CNN Interviews Texas Ag Commissioner on Texas Drought

CNN Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras interviewed Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples on the devastating drought currently gripping Texas. Watch the story here:

Commissioner Farmer Issues 'Eat Local' Challenge

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, July 27, 2009

For more information contact:
Bill Clary

(502) 564-1137

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer challenges all Kentuckians to buy local Kentucky Proud foods and eat locally as often as possible.

“When you buy local, you’re buying fresh, wholesome food for your family,” Commissioner Farmer said. “You’re also helping Kentucky’s economy. If everybody in Kentucky planned just one meal a week featuring all Kentucky Proud products, we could add an enormous amount of money to our hard-working farm families’ bottom lines.”

Farmers’ markets offer a vast array of local fruits, vegetables and other products. Most fruits and vegetables grown in Kentucky are at their peak, and Commissioner Farmer said there’s no better time to shop at one of Kentucky’s 124 farmers’ markets than Farmers’ Market Week, which continues through Saturday, Aug. 1.

“Farmers’ markets give consumers the chance to buy tomatoes, sweet corn, watermelon, apples, peaches and many other fruits and vegetables at the height of freshness and nutritional value,” Commissioner Farmer said. “You also can look for sauces, cheeses, meats, crafts, cut flowers and other products. And you can meet the people who raised or made those products.”

About 2,000 Kentucky farmers’ market vendors rang up an estimated $8 million in sales in 2007, up from $5.4 million in 2003.

The Good Foods Market & Café in Lexington has joined Kentucky Proud and more than 50 food co-ops nationwide to challenge consumers to eat local this summer. Good Foods will host a kick-off event for the challenge on Aug. 1 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Customers can sign up for the challenge and enjoy samples by local producers, music and a grill out with local hot dogs and hamburgers.

Dozens of other retailers, restaurants, state parks and Kentucky Farm Bureau roadside markets throughout Kentucky offer Kentucky Proud products.

Kentucky Proud is the Commonwealth’s official farm marketing program. Kentucky Proud has generated $250 million in retail sales of Kentucky farm products through member retailers in the past three years, including $100 million in 2008.

Kentucky National Guard unit embarks on a noble mission

by Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer

I had the distinct honor of helping see off the Kentucky Agribusiness Development Team earlier this month as it prepared to deploy to Afghanistan. This team, a special unit of the Kentucky National Guard, will help the Afghan people recapture agricultural knowledge lost after generations of war.

More that 70 percent of Afghanistan’s people count on agriculture as their main source of income. If we can help them develop a stronger food-based agriculture economy, that will go a long way toward stabilizing the region and reducing the threat of terrorism around the world.

This country’s Founding Fathers understood that agriculture is absolutely critical to any nation’s well-being. America’s ability to feed itself is the main source of our strength.

That’s especially the case in Kentucky. Even after the tobacco quota buyout, Kentucky still has more than 80,000 farms. That’s how many families depend on agriculture for at least part of their livelihood. Those people use their farm income to pay the bills, put their children through school, and purchase many other necessities, usually in our rural communities.

We can’t take our agriculture industry for granted. With farm cash receipts of more than $4 billion each of the last three years, agriculture simply is too important to Kentucky’s economy. We’ve been able to manage much of the dramatic change that has occurred over the past decade by speaking to Kentucky’s leaders with one voice. We must continue to work together toward the goal of strengthening Kentucky agriculture for decades to come.

I salute the men and women of the Kentucky Agribusiness Development Unit as they embark on their noble mission. And I applaud Kentucky’s hard-working farm families. The Kentucky Department of Agriculture is at your service.

CDA Biochemistry Lab Achieves International Accreditation

The Colorado Department of Agriculture’s Inspection and Consumer Services Division has been notified that the Division’s Biochemistry Laboratory has achieved ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation in Biological and Chemical Testing from the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA). Accreditation is a formal recognition of competence that a laboratory can perform specific tests or calibrations.

CDA’s Biochemistry Laboratory provides testing on a variety of matrices including fresh produce, food products, animal feeds, fertilizers, soil, vegetation, and water. The laboratory also includes a microbiology section which employs microbiological techniques to analyze human and animal foods for harmful bacteria and examines animal feeds for the presence of antibiotics and prohibited materials.

“We are very excited to become ISO 17025 accredited by A2LA,” said Keith Wegner, Laboratory Services Section Chief. “Our laboratory staff worked extremely hard over several years to earn this accreditation. The breadth of the accreditation scopes shows the complexity and importance of the work that we do here.”

Accreditation by A2LA demonstrates that the Biochemistry Laboratory has achieved an international standard of recognition for testing integrity and reliability. Biological testing includes food products, feed, food additives, method validation studies, method development, and related research for food-borne pathogens, contaminants and adulterants. Chemical testing includes ground and surface waters, and food commodities. The complete scope of accreditation issued by A2LA can be found by visiting www.colorado.gov/ag/ics and clicking on “Biochemistry Laboratory.”

“We will also be adding fertilizer testing, pesticides, and additional animal feed tests to our accreditation scope as we move forward,” explained Wegner.

Julie Zimmerman, ICS Division Director, was quite pleased with the achievement and noted, “The Department is committed to ensuring that we deliver accurate and reliable analytical testing to support our programs. It is vital that our laboratories continue to develop and perform the latest scientific methods and technologies and accreditation helps us demonstrate our capabilities.”

For more information on CDA’s consumer protection services within the Inspection and Consumer Services Division, visit www.colorado.gov/ag/ics.

Commissioner Farmer honors Nat. Guard unit headed for Afghanistan.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

For more information contact:
Bill Clary

(502) 564-1137

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer joined Kentucky Adjutant General Edward W. Tonini and other dignitaries Monday in seeing a Kentucky National Guard unit off to a special mission in Afghanistan.

The Kentucky Agribusiness Development Team was honored in a departure ceremony at Kentucky State University. The nation’s first joint agribusiness development team, it will train in Camp Atterbury, Ind., before deploying to Afghanistan in August.

“It certainly is an honor and a privilege to be in the presence of greatness,” Commissioner Farmer said to the departing soldiers and airmen.

Commissioner Farmer said the Founding Fathers of the United States understood that a strong agricultural industry is necessary to survive and build a strong economy. “You have been chosen to go and rebuild an agricultural economy in a place … that has known quite a bit of war,” he said.

Commissioner Farmer also honored the families of the departing service men and women. “I know the sacrifices that all of you in the audience, and family members who are not able to be here today, are making,” he said.

Gen. Tonini pointed out that agriculture is the main source of income for 70 percent of the Afghan population. “By helping re-establish and invigorate the Afghan farming tradition and rebuilding the agricultural infrastructure, these troops will bring stability to an otherwise war-torn nation,” he said. “I believe success in this mission can and will make the world a better place for everyone.”