RICHMOND—Updated federal guidelines are increasing the demand for fresh produce and transforming lunches in schools across the country.

The updated school lunch rules went into effect in July and are the first change in the standards in 15 years.

The guidelines increased requirements for fruits and vegetables in school lunches from the previous one-half to three-fourths of a cup of both per day to the new requirement of three-fourths to one cup of vegetables plus one-half to one cup of fruit per day. Schools must offer a variety of vegetables, including a weekly serving of dark green and red or orange vegetables and legumes.

“I hope that as many school systems as possible will utilize locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables to meet their students’ nutritional needs,” said Tony Banks, a commodity marketing specialist for Virginia Farm Bureau Federation. “Hopefully this will create new opportunities for farmers who may want to use high tunnels to extend their fresh produce growing seasons or begin packaging and processing local produce for use outside the fresh market season.”

The new guidelines also will help support the mission of the Virginia Farm to School program and will allow greater opportunity for Virginia-grown products to take a starring role on school menus, said Leanne DuBois, state coordinator of the Virginia Farm to School program for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

The program is an effort to increase the amount of fresh and nutritious Virginia products offered in schools and to promote opportunities for schools and farmers to work together.

Nov. 5-9 will be the fourth annual Virginia Farm to School Week. Schools and farmers across the commonwealth will celebrate with menu items like apples, broccoli, sweet potatoes, beef, milk and more. Some schools hold special events that include visits by farmers, farm art contests and other activities.

A recent survey of school nutrition directors throughout Virginia, sponsored by VDACS, Virginia Tech and the Virginia Department of Education, revealed that all participants have knowledge of the Farm to School program and 70 percent have participated in a previous Farm to School Week.

Eighty-five percent of survey respondents said they serve local food in their school divisions; 46 percent have developed a purchasing relationship with a local farmer; and 30 percent plan to develop such a relationship within the next year. As for problems in sourcing local food,

50 percent said seasonal availability of local foods within the school calendar year was their biggest challenge.

via Virginia Farm Bureau

Sweet sorghum is primarily grown in the United States as a source of sugar for syrup and molasses. But the sturdy grass has other attributes that could make it uniquely suited to production as a bioenergy crop, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) studies suggest.

Sorghum is an ideal candidate because of its drought tolerance, adaptability to diverse growing conditions, low nitrogen fertilizer requirements, and high biomass (plant material) content, according to molecular biologist Scott Sattler and collaborator Jeff Pedersen with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS). It also produces soluble sugar that can be converted to biofuel. Residual fibers left over from the juice extraction process also can be burned to generate electricity.

Sattler and Pedersen’s studies of sorghum are part of a larger effort by ARS—USDA’s principal intramural scientific research agency—to answer a government mandate calling for the production of up to 36 billion gallons of biofuel by 2022. Approximately 15 billion gallons of that total will come from grain ethanol, with the remaining 21 billion gallons to come from other sources, or “feedstocks,” including sorghum, sugarcane, other grasses like switchgrass, and oilseed crops like rapeseed and soybean.

Sorghum and sugarcane are top candidates for production in the southeastern United States because they are complementary crops that can extend the biofuel production season and utilize the same equipment, note Sattler and Pedersen, who work at the ARS Grain, Forage and Bioenergy Research Unit in Lincoln, Neb. However, they are not the only team examining sweet sorghum’s energy potential.

At the ARS Crop Genetics and Breeding Research Unit in Tifton, Ga., geneticist William Anderson and his colleagues are working to identify desirable sweet sorghum genes and their functions so improved varieties can be developed. In studies, they selected 117 genotypes from the ARS sorghum germplasm collection at Griffin, Ga., and evaluated them for their ability to mature quickly and resist fall armyworms and the fungal disease anthracnose.

STANFORD, Calif.—Doctors at Stanford University revisited previous research comparing organic and conventionally raised foods and concluded that there is little evidence that organic is healthier.

Eating organic fruits and vegetables can lower exposure to pesticides, but the amounts measured in conventionally grown produce was within safety limits, researchers reported. And organic foods did not prove more nutritious either.

“I was absolutely surprised,” said Dr. Dena Bravata, a senior research affiliate at Stanford and longtime internist who began the analysis because many of her patients asked if it would be healthier to eat organic foods.

Bravata and her team sifted through thousands of studies and identified 237 of the most relevant to analyze. They include 17 studies of populations consuming organic and conventional diets and 223 that compared either the nutrient levels or the bacterial, fungal or pesticide content of various products grown organically and conventionally.

Individuals might choose organic over conventional because of taste preferences or environmental concerns, Bravata said, but when it comes to the healthfulness of foods “there isn’t much difference.”

People often mistakenly think organic foods are healthier for them because they are free of pesticides and bacterial contamination, or have greater nutritional value, said Tony Banks, a commodity marketing specialist for the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation. “It is very important that consumers have accurate information about their food choices, regardless of whether they prefer organic or conventionally grown foods.

“This Stanford study is the latest of many to dispel myths about organic and conventional foods,” Banks said. “We’ve known all along that farmers produce healthy food for American consumers, whether it is grown conventionally or organically.”

Organic foods account for 4.2 percent of retail food sales, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA certifies products as organic if they meet specific requirements, including being produced without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers or routine use of antibiotics or hormones.

Consumers can spend more for some organic products, but demand is rising. The sale of organic products grew by 9.5 percent in 2011 and reached $31.5 billion in sales, according to findings from an Organic Trade Association survey.

WASHINGTON—Total losses of managed honeybee colonies from all causes were 21.9 percent nationwide for the 2011/2012 winter, according to an annual survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Bee Informed Partnership and the Apiary Inspectors of America.

