2011 VIDEO CONTEST!!!

2011 STATE FARM BUREAU VIDEO CONTEST CD/electronic entries due to your County Farm Bureau by October 5, 2011. JUNIOR DIVISION: 6th - 8th Grade JUNIOR TOPICS: "HOW WATER BECOMES AMERICA’S FOOD", or "FARM SAFETY ESPECIALLY FOR KIDS" SENIOR DIVISION: 9th - 12th Grade SENIOR TOPICS: "HOW WATER BECOMES AMERICA’S FOOD" or "HOW AGRICUTURE BENEFITS WILDLIFE",
 YOUNG FARMERS & RANCHERS: Division for FB Members age 18-35.  Any of the three topics.

STATE AWARDS FOR EACH DIVISION: st Place - $100; 2nd Place - $ 75; 3rd Place - $50

Entry forms and Video CDs for the State Contest are due by 5:00 p.m., October 8, 2011

Please submit videos to the State Farm Bureau Women’s Chair- Cindy Hardy

SIGNED

Any questions, please call 702-398-3137 or 702-375-8124

Hard Copy Entry Forms and Video CD’s Submitted by Mail: P.O. Box 112 Logandale NV 89021 See below for RULES and Additional Information
2011 FARM BUREAU VIDEO CONTEST ENTRY FORM: TITLE OF VIDEO: _____________________________________________________________________
CONTESTANT(S) NAME(S): ADDRESS: CITY: ZIP: GRADE:
List Main Contact on First set of Lines:
*______________________, ________________________, _____________, __________ _______________________, ________________________, _____________, __________ _______________________, ________________________, _____________, __________ SCHOOL: _______________________________________________
 COUNTY: ____________________
*MAIN CONTACT: HOME PHONE: ____________________
CELL PHONE: ___________________ Permission to Post Video on the internet
SIGNATURE OF PARENT(S): YES________ NO_______ _____________________________________________________________ SIGNATURE OF PARENT(S): _____________________________________________________________ SIGNATURE OF PARENT(S): _____________________________________________________________ This SIGNED permission form is required to accompany the video entry. Thank you. (Previous Videos can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/user/NVFBVideoContest#p/u ) 2011 STATE FARM BUREAU VIDEO CONTEST SAFETY
WATER
WILDLIFE
GENERAL INFORMATION: (Please retain a copy of this information for your records.) Please have CD/electronic entries to Cindy Hardy by
County rules and prizes are at the discretion of the respective County Farm Bureaus October 8, 2011. GENERAL RULES: 1. Each video is to be produced by an individual or a group of up to three contestants. The oldest contestant in a group determines Jr./Sr. Division placement. Group prize money is a lump sum. 2. Limit is one video production per individual or group and must have an entry form with it. 3. Videos will be 3 to 5 minutes in length and penalties are assessed for under/over the time limit. 4. Each video will cover a single topic and be judged on the following merits: 25 pts: Appropriateness to topic, Accuracy and Organization; 15pts: Delivery, Special Effects and Music; 10 pts: Interesting and Understandable. Use permanent marker to list contestant name(s), school, Division, title/topic on a CD. 6. The Videos will become and remain the property of the Nevada Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee which reserves the right to determine which videos will be forwarded for judging. 7. State video entries will be judged at the Nevada Farm Bureau Annual Meeting, Nov. 17 – 19, 2011. (Churchill Convention Center, Fallon, NV) 8. All decisions of the judges are final. Videos submitted without a SIGNED entry form are disqualified. 9. Failure to adhere to any one or any part of any of these General Rules may disqualify an entry. Entry forms and Video CDs for the State Contest are due by 5:00 p.m., October 8, 2011 Please submit videos to the State Farm Bureau Women’s Chair- Cindy Hardy
SIGNED
Any questions, please call 702-398-3137 or 702-375-8124 Hard Copy Entry Forms and Video CD’s Submitted by Mail: P.O. Box 112 Logandale NV 89021 5.



