Agritecture Blog

JULY 27, 2023

Over the past decade, vertical farming has been touted as just such a disruptor in agriculture. More crops, longer shelf life, no pesticides, fewer bacteria, less land, 99% less water, climate independent. The Emergence of Vertical Farming Top News Headlines About Vertical Farms 01.01.11 to 01.01.22.

Vertical Farming 98

Vertical Farming Agriculture Agriculture Farming 98

Civil Eats

DECEMBER 4, 2023

These synthetic polymer products have often been used to help boost yields up to 60 percent and make water and pesticide use more efficient. Yet their pervasive use—along with farmland, plastics cover everything from individual seeds to bales of hay and packaged produce—has allowed them to plant themselves deeply in our food supply.

Agriculture 145

Agriculture Agriculture Supply Chain Production 145

Modern Farmer

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

Even though organic farming makes up less than one percent of US farmland , it’s still a multi-billion-dollar industry. For a food to become certified organic, the farmland must be proven to have not received any pesticides or unapproved substances for at least three years. But it is getting better.

Yield 106

Yield Farming Farming Pesticide 106

Modern Farmer

AUGUST 1, 2024

Check out our companion piece: How to Start a Backyard or Urban Farm—Whether You Own Land or Not As a renter millennial, I wanted to start farming. This is a common sentiment among many student-loan-saddled millennials and Gen Z-ers who want to work with the land but don’t have land that they own to start gardening or farming.

Real Estate 116

Real Estate Farming Farming Acre 116

NASDA

JANUARY 25, 2024

Even in good years, farmers need access to a strong and secure Federal crop insurance program, a program that farmers have described time and again as a critical element of the farm safety net. It is no accident that the most recent farm bills have emphasized risk management, and in doing so, protected the interests of American taxpayers.

Crop 130

Crop Ruralism Forestry Agriculture 130

Caff

MARCH 23, 2021

The coronavirus pandemic has revealed weaknesses within our food and farming system and exacerbated long-standing inequities. This measure aims to deliver healthy food to the most vulnerable Californians while climate-proofing our farms that face droughts, wildfires, and extreme weather. Find a recording of the press conference here.

Food 52

Food Farming Farming Supply Chain 52

Food Tank

AUGUST 29, 2023

On a summer day in downtown Salinas, California, a group of farmers, biotechnology start-ups and pesticide corporations gathered to talk about the benefits of biology. While the realm of pesticides and fertilizers has been dominated by chemistry for the past eight decades, it seems like biology may soon have its day.

Pesticide 98

Pesticide Fertilizer Acre Crop 98

Sustainable Food Trust

JANUARY 14, 2025

As news of weed killer resistant plants hits the headlines, Patrick Holden reflects on discussions at the latest Oxford Real Farming Conference, highlighting why the plough may not be the worst option when it comes to nature-friendly cultivation. In parallel, Richard Gantlett, who is somewhat of a data geek (I mean that as a compliment!),

Ploughing 59

Ploughing Cultivation Pesticide Farming 59

ATTRA

DECEMBER 10, 2024

The news hasnt really shown the devastation wreaked on the farms and forests in our area. Weve experienced nothing like this before, said New River Conservancy Executive Director Andrew Downs.This is due to fuel, pesticides, and sewage that has polluted the streams. Gene has a small beef farm with 15 cow/calf pairs and raises 1.5

Farming 97

Farming Farming Acre Rural Development 97

Farmbrite

JUNE 1, 2023

These days, farming is a lot more than just plowing the field and planting seeds. Farming also includes marketing your goods, managing finances and employees, keeping up with technology —and that's just the beginning. But there are still ways for young people to get into farming if they're willing to do their homework first!

Farming 52

Farming Farming Finance Farmland 52

Modern Farmer

MARCH 20, 2024

Urban ag is any kind of food production space within a city, inclusive of commercial farms that grow and sell directly to consumers, non-profit farms that serve a broader mission, community gardens, school gardens and even vacant lots turned into thriving personal gardens or homesteads. Oxford Tract research farm at UC Berkeley.

Agroecology 84

Agroecology Yield Food Farming 84

UnderstandingAg

JANUARY 28, 2024

Poor water quality has been a persistent challenge in agriculture, particularly due to sediment and nutrient loss from farmland. We already do this for pesticide and manure applicators. This would be a far better use of taxpayer money than any other farm program or practice payment.

Pesticide 88

Pesticide Manure Agriculture Agriculture 88

The Equation

MARCH 4, 2024

Railways and natural resources were diverted away from Allensworth to white-owned interests and farm holdings. But maybe the most famous sabotage occurred in March of 2023, after heavy rains flooded Dear Creek and someone artificially diverted the water flow toward Allensworth to protect industrial farmland operations elsewhere.

