Agriculture

I cannot get enough of Sarah Palin's cluelessness. I swear, it's just magic to me how she is lost in the happy-go-luckiness of her ignorance. Especially since she had just previously pardoned a frigging turkey at the same poultry farm.

As commenter teoleftfeet said over at Metafilter, "There's something very very surreal about government leaders sparing the life of a being and then ignoring the slaughter of others. Very very surreal."

Ignorance is indeed bliss. 

Yet what's really over the top and had me literally rolling on the floor with tears streaming down my face was that the guy in the background comes back to do the unspeakable behind her all over again.

That's what we call chutzpah.

Iowa Farmers Union Lobby Day & Press Conference
When: Mon, Mar 17, 22:00 – Tue, Mar 18, 04:00
Where: North Rotunda area of the State Capitol in Des Moines.

Iowa Farmers Union members & supporters will talk with legislators & their staff about top legislative priorities for 2008 including local control, market access, & local ownership of renewable energy projects. For more information contact Leigh Adcock at 515-232-4082 email: leigh_adcock_at_prairienet.net

Sustainable Mini-Farming Workshop, Willits, California.
February 29-March 2

The weekend workshop will consist of lectures, discussion, and demonstration on soil preparation, sustainable soil fertility, fertilization, compost, compost crops, efficient resource use, crops for full nutrition, and crops for income. Contact: Margo Royer-Miller, Ecology Action, margoroyer-miller@growbiointensive.org, (707) 459-0150.

American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy's 2nd National Forum on Energy Efficiency in Agriculture

Food and Energy from the Ground Up: Efficiency's Role in Sustainable Agriculture

Embassy Suites Hotel • Des Moines, Iowa • Februrary 20–22, 2008

Co-Chairs:
Rich Hackner, Wisconsin Focus on Energy and GDS Associates
Mike Morris, National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT)

In the recent national dialogue about biofuels and other renewable energy opportunities for agriculture, efficiency has been a strangely neglected topic. The usual vision or hope is that agricultural lands will produce enough fuel and electricity to meet future energy demands that continue to expand rapidly.

This conference will explore an alternative vision, where increased energy production by agriculture is accompanied by equally significant improvements in energy efficiency throughout our economy. Making these improvements will require rethinking and redesigning many aspects of our interrelated food and energy systems.

Background

In recent years, ACEEE has been active in reinvigorating interest in energy issues in agriculture. We supported the Senate Agriculture Committee in their crafting the energy title (Title IX) of the 2002 Farm Bill, helping to insure that energy efficiency was included. Since the bill's passage, we have worked to provide information on energy efficiency opportunities in the agricultural sector and to identify successful program strategies, becoming a leading source of information the government and the energy efficiency community on energy efficiency in agriculture through our Web site, reports and presentations.

One of the biggest issues of our generation just might be the collapse of the honeybee population (and the populations of several other pollinators). The decline in pollinators threatens one third of our food supply and already has created problems in the honey and almond industries and considerable concern among scientists and farmers who depend on bees. It is a genuine crisis that seems to be getting worse from year to year.

I have written about this crisis and have been in touch with some of the scientists who study this. I need to get around to another diary as soon as I can, but have been distracted by other issues. But for those who want to learn more about it, PBS will be having a program on the decline of the bees on its show Nature.

I haven't watched Nature in some time, but I remember when it first started and I did watch it for many years. It has always been one of the best nature programs on television, from its very first episode (Flight of the Condor with some of the best nature photography ever).

I am sure that they will do a good job with this issue and if you are concerned about the environment and/or our food supply, you probably want to watch it:

Sunday, October 28 at 8pm and November 3, 6:00pm
Nature: "Silence of the Bees"
In Nature's season premiere

No...I am not talking the imported gluten fiasco that is a predictable consequence of the irresponsible Republican attack on government. I am talking about the massive and rapid die off of honeybees, the critter responsible for pollinating about 1/3 of our food supply.

Most of you won't pay much attention to this, unless you are a farmer and then you probably know how important honeybees are to crops. But most people will ignore this crisis until that 1/3 of our food supply fails.

I have been warning about this for over a year now, warning that the loss of the honeybee is a major threat to our food supply, most recently here. Each time I write about it the situation looks worse.

For awhile now honeybees have been declining alarmingly. A mite infestation seemed to be the primary cause of this decline that has worried scientists and agricultural experts alike. But starting last fall, the decline took an alarming turn, with entire colonies suddenly dying en masse in what almost looked like a bee version of AIDS. The few living bees found in hives that had died off were found to have multiple infections as if their immune system had stopped working. According to a recent article in Science, beekeepers in 26 states have lost up to 50% of their colonies this winter to CCD. Again, this is on top of earlier die offs due to mites and other infections in past years. This more recent, more dramatic die off has been called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).