[Announcer]
This is Farm Monitor.
For over 50-years, your source for agribusiness
news and features from around the southeast
and across the country, focusing on one of
the nation’s top industries, Agriculture.
The Farm Monitor is produced by one of the
largest general farm organizations, the Georgia
Farm Bureau.
Now, here are your hosts, Ray D'Alessio and
Kenny Burgamy.
[RAY]
WELL HELLO THERE.
SO GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN.THIS JUST IN!
BREAKING NEWS AS WE SAY IN THE BUSINESS.
WE ARE HERE TO SERVE YOU.
NOT OURSELVES, ONLY YOU!
ISN'T THAT RIGHT MR.
BURGAMY.
[KENNY]
THAT IS ONE HUNDRED PERCENT CORRECT AND ONCE
AGAIN, WE HAVE GOT A GREAT SHOW FOR YOU.
COMING UP, AN AMAZING PARTNERSHIP THAT IS
ALSO SERVING YOU THE FARMER AND PRODUCER,
BUT THIS ONE IS AIMED AT SAVING LIVES.
ALSO ON THE PROGRAM, REMEMBER BACK IN THE
OLD DAYS, THE GENERAL STORE CONCEPT?
WELL, IT IS MAKING A COMEBACK IN MACON, ONLY
THIS ONE HAS A MODERN FEEL TO IT…AND IT
IS ALSO CATERING TO PET OWNERS.
[RAY]
AND THEN LATER, YOU MIGHT SAY IT'S THE FOUNDATION
FOR AG SUSTAINABILITY.
TALKING ABOUT SOIL HEALTH.
HOW YOU THE FARMER AND PRODUCER CAN GET INVOLVED
TO HELP PLANT THE SEED FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS.
THESE STORIES AND SO MUCH MORE, START RIGHT
NOW ON THE FARM MONITOR.
[RAY]
According to the CDC, farming is one of the
leading industries for suicide and can often
be linked back to stressors like weather,
commodity prices, and natural disasters.
To help combat this sobering fact, UGA Extension
has partnered with UGA's School of Social
Work to help agents see signs and be able
to act on them.
John Holcomb has the story.
[Clarke County/John Holcomb – Reporting]
Farming no doubt is not the easiest industry
to be in.
Often, meaning all the time, there are a lot
of things that are out of farmers' control
– things like the weather, prices, natural
disasters, and most recently COVID-19, which
can really be a lot to bear, and often causes
stress that can lead to health issues or even
suicide.
[Anna Scheyett/Dean, UGA School of Social
Work]
Farmers have the stress that everybody else
has, relationships, loss, we've all got COVID
now.
But then on top of that, they have all these
things that are totally out of their control,
the weather, tariffs, um prices of commodities,
prices of their equipment.
Can they find labor?
All of those things that really are outside
of their control, get layered on top of it.
[John]
After Hurricane Michael, the idea for the
school of social work to partner with University
of Georgia Extension came up, and right away,
they knew it was the right choice, especially
with agents being known around their communities.
[Anna]
Having a partnership with extension was essential.
Um, both because they knew on the ground what
was going on and how it varied from county
to county to county across Georgia, and because
they were the people that the community trusted.
Why would they trust somebody who'd come from
Athens they'd never met before?
[John]
In the southwest part of the state, extension
got creative and actually connected farmers
and producers to health professionals during
their production meetings.
[Andrea Scarrow/Southwest District Extension
Director, UGA]
We are not mental health experts, nor counselors,
nor physicians, medical experts, and so our
role in extension has really been to try to
connect farmers with those experts and provide
research-based information to help them know
how to care for themselves and um their families,
and as well as their bottom line to take care
of things like um blood pressure and um guard
against diabetes and these sorts of things
that can add and cause undue stress.
[John]
According to Andrea, there seems to be a good
response to the things they're trying.
[Andrea]
I think they're open um to it because of the
approach we've taken and just, first of all,
we appreciate the farmer so deeply, and if
it touches their family, it touches us.
I think using the relationships that are there
with the Ag agents is super important because
they trust those agents to communicate unbiased
research-based information to them, and there's
a relationship there, and so when we say to
them from extension we're concerned about
you as well, and your health, um they've took
us at face value and it's opened a door.
[John]
They also created online resources for people
as well so that helpful information is available
twenty-four hours a day.
[Andrea]
From extension we've developed a website that's
dedicated to this with rural stress resources
for the public.
It's extension.uga.edu/rural, but the site
provides resources from experts across the
country really to help individuals recognize
a neighbor in crisis um and connect that neighbor
with assistance.