**For Clarification--all entries need to go to your county farm bureau first for judging before they go on to state--PLEASE contact me if you do not know who to send it to, or contact Cindy Hardy for more help and info**

 

1

A Whole List of Honey-Do's for You!

September is still not over, so that means it is still time to to celebrate National Honey Month with a few fun facts and tidbits that you probably didn't know, but just might sweeten your day!!  All of my facts an info come from the National Honey Board's website at Honey.com

Honey is honey, it’s just that simple. A bottle of pure honey contains the natural sweet substance produced by honey bees from the nectar of plants or secretions of living parts of plants. Nothing else.

When scientists begin to look for all of the elements found in this wonderful product of nature, they find a complex of naturally flavored sugars as well as trace enzymes, minerals, vitamins, and amino acids. Honey is made by bees in one of the world’s most efficient facilities, the beehive. The 60,000 or so bees in a beehive may collectively travel as much as 55,000 miles and visit more than two million flowers to gather enough nectar to make just a pound of honey!

The color and flavor of honey differ depending on the bees’ nectar source (the blossoms). In fact, there are more than 300 unique kinds of honey in the United States, originating from such diverse floral sources as Clover, Eucalyptus and Orange Blossoms. In general, lighter colored honeys are mild in flavor, while darker honeys are usually more robust in flavor.

How do bees make honey?

Honey is the sweet fluid produced by honey bees from the nectar of flowers. Worker honey bees transform the floral nectar that they gather into honey by adding enzymes to the nectar and reducing the moisture.

Here's what  I learned about the different forms that honey comes in:

Comb Honey - Comb honey is honey in its original form; that is, honey inside of the honeycomb. The beeswax comb is edible!

Cut Comb - Cut comb honey is liquid honey that has added chunks of the honey comb in the jar. This is also known as a liquid-cut comb combination.

Liquid Honey - Free of visible crystals, liquid honey is extracted from the honey comb by centrifugal force, gravity or straining. Because liquid honey mixes easily into a variety of foods, it’s especially convenient for cooking and baking. Most of the honey produced in the United States is sold in the liquid form.

Naturally Crystallized Honey - Naturally crystallized honey is honey in which part of the glucose content has spontaneously crystallized. It is safe to eat.

Whipped (or Cremed) Honey - While all honey will crystallize in time, whipped honey (also known as cremed honey) is brought to market in a crystallized state. The crystallization is controlled so that, at room temperature, the honey can be spread like butter or jelly. In many countries around the world, whipped honey is preferred to the liquid form especially at breakfast time.

Thank Heavens for Farmers.....

Julie Wolf from Churchill County Farm Bureau shared this video with me and so I wanted to pass it on to all of you this week.

"Farmers Tribute: So God Made a Farmer"

Thought You'd Rice to Know....

Hi!  Have you had your rice today?? 

You may not realized it, but in China, that is about the same as asking "How are you Today?"  Want to know more interesting facts and legends about rice from cultures around the world--read here:  http://www.menurice.com/All_About_Rice/Rice_Variety/Legends.asp

In celebration of National Rice Month, I wanted to share what I have learned.  Rice is a staple of life for my family, along with potatoes, it is on the menu at least once a week.  I was really surprised to hear what I did about rice, I always assumed most of it was grown out of the nation and didn't realize how much is produced by Americans.  And, my family is just a itty-bitty speck out of the 2/3's of our world's population that's diet is sustained by rice.

Rice in the United States:

"Over the past 25 years, the demand by U.S. consumers for milled rice has tripled. That astonishing rate of growth is unsurpassed by any other grain. So who’s growing all that rice?

In large part, U.S. farmers are. U.S.-grown rice accounts for nearly 90 percent of the rice consumed in this country. And it is also in demand abroad because of its exceptional quality.

Rice is picky about where it grows. Only a few states have the climate and soil suitable for commercial rice production. In alphabetical order, they are Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas. Can you guess which state is the largest producer? (See answer below.) All of these states primarily grow long-grain rice, except California which produces primarily medium-grain rice. The latter is prized by consumers in Northeast Asia for its exceptional cooking and eating quality.

