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Black Earth: A Family’s Journey from Enslavement to Reclamation

Civil Eats

In the months before Patrick Brown was born in November 1982, his father, Arthur, lay down on a road near the familys farm to prevent a caravan of yellow dump trucks from depositing toxic soil in his community. Patrick currently operates Brown Family Farms on the land that Byron worked as a sharecropper once he was freed.

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Opinion: In American Agriculture, Size Matters

Modern Farmer

New research published in Nature Sustainability projects that, if trends continue, the number of farms across the world will be sliced in half by the end of the 21 st century as consolidation of land, wealth and power reshapes our farming and food landscape. The marginalization of smaller-scale farms has severe consequences.

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Opinion: Farmers Are Dropping Out Because They Can’t Access Land. Here’s How the Next Farm Bill Could Stop the Bleeding.

Modern Farmer

America’s farmers, especially beginning and Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) farmers face insurmountable challenges, yet 87 percent of young farmers are dedicated to regenerative, climate-smart farming practices. Across the country, farmland is being lost to development at a rate of more than 2,000 acres per day.

Farming 122
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We Need Regenerative Agriculture, But How Can Farmers Fund the Transition?

Modern Farmer

“Of 400 farms in our county, only five are organic,” says Matt Fitzgerald of Fitzgerald Organics in Hutchinson, Minnesota. His 2,500-acre family farm is patchwork across 40 miles of land the family owns and leases, and grows organic corn, soy, wheat and specialty crops such as beans and peas.

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Commentary: A Chorus for Conservation

Daily Yonder

The song tells the story of a farmer who is approached by a real estate developer. He tells the overalls-clad farmer—a tired stereotype of America’s agrarians, even if my farming grandfather wore Liberty bibs every day for decades—that he builds houses and neighborhoods. This time, I pulled the lyrics up and read along.

Farmland 109
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The Path to Land Ownership for U.S. Farmers 

Trimble Agriculture

farm real estate, valued at over $3 trillion in 2023, represents more than 80 percent of the total assets in the U.S. farm sector , making it a key resource that farmers can leverage to build a financially resilient operation. At the same time, the number of farms and farmland in the U.S. has been in decline.

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Q&A: Why Do Small-Scale Farmers Persist in Place?

Daily Yonder

Even by just raising three or four acres of tobacco, families could make a respectable return that helped their farm’s economic viability. I should mention that our farm was, and still is, a family farm in the strongest sense. A childhood photo from the family farm. My accent resembles theirs.

Ruralism 117