Civil Eats

NOVEMBER 6, 2024

Yet carrots, cauliflower, sweet onions, honeydew, broccoli, and alfalfa all grow here, incongruous crops that spread across half a million acres of cultivated land. Ronald Leimgruber farms 3,500 of those acres. Source: “Review and Synopsis of Natural and Human Controls on Fluvial Channel Processes in the Arid West,” by John J.

Farming 142

Farming Farming Crop Acre 142

Civil Eats

NOVEMBER 14, 2023

A few days later, Valley Center bean farmer Mike Reeske, who donated half an acre of his small farm for this crop, was already betting on which seeds would be the winners in the slow and steady race to find a heritage wheat that will grow—with rainwater only—in San Diego County. Total citrus sales were $146 million. in March 2022.

Grain 138

Grain Seeding Farming Farming 138

Civil Eats

JULY 31, 2024

That day, they’d been out to their four-acre farm and back twice, harvesting a total of 6,300 pounds. Immediately after leaving the water, it begins to ferment, so must be chilled and processed to extend its shelf life—through freezing, fermenting, pickling, or drying—within a few days. Harvested kelp is also incredibly perishable.

Marketing 140

Marketing Harvester Harvest Harvesting 140

UnderstandingAg

SEPTEMBER 26, 2024

To determine the cost of erosion, I used the NRCS tolerable soil loss or “T” value for our farm of 5 tons per acre. The Daily Erosion Project and other research has shown that this is roughly the average soil loss per acre in the Midwest. Despite the complexity, 5 tons per acre per year is a reasonable estimate for the Midwestern U.S.

Acre 95

Acre Fertilizer Crop Ranching 95

Modern Farmer

SEPTEMBER 3, 2024

Farmer Jeremy Dunphy stands next to his four-acre test plot, brimming with flax as a cover crop, sharing what he’s learned with a crowd of 20 farmers, textile artists, designers, and educators. At one time, 18,000 acres of flax were grown in Oregon , with 14 processing mills, spinning and weaving throughout the Willamette Valley.

Textiles 87

Textiles Seeding Processing Acre 87

Modern Farmer

APRIL 8, 2024

The ATF predicts that more than 300 million acres of farmland and ranch land could change ownership within the next two decades, with some of it transitioning out of agriculture use permanently. million acres of farmland and ranchland through conservation easements. But real estate developers can afford it.

Farmland 121

Farmland Acre Real Estate Ranching 121

Civil Eats

FEBRUARY 24, 2025

The late Senator Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) championed the program amid the decline of the sugarcane industry, spurring about 200 acres of kava cultivation by backyard growers and commercial farms, according to Johnston. Now overrun with acres and acres of pasture and eucalyptus, the land faces threats from pests and wildfires.

Food 130

Food Plantation Acre Production 130

Modern Farmer

MAY 28, 2024

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. This can put regenerative farmers in a bind as it takes multiple years to transition land or reach profitability with new processes. That’s really telling to me.”

Agriculture 125

Agriculture Agriculture Acre Farming 125

Civil Eats

DECEMBER 17, 2024

The team in Alexandria is testing 20 more varieties at their 17-acre farm, located on a former cotton plantation that serves as the central research hub for crop and equipment trials. Over two centuries, hundreds of thousands of acres were cleared to establish rice plantations, shaping the Southern economy and landscape.

Plantation 127

Plantation Acre Farming Farming 127

Modern Farmer

JUNE 30, 2023

Prime farmland, it attracted countless farmers, including the Black farmers seeking to fulfill the promise of “40 acres and a mule” that followed the American Civil War. It’s still run by the family today, now growing 100 acres of mostly sweet potatoes, the warm-climate vegetable that is an important staple in African American foodways.

Acre 98

Acre Sharecropping Processing Farming 98

Modern Farmer

SEPTEMBER 7, 2023

Peppered throughout some 500 acres of charred pastureland, he found sizable patches of grass left unscathed by the blaze. The fire burned right around them,” says the 73-year old rancher and owner of Diamond B Ranch, noting the intact areas—some as big as a quarter acre. That’s the fight I’m in,” Balthazar adds.

Plantation 124

Plantation Pasture Acre Ranching 124

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

OCTOBER 9, 2024

CSP remains the largest conservation initiative in the US, with 69 million cumulative acres enrolled in the program in FY2023 (see Figure 1). Despite this strong foundation, this figure is actually a drop in cumulative acres of nearly 7 million acres during this farm bill cycle. million new acres enrolled in FY2023, 3.28

Acre 98

Acre Farming Farming Agriculture 98

Sustainable Food Trust

MARCH 27, 2024

More and more of us are now recognising that the ultra-processed products of the industrialised food system, which most of us eat to some degree, are making people sick. But it is also about the insidious process of centralisation and the corresponding fear of contamination placing huge pressure on smaller businesses within our food system.

