is she putting the Economy at Risk?

The views and opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the author. These views and opinions do not represent those of the Post News Network and/or any/all contributors to this site

A Gallop Poll released on Wednesday showed that Americans are now more likely to name dysfunctional government as the most important problem facing the country than to name any other specific problem, however, a different political model with a goal of curing that dysfunction has appeared from an unlikely source.

In this new model, candidates seeking a political party’s nomination work side-by-side to inform voters instead of slinging mud from a safe distance. They campaign in a fiscally responsible manner while appearing together speaking to county political groups, civic clubs, student organizations, and on radio & TV shows. While the candidates sometimes disagree with each other, they demonstrate a tolerance for their different views and a respect for each other’s shared commitment to serve and make their community a better place.

Don’t believe this is possible in the modern world of dysfunctional politics?

The two candidates seeking the Libertarian Party of Kansas’ (LPKS) nomination for KS Governor are proving that it can work. Keen Umbehr and Tresa McAlhaney are both currently running spirited and passionate campaigns for the right to face Governor Sam Brownback & Paul Davis in the 2014 general election. Each candidate has different details in their plan for the future of Kansas, but they share a commitment to liberty and tolerance for different views which allows them to work together. By appearing together, they hope to allow Libertarian voters to make the most informed decision possible at the party’s spring nominating convention.

LPKS Policy Researcher, Stacey Davis, applauds the leadership demonstrated by Umbehr and McAlhaney during this election cycle. He goes on to say, “Soon Kansas will have a third major political party. When that happens, because of the election standards set by these candidates, the people of Kansas will have not only a clear choice of stronger principal and policy, but a clear choice for better politics.”

The LPKS will become a major political party in Kansas when their candidate for Governor receives over 5% of the state-wide general election vote. Many people believe that is likely to happen in 2014, which would make Umbehr and McAlhaney the last Libertarians to stand before the party’s annual nomination convention when seeking the Libertarian nomination. Once the LPKS becomes a major political party, their candidates will likely be selected in statewide primaries just like the Kansas Republican and Democrat candidates. Davis says he’s confident that the Libertarian core principle of Liberty will assure that their candidates will retain their civil nature even when faced with statewide primaries in 2015 and beyond.

by John Maday, Managing Editor, Drovers CattleNetwork

In spite of the federal government shutdown and Congressional gridlock, NCBA continues to push for resolution on a five-year Farm Bill and other key issues in Washington, D.C. On this week’s Beltway Beef audio report, Kristina Butts, NCBA’s Executive Director of Government Affairs, outlined some of those efforts.
Recent natural disasters, Butts says, such as last year’s droughts, fires, floods and most recently early and destructive snow storms in South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana, have illustrated the need for disaster assistance provisions for farmers and ranchers. The 2008 Farm Bill, which was temporarily extended, included disaster assistance provisions but only for four years, so producers affected by these recent disasters are left with considerable uncertainty.
NCBA continues to push for passage of a five-year Farm Bill in spite of the current shutdown, Butts says. The House of Representatives and the Senate have passed their respective versions of a bill, which now need to be resolved in conference. Unlike the Senate bill, the House version removes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, to be considered in a separate bill. Butts says the House reportedly will appoint their conferees this week, suggesting the process is moving forward.
The process toward this Farm Bill has been a bumpy road from the beginning she adds, but the end is in sight, with passage likely by the end of this year. Grass-roots support is critical, and she urges farmers and ranchers to contact their Congressional representatives and encourage them to pass a bill.
The shutdown, Butts says, is hampering some lobbying efforts due to short staffs in Congressional offices, but NCBA continues to pursue additional goals including immigration reform and border security. Congress continues to push the issue forward. Originally, the House intended to address border security in July, but moved the discussion to September. Now, with the shutdown and emphasis on budget issues, the timeline is uncertain. The House, she says, has committed to address the border security issue before moving on to a broader labor and immigration package.
NCBA also continues to have conversations with the House Judiciary Committee about guest-worker programs, Butts says, emphasizing consideration of businesses such as livestock production, with year-around needs for labor. The current H-2A visa program does not work for beef producers, she says.
One bit of good news during the shutdown, she says, is that federal inspectors continue to serve in beef packing plants, allowing cattle marketing to continue through the shutdown.

By John Schlageck, Kansas Farm Bureau

For the first time last week a touch of fall filled the early morning air. With the coming of fall and approach of winter, it’s fun to recall some time-tested weather sayings.

Many of the following weather signs were collected from farmers and ranchers across the state. It seems there is very little people would rather talk about than the weather.

So let’s talk weather.

During the winter season, strong northerly winds indicate snow and sometimes a blizzard within 24 hours. Southerly winds are a sign of dry, warmer weather.

