Seed Industry Structure

Philip Howard is an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University. His page at MSU says

I teach undergraduate and graduate courses in Community, Food and Agriculture, as well as a graduate course in Research Methods.

My research focuses on the ‘food system.’ The food system involves all of the steps required to produce food and get it to our plates–from farming and processing to distribution and consumption. My work is unified by three main questions:

* What changes are occurring?

* What are the impacts of these changes on communities?

* What can communities do to respond positively to these changes?

I currently have three main projects:

* characterizing consolidation in the food system, particularly in the rapidly growing organic sector

* exploring inequalities in ‘food environments’ and their potential relationships with health outcomes

* studying consumer interest in ‘ecolabels’ as a potential strategy for improving the livelihoods of small- and medium-scale farmers

I earned a PhD in Rural Sociology from the University of Missouri in 2002, and conducted postdoctoral research at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at the University of California, Santa Cruz until 2006.

View his page at MSU here.

I stumbled on an interesting chart done by the same man, showing the structure of the seed industry. Check this out.

This image is linked to a pdf file that is much easier to read.

More info on this page, including a video animation of the changes in the seed industry over time.

No, you aren’t hallucinating…

…I’m changing the blog theme.

Vote if you like it or not —————————>

I still need to add a couple new features and change the header images out with my own photos, but it’s mostly complete!

Thanks Steph for reminding me to add a screenshot of the old design for comparison!

Forbes and Monsanto

Speaking from a financial standpoint, Forbes is probably right to name Monsanto as company of the year (they’re weathering the recession quite well, imagine that), but from a “we don’t want your round up and genetically modified seed” standpoint, I mentally flipped Forbes off this morning when I saw this article at the dentist office. The article opens in a new window.

Keep in mind when they talk about the farmers having a choice, they are lying. Just like Walmart runs small businesses out of every town they come to, Monsanto has nearly run small seed companies into the ground. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find old fashioned seed. Also keep in mind all their talk about crops planted with their genetically modified seed that are resistant to their own Round Up mean that those same crops are getting sprayed with Round Up and you’re eating it.

You might not care. I do. So I share what I find in an effort to give my readers the knowledge to make an informed choice.

Safe seed

Just a quick note, the Monsanto page has been updated. Make an effort to stay away from Lowes and Home Depot this year (at least for their seeds, I love Lowes otherwise).

And while you’re here, why not become a fan on Facebook?

Oregon February Garden Checklist

It’s almost February, 2 months til spring, yay!

Oregon residents, here’s your February garden “to dos” from the OSU Extension service -

First consider cultural, and then physical controls. The conservation of biological control agents (predators, parasitoids) should be favored over the purchase and release of biological controls. Use chemical controls only when necessary, only after identifying a pest problem, and only after thoroughly reading the pesticide label. Least-toxic choices include insecticidal soaps, horticultural oils, botanical insecticides, organic and synthetic pesticides — when used judiciously.

Recommendations in this calendar are not necessarily applicable to all areas of Oregon. For more information, contact your local OSU Extension Service office.

Planning

• Tune up lawn mower and garden equipment before the busy season begins.
• Have soil test performed on garden plot to determine nutrient needs. Contact your local Extension office for a list of testing laboratories or view EM 8677 online.
• Select and store healthy scion wood for grafting fruit and nut trees. Wrap in damp cloth or peat moss and place in plastic bag. Store in cool place.
• Plan an herb bed, for cooking and for interest in the landscape. Among the choices are parsley, sage, chives, and lavender. Choose a sunny spot for the herb bed, and plant seeds or transplants after danger of frost has passed (late April-early May in the Willamette Valley and Central Coast; June-July in Eastern and Central Oregon).
• Plan to add herbaceous perennial flowers to your flowering landscape this spring. Examples include candytuft, peony, penstemon, coneflower.

Maintenance and Clean Up

• Repair winter damage to trees and shrubs.
• Make a cold frame or hotbed to start early vegetables or flowers.
• Fertilize rhubarb with manure or a complete fertilizer.
• Incorporate cover crops or other organic matter into soil.
• Prune and train grapes; make cuttings.
• Prune fruit trees and blueberries.
• Eastern Oregon: Prune and train summer-bearing and fall-bearing raspberries.
• Western Oregon: Prune deciduous summer-blooming shrubs and trees; wait until April in high elevations of eastern and central Oregon.
• Western Oregon: Prune and train trailing blackberries (if not done prior late August); prune black raspberries.
• Western Oregon: Prune fall-bearing raspberries (late in Feb or early March).
• Western Oregon: Prune clematis, Virginia creeper, and other vining ornamentals.

Planting/Propagation

• Plant windowsill container gardens of carrots, lettuce, or parsley.
• Plan to add herbaceous perennial flowers to your flowering landscape this spring: astilbe, candytuft, peony, and anemone.
• Good time to plant fruit trees and deciduous shrubs. Replace varieties of ornamental plants that are susceptible to disease with resistant cultivars.
• Plant asparagus if the ground is warm enough.
• Plant seed flats of cole crops (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts), indoors or in greenhouse.
• Western Oregon: Where soil is dry enough and workable, plant garden peas and sweet peas. Suggested varieties of garden peas include: Corvallis, Dark Green Perfection, Green Arrow, Oregon Sugar Pod, Snappy, Knight, Sugar Snap, Oregon Trail, and Oregon Sugar Pod II.
• Western Oregon: Good time to plant new roses.

Pest Monitoring and Management

• Monitor landscape plants for problems. Don’t treat unless a problem is identified.
• Use delayed-dormant sprays of lime sulfur for fruit and deciduous trees and shrubs.
• Remove cankered limbs from fruit and nut trees for control of diseases such as apple anthracnose, bacterial canker of stone fruit and eastern filbert blight. Sterilize tools before each new cut.
• Control moles and gophers with traps.
• Western Oregon: Elm leaf beetles and box-elder bugs are emerging from hibernation and may be seen indoors. They are not harmful, but can be a nuisance. Remove them with a vacuum or broom and dustpan.
• Western Oregon: Monitor for European crane fly and treat lawns if damage has been verified.

Houseplants and Indoor Gardening

• Pasteurize soil for starting seedlings in pots or flats, or use clean, sterile commercial mixes.
• Central Oregon: Gather branches of quince, forsythia, and flowering cherries; bring indoors to force early bloom.

Blogginess

Working on sprucing up the blog for this gardening season, a little at a time! My first step was installing a new comment system, which I’m really not sure about yet. Let me know what you think – is it a keeper?

Another “change” is I’m willing to review gardening products finally…I’ve been asked in the past but hesitated and ended up not doing them. This year however, I’ll do a free HONEST review of your garden product, targetting a large and wonderful gardener audience. Limited to one a week. Just email me for the mailing address and what you’re sending. Products sent for review won’t be returned.