UnderstandingAg

NOVEMBER 27, 2023

Fertilizers and animal manures are a special case, because whether the ultimate result is net positive or negative depends on how they are managed. Overapplying fertilizers or manure (especially high N fertilizers or anaerobic pit manure) can create nutrient imbalances, increase salt loads, and disrupt soil function.

Manure 92

Manure Fertilizer Crop Crop Rotation 92

Modern Farmer

AUGUST 24, 2023

The certification, funded by the Rodale Institute, Patagonia and Dr Bronner’s, insists on five practices to improve soil health: integrating livestock, keeping the soil covered, minimizing soil disturbance, incorporating diversity and zero chemicals, as well as a soil test every three years. Photography courtesy of Cabriejo Ranch.

Food 98

Food Ranching Ecology Fertilizer 98

UnderstandingAg

MAY 3, 2024

We should feed the soil more like we feed ourselves and our livestock. 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.

Pesticide 98

Pesticide Crop Manure Fertilizer 98

Daily Yonder

SEPTEMBER 23, 2024

There was one [Sunnyside] family that had built an outdoor swimming pool for their grandchildren to enjoy, and one of the dairies came in and built a manure lagoon right next to the swimming pool,” she said. The community wanted to avoid the issues they’d heard about in Sunnyside, a small town about 50 miles east of the Yakima Reservation.

Animal Agriculture 105

Animal Agriculture Agriculture Agriculture Manure 105

Modern Farmer

SEPTEMBER 23, 2024

There was one [Sunnyside] family that had built an outdoor swimming pool for their grandchildren to enjoy, and one of the dairies came in and built a manure lagoon right next to the swimming pool,” she said. The community wanted to avoid the issues they’d heard about in Sunnyside, a small town about 50 miles east of the Yakima Reservation.

Ruralism 89

Ruralism Manure Farming Farming 89

Modern Farmer

AUGUST 12, 2024

But Sonoma has a less genteel side: The area is also home to approximately 3 million head of livestock held in concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs. In November, county residents will have the unique opportunity to ban CAFOs with a ballot initiative that would completely prohibit industrial livestock operations.

Livestock 62

Livestock Acre Poultry Farming 62

ATTRA

OCTOBER 31, 2023

By Justin Duncan, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Recently we held a goat production class out in Luling, Texas, at the marvelous S3 Legacy Ranch. Both “cut and carry” and “chop and drop” allow for nutrient cycling, especially if the goat manure can be collected and used to fertilize the trees they are eating, closing that loop.

Rural Development 85

Rural Development Manure Compost Pasture 85

Civil Eats

NOVEMBER 27, 2023

based Vence , which was acquired by veterinary pharmaceutical giant Merck Animal Health in 2022, has been slowly rolling out a similar system on larger cattle ranches across the West since 2019. And Nofence is just one of several companies getting into the virtual fencing game.

Pasture 143

Pasture Cattle Technology Ruralism 143

Modern Farmer

JULY 10, 2023

As such, his grandfather, who lived through the 1955 deluge, often stressed the proper maintenance of the berms protecting the ranch from the nearby Tule River—a lesson echoed by his father, who faced a similar event in 1983. And it’s not just the manure, he adds—cows also burp 220 pounds of methane annually.

Farming 98

Farming Farming Manure Agriculture 98

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

DECEMBER 8, 2023

In central New Mexico, for example, Christy Everett ’s family ranches, Jones Corona Ranch and Jones Mountainair Ranch, have seen not only hotter, more challenging summers, but a shift in the summer monsoons. Perennial livestock systems have similar capacities to reduce vulnerability to climate impacts.

Ranching 72

Ranching Greenhouse Crop Pasture 72

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

JANUARY 17, 2024

For example, increasing aridity in the Southwest and increasingly wet conditions throughout the northeast regions of the country–from the Midwest through New England–are likely to challenge crop and livestock production. from NCA5 Higher temperatures can stress both crops and livestock.

Agriculture 105

Agriculture Agriculture Forage Livestock 105

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

JULY 14, 2023

Prairie strips are one means of increasing biodiversity and perennial presence in fields Diversification in practice Diversification may mean a variety of changes in a farm or ranch system. The mix fixes nitrogen and livestock can graze the mix directly in the field, returning nutrients to the soil via manure.

Agriculture 89

Agriculture Agriculture Crop Rotation Pasture 89

Civil Eats

JULY 2, 2024

Some regions have expanded their focus to include climate-smart ranching practices, including managed grazing and resilient cropping systems , which can mitigate the environmental and climate impacts of industrial livestock production. But that hasn’t been the PCC’s focus, Pheasant says.

Pasture 141

Pasture Production Marketing Supply Chain 141

Agwired

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

Livestock Publications Council (LPC) annually inducts one of its distinguished leaders into the Hall of Fame. launch of the XSplit® Separator, an innovative solution that significantly enhances manure management for dairy, cow, and livestock operations. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Air Quality Task Force (AAQTF).

