Jayson Lusk
APRIL 25, 2023
We continue to add new dashboards on our Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability (CFDAS) web page. We have added two new dashboards added in the past week. One on spending at dollar stores (includes Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and Family Dollar) and another on general retailers (includes Walmart, Target, and K-Mart). Here is an example of the general retail dashboard with Walmart selected.
The Equation
APRIL 5, 2023
Continued flooding in California caused by severe storms called atmospheric rivers continues to shock the country. Just last week, broken river levees devastated the majority-Latino community of Pajaro, California. Human-caused climate change is expected to increase the number and intensity of extreme weather events like hurricanes, floods, and droughts that are already ravaging communities across the United States.
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Berkeley Blog
APRIL 28, 2023
My dissertation assessed the impact of water quality regulation in the San Joaquin Valley. We wondered if farmers would adopt cleaner practices and invest in wastewater management under alternative regulations and to what extent the regulations are burdensome economically. I went to the valley and interviewed many farmers and realized that some of the solutions.
UnderstandingAg
APRIL 30, 2023
Soil Health Principles: The Importance of Context By Eric Fuchs, Understanding Ag, LLC Picture this: You just attended a training on regenerative agriculture and you come home excited and motivated for the changes you’re going to implement on your operation. You want to plant a 46-species cover crop mix in your cropping operation, produce grass-finished beef, pasture-raised pork, have laying hens and meat chickens, and market products at the local farmers market each weekend.
Cropaia
APRIL 29, 2023
Farmers widely use pesticides for controlling pest populations and diseases in agricultural production systems. However, resistance to pesticides is a significant problem in agriculture, resulting in lower crop yields and increased pesticide use, which can have negative environmental and health impacts. Pesticide rotation is a management strategy that aims to reduce the risk of pesticide resistance.
Todays Farmer Magazine
APRIL 28, 2023
Three extra days of activities and several new events are planned for the second Missouri Beef Days event May 6-13 in Bolivar, Mo. The week-long celebration was created in 2022 to raise awareness of the beef industry and celebrate its importance to the area and Missouri. Guests this year can expect to see more special speakers, a second night of rodeo, a corn hole tournament, cowboy church, beef cookoff and junior livestock show in addition to the parade, expo, Boots & Bling banquet, Missour
Jayson Lusk
APRIL 12, 2023
The latest edition of our monthly Consumer Food Insights survey is now out. We continue to see a fall both in the share of consumers who say they can’t find certain foods when shopping (i.e., stock-out rates are falling; see also my post last week on new research about stock-outs) and who are buying groceries online. This month, we asked some questions about trust and importance of different food labels.
Agriculture Informer brings together the best content for Agriculture professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Berkeley Blog
APRIL 20, 2023
co-authored with Tymofiy Mylovanov (Kyiv School of Economics) Corruption has been humanity’s scourge since the beginning of time. We may debate when corruption started but frankly it does not matter whether it was Eve or the serpent who corrupted Adam or somebody else who committed this sin for the first time. The important thing is.
UnderstandingAg
APRIL 30, 2023
Corn isn't food Nine unpopular facts USDA and Big Ag don’t want you to know By Jason Wisniewski Occasionally, I get to share my understanding of the agricultural industry with farmer-led organizations like this recent seminar held by the Minnesota Soil Health Coalition and the Isaak Walton League. The seminar was a good opportunity for me to apply what I had learned from a YouTube video I posted about tillage a few months ago.
CalCAN
APRIL 28, 2023
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) announced last week that the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP) will make available approximately $40 million for block grants, incentivizing agricultural operations to invest in irrigation systems that increase water use efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The remainder of the funding allocated in last year’s budget (approximately $30 million) for the program will be distributed later through CDFA’s traditi
Todays Farmer Magazine
APRIL 28, 2023
Marc Rosenbohm, senior research associate with the University of Missouri’s Food & Agricultural Policy Research Institute, discusses the crop outlook during the 2023 Abner Womack Missouri Agriculture Outlook Conference on April 12 in Columbia. He and other presenters shared details on FAPRI’s latest baseline projections report along with timely topics such as conservation programs and policy issues.
Jayson Lusk
APRIL 10, 2023
My team at the Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability (CFDAS) at Purdue released a new data dashboard on consumer spending at grocery stores. This does not include spending at general retailers (like Wal-Mart or Target) but just those chains classified as grocery or supermarket.
The Equation
APRIL 27, 2023
Policy and legislation are supposed to be routes to resources and advocacy. Unfortunately, things like challenging language, lack of promotion of programming, and lack of adequate support for people whose first language is not English makes policy feel inaccessible for a lot of people. As a young queer Latine and aspiring farmer of color, I have personally struggled with farm policy and how to make use of it for my own projects.
