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Commentary: America’s Cropland – Talk Is Cheap When It Comes to Sustainability or Organic Farming

Daily Yonder

One way to reduce agricultural chemicals is planting cover crops in the Fall after the cash crop is harvested. Winter cover crops could mean using less fertilizer and herbicide in the Spring. Crop duster airplanes offer ways to target a field infestation through the aerial application of chemicals.

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Food, Beverage, and Pet Food Companies Seek Accurate, Reliable Farm Sustainability Data

DTN

EcoField data Inputs Soil type Tillage type Cover crop used Cash crop planted Fertilizer type Nitrogen application rate Irrigation used Crop drying used Pesticide category Machinery used Crop soil moisture Crop residue removal Nitrification inhibitor used Soil organic matter percent How does EcoField data work?

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Growing tobacco in the United States no longer makes sense

Food Environment and Reporting Network

If tobacco built the farm over generations, it’s no longer a dependable source of the kind of income his grandfather earned decades ago, much less its best cash crop. Tobacco manufacturing jobs—de-stemming leaves, making cigarettes—accounted for only 1.6 percent of all manufacturing jobs in the state. Photo by John West.

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