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A report by the Union of Concerned Scientists concluded that the cost for rural Iowa residents—who often live in areas with smaller, more expensive water systems—could be as much as $4,960 more per person per year to filter out nitrates from their water than their counterparts in cities like Des Moines. Fertilizer as Poison The U.S.
Remember that familyfarms continue to feed 70 percent of the worlds population. There is a strong market demand for local products from agroecological farms and producers, including green leafy vegetables, fruits, grains, small livestock, and native seeds. These markets are large and important to local producers.
In a rural area, that same mile of cable might connect a single family, so ISPs aren’t financially incentivized to run cable in those regions. Meinrath says when you get down into the data, you find that the majority of people who aren’t connected to the internet are rural Americans and the poorest in the country.
In the months before Patrick Brown was born in November 1982, his father, Arthur, lay down on a road near the familysfarm to prevent a caravan of yellow dump trucks from depositing toxic soil in his community. Patrick currently operates Brown FamilyFarms on the land that Byron worked as a sharecropper once he was freed.
In a rural area, that same mile of cable might connect a single family, so ISPs aren’t financially incentivized to run cable in those regions. Meinrath says when you get down into the data, you find that the majority of people who aren’t connected to the internet are rural Americans and the poorest in the country.
Kava has endured a long history of adversity, said Lakea Trask, a Hawaiian farmer and local activist who cultivates kava and other Native crops for Kanaka Kava , his familysfarm-to-table restaurant in Kailua-Kona, on the Big Island. Michigan, however, greenlit kava in 2023, becoming the first state to grant it GRAS status.
Some of this is easily quantified: grazing livestock are, for example, an important source of employment in rural areas, providing vital economic opportunities in some of the country’s most fragile communities. ” We know that we can manage our grasslands in a way that works for rural communities and the environment alike.
Today, farming is far from a simple livelihood. As well as growing food, farmers are tasked with delivering a broad spectrum of ‘public goods’ – from wildlife habitat and healthy soils to public access and rural employment. Is it the period 1750-1850 when most of the present rural features were planted or built?
Each week, Path Finders features a Q&A with a rural thinker, creator, or doer. Brooks Lamb: I grew up on a small farm in rural Tennessee. The land has been in our family since 1892, but the ownership hasn’t exactly been “linear.” I should mention that our farm was, and still is, a familyfarm in the strongest sense.
Elderberry, becoming popular as a hedgerow crop, provides both farm income and ecological benefits. Photos courtesy of Wil Crombie) Manure from the fowl helps fertilize the silvopastures and fields, and the chickens help with pest control by eating insects and grubs. It’s an exciting opportunity to revive our rural communities.”
Above those temperatures, heat stress causes cattle to produce less milk and decreases their fertility. Payne’s familyfarm is a microcosm of American agriculture’s monocrop past and its changing future. His family was hardly alone in doing so: Along with cattle, corn and soybeans make up the top three farm products in the U.S.,
Despite this rapid decline, the average farm size increased five percent to 463 acres. This ag census data highlights the trend toward farm consolidation as more and more familyfarm operations are feeling the pressure to go big or get out. Farms gained more than 10 percent in equity in 2022.
When farmer Joshua Manske heard about the acquisition of an Iowa fertilizer plant by Koch Industries in December, he saw it as a “microcosm of what’s going on nationally.” Because corn requires nitrogen fertilizer to grow, Manske is concerned that further consolidation of the fertilizer industry will drive his input prices up more.
We appreciate the efforts of committee leaders to develop a farm bill and their recognition of farmers’ contributions to provide food, feed, fuel, and fiber to consumers here at home and abroad.
International Trade Commission to consider the impacts that tariffs on Moroccan shipments of fertilizers are having on familyfarms. I am grateful to my medical team, my family, everyone I work with and represent in Congress. My faith in God is strong and I will tackle this head on.
This allows farmers to try new things like seeding cover crops with a drone or dialing back their synthetic fertilizers using data from brand new tests that aren’t yet approved by government-based programs. Meanwhile farmers in the Hay River watershed have focused on dialing back fertilizer use through Haney soil testing.
