WOMEN IN AG: FARMING FROM THE AIR

Can you tell the difference between soybeans and sweet potatoes from 100 feet in the air?

Could you handle the controls of an airplane flying 150 mph?

Could you keep that airplane 10 feet off the ground, apply an agriculture product to the right field, keep the product on target, and avoid hazards in and around the field?

If so, you might be an Agriculture Aviator.

I’ve always called an agriculture pilot a crop duster, but that doesn’t begin to cover what these pilots do. First of all, most of the products they apply are liquid, so the pilots aren’t really dusting anything. In addition to applying pesticides, planes are used to plant seeds, apply fertilizer, fight wildfires, feed fish, and many other jobs in agriculture.

Last week, our wheat needed fertilizer applied to it, but the field was too wet for the tractor. Instead, we used an aerial applicator.

According to the National Agricultural Aviation Association, one plane can do three times the work of ground equipment, which cuts down on fuel usage. By using a plane, we also avoided any soil compaction.

Planes used in agriculture may take off and land between 30 and 100 times a day. The landing strip might be paved or a rough area in a field.    

Pilots must have a commercial pilots license and a commercial pesticide applicators license. This is a specialized field, requiring specific skills that aren’t used by pilots flying commercial planes. I looked at a few websites for Agriculture Flight Schools and, in addition to 40 hours of flight training, pilots also take classes in navigation with and without GPS, choosing spray patterns, loading and mixing chemicals, and other topics. 

Do you use aerial applicators on your farm?

MEET YOUR NEW BOSS: PART 1

Ceci Snyder, vice president of consumer marketing, National Pork Board

Ceci Synder

Every six months, we do a consumer tracking survey. Consumption skews slightly higher for boomers – but not by much. People who enjoy cooking eat the most pork, no matter their age.

There are four significant food trends we see.

• World cuisine. Korean cuisine is gaining popularity, and we have developed national pork advertisements that include this cuisine.

• Fewer food additives. Our marketing focuses on pork that is sold fresh, so this trend fits us pretty well, too.

• Minority gains. We have rapidly growing populations of Latino, Asian, and African-American consumers. For many, pork is the preferred meat choice, so that’s working in our favor.

• Premium products. There is a growing demand for some niche products, and producers are responding. Even large packers, for example, have programs to produce pork raised without antibiotics. We continually measure consumer attitudes about on-farm practices.

One new product demand we see is for a prime-type pork product with darker color, higher marbling, and other attributes. Some producers will provide the product and the genetics for this demand. It will be good for producers and consumers.

Patrick Archer, president, American Peanut Council

Patrick Archer

Nuts are a good source of plant-based protein, low in fat, low in carbs, and healthy. Peanuts are a very sustainable crop. They’re a legume and a great rotation crop. Yields have gone up, so we produce more peanuts with the same resources. Peanuts are not genetically modified. Those are all important things to millennial consumers especially.

Of all peanuts grown, 57% are sold as peanut butter. It’s not a highly processed product; we just grind them up and add a small amount of a stabilizing additive to prevent separation. We also have all-natural peanut butters with no additives.

Our biggest consumer challenge is peanut allergies. Farmers have spent over $10 million for research and education on that subject. 

Serena Schaffner, director of marketing communications, American Egg Board

Serena Schaffner

We often see food trends start in restaurants and then impact at-home consumption. For instance, the growth of egg sandwiches at quick-serve restaurants has resulted in more consumers making them at home for a fast weekday breakfast. 

One of the most relevant food trends is consumers’ appetite for protein, especially at breakfast. There are benefits of eating protein throughout the day, rather than most of it at dinner. Eggs fit this trend with nothing artificial, which is also increasingly important to Americans. 

• You can now find ready-to-eat hard-boiled eggs at many local retailers. This caters to busy, on-the-go consumers today. 
• Consumers now have a variety of egg choices, such as cage-free and organic.
• Per capita egg consumption is at a 30-year high.

Kevin Schooley, executive director, North American Strawberry Growers Association

Kevin Schooley

Our members are mostly smaller growers offering pick-your-own service and roadside stands. We consider ourselves the original local producers. 

We went through a time when big growers from California were dominating retail strawberry sales, but the trends are switching back. Many of our growers now partner with grocers to provide local food to stock their shelves. We like this. Our growers are positioned to meet the rising demand for a fresh, local product.

