As everyone is likely aware, food prices have been increasing in America, as well as across the globe.

 

Several news sources and leaders both in Washington and across the world, have attempted to blame America's ethanol production for rising food prices. NFU President Tom Buis spent much of last week setting the record straight in front of Congress and the media:

 

On April 28, Buis sent a letter in response to Texas Governor Rick Perry's request for a waiver of the RFS mandate.

 

On April 30, Buis participated in a press conference at the National Press Club about rising food prices in the United States.

 

On May 1, Buis testified before the Senate Joint Economic Committee in a hearing on rising U.S. food prices. You can watch the entire testimony here (you will need the Real Player application to play video).

NBC Nightly News, along with several media outlets, did a story on the hearing that evening. You can click here to watch.

 

Last week, members of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting gathered on Capitol Hill. The agriculture reporters came from across the countryside to meet with their local Congressmen during their annual "Washington Watch" event.

 

NFU sponsored a dinner on April 29 at the North Dakota Farmers Union-owned restaurant, Agraria. The restaurant sources the highest quality products from family-farmers across the country. The cuisine is derived from the families whose passion for farming not only provides the wholesome ingredients presented on the menu, but also embodies the very fabric of the American way of life.

 

Tom addressed the crowd with the latest farm bill updates and provided interviews for the reporters to use on their home-state radio stations while the crowd enjoyed a delicious family-style meal.

 

Eden Peart is not a native Hawaiian, but she's been living there so long it's hard to tell. Eden grew up in Eureka, Calif., but has been on the "Big Island" for twenty-four years. She attended college in Eureka and has been involved in agriculture in various capacities in both Hawaii and California since she was eighteen.

 

On her fourteen acres in Honoka'a, Eden grows native and endemic trees, as well as traditional Hawaiian crops including sweet potatoes, passion fruit, bananas, mangos, avocados, coconuts, coffee, cacao, citrus and taro. Taro is also known as kalo, the traditional staple root of Polynesia, which is considered an ancestor of Hawaiian people. Eden also grows Inga trees, also known as ice cream bean trees because they often have edible seeds that resemble vanilla ice cream in flavor. Ingas are a fabulous nitrogen-fixing tree native to the Amazon. Eden also hopes to soon expand into some organic flower and herb production.

 

Continue reading Eden's profile.

 

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Check out all our previous profiles here.

 

NFU has hired Nate Carrigan to serve as caretaker at the Farmers Union Education Center in Bailey, Colo., long a landmark in Park County. Carrigan is a Park County deputy sheriff and while he will continue in that capacity, he will also handle the day-to-day management of the education center and will live at the site.

 

"We're pleased to have Nate on board," said NFU President Tom Buis. "He's been an active member of the community for a long time and will be a real asset for the facility."

 

NFU has owned the property just east of Bailey since the 1940s. It serves as the central location for the organization's annual All-States Leadership Camp as well as a number of other educational camps and conferences for youth and adults. The facility is also available for rent to groups and individuals for camps, conferences, reunions, weddings and more. The center can easily accommodate groups from 30 to 2,500. Overnight stays are welcomed in the dormitory-style facilities for up to 150 guests. Commerical kitchen facilities are also available.

 

In addition, NFU announced that fishing at the facility will no longer be open to the public. NFU recently reached an agreement with a private party to lease the stream for private fishing access and streambed improvement. The NFU facility includes approximately two miles of the north fork of the South Platte River.

 

"We're excited about these changes," said Buis. "We always want to find ways to improve the property and continue its existence as an important part of Park County and Colorado. We're proud of our relationship to the community of Bailey and Park County and strive to maintain that relationship."

 

For information on leasing the facility, call (303)838-5215.

 

Key stakeholders from Alaska's seafood production, marketing and processing industries participated in a workshop in Kodiak about using cooperative marketing as a risk management technique. The April 25 training was presented by the Alaska Co-op Development Program and co-sponsored by the Alaska Marine Conservation Council (AMCC) for the purposes of having independent seafood producers explore the co-op business model to market their seafood products.

 

NFU Director of Economic and Cooperative Development Jeff Moser attended the event. The workshop was moderated by Michael Brooks, fisheries consultant and caviar processor for the AMCC, an affiliate organization of the National Farmers Union. AMCC is a community-based organization of fishermen, small business owners and others who are dedicated to protecting the long-term health of Alaska's oceans and sustaining the working waterfronts and local economies of coastal communities.

 

Also in attendance were processors and representatives from small fishing co-ops and related federal, state and local marine, seafood science and conservation agencies. Workshop presenters included Hans Geier, regional economist with the University of Alaska Cooperative Extension Service in Fairbanks and Andrew Crow, University of Alaska Center for Economic Development in Anchorage. Funding for the workshop and associated costs was provided by the USDA Risk Management Agency Community Outreach and Assistance Partnership Program.

