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Why Are Family Farms in Trouble?

Modern Farmer

Because farming is so central to our nation’s identity—and its idea of itself—this future can feel fraught. In 2012, the USDA forecast that most (70 percent) family farms would transfer hands over the next 20 years. Will family farms as we know and love them survive, and how do the ones that are thriving now do it?

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Census of Agriculture Reveals the Promise of Regional Food Systems

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

Joshua Cave, Cave Family Farm in Pilot Mountain, North Carolina. LFPP supports broader infrastructure for regional food systems such as facilities for aggregating, storage, or processing. As the number of farms in the country declined, the proportion of farms with value-added sales increased from 1.6%

Food 105
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Livestock are Dying in the Heat. This Little-Known Farming Method Offers a Solution

Modern Farmer

Payne operates a 300-acre regenerative farm in Concordia, Missouri, an hour outside of Kansas City, where he raises sheep and cattle. Rooted in preindustrial farming, the method involves intentionally incorporating trees on the same land used by grazing livestock, in a way that benefits both.

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The Cheapest Hay Is the Hay You Never Buy

UnderstandingAg

In the following discussion, I would like to share some thoughts on how to add net profit into a grazing operation, as well as share my own experiences reducing hay inputs with the grass-finished beef herd that roams across our northern Michigan family farm. Instead, lets talk about cattle and making money.

Pasture 105
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Op-ed: Farmers Want Climate Resilience, but GOP Lawmakers Want to Redirect Billions in Conservation Funds

Civil Eats

While these programs haven’t always been used to make farms climate resilient, they all have the potential to do so—and more funding and specific guardrails specified within the IRA would make that even more likely. Seth Watkins, a farmer from Clarinda, Iowa, was able to save his family farm with the help of conservation funding.

Farming 145
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What’s in a Name? Food Labels, Explained

Modern Farmer

Farms must provide proof to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service of free-range conditions. The process to be certified “USDA Organic” can be cumbersome for farmers, so the “ Certified Naturally Grown ” label uses the same requirements but is verified by a team of CNG farmers, not the USDA.

Food 121
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Heaven’s Hollow Farm: A Soil for Water Case Study

ATTRA

Heaven’s Hollow Farm: A Soil for Water Case Study Jacob Gilley Madison County, Virginia Heaven’s Hollow Farm is a fourth-generation family farm that has been in operation since 1951. Jacob, his wife Jennifer, and their children operate the farm in Orange, Virginia.

Farming 52