Through the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), Carney FamilyFarms in Iowa has received funding for watering, waterways, field buffers, and no-till practices. The farm is profiled along with other conservation-minded farmers here. His EQIP cost-share helped him build up his cover crop system and diversify his pastures.
The SFT’s Global Farm Metric emphasises the value of a thriving local community as being ‘vital for farmers, their families and their workers’. While these networks remain strong in many ways, there are also vulnerabilities due to the erosion of local services and infrastructure within rural communities.
On one of the plots, Tim and Doug planted a standard mix using cereals only—a barley and oats mix—and added fertilizer to help with tonnage. On the next plot, they used less fertilizer but planted five crop varieties. In 2019, they ran a series of crop trials on 20 acre paddocks to experiment with different crop mixes.
Leadership from the USDA and agriculture schools, like the one at Iowa State University, influence farm methods; but even recommendations to reduce farm chemicals have unintended outcomes. Winter cover crops could mean using less fertilizer and herbicide in the Spring. But farm-chemical exposure is no laughing matter.
This year’s nominations–submitted by people like you–overflowed with inspiring stories of change-makers who are innovating, giving back and working to make our soils more fertile for the next generation. LEGACY FARMER Will Scott, Scott FamilyFarms Will Scott Jr.
Now many are calling for solutions to help support beginning farmers and revitalize rural communities. It changes what your vision of a familyfarm is and how you have to go about getting there.” Between 1935 and 2023, the number of farms in the U.S. decreased by 72 percent, while the average farm size nearly tripled.
In 1909, he named the land “Valley View Ranch” — a name that Rod and Beth, along with their children, who represent the next generation of farmers on the family ranch, have preserved and continued to date. “We Soil health, environmental sustainability, and knowledge sharing have all been critical to ensuring the farm’s evolution and success.
On May 1, 2024 – after months of stalled farm bill negotiations on both sides of Capitol Hill – Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) released a detailed section-by-section summary of her farm bill proposal. Conservation and Climate The benefits of on-farm conservation programs are widespread.
In the race to reduce such food waste, some farmers are turning to technologies to conserve resources and cut losses before produce even leaves the farm. They are using composting systems and anaerobic digesters to turn waste into fertilizer for the next planting. My farm routinely has trouble finding workers,” he wrote.
But we know that we’re moving in the right direction.” Anaerobic biodigester: recycling waste into energy and organic fertilizer In 2014, Harold’s brother, Chris, spearheaded GrowTEC (Grow the Energy Circle Ltd), an initiative to convert organic waste produced on the farm into bioenergy and fertilizer, while offsetting carbon emissions.
We represent farmers, ranchers, growers, hunters, forest owners, conservationists, cooperatives, state departments of agriculture, renewable fuel producers and agribusinesses nationwide encompassing all aspects of American agriculture, food, nutrition and rural America and we look forward to Ms. Rollins strong leadership at the U.S.
The Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act of 2024 was recently introduced by U.S. This marks the latest step in the ongoing process of shaping the next Farm Bill. This bill builds on the framework she shared earlier this year, with even more concrete proposals aimed at boosting rural communities and supporting farmers.
It’s where an oversized welcome sign to rural Pierson, Florida, flanked on each side with American flags, greets visitors right across from a local feed store. His familyfarm is located not far from FernTrust and he shares similar concerns about the industry. “If
As the National FamilyFarm Coalition points out, “Focusing only on foreign ownership distracts from an overarching trend of rising corporate investment in farmland, largely driven by U.S-based 4306) TITLE VI: Rural Development GREEN FLAG Reaffirms commitment to vital rural development initiatives.
agriculture, food systems, and rural communities.” Farmers are forced to use increasing amounts of fertilizer to salvage profit from the degraded soil. At the same time, skyrocketing input costs squeeze farmers’ margins, hurting rural economies and jacking up food prices for consumers. As farmers, we are concerned.
Fertilizer, fuel, and labor costs increase every year, while prices hardly change. We talk about the colleges it bankrolled, such as Duke University; how it paid for the educations of farmers’ children; how it fueled so many towns around rural North Carolina; and how the money tobacco generates is still key to the survival of our economy.
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