Robb Fraley isn’t our typical SMART Farmer, but after growing up on a small Illinois farm, his work has helped farmers around the world produce food more sustainably with science and technology that has helped increase yields by decreasing threats to crops. That technology is genetic modification of plants, creating GMO crops that are resistance to insects and disease, able …
SMART Farmer Phil Borgic
Meet the Illinois hog farmer whose family farm is the star of the 360 video the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance has been sharing around the country this year. You can watch the video without effects below – and if you have a VR viewer or headset take a look in 360. Phil Borgic has a family farm in Nokomis, …
SMART Farmer Jeanette Merritt
Jeannette Merritt is our SMART Farmer for this episode – an Indiana farm girl and former agricultural journalist who is raising crops, hogs and kids with her husband and serving the industry in many capacities. Jeanette is a 4th generation farmer, a Purdue University graduate, Director of Checkoff Programs for Indiana Pork and serves on the Indiana Soybean Alliance board …
MN Soy Teams with USFRA for Teacher Education
The Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council (MSR&PC) has partnered with U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) to start a program to help urban teachers learn more about agriculture so they can teach it to their students. To kick it off, educators in Minneapolis August 29 and Sacramento August 31 are invited to take a farm tour at the end …
SMART Farmer Carla Wardin
Our SMART Farmer in this episode comes from Michigan where she and her husband have a dairy operation that has been in her family for over a century. Carla Wardin is dedicated to telling the real story of dairy farming through her blog Truth or Dairy, and in 2014 was chosen to represent agriculture as one of the USFRA Faces …
SMART Farmer Jennifer Houston
This edition of the SMART Farmer podcast features Tennessee native Jennifer Houston, a livestock market owner and beef cattle industry leader, who talks about how the business of producing and marketing beef cattle has become smarter in recent years. Houston is currently Vice President of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and serves on the board of the U.S. Farmers and …
SMART Farmer US Poultry
In this edition of the SMART Farmer podcast we head south to learn a little bit about poultry production and how it has gotten smarter, more efficient and more sustainable over the years. Monty Henderson started as a broiler service manager with Tyson Foods and later with Campbell Soup Company. He has served as president of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation and …
SMART Farmer Brad Greenway
Brad Greenway of South Dakota was named 2016 Pig Farmer of the Year by the National Pork Board recognizing him as a pig farmer who excels at raising pigs using the industry’s We Care ethical principles that include not only raising pigs humanely and safely, but also promoting a safe workplace and contributing to the local community. Right after he …
SMART Farmer Scott VanderWal
In this episode of the SMART Farmer podcast we meet Scott VanderWal, a third-generation corn and soybean farmer and cattle feeder from Volga, South Dakota. Scott serves as vice president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, president of the South Dakota Farm Bureau, and is a board member of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance. In this podcast, Scott talks …
SMART Farmer John Deere
On this week’s episode of the SMART Farmer podcast series we speak with Bev Flores, Media Relations manager for John Deere. John Deere started innovating for farmers back in 1837; His plow designs helped pioneers break through rich Midwest soil. Bev recently took part in a U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance panel at the 2017 National Ag Day event in …
USFRA Partners with ZimmComm for SMART Farmer Podcast
Consumers like technology. The smart phone, the smart home and the smart classroom all encompass innovation and technology that helps improve people’s lives. Similarly, with agriculture continually evolving resembling every other forward-thinking industry, today’s SMART Farm utilizes technology to be more sustainable and efficient. To share personal stories about ways farmers and ranchers are using technology, U.S. Farmers & Ranchers …
SMART Farmer Nancy Kavazanjian
This is episode number six of the USFRA SMART Farmer podcast and this one is with Nancy Kavazanjian, who served as the second chairperson of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance. Nancy farms with her husband Charlie Hammer in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin on land that has been in his family for 150 years. She grew up on Long Island, made …
SMART Farmer Galen Lee
Galen Lee has a diversified 4th generation farm operation in southwest Idaho that produces sugarbeets, asparagus, and peppermint, as well as dairy and beef. In this edition of the SMART Farmer podcast, he talks about how sugarbeets are raised and made into sugar and how biotech varieties have made them more sustainable. He also talks about how he raises peppermint …
USFRA Panel Looks At The Future of Protein
Future Food-Tech took place in San Francisco last week and brought together over 300 food business technology leaders, investors and food-tech innovators. Brad Greenway, Chairman, U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) sat on a panel titled, “Creating Consumer Demand for Healthier and More Sustainable Ingredients.” As the sole panelist who represented the animal agriculture community, Brad was able to share …
SMART Farmer Roberta Simpson-Dolbeare
Our latest episode of the SMART Farmer podcast features Illinois farmer and U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) board member, Roberta Simpson-Dolbeare. Roberta spoke with Jamie during Commodity Classic , discussing her experience as a first generation farmer and how that unique experience has made farming smart a major priority for her and her husband. “We’ve had to buy our …