Kansas City Here I Come...

Oh.. Wait - I'm here already. Check out the view from my room! It's the Kansas City WWII Memorial. Holy cow it's been a long time since I've blogged. But it's really been crazy. Last week we wrapped up our 1st Farm Credit Services Harvest Tour, then it was an incredible Election Day (nothing like being able to take part in history first hand), and then to wrap things up, my first "real" Illinois Ag Leadership Foundation "class". It was held in the Quad Cities at the John Deere World Headquarters. What an incredible experience. I am so excited to be able to take part in this program. I will have a lot to talk about with that program over the next two years - so I won't bore you with all the details today.

I am not quite sure - but all the morning guys I work with (Greg, Danny and Dan) keep singing "Kansas City Here I Come" every morning preceeding my morning updates. It's very entertaining to hear all of them singing - yet somewhat scary at the same time. I may need to send them some new material.

So you may be wondering why I am in Kansas City. I thought I'd take some time to explain what goes on here so you don't think I'm just partying all the time. And there is plenty of that, too, but there is a lot of business that goes on over the next few days.

So - as your Farm Broadcaster I am a member of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting and every year many of us converge on Kansas City to learn about new things in Agriculture... From "Trade Talk" which is Thursday to the Presidents Banquet (aka roast) on Friday Night... There are numerous new things we take back from the sessions. On today's show you will hear from Cindy Cunningham with the National Pork Board about a program they are sponsoring Friday afternoon. All in all - it's a lot of work but it's very interesting and educational.

That's all the time I have for now - Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer is about to speak with his opening comments. I'll talk to ya'll on the radio..

Meghan

October is here...

This is always my favorite time of year... I love October... The crisp fall air, the pumpkins, watching the combines work in the field (although I don't particularly enjoy what the grain dust does to my allergies) but all in all - harvest time is amazing. Here is a picture on my way home yesterday from a corn field that had an irrigation system and has since been harvested. Guess what else is this time of year... Well, October specifically... National Pork Month! I <3>

Here are some fun facts for National Pork Month (you can use this trivia to impress your friends).

• During the war of 1812 a New York pork packer named Uncle Sam Wilson shipped a boatload of several hundred barrels of pork to U.S. troops. Each barrel was stamped U.S. on the docks and it was quickly said that the "U.S." stood for Uncle Sam, whose large shipment seemed to be enough to feed the entire Army. This is how "Uncle Sam" came to represent the U.S. Government.
• The saying "living high on the hog" came from enlisted men in the U.S. Army who would receive shoulder and leg cuts of pork while officers received the top loin cuts. So "living high on the hog" came to mean living well.
• The phrase "pork barrel" politics is derived from the pre-Civil War practice of distributing salt pork to slaves from huge barrels. By the 1870's, Congressmen were referring to regularly dipping into the "pork barrel" to obtain funds for popular projects in their home districts.
• Harry Truman once said "No man should be allowed to be President who does not understand hogs."
• It takes 74 million bushels of corn to feed Illinois market hogs each year.
• There are 4.4 million pigs in Illinois.
• The pork industry contributes $1.7 billion dollars to Illinois' economy each year.
• DeKalb County leads the state of Illinois in pork production.

As you can see the "pig" is vital to not only American political history... but to our economies and our daily lives as well. Now, the question is... Have you hugged a pig today?

Remember to support your local pork producers - because everything is better with bacon!

We're still going strong with our 1st Farm Credit Services Harvest Tour... Later this week we'll be in Mason City at the Mason City elevator. Keep checking the website for all the details of where we're headed each week.

~M

Support Your Local Pork Producers....

... Because everything is better with Bacon!

It's October and it's National Pork Month. All this month listen during The Noon Show and I'll ask one question that has to do with Pork (some way, shape or form) and you can win The Illinois Pork Producers Association "Celebrating 60 Years of Service to the Pork Industry" Cookbook as well as a Gift Certificate for a Pork Product all courtesy of the Illinois Pork Producers Association.

Here are some fun facts about pork....

** Due to its similarity to human skin, pig skin is used to treat burns in humans....

** Pigs are found on every continent except Antarctica

** Pork is the world's most widely eaten meat.

** The world's largest hog was "Big Bill"... Weighing it at more than two tons, he was 5 feet tall and 9 feet long... He was a Poland China.

** A female pig that has not had babies is called a Gilt.

** A female pig that has had a litter of piglets is called a Sow.

** Since 1990, pork has become 31% leaner.

** All of these products are made from pig byproducts: Glue, Paint Brushes, Cosmetics and Linoleum.

Also, this month we're going to talk to a few Pork Producers throughout the area that are doing remarkable things. Today we talked to Steve Ringger who works for United Feeds and he and his three brothers own Gridley Meats. His family has stepped up and raised the bar for producers and people involved in agriculture. Two of Steve's brothers still own and operate a 600 sow farrow to finish operation. Here is where the raising the bar comes in to play... Steve and his brothers are taking their cull hogs and light hogs and slaughtering them in their meat locker and in return taking the processed ground pork and sausage and donating it to the Midwest Food Bank. With Steve's connections through the feed and livestock community he has arranged for several pork producers to pledge their cull and light hogs (and Gridley Meats will cover the processing) and the finished product (the ground pork and sausage) is given to Midwest Food Bank. As it is now, the Midwest Food Bank is receiving between 3,000 and 4,000 pounds of pork products a month courtesy of Gridley Meats.

Kudos to the Ringger family and stay tuned for more excellence in agriculture!

For more information email: ag@1290wirl.com

Until next time... Remember to support your local pork producers because everything IS better with bacon!!!