E-I-E-I…Go! Lang Diesel, Inc.® Kicking Off First ‘On the Farm’ Karaoke Contest

Family owned business calling on farm families to find harmony during harvest by submitting videos

(HAYS, KS) September 6, 2016 — As harvest season shifts into high gear, one of AGCO’s top performing dealers is putting the fun into farming, and is calling on area farmers and their families for help. Hays, Kansas based Lang Diesel, Inc. is starting a three-week long social media singing competition on Thursday, Sept. 8, called LDI’s On the Farm Karaoke Contest. The contest is a spinoff of the popular carpool karaoke videos taking the internet by storm, but encourages people to play along from a piece of their own equipment and gives them a shot at a substantial prize.

To participate, individuals or groups will climb in their cab and record a video singing karaoke to a song of their choice. Next, they will enter the contest by posting the video to LDI’s Facebook page. People may also enter by visiting LDI at the Kansas State Fair, running Sept. 9 – 18, in Hutchinson, Kan. The LDI booth will be located at 212 – 214 Lake Talbott Ave., where LDI employees can help visitors record videos from machinery on display and upload entries on their behalf.  Only appropriate entries will be accepted and all explicit or profane content will be removed at the discretion of LDI.

After the contest ends on Friday, Sept. 30, and LDI has received all submissions, the public will use Facebook to vote on their favorites. Voting will run from Oct. 1 – 8, and users may vote once per day to narrow entries down to five finalists. A panel of neutral judges will choose one contest winner, who will receive a free Arctic Cat 150 ATV valued around $3,800 and suitable for riders ages 14+. The four remaining finalists will all receive a prize package courtesy of LDI.

“We think the On the Farm Karaoke Contest is a unique way to bring families and farmers together during the stressful harvest season, and celebrates all of the success in agriculture that often spans multiple generations,” said LDI Marketing Director Shelly Macumber. “We hope people let loose, get creative and have some fun with their entries because at LDI, we know we cannot wait to watch them.”

For more information and complete contest details, please visit LDI’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LangDieselInc.

Number of U.S. Households Experiencing Food Insecurity Declines Significantly in 2015

 WASHINGTON,  September 7, 2016 – More than 42.2 million Americans lived in households that were struggling against hunger in 2015, according to new data released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Economic Research Service. The 2015 numbers represent a significant decline from 2014, with the rate declining from 15.4 to 13.4 percent.
“These numbers of food-insecure households are better than the last few years, but they are still above pre-recession levels,” said Jim Weill,  president of the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC). “We know what it takes to end hunger in this country, so there can be no more excuses. More must be done to raise employment rates and wages, and to protect and strengthen federal nutrition programs to ensure more low-income Americans get the nutrition they need for their health and well-being.
 In virtually every respect, these hunger data reflect the struggles that tens of millions of Americans – and especially people of color, families with children, rural families and Southern families – are having to avoid deep hardship in their lives.”
 One key positive development is that the rate of households with food insecure children did drop below pre-recession levels and in fact is the lowest in any year since this survey began in 1998.
Other findings from the USDA report include:
• The rates of food insecurity were substantially higher than the national average for households with children headed by single women or single men, women and men living alone, and Black- and Hispanic-headed households.
• The number of individuals in households that faced the deepest struggles with hunger – “very low food security” – was 4.6 percent in 2015.
• The number of children living in food insecure households in 2015 improved by more than 2 million, declining from 15.3 million in 2014 to 13.1 million in 2015, with the rate among children declining from 20.9 percent to 17.9 percent.
• Households in more rural areas are experiencing  considerably deeper struggles with hunger compared to those inside metropolitan areas, with higher rates of food insecurity (15.4 percent compared to 12.2 percent), higher rates of food insecurity in households with children (20.5 percent compared to 15.9 percent), and higher rates of very low food security (6.1 percent compared to 4.9 percent).
• The prevalence of food insecurity varied considerably from state to state from 2013-2015, ranging from 8.5 percent in North Dakota to 20.8 percent in Mississippi.
FRAC outlines recommendations for addressing food hardship, including boosting jobs, wages, and public programs for struggling families, such as benefits and eligibility in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) and child nutrition programs. These and other recommendations are described in FRAC’s Plan of Action to End Hunger in America.