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Diversification is the key to the resilience of our food systems. By diversifying food systems, we can build a more resilient and sustainable system capable of adapting to climate and market fluctuations while also providing more nutritious food for local consumers. I have also learned about, and advocate for, opportunities.
Even though we live in rural Iowa, kids don’t have access,” says Melissa Beermann, Monona County Director for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Everybody assumes that it’s just farm country, but most kids live in town or if they do live rural, they don’t own property.
This story was produced through a collaboration between the Daily Yonder, which covers rural America, and Climate Central, a nonadvocacy science and news group. Loopholes within drinking water laws and the agriculture lobby’s influence in Congress have prevented substantive policy reform to address the issue, according to food safety experts.
We will hear an interview with Kelvin Heppner of RealAgriculture and the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Marie Claude Bibeau on the decisions made on MRLs and cosmetic pesticide use. Thanks for tuning in to this Agronomic Monday edition of RealAg Radio with host Shaun Haney! Read More
If Taylor, Graham, and the neighboring farmers can create a resilient, Black-led agricultural community as the planet burns , biodiversity plummets , and the larger food system continues to become increasingly industrialized and commodified, they will have charted a course for others to follow. At the same time, she’s transitioning the D.C.
Some CAFOs can produce as much waste as a small city, but without comparable waste management infrastructure, rural communities face health, economic, and environmental hazards. Currently, CAFOs in Wisconsin must obtain a Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (WPDES) permit before disposing of manure and waste.
This story was produced through a collaboration between the Daily Yonder, which covers rural America, and Modern Farmer , a a nonprofit covering equity and resiliency in the food system. Across the board, farms have been merged into just a few big companies that control most food sectors.
At the island’s solid waste facility—hidden away in the hills and surrounded by forestland—piles of food scraps, manure, and green waste slowly turn to soil. In rural areas, “It is not always cost feasible to go from house to house to collect compost because they are miles away,” she explained. Composting Council.
A few days after moving in, concerned neighbors informed her that Ledgeview Farms, a large dairy farm behind her home, was planning to expand, which included building a manure pit to store millions of gallons of waste next to the subdivision. Over the next several years, Porter began noticing manure runoff in the creek her kids would play in.
Living ground cover is especially critical on acres receiving manure from confinement operations. Industry groups should make it clear to members that cover crops and more in-season application must become part of all manure management plans and programs. This is hands-down the best, most profitable use case for cover crops.
Farm ponds and slow-moving creeks and streams that are enriched with fertilizer runoff and directly deposited manure are the perfect place to find cyanobacteria thriving. Do not let livestock loiter in ponds because they contaminate it with manure. But blooming blue-green algae or cyanobacteria can turn toxic from June to September.
Every day, rural women work long, tireless, and sometimes thankless hours to provide for their families. Food scraps, dry leaves, animal manure, and microorganisms work together to maintain the health of Maritza’s garden, land, and family. A Field School, aptly called “New Hope,” is made up of 50% rural women.
The ordinance The Rooted Northwest land, ringed by trees, has only a few reminders of the centennial dairy it once was, including a handful of lingering structures and a small manure lagoon. million in 2020, Boehnlein worked with Snohomish County to pass the Rural Village Housing Demonstration Program ordinance in 2023.
Each week, Path Finders features a Q&A with a rural thinker, creator, or doer. I was born and raised in rural southwest Wisconsin, where I attended a high school located in the middle of a 30,000 acre seedcorn field. Editor’s Note: This interview first appeared in Path Finders , an email newsletter from the Daily Yonder.
Legumes, such as alfalfa, trefoil, and sainfoin, are a great feed source, are excellent for soil health and play a role in sequestering carbon in the soil. According to emerging research by Dr. Bart Lardner, legumes in the bovine diet also lowers methane emissions, one of the components being measured in an on-going research project.
Since taking over the dairy a decade ago and branding it Foggy Bottoms Boys , the couple has been bucking convention and helping their rural community navigate changing economic tides. A lot of people don’t understand why my cheese costs [four times more than] Walmart’s.” “We’re an important fabric of these rural communities.”
The other main factor, manure, is also increasing as CAFOs become more prevalent. Many rural residents also rely on private, personal well systems, which aren’t regulated for contaminants, to source their water. Commercial fertilizer is just one contributor to high nitrate levels in groundwater.
Today, new generations of innovative farmers see agroforestry as a solution to not just producing nutrient-dense food and specialty crops but to also mitigate the intensity of climate change-induced weather events. The Joia Food & Fiber Farm farmstead pictured with sheep, sheepdogs, and cattle grazing. Johnson laughs.
So, when I heard of the mid-scale anaerobic digester being installed at Dickenson College Organic Farm as a demonstration of how small dairy farms can utilize manure and other waste streams to produce on farm energy, I was eager for the opportunity to visit the farm and help spread the word to other farms.
Dairy farmers are working to implement climate-smart manure management practices, and the COWS Act will offer the needed resources to enhance both air and water quality,” said Rob Larew, National Farmers Union President. “Getting the AMMP award sped up our plans to modernize our manure management system by about 10 years.
Editor’s Note: This is the fourth post in a multi-part blog series analyzing the Farm Food and National Security Act of 2024 (FFNSA), which was reported out of the House Agriculture Committee on Friday, May 24. The second post explores the FFNSA’s impacts on local and regional food systems. 2501, 2502).