Agriculture 104

Agriculture Agriculture Pesticide Ruralism 104

The Counter

APRIL 27, 2022

They’d take a few hundred acres of both leased and family-owned central-Texas farmland—land that for decades had grown row crops of corn and cotton—and give it “what it wants back,” he said. The challenges to farming, period—let alone transitioning to regenerative—can be high.

Farming 52

Farming Farming Farmland Agriculture 52

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

JULY 14, 2023

As farmland becomes less functional as a result of increasing stresses from drought, floods, pests, and heatwaves, its regulation by diverse organisms becomes ever more important. The question of how to diversify farm production is closely linked with the question of expanding access to land.

Agriculture 98

Agriculture Agriculture Pasture Crop Rotation 98

Civil Eats

DECEMBER 10, 2024

In the months before Patrick Brown was born in November 1982, his father, Arthur, lay down on a road near the familys farm to prevent a caravan of yellow dump trucks from depositing toxic soil in his community. Patrick currently operates Brown Family Farms on the land that Byron worked as a sharecropper once he was freed.

Plantation 144

Plantation Farming Farming Acre 144

Civil Eats

APRIL 22, 2024

Increasingly, farmers and scientists are looking at them as reservoirs of genetic diversity with traits that can be bred into domesticated crops to improve drought, heat, and disease resistance—and perhaps serve as the key to the future of farming. Up to 40 percent of farmland has been fallowed in some parts of Arizona,” he wrote in an email.

Seeding 144

Seeding Crop Agriculture Agriculture 144

Modern Farmer

MARCH 1, 2024

Both durable and efficient, with no need for farmland or vast amounts of water, it threatened to leave natural fibers like cotton in the dust. In addition, most natural fibers are grown conventionally, which often means heavy use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers and genetically modified or treated seeds. Enter next-gen synthetics.

Textiles 97

Textiles Manufacturing Production Processing 97

Civil Eats

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

Flat, sprawling farm fields fill the screen. She’s also put millions of philanthropic dollars into a demonstration farm in Oregon. As the planet faces a climate and biodiversity crisis, the family’s investments could coincide with a fundamental supply shift at Walmart, driving truly resilient, regenerative farming at scale.

Supply Chain 144

Supply Chain Food Agriculture Agriculture 144

The Equation

MAY 11, 2023

Hard truth: we have to use farmland differently Strategic cropland repurposing is the change in land use from an economic activity that produces negative side effects (such as harming people’s health and the environment) to new land uses that produce positive side effects. I believe there is: strategic cropland repurposing.

Ruralism 96

Ruralism Pesticide Agriculture Agriculture 96

Caff

OCTOBER 26, 2023

On October 5th, attendees gathered at Riverwood Farm in Biggs, California to listen to Kaben Kramer of Tenderly Rooted tell his story of creating a Direct to Consumer market for his walnuts. In fact, Kaben confesses that the farm lost money the first four years of farming, especially when making $1.00

Marketing 52

Marketing Farming Farming Processing 52

Modern Farmer

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

His farm lies on the Columbia Plateau, a 63,000-square-mile basin formed by ancient basalt lava flows. Chris Rauch’s Oregon farm lies on the Columbia Plateau, a region that has seen increasing levels of soil acidity. Then they truck it to farms, where it is used in place of ag lime. “That’s crazy,” he thought.

Fertilizer 138

Fertilizer Acre Farming Farming 138

Trimble Agriculture

JULY 24, 2024

Adoption Rates of Agricultural Technology and Renewable Energy Rural Broadband The 2022 ag census revealed a notable increase in reliable rural broadband access, with as much as 79 percent of farms reporting that they have reliable internet access, representing a four percent growth from 2017.

Technology 59

Technology Agriculture Agriculture Finance 59

National Young Farmers Coalition

OCTOBER 11, 2023

Young farmers are on the frontlines of the climate crisis and need support to continue implementing solutions on their farms. However, they often face barriers to accessing federal conservation programs, because their farms and ranches tend to be small. The Small Farm Conservation Act ( S.2180 2180 , H.R.5354 2180 , H.R.5354

Farming 40

Farming Farming Ecology Plowing 40

Hartwood Farm

MARCH 24, 2022

Through experience and trials and education, each farm figures out what they can grow and how they can grow it at a price that’s both affordable enough for customers and profitable enough for covering farm operation costs. Coming back to the idea of farming systems, as organic farmers we do an insane amount of management around weeds.

