Civil Eats

OCTOBER 2, 2023

Until a few years ago, Songbird Farm in Unity, Maine, grew wheat, rye, oats, and corn, as well as an array of vegetables in three high tunnel greenhouses, and supported a community-supported agriculture (CSA) program for over 100 customers. Some farms were able to stop production temporarily while they identified possible solutions.

Farming 128

Farming Farming Farmland Crop 128

UnderstandingAg

APRIL 30, 2023

Manure slurry is a valuable but difficult resource to manage on dairy farms. Slurry pits must be emptied to make room for the never-ending stream of manure. Manure is often not a top priority for most dairies and handling may have to wait until seasonal fieldwork is completed.

Manure 52

Manure Pasture Fertilizer Crop 52

Modern Farmer

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

The experience led him to start learning about regenerative agriculture and the benefits raising chickens could have for the soil fertility and sustainability of his nine acres. Siewicki started Vital Mission Farm with the hopes of helping to create a more sustainable food industry. But, starting the farm didn’t come easy at first.

Poultry 121

Poultry Farming Farming Processing 121

Civil Eats

MARCH 13, 2024

The idea, the manager explained, was that Supreme Beef would run a feedlot, and Feeder Creek would supply a biodigester, a machine that would process manure and capture the resulting methane to be sold as energy. We need at least 10,000 cows to get enough manure for the amount of methane we want to generate,’” Stone said.

Manure 142

Manure Cattle Construction Farming 142

Modern Farmer

AUGUST 28, 2023

Payne operates a 300-acre regenerative farm in Concordia, Missouri, an hour outside of Kansas City, where he raises sheep and cattle. Rooted in preindustrial farming, the method involves intentionally incorporating trees on the same land used by grazing livestock, in a way that benefits both.

Livestock 92

Livestock Farming Farming Cattle 92

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

AUGUST 28, 2024

Editor’s Note: This is the fourth post in a multi-part blog series analyzing the Farm Food and National Security Act of 2024 (FFNSA), which was reported out of the House Agriculture Committee on Friday, May 24. Overall, FFNSA misses the mark and fails to sufficiently address the most fundamental threat to our food and farm system.

Farming 97

Farming Farming Agriculture Agriculture 97

Caff

OCTOBER 22, 2024

On September 19th, Community Alliance with Family Farmers held a field day at Vitis and Ovis farm in Capay Valley, CA. Gisèle Herren of Vitis and Ovis Farm alongside their flock of grazing ducks. Hans Herren showing attendees an on-farm device as he discussed their experience in making compost tea.

Orchard 52

Orchard Farming Farming Construction 52

Modern Farmer

FEBRUARY 13, 2024

Agroforestry—the integration of trees and shrubs into crop and animal farming systems—has been used since ancient times to produce fruits, nuts, coffee, cocoa and medicinal herbs. Wendy Johnson’s ‘natural savannah’ Wendy Johnson and her husband, Johnny Rafkin, own Jóia Food & Fiber Farm, in Charles City, Iowa. Johnson laughs.

Acre 107

Acre Farming Farming Pasture 107

Modern Farmer

AUGUST 12, 2024

These factory farms not only force animals to live in overcrowded, dirty conditions, they also produce copious amounts of manure, which can cause water pollution and other health hazards. Calves stick their heads out of pens at a farm near Healdsburg, California. farm is 464 acres.) The average U.S.

Livestock 60

Livestock Acre Poultry Farming 60

Agribusiness Blog

MARCH 7, 2022

Many farmers, especially those in the Midwest that apply animal manure, are able to deduct excess fertility when they purchase land that they are currently not farming. This deduction could easily approach $1,000 per acre. Here is an example: Jim buys land in Minnesota for $12,000 per acre in 2022.

Fertilizer 52

Fertilizer Acre Manure Farming 52

ATTRA

APRIL 2, 2024

The challenges associated with mud on livestock farms, particularly cattle and horse farms, need to be addressed because their health affects production goals. Not to mention that no livestock owner wants to see their animals covered in mud and manure. Mud and manure harbor harmful bacteria and other pathogens.

Soil Compaction 98

Soil Compaction Pasture Forage Livestock 98

RR2CS

JANUARY 13, 2022

By Trina Moyles Jenny Berkenbosch and James Vriend manage Sundog Organic Farm , a 14-acre certified organic vegetable and herb operation, located north of Edmonton in Sturgeon County. After James and Jenny were married, she too spent 5 years working on the Vriend’s farm, learning about organic production.

Agriculture 52

Agriculture Agriculture Farming Farming 52

Modern Farmer

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

Dumping manure in public spaces, hurling eggs at government buildings, blocking major roads —the European farmers who have taken to the streets to challenge free trade policies sure know how to raise a ruckus. Thus far, the protests offer some takeaways for American food and farm activists. Matters are much the same in the US.