Food 135

Food Processing Farming Farming 135

Modern Farmer

FEBRUARY 5, 2025

Despite having nearly a billion acres of prime farmland and a population of only 330 million people, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) oversubsidizes the production of corn and soybeans, which are used for livestock feed, ethanol, and to create sugars, starches, and oils that end up in highly processed foods. The number of U.S.

Food 133

Food Production Crop Farming 133

Caff

AUGUST 5, 2024

Just as contentious, however, was the nefarious process by which these developers sought to achieve their vision. After secretly buying up thousands of acres of farmland, the developers launched an aggressive campaign to pass the initiative, suing farmers along the way. The proposal is now on hold pending further review.

Farmland 98

Farmland Acre Processing Food 98

Civil Eats

FEBRUARY 27, 2024

And its early success has conservationists and lawmakers hoping it can become a model for local, state, and federal farm conservation programs, and in the process serve as a way of disrupting the corn-bean-feedlot machine that dominates Midwestern agriculture. This doesn’t just create problems in local drinking water wells.

Crop 140

Crop Farming Farming Acre 140

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. The national program helps small and mid-sized dairy producers squeeze more value out of milk by diversifying their products and markets, reducing waste, and innovating packaging and processing.

Pasture 142

Pasture Production Marketing Supply Chain 142

UnderstandingAg

FEBRUARY 24, 2025

When he pushes a shovel into the soft, well-aggregated soil on his 240-acre farm near Ridgeway, Minnesota, Bergler sees more earthworms than he ever thought imaginable. Never applying more than 100 pounds of nitrogen per acre to his corn acres, Bergler harvests 230 bushel-per-acre corn behind a seven-way grain mix with peas and flax.

Farming 70

Farming Farming Acre Cattle 70

Sustainable Food Trust

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

Hundreds of acres of Bristol farmland, with its meadows and hedges and resident wildlife, was swept away by the concrete sprawl and the ambitions of its new owners. Catherine’s grandparents became the tenants in 1967 and they later managed to buy the house and outbuildings and 28 of the 61 acres that made up the farm.

Farming 145

Farming Farming Meadow Acre 145

Civil Eats

JANUARY 18, 2024

Then, they were invited to farm half an acre of land owned by the organization. Now, the couple are in the process of expanding to 5 acres. A landowner might have 100 acres available, which is too much for one new farmer. But together a handful of ALBA alumni can divide up the land for their individual farms.

Farming 144

Farming Farming Acre Marketing 144

UnderstandingAg

APRIL 8, 2024

In part two of this series, I described the yield/input/profit paradox that leads many producers to over apply nitrogen, reducing their profitability in the process. To go from 190 to 196 bushels per acre yield takes over 4 lb N/bu, for a cost of $2.33/bu If the actual yield was less than 200 bu/acre the cost is even higher.

Yield 96

Yield Acre Processing Farming 96

Civil Eats

DECEMBER 14, 2023

April Prusia’s 78-acre heritage hog operation in the Driftless region of Wisconsin has benefited from two forms of financial support from the U.S. With this money, she bought an additional 28 acres on which to grow hay for bedding and feed for the pigs. “It Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Farming 143

Farming Farming Pasture Acre 143

Civil Eats

MARCH 11, 2025

One key reason: the industrial food chain and its ultra-processed foods are deeply dependent on fossil fuels. At nearly every step of this ultra-processed foods path from the field to the grocery store, fossil fuels are key. The food system is responsible for an estimated one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions driving this crisis.

Food 98

Food Pesticide Fertilizer Processing 98

Food Environment and Reporting Network

DECEMBER 20, 2024

The soybeans and corn are processed into animal feed and ethanol, mostly outside the region; the cotton is exported to textile mills in Asia. If we took 5 percent of the acres and diverted them into almost anything that wasnt a commodity, its literally an additional $2.5 Today Peebles has expanded to 2,000 acres, all organic.

Acre 99

Acre Crop Farming Farming 99

Civil Eats

DECEMBER 10, 2024

Patrick Brown, who was named North Carolinas Small Farmer of the Year by North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University this year, grows almost 200 acres of industrial hemp for both oil and fiber, and 11 acres and several greenhouses of vegetablesbeets, kale, radishes, peppers, okra, and bok choy.

