Thought Farmer

JANUARY 4, 2022

An intranet is an internal website that helps employees get stuff done. That’s it. It’s what an intranet definition is in simple, everyday language. While intranets have been around for over 20 years, many organizations are just now discovering them. Driven mainly by the pandemic, workplaces are discovering intranet software isn't just nice to have, but rather an essential platform for connecting employees in the hybrid workplace.

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The Lunatic Farmer

JANUARY 31, 2022

I'm thankful some people find the time and emotional fortitude to wade through bills as they come before legislative assemblies. God bless 'em. Virginia Delegate Scott Wyatt has submitted HB 262 for this session's Virginia assembly that has seemingly innocuous language that would put farmers' markets and roadside stands under the authority of the Va.

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RR2CS

JANUARY 31, 2022

Take a deep dive with Jason Bradley of Olds College into post-secondary agriculture research and how research can assist the acceleration of regen ag in Alberta. Useful Links: Rural Routes to Climate Solutions Regenerative Agriculture Lab Want to learn more? Our Farmer’s Blog is a great go-to source for stories of producers in Alberta who are going the extra mile with their management practices for the land, food and their communities.

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Agribusiness Blog

JANUARY 30, 2022

With better commodity prices, many farmers will be building new shops, barns, and other farm buildings. We got the following question from a reader regarding how can they deduct the cost of these farm buildings: I understand that a building would go on a depreciation schedule but have read on the internet (dangerous I know) about deducting parts of it off as repairs and maintenance to get a more immediate benefit.

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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. Those listed below exemplify these qualities bountifully. Each year, nominations pour in from across California by people like you.

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The Gleaning Project of South Central PA

JANUARY 26, 2022

Happy February Gleaners! We’re excited to not only share more information about food with you but also celebrate Black History Month all February long! Each year, Black History Month is designated a new “theme” and 2022’s theme is Black Health and Wellness and if you’d like to explore more about this years theme and learn more about Black History Month, please be sure to visit The Association for the Study of African American Life and History’s website ( [link] to learn more!

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Thought Farmer

JANUARY 5, 2022

Run a Google search for what is a digital workplace? and you will uncover over six million results. What you won’t find however is a consistent definition. As the popularity of the term digital workplace has increased, so too have the interpretations. Not since the emergence of Big Data, have so many experts felt the need to weigh in with their explanation.

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RR2CS

JANUARY 31, 2022

The thrilling conclusion of our exploration of post-secondary research and regenerative agriculture with Jason Bradley of Olds College. Useful Links: Rural Routes to Climate Solutions Regenerative Agriculture Lab Want to learn more? Our Farmer’s Blog is a great go-to source for stories of producers in Alberta who are going the extra mile with their management practices for the land, food and their communities.

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Agribusiness Blog

JANUARY 27, 2022

The Kansas City Federal Reserve releases various reports each year on Ag Banking trends. T he latest report was released on January 12, 2022. Here are some interesting trends from the report: The average number of loans to farmers went down by about 30% in 2020 while the size of the loan actually went up by about 30%. However, in 2021, the number of loans went up by about 10% but the size of loans went down by about 25%.

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Hartwood Farm

JANUARY 25, 2022

The darn pandemic knocked me out of my blogging stride, but I’m hoping (fingers crossed) to get back on the tractor to post a lot more again this year, because it’s been busy on the farm, with fun plans ahead! We’ve been digging into finding our farm’s rhythm and moving beyond what felt like a constant start-up phase. The big news is that we finally were considered “established” enough to be able to take out an infrastructure loan, and over the past fourteen months built a new heated prop house,

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The Gleaning Project of South Central PA

JANUARY 21, 2022

Hello again Gleaners! Hopefully January’s cold weather hasn’t frozen your nose and toes too badly! We’re back again to celebrate the rest of January’s delicious food holidays with some recipes and more information about seasonal produce! National Pie day on January 23rd! View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize There doesn’t seem to be a better way to celebrate this day than with some incredible and semi-seasonal pastries to warm your heart and your home.

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Caff

JANUARY 20, 2022

With community-scaled ingenuity at heart, the winners of this year’s Small Farm Innovation Challenge offer solutions for local agriculture. In its second year, the Challenge sought submissions from around the world for innovations that can help solve the unique challenges facing small farms and local food systems. First place winners for the Entrepreneurial track include, for the hardware category, the Hand-E , an ultra-minimalist, all-electric tractor by Curly’s Ag out of Australia; in the so

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The Lunatic Farmer

JANUARY 10, 2022

A friend contacted me last week for talking points to go before his town council asking for backyard chicken relief. This is such a crazy American issue. In Great Britain, everyone by right can have backyard chickens. Those rights were enshrined in British law as a result of wars and realizing that ultimate food security begins in the home and as proximate as possible.

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RR2CS

JANUARY 13, 2022

By Trina Moyles Jenny Berkenbosch and James Vriend manage Sundog Organic Farm , a 14-acre certified organic vegetable and herb operation, located north of Edmonton in Sturgeon County. They grow a wide range of field and greenhouse vegetables and herbs, and sell their organic produce to customers through a summer and fall Farm Share program , and as well, at Edmonton’s Strathcona Farmer’s Market.