When cattle stand in a line with their backs toward the northwest, you can figure on a heavy, driving snow.

Dense fog at dawn is a sign of clearing skies by mid-morning.

The absence of birds around water denotes an approaching storm.

White, fluffy, small clouds are a sign of fair weather ahead.

Odors become easier to detect just before rain. High pressure usually traps odors like a lid due to air density, while lowering pressure releases odors.

When you see lightning in the north, rain is likely within 24 hours.

When distant sounds appear louder, rain is usually on the way.

Rising smoke is a fair-weather sign. When you see smoke going downward or showing very little rise, rain is likely.

Birds perch more before a storm because the low barometric pressure makes it more difficult for them to fly. When you see hawks circling high in the sky, this is a fair weather sign.

When frogs begin to croak, look out for rain.

Hens and other barnyard fowl pick at themselves – oiling their feathers – just before a rain.

Lots of dead skunks on the road mean plenty of moisture is on the way. Another good sign of approaching wet weather is the aggravation of corns, bunions or arthritis pains.

These signs are surprisingly accurate because they are based on generations of farmers, ranchers and other people who have observed cyclical changes in the weather.

There is plenty to be said for the folk wisdom of our ancestors. They watched and charted weather patterns for generations rather than just a few hours or days. It’s fun to hear their conclusions handed down from one generation to the next, and anyway, what would we have to talk about if not for the weather?

John Schlageck is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas. Born and raised on a diversified farm in northwestern Kansas, his writing reflects a lifetime of experience, knowledge and passion.

Book Review (Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and the People Who Play It  (by David M. Ewalt)
(reviews on Goodreads)

The Hobbit meets Moneyball in this definitive book on Dungeons & Dragons—from its origins and rise to cultural prominence to the continued effects on popular culture today. An enticing blend of history, journalism, narrative, and memoir, Of Dice and Men sheds light on America’s most popular (and widely misunderstood) form of collaborative entertainment.

This book seems to be better received by those who don’t have as much experience with D&D as a hobby; experienced gamers may not be satisfied by the glossing over of many facets of the game itself.

As the wife of a gamer, this book gave me a thorough introduction of what D&D involves and how it began. I got a sense of what it’s like to play, but I was not drawn in by the description of playing. I have a lot of respect for the game and the people who play it – it takes a lot of dedication and imagination. However, while the book gave me a better understanding, it also helped solidify the thought that I may not be cut out for the game itself (much the way I cannot listen to audiobooks – just not possible for me to get anything from it).

Marleah Augustine is the Adult Department Librarian at the Hays Public Library

You can see more of her blog here https://hayspubliclibrary.wordpress.com

Library Events October 7 – 12

CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULT (YA) PROGRAM

Monday, Oct. 7

10:00 AM Storytime

11:00 AM Storytime

4:00 PM Movie Mondays

4:00-4:40 PM Bal-A-Vis-X (Preregister at www.hayspublib.org or 785-625-5916)

6:30 PM Storytime

Tuesday, Oct. 8

10:00 AM Storytime

11:00 AM Storytime

3:30 PM Video Game League (YA)

4:00 PM Eric Litwin, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of the first four “Pete the Cat” books

6:00 PM Eric Litwin, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of the first four “Pete the Cat” books

Wednesday, Oct. 9

10:00 AM Storytime

10:00 AM Hora De Leer en Espanol

10:45 AM Lapsit

3:30 PM Wavering Wednesdays (YA)

4:00 PM Author of the Month, R.L. Stine (Goosebumps)

4:00 – 4:40 PM Bal-A-Vis-X (preregister at www.hayspublib.org or 785-625-591)

Thursday, Oct. 10

10:00 AM Storytime

11:00 AM Digital Storytime

3:30 PM Make-n-Take

4:00 PM Infinity & Beyond

Friday, Oct. 11

10:00 AM Cre-8-tive Moments: Music Sparks w/JoAnn Jordan

4:00 PM Chess Club

Saturday, Oct. 12

1:00 PM Hays Grandparents & Grandchildren Day- Author Eric Carle

ADULT PROGRAMS AND EVENTS
Monday, Oct. 7

3:30 PM Friends of the HPL Board Meeting

6:00 PM Medicare Education

Tuesday, Oct. 8

4:00 PM Hays Public Library Board Meeting

Wednesday, Oct. 9

12:00 PM Feed and Film

Thursday, Oct. 10

10:00 AM Medicare Education

Autumn in farm country brings with it the roar of combines lumbering across America’s farm fields. It’s harvest season and across the land, farmers are hard at work bringing in the bounty of what, in many areas, amounts to a “pretty good year.” The farm policy landscape, on the other hand, has yielded little, thanks to the frosty bite of American politics.
Because of congressional inability to reach a consensus, the nation’s farm bill has expired – an occurrence that might have been lost in the hubbub of the larger government shutdown. This is not the first sign of farm bill trouble. It would have expired a year ago had Congress not simply extended it for another year due to disagreements and partisan paralysis.

