article thumbnail

US industrial agriculture at a glance

Food Politics

It comes from a policy report published on FarmDocDaily: Concentration of US Principal Crop Acres in Corn and Soybeans. The bottom line: 30% of harvested acres is devoted to corn, and another 30% to soybeans. This is industrial agriculture at a glance. Regenerative agriculture anyone?

article thumbnail

Opinion: To Find the Future of Food, We Need to Look to the Past

Modern Farmer

But in the Vaud, the fields were relatively small, a few dozen acres at most, and people were careful to plant fruit and nut-bearing trees alongside the edges. I recalled the criticism leveled against wheat: that it’s one of humanity’s most egregious examples of a monocrop.

Food 140
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Across Farm Country, Fertilizer Pollution Impacts Not Just Health, but Water Costs, Too

Civil Eats

When Jeff Broberg and his wife, Erica, moved to their 170-acre bean and grain farm in Winona, Minnesota in 1986, their well water measured at 8.6 These nitrogen-based compounds, common in agricultural runoff, are linked to multiple cancers and health issues for those exposed. ppm for nitrates. coli poisoning in their water. “I

article thumbnail

The Sustainable Soil-ution Beneath Your Feet

Sustainable Harvest International

“ “My philosophy has always been that the health of soil, plants, animals, people, and the environment is one.” ” — Rattan Lal, professor of soil science + 2020 World Food Prize Laureate Conventional, or industrial, agriculture uses chemicals to defend crops from weeds, certain insect species, and diseases.

Compost 59
article thumbnail

The Kelp Business is Booming. How Big is Too Big?

Modern Farmer

A quick taste test proves it true: Their crop is ready to harvest. But just like industrial agriculture on land, such operations can harm the environment – and given the role kelp forests play in sequestering carbon, the climate. It’s also relatively cheap. The two states account for more than 85 percent of the U.S.

article thumbnail

Reviews: Food and farming in film 2023

Sustainable Food Trust

Industrial agriculture may produce higher yields, but the quality and nutrition levels of our food, as well as nature, animals and the state of our planet, have suffered as a result of these intensive practices. To Which We Belong Director: Pamela Tanner Boll Where to watch: Rent from £1.49 on Amazon Prime/Apple TV/iTunes.

Food 52
article thumbnail

The U.S.-Mexico tortilla war

Food Environment and Reporting Network

If they could survive heavy dousing, writes Barstow: [Farmers] could spray Roundup—which was still under patent—over millions of acres of row crops throughout the growing season, killing weeds throughout the spring and summer without hurting their harvest. This was a market opportunity of astounding proportions.

Maize 139