“Are you interested in planting hedgerows of native plants on your farm, but aren’t quite sure how to get started?”
That was the question Rex Defour, the California regional director for the National Center for Appropriate Technology, posed to farmers in a blog earlier this year.
The response? A flood of calls and emails from interested farmers. In a matter of weeks, 90 growers