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Family Farmer Finds a Connection to Eaters Through Livestock

Food Tank

Now that he raises pigs, he can apply nutrient-rich solid manure to the familys grain fields, helping to build soil health further and reduce the use of synthetic fertilizersa benefit for both the environment and his wallet. While grain farming has a distinct season, the pigs require daily tasks and maintenance year-round.

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The Cheapest Hay Is the Hay You Never Buy

UnderstandingAg

In the following discussion, I would like to share some thoughts on how to add net profit into a grazing operation, as well as share my own experiences reducing hay inputs with the grass-finished beef herd that roams across our northern Michigan family farm. The acreage lasted 65 cows for almost two months of grazing in the spring.

Pasture 105
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Bringing Youth Back to the Farm in Rural America

Food Tank

Iowa is the number-one pork producer in the United States, but it has relatively few hog farms. Large factory farm facilities have replaced smaller family farms. The state lost nearly 90 percent of its hog farms from 1982 to 2017, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Census data.

Ruralism 116
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Bringing Back Local Milk, Ice Cream, and Cheese

Civil Eats

Half an hour outside Portland, the 50-acre family farm is known for its ice cream and freshly churned cheddar, made from the milk of 20 pastured-grazed cows and sold a stone’s throw away at the farm stand and in a few local restaurants. Proper rotational grazing relies on pasture as the primary forage, cutting feed costs.

Pasture 141
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Should Bioplastics Be Allowed in Organic Compost?

Civil Eats

He plants nitrogen-rich legumes and other perennial cover crops amongst his pear, apple, plum, peach, and cherry trees, but he buys a commercial compost product to keep his 100-acre, fourth-generation family farm thriving. Ela knows first-hand how central compost is to his organic farm—and all organic agriculture.

Compost 141
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‘An Insane Amount of Water’: What Climate Change Means For California’s Biggest Dairy District

Modern Farmer

Despite the resilience of family [farms], the mega-trend is undeniable,” says Raudabaugh. She points to wide-scale implementation of anaerobic digesters, which capture methane from sealed manure lagoons to create biogas. And it’s not just the manure, he adds—cows also burp 220 pounds of methane annually.

Farming 97
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Across Farm Country, Fertilizer Pollution Impacts Not Just Health, but Water Costs, Too

Civil Eats

The other main factor, manure, is also increasing as CAFOs become more prevalent. Conservation on the Farm One way to do this is by using less fertilizer on the field. Another is to introduce on-the-field and edge-of-field conservation practices, like Tesdell is doing on his Iowa family farm. Tesdell’s is 80.