Manure 87

Manure Farming Farming Production 87

Agribusiness Blog

OCTOBER 26, 2022

Many farmers are able to spread manure on their cropland over many years. However, comparable land in the area that has had no manure ever applied to it and has no excess fertility can be purchased for $6,500. In order to properly document this deduction, you should get an agronomist to workup the value of the excess fertility.

Fertilizer 52

Fertilizer Manure Acre Farmland 52

The Lunatic Farmer

SEPTEMBER 7, 2023

Commodity productivity per acre is down across the board, driving prices up. Interestingly, the huge machine trade show hall featured only one chipper and not a single manure spreader. And goop to put in confinement hog facilities to make the lagoon manure less toxic. It’s been a fascinating and invigorating day. Dad was 39.

Manure 73

Manure Mechanics Ecology Tractor 73

RR2CS

MARCH 8, 2022

Instead, they set their sights northwest of the city and came to fall in love with 160-acres of “rough northern bush” in Barrhead County. Of the 160-acres, Jenna and Thomas steward 25-acres to grow organic vegetables, herbs, and flowers and raise honeybees.

Farming 52

Farming Farming Forage Seeding 52

Food Tank

FEBRUARY 16, 2024

As Adrian Lipscombe, a chef and the Founder of the 40 Acres Project, put it: “If we don’t have soil health, we’re not going to have food.” Healthy soils, boosted by regenerative farming practices , can sequester more carbon from the atmosphere and more effectively store and drain water. Let’s put this in the next Farm Bill!

Food 122

Food Ranching Grain Crop Rotation 122

UnderstandingAg

NOVEMBER 27, 2023

Fertilizers and animal manures are a special case, because whether the ultimate result is net positive or negative depends on how they are managed. Overapplying fertilizers or manure (especially high N fertilizers or anaerobic pit manure) can create nutrient imbalances, increase salt loads, and disrupt soil function.

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Manure Fertilizer Crop Crop Rotation 64

Agwired

AUGUST 5, 2024

Farm4Profit podcast host and Iowa farmer Tanner Winterhof moderated the panel, which included his co-host and 4th generation farmer Corey Hillebo; Scott Henry, partner in LongView Farms in Nevada, IA; “Iowa Farm Mama” Rachel Fishback, People of Ag ; and Brad McDonald, McDonald Farm and Continuum Ag. How do we do it?

Technology 59

Technology Grain Manure Farming 59

Civil Eats

JULY 2, 2024

The ice cream shop is an extension of the Nicholson family’s sixth-generation, 120-acre farm in nearby Ferndale. milk supply, mostly on industrial farms in the Central Valley. These farms hold, on average, around 2,300 cows. Herds in Wisconsin, the second-largest producer, average 177 cows.) It’s one of a kind.”

Pasture 124

Pasture Production Marketing Supply Chain 124

UnderstandingAg

MAY 3, 2024

Living ground cover is especially critical on acres receiving manure from confinement operations. Industry groups should make it clear to members that cover crops and more in-season application must become part of all manure management plans and programs. This is hands-down the best, most profitable use case for cover crops.

Pesticide 81

Pesticide Crop Manure Fertilizer 81

The Counter

APRIL 27, 2022

They’d take a few hundred acres of both leased and family-owned central-Texas farmland—land that for decades had grown row crops of corn and cotton—and give it “what it wants back,” he said. The challenges to farming, period—let alone transitioning to regenerative—can be high. Here’s how the U.S. government actively discourages it.

Farming 52

Farming Farming Farmland Agriculture 52

The Lunatic Farmer

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

I’ve visited 10 farms, most of them several hundred sheep on more than 1,000 acres. One was beef cattle on about 4,000 acres. Nobody puts down carbon for bedding, so all the sheep are on solid manure packs that stink and are filthy. As a result, all farms have 24 hour security. I should be home Monday afternoon.

Grain 52

Grain Manure Pasture Acre 52

World Agri-Tech

OCTOBER 13, 2023

The Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences received an $80 million grant from the United States Department of Agriculture to pilot a program that will pay producers to implement climate-smart practices on farms of all sizes and commodities, an initiative that could have significant impacts on curbing climate-changing gases.

Farming 52

Farming Farming Agriculture Agriculture 52

Sustainable Food Trust

MAY 16, 2023

When we quit our jobs to start farming, we had a small budget and lots of enthusiasm. Our mission was to earn a living as full-time regenerative farmers on just 10 acres in South West Wales. We were going to do this with no farming experience, no side hustles and no farm subsidies. We felt we had some momentum.

