Farm Bureau News
Local Farmers Feeding Your Family
AFBF releases strategic action plan goals for 2019
Following delegate action during its 100th annual convention in New Orleans, the American Farm Bureau Federation released its top public policy goals for the year. The AFBF board approved its 2019 Strategic Action Plan which will serve as a guide for strategic planning and grassroots activity throughout 2019.
The five top issues are:
• 116th Congress: Build relationships to educate and work with members of Congress, with support from Farm Bureau’s grassroots leaders and lobbying programs, to promote policies that benefit farmers, ranchers and rural communities.
• Agricultural Labor: Enact legislation that helps farmers and
ranchers meet their labor needs.
• Infrastructure: Work for greater investment in rural and agricultural infrastructure, including broadband internet access; rural roads and bridges; inland waterway locks and dams; sea ports; and agricultural research.
• Regulatory Reform: Work for reform of the rulemaking process to ensure that federal rules are supported by science and created in a transparent manner, while identifying specific regulations and regulatory opportunities that improve the ability of farmers and ranchers to remain productive and competitive.
• Trade: Defend and expand trade opportunities for U.S. agriculture.
Ag Safety Conference set March 6
Dr. Kerry Richards will be the keynote speaker at Delaware Farm Bureau’s third annual Delaware Ag Safety Conference
DFB celebrates its 75th year
In 1944, a loaf of bread cost 10 cents, a gallon of gas was 15 cents and in Valparaiso, Ind., you could buy a 16-acre farm with a five-room house and three poultry houses for $5,000.
And, as World War II raged on, people throughout the United Sates were encouraged to grow any vegetables they could in gardens to help ease the food shortages.
In April of that year, the Delaware Farm Bureau held its first meeting. In recognition of its 75th anniversary, Delaware Farm Bureau is celebrating all year long. The next issue of the Delaware Farm Bureau News will take a look at some of the organization’s history.
Celebrating 75 years!
March 6 in Harrington. The conference will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Ag Commodities Building on the state fairgrounds in Harrington.
Richards has devoted her entire career to pesticide safety and agriculture education. She began her work in Pennsylvania and is now working with the University of Delaware Pesticide Safety Education Program. She is the president of the American Association of Pesticide Safety Educators.
Her talk on “Reducing Pesticide Exposure” has been approved for one continuing education credit for pesticide applicators.
June Unruh, chair of the third annual Delaware Ag
CONTINUED
Delaware Farm Bureau President Richard Wilkins carries the Delaware flag at AFBF convention opening ceremonies in New Orleans.
From the President’s desk ...
Hello, Delaware Farm Bureau members and friends of Farm Bureau. As this is my first message, please let me start by introducing myself. I'm Richard Wilkins and I have the honor of serving you and Delaware’s agricultural community as president of the Delaware Farm Bureau. My wife, Donna, and I operate a modest farming operation in lower Kent and upper Sussex counties. On our farm we grow soybeans, corn, barley, wheat and triticale as well as producing lima beans, green beans, sweet corn and peas for the frozen foods and canning industry. We have a crossbred herd of beef cattle and
harvest forages both for our cattle and also to sell as a cash crop.
We are blessed that when my nephew, Christopher, wanted to join our family business we were able to add a modest farm supply retail enterprise to our farm to enable his family to earn a living from agriculture.
Donna and I are blessed that our Lord gave us the ability to both work full-time jobs while honing our agricultural skills and building capital. We began our journey as full-time farmers in 1996. Although we have had challenges, even some failures, the successes have been plentiful enough for us to have remained doing what we both have a great passion for — providing food, feed, renewable fuel and fiber to not only Delaware's citizens but to many, many consumers across both our nation and our globe.
Another passion of mine is advocating on behalf of the American farmer and for the ability of
Carper, Wilkins highlight impacts of trade war
U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Richard Wilkins, president of the Delaware Farm Bureau, joined a bipartisan group of senators and business owners in Washington on Feb. 6 to discuss the negative impacts of President Trump’s trade policies on Delaware and the nation’s agricultural community.
Carper said, “In Delaware, shipments of steel and aluminum are the fourth largest import cargo arriving at the Port of Wilmington. And while we may be a small state, Delaware has the highest value of agricultural products produced per acre in the country. Haphazardly slapping tariffs on these foreign products has senselessly put Delaware’s economy, soybean farmers and manufacturers in the crosshairs of a trade war where everyone loses... I’m hopeful that with senators from both sides of the aisle speaking up, we can prevent further damage from being done. It’s time for the President to start putting America first.”
