Commodity Checkoff Programs and Marketing Orders

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FOA 223: Commodity Checkoff Programs and Marketing Orders

9/16/20

Web player: https://podcastaddict.com/episode/112551416
Episode: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/aggrad/223_FOA_Daren_Williams_FINAL_R1_.mp3?dest-id=401448

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/aggrad/223_FOA_Daren_Williams_FINAL_R1_.mp3?dest-id=401448

Daren Williams joins the show to help us better understand the role of producer-led commodity groups. Daren is the Senior Director of Global Communications at the Almond Board of California. He has worked in agricultural communications for over 30 years, much of that with producer-led commodity groups like almonds, beef, apple, dairy and pork. The Almond Board of California supports all 7,600 almond growers, as well as many others in the almond growing community from suppliers and beekeepers to farmers and buyers. Almonds are one of the fastest growing crops in California, and the Almond Board has cast a vision for the industry that includes goals to improve by 2025 in water use efficiency, dust reduction, zero waste, and pest management. β€œWe fund research and production techniques. We validate techniques at work and if it’s beneficial and cost effective and can help improve the return on investment for the grower, we roll it out to the industry and make sure everybody knows about it.” Daren Williams While the Almond Board of California is a federal marketing order program, we also discuss checkoff programs in this episode. Operating under a slightly different framework, the purpose of these groups also relates to the research and promotion of the commodity. In Daren’s previous position, he worked with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, which is a contractor to the beef checkoff. β€œIf (consumers) see us working together and trying to solve the issues and things that they’re concerned about, they develop trust in them, the industries, and I think trust is a critical issue for farmers and ranchers. In many cases, we’ve lost it and we need to regain it with consumers and let them know we really do have their best interests at heart when we make decisions about how we’re going to grow their food because we’re also going to be putting it on our dinner tables.” – Daren Williams This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast: Meet Daren Williams, Senior Director of Global Communications at the Almond Board of California Better understand marketing orders, check off programs and lobbying organizations Explore how these programs respond to consumer demands, support producers and are funded Founder Spotlight: Peter Schott of Genesis Feed Technologies Genesis Feed Technologies aims to change the conversation and consumption of feed ingredients for producers The software the developed puts nutritional information in the hands of the purchasing person to make the best decisions for the feed program they are building β€œWe make soybeans look really good. On the more technical side, we bring nutritional value out for feed ingredients and show the economics of that so people can make better buying decisions.”

Trump signs

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I don’t really like TRUMP all that much, he’s kind of piss poor executive but his grassroots support is pretty amazing, as represented by all the homemade, often very talented signs and displays you see dotted along the rural highways.

While I’m sure soon after the election most will be chopped and turned into firewood – winter is coming – or sent to the landfill, I hope some of the displays are preserved in photographs or as museum pieces in hick town historical museums. I think it’s a cultural phenomenon that should be preserved and remembered for better or worse, something that shows the talent and the passion of many craftsman who are passionate about the incumbent president.

NPR

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Who Is Amy Coney Barrett, Possible Trump Supreme Court Pick? : NPR

While on the 7th Circuit, Barrett wrote that the Second Amendment did not necessarily ban people convicted of felonies from owning a gun. She declared a Wisconsin law, barring anyone convicted of a felony even if they aren't convicted of a violent crime, to be unconstitutional.

"[L]egislatures have the power to prohibit dangerous people from possessing guns. But that power extends only to people who are dangerous,"

I think she could be really good on the second amendment. On other issues she might be a wait and see. That said, I'm not the President nor am I sitting US Senator so I don't have much say in the matter. I do think we should wait until after the presidential election to pick the next Supreme Court Justice but I think she probably will be okay. 

Waste-to-Energy Plants Keep Trash From Mounting. So Why Are Environmentalists Against Them? – VICE

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Waste-to-Energy Plants Keep Trash From Mounting. So Why Are Environmentalists Against Them? – VICE

This is exactly what environmentalists are afraid of.

"The government has to encourage people to produce more waste,” Ymata said, adding that the government may allow the importation of waste from other countries just to provide continuous waste feedstock for these WTE facilities.

“[I]t's like a can of worm[s],” he said. “When you start allowing it, there will be...other problem[s] that will surface along the way."

California passes first-in-nation plastics recycling law

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California passes first-in-nation plastics recycling law

In a move aimed at reducing huge amounts of plastic litter in the ocean and on land,οΏ½California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a first-in-the-nation law requiring plastic beverage containers to contain an increasing amount of recycled material.

Under it, companies that produce everything from sports drinks to soda to bottled water must use 15% recycled plastic in their bottles by 2022, 25% recycled plastic by 2025, and 50% recycled plastic by 2030.

Supporters of the new law say it will help increase demand for recycled plastic, curb litter in waterways and along roads,οΏ½and reduce consumption of oil and gas, which are used to manufacture new plastics.