The top rice-producing states? Arkansas ranks first, followed by California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Missouri." (All information and facts, above and below come from : http://www.menurice.com/ )

Rice has been around since 5,000 years ago in China, but how did it come to the U.S.???
"Early American colonists began cultivating rice quite by accident. In 1685, a storm-battered ship from Madagascar reached Charles Towne harbor in South Carolina. As a gift for repairing the ship, the ship’s captain gave local planters a small quantity of “Golden Seede Rice.”

Fresh-water marshes of the Carolinas and Georgia proved ideal growing environments for rice production. In truth, the rich, wet flood plains could grow little else. By 1700, rice had become a major crop for colonists. Bills of sale from that year record that 300 tons of “Carolina Golde Rice” was shipped to England.

The substantial hand-labor requirements of growing rice led to the plantation era of the southern states. Farming equipment of the time was ill suited to the demands of soggy soil preparation, planting, harvesting and threshing of the grain. Even small tracts of rice production required hundreds of manual laborers.

By 1726, the Port of Charleston was exporting nearly 4,500 metric tons of “Carolina Golde,” which had become the world standard of rice quality. By the time of the American Revolution, rice had become one of the nation’s major business enterprises.

Upheavals of the Civil War, combined with the ravages of hurricanes and competition from other crops, pushed rice agriculture westward. It was during this time that rice became a major crop in Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Not until mechanized farming methods became practical in the 1880s would southern rice crops become viable again.

The California gold rush of 1849 spawned a rice boom in the far west. A steady influx of Chinese immigrants created demand that prompted growers in the Sacramento Valley to plant and harvest the grain. By 1920, California had become a major rice-growing state.

From its humble beginnings in South Carolina, rice continues to be an important U.S. agricultural product and export. The high quality of U.S.-grown rice is respected the world over. So are our innovative growing and production methods. New techniques have reduced the time spent in fields to just seven man-hours per acre while some Asian growers still require 300!"

What kinds of Rice are out There?

Long Grain: Kernels are slender and four to five times as long as they are wide. When cooked the grains are separate, light and fluffy.

•Rice varieties: U.S. long grain brown, white and parboiled, U.S. jasmine, U.S. basmati, U.S. aromatic red

•Great for: Entrées, rice bowls, pilafs, stuffings, rice salads, jambalaya and more

Medium Grain: Kernels are two to three times as long as they are wide. The cooked grains are moist and tender, with a greater tendency to cling, a desirable characteristic in many dishes.
•Rice varieties: U.S. medium grain brown and white, U.S. arborio, U.S. black japonica
•Great for: Sushi, rice bowls, risotto, paella, rice puddings, desserts

Short Grain: Kernels are plump and almost round in shape. After cooking, the grains are soft and clingy.
•Rice varieties: U.S. short grain, U.S. sweet
•Great for: Sushi, paella, Asian dishes, rice puddings, desserts


So why is Brown or Whole Grain Rice Better for you??
"When it comes from the growing field, each grain of rice is enclosed in a tough hull, or husk, which must be removed. Underneath is the nutritious whole grain, which may be brown, reddish or even black, depending on the color of the bran layers. All rice may be eaten at this stage, but most are processed further.


Under the hull are the bran and germ which are high in vitamins, minerals, oil and various phytonutrients proposed to have health-benefits. Rice at this stage is 100% whole grain.

Remove the bran and germ and what remains is the endosperm, the white rice enjoyed throughout the world. To replace some of the nutrients lost in milling, most North American processors apply a thin coat of thiamine, niacin, iron and folic acid to milled rice to produce what is known as enriched rice.
To recap:
Whole-grain rice (sometimes called brown rice): longer cooking time; more fiber; high in vitamins, minerals, oil and various phytonutrients; shorter shelf life which can be extended using cool storage temperatures.
Milled rice: shorter cooking time; enriched to restore nutrient value; longer shelf life."

Well, I hope you learned a little more about Rice today than you knew yesterday, but most of all, I hope you know a little bit more about American Agriculture today than you did yesterday and all of the great things that our nations Ag Producers are providing for you!!