Wilkins talked about the effect of the tariffs on his own operation:
“Last year, when the tariffs were placed on steel and aluminum imports into this country, our trading partners retaliated by placing tar-
our rural communities to remain strong and prosperous. I have been a member of Delaware Farm Bureau since I was 18 years old, some 40-plus years. My FFA and 4-H education and experiences taught me the value of good citizenship and the strength of a unified voice. This is the most important benefit that we all derive from our membership in Farm Bureau, the leverage that we gain when we speak as an organization of like-minded citizens. There is greater strength when we present our views and our needs as the Farm Bureau rather than as individuals. This is why I would like to make a request of you — share your story of how you believe Farm Bureau provides value to you with your friends and neighbors. Ask them to join you in helping us to create an even more effective unified voice for rural values and agriculture!
have your email address, please give us a call at (302) 697-3183, send us an email (to heather. kline@defb.org) or drop us a note in snail mail so we can add you to our communications distributions. Electronic media is the fastest, most efficient and versatile way for us to quickly keep you informed, and for us to receive feedback from you.
riffs on U.S. goods, including soybeans, going into China. That started a slide in the value of one of the commodities that I produce – soybeans — of more than 20 percent.
“China is buying dramaticlly fewer soybeans from the United States. They are not only seeking supplies from other nations, they also discovered they do not need as much soy meal in livestock rations as they once were. They will look for alternative proteins. That has long term implications. If they discover they do not need a high inclusion rate of soybean in their rations, we will never get that demand back again.
“Last year we produced over 4 billion bushels of soybeans in the United States. Today the carryout is projected to be nearly 1 billion bushels. So 20 to 25 percent of last year’s crop will still be sitting in silos and storage bins when we begin harvesting this year’s crop.
“This burdensome excess supply will hurt the prices of our commodities for the next several years to come. It will create permanent damage with the trading relationships we have built in overseas markets.”
Wilkins urged the legislators: “Please rescind these tariffs today.”
I have also always experienced great joy in participating in the process that Farm Bureau uses in developing its policies — the grass roots model. This is why we at the Delaware Farm Bureau are developing several Issue Advisory Councils to allow you, the members, to identify current or potential challenges that your particular segment of the rural economy may encounter. Please be on the watch for notices of these council formations to arrive in your email box. By the way, if we don't already
Speaking of feedback, that is what I sincerely am hoping to receive. I have asked each of our County Farm Bureau presidents if they would organize some small groups that would be willing to allow me to come and meet with them. Maybe a 4-H leader meeting. Maybe a group that wants to talk over breakfast, coffee, lunch, pie or maybe just congregating around a shop heater on a cold or rainy day. I want to hear from members and non-members alike: What has Farm Bureau been doing well? What have we not been doing well? What do you need us to do that maybe we haven't done before? My intent is to put us on a pathway of continuous improvement, and I know that our Delaware Farm Bureau staff desires to travel this pathway with us. If you'd like to have me come and listen, contact me at Richard. Wilkins@defb.org or (302) 2421495. I'm looking forward to it! So long for now, and please, be safe and may God bless.
Delaware Farm Bureau News Editor Carol Kinsley carol.kinsley@defb.org Graphics/Production Designer Heather Kline heather.kline@defb.org 302-697-3183
Delaware Farm Bureau News (ISSN 10770798), published in Camden, DE, bimonthly, by Delaware Farm Bureau. Production by Delaware Printing Company. Periodicals postage paid at Camden, DE and additional offices.
Business and Editorial Offices: 3457 S. DuPont Highway, Camden, DE 19934, 302-697-3183.
Any editorial material may be reproduced with credit to this publication.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Delaware Farm Bureau News at the office above.
Delaware Farm Bureau
President Richard Wilkins
Delaware wins Scholar Award
Delaware was one of six states receiving the Scholar Award from the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture at its annual breakfast during the AFBF convention.
The Scholar Award is given to the six state Farm Bureaus with the highest total donations to the Foundation within their membership groups. Other recipients were Arizona, Illinois, Maryland, Ohio and Virginia.
Delawareans enjoying dinner at Mr B’s Bistro in New Orleans during the AFBF convention are, clockwise from left, Mary Bea Gooden, Connie Fox, Melissa and Jacob Urian, Kathy and Dale Phillips, Joseph Poppiti, Richard and Donna Wilkins, Jan Cartanza and Joan and Bill Powers.
Foundation for Agriculture announces 12th ‘Book of the Year’
The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture at its annual breakfast presented its 12th “Book of the Year” award to Lisl Detlefsen for “Right This Very Minute.” The book, illustrated by Renée Kurilla, explains to children
how every minute of every day, someone, somewhere, is working to bring food to their table. “Right This Very Minute” is the first book published by the foundation’s Feeding Minds Press.
