October, 2022

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Are you a wise child?

iFarm

I got an email the other day from a farmer/student, Will. He was working through the homework from our class , had a bunch of questions, and wanted to schedule a coaching session to go through them. Something troubled me about this request: Why couldn’t he just save the questions for the live class? After all, the whole point of the live class was to bring (and ask) questions.

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Agricultural Education and Hydroponic Growing

Fork Farms

Students in the Bloomer School District are growing year-round with indoor hydroponic farms – Flex Farms. This innovative hands-on program is led by Ms. Rachel Haas, agricultural educator. Bloomer is located in the northwest part of Wisconsin where there is ample farmland and a strong farming community. Many students in the Bloomer School District are members of Future Farmers of America (FFA) and seek out careers in the agricultural industry.

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Envisioning a Greener Future with Nikita Shumeiko

Agritecture Blog

Editor’s Note: The following is an interview Agritecture conducted with Nikita Shumeiko , a Ukrainian-Russian architect and designer. In the late 2010s, a new trend began to take hold in the architecture world: green and sustainable design. Green architecture is a planet-forward approach to design and building that minimizes the harmful effects of our built world on human health and the environment.

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10 Ways to Celebrate Sustainability this Holiday Season

Sustainable Harvest International

It’s nearly that time again–the season of twinkly lights, joyful jingles, comforting foods, and exchanging gifts with loved ones near and far. But amidst so much beauty and excitement, there is also a significant amount of avoidable waste. Here are 10 ways you can celebrate sustainability this holiday season by reducing the harmful impact of the season and creating a more just and sustainable world.

Food 52
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AgriTechNZ News: the age of agritech!

Agritech NZ

Spring growth echoes industry growth As spring growth continues, it’s great to also see signs of growth for our industry too. New product launches, industry recognition and the ability to get out into the world are all very welcome growth dynamics. We’re looking forward to next month’s Springtime Fieldays! Many of our stakeholders will be onsite and planning shared activities for next year.

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Excess Fertility – Is it Fully Deductible?

Agribusiness Blog

Many farmers are able to spread manure on their cropland over many years. This excess fertility has value when you purchase farmland and the value of the “excess” is allowed to be deducted, usually over about 3 years. In order to properly document this deduction, you should get an agronomist to workup the value of the excess fertility. All land has a normal amount of fertility in it when purchased.

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Membership Spotlight: Red Gate Ranch

Caff

Just like that it’s fall! Each season brings new tasty fruits and veggies. For this month we’re highlighting a farm that provides their community with a wide range of delicious food, Red Gate Ranch. We asked the team at Red Gate why they’re CAFF members and it was such a pleasant surprise to know that they were introduced to CAFF through the Farmers Guild chapter, which was lead by our CAFF team member Evan.

More Trending

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Rural indoor agriculture is a ‘critical’ part of our food systems, says new report from EIT Food

Agritecture Blog

There is great potential for strawberries in rural CEA settings. Credit: iStock. Editor’s Note: One main draw of Controlled Environment Agriculture, or CEA, is the ability to grow produce closer to urban centers where it will be consumed, thus shortening the supply chain for inhabitants of cities globally. However, this article makes a case for utilizing CEA in rural environments with various benefits.

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What Are Terpenes And How Do They Work?

Grow Link

Terpenes are organic compounds responsible for the fragrance, taste, and pigment of plants and trees throughout the world. More than 50,000 unique terpenes have been identified to date, with over 140 in cannabis alone! These terpenes found in different concentrations, or terpene profiles, are the primary reason that aromas and effects observed in cannabis vary widely from one phenotype to the next.

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Robotics Plus unveils autonomous modular vehicle to alleviate agriculture labour shortages

Agritech NZ

Multi-use, modular platform Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) automates tree and vine crop tasks, starting with intelligent spraying FRESNO, Calif., and TAURANGA, NZ – Robotics Plus , a New Zealand-based agritech company, today launched its autonomous multi-use, modular vehicle platform for agriculture designed to carry out a variety of orchard and vineyard machine tasks – to alleviate ongoing labor shortages and transform the industry.

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Older Farmers Can Contribute $30,000 to a 401(k) Plan

Agribusiness Blog

The IRS announced last week that all workers who participate in a 401(k) plan will be allowed to contribute $22,500 into a 401(k) plan starting in 2023 an increase of $2,000 from 2022 amounts. For those taxpayers age 50 or over, they could contribute an extra $7,500 an increase of $1,000 from 2022. This means a farmer can defer up to $30,000 of their salary into a 401(k) plan starting in 2023 if they are least 50.