Plantation 144

Plantation Farming Farming Acre 144

Modern Farmer

JULY 20, 2023

Between 1992 and 2018, this data set tracked things such as yield, acres planted and hybrid lifespan. Over that time, processing sweet corn trends have seen an overall reduction in acres planted and in production. The study also says that declines could also be partially consumer-driven. Statistics per USDA.

Yield 75

Yield Acre Processing Production 75

Modern Farmer

NOVEMBER 10, 2023

acre farm in Escondido, near Camp Pendleton, in between tours. After ending his service in 2006, Archipley and his wife established Archi’s Acres , an organic hydroponic farm that supplies basil and other specialty crops to local restaurants and stores. Inside the Archi’s Acres greenhouse.

Farming 120

Farming Farming Acre Greenhouse 120

Modern Farmer

OCTOBER 16, 2023

The White Oak Initiative , a group of researchers, government agencies and industry insiders dedicated to conservation, estimates that there are more than 100 million acres of white oak across the US, and roughly 75 percent of that is mature. As it takes 90 years for an oak to fully mature, anything to speed up the process is a help.

Ranching 140

Ranching Acre Forestry Processing 140

UnderstandingAg

NOVEMBER 27, 2023

Plants welcome me in their leafy grace, As part of a process, essential to embrace. Below is a basic diagram showing how carbon cycles through a corn field yielding around 200 bu/acre. of carbon per acre in the top two feet of soil. of carbon per acre annually. The same process is happening everywhere that plants grow.

Compost 91

Compost Acre Processing Crop 91

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

OCTOBER 9, 2024

The report highlights the critical role of CSP as the nation’s largest conservation program, with 69 million cumulative acres enrolled. It reveals that during the 2018 Farm Bill, 36,799 new CSP contracts were signed, enrolling 49 million new acres, although the renewal rate for expiring contracts plummeted from nearly 60% to just 20%.

Farming 75

Farming Farming Acre Agriculture 75

Modern Farmer

APRIL 24, 2024

Nearly four decades ago, Ron Mardesen and his wife Denise stopped using antibiotics on their hog farm, A-Frame Acres, in Elliot, Iowa. He and his wife Nancy own a 150-acre grass-fed beef farm and use a rotational grazing method. Every two days, they move their cows to a new pasture and the animals have plenty of space from one another.

Cattle 141

Cattle Food Acre Livestock 141

Modern Farmer

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

His first batch of livestock included 25 chickens he processed for his family. I loved the process of moving the tractor, getting them food and water and raising them,” he says. He took his products to farmers markets and found if he processed birds and sold legs, wings and breasts separately, people were more likely to buy them.

Poultry 128

Poultry Farming Farming Processing 128

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

OCTOBER 28, 2024

The 2018 Farm Bill made several changes to CSP, particularly the process of renewing contracts. Most significant was the transition from automatic renewals of qualified contracts to a competitive renewal process, leading to a dramatic drop in renewal rates.

Farming 52

Farming Farming Processing Acre 52

UnderstandingAg

MAY 8, 2024

But you have to understand the principles of soil health, and the four ecosystem processes, in order to achieve that outcome. It’s important to understand that this process is ALWAYS and ONLY accomplished biologically. God designed the world to function as a perpetual motion machine. The manure, urine, saliva, etc.

Manure 122

Manure Crop Forage Processing 122

DTN

JULY 24, 2023

Two neighbors, Farmer A and Farmer B: both farm 1,000 acres and use the same crop rotation schedule. reduced tillage, cover crops, treed acres). To help explain the complex calculations behind measuring a farm or field’s carbon footprint, we’ve summarized some of these tools and processes below. Consider this scenario.

Farming 98

Farming Farming Crop Rotation Grain 98

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

SEPTEMBER 6, 2024

The complicated and unique FY2024 appropriations process was a product of the times. This unique process resulted in a delayed conclusion to the FY2024 appropriations process and a final FY2024 agriculture funding bill that included numerous painful cuts.

Farming 132

Farming Farming Agriculture Agriculture 132

Modern Farmer

DECEMBER 4, 2024

We looked at a range of agricultural models, and spoke to farmers who are in the middle of the process of transition to find out more. The acreage is going down, too: There are about 879 million acres being farmed, down slightly from the 900 million acres growing crops or feeding animals in 2017. And we replanted five acres.”

Family Farming 94

Family Farming Farming Farming Ranching 94