Detlefsen lives on a cranber-
Mrs. Zippy Duvall, wife of AFBF's president, took all the state presidents’ wives to cooking school in downtown New Orleans, where Donna Wilkins, right, learned to make gumbo and jambalaya. “It was fun!” she said.
ry marsh near Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., with her husband and two sons. She has two previously published books.
Detlefsen said, “I’m so thankful for the Foundation’s passionate devotion to telling the story of modern farming in America.”
The Book of the Year award springs from the foundation’s effort to identify “Accurate Ag Books,” a collection of nearly 500
books for children, teenagers and adults that accurately cover agricultural topics. Book of the Year selections are educational, help to create positive public perceptions about agriculture, inspire readers to learn more and touch their readers’ lives, as well as tell the farmer’s story.
The Accurate Ag Books database is available at: www.agfoundation. org/recommended-pubs.
County Farm Bureaus, YF&R select new leaders
Jacob Urian has been elected president of Kent County Farm Bureau, joining Dale Phillips, newly elected president of Sussex County Farm Bureau, and Stewart Ramsey, who continues as president of New Castle County Farm Bureau.
Urian replaces Richard Wilkins, who was elected president of the state organization in December. Laura Hill of Lewes continues as first vice president of Delaware Farm Bureau. Bill Powers, former New Castle County Councilman, who farms in Townsend, is the new DFB second vice president.
Urian served as chairman of the Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee the last three years. His replacement as YF&R chair, elected Feb. 7, is Teddy Bobola, former Kent County YF&R chair.
Michael Lynch will replace Bobola as Kent County YF&R chair, joining Steve Breeding, Sussex chair, and Travis Voshell, NCC chair. Jonathan Moore of Kent County was elected state YF&R vice chair.
Urian has been a conservation planner at Kent Conservation District in Dover for more than six years. He is a certified crop advisor,
nutrient management consultant and certified pesticide applicator. He and his wife, Melissa, live on the home farm in Clayton where he farms part-time with his father, Mark Urian, and has recently started farming on his own. They grow corn, soybeans and hay and raise beef cattle. Melissa is a pharmacist at Atlantic Apothecary in Smyrna. Phillips is a third-generation poultry grower in Georgetown. His grandfather started raising poultry
in 1951. Phillips took over for him in 2005 and has replaced the original chicken houses with two new structures with a total capacity of 60,000 birds. His wife, Kathy, works at the University of Delaware Lasher Laboratory. The couple were honored as “2017 Outstanding Growers” by Delmarva Poultry Industry Inc.
Ramsey is a fifth generation farmer, tilling former family land now leased from the First State Na-
tional Historical Park. He is also a senior principal in IHSMarkit’s Agricultural Forecasting and Consulting Service. Ramsey is an active alumnus of the University of Delaware, a regular volunteer for the Delaware Envirothon. Ramsey's family was named Delaware Farm Bureau 2013 Farm Family of the Year and that same year received the Governor's Conservation Award for Agriculture in New Castle County.
Mental Health First Aid Training sessions offered
As in many states, Delaware’s agriculture community is facing many stressors. People who are in a position to help need to know what stress, addiction and/or mental health disorders look like. Farm family members also need to know how best to help their loved ones.
To help meet this need, three Mental Health First Aid Training sessions have been scheduled.By attending this training, you will be better prepared to interact with a person in crisis and connect the person with help. First aiders do not take on the role of professionals — they do not diagnose or pro-
vide any counseling or therapy. Instead, you’ll learn concrete tools and answers to key questions, such as “what do I do?” and “where can someone find help?”
The Mental Health First Aid training is a public education program that introduces participants to risk factors and warning signs of mental illnesses, builds understanding of their impact, and outlines common ways to help and find support.
These eight-hour courses use interactive educational methods to demonstrate how to offer initial help in a mental health crisis and will help you connect to the appropriate professional, peer, social and self-help care.
A Certified Mental Health First Aid instructor from the Delaware Mental Health Association will conduct the training and provide a list of community healthcare providers and national resources,
support groups and online tools for mental health and addictions treatment and support. All trainees receive a program manual to complement the course material.
The training is being underwritten by the Sustainable Coastal Communities project, University of Delaware Cooperative Extension and the Delaware Mental Health Association. In Sussex County, Beebe Hospital is also providing support. A light lunch and snacks will be provided.
The first session, March 8, in Dover, is full. The second will be held April 4 in Lewes and a third on April 8 at the University of Delaware Extension Office in Newark.
