Off The Cob

Today, Off the Cob speaks with Sam Hancock, an eigth-generation farmer in Fulton, Ky . Hancock combines farming techniques learned from his father with a formal business education to continually improve the sustainability of their family's farm.

The National Corn Growers Association, along with agribusiness partners, offers the Insect Resistance Management Refuge Calculator as a tool to help farmers determine how to comply with varying and often complex regulations.

In this first installment, Off the Cob speaks with Tom Martin, a fifth-generation farmer in Mount Pulaski, Ill. In 1982, he joined his father and brother in growing mainly corn and soybeans. Living with his wife and children in the house where both he and his father grew up, Martin still works the family farm - a fact that is not surprising when one considers that more than 90 percent of all U.S. corn is grown on family farms.

Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released its final Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) or 'pollution diet' for the Chesapeake Bay watershed. TMDLs are a common pollution control mechanism set forth in the Clean Water Act. Out of more than 40,000 TMDLs that have been developed across the country, the Chesapeake plan is by far the largest and most complex, totaling 200 pages in the main document and more than 3,000 pages of appendices.

During the recent National Corn Growers Association Action Team meetings, held in St. Louis, NCGA's podcast series Off the Cob caught up with Research and Business Development Action Team Chair Larry Hasheider. As the meetings closed, Hasheider noted that the team anticipates a productive, successful year in 2011 with new staff lead Rick Vierling.