Farming 52

Farming Farming Fertilizer Food 52

Agritecture Blog

MARCH 31, 2023

We have 6,400 acres this year that we farm,” LaPointe said, pointing out color-coded land plots on the map. Through multiple programs, the tribe is moving toward food sovereignty while teaching sustainable farming practices to future generations of Native farmers. “A Ho-Chunk Farms began to prioritize quality land leases over quantity.

Food 52

Food Farming Farming Marketing 52

RR2CS

MARCH 8, 2022

In 2006, they began to look for farmland around Edmonton, but the exorbitant cost of land — in some areas, upward of a million dollars — was insurmountable on teacher’s salaries. But due to climate change, Jenna and Thomas’s journey into farming has been anything but straight forward.

Farming 52

Farming Farming Forage Seeding 52

Daily Yonder

APRIL 11, 2023

Despite incentives to establish more sustainable – even organic – farming practices, most farmers are caught in an industrial system of chemicals, hybrid seed, and genetically modified (GMO) seed. As a kid from rural Iowa, I have joked about growing up with herbicide for breakfast, pesticide for lunch, and fertilizer for supper.

Farming 52

Farming Farming Acre Seeding 52

Modern Farmer

SEPTEMBER 7, 2023

The privatization of land in the 1850s gave rise to large sugarcane and pineapple plantations—a huge divergence from Native practices of sustainable and diverse farming on communally held plots. When farmland and pastures turn idle, the economics often make land use changes tempting, says Heaivilin. It’s a one-way valve.”

Plantation 109

Plantation Pasture Ranching Acre 109

Sustainable Food Trust

SEPTEMBER 3, 2024

In this article, Global Farm Metric Trials Manager, Olivia Boothman, shares her experience of visiting Nebraska on behalf of Regen10. Perfectly square patches of farmland cover the entire southeast of the state. Graham, a fifth generation farmer, who has recently started converting the farm to regenerative practices, filled me in.

Grain 52

Grain Farming Farming Agriculture 52

RR2CS

JANUARY 3, 2024

By Trina Moyles Glen and Kelly Hall have been managing Timber Ridge Ranch, a 480-acre farmland situated an hour south of Calgary near Stavely, Alberta, for over 40 years. Our cover crop cocktail has resulted in an immense reduction in synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides.

Ranching 52

Ranching Forage Cattle Crop 52

Sustainable Food Trust

JULY 26, 2023

Farmed deer are still in the field for the best part of their lives. This is because productive arable farmland, that could be used for growing food to be fed directly to people, is used for growing lower grade livestock cereals, from which only 17-30% of calories are returned for human consumption as meat or milk.

Poultry 52

Poultry Agroecology Pasture Food 52

Caff

JULY 28, 2024

A burn pile just a few minutes after ignition, Shone Farm, Personal Photo Biochar is a cost-effective soil amendment and also offers a plethora of other environmental benefits. Site of the pile burning, Shone Farm, Santa Rosa Junior College. Burning under a forest is generally safer than in open grassland.

Production 52

Production Crop Yield Fertilizer Yield 52

RR2CS

JULY 12, 2022

She began to spend long hours in the garden, noticing the beneficial insects, like ladybugs and bumblebees, and she knew immediately that she didn’t want to apply pesticides — for the health of her husband and the land. “My My husband’s diagnosis with diabetes was the main reason why I wanted to garden again,” explains Wolfchild. “I

Food 52

Food Livestock Harvesting Harvest 52

Food Tank

SEPTEMBER 17, 2024

23 Food Tank and The James Beard Foundation will kick off Climate Week with a day of programming titled: “ Restaurants and Farms are Key Solutions to the Climate Crisis ,” presented along with partners Planet FWD, Brightly, Guckenheimer, Astanor and Protein PACT. Here’s what we have in store for you during Climate Week: Monday, Sept.

Food 110

Food Farmland Agriculture Agriculture 110

Sustainable Food Trust

JUNE 14, 2023

Over recent years, no-till farming has been widely advocated as one of the ways to make farming more sustainable. It is also one of the paid options under Defra’s Sustainable Farming Incentive. What he could not have known is that the processes he describes, depend, amongst other things, on the action of mycorrhizal fungi.

Ploughing 52

Ploughing Crop Yield Farming 52

Modern Farmer

JUNE 6, 2024

But on Mallonee Farms , a Washington State dairy farm , things are different. Only found in small areas of prairie grassland west of the Cascade Mountains, Mallonee Farms is the northernmost epicenter for the lupine in the US. In most instances, farmers will spray the plant with herbicide and kill it.

Agriculture 91

Agriculture Agriculture Crop Farming 91