Seats are limited. For registration form, visit http://extension. udel.edu/ag/agribusiness/ or access the website through Delaware Farm Bureau’s blog at delawarefarmbureau.wordpress.com.
Ag Safety Conference set March 6
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Safety Conference, will give the welcome. State Ag Secretary Mike Scuse will offer opening remarks. The conference will include information on stroke prevention from Teresa Towne of Bayhealth-Kent General Hospital, a discussion and ATV safety demonstration by Nationwide Insurance and a CPR demonstration by Delaware State Fire School.
Nationwide, University of Delaware Cooperative Extension, Delaware State Fire School, the Delaware State Grange and Delaware Department of Agriculture are major sponsors of the event.
A light breakfast and lunch will be provided.
The public is welcome, and farmers are urged to attend. Registration is required, as space is limited. Register at https://defb.org/delaware-ag-safety/ag-safety-conference.
Dr. Kerry Richards
Winners named in DFB Ag in the Classroom Essay contest
Jessica Cunningham, seventh grader at Smyrna Middle School, and Olivia Matthews, 10th grader at Dover High won first place prizes and $300 each in the 2018 Delaware Farm Bureau Ag in the Classroom Essay Contest. This year’s topic was “Solving World Hunger.” The contest is a project of the Delaware Farm Bureau’s Promotion and Education Committee, whose mission is to promote and protect Delaware agriculture through education and promotion. Cunningham is the daughter of Kevin Cunningham and Dawn Reidhaar.
High school winners of the 2018 Delaware Farm Bureau Ag in the Classroom Essay Contest, with their teacher, Jennifer Taylor, were Olivia Matthews, left, first place, and Nia Wright, second place. The winners attend Dover High.
Second and third place prizes were $200 and $100, respectively. There are also gift certificates for the teachers whose students submitted a winning essay.
Second place winner at the high school level was Nia Wright, also a 10th grader at Dover High. She is the daughter of Arlene and Robert Wright. Jennifer Taylor is teacher of both winners. The high school students were required to submit a 1,000 word essay.
At the middle school level, second prize was won by Reaghan King, daughter of Jim and
Kate King. Third prize went to Heather Thwin, daughter of Aung and Saw Oo. Teacher of all three middle school winners is Stephanie Freimuth. Middle schoolers submitted essays of at least 500 words.
Stewart Ramsey, left, chair of the Delaware Farm Bureau’s Promotion and Education Committee, presented prizes for the Ag in the Classroom Essay Contest at Smyrna Middle School to: Heather Thwin, third place; Jessica Cunningham, first place; and Reaghan King, second place. Their teacher is Stephanie Freimuth.
Commercial hemp legalized, state regs being developed
Hemp was a popular item of discussion at the American Farm Bureau Federation convention and at Delaware Ag Week. The 2018 farm bill removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act, making the crop legal to produce where state laws permit. However, each state must first submit a plan to USDA, and that process is on hold until the agency has time to send out "guidance" to the states on how to draft a plan.
Hemp has been grown for thousands of years for textile fiber and food. Hemp production was encouraged in the United States until the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 was enforced, making marijuana illegal in the United States.
Hemp, a different variety of the same plant species, was caught up in the ban.
Hemp is not marijuana. It contains low levels (0.3 percent) of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical that produces a "high" for pot users.
It has remained legal to purchase products made out of hemp, and the United States became the largest importer of hemp materials, with annual sales exceeding $600 million.
As part of the 2014 farm bill language, Delaware Department of Agriculture had authority to authorize pilot research programs for industrial hemp cultivation through institutions of higher learning. Delaware State University was granted permission.
Kitty Holtz, then president of Delaware Farm Bureau, wrote an editorial in June 2018 encouraging legalization of industrial hemp in Delaware. The Delaware General Assembly later passed legislation which was signed into law, allow-
ing DDA to promulgate industrial hemp regulations pending authorization in the 2018 farm bill. Delaware thus joined 37 other states which permit industrial hemp cultivation for commercial purposes.
Nikko Brady, deputy principal assistant at DDA, said, “We have assembled a team internally to develop the requirements for registration, reporting, fees, inspections and so forth. In addition, we have draft regulatory language under review with our Deputy Attorney General. We will continue to work with federal agencies to gain clarity on expectations and parameters for state level programs and any pending federal rules and regulations. We have also engaged both Delaware State University and the University of Delaware to collaborate on expertise and guidance.”
Pennsylvania was the second state to submit its state plan for industrial hemp to the USDA and plans to re-open its 2019 program to include applications for commercial growing operations with no acreage caps.
