GPS farming gets a foot in the door in Western Virginia

Technology moves at different paces in different parts of the country. While the Midwestern farm-heavy states have been using GPS-pegged devices such as the autosteer for several years now, more mountainous areas, like Western Virginia, haven't been so quick to embrace the technology. Perhaps, because the autosteer is so commonly thought of as being a "flat land" tool, farmers in the western part of the state don't see it as being valuable. And with a hefty up-front cost, if a person isn't sure the investment isn't going to pay off, I can understand their hesitancy.

However, there is one family, Smith Farms, who is making the most of their newly installed autosteer -- as well as showing their peers how GPS can be beneficial (easier working conditions and more profit) to their operations.

I wrote more about it in a story for The Roanoke Times:
http://www.roanoke.com/business/wb/309574

Not fully city, not fully country

As a small-scale part-time farmer, my friends and office co-workers who live in the city think of me as being country through and through. Conversely, the farmers I'm surrounded by quickly lump me in with the rest of the "city folk" not based on where I live but rather because of where I work. It's strange to be a part of both worlds -- easily transitioning between the peoples and topics on each side -- but also never fully integrated into either of them.

I love having a foot in each of the worlds.

I carry some credibility into both of them. In five short years of rural living, I've twice strained my back severely, sprained my ankle, tore open my hand putting up fencing, gotten sunburned (a lot), picked dozens of ticks off my body, and cut my nose with a mishandled flat-head screwdriver. I've begun to understand why farming is so dangerous, especially for those who spend all day working on their properties.

But then there's the city side of me. I grew up in an urban area and have the educational background fitting to others who work there. I want to climb the corporate ladder, and I enjoy good restaurants and some of the amenities of the city.

Maybe that's why being near a growing yet blue-collar town like Roanoke is so fitting. Both sides of me can come out from time to time. I remember when I first moved here, I went to an opera, an art show opening, and a bull-riding competition within the first two months. Sounds like a pretty neat mixture to me.

All red meat is bad? Really?

Something about this study doesn't feel right, though perhaps it's the article itself that seems to sidestep the study's points on people who eat red meat also beings ones who eat less fruits and grains, as well as who smoke and exercise less.

http://www.fox59.com/news/nationworld/la-he-red-meat-20120313,0,4478254.story
The study itself: http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/archinternmed.2011.2287

Could it be that there's more to the lifestyle choices made than to the blame being on processed and unprocessed red meat? I think so. Our bodies are made to be omnivores, and that does include red meat. No, I wouldn't advocate a Double Whopper or a Baconater ever, but there have to be point of moderation with red meat that won't have a noticeable effect on people's mortality.

Labor Department's proposed rules are growing discontent

My latest agriculture article for The Roanoke Times delves into an issue that is stirring up tension between farmers and safety advocates over our most precious commodity -- the future generation.

http://www.roanoke.com/business/wb/303437

I see the arguments from both sides, but I agree most with the Botetourt County farmer I quoted: use common sense in these situations. There are sometimes going to be 14-year-olds who are more careful and mature than 20-year-olds. No two situations are alike. The laws should focus more on assurances that the farmer is competent to judge safe situations rather having the laws put an artificial age bracket on who may need assistance from the government.

Article on young farmers in the Roanoke area

I apologize that it's been a couple of weeks that I've been away from the blog. I spent most of that time working on a story about the financial struggle of young farmers in the Roanoke, Va., area. (No twiddling of the thumbs for me!)

Here's the link: http://www.roanoke.com/business/wb/299075

I hope that you enjoy it and share it with any agricultural resources you have.

Ag classes begin again for fall 2011

Today is the start of a new semester at Virginia Tech's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. My class for the fall is Agricultural Marketing Policy and Business Strategies, adding yet a new component to my overall studies of the agricultural industry. I'm looking forward it and actually wish that I could take more agribusiness classes. However, this is one of the last of my core classes for the master's program, and everything save for one class after this will be focused fully on my food safety area of concentration.

I'm especially excited about this class because I hope it translates into some agribusiness reporting opportunities at the newspaper where I work. We shall see!

Peeling back the food label

Audubon did a very interesting article earlier this year on how to dissect the verbiage on your supermarket food labels. Check it out!

http://www.audubonmagazine.org/audubonliving/audubonliving1103.html