Civil Eats

DECEMBER 7, 2023

After half their farm’s crops were wiped out by a devastating heat wave in 2018, Ellee Igoe and Hernan Cavazos, co-founders of Solidarity Farm, changed their practices with the explicit goal of adding more carbon to the soil, or “carbon farming.” it was more economically viable if we grew that capacity for lots of farms.”

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Farming Farming Distribution Food 109

ATTRA

NOVEMBER 5, 2024

Voices of farm workers, young people in shorts and muck boots and wide brimmed straw hats drift across the fields. I see myriad varieties of vegetable crops one after the other in planned succession–seedlings and vegetative and fruiting–and I can smell the musty earthiness of the compost pile in the center of the field plots.

Farming 40

Farming Farming Meadow Compost 40

Sustainable Harvest International

NOVEMBER 30, 2023

Our thousands of partner farmers are among many worldwide who are making the transition to regenerative farming techniques. With regenerative farming, nature’s balance gets reintroduced into the ecosystem, allowing the farmer to grow nutritious and sustainably produced food. In nature, everything leans towards balance.

Compost 59

Compost Fertilizer Crop Food 59

Food Tank

OCTOBER 11, 2023

The brand’s Star Hill Farm is the first distillery farm to receive certification from Regenified for its commitment to soil, water, and ecosystem longevity. The company composts all fruit scraps, tea, herbs, cultures, and paper towels while also saving over 1,100 gallons of water per day through their recapture system.

Beverage 121

Beverage Ecology Compost Cultivation 121

ATTRA

FEBRUARY 20, 2024

My little mad farm helps me do that. And since cover cropping is scalable to just about any size farm or garden, it made sense to conduct some field experiments of my own. Until then, it seems to me a comprehensive, ecological approach is what’s needed. If you missed them, you can read them here and here. It keeps me honest.

Crop 52

Crop Farming Farming Crop Rotation 52

Caff

JANUARY 26, 2022

Introducing… the 2022 Farm Champion awardees! To make it as a small farm and to affect real, lasting change in our food system, it requires unwavering determination, hard work, ingenuity, and a deeply rooted sense of purpose with a view extending a thousand growing seasons. We look forward to watching this farm grow!

Farming 52

Farming Farming Orchard Food 52

Caff

DECEMBER 8, 2021

Since 2017, CAFF’s Ecological Farming team has been conducting an on-farm demonstration project in collaboration with California no-till farmers to better understand small-scale biointensive no-till farming’s effect on soil health.

Ecology 52

Ecology Crop Rotation Agroecology Farming 52

The Lunatic Farmer

FEBRUARY 1, 2024

Our farm is surrounded by land owned by Virginia (yes, I know, this discussion is about federal lands, but bear with me) as a North Mountain Wildlife Management Area. Not only would such use, if expanded to the government land, be an ecological stimulant, it would completely eliminate the need for factory hog houses.

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Ecology Acre Compost Ranching 91

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023

This funding is split into two separate opportunities: $50 million for CIG On Farm Trials and $15 million for CIG Classic. Half of the funding for the On Farm Trials competition was provided through the historic Inflation Reduction Act. The 2018 Farm Bill mandates $25 million per year for on-farm trials.

Farming 98

Farming Farming Forestry Technology 98

Sustainable Food Trust

APRIL 10, 2024

We now all well know how plastic is devastating our seas, but we’re only beginning to realise how damaging it is to our soils and how widely used and poorly disposed of it is in farming. In 2021, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) published a major report on plastic use in farming. What happens to farm plastics?

Straw 98

Straw Farming Farming Ecology 98

Sustainable Food Trust

JUNE 5, 2024

“Since 1977, we have been pioneers in sustainable development, promoting organic and biodynamic farming as a key solution to global challenges including food security and climate change. Studies have shown that organic farming practices can store significant amounts of carbon in the soil, helping to mitigate climate change.

Acre 111

Acre Ecology Agriculture Agriculture 111

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

NOVEMBER 19, 2024

Photo credit: Matt Ryan/Sandra Wayman Editor’s Note: This blog post is a guest post authored by Gordon Merrick, Senior Policy and Programs Manager at the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) and Mark Schonbeck, Research Associate, also at OFRF, which is an NSAC member.

Food 111

Food Seeding Poultry Production 111

ATTRA

FEBRUARY 13, 2024

Where are we in the ecological succession? Trees exist in a different ecological succession stage than pioneering stage plants, also known as weeds. Ecological succession is the process by which plant communities change over time, eventually yielding a climax community. I did my graduate work in cotton.