Kenny Bounds, deputy secretary of agriculture in Delaware, explained that Delaware's state plan was almost ready to submit when USDA put things on hold. He said Kentucky and Pennsylvania, which have already submitted plans, likely will have them returned. As in Delaware, those states have been permitting research on hemp.
Bounds said interested farmers should watch the DDA website for more information. They likely will be able to grow up to 10 acres for research “under the auspices of an institution of higher learning” in 2019, he said.
At a workshop on hemp at the AFBF convention, Ken Anderson,
founder and president of Legacy Hemp, the leading U.S. contractor with hemp farmers, credited Farm Bureau’s advocacy with playing a key role in the recognition of industrial hemp as a legitimate farm crop.
He cautioned farmers, “There are a lot of opportunities but it can be expensive to start growing hemp.”
The availability of labor should also be carefully considered, Anderson warned. “Hemp grown for CBD uses is much more labor-intensive,” he said. (CBD oil is used as an alternative for pain relief.)
Anderson referred to those varieties as a horticultural crop while others are agricultural crops.
In addition, he recommended farmers starting out with hemp add it to their crop rotation, rather than growing it as their only crop.
Congressman James Comer, R-Ky., held a press conference at the convention in which he, as a farmer, cautioned against growing hemp without a contract. “Any farmer would say we are good at over-producing things,” he explained.
“There are companies coming into Kentucky that are very well capitalized that will endure every
challenge that comes their way and others I wouldn’t buy stock in. Most are start ups. It’s risky. You need to make sure you have confidence in the person you sign a contract with.”
Universities have done some good work on basic production, he continued. You have to have the proper soil type, water, and plant and harvest at the right time. There is equipment that can be used to harvest the crop.
Michael Bowman, founding chair of the National Hemp Association, told Successful Farming that plants grown for CBD are planted 1,000 to 1,600 plants per acre, tended as separate plants. Traditional hemp is drilled in like wheat, at a planting rate of 400,000 per acre. The tops of the tall plants are harvested for seed and the stalks for a number of industrial purposes.
Bowman predicted production in 2019 will be limited by seed supply. Also, the banking community is not really sure about all this, he said. Furthermore, the farm bill instructs risk-management agencies to get an insurance product in place. Both of these are problems that need to be solved.
to the
to help fund the
which was developed to provide FFA students who do not have the financial means a chance to earn their own blue jacket. Presenting a check to DFB President Richard
is
left, director of opertions at Perdue's plant in Milford, and Mike Leavengood, vice president, chief animal care officer and farmer relationship advocate at Perdue.
Perdue Farms donated $1,000
Delaware FFA Association
Delaware Farm Bureau's Blue Jacket Bonanza Program
Wilkins
Dean Walston,
Cisgenesis creates excitement about genes and technology
Advanced breeding methods have been in the press recently, with the Washington Post printing a lengthy article on the latest research with livestock, asking: “Will regulation, safety concerns and public skepticism prevent these advances from becoming anything more than fascinating laboratory experiments, or will the animals transform agriculture and the food supply?” The author added: “Proponents of the field say the United States is at a make-or-break moment, when government action over the next year could determine whether any gene-edited food animals make it to market.”
Dr. Troy L. Ott, professor of reproductive physiology in Penn State’s Department of Animal Science, told poultry growers at Delaware Ag Week that there are people who try to make a living scaring others about food. “There is a high correlation between rain and umbrella use,” Ott said, “but correlation does not mean causation. You can’t make it rain by raising an umbrella.”
Ott was one of two professors who discussed genetic engineering during Ag Week. Both first made it clear they receive no funding from companies involved in the manufacture or sale of genetically engineered food. Ott said the views he expresses are his own, based on the best science available.
Ott’s goal was to help separate myths regarding genetic engineering from reality.
Man has been genetically engineering crops from the earliest days of agriculture, Ott said. We’ve crossbred plants with traits
we want and saved seed from plants that show those traits, hoping to get a desired result consistently. We’ve used as breeding stock animals with more desirable traits to make animals larger, smaller, fatter or leaner.
We now have the most abundant and varied food supply in human history — and we got there by studying nature, Ott said. We need to continue to increase the food supply. In fact, we will need to produce 70 percent more food 30 years from now, when the earth’s population increases from the present 7.6 billion to 10 billion people.
Ott described how genetic engineering has evolved from 1) selective breeding to 2) mutation breeding (in which nature randomly knocks out a gene and in one case out of a thousand the result is better) to 3) transgenesis, which has been used in cotton, soybeans and corn, resulting in such crops as Bt corn.
