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Promising Conservation Results in the 2022 Agricultural Census

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

For example, the Census shows increasing use of key practices like conservation tillage and cover crops and durable protection of acres in conservation easements. million acres with cover crops (a 17% increase) in 2022 than in 2017 and a 50% increase in acres with cover crops from 2012. Since the 1997 high of 66.4

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Regenerative Gardening, No-Till Winter Cover Crop Strategies

UnderstandingAg

Root crops and tuber beds are generally clean and free of residue after harvest, which make them an easy location to direct seed with any seeder, or broadcast seed, followed by applying a straw mulch. If you live in a high-rainfall climate, I recommend applying straw mulch after seeding to reduce crusting and soil loss.

Crop 90
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Fifty years of nurturing nature

Sustainable Food Trust

SFT CEO Patrick Holden and his wife Becky Holden farm 300 acres in West Wales and produce a raw milk cheddar called Hafod with the milk from their herd of Ayrshire cows. We farm 300 acres, and each field has its own unique identity, character and distinctiveness.

Farming 52
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Can Agriculture Kick Its Plastic Addiction?

Civil Eats

Black polyethylene “mulch film” gets tucked snugly around crop rows, clear plastic sheeting covers hoop houses, and most farmers use plastic seed trays, irrigation tubes, and fertilizer bags. While the trials were limited to farms less than 80 acres in size, Zinati sees major promise in expanding the practice.

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Should Bioplastics Be Allowed in Organic Compost?

Civil Eats

He plants nitrogen-rich legumes and other perennial cover crops amongst his pear, apple, plum, peach, and cherry trees, but he buys a commercial compost product to keep his 100-acre, fourth-generation family farm thriving. Ela knows first-hand how central compost is to his organic farm—and all organic agriculture.

Compost 107
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As the Salton Sea Shrinks, Agriculture’s Legacy Turns to Dust

Civil Eats

Over that time, only a handful of smaller-scale research projects have attempted to document current sediment contaminants on what is now almost 20,000 acres of exposed playa that is adding dust to the region’s already poor air quality. But the effort is woefully behind schedule. As of March 2023, only 290 had been completed.

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Fungi Are Helping Farmers Unlock the Secrets of Soil Carbon

Civil Eats

He mostly grows salad greens across 3 acres of farmland. It is always covered with straw, leaf mold, or wood chips,” says Leah Penniman, the co-founder of Soul Fire Farm in upstate New York. “We Those are nitrogen-rich plants, and nobody’s applying fertilizer,” he says.

Farming 130