[John]
Reporting in Clarke County for the Farm Monitor,
I'm John Holcomb.
[KENNY]
The city of Macon now has a one stop shop
for those looking for a plant nursery, locally
sourced produce, or just a quick bite for
lunch.
Damon Jones recently visited Per Diem Market
and tells you how they are helping both farmers
and consumers
[Bibb Co. / Damon Jones – Reporting]
With pantries getting smaller and smaller
in downtown apartments, many consumers don't
have the space to shop for weeks' worth of
groceries.
And as their name suggests, the newly opened
Per Diem Market in Macon is catering to that
crowd looking for a by the day shopping experience.
[Jeremy Smith – Owner, Per Diem Market]
The idea really was an old school country
general store in downtown Macon.
Downtown has seen a revitalization in growth
over the past five years, really ten years.
And we saw an opportunity to not just bring
in pet supplies, because there's a large density
of pet owners, but also bring in some local
grown fruits, local grown veggies, uh, small
maker supplies such as candles and scrubbers,
with an eye towards not just locally sourced
but environmentally conscious products.
[Damon]
Having so much local produce on hand has a
variety of benefits for the farmers, consumers,
and even the environment.
[Jeremy]
I think number one that, you know, less transit
time means less of a green footprint.
So, it's much more of an environmentally conscious
way to do things.
I also think that getting to know your local
growers is a great way to connect with your
food, number one.
I think that we've, over the past two or three
generations have in a lot of ways disconnected
from our food because we've moved so much
towards processed things.
[Damon]
This market also has a wide assortment of
plants and potted vegetables that appeal to
apartment dwellers looking to try out their
green thumb.
[Jeremy]
I think the urban victory gardens are a big
thing.
Potable vegetables, I think, are a huge growth
market for us, and succulents and house plants.
I think that with the challenges of shifting
work schedules, it's harder to really have
pets at home.
I think too, that sort of the young generation
wants that connection back to nature, but
they are where the work is.
And sometimes, that means in a 600 square
foot apartment.
[Damon]
Just like any other business, the ongoing
pandemic has created a number of challenges,
that are especially difficult for a recently
opened store.
[Jeremy]
Beef, pork production, meat production, and
protein production in general has been all
over the place right now.
So, I would say that, and logistics are the
big issues in that you put in for products
and you think they're there and then they're
gone.
I think also, as some of the larger chains
really start looking towards smaller processors,
that stores my size would use or restaurants
would use, that we're all starting to sort
of, put a strain on these small to intermediate
sized producers that haven't seen this kind
of volume before because the large end of
the market, the large end of the processing
is closed right now.
[Damon]
Despite the difficulties, Smith is excited
to provide a new shopping experience for consumers
while also providing a platform for local
businesses.
[Jeremy]
What's great about a small market like us
is that we can connect and really establish
ourselves with those smaller growers as a
line, basically to the public, to bring their
product forward and maybe help get them the
traction that they need to move into those
larger markets later, but also it's a chance
for us to introduce people to products they
may not see in the super market.
[Damon]
Reporting from Bibb County, I'm Damon Jones
for the Farm Monitor
[KENNY]
WELL DON'T FORGET.
IF YOU MISSED ANY PART OF THIS STORY OR OTHERS
ON TODAY'S PROGRAM YOU CAN SEE THEM IN THEIR
ENTIRETY AT OUR YOU TUBE CHANNEL, THE FARM
MONITOR.
PLENTY OF STUFF TO CHOOSE FROM.
IN FACT, THE ARCHIVES GOE BACK TO 2009.
AND WHILE YOU'RE THERE, KEEP CLICKING AND
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SEND US SOME FEEDBACK AS WELL.
IF YOU HAVE A STORY IDEA, OR IF YOU IF YOU
JUST WANT TO LEAVE US A COMMENT OR SUGGESTION.
SEND US A MESSAGE EITHER ON FACE BOOK OR AT
THE ADDRESS THAT IS ON YOUR SCREEN THAT IS
NEWS@FARM-MONITOR.COM
[KENNY]
WELL, HOPE YOU BROUGHT YOUR APPETITE.
AFTER THE BREAK, RAY AND MARCIA ARE COOKING
UP SHEEST PAN DINNERS USING HIGH QUALITY PORK.
MEALS FROM THE FIELD, WHEN THE FARM MONITOR
CONTINUES.
[Music]
[Floyd Dowell]
I'm a Retired Agricultural Engineer.
I spent 31 years with the Agricultural Research
Service.
Most recently, I..
