Table to Farm

Sorting facts, half-truths and fiction of antibiotics

By Don “Doc” Sanders Antibiotic resistance continues to be a major topic of discussion in the press. Unfortunately, accurate information is hard to come by, thanks to do-gooder activists who cloud the issue with their agenda. Here, I offer you my take on antibiotic resistance and the implications of antibiotic use for livestock. First, please [...]

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Life and rewards on a family farm

By Matt Reese When I was a young boy, my parents decided to start planting Christmas trees on their farm, a labor-intensive endeavor that takes eight to 10 years to derive any income. The years that followed were filled with long hours of spring planting, summer mowing and shearing and winter harvests. Whether we are [...]

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Table to Farm: Is it safe to eat food with hormones?

There have been a number of recent questions about hormones in meat and milk. Here are some answers, with some help from the CommonGround program, a great resource for many questions about food. First, federal regulations allow hormones to be used on cattle and sheep, but not on poultry or hogs, so there are no [...]

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How will the drought affect the prices of fruits and vegetables?

Corn and soybean supplies and prices are usually the crops most affected by drought because they are the least irrigated. As discussed two weeks ago, the price increases from these commodities will likely increase food prices some, but probably not significantly. The livestock sector will be hit hardest by this and there could be increases [...]

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What are GMOs?

  The term GMO, or genetically modified organism, refers to “a plant or animal altered using modern techniques of genetic modification,” commonly termed genetic engineering. Since crops have been genetically modified by classical methods for centuries, a more accurate term for the foods and crops created with the technologies used today might be GE or [...]

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Will widespread drought affect food prices?

Matt’s answer: Yes, but not as much as you might think. The reduced supply of corn and soybeans that results from the drought will increase prices for those commodities, but commodity prices account for a very small portion of the food cost in the grocery store or a restaurant. The amount of corn in a [...]

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Table to Farm: Where is the world's grain produced and how is it used?

This week’s Table to Farm questions focus on U.S. corn, soybeans and wheat. Where is most of the world’s food produced? How much of the world’s grain do we produce? What about China, Brazil and other countries? How is the U.S. grain crop used? How much goes for human food, animal food, and biofuels? According to [...]

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Table to Farm: Where is the world’s grain produced and how is it used?

This week’s Table to Farm questions focus on U.S. corn, soybeans and wheat. Where is most of the world’s food produced? How much of the world’s grain do we produce? What about China, Brazil and other countries? How is the U.S. grain crop used? How much goes for human food, animal food, and biofuels? According to [...]

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Too bad to be true?

By Matt Reese Elizabeth (Altstaetter) Almeida, with Fat Moon at Meadowbrook Farm in Massachusetts, grew up on a Logan County cattle farm and moved to Massachusetts and started an organic farm. She agreed to share some insights from her urban East Coast customers about Midwestern agriculture. In return, I will be fielding questions from her [...]

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Observations of ag from an East Coast farmer

This is a fascinating Q&A with Elizabeth (Altstaetter) Almeida, with Fat Moon at Meadowbrook Farm in Massachusetts. This East Coast organic farmer answers some questions about consumer trends she is seeing in her business. OCJ: First, could you share some more about your background? Tell us more about your family’s farm in Ohio and how you ended [...]

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