Farming 52

Farming Farming Compost Manure 52

Modern Farmer

AUGUST 24, 2023

Since the resurgence of regenerative agriculture, farming has never been sexier. The star-studded film Kiss the Ground , featuring celebrities Woody Harrelson and Tom Brady, put the movement on the map in 2020, claiming that regenerative farming could be the solution to, not the cause of, climate change, biodiversity loss and soil erosion.

Food 94

Food Ranching Ecology Fertilizer 94

ATTRA

DECEMBER 6, 2023

Biochar is created by heating biomass, such as forest waste or animal manure, in a low-oxygen environment—a process known as pyrolysis. I’ve been doing biochar research here on my farm for a good year, and I’ve got feedstock sources, I’m building pyrolysis units, I’ve got different application rate studies already going,” he said.

Poultry 93

Poultry Greenhouse Yield Manure 93

Wisconsin Farmers Union

SEPTEMBER 9, 2024

Even farms not actively looking to improve their operations often use these events as an opportunity to talk shop and hear what other farmers are up to. There’s no better way to see and learn than by visiting other farms and hearing diverse perspectives. It depends on which management practices work best for the farm.

Pasture 98

Pasture Forage Soil Compaction Farming 98

Modern Farmer

JULY 10, 2023

But the epic flooding this past March was simply unprecedented, says the owner of Lerda-Goni Farms. After a winter of record snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, a sudden warm spell melted the lower reaches, unleashing nearly 40,000 acre-feet of water —a volume equal to more than a tenth of Las Vegas’ annual supply—in 48 hours.

Farming 82

Farming Farming Manure Agriculture 82

UnderstandingAg

NOVEMBER 27, 2023

Below is a basic diagram showing how carbon cycles through a corn field yielding around 200 bu/acre. Our family farm in Northeast Iowa with 3% SOM in the top six inches has about 67,000 lbs. of carbon per acre in the top two feet of soil. of carbon per acre annually. Carbon flow estimates for a 200 bu/acre corn crop.

Compost 69

Compost Acre Processing Crop 69

Civil Eats

JANUARY 8, 2024

We’ve got 150 acres of grain.” He found this disconcerting, not only for himself but the future of small-scale grain farming in California, once known for its golden hills of grain. As for Gonzales-Siemens, he often helps transport equipment between farms. “It’s not a novel idea.

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Grain Farming Farming Orchard 110

Civil Eats

NOVEMBER 27, 2023

At Georges Mill Farm in northern Virginia, Molly and Sam Kroiz’s goats are on the move. The system was created by a Norwegian company called Nofence , and Molly and Sam are among 43 pilot farms testing it ahead of an official United States debut expected in early 2024. Others push into a strip of bushes, munching through brambles.

Pasture 113

Pasture Cattle Technology Ruralism 113

Civil Eats

AUGUST 16, 2023

When you approach the poultry paddocks at Salvatierra Farms outside Northfield, Minnesota, you might not notice how many chickens are hiding among the tall grasses and young hazelnut trees at first. And that’s by design. Photo courtesy of Wil Crombe/Organic Compound.) Regenerative is a complex term with many interpretations.

Poultry 97

Poultry Processing Acre Farming 97

Caff

APRIL 22, 2021

“The ARA adopts many strategies pioneered in California” said CAFF Policy Director, Dave Runsten, “such as the Healthy Soils Program, the diversion of organic matter from landfills, and the Alternative Manure Management Program. It’s a hopeful sign that our advocacy is moving from the state level to the national stage.”

Agriculture 52

Agriculture Agriculture Manure Compost 52

Civil Eats

MARCH 19, 2024

And while each of those uses could provide revenue potential for mushroom farms, the expanding piles of spent substrate also represent a mounting logistical challenge. “If Stempel currently takes most of the material to a nearby compost facility, but local farms, gardeners, and florists also take a portion. It wasn’t a tough sell.

Compost 117

Compost Farming Farming Logistics 117

Todays Farmer Magazine

FEBRUARY 1, 2023

Britt Farms of Clifton Hill is the recipient of the 2022 Missouri Leopold Conservation Award, which spotlights agricultural achievements in stewardship and natural resources management. They are the sixth Missouri farm family to receive this prestigious award, which includes a $10,000 prize and crystal trophy.

Fertilizer 40

Fertilizer Crop Rotation Cattle Family Farming 40

The Lunatic Farmer

JULY 29, 2022

Suddenly I’m getting requests about whether or not to get an NRCS grant for farm development infrastructure. We lease a farm that many years ago went into a water development program with NRCS cost-share. This was for 120 acres. Entering the bureaucracy malaise normally doesn’t end well. Always plenty of water.

Acre 52

Acre Manure Cattle Farming 52