I spent the last part of my career here in
Manhattan, Kansas at the Center for Grain
and Animal Health Research.
My primary job was to develop technology,
to measure grain quality.
This is a Near-infrared spectroscopy instrument.
I had developed a technique to measure traits
of single seeds.
And then over the years, we adapted that to
look at a number of different biological materials,
such as insects.
And that's where we got started on a Zika
work was measuring traits of mosquitoes that
might transmit diseases.
[Music]
[Floyd Dowell]
Any biological material has a specific chemical
composition, and we can determine that chemical
composition based on the incident and reflective
light.
And Zika virus would change the chemical composition
of that mosquito slightly.
So based on its chemical composition, we can
determine things like, is it carrying the
Zika virus?
One of the biggest benefits is it's very simple.
And it's very quick.
You can collect many mosquitoes from the field,
scan them very quickly and determine if you
have a virus outbreak.
And if you have an outbreak, then you can
use some other method to try to control that
outbreak or quickly to determine whether what
you're using to control that is determine
whether it's working or not.
That's a tremendous benefit to be able to
scan mosquito or any material in a few seconds.
So that means you can process thousands, thousands
of samples per day.
It uses no reagents.
So it's very cheap on a per sample basis.
So it has a.. a lot of potential in a lot
of different areas.
One thing I love about my career and working
for ARS is the flexibility we had to work
with many different research groups, many
different agencies, universities, and to pull
from that expertise to solve problems like
this.
[Music]
[Music]
[Ray D'Alessio]
Well, one thing about this segment is we believe
in nutritious value.
And today, we have all four food groups.
We've got good, great, delicious and absolutely
phenomenal.
I think those are the four food groups.
I can't remember.
[Marcia Crowley]
I guess.
Close enough.
[Ray]
Anyway.
Welcome back to the Farm Monitor and to another
edition of Meals from the Field.
Yes, joining me as always is somebody that
is both good and great.
That would be my good friend and my great
friend Marcia Crowley.
Good to see you again.
[Marcia]
Good to see you, Ray.
[Ray]
But no, actually today, we are...
We pretty much have I think all four.
[Marcia]
Everything, yeah.
[Ray]
We're pretty close.
We've even got the dessert going on.
[Marcia]
Yeah.
[Ray]
We've got pork going on.
We don't do a lot of pork.
[Marcia]
Some dairy.
We don't do a lot of pork.
[Ray]
But today I, and of course the first thing
I asked you was, "Oh, is that coconut chicken?"
And you're like, "No, Ray.
That's pork."
[Marcia]
Pork.
[Ray]
"And let me do my job and we'll get to it."
And I'm like, "Okay, Marcia."
So...
But no, tell us what we got today.
[Marcia]
All right.
We're doing a sheet pan dinner.
[Ray]
Okay.
[Marcia]
They're all the rage right now.
[Ray]
Mm-hmm
[Marcia]
So I've already kind of precooked some potatoes
because they take a little longer.
These are pork chops that are already battered.
Those...
So you're going to dip the pork chop in buttermilk
and pepper and a little bit of hot sauce.
[Ray]
Mm-hmm
[Marcia]
Drip that off a little bit.
I know everybody knows how to batter stuff,
but you're learning it again.
I'm going to dip that in a mixture of panko
breadcrumbs in there with the regular breadcrumbs.
Then those are Japanese breadcrumbs by the
way.
[Ray]
Bring that over here if you don't mind because
I always-
[Marcia]
Yeah.
It's kind of out of the way.
[Ray]
What you need to teach me is I always put
too much crusting on and it winds up burning.
So do you like, slap a bunch on?
Or you just-
[Marcia]
No.
Just a small layer.
[Ray]
Okay.
Small layer.
[Marcia]
All right.
And we're going to put that on it.
If you've got a pan that's got...
A roasting pan, you can put the chops on top
of it to kind of help them crisp up on the
bottom fine.
If not, just a regular sheet pan will work.
[Ray]
Okay.
[Marcia]
Okay.
I'm going to put that on here and you're going
to refrigerate those pork chops for 30 minutes
before you bake them and that'll help the
crust adhere to it.
Okay, so I've told you I've already...
These have already been in the oven for 10
minutes.
We're going to add to that some green beans
that have been tossed with olive oil.
Like I said, we're roasting everything.
That's what makes this so easy.
[Ray]
Okay.
[Marcia]
Roasting everything.
So it's easy clean up.
And the mushrooms, which I forgot to put on.
[Ray]
That's okay.
[Marcia]
The first time.
[Ray]
And olive oil's all the rage now, too.
