Remove Ecology Remove Livestock Remove Manure
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Opinion: Why the Farm Bill Isn’t Prioritizing the Right Things

Modern Farmer

Agricultural run-off, including soil erosion, nutrient loss from fertilizers and animal manure, bacteria from animal manure and pesticides are the largest stressors to water quality of America’s streams and rivers. These crops are also the largest consumer of increasingly scarce river water in the Western United States.

Farming 100
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Circuit Court Rejects Attempt by WMC and CAFO Groups to Eliminate Environmental Oversight of Wisconsin’s Largest Livestock Operations

Wisconsin Farmers Union

On January 30th, a Calumet County Circuit Court rejected a reckless attempt to eliminate environmental oversight of the state’s largest livestock facilities. The lobbying groups alleged the DNR lacked authority to require large livestock operations to apply for permits under Wisconsin’s ,, water pollution permitting program.

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Regenerative Food Certification: Gold Standard or Greenwashing?

Modern Farmer

The certification, funded by the Rodale Institute, Patagonia and Dr Bronner’s, insists on five practices to improve soil health: integrating livestock, keeping the soil covered, minimizing soil disturbance, incorporating diversity and zero chemicals, as well as a soil test every three years. Photography courtesy of Cabriejo Ranch.

Food 93
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Can Virtual Fences Help More Ranchers Adopt Regenerative Grazing Practices?

Civil Eats

When farmers are able to control how, where, and when their animals move between pastures, they can more easily accomplish ecological goals that might include increasing soil carbon, reducing water pollution, or incorporating trees. One recent morning after a thunderstorm, they moved the goats to a distant field across a road.

Pasture 143
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BACKYARD CHICKENS

The Lunatic Farmer

One dog generates more manure than 11 chickens, and dog manure is nasty. In the New York Times bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel , Jared Diamond documents the ascendancy of cultures living proximate to domestic livestock. Visceral connection to our ecological umbilical is foundational to immune vibrancy.

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Agricultural Diversification: Practice and Policy

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

However, as with all social-ecological systems , change in any part of the system necessarily requires or causes change in other parts of the system. Who manages land determines which scientific perspectives, crop choices, traditions, and skills shape the landscape, with profound implications for its ecological sustainability.

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Bold Climate & Agriculture Bill Introduced in Congress

Caff

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. It’s a hopeful sign that our advocacy is moving from the state level to the national stage.”