Organized Private Sector presents Recovery Plan to Federal Govt.

The Organised Private Sector (OPS) has presented an economy recovery plan to the federal government of Nigeria.

The President of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Frank Udenba-Jacobs made the presentation on behalf of the OPS to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo during the 2nd Presidential Business Forum at the State House, Abuja.

The group comprises the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (NASME) and Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industries (NASSI).

Lauding the efforts of the federal government towards economic resurgence the OPS stated that to achieve a good result, the federal government must address issues of access to foreign exchange by the real sector, re-capitalisation of the Bank of Industry and Bank of Agriculture, provision of long-term funding for the industrial sector through urgent and targeted operations of the Development Bank of Nigeria, as well as resource-based industrialisation.

The group also urged the federal government to strongly oppose the European Union (EU)/Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Economic Partnership Agreement which, according to the group would lead to de-industrialisation which will in turn limit investments and manufacturing growth in West Africa, particularly Nigeria.

“The implication of this, if entered into, is that our economy will remain a provider of raw materials and an importer of finished products,” the group said.

The OPS advised the federal government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to patronise made-in-Nigeria products and enforce the Procurement Act as this would help to create employment and encourage local manufacturers.

“Our expenditure in favour of imported products is detrimental to the growth of local industry as it increases employment in the country of origin and simultaneously increases poverty in our land,” it noted.

Also commending the Central Bank’s Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP), the OPS recommended that the ABP be expanded to include medium-scale as well as large-scale integrated processors to act as anchor companies so as to increase private sector involvement in the scheme in order to boost production of key commodities,

The group added that this will soothe supply of inputs to agro processors and address food security in Nigeria.

MAN calls for review of 41 Imported Items CBN ban from Forex

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has pleaded with the Federal Government to review the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) foreign exchange policy, which placed ban on importers of 41 items from accessing forex in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Markets.

Speaking in Lagos, MAN President Dr. Udemba Jacobs said some of the items that were restricted from accessing the forex market could not be sourced locally.

“The association has done an analysis on the banned items and we broke the 41 items into 110 and of the 110, 75 are raw materials for our members. It is these 75 items we ask the Federal Government to remove from the list so that our members can source forex to buy their raw materials,” he said.

AgroNigeria recalls that in 2015, the CBN issued a directive stopping some imported goods and services from the list of items valid for forex which in turn barred access to foreign currency for entrepreneurs who used such products as raw materials.

Some of these banned goods include: cement, Margarine, Palm kernel/Palm oil, Poultry chicken, eggs, turkey, products/vegetables oil, Metal boxes and containers, Enamelware,  Steel drums, Steel pipes, Wire rods(deformed and not deformed), Iron rods and reinforcing bar, Wire mesh, Meat and processed meat products, Wood particle boards and panels, etc.

Jacobs said about 44 of its members have closed shop as a result of the lack of raw materials.

“We have lost about 44 of our members. They have gone out of business because of their inability to source foreign exchange to bring in the materials,” he said.

The MAN president however called on the government to review the 41 items that will involve the stakeholders to resolve manufacturers’ inaccessibility to forex.

“Such raw materials that cannot be locally available should be removed from the items,’’ he said.

COMMODITY EXCHANGE PARTNERS NOA ON FARMERS’ EDUCATION

The Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCX) and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) have agreed to conduct a national public enlightenment programme on the operations of the exchange.

The Managing Director/CEO of NCX, Mrs Zaheera Baba-Ari, who visited the NOA headquarters in Abuja, said the core objective of the exchange hinged on the provision of an efficient and transparent trading platform for the sale and appropriate pricing of Nigerian agro-commodities.

A statement by Mr. Chris Echikwu, the NCX’s Head, Corporate Communication, quoted Mrs Baba-Ari as saying the exchange would serve as a veritable source of employment provision and revenue generation for the federal government.

Mrs Baba-Ari stated that NCX is partnering NOA to leverage on its wide ranging national public enlightenment apparatus to educate Nigerian farmers and consumers of agro-commodities on the benefits of patronising the exchange.

The Director-General of the NOA, Malam Garba Abari, pledged the readiness of his organisation to work with NCX in its mission of improving the livelihood of Nigerian farmers.

It was agreed that a joint NOA/NCX Committee would be established in due course to develop the proposed national enlightenment programme on the benefits of NCX operations to the national economy.