Modern Farmer

OCTOBER 6, 2023

The medley in this section promotes a healthy food web and draws in pollinators that will assist the vegetable garden. To build sustainable soil structure with plenty of bacteria, fungi and protozoa, we made compost by processing kitchen scraps in a tumbler. When the compost is mature, we mix it with dirt when planting.

Meadow 114

Meadow Greenhouse Compost Soil Compaction 114

Civil Eats

JANUARY 8, 2024

Next, they purchased a no-drill seeder together, and it allowed them to plant rows of grain directly into orchards and pastures without tilling, a practice known to benefit the soil. We see Walmart or shitty food or HelloFresh as competition—not each other.” We don’t see each other as competition in any meaningful way. What is that?

Grain 139

Grain Orchard Farming Farming 139

Civil Eats

MARCH 11, 2024

Robb sees his work of coaxing beneficial fungi back into the soil, which he largely learned from an online program called the Soil Food Web School , as both a challenge to mainstream agriculture and as a way forward to restore agricultural soils. But working to both protect and encourage fungi on farms is a way to reverse course.

Farming 143

Farming Farming Crop Agriculture 143

Modern Farmer

JANUARY 15, 2024

It’s a great gateway crop,” says Don DiLillo, owner of Finest Foods in Huntington, New York, for ushering in a new breed of novice farmers. Photography submitted by Don DiLillo, Finest Foods. Photography submitted by Don DiLillo, Finest Foods. Plus, he adds, “I can do farm chores in my pajamas.”

Cultivation 98

Cultivation Crop Real Estate Food 98

Caff

OCTOBER 22, 2024

When they purchased the farm over 30 years ago it was an unproductive almond orchard and since then they have pulled the almonds out and utilized the sloped landscape to construct swales, establish a vineyard, and plant a wide variety of fruit trees which provide shelter while their flock of ducks grazes.

Orchard 52

Orchard Farming Farming Construction 52

Caff

JANUARY 26, 2022

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. But with heart a’plenty, that’s exactly what the the Mendo-Lake Food Hub is doing.

Farming 52

Farming Farming Orchard Food 52

Modern Farmer

FEBRUARY 13, 2024

Today, new generations of innovative farmers see agroforestry as a solution to not just producing nutrient-dense food and specialty crops but to also mitigate the intensity of climate change-induced weather events. The Joia Food & Fiber Farm farmstead pictured with sheep, sheepdogs, and cattle grazing. Johnson laughs.

Acre 107

Acre Farming Farming Pasture 107

CalCAN

JUNE 21, 2023

Their neighbors’ operations include vineyards, orchards, grain and vegetables. The collective currently shares two mid-sized combine harvesters, one mini-combine harvester, a compost spreader, two seed cleaners, a berm flamer, a no-till drill, and a foliar spray trailer. Now, every farmer in the collective uses compost.

Compost 52

Compost Grain Harvesting Harvest 52

ATTRA

JANUARY 15, 2025

Because I was sheltering in an Airbnb with no food or water, I had no choice but to find my way home to Morganton, North Carolina, about 60 miles east of Asheville. Food, water, fuel, electricity, and communication networks were all either nowhere to be found, or extremely scarce.

Farmland 52

Farmland Orchard Compost Agriculture 52

Modern Farmer

JULY 14, 2023

It’a not just because it’s cheaper and not just because Capay Hills Orchard , his farm just north of Sacramento, is in an area of California that is increasingly drought-prone. There are sheep grazing between the trees, cover crops of grasses and legumes, spot irrigation and increased composting. Sheep grazing in almond groves.

Orchard 74

Orchard Crop Family Farming Farming 74

Civil Eats

MARCH 5, 2024

Mountain ranges trap emissions from highway traffic, locomotives, municipal composting facilities, tractors, and burning. Citing the difficulty of securing a burn permit in recent years, McIsaac’s operations have turned to chipping orchard residue, which is more expensive than burning. The practice reduces PM2.5

Farming 120

Farming Farming Tractor Agriculture 120

Civil Eats

DECEMBER 10, 2024

And in a region where many residents suffer from diet-related illnesses and do not have easy access to grocery stores selling fresh foods, Patrick offers vegetable boxes through a community supported agriculture (CSA) program, as well as by producing hemp-derived CBD products meant to reduce chronic pain by holistic, non-pharmaceutical methods.

Plantation 144

Plantation Farming Farming Acre 144

Modern Farmer

JULY 10, 2023

Today, the four counties sitting in the lake bed account for more than $25 billion in food and crop production, with Tulare County ranking number one in the nation for milk and oranges. Despite competing for land and water, the region’s orchards and milk farms have developed an unlikely partnership, says Sumner.

Farming 81

Farming Farming Manure Agriculture 81

CalCAN

AUGUST 10, 2023

Christine Gemperle, almond farmer and CalCAN advisor recently drove to Sacramento from her orchard in Ceres to testify in support of equipment sharing and sustainable agriculture investments alongside CalCAN staff. Christine provided testimony in support of both of these CalCAN co-sponsored bills.

Orchard 52

Orchard Farming Farming Agriculture 52

Civil Eats

DECEMBER 11, 2023

On a sunny afternoon in September 2021, Michael Langford was moving compost with his compact John Deere. Most of the rollovers in Washington occurred on crop farms, including the state’s signature apple orchards. Suddenly, the 53-year-old felt a tire slip under him. “I I felt the tractor tilting over,” Langford recalls.

Tractor 123

Tractor Farming Farming Acre 123

Civil Eats

DECEMBER 5, 2023

At Civil Eats, we immerse ourselves in food and agriculture books throughout the year to deepen our knowledge, stay up to date, and produce robust coverage of the books making an impact in the food and ag space. Become a member today and you’ll get the next issue in your inbox, as well as a number of other benefits.

Food 144

Food Farming Farming Seeding 144

Sustainable Food Trust

MAY 1, 2024

The impact of the Israel-Gaza war on food and farming is one aspect of a complex situation that we seek to reveal in this piece by our Head of Policy and Campaigns, Megan Perry. According to the World Food Programme , the Gaza Strip could surpass famine thresholds of food insecurity, malnutrition and mortality in six weeks.

Farming 127

Farming Farming Livestock Food 127

Modern Farmer

SEPTEMBER 13, 2024

At the apple orchard where I used to work, autumn’s encroaching frenzy had the most unassuming harbinger. That lonely tree stood apart from the rest of the orchard—its companions had long since died—as a sentinel from a bygone era. full_link READ MORE Learn how the resurgence of hard cider is restoring old apple orchards.

Orchard 77

Orchard Food Compost Farming 77