Agriculture, Manure and Rural Development

Retaining Soil Moisture at Lighthouse Herb’n Farm

ATTRA

OCTOBER 10, 2023

By Luz Ballesteros Gonzalez, NCAT Agriculture Specialist When will it rain again? This blog is produced by the National Center for Appropriate Technology through the ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture program, under a cooperative agreement with USDA Rural Development. How much will it rain? ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.

Farming

Farming Farming Crop Rural Development

Practicing Resurrection: Using Green Manures on a Small Semi-Urban Homestead

ATTRA

AUGUST 15, 2023

By Lee Rinehart, NCAT Agriculture Specialist The garden entrance is protected from groundhogs and deer by a mesh-covered wooden gate. Tomatoes planted into a tilled-in rye, vetch, and red clover green manure, May 21. I put in the tomatoes on May 21, 11 days after tilling in the green manure. This year was different.

Manure

Manure Fertilizer Crop Carryover

Harmful Algal Blooms in Farm Ponds: Risks to Humans, Livestock, and Pets

ATTRA

JULY 2, 2024

By Tammy Barnes , NCAT Agricultural Specialist Now, as we enter the hot, dry summer months, is the time to watch livestock water sources for quality. Farm ponds and slow-moving creeks and streams that are enriched with fertilizer runoff and directly deposited manure are the perfect place to find cyanobacteria thriving.

Livestock

Livestock Farming Farming Cattle

The Season of Mud

ATTRA

APRIL 2, 2024

By Tammy Barnes , NCAT Agriculture Specialist Ah, the season of boot-sucking, tractor sliding, truck bed smashing, brown paw-printed kitchen floors, heavy pant cuffs, human swearing mud. Not to mention that no livestock owner wants to see their animals covered in mud and manure. ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.

Soil Compaction

Soil Compaction Pasture Forage Livestock

Living Mulch Cover Cropping for Gardens and Small Farms: Managing an “organic matter” system

ATTRA

DECEMBER 26, 2023

By Lee Rinehart, NCAT Agriculture Specialist I’m sure farmers have been using living mulches for ages. He would let the cover crop grow and overwinter and then plow down the following spring for green manure. Periodic mowing keeps it under control and adds a green manure mulch to the crops. Let me introduce you.

Crop

Crop Plowing Farming Farming

All Chopped Up with Somewhere to Grow

ATTRA

OCTOBER 31, 2023

By Justin Duncan, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Recently we held a goat production class out in Luling, Texas, at the marvelous S3 Legacy Ranch. Both “cut and carry” and “chop and drop” allow for nutrient cycling, especially if the goat manure can be collected and used to fertilize the trees they are eating, closing that loop.

Rural Development

Rural Development Manure Compost Pasture

A Mid-Scale Anaerobic Biodigester Creates On-Farm Renewable Energy

ATTRA

APRIL 30, 2024

By Chris Lent, NCAT Agriculture Specialist I’ve always found ways to turn “waste materials” into useful resources on the farm fascinating. In November 2023, NCAT Agriculture Specialist Eric Fuchs-Stengel and I had that opportunity. On my farm, I tried to reuse and recycle resources as much as possible to close the off-farm input loop.

Farming

Farming Farming Manure Ruralism

Small is Beautiful: The Wonderful World of Invertebrates

ATTRA

SEPTEMBER 26, 2023

By Nina Prater, NCAT Agriculture Specialist When I teach about the soil food web, I tend to paint with broad brushstrokes. This is probably because I only learned about the soil food web in terms of the big groups: bacteria, fungi, micro- and macroinvertebrates, vertebrates, and the plants that supply energy to the whole system.

Pasture

Pasture Rural Development Manure Food

Waste and Water Woes

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

JUNE 14, 2023

Photo credit: USDA Editor’s Note: This guest post by Michael Happ, Program Associate for Climate and Rural Communities at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, (IATP), discusses how popular conservation programs should focus on small-scale and sustainable farms, not industrial-scale farms. as it relates to EQIP.

Manure

Manure Agriculture Agriculture Ruralism

High Tunnel Soil Management for Season Extension

ATTRA

JANUARY 2, 2024

By Chris Lent, NCAT Agriculture Specialist When I began to see how unique the growing conditions in my high tunnel are compared to open-field growing, I started to think differently about how to maintain soil health and manage soil fertility for high tunnel growing and season extension. ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.

Compost

Compost Fertilizer Crop Cash Crop

124 Food and Agriculture Organizations to Watch in 2024!

Food Tank

DECEMBER 27, 2023

Contributing authors: Liza Greene , Elena Seeley , and Alessandra Uriarte The food and agriculture movement made incredible strides over the last year—but our work isn’t done yet! These groups are continuing to push for food and agriculture systems that are economically, socially, and environmentally just and equitable.

Food

Food Agriculture Agriculture Seeding

From Commodification to Conservation: Restoring Agrobiodiversity through Seed Breeding – Part I:

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

OCTOBER 5, 2023

USDA distributed seeds to farmers for free, encouraging growers to save and share seed and to experiment with any crop that could become economically important to US agriculture. Diverse plants and manure must take their place.

Seeding

Seeding Agriculture Agriculture Food

Path to a New Farm Bill: Sustainable and Organic Research

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

SEPTEMBER 17, 2024

Editor’s Note: This post is the fifth post in a multi-part series exploring some of the key sustainable agriculture and food systems challenges that the farm bill can address. Other posts explore how the next farm bill can tackle issues in regional market development, crop insurance access, and more.

Farming

Farming Farming Agriculture Agriculture

Ask a Scientist: Will the New Farm Bill Transform the US Food System?

The Equation

AUGUST 10, 2023

Last fall, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and more than 150 other organizations, including nutrition, sustainable farming, rural development, racial equity, labor, and environmental groups, sent a joint letter to President Biden, urging him to prod Congress to pass a new farm bill this year that transforms the US food system.

Food

Food Farming Farming Agriculture

Agriculture Informer

Retaining Soil Moisture at Lighthouse Herb’n Farm

Practicing Resurrection: Using Green Manures on a Small Semi-Urban Homestead

Trending Sources

Harmful Algal Blooms in Farm Ponds: Risks to Humans, Livestock, and Pets

The Season of Mud

Living Mulch Cover Cropping for Gardens and Small Farms: Managing an “organic matter” system

All Chopped Up with Somewhere to Grow

A Mid-Scale Anaerobic Biodigester Creates On-Farm Renewable Energy

Small is Beautiful: The Wonderful World of Invertebrates

Waste and Water Woes

High Tunnel Soil Management for Season Extension

124 Food and Agriculture Organizations to Watch in 2024!

From Commodification to Conservation: Restoring Agrobiodiversity through Seed Breeding – Part I:

Path to a New Farm Bill: Sustainable and Organic Research

Ask a Scientist: Will the New Farm Bill Transform the US Food System?

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