Agroecology 52

Agroecology Crop Ecology Processing 52

Food Tank

JUNE 5, 2024

The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) is a Nairobi-based research institute that elevates the role insects play in the creation of environmentally and socially sustainable food systems across Africa. Founded in 1970, icipe aims to understand how insects can best be introduced across the food system.

Technology 104

Technology Food Production Compost 104

Caff

NOVEMBER 11, 2021

Are you interested in implementing cover crops, compost, mulch, hedgerows and other Healthy Soils practices on your farm? No farm is too small, all farm sizes welcome! Requisitos del programa: Las prácticas de gestión de suelo (cultivos de cobertura, compost, mulching, etc.) Latinx Farmers encouraged to apply.

Compost 40

Compost Farming Farming Crop 40

Modern Farmer

FEBRUARY 13, 2024

Agroforestry—the integration of trees and shrubs into crop and animal farming systems—has been used since ancient times to produce fruits, nuts, coffee, cocoa and medicinal herbs. Wendy Johnson’s ‘natural savannah’ Wendy Johnson and her husband, Johnny Rafkin, own Jóia Food & Fiber Farm, in Charles City, Iowa. Johnson laughs.

Acre 104

Acre Farming Farming Pasture 104

Kavya Organic Farm

JULY 29, 2023

Click Here to buy Bird Feeders to attract Birds to your lawns Chemical Control: Pros and Cons Chemical control measures for worms in lawns do exist, but they should be used with caution due to potential environmental and ecological impacts. Can I compost earthworm castings for my garden?

Compost 97

Compost Fertilizer Ecology Pesticide 97

Civil Eats

JANUARY 8, 2024

He found this disconcerting, not only for himself but the future of small-scale grain farming in California, once known for its golden hills of grain. This specialized, often professionally operated equipment—and all farm equipment , for that matter—can be prohibitively challenging for many farmers to buy and maintain.

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Grain Farming Farming Orchard 113

The Lunatic Farmer

APRIL 20, 2021

Just like Jesus presented Himself as "the bread of life" so those of us in the authentic food and farming tribe present our protocols and production as life-giving rather than sickness-giving--economically, emotionally, and ecologically. Church becomes mechanical, just like the factory farmed pig.

Food 52

Food Mechanics Ecology Manure 52

Modern Farmer

MARCH 20, 2024

Urban ag is any kind of food production space within a city, inclusive of commercial farms that grow and sell directly to consumers, non-profit farms that serve a broader mission, community gardens, school gardens and even vacant lots turned into thriving personal gardens or homesteads. Oxford Tract research farm at UC Berkeley.

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Agroecology Yield Food Farming 82

Caff

APRIL 22, 2021

This Earth Day, CAFF is proud to endorse this bill on behalf of our members as part of the solution to the climate crisis, recognizing the invaluable role that ecologically-focused farmers and ranchers can play. 100 million a year would be available for compost infrastructure.

Agriculture 52

Agriculture Agriculture Manure Compost 52

Food Tank

APRIL 2, 2024

Acres of Ancestry Initiative/Black Agrarian Fund The Acres of Ancestry Initiative/Black Agrarian Fund is a multidisciplinary, cooperative nonprofit ecosystem that aims to regenerate custodial land ownership, ecological stewardship, and food and fiber economies in the American South.

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Cultivation Food Marketing Distribution 90

CalCAN

APRIL 6, 2023

From losing seed crops as wildfires rage for weeks, to losing entire crops as a result of erratic freezes, to losing farms as drought dries up available water, farmers’ risks are rising. Farming is also an important contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Farmers across the country are experiencing climate impacts as a crisis.

Agriculture 52

Agriculture Agriculture Greenhouse Food 52

The Lunatic Farmer

NOVEMBER 28, 2022

What I do is visit farms and look for cutting edge practical ecological solutions. I spent a couple of days at a permaculture farm in East London where a guy built a gasification unit to run a generator. Couple that with anti-ecology and you have a recipe for dysfunction. Like chemical fertilizer instead of compost.

Ecology 52

Ecology Lodging Fertilizer Construction 52

Caff

JUNE 6, 2023

CAFF’s Biointensive No-Till Project is an on-farm demonstration project partnering with small, diversified vegetable farms in Northern California who are committed to minimizing tillage and interested in learning about how it affects soil health. As a result, it is often viewed as a good indicator of soil health.