Farming 52
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EP50 50 More

RR2CS

We’re celebrating a pretty cool milestone – 50 podcast episodes! This episode is all about reflecting on the past and anticipating the future. We’ve covered so many great topics and had the most amazing speakers join us. While we can’t highlight or cover it all in our “podcast tour”, we picked ones that impacted the podcast’s trajectory. Since it took us 5 years to reach this milestone, we also wanted to look into the future and predict where regenerative agriculture in Alberta would be in

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Central Valley Farmers Achieve Ground Breaking Sales to Schools

Caff

This year for the first time in his farming career, Donald Sherman made a sale to a school district. Mr. Sherman has been interested in providing fresh produce to local schools in Fresno where he resides and also farms for years, but he has had to wait over 30 years to finally be able to say he has done it. This accomplishment was not achieved in a vacuum or by accident as Mr.

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Beyond Microgrids: Holistic CEA Energy Solutions

Agritecture Blog

Editor’s Note: This is the final post of a three-part series in partnership with Schneider Electric (SE). It includes information derived from an interview between Agritecture and members of the SE team: Craig Der Ananian , Director of Business and Project Development; Lisa Causarano , International Accounts Manager; and Alex Hirsch , Energy Management Software Commercial Support leader.

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How LiDAR Drones are Used in Agriculture and Forestry Management

Farming Secrets

Source: Pexels LiDAR is a term for “Light Detection and Ranging” which refers to using lasers to collect data. The aerial imaging data about the surface is processed into 3D models that are studied by the team. Hence, researchers put LiDAR on drones which gave birth to forest and agricultural drones. Drone services won’t miss […] The post How LiDAR Drones are Used in Agriculture and Forestry Management appeared first on Farming Secrets.

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How to finance the net-zero transition of industry in emerging economies?

OECD: Environment

by Joseph Cordonnier and Deger Saygin, OECD Environment Directorate Although policy makers and industry acknowledge the urgency of action for the net-zero industry transition in emerging and developing economies, the investment challenge remains significant. The manufacturing industry serves society with a variety materials and products essential for economic activity and sustainable development.

Finance 52
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Yes, You Really Can’t Defer Your ERP Payment

Agribusiness Blog

We have done a post on this already but continue to get some emails and feedback asking why a farmer can’t defer Phase 1 payments of the Emergency Relief Program (ERP) to 2023. These types of payments are similar to crop insurance and yes, they can normally be deferred one year but let’s review the three key requirements to defer crop insurance proceeds: Farmer is on the cash method of accounting (almost all are), Farmer normally reports more than 50% of total sales in the year after

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Women in Agriculture Panel October 26th, 2022

RR2CS

Until fairly recently, women were rarely seen at the forefront of the farming and ranching industry. You could find them in the background, behind the scenes, and usually not in decision-making roles. However, if you’ve had the chance to spend any amount of time on an Alberta farm in the last 100 years, it wouldn’t take you long to find out that they were at the heart and soul of nearly every operation.

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New Anthology Features SILT Farms

SILT

A first-ever poetry anthology of land trust farms across the country features five SILT farms and poets assembled by Iowa Poet Laureate Mary Swander. Writing the Land : Foodways and Social Justice is a sustainable-food-production-and-art-themed anthology that brings together poets and land protection and anti-hunger organizations from across the US.

Farming 52
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Shaping the Future of Food with NEOM’s Juan Carlos Motamayor

Agritecture Blog

Editor’s Note: The following is an interview with Dr. Juan Carlos Motamayor, Executive Director of NEOM’s Food Sector. For those unfamiliar, NEOM is a region in northwest Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea being built from the ground up as a living laboratory – a place where “entrepreneurship will chart the course for a new future.” NEOM is also serving as the Future of Food Partner for the upcoming AgraME Conference, the longest running event of its kind in the MENA region.

Food 52
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CHILDREN’S BURDEN

The Lunatic Farmer

I guested on Dr. Peter Osborne’s podcast today and he used an interesting statement worth sharing. We talked about fake meat and the anti-livestock craze to save the planet from incinerating. He mentioned twice that today’s children are being guilt-driven with an abusive burden to save the planet. I had never thought about the emotional trauma of placing that burden on our children.

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Smart Farming: Technologies & Benefits For Agriculture

EOS

Smart farming is the future of agriculture. Smart farming techniques increase production efficiency, reduce costs, and contribute to nature protection.

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The Social Security Donut Hole

Agribusiness Blog

Many of you have heard that the Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) will be 8.7% effective with the December 2022 payment to be received in January 2023. What you might not have heard is that the latest wage inflation is actually higher at 8.9%. What are the differences between the two numbers. Wage inflation will adjust the earnings that you report each year to Social Security.

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Value-Added Product Webinar Series for Farmers

Caff

Note: This webinar series has passed. Click here to watch the webinar series on CAFF’s YouTube Channel. Are you a farmer or rancher interested in producing or scaling a value-added product? Are you interested in applying for the USDA’s Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG)? Join CAFF for a 3-part webinar series on value-added products and the VAPG Each webinar will feature a guest speaker and conclude with a question and answer session.

