The Equation

MAY 15, 2023

Industrial agricultural practices such as tillage (plowing) and leaving fields bare between growing seasons degrade soil structure, reduce water infiltration, lower water storage capacity, and increase runoff (the flow of water across the soil’s surface).

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Industrial Agriculture Crop Agriculture Agriculture 112

Civil Eats

DECEMBER 4, 2023

Black polyethylene “mulch film” gets tucked snugly around crop rows, clear plastic sheeting covers hoop houses, and most farmers use plastic seed trays, irrigation tubes, and fertilizer bags. Currently organic farms are permitted to use petroleum-based, non-PVC covers, granted that they are removed from the field at season’s end.

Agriculture 145

Agriculture Agriculture Supply Chain Production 145

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 Farmland Finance 52

ATTRA

JULY 11, 2023

By Nina Prater, NCAT Agriculture Specialist Over 15 years ago, I moved from Vermont to Arkansas, and I’ve been here farming in the Ozarks ever since. I share this example because I think it is a good reminder to ask why in our own lives, on our own farms. The soil had lost its structure because of the way it was being managed.

Farming 40

Farming Farming Plowing Crop 40

Agritecture Blog

MAY 19, 2023

These sustainable planting practices are used in conjunction with rotational grazing, whereby farmers keep less grazing stock on their farms, moving animals periodically between paddocks to allow their land to recover — thus avoiding the desertification that harsh drought and overgrazing can bring. Credit: Government of Western Australia.

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Farming Farming Livestock Crop 52

Cropaia

SEPTEMBER 3, 2023

No-till farming, along with its sibling practice, reduced-till farming, has emerged as a promising solution to this challenge. This article explores the considerations, benefits, and disadvantages of transitioning to no-till and reduced-till farming, shedding light on how farmers can manage this transition successfully.

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Soil Compaction Crop Rotation Farming Farming 52

The Counter

APRIL 27, 2022

Adding a heavy dose of irony to the overall complexity of getting more acres farmed regeneratively is the fact that in some growing regions, this effort is being undermined by yet another critical climate solution: solar power. The challenges to farming, period—let alone transitioning to regenerative—can be high.

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Farming Farming Farmland Acre 52

Agwired

DECEMBER 8, 2023

crops (corn, soybeans, wheat, sorghum, barley, oats, cotton) and plays an important role in predicting farm program expenditures in the President’s annual budget proposal. This tool is part of a broader effort by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) to streamline its processes, improve customer service, and expand credit access.

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Plowing Ruralism Agriculture Agriculture 45

Hartwood Farm

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

In short, our farm is terribly set up in terms of efficiency or ease of planning. They are totally right, if you look at farming as a system of rigidly applying straight lines and strict rules onto the earth. Making that first change away from the “shoulds” of farm layout felt freakier than it should have.

Crop Rotation 52

Crop Rotation Crop Farming Farming 52

Food Environment and Reporting Network

JUNE 1, 2023

In a more sheltered part of the bay, the Welcomes farm sugar kelp and oysters. They sell the wild and cultivated seaweed dried, and use the less delicious, more abundant kinds to fertilize the saltwater farm they’re reviving nearby. It was slippery, al dente, and tasted a little, but not unpleasantly, like blood.

Science 52

Science Harvester Harvest Harvesting 52

CalCAN

APRIL 6, 2023

From losing seed crops as wildfires rage for weeks, to losing entire crops as a result of erratic freezes, to losing farms as drought dries up available water, farmers’ risks are rising. Farming is also an important contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Farmers across the country are experiencing climate impacts as a crisis.

Agriculture 52

Agriculture Agriculture Greenhouse Food 52

Food Environment and Reporting Network

JULY 13, 2023

Department of Agriculture (USDA) program, this amalgam of farming methods aims to keep the American agricultural juggernaut steaming ahead while slashing the sector’s immense greenhouse gas footprint. Robert Bonnie, USDA Unlike with organic farming, climate-smart farming has no list of allowed or prohibited practices.

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Agriculture Agriculture Greenhouse Manure 78

Food Environment and Reporting Network

DECEMBER 7, 2022

Cover crops, like this clover growing on a farm in Wilbur, Washington, have proven beneficial for preventing soil erosion and chemical runoff that fouls waterways. And they raise the risk of additional acres being plowed up to compensate for the lower yields. Photo by Edwin Remsberg/VWPics via AP Images. percent for corn and 3.5

Agriculture 52

Agriculture Agriculture Crop Cash Crop 52

Food Environment and Reporting Network

MARCH 1, 2025

Its not overly reductive to say it boils down to a half century of intentional federal farm policy. farms in the upper Midwest underwent an industrial revolution. Diesel-powered tractors replaced horse-powered plows, and synthetic nitrogen fertilizers replaced their manure. In the years after World War II, U.S.

Food 59

Food Crop Processing Tractor 59