 

Government Relations office intern Ashley Peppler's last day with NFU is today. Peppler will be packing up and leaving D.C. for the summer and spending her break back in Colorado with her family before returning to American University next fall for her junior year. Peppler is the daughter of Rocky Mountain Farmers Union President Kent and Colleen Peppler and has been with NFU since the beginning of January.

 

"While with NFU, I learned so much about agricultural policy and the way that it impacts U.S. producers," Peppler said. "My major is international relations, so it was invaluable to be able to see how the international trade issues that I studied in the classroom related to agriculture and my roots on the farm at home."

 

Amber Birtcher is leaving National Farmers Union this Wednesday, May 7. While with NFU, she served as Communications Coordinator at the Government Relations Office in Washington, D.C. She served as editor of the e-newsletter.
 
"I am grateful for the experience of working with NFU, and for all the truly wonderful people I met," Birtcher said. "It was a real pleasure to be able to use my skills and knowledge to benefit rural America and the family farmer."
 
Birtcher is relocating to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and will be working as a paralegal for the law firm of Boies, Schiller & Flexner before attending law school. She enjoyed the time she spent with NFU and is enthusiastic about her rising legal career.

 

North Daktoa: North Dakota Governor John Hoeven has proclaimed May 5 - 9, 2008, as Farmers Union Youth Week, citing North Dakota Farmers Union's dedication to cooperative education and community leadership through its youth program.

 

"Farmers Union members have developed cooperative and community leaders through education classes and a statewide summer camping program," wrote Hoeven in a signed proclamation. "Educating young people on cooperative business is important to growing our state's agriculture industry and overall economy."

 

As the state's largest general farm organization, NDFU conducts county-sponsored classes and summer camps that annually attract more than 2,500 youth. The organization's youth camping program gets underway in June. Three and five-day camps are offered for youth in grades 3 - 12.

 

"Farmers Union Camp is open to all youth in North Dakota," said Amber Hill, NDFU education coordinator. "It is an interactive, hands-on program that builds teamwork and communication skills in young people. Without a doubt, it is the best week of summer for making lasting memories and lifelong friends."

 

Rocky Mountain: On May 2, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, in partnership with its Charitable Foundation, announced its nine scholarship award winners.

 

The scholarships, funded by RMFU, Farmers Union Service Association and memorials to historic members of Farmers Union, are given to students with outstanding scholastic achievements and community service, to recognize their gifts and assist them in pursuing their education.

 

"These nine recipients are bright young people who will become the future leaders of our rural communities. The RMFU Foundation is proud to present them with these scholarships and help them achieve their career goals," said RMFU Education Director Jennifer Luitjens Bahr.

 

The winners, all from Colorado, were Kelsey Heupel, Weldona - Hazel Hemphill Memorial; Kirk Lenz, Wray - Edna Buchanan Memorial; Mark Mailander, Holyoke - James G. Patton Memorial; Jamie Neal, Ft. Morgan - Maurice Parker Memorial; Briana Reynolds, Cortez - Katheryn Pappenheim Memorial; Cyndi Schumacher, Peetz - RMFU; Leah Simon, Stratton - FUSA; Kaitlin Soehner, Idalia - FUSA; and Kelly Wentz, Strasburg - James G. Patton Memorial.

 

Click here to learn more about each scholarship recipient.

 

Have NFU news you want to share? Send any info about meetings, conventions, state fairs, individual members' success, state government news, or anything else relevant to NFU and its members to Amber Birtcher.

 

Minnesota Farmers Union Spring Tour: Coffee Talks

May 6      10:00 am        Owatonna, Happy Chef

               1:00 pm        Goodhue, Doc Sawyer's Restaurant

               3:30 pm        Farmington, Eagle's Club

May 8      10:00 am        St. Peter, Waldo's Cafe

               1:00 pm        St. James, Home Town Cafe

               3:30 pm        Windom, Happy Chef

               7:30 pm        Luverne, Pizza Ranch

May 9      10:00 am        Marshall, Perkins Restaurant

               1:30 pm        Benson, Sandy's Cafe

 

Minnesota Farmers Union County Meetings

May 7      8:00 pm        Eagle Bend, Fire Hall

 

Nebraska Farmers Union C-BED Experience Panel

May 7      12:00 pm       Lamar, Colo.

May 8      12:00 pm       Wray, Colo.

 

North Dakota Farmers Union County Meetings

May 10    9:00-3:00 pm  Morton, Almont Memorial Hall

Have an upcoming event you would like to share? Send the event, date, time and location to Amber Birtcher.

 

 

View a printable version of Farmer's Share.

 

Taken from "Agricultural Prices," USDA/NASS.

Taken from "Agricultural Prices," USDA/NASS.