That represents a substantial drop compared to the previous five years, for which previous surveys found total colony losses of 29 percent to 34 percent.

Unusually mild weather could be a possible contributing factor, although no direct scientific investigation of the weather connection has been conducted. January 2012 ranks as the fourth-warmest January in U.S. history.

“A warm winter means less stress on bee colonies and may help them be more resistant to pathogens, parasites and other problems,” said Dr. Jeffery Pettis, co-leader of the survey and research leader of the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Bee Research Laboratory.

About 5,500 beekeepers, who manage nearly 15 percent of the country’s estimated 2.49 million colonies, responded to the survey.

Among those who reported losing any colonies for any reason, 37 percent said they lost at least some of their colonies without finding any dead bees. The absence of dead bees is a defining symptom of colony collapse disorder, a serious problem that beekeepers began facing in 2006. Because the survey was interview-based, it was not possible to confirm that the colonies in question had CCD or whether the losses were the result of other causes.

Almost half of responding beekeepers reported losses greater than 13.6 percent, the level of loss that beekeepers have stated would be acceptable for their operations. Continued losses above that level threaten the economic sustainability of commercial beekeeping.

Via Virginia Farm Bureau

To help preserve the tradition of the State Fair of Virginia, the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation has entered into a formal partnership with Universal Fairs LLC of Cordova, Tenn.

The Richmond-based nonprofit agricultural organization will be involved in developing the agricultural component of the fair, which Universal Fairs purchased at auction in May. The fair’s former operators declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy earlier in the spring.

Called Commonwealth Fairs and Events LLC, the new partnership will run the state fair as well as other shows and events at the 331-acre property in Caroline County. The first order of business will be to hold an exciting new state fair this fall from Sept. 28 through Oct. 7.

“Virginia Farm Bureau Federation and Universal Fairs have put together a partnership that we feel will help retain and grow the agricultural component of the fair,” explained VFBF President Wayne F. Pryor. “Universal Fairs has a proven track record of putting on successful fairs in several locations around the country. We are very excited and look forward to working with them for many years.” UF’s events include large fairs in Tennessee, Georgia and Washington state, a festival in Arizona and a variety of shows and expos throughout the United States.

“Universal Fairs has extensive experience in running family-friendly, entertaining fairs, and Virginia Farm Bureau brings an exciting agricultural component to the mix,” said UF President Mark Lovell. “We are new to Virginia, but we know how to run a fair. With Virginia Farm Bureau, a trusted organization that has been around for more than 85 years, we will be able to bring together the best of both worlds. I think that by working together we can help strengthen Virginia’s agricultural stature and visibility through various shows, events and exhibits.”

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell extended congratulations to Farm Bureau on the partnership, which he said “will further enrich the commonwealth’s long-standing tradition that is the State Fair of Virginia. For more than 100 years, the state fair has educated and entertained millions of Virginians. Today’s announcement helps to ensure that future generations of Virginians will continue to experience the best of what the fair has to offer. In addition, the Farm Bureau’s investment will guarantee that agriculture, Virginia’s largest industry, will be featured prominently—as it should be—at the fair for years to come.”

New agriculture-related events being planned include a 5-kilometer race sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom, which strives to improve the farm literacy of schoolchildren, as well as the Real Virginia Virtual Farm Tour. The tour will engage families at the fair and at home with a live online discussion about farming practices. Viewers will have their questions answered by a panel of farm experts and will “tour” a half-dozen Virginia farms via video. At each farm, the owners will be on camera to describe their operations.

“Being the state’s largest farm organization, and having as part of our mission the preservation of agriculture, we felt it was paramount to step up to the plate and assist with the fair,” Pryor said. “It is a vital tool for helping the public understand the importance of the agriculture industry. We plan to carry this out through teaching exhibits, shows and competitive events that include livestock, poultry, fiber and produce.

“Equally important to us is retaining the scholarship programs for youth who compete in livestock and equine shows through the FFA and 4-H organizations,” Pryor added. “We also plan to continue competitions in photography, arts and crafts and other disciplines.”

Caroline County Board of Supervisors Chairman Wayne Acors said the county “is gratified that its months-long recruitment of the Farm Bureau to participate in the State Fair of Virginia has resulted in the announced partnership. The Farm Bureau is the premier agricultural organization in the commonwealth and brings with it stability, integrity and a large membership that will be welcome in Caroline County at the state fair and at many other events. The State Fair of Virginia will be better than ever at The Meadow Event Park.”

via Virginia Farm Bureau

Matthew J. Lohr, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) is encouraging all Virginia farmers to participate in the 2012 Census of Agriculture. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will mail the census form to millions of U.S. farmers and ranchers nationwide in late December. This includes the people who own and operate Virginia’s 47,000 farms.

The Census of Agriculture, conducted every five years by the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), is a complete count of U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them. The initial survey was sent in February 2012.

“This initial survey asks everyone who receives it to respond even if they are not farming,” said Lohr. “This is how the USDA builds the most accurate and comprehensive mailing list to account for all of U.S. agriculture in the Census.”

The Census is the leading source of facts about American agriculture and the only source of agricultural statistics that is comparable for each county in the nation. Farm organizations, businesses, government decision-makers, commodity market analysts, news media, researchers and others use Census data to make informed decisions.

Commissioner Lohr and other federal and state agricultural leaders are using video Public Service Announcements to remind producers not to miss their opportunity to be counted by signing up for the Census before July 1. The Virginia PSA is available on VDACS’ website.

“Local and national leaders use the Census to make decisions that directly impact your business, your community and your industry,” said Lohr. “Whether you’re farming four thousand acres or just four, it’s important to be counted. Every voice counts.”