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Dairy Dilemma

Wisconsin Farmers Union

Farmers discuss the need for milk price reforms and why the farm bill could play a critical role By Julian Emerson Communications Specialist, Wisconsin Farmers Union LINCOLN COUNTY – For all of his 53 years, Hans Breitenmoser has called a dairy farm tucked amid the scenic, rolling hills of Lincoln County, a half hour north of Wausau, home. Breitenmoser’s parents arrived in Lincoln County in 1968, having moved there from Switzerland.

Farming 52
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How cities will feed their citizens in the future

Agritecture Blog

Agritecture’s Founder and CEO, Henry Gordon-Smith. Editor’s Note: Urban agriculture is very important to us at Agritecture, as it makes cities more green while also providing food to the local community. This article features Henry Gordon-Smith , our Founder and CEO, in a dialogue on how to make cities greener while also increasing food security for their residents.

Food 52
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5 Organizations Trying To Solve CEA's Energy Problems

Agritecture Blog

LED lighting is an important aspect of indoor farming operations, but it consumes energy, contributing to a farm’s overall costs. Credit: GreenBiz. The 2021 Global CEA Census Report revealed that at least 38% of greenhouses and vertical farms don't track their energy use. The findings further showed disparities in the regional tracking of energy use, indicating that the Americas trailed behind Asia and Europe, which are emphasizing energy tracking at higher rates.

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IRS Removes Penalties on 2021 and 2022 RMDs

Agribusiness Blog

The IRS just released Notice 2022-53 dealing with not assessing penalties on taxpayers who inherited retirement plans or individual retirement accounts and elected not to take Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) in 2021 or 2022 even though the Proposed Regulations released earlier this year indicated these taxpayers should take them. These RMDs only applied if you inherited retirement assets from a person who was already taking RMDs and were subject to the ten-year rule.

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Is Cold Plasma the Next Big Technology Breakthrough in Indoor Ag?

Agritecture Blog

Editor’s Note: Technology for CEA is constantly evolving, and there is often crossover between technology that can be used for traditional outdoor agriculture and for indoor operations. In this article, we explore an emerging technology, cold plasma, that has established uses in outdoor agriculture, but that has previously not been utilized in indoor farms.

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Don’t Forget About Retirement Planning

Agribusiness Blog

Many producers view their land as their retirement plan. Too often, while a producer retires a multi-millionaire, they cannot engage in the kind of retirement lifestyle they desire because all of their wealth is tied-up in non-liquid assets. The land will generally produce a good income stream, but that income stream may not be enough. For example, assume the producer owns 500 acres of land outright and receives cash rent income of $300 per acre, net of real estate taxes, maintenance, etc.

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October is National Cooperative Month

Agribusiness Blog

Every October, cooperatives across the globe celebrate co-op month. This year’s theme, Co-ops Build Economic Power, is a chance to lift up the cooperative business model to build an economy that empowers everyone. As people face inflation and supply chain challenges, cooperatives provide stability and opportunity, create dignified, empowering jobs with paths to ownership and wealth-building, and put diversity and equity at the heart of an inclusive economy.

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Coffee as we know it is in danger. Can we breed a better cup?

Agritecture Blog

Workers dump harvested coffee cherries into a truck on a farm in Brazil on June 2. Credit: Patricia Monteiro/Bloomberg via Getty Images. Editor’s Note: Around 50% of Americans drink coffee daily, and many around the world enjoy starting their day with a hot cup of coffee. Our reliance on just two coffee species to brew the drink we love could threaten the future of this delicious beverage.

Crop 52
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Celebrate National 4-H Week

Agribusiness Blog

October 2-8 marks National 4-H Week for over 6 million youth across the country. 4-H was born when AB Graham started a youth program in Clark County, Ohio in 1902 with the first club being called “The Tomato Club” or the “Corn Growing Club”. That same year, TA Erickson of Douglas County, Minnesota started local agricultural after-school clubs and fairs.

Science 52
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Make Sure to Follow the CRT Rules

Agribusiness Blog

The Tax Court released the Furrer case this week and it shows that farmers must be very careful to follow the Charitable Remainder Trust rules. If not, the penalty can be very high income taxes, interest and penalties. In the case, the farmer contributed corn and soybeans into a Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust (CRAT) in two separate years (2015 and 2016).

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Mixing solar power and agriculture: A blueberry farm does a test run

Agritecture Blog

Members of the University of Maine team at the solar-blueberry research site. Credit: UMaine Extension. Editor’s Note: Agrivoltaics is an exciting form of agriculture that has been gaining a lot of traction in the United States. This form of agriculture is primarily seen as a partnership between farmers and utility providers. The co-location of solar fields and agriculture is the most common type of setup we’re seeing.