Logistics 45

Logistics Cattle Manure Poultry 45

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

AUGUST 28, 2024

The FFNSA maintains the existing carveout that ensures livestock producers will receive 50% of total EQIP funding during the life of the farm bill. Alternative Manure Management Practices (AMMP) The FFNSA does not contain a proposal to support AMMP technologies as envisioned in the ARA or the COWS Act.

Farming 85

Farming Farming Agriculture Agriculture 85

Food Environment and Reporting Network

JULY 13, 2023

These practices include reducing or eliminating tilling of soil, planting “cover crops” that grow during the off-season and are not harvested, improving how farmers use fertilizer and manure, and planting trees. Better manure management is among the climate-smart practices the USDA is funding in the partnerships. But it should be.

Agriculture 82

Agriculture Agriculture Greenhouse Manure 82

Sustainable Food Trust

MAY 31, 2023

Then there’s the James Ranch in Colorado, originally bought by Dave and Kay James, who dreamt of raising a large family in a rural setting. Featured image courtesy of Mystic Artists from the film To Which We Belong, of Alejandro Carillo, taken at Las Damas Ranch, Chihuahua, Mexico.

Food 52

Food Farming Farming Ranching 52

Food Tank

DECEMBER 27, 2023

Audubon Society, United States Recognizing the link between food systems and wildlife conservation, the Audubon Society launched the Conservation Ranching Initiative. The organization introduces beneficial plants called green manure/cover crops which fertilize the soil, control weeds, and respond to periods of drought.

Food 145

Food Agriculture Agriculture Seeding 145

Food Tank

DECEMBER 24, 2024

The initiative aims to triple the productivity of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa in 20 years by promoting green manure and cover crops that restore soil health, combat drought, and enhance farm resilience. Focusing on womens empowerment and sustainable agriculture, Heifer aims to foster lasting change from the ground up.

Food 139

Food Agriculture Agriculture Ruralism 139

Modern Farmer

AUGUST 13, 2024

Many of the issues can be boiled down to the sheer concentration of manure they produce. One estimate, informed by USDA data, suggests that 99 percent of livestock grown in the US is raised in a CAFO. The operation would consist of 10 buildings holding 7,200 sows, producing 10 million gallons of liquid manure every year.

Farming 108

Farming Farming Manure Industrial Agriculture 108

Modern Farmer

AUGUST 13, 2024

Many of the issues can be boiled down to the sheer concentration of manure they produce. One estimate, informed by USDA data, suggests that 99 percent of livestock grown in the US is raised in a CAFO. The operation would consist of 10 buildings holding 7,200 sows, producing 10 million gallons of liquid manure every year.

Farming 83

Farming Farming Manure Industrial Agriculture 83

Modern Farmer

DECEMBER 5, 2023

It’s late October and Jon Griggs, manager of Maggie Creek Ranch in Elko, Nevada, still has more than a thousand Angus-cross calves left to wean. In some pastures, Griggs must rely upon wells, some as deep as 800 feet, to water the livestock. A beaver is released at Maggie Creek Ranch. Jon Griggs at Maggie Creek Ranch.

Ranching 125

Ranching Cattle Acre Pasture 125

Civil Eats

JUNE 20, 2024

Meg Wilcox You Can’t Market Manure at Lunchtime: And Other Lessons from the Food Industry for Creating a More Sustainable Company By Maisie Ganzler Many, many years ago, I spent a long time covering the world of sustainable business practices. Additionally, they say, children must have a voice in policymaking.

Food 145

Food Farming Farming Forage 145

Modern Farmer

JULY 12, 2024

Here in Wauchula, a small farming town in Central Florida, cattle ranching is king. Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, the same farmers struggling with the effects of climate change, like drought, are revolting against stricter regulations on pollution from livestock manure. Before him sat a small crowd dotted with cowboy hats.

Cultivation 67

Cultivation Cattle Science Ranching 67

Civil Eats

JANUARY 23, 2024

On a crisp weekend this past fall, 30 state legislators from across the nation descended on TomKat Ranch , an 1,800-acre ranch focused on regenerative agriculture in Pescadero, California, an hour south of San Francisco. Attendees at the TomKat Ranch tour organized by the State Innovation Exchange (SiX).

Agriculture 136

Agriculture Agriculture Ranching Food 136

The Equation

AUGUST 10, 2023

For example, ranchers fatten cattle on grain during the final months of their lives in large-scale feedlots, which—along with massive hog and poultry feeding operations—are major sources of methane and nitrous oxide emissions, primarily due to the way cattle digest fiber and the mismanagement of open-air manure lagoons.

Food 98

Food Farming Farming Agriculture 98