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Agribusiness Blog

JANUARY 26, 2022

Our firm just released our top ten business trends that occurred in 2021. Many of them are likely to continue in 2022. Here are my top two from the list: Labor Market Disruption – In our area it is very common to see signs at the local McDonalds trying to hire help starting at $18 per hour. Now our state has one of the highest minimum wages in the Country at about $14 per hour, but even smaller rural communities are seeing the effects of labor disruption especially for farmers.

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Sustainable Harvest International

JANUARY 25, 2022

Despite challenges that stretched from 2020 into 2021, this past year has been one of programmatic growth fueled by a renewed conviction in the importance of Sustainable Harvest International’s mission. The Covid-19 pandemic demanded flexibility, but also fostered the creativity and innovation that continues to forge an exciting path forward. A major highlight of 2021 was the addition of Jenniffer Zapata as SHI’s International Program Manager and the promotion of Victor Arboleda to the role of P

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The Gleaning Project of South Central PA

JANUARY 11, 2022

Happy New Years to all of you! We are so excited to be able to walk into another year with the opportunity to Glean and be part of our community! In the spirit of celebrating, we’re here to share some amazing recipes for the first week of January as well as introduce some food holidays to start your year off right! January is National Slow Cooking and Hot Tea Month !

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Caff

JANUARY 10, 2022

Today California Governor Gavin Newsom released a record-breaking state budget proposal that includes significant investments to address climate change, support sustainable agriculture, and expand access to healthy school food. Unfortunately, the Governor’s budget does not yet articulate how to deliver on those challenges for the state’s small-scale farmers in ways that meet the moment around drought resilience and racial equity in agriculture.

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The Lunatic Farmer

JANUARY 4, 2022

I've been going through my "stack of stuff." Unfortunately, this isn't my accumulated goodies for writing another book, but rather a hodge podge of interesting things over the last couple of years. I love a clean desk, but I find it nearly impossible to keep it clean when the weather outside is nice. Teresa says you can tell what the weather's been like for the last few months by looking at the height of the stacks on my desk.

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RR2CS

JANUARY 27, 2022

Rural Routes to Climate Solutions (RR2CS) is an Alberta-based initiative shining a spotlight on the climate solutions that farmers, ranchers and communities in rural Alberta can benefit from. RR2CS is happy to announce that we are seeking volunteers interested in becoming Advisers to our great team of community organizers, facilitators and communications specialists.

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Agribusiness Blog

JANUARY 19, 2022

The IRS issues each month their applicable federal rates (AFRs). The AFR is the minimum amount of interest that either must be in a contract or if not, will be imputed by the tax rules. For example, assume the AFR is 1% and a son borrows $100,000 from mom and it is outstanding for a full year. If mom charges at least 1% on the note, then nothing needs to be imputed.

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Agribusiness Blog

JANUARY 17, 2022

Many income tax rates, exemptions, deductions, etc. are adjusted each year for inflation. The annual inflation numbers are based upon the year ended August 31. This gives the IRS enough time to determine the actual inflation number for the following year. Inflation has been fairly tame for the 20 years leading up to 2020. However, the pandemic has certainly changed this and the change has been dramatic.

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Agribusiness Blog

JANUARY 13, 2022

We have gotten numerous comments and questions regarding our last post on the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) gross receipts. The main question seems to be why we must include other business and personal income when we calculate gross receipts. Tax rules have almost always treated business income under common control as |”one” business for purposes of calculating gross receipts.

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Agribusiness Blog

JANUARY 10, 2022

It has been a while since I went a full week without doing a post. Last week I was traveling all week (and won’t be home until the 23rd) and am finally getting caught up a bit. I have gotten several emails regarding the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) and thought I would go over some details in this post as follows: If your gross receipts for the 4th quarter of 2020 were less than 80% of the same quarter in 2019, then you qualify for the ERC in the first quarter of 2021 even if your gross

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Agribusiness Blog

JANUARY 11, 2022

The Family First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) was passed in early 2020 right before the CARES Act. FFCRA requires most employers to provide paid sick leave for employees that are affected by COVID-19. We have posted on this before. However, another feature of the Bill allows self-employed individuals to also receive a credit if they are directly affected by COVID-19.

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Caff

JANUARY 11, 2022

Happy 2022! This year we want to start strong by highlighting the amazing farmers that are essential to the work we do at CAFF. This month, we want to introduce you to Franchesca and Ryan Duval owners of Alchemist Farm. When asked, “Why did you join CAFF” Franchesca said’, “As the world shifts ecologically I see the extreme benefit of joining our voice with the voices of local farmers for a common good” Together we go further in creating a more just, sustainable and

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The Lunatic Farmer

JANUARY 3, 2022

Amidst all the craziness of 2021, here are some things to be joyful and grateful about. 1. Divisiveness leads to clarity. We're finding each other and moving into relational communities of tribes. 2. Relationships deepen through adversity, so hard times create deeper friendships, which create stronger and more stable communities. 3. Big is finally becoming inefficient.

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The Lunatic Farmer

JANUARY 7, 2022

This is not a partisan post. The Republicans are just as clueless, but they aren't in charge right now, so the indictment goes to the current administration. By now you've no doubt seen news clips where President Biden on Monday hosted a news conference lambasting the BIG FOUR meat and poultry packers for artificially raising prices, saying "capitalism without competition isn't capitalism, it's exploitation.

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