The fourth and most recent kind of genetic engineering is called cisgenesis. Ott said, “I have not seen so much excitement about technology in all my career.”
This system, known as CRISPR/ Cas, involves locating a single spot on a genome of more than 3 billion DNA base pairs, cutting at that specific location and doing some editing. For example, one tiny change could make cows resistant to mastitis, remove the horns from a breed of cattle in just one generation or produce birds resistant to bird flu.
Moreover, with this process a single gene mutation could make it possible (and has succeeded on occasion) to cure disease, including leukemia, sickle cell disease,
perhaps even Alzheimer’s.
People who fear genetic engineering or genetically modified organisms (GMOs), in general fear the unknown. They worry, “we could lose control.” Or, “It’s not natural.”
GMOs have been widely available for more than two decades. Recently introduced Arctic apples don’t turn brown when cut. Innate potatoes bruise less and don’t turn brown. There’s an Atlantic salmon with a gene from a Chinook salmon that grows two to four times faster than the original. The resulting “AquAdvantage” salmon was granted FDA approval in 2015 but can’t be sold in the United States yet because of labeling complications. Canadians, on the other hand, have consumed 5 tons of these farmed fish.
Ott stressed, “There is not one documented case of someone falling ill or in any way experiencing any negative health effects from consuming GE foods since they were introduced in 1996.”
To spot bad science, Ott suggested watching for sensationalized
headlines, checking to see if a control group was used and looking for “cherry-picked” results. If a research paper draws conclusions from only selected results, it may be cherry picking.
During an agronomy session the next evening, Dr. Paul Vincelli, Extension professor at the University of Kentucky, spoke on “Promoting Dialogue on Genetically Engineered Crops.” He encouraged farmers to discuss, rather than lecture. Let the other person express his or her concerns first. Repeat those concerns and show you understand them, he suggested. Then ask permission to share your own thoughts on the subject. Don’t challenge anyone’s personal experience, he advised, or overload the other person with too much information. Be able to direct them to more, accurate information on the subject. He might have added: then, get prepared to discuss whether products derived from livestock and manufactured using animal cell culture technology should be marketed as “meat.”
First Place prize for a Budding Artist in Delaware Farm Bureau's photo contest went to Noah Faircloth for this photo. See more photos on Page 9.
Government shutdown impacts local farmers
Farmers were relieved when government workers went back to work, at least temporarily.
American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall commented, “We are encouraged that the federal government will be re-opened for three weeks while Congress and the administration work on a permanent budget solution. At our annual meeting, our delegate body from 50 states and Puerto Rico called on President Trump, Speaker Pelosi and all leadership to move quickly to put this shutdown behind us. Farmers have crops to plant, animals to raise and food to sell. We need the Agriculture Department and the rest of the federal government up and running to do the job the American people need us to do.
“We also want to express our great appreciation to the thousands
CONTINUED ON PAGE 9
By mid-February, most families of four have earned enough disposable income to pay for their groceries for the rest of the year. Since the 1990s, many Farm Bureaus across the United States have recognized this day as Food Check-Out Day. Many, including Delaware's, mark the day with a donation of groceries to a local Ronald McDonald House. The Delaware Farm Bureau Women’s Committee made their annual visit to Sam’s Club in Dover early this year, on Jan. 25, buying snack foods and drinks to stock the food pantry of the Ronald McDonald Room at Bayhealth Kent General Hospital with provisions for the families of babies in the neonatal intensive care unit.
Participating in the effort this year were, from left, Mary Bea Gooden, Jan Cartanza, Sandy Virdin and her granddaughter Kendal Gede, June Unruh, DFB Youth Ambassador Helena Kirk, Connie Fox, Barbara Sapp, Laura Hill and Kay Betts with her granddaughter. In December, the Committee purchased toys for the Ronald McDonald House in Wilmington across from A.I.DuPont Hospital for Children.
2019 Photo Contest opens
Government shutdown ...
vest, and then ask for some back.
Entries may be submitted in Delaware Farm Bureau’s 2019 Photo Contest through Sept. 30. The contest is open to amateur photographers in adult and “budding artist” categories. Photos should showcase Delaware agriculture in categories including fresh food, crops in the field, animals, farm families, technology and consumer outreach. For details on these categories and other rules, visit https://defb.org/photo-contest. There is a $5 entry fee per photo. DFB members may send one free. Prizes include $150 for first place; $100 for second and $75 for third in both adult and youth age groups.
of federal employees at USDA and other agencies who put in long hours without pay these last several weeks to ensure our country was protected and that the services farmers and ranchers depend on remained available.”