[Marcia]
Olive oil is all the rage.
[Ray]
Of course, that's big business here in Georgia
now.
[Marcia]
And you could swap out the vegetables if you
wanted.
You could use broccoli, or cauliflower or
whatever you wanted.
All right.
There, you're going to bake this an additional
20 minute in the oven altogether.
Like I said, the potatoes had a head start.
[Ray]
Mm-hmm
[Marcia]
and you just bake this for 20 minutes and
you're done.
[Ray]
Okay.
[Marcia]
Like I said, it's very, very easy.
[Ray]
But the secret is like you said, or the key
is to put the chops or the pork in the refrigerator
for about 30-minutes.
[Marcia]
That will make a big difference.
Let me just move some of these things out
of the way.
[Ray]
Is it dessert time yet?
[Marcia]
Not yet.
[Ray]
No?
Okay.
That's fine.
[Marcia]
But you're going to love that dessert.
[Ray]
Darn it.
[Marcia]
All right.
We're also doing a wedge salad, which obviously
is iceberg lettuce cut in wedges.
[Ray]
Mm-hmm
[Marcia]
But we are making a homemade blue cheese dressing
with it.
[Ray]
Okay.
[Marcia]
This is sour cream, a half a cup of..
Sorry, a quarter cup of sour cream.
And of course, all of these will be on your
website.
[Ray]
Do you not like me anymore?
Because you're off so far-
[Marcia]
Oh, I don't mean to bother...
I am over there.
[Ray]
You're awfully far away from me today.
[Marcia]
Well, I'm probably out of the camera as well.
Half a cup of mayonnaise.
I told you I'm not working on all cylinders
today.
[Ray]
That's okay.
[Marcia]
Which is not unusual.
A quarter of a cup of red wine vinegar.
A quarter of a cup of buttermilk.
And the other good thing about this combination
of recipes is when you buy buttermilk, I end
up throwing half of it away.
[Ray]
Mm-hmm
[Marcia]
So you've got buttermilk in the salad dressing,
buttermilk on the pork chops, and then this
is eight ounces of crumbled blue cheese.
And you're just going to stir all that up.
Refrigerate it before you serve it.
[Ray]
And spill it all over your stove top.
[Marcia]
You spill it all over your...
Yep.
Spill it everywhere.
[Ray]
That's what I would do.
[Marcia]
That makes it even better.
And that has a little bit of sugar in it,
too.
[Ray]
Okay.
[Marcia]
All right.
This is a brownie pie.
This is to die for.
All right.
I've melted the butter in there.
Obviously, I remembered to do that this time.
You're going to add to that a quarter of a
cup of cocoa plus two tablespoons.
[Ray]
So a quarter of a cup plus two tablespoons.
[Marcia]
Plus two tablespoons.
Okay.
Quarter of a cup of all-purpose flour.
Oh, that's a half a cup of butter in there.
A cup of sugar.
[Ray]
I just cleaned this stove top before we started.
[Marcia]
I know.
Look at me.
[Ray]
Okay?
[Marcia]
I've made such...
I've been dropping everything today.
You should see the floor underneath my feet.
That's a cup of sugar.
Two eggs slightly beaten.
And two teaspoons of vanilla.
And you just mix all that up.
You put it in a pie plate, and you bake it
for 15 minutes until it's done.
It is so easy.
[Ray]
Even I can do it.
[Marcia]
You can even do that.
I think when they invented the saying easy
as pie, this is what they were talking about.
It's so good with vanilla ice cream or whipped
cream or whatever.
It's really, really good.
[Ray]
How many does that serve?
Depending on-
[Marcia]
This will be...
[Ray]
... your appetite?
[Marcia]
Yeah.
I would say six.
[Ray]
Okay.
[Marcia]
And you could add pecans to this.
You know, it's just really, really good.
[Ray]
That would be good.
Pecans.
[Marcia]
Pecans.
[Ray]
That would be really, really good.
[Marcia]
It would be really good in there.
But very easy and like I said, the sheet pan
meal is all the rage.
[Ray]
And we do want to thank...
We had actually a viewer write in from Minnesota.
[Marcia]
Oh, yeah.
That was so nice.
[Ray]
You were so thankful that she did that.
She was very, very complimentary of your recipes.
[Marcia]
That's good.
[Ray]
So thank you very much.
And of course, folks, you can make all this
yourself as well easily just by logging on
to farm-monitor.com.
Every single recipe is on there that we have
done since 2013 I believe.
We've been doing this again-
[Marcia]
I wonder how many are in there.
