Civil Eats

DECEMBER 4, 2023

The Rodale Institute , a nonprofit research institution for organic farming, cites that every acre of land farmed with plastic mulch creates upwards of 120 pounds of waste that typically end up in landfill, or otherwise break down into the soil or nearby watersheds. Depending on [those] factors,” she adds,” everything is scalable.”

Agriculture 145

Agriculture Agriculture Supply Chain Production 145

Civil Eats

MARCH 19, 2024

Grown in a combination of manure and straw, they produce a distinct kind of spent substrate that is also used as compost, though it is a very different material from specialty mushroom substrate, with fewer applications. In the U.S.,

Compost 137

Compost Farming Farming Logistics 137

Civil Eats

APRIL 29, 2024

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 141

Compost Manufacturing Food Production 141

Civil Eats

MARCH 11, 2024

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 The ratio of fungi to bacteria depends on the plants, explains Robb. Photo credit: Adam Cobb) “We never leave our soil bare.

Farming 144

Farming Farming Crop Agriculture 144

Modern Farmer

JULY 22, 2024

Then, in 2021, the city changed the rules about farming and Owczarski went from having more than an acre in production to having about three city blocks. That was the last straw for Owczarski. During the pandemic, Owczarski saw a noticeable increase in need and a decrease in formal support. Photography by Monica Owczarski. “We

Food 93

Food Farming Farming Distribution 93

Civil Eats

JULY 17, 2023

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.

Pesticide 98

Pesticide Acre Agriculture Agriculture 98

Civil Eats

JUNE 27, 2023

Burger, who owns Bethel Springs Farm on 3 acres in Rickreall, Oregon with her husband, grows copious amounts of Rockwell beans, along with a host of other vegetables most likely to make an appearance in a winter soup. The final straw for Hachmyer was losing half of her crops in 2021 to drought.

Crop 52

Crop Farming Farming Acre 52

Sustainable Food Trust

MAY 31, 2023

With roughly 230 acres, the farm is relatively small, says Simkin, but “with pigs you can still work at scale, have a viable business and provide excellent animal welfare”. Every Thursday, a group of 20 to 25 is transported in a trailer with thick straw bedding to a small abattoir which is just over six miles away.

Farming 52

Farming Farming Straw Pasture 52

Sustainable Food Trust

JUNE 28, 2023

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

Farming Farming Meadow Straw 52

Sustainable Food Trust

OCTOBER 11, 2023

At present he farms 485 acres, of which he owns 160. But last year, he had to bring them in, in December, and they could not return to the pasture until May, which added hugely to the costs for feed and straw. Because of the extreme prices last year, he had to cut down on the amount of fertiliser he spread per acre.

Pasture 69

Pasture Straw Farming Farming 69

Modern Farmer

MARCH 1, 2024

More than 200,000 acres of cotton is grown in the San Joaquin Valley—”enough to create at least seven pairs of jeans each year for every person in the state,” says Burgess. “We’re not even getting all the natural fibers that are part of food rotations.” The US is the third-largest global cotton producer.

Textiles 115

Textiles Manufacturing Production Processing 115

Sustainable Food Trust

JUNE 14, 2023

This reached its most extreme level in the 1970s, when tens of thousands of acres of straw were burned in the fields every summer in the UK, sometimes setting fire to hedgerows as well.

Ploughing 52

Ploughing Crop Yield Farming 52

Civil Eats

JANUARY 31, 2024

That’s how, a year later, he ended up at the largest cattle ranch in Montana, where the only thing more vast than its approximately 380,000 acres is the wealth and power of the man who owns it: one Rupert Murdoch. Do not bring me a small ranch,” he said. is the first one that we worked with in the beef space. It’s not gonna be the last.”

Ranching 143

Ranching Cattle Production Food 143

Modern Farmer

NOVEMBER 1, 2024

Since 2021, the Biden administration has put more than 42 million acres of land into conservation by creating and expanding national monuments. And Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” agenda could increase the extraction of fossil fuels used to make plastics.

Food 51

Food Production Greenhouse Construction 51