The closure of thousands of FSA county offices prevented farmers from signing up for Farm Bill programs, applying for loans, and getting necessary information for their farming operations.
One of those caught in the squeeze was Chris Magee of Frankford, Del. His parents have been farming for half a century and are well known in Delaware, particularly for their strawberries.
Three years ago, the young man went out on his own, with 300 acres that are his and another 700 leased acres. He grows watermelons and soybeans.
Getting started in agriculture is not easy, Magee said. “If not for USDA and FSA, I would not be able to do what I’m doing. They finance my operation with a credit line.”
In a telephone interview, Magee explained that banks and even Farm Credit would not have lent him money because he had no collateral. The USDA helps for a few years until new farmers get on their feet, then they can go to a commercial bank.
“I’m not at the point that I can do that yet,” Magee said.
Unfortunately, his financial arrangement with the feds basically puts a lien on his crops. He has to give them all the proceeds at har-
“The shutdown put me in a bind. Everything I made, they have. Them being closed is bad for me. I can’t get my line of credit renewed. I can’t buy seed for next year. I can’t operate.”
Magee and his wife have turned to other jobs, such as digging foundations for houses, landscaping and snow removal, “just so we can survive,” he said.
The tariff relief — Market Facilities Program — has also been tied up. “Any help farmers were going to get, we can’t,” he said.
“We would have gotten $1.65 per bushel, but they’re not making payments. It’s like not getting a paycheck. We were counting on that money.”
He added, “We use H2A workers. This is going to be horrendous. We should start applying now.”
Farmers, especially those just starting out, have it hard enough in normal times. “If you’re honest with yourself, and figure the cost of land rent, seed, fertilizer, wear and tear on your tractor, farmers in America are not making any money.”
Magee said he was glad the FSA offices would be re-opening. “I just hope they’re not backed up,” he said. “It might be the end of February or March before they get stuff squared away, and we need to be in the fields then.”
Magee added the government shutdown was not a Democrat problem or a Republican problem.
“This is an American problem. I hope they fix it, but I’m not going to hold my breath.”
Sandy Virdin submitted the third honorable mention photo at left and the second honorable mention photo above in the 2018 contest. In the ad below are 2018 winning photos, from left, second place, by Sandy Virdin; third place, Hanna O'Hara; and first, Charlene Sharpe.
Meet Your Farmers: Laura and Roland Hill
Laura Hill, the first woman to be elected as a Delaware Farm Bureau officer — as second vice president in 2012 — was elected to a second term as first vice president of Delaware Farm Bureau in December 2018. She has been a Farm Bureau member since 1977 and was a longtime 4-H volunteer.
She has previously served as Sussex County Farm Bureau Women’s
Committee Chair, and also serves as chair of the Farm Bureau Food Booth and Legislative Committees and on the Farm Bureau Executive Committee.
Hill also has served on the Delaware Nutrient Management Commission since 2009, appointed by the House of Representatives to represent Sussex County poultry farmers.
Roland Hill served on the Delaware Soybean Board years ago and now serves on the Sussex Conservation Board. He is also a Sussex County Farm Bureau Director.
The Hills own and operate the 1,600-acre Deerfield Farm in Lewes along with their sons, Roland III and Jerad. “It takes all four of us collectively to make this farm run successfully,” Laura said.
Their daughter, Jamie, moved with her family from Pennsylvania three years ago and bought a home in a development located next to the farm. Jamie holds an agriculture degree from Delaware Valley College.
“Hopefully, someday Jamie will be able to take over my job on the farm,” Laura said, “but for now she is a full-time soccer and lacrosse mom and assistant track coach at Beacon Middle School and Cape High School.”
Jamie’s husband, Brian Loucks, is also heavily involved in their sons’ sports activities when not at work for Eastern Shore Utilities as a corrosion engineer.
The family grows grain and vegetables — including peas, lima beans and black-eyed peas — and
also operate a 105,000-capacity poultry operation, Roland Hill Poultry Farm, growing for Mountaire Farms.
“We built our first two houses in 1979,” Laura recalls. “We added two more in 1986 and a fifth in 1990. It’s been a long, long time!”
In 2014, Laura and fellow Farm Bureau member Barbara Sapp of Milton were honored for their service and contributions with the Secretary's Award for Distinguished Service to Delaware Agriculture. They were the first women to receive the award, which was presented at the Delaware Agricultural Industry Dinner.
Ed Kee, then Delaware Ag Secretary, said, “Laura Hill and Barbara Sapp are two of the most outstanding leaders in First State farming we have today. Both have served their communities and state with great distinction as part of the Delaware Farm Bureau and representing agriculture on the Nutrient Management Commission. Their hard work and dedication to promoting and advancing agriculture are without peer.”