[Ray]
We are celebrating seven, eight years.
We're going into our eighth year.
So hopefully it continues.
Keep those comments coming in.
We want to know that we are reaching you.
We want to know how your recipes come out.
Hey, you know what?
Send us pictures if you want to send us some
pictures of your recipes as well.
[Marcia]
Yeah.
[Ray]
We'll put them up there.
[Marcia]
That'll be good.
[Ray]
I'll show them to Marcia, make her feel all
good again.
So as always, good to see you Marcia.
[Marcia]
Thank you, Ray.
[Ray]
Thank you and thank you for watching.
We shall see you next month.
[KENNY]
NOW UP NEXT, AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM THE
SOIL HEALTH INSTITUTE, INCLUDING A COMPREHENSIVE
APPROACH THAT ADDRESSES THE NEEDS OF FARMERS.
[Music]
[Music]
[Narrator]
Soil supports 95% of all global food production.
By 2050, our soils will have to feed an estimated
9.8 billion people; That's 2 billion more
than our current world population.
Our soils will also help us provide cotton
and other natural fabrics to cloth the world
and grow our bio energy crops, food, fiber,
fuel.
Soils are vital.
They filter water.
They are one of our most cost-effective reservoirs
for sequestering carbon.
They are our foundation for biodiversity.
A healthy soil is vibrantly alive, teaming
with 10,000 pounds of biological life in every
acre.
Yet, in the last 150 years, we've lost half
of the basic building block that makes soil
productive.
The societal and environmental costs of soil
loss and degradation in the United States
alone are now estimated to be as high as
85-billion dollars every single year.
An abundance of research shows that practices
which improve soil health, also reduce nutrient
loss to our waterways, reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, increased carbon sequestration,
increased biodiversity and provide many other
benefits.
But, it's going to be our land managers, primarily
our farmers and ranchers that will achieve
those benefits for the rest of us.
That is why the Soil Health Institute employs
a comprehensive strategy to increase adoption
of soil health systems.
The first step is to understand what producers
need, when deciding whether to adopt new management
practices.
Producers tell us one of the first pieces
of information they need is the business case.
Will the recommended system be profitable?
Will it increase or reduce my economic risk?
Can the environmental benefits be credited
back to my farm?
Producers also say they need to know how to
measure the health of their soil, so they
can determine its current status and monitor
their progress at improving soil health.
Producers need locally relevant information
to help them develop and implement a soil
health management plan that works for them
and their farm.
At the heart of that training, is a requirement
that it is based on sound science.
Research and development are fundamental for
reducing business risk and making new management
decisions with confidence.
Once these soil health systems are adopted,
it is critical that we assess their impact
on productivity because this supports and
refines the business case and provides the
evidence-based information required for making
sound policy.
Assessing impact also provides the data needed
for educating consumers on the environmental
benefits and perhaps even human health benefits
of growing our food, fiber and fuel using
soil health systems.
Imagine the progress we can make at scale
towards improving water quality, feeding the
hungry, fighting climate change, providing
pollinator habitat.
When consumers have learned about these benefits
and demand that their food be grown using
practices that enhance soil health.
This is the comprehensive strategy that the
Soil Health Institute uses and offers to effective
positive change at scale for farmers, environment
and ultimately for society.
The task at hand is more than any one organization
can achieve alone.
Many partners are already working together
to enhance soil health, but so much more is
needed.
All are invited to participate and make soil
health, the cornerstone for managing our natural
resources around the world.
We and all future generations have a critical
stake in the outcome.
We invite you to become involved today in
one of the boldest movements in agricultural
and environmental history, join us.
[Music]
[RAY]
ALRIGHT, OUR THANKS TO THE SOIL HEALTH INSTITUTE,
AND THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS SHOW POSSIBLE.
[KENNY]
BEFORE WENT SEND YOU ON YOUR WAY, A FRIENDLY
REMINDER THAT FOR ALL THE LATEST AG INFO REGARDING
FOOD, RECIPES AND WHAT'S HAPPENING ON GEORGIA
FARMS, BE SURE YOU CHECK OUT OUR SOCIAL MEDIA
PLATFORMS.
YOU’LL STAY INFORMED AND SEE WHAT'S UP IN
THE WORLD OF AGRICULTURE AND WITH US HERE
ON THE SHOW.
[RAY]
TAKE CARE EVERYBODY, WE'LL SEE YOU NEXT WEEK,
RIGHT HERE ON THE FARM MONITOR.
[KENNY]
AS ALWAYS HAVE A GREAT WEEK.