Gone with the farm bill is the basic, no-frills safety net for farm families. Gone is the publicly recognized good of government-backed food security for our nation. Gone is the direct link between the people who farm and those Americans who feel the daily pang of hunger.
Two heartland farmers we spoke with were disappointed, even gloomy about these losses. Glen Brunkow shared that feeling as he steered his combine into the afternoon sun on his farm in Pottawatomie County, Kan.

“I am very, very disappointed that Congress would play political football with something that is as important as our nation’s farm bill,” Brunkow said. “Crop insurance as a safety net is important to me and most other farmers I know. Without crop insurance, and the promise of crop insurance, farmers cannot secure the operating loans they need to make it through another year.”
Brunkow said without incentives included in the farm bill to purchase crop insurance, the product simply is not affordable for most farmers. He said the difference is $40 to $50 an acre.

“I just can’t imagine going through a crop year without having a safety net,” Brunkow said. “We had adequate rainfall this year, but not enough rainfall to restore soil moisture. We are just one dry spell away from being in another drought and I cannot imagine going into that not knowing that I have crop insurance to help at least pay my fixed costs back.
“We are not talking about making a profit off of crop insurance. We are talking about just paying our fixed costs – our land costs, our seed, our fertilizer, our fuel costs, just enough to make it so we can carry on into another year.”
According to Brunkow, crop insurance is keeping some farmers in business this year, helping them weather through one of the worst drought periods since the Dust Bowl. The prospect of that safety net being in place for the next growing season rests at the doorstep of Congress.

“We each need to contact our members of Congress and let them know how important this is,” Brunkow said. “We need to let them know we rely on and need crop insurance. And it is not just us; it’s everyone up and down the Main Streets of our rural communities. Our rural communities rely on us. We are the foundation, the building block of the rural economy. When we have a good year, Main Street has a good year.”
Meanwhile, about 150 miles north and east of Brunkow, in Atchison County, Mo., Blake Hurst has his combines lined up and ready to start the harvest. Like Brunkow, he is living on the edge of drought. Due to drier conditions during key growing periods, Hurst believes he is looking at a corn crop that is two-thirds to three-fourths of optimal and a soybean crop that is on the lower side of that range.
Hurst, who is president of the Missouri Farm Bureau, considers this a drought year, just not quite as severe as the one he and other farmers faced in 2012. However, it is the first time he has faced two consecutive drought years in his 35 years of farming.

“Crop insurance kept everything together last year,” Hurst said. “Crop insurance was the difference for me between a large loss and a small profit. Crop insurance is extremely important.”
Not knowing whether he will have that key risk management tool heading into next year is more than a little disconcerting for the Missouri farmer.
“It’s the uncertainty of it,” Hurst said. “I can’t really plan on what the crop insurance program might be next year. I don’t really know how long it will last. I don’t know what will be required of me as far as qualifying for crop insurance and what will be required from me as far as premiums.
“We already have enough uncertainty in farming from weather, bad prices, which currently means 45 percent lower prices for corn than they were last year. So, I already have uncertainty without uncertainty caused by the political situation as well.”
Hurst explained that farmers are constantly living under time constraints. If they are not able to harvest all their crops before the snow starts to fly in the Midwest, they face the prospect of huge yield losses, which drastically impacts the bottom line.
“It’s much like Congress with the farm bill expiring,” Hurst explained. “We know that no matter what happens, we will get our harvest out this year. Congress is a year late in getting its job done on the farm bill. It is expiring now and that is after a one-year extension. And now, even that has expired. Of course, Mother Nature never gives me a one-year extension on harvest. If I don’t get it done, I just lose the crop.”
He believes that if members of Congress could feel the same kind of time pressure he experiences during harvest, it could possibly make a difference.
“I don’t know what the parable is to this story, but if I do not get my harvest done, I don’t have any income for the year,” Hurst said. “If I were to leave 30 percent of my crop in the field because I just don’t work hard enough to finish, I lose 30 percent of my income. Members of Congress seem to be able to maintain their income, while leaving well over 30 percent of their work in the field. It wouldn’t be a bad idea if we said that if they did not renew bills on time, if they didn’t finish a budget, if they didn’t finish appropriations bills, that maybe they ought to face the same penalties that any small business might face when they do not get their work done.”
Meanwhile, the farm bill has expired, and government has shut down due to partisan politics. Both Hurst and Brunkow are hopeful both situations are settled before they bring in their last bushels and park their combines in their machine sheds. Otherwise, both know that it could be a long, cold winter for farmers and all Americans.

Peterson Farm Brothers released their new single, Bale!