Laura and Roland Hill operate Deerfield Farm in Lewes with their sons.
Grain Bin Safety Week 2019
The following information is provided by Nationwide, the No. 1 farm and ranch insurer in the United States.*
Initiated by Nationwide in 2014, Grain Bin Safety Week is an annual campaign recurring the third full week of February to promote grain bin safety on farms and commercial grain-handling facilities.
A collaborative effort with industry leaders and agricultural professionals, Grain Bin Safety Week was created to raise awareness about grain bin dangers, provide education and share best safety practices. Together, we hope to reduce the number of preventable injuries and deaths associated with grain handling and storage.
Timed to bring safety awareness to the dangers of grain bins, a period when many farmers and
grain-handling operations are planning for the upcoming season, this week-long event will highlight a different component of grain bin safety each of the seven days.
Grain Bin Safety Week will be observed Feb. 17 through 23, 2019.
Injuries and fatalities: the startling facts
• It takes only seconds to be completely engulfed in flowing grain or suffocated and overcome by oxygen-deficient atmospheres.
• 24 documented grain entrapments resulted in 14 deaths (58 percent fatality rate) in 2015.
• 38 documented grain entrapments resulted in 18 deaths in 2014 – the highest recorded since 2010.
• In 2010, at least 26 U.S. workers were killed in grain engulfments −
Nominate your local fire department to receive grain rescue tube by April 30
Rural fire fighters are often the first and only line of defense when someone becomes helplessly trapped in grain. Unfortunately, many fire departments lack the specialized rescue techniques and equipment nec essary for a successful grain bin rescue.
In conjunction with Grain Bin Safety Week, Feb. 17 through 23, 2019, Nationwide is teaming up with the National Education Center for Ag ricultural Safety (NECAS), KC Supply and others to award emergency first responders with grain rescue tubes and hands-on rescue training to help save lives.
Winning entries will be awarded a grain rescue tube, valued between $3,000 to $5,000 and a six-hour grain entrapment rescue training ses sion, at the winner’s location, valued at up to $5,000.
To enter, describe how your local fire department or emergency res cue team and community would benefit from grain entrapment training and a rescue tube, and how the tube and training could be shared with nearby departments. Include your name, occupation, phone number, mail and email addresses and the name, address and phone number of the fire department or rescue team you wish to nominate.
Complete rules are posted at https://www.mynsightonline.com/home/ grain-bin-safety-week/participate-with-us/nominate-your-fire-depart ment.
Nominations are accepted from the general public as well as from fire fighters who wish to nominate their own fire department. Employees and agents of Nationwide are not eligible to submit nominations for the contest.
Submit your entry online at the website above, via email to agcon test@nicc.edu or mail it to: NECAS, Grain Bin Safety Week Contest, 8342 NICC Dr., Peosta, IA 52068.
Limit one entry per person, per email address and per household or department.
Deadline is April 30, 2019, at 11:59 p.m. CT. Only entries submitted during this time will be considered for the contest.
Open to legal residents of the contiguous United States and the Dis trict of Columbia, excluding Alaska and Hawaii, who are at least 18 years of age at the time of entry. Void where prohibited.
the highest fatalities on record.
Source: 2015 Summary of U.S. Agricultural Confined Space-Related Injuries and Fatalities
Nominate your fire department for a grain bin rescue tube.
Grain Bin Safety Week also promotes awareness of live-saving grain extraction methods and procedures that help first responders rescue farmers and other workers who've been trapped in grain bins or other storage facilities.
This year, 2019, marks the sixth year of Grain Bin Safety Week and the Nominate Your Fire Department Contest. Since its inception, the contest has received nearly 2,000 nominations and has awarded grain rescue tubes and hands-on rescue training to 48 fire departments across 18 states.
Two of the tubes have been used to save the lives of two farmers. Several states impacted by the risks of grain handling and storage
ficially recognize Grain Bin Safety Week in their respective states.
To learn more about this event, please visit our host site grainbinsafetyweek.com.
Neither Nationwide, nor its employees, its agents, brokers or registered representatives gives legal or tax advice.
Nationwide, the Nationwide N and Eagle, Nationwide is on your side and Land As Your Legacy are service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. © 2018 Nationwide
Products underwritten by Nationwide Agribusiness Insurance Company, Farmland Mutual Insurance Company, Allied Property and Casualty Insurance Company and AMCO Insurance Company. Products and discounts not available to all persons in all states.
Nationwide, the Nationwide N and Eagle and Nationwide is on your side are service marks of Nation