Farm Credit of Southern Colorado
APRIL 28, 2023
This is your friendly reminder that our Board of Director Elections are in less than two weeks! Are you ready to vote? Our board of director elections this year will begin on May 10th, 2023. Please keep an eye out for your mail in ballot, which will include details for online voting. Or see the below information on how to vote digitally to be prepared too!
UnderstandingAg
APRIL 30, 2023
Manure slurry is a valuable but difficult resource to manage on dairy farms. Slurry pits must be emptied to make room for the never-ending stream of manure. Manure is often not a top priority for most dairies and handling may have to wait until seasonal fieldwork is completed. That leaves farmers with a fall and early winter window to empty the pits and get manure applied.
Agritecture Blog
APRIL 27, 2023
Credit: City Beet Farm. Written by: Dorothy Braun April 28, 2023 Controlled Environment Agriculture has the immense potential to transform our local food systems and provide much-needed access to fresh produce. Nevertheless, it is crucial to sing praise to and nurture the small farms that play pivotal roles in creating alternative foodways and cultivating community and culture through farming.
Cropin Blog
APRIL 28, 2023
Improved agriculture technologies and large-scale farm production spells growth time for the food processing industry. The food processing market is projected to reach USD 235.67 billion by 2028, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.6% from 2021 to 2028. To be a part of this growth, it is essential for agribusiness verticals to upgrade to smart farming and farm digitalization from conventional methods.
Jayson Lusk
APRIL 5, 2023
That’s the title of a new publication the team with the Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability (CFDAS) at Purdue released with Agrinovus Indiana as they launch their HungerTech challenge. The short paper presents data on food insecurity in Indiana alongside factors like broadband access, ruralness, location of dollar stores, and more. We encouraged priorities be focused on the following four issues: Developing and implementing innovative food access solutions for targeted populations
The Equation
APRIL 18, 2023
To transform our food systems, we need to produce food that is sustainable and nutritious instead of the cheap calories served by industrial mega-corporations. Food that is grown with agroecological practices by small and midsize farmers, harvested by farmworkers who are paid fairly and have labor protections, and distributed locally or regionally to all communities is key to healthy lives and a healthy planet.
Share Food Program
APRIL 27, 2023
Home delivery now brings free Senior Food Boxes directly to over 3,500 seniors in the Greater Philadelphia area Share Food Program is Pennsylvania’s largest distributor of the state’s Senior Food Box Program (SFBP), connecting 7,300+ folks in Chester, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties with monthly 30-pound boxes of food through pickups at sites and home deliveries.
UnderstandingAg
APRIL 30, 2023
A clean, reliable source of drinking water is not only something a society needs to survive, but also something farmers and ranchers bear great responsibility to maintain. Agricultural producers have a greater impact on water quality than people in any other industry. Agriculture consumes and interacts with more total water than any industry, both in total usage and via the water interacting with the land under our control.
Daily Yonder
APRIL 27, 2023
Several weeks ago, the story of a young girl and her goat named Cedar made the rounds across a range of media outlets. The Los Angeles Times was the first publication to give the sad tale fresh life after The Sacramento Bee initially reported on it last fall. The rough chronology is this: the Long family of Shasta County, California, bought their daughter a goat, a castrated male (referred to as a wether in the parlance of livestock terminology) in April of 2022.
Agritecture Blog
APRIL 26, 2023
Credit: iStock CONTENT SOURCED FROM AGFUNDER NEWS Written by: Peter Tasgal April 27, 2023 Much of the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) industry currently focuses on improving the cost and efficiency of growing (supply). Articles and discussions highlight things like implementing robotics and AI, the use of alternative power sources and better seed breeding, to name just a few areas.
Jayson Lusk
APRIL 3, 2023
Despite the spike in grocery stock-outs that occurred in the wake of COVID19 and the subsequent supply chain disruptions, we still don’t have a good handle on “normal” levels of stock-out rates. The only public data I’m aware of on this topic is this data dashboard by IRI; however, it only shows data for the most recent few weeks and I find the data a bit difficult to interpret.
The Equation
APRIL 3, 2023
“Is California still in a drought?” is the single most-asked question I hear as someone working daily with water science, advocacy, and policy in California. That question will arise again on April 3 as water officials carry out the season’s final snow survey. My answer as an advocate is the drought won’t end until everyone in California has access to drinking water.