That day, I’d driven from my home in Atlanta to Craig’s home in rural North Carolina. We’d look to reform our food system away from industrial animal agriculture and remove the power of Big Animal Agriculture—the great monopolies with strongholds over our political and economic systems. I’d failed every previous attempt.
By Nina Prater, NCAT Agriculture Specialist When I teach about the soil food web, I tend to paint with broad brushstrokes. This is probably because I only learned about the soil food web in terms of the big groups: bacteria, fungi, micro- and macroinvertebrates, vertebrates, and the plants that supply energy to the whole system.
Anyone who’s spent time in Mexico can report firsthand on the country’s deep reverence for corn, that infinitely versatile and nutritive grain that forms the base of the country’s daily bread, the tortilla, as well as a multitude of other traditional foods.
They started Vriend Organic Farm in the 1980s in an effort to get back to their rural roots and rely on organic agriculture methods in the face of industrial food. Around that time, the local food movement was really taking off in Edmonton, as Jenny recalls. It was a really casual, fun, 2-acre project,” recalls Jenny. ‘We
The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) will be hosting an educational program tackling hot topics facing the animal food industry at the upcoming International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) , happening Jan. This contribution reinforces Keystone Cooperative’s commitment to strengthening food security.
from Chapter 11 of the Fifth National Climate Assessment The agriculture chapter notes that all dimensions of food security will be affected by climate change and that crop insurance costs have already risen in response to increased losses. high-efficiency irrigation and genetic modification) rather than systems approaches.
In this sense, California Plowshares is a return to the kind of rural sharing economies that once arose naturally between farmers in tight-knit communities but have become much less common in recent years. We see Walmart or shitty food or HelloFresh as competition—not each other.”
public, across party lines, is concerned about the impacts of climate change on agriculture and food production. First of its kind, the act addresses climate change throughout much of US Department of Agriculture (USDA) programming–not only that which affects farmers, but elements that shape the larger food system, as well.
Photo credit: USDA Editor’s Note: This guest post by Michael Happ, Program Associate for Climate and Rural Communities at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, (IATP), discusses how popular conservation programs should focus on small-scale and sustainable farms, not industrial-scale farms.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently called on three state agencies to take action to protect the health of rural residents. In addition, large concentrated animal feeding operations, which have become more prevalent there in recent years, add to the problem by disposing millions of gallons of nitrogen-rich liquid manure.
According to Thompson, the credit for the pilot concept belongs to RIPE (Rural Investment to Protect our Environment). agriculture both domestically and internationally, build wealth that stays in rural communities, and support a diverse range of producers and operation types.” billion in funding for 70 climate-smart projects.
For Jenna and Thomas, both teachers by trade, it was always a dream to build a life off-grid and grow organic food for their community. Their goal is to expand into an heirloom flower farm to offer a CSA program to the community (with organic, unsprayed flowers), while providing food for their honeybees and the native bees.
In a barren, former conflict zone in Cyprus, the olive tree, a global symbol of peace, is providing a potential blueprint for more successful, nutritious and sustainable food systems. Although the soil is not disturbed, adding green manure, beneficial microbes and mycorrhizae are among the approaches employed to help build soil health.
But the farms have an overall smaller footprint, because the added chicken manure boosts the productivity of the hazelnuts and other companion crops, without synthetic fertilizer. At the core, his approach to food production is one that places productivity within a larger context of a balanced living system.
And most importantly, the cows leave behind manure and help us fertilize the land. One of these labs focuses on Alberta beef, and the other on food, water, and wellness. I think it’s really important because a lot of society has lost a connection to where their food comes from.
At CAFOs, it is common to pool animal waste in one spot, called a manure lagoon. Community organizers, under the group name Citizens Protecting Rural Wisconsin , argued that digesters aren’t the solution that they seem to be. In 2020, manure accounted for about 9 percent of the US’s methane emissions.
Contributing authors: Liza Greene , Elena Seeley , and Alessandra Uriarte The food and agriculture movement made incredible strides over the last year—but our work isn’t done yet! These groups are continuing to push for food and agriculture systems that are economically, socially, and environmentally just and equitable.
Contributing authors: Abigail Buta ,and Jessica Levy , and Elena Seeley The momentum to transform food and agriculture systems has never been more urgentor more inspiring. It connects expertise across disciplines to enhance food security, improve distribution, and position Canada as a leader in agricultural innovation.
Yet, milk, specifically cow’s milk, contributes a lot to the greenhouse emissions of our food. As the planet warms, everyone from the IPCC to consumers to farmers and food producers is asking how to reduce those emissions—but what does that really mean? Livestock is responsible for anywhere from 11.1 percent to 19.
I’m concerned about the state of agriculture and food production in this country,” he said, before ticking off a few numbers to make his point. The number of cattle, the biggest source of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions—both from burps and manure storage—actually went down by 5.6 In 2022, it had 1,900,487.
Avoid the never-ending scroll on streaming platforms and instead refer to our list of recommended food and farming films, especially selected, watched and reviewed by the SFT team for your viewing pleasure. Reinventing Farming and Food Post-globalisation Director: Rana Foroohar Where to watch: Financial Times’ YouTube channel.
NSAC welcomed the pragmatic Senate bill, the Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act of 2024 (RPFSA) , as an important step toward completing a bipartisan farm bill reauthorization this year. Throughout the RPFSA, numerous provisions take consequential steps toward a more equitable food and farm system.
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