Remove Acre Remove Industrial Agriculture Remove Yield
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On the Ground with the Farmers Producing Antibiotic-Free Meat

Modern Farmer

Nearly four decades ago, Ron Mardesen and his wife Denise stopped using antibiotics on their hog farm, A-Frame Acres, in Elliot, Iowa. As the owner of a multi-generational farm, Mardesen has seen industrial agriculture and factory farming take increasing control over meat production in the last few decades.

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We Can’t Achieve Food Justice if We Don’t Prioritize Soil Health

Food Tank

Food and Agriculture Organization calculates—which makes the problem of soil erosion so much more concerning. 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.” Ninety-five percent of food nutrients come from soils, the U.N.

Food 120
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Opinion: To Find the Future of Food, We Need to Look to the Past

Modern Farmer

According to the techno-optimists, hacking photosynthesis by genetically modifying rubisco, the enzyme found in all plants that turn sunlight and carbon dioxide into starches, proteins, and other nutrients will allow us to radically increase rice yields in Asia.

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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. Fertilizer as Poison The U.S.

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Farmers Can Adapt to Alternating Droughts and Floods—Here’s How

The Equation

With fields waterlogged, many farmworkers were unable to work and pick produce, signaling that crops like strawberries might see lower yields and higher prices in the near future. Industrial agriculture has created soils that are less like sponges and more like concrete, making it difficult to soak up runoff and excess water.

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An Iowa Fertilizer Plant Purchase Spurs Antitrust Concerns

Civil Eats

When farmer Joshua Manske heard about the acquisition of an Iowa fertilizer plant by Koch Industries in December, he saw it as a “microcosm of what’s going on nationally.” Because corn requires nitrogen fertilizer to grow, Manske is concerned that further consolidation of the fertilizer industry will drive his input prices up more.

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Investors Rewind 10 Years of AgTech: Supervillains, Heroes and Unexpected Truths

World Agri-Tech

The last 10 years have also shown that, despite being a 15,000 year-old industry, agriculture is still vulnerable to fads and fashion. Kiersten Stead, Managing Partner, DCVC BIO: “ Farmers don’t like “paying by acre”, incentives are perverse.