AGRIVI
APRIL 26, 2023
AGRIVI and Sud-Tek have partnered to bring digital agriculture solutions to support multiple arms in the centralized platform on the Brazilian market. Sud-Tek will put in their portfolio be able to offer even more comprehensive solutions to agricultural companies and secure premium support in the local Portuguese language. Sud-Tek is a Brazilian consulting company that specializes in providing IT solutions to agricultural companies across Brazil.
UnderstandingAg
APRIL 30, 2023
We all know that healthy foods, consumed routinely over our lifetime, bodes well for a lifetime of health. We read a lot about crude protein, fats, carbohydrates and sugars. However, what is often left out in the healthy food discussion is the critical topic of phytonutrients. Healthy, nutritious foods should be comprised of more than a thousand phytonutrients that are crucial to our overall health and well-being.
Thought Farmer
APRIL 26, 2023
A few months ago we discussed the emergence of AI tools like ChatGPT. We looked at some of the pros and cons of using it to create content, and how to get the most of it. If you have no idea what ChatGPT is, or you need a refresher, click here. Now we want to take that one step further and show you a few different examples of how AI can assist you in creating content for your intranet.
Agritecture Blog
APRIL 26, 2023
Visual representation of LettUs Design’s concept. Rendering sourced from LettUs Design. Editor’s Note: The prestigious Wageningen University & Research recently hosted the Grand Finals of their third Urban Greenhouse Challenge with the goal of encouraging participants to develop an urban farming site “that significantly improves the quality of life of local residents in one of the most diverse lower-income neighborhoods of Washington D.C.
Jayson Lusk
APRIL 3, 2023
In case you missed it, last week the GAO released a new report on food prices and the drivers behind the price increases witnessed over the past year. Their key take-aways are as follows. “ Many factors that affect the food supply chain can affect retail food prices. It is difficult to determine the individual effect of any one factor on retail food prices, according to USDA officials and experts we interviewed.
The Equation
APRIL 5, 2023
California is no stranger to the impacts of climate change. From droughts to wildfires to rising sea levels and torrential rains, the state has felt the effects of a changing climate in a variety of ways. One measure of climate that is of particular concern in California is vapor pressure deficit (VPD), as it has far-reaching implications for people’s health and safety, ecosystem conservation, and economy.
RR2CS
APRIL 25, 2023
In a drought, you’re probably more focused on the lack of water falling from the sky than the water table beneath your feet. We’re talking about the groundwater that contributes to the wells and wetlands that have various uses on ranches, from watering cattle to creating critical habitats for wildlife to providing water to do the dishes with. Making sure that the groundwater gets a chance to replenish during a wet year is a great little savings account for your ranch, your neighbors and yo
UnderstandingAg
APRIL 30, 2023
To understand regenerative agriculture, you must have a working definition. Regenerative Agriculture is defined as: Farming and ranching in synchrony with nature and the four ecosystem processes to repair, rebuild, restore and revitalize ecosystem function, starting with life beneath the soil and expanding to life above. This is most effectively accomplished by farmers and ranchers properly and intentionally implementing what Understanding Ag calls the 6-3-4 TM , which is comprised of the Si
Farmbrite
APRIL 25, 2023
Introduction to crop irrigation systems Irrigation systems are an important part of growing crops, and they can be crucial when it comes to crop yields. Without proper irrigation, many crops would not be able to grow at all. There are a few different types of irrigation systems that you should know about before making any purchase decisions. We’ve put together a guide of the most common types so you can choose the best one for your farm.
National Young Farmers Coalition
APRIL 25, 2023
Water is essential to farmers’ success, and it does not just impact farmers—access to clean water impacts everyone, everywhere. Water stewardship in agriculture must involve far more than water conservation, it must involve holistic approaches to soil health, grazing, rangeland and forest management, watershed health, and the centering of Indigenous knowledge, also known as Traditional Ecological Knowledge.
Agritecture Blog
APRIL 24, 2023
Credit: Colin Hughes. Written by: Isabelle Dom and Dorothy Braun April 24, 2023 Since their founding in 2017, Smallhold has seen exponential growth, with their most recent expansion into 192 Sprouts Farmers Markets locations across California, Arizona, and Nevada. Smallhold’s community-oriented mission “to turn every person into a Mushroom Person” has transformed their business from their first farm in Brooklyn to a nationwide hunger for their unique, sustainable, and delicious mushrooms.
The Equation
APRIL 4, 2023
NOTE: This post has been updated to remove the mention of a marker bill that had not yet been introduced at the time of publication. Hello, UCS blog readers! My name is Melissa Kaplan and I joined the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) as senior manager of government affairs back in January. I’m excited to publish my first-ever blog post at UCS on the food and farm bill, and tell you a bit about myself, my background, and—most importantly—how UCS hopes to shape this important legislation to hel
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