Farming 52

Farming Farming Family Farming Agroecology 52

Kavya Organic Farm

JULY 29, 2023

Click Here to buy Bird Feeders to attract Birds to your lawns Chemical Control: Pros and Cons Chemical control measures for worms in lawns do exist, but they should be used with caution due to potential environmental and ecological impacts. Can I compost earthworm castings for my garden?

Compost 52

Compost Fertilizer Ecology Pesticide 52

Kavya Organic Farm

JULY 29, 2023

Click Here to buy Bird Feeders to attract Birds to your lawns Chemical Control: Pros and Cons Chemical control measures for worms in lawns do exist, but they should be used with caution due to potential environmental and ecological impacts. Can I compost earthworm castings for my garden?

Compost 40

Compost Fertilizer Ecology Pesticide 40

The Gleaning Project of South Central PA

MAY 16, 2022

Food waste is also the millions of pounds of food that rot in the field before ever leaving the farm due to it being too large, too small or not defect free enough to be profitable for the farmer (despite being totally edible!) Composting and repurposing food scraps can make a huge impact! Where does our Food Waste come from?

Food 52

Food Greenhouse Compost Ecology 52

The Lunatic Farmer

SEPTEMBER 13, 2023

In the last couple of years, a steady stream of visitors, many in rented motor homes, have stopped at our farm to walk our fields and dream. Industrial agriculture is killing authentic farming and land stewardship as much as food processors and bureaucrats. Their most common reason: “we’re escaping and heading for the country.

Ruralism 101

Ruralism Livestock Supply Chain Fertilizer 101

UnderstandingAg

OCTOBER 29, 2023

Although no-till implies not tilling at all, many no-till market gardeners still rely on some form of light tillage to create a seed bed or apply copious amounts of compost as a mulch to create a seed bed. Soil prep increases time, labor, and overall farming costs, and potentially increases soil disturbance.

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Crop Cash Crop Seeding Harvesting 90

The Counter

MAY 17, 2022

Highway 7 runs north-south through western Washington, carving its way through a landscape sparsely dotted with residences, farms, and a general store. The Nisqually Tribe and researchers are trying to find a solution.

Compost 52

Compost Ecology Mechanics Fertilizer 52

Civil Eats

DECEMBER 5, 2023

But it wasn’t until he became the beverage director at Farm and Fisherman Tavern in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, that he fully combined his passions for ethnobotany and mixology. Later, he tended bar at a restaurant in Santiago where he used fresh ingredients to create seasonal craft cocktails. In “Do I Have to Give Up Chocolate?:

Food 131

Food Farming Farming Seeding 131

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

MAY 10, 2024

On May 1, 2024 – after months of stalled farm bill negotiations on both sides of Capitol Hill – Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) released a detailed section-by-section summary of her farm bill proposal. Strengthening the Farm and Food System Workforce (Sec. 11205, 12201).

Ruralism 111

Ruralism Food Farming Farming 111

Sustainable Food Trust

JUNE 14, 2023

Over recent years, no-till farming has been widely advocated as one of the ways to make farming more sustainable. It is also one of the paid options under Defra’s Sustainable Farming Incentive. What he could not have known is that the processes he describes, depend, amongst other things, on the action of mycorrhizal fungi.

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Ploughing Crop Yield Farming 52

The Lunatic Farmer

NOVEMBER 16, 2022

Blessings, joel HILLSDALE COLLEGE PARALLEL ECONOMIES—AGRICULTURE Joel Salatin This spring when Russia invaded Ukraine, fertilizer prices increased in some cases 400 percent and global grain shipments sputtered, our farm didn’t feel anything because we don’t buy fertilizer and we don’t buy foreign grain. CHEAP FOOD VERSUS PRECIOUS FOOD.

Agriculture 52

Agriculture Agriculture Fertilizer Food 52

Modern Farmer

APRIL 3, 2024

Healthy soil is more productive and leads to better growing and farming outcomes. An event with USDA scientists, organized by Carbon Sponge, at White Feather Farm in 2023. She’s an award-winning professor of New Media at SUNY Purchase where she teaches Dark Ecology, a class closely aligned with her work in the ecological art space.

Science 101

Science Ruralism Ecology Farming 101

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. Since 1988, more than $26.6

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Farming Farming Agriculture Agriculture 115