Got to Be NC Festival Nears

The 4th Annual Got to Be NC Festival is fast approaching, and recent addition, FiberFest, a celebration of fiber arts and crafts that is part of the Festival continues to add to its many offerings. This year’s lineup features a daily theme: Green/Recycling fiber craft activities on Friday, sock-oriented events on Saturday including a sock fashion show, and events focusing on the community spirit of fiber crafts on Meetup Sunday. The Got to Be N.C. Festival is May 18-20 at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh.

For more information you can visit their website.
 

Increase Forecast for Virginia Wheat
 

Virginia's 2012 wheat forecast predicts a 5 percent increase over last year's yield.
 

The Virginia field office of the National Agriculture Statistics Service is forecasting a wheat crop totaling 18.5 million bushels. If that holds up, production will be up 810,000 bushels from 2011.
 

Producers are expected to devote nearly 300,000 acres to wheat with a yield of 64 bushels per acre. That is above the national yield by more than 16 bushels an acre.
 

Producer Prices Fall in April
 

The Labor Department says producer prices in the U.S. fell in April, dropping 0.2 percent. IHS Global Insight Chief U.S. Economist Nigel Gault takes a look at the numbers:
 

“The reason it dropped was energy prices. Energy prices down 1.4%, and that reflects falling gasoline prices, and also reflects a drop in the price of residential gas.”
 

Providing Unique Media Exposure for Pork
 

The summer grilling season is upon us. The Pork Checkoff is promoting barbecue with a special collaboration this month. Pork Checkoff Spokesperson Pamela Johnson:

“Kingsford Charcoal, in an effort to reach top insular culinary media…we are partnering with them for the annual Memphis in May Barbeque competition coming up later this month. They are hosting some top media there; we are partnering with them in that effort to kind of educate that media on barbequing.”
 

Cattle Numbers Slowly Rebounding
 

On the high plains of Texas and Oklahoma, in areas where pastures have sprung back from last-year’s drought, high cattle prices, cash shortages and general uncertainty will keep ranchers cautious and suggest a slow recovery of cattle numbers. Demand for replacement cattle has picked up in Eastern Texas, the rebuilding process will take years even with favorable weather conditions. West Texas remains extremely dry, meaning any rebuilding in that area is at least another year in the future. As cattle numbers recover, beef prices at the retail level should gradually fall.
 

YouTube Video Separates LFTB Fact from Fiction

Food Seminars International is working to counter the misinformation circulating about Lean Finely Textured Beef with a video that separates myths and reality. FSI’s Aaron Brown selected the LFTB topic because of its prominence in the news recently. He says most of the coverage has been weak on facts – noting social websites latched onto the initial, factually incorrect reports and rebroadcast them extensively. Dr. Keith Warriner – featured in the video explains this controversy is a good example of how the mass media or social media like Facebook and Twitter have provided a means of misinformation. The video is available on YouTube (www.youtube.com).