Thursday, March 13, 2008

New technology that might amaze you...

In our Ag J Capstone course at Mizzou, we're taking a new twist on things. We are all learning about new media tools, such as Soundslides.

For one of my assignments, I chose to profile Dave Sasse, a Roundup Ready 2 Yield Ambassador.

Since it's my first one, it's a little rough around the edges. But I can't wait to experiment even more with the program and see what other fun things I can create.

Getting fresh faces on the farm


It's a fact in the ag industry that noone can deny - there's a major generation gap in farmers today. The average age of a farmer in Missouri is 60... that's right, 60. So, most of these farmers will be looking to retire or get out of farming sooner rather than later. And this means a big lag in the number of farmers we have.

So, legislation is addressing the issue. It's called the Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Act. Basically, it would encourage anyone getting out of farming, to sell their assets to someone wanting to buy it for agricultural purposes (specifically land). I talked to both a young farmer that's fresh out of college and the Missouri Farm Bureau to get their take on the issue.

The debate that seems to never end: Animal ID

Animal ID is being debated in the Missouri state legislature. And it's not the first time. One of the biggest aspects of Animal ID people bring up is whether to make it voluntary and mandatory.

I talked to a producer from Osage County about the issue and he backs a voluntary system. I see the up's and down's to both sides. But watch the story and see what you think...

Putting a face to the food you buy...


Who says farmers' markets are a thing of the past? You could actually refer to Farmers' Markets as the hip trend right now for consumers wanting to buy fresh food.

In Missouri, the number of markets is on the rise. I did a story on KOMU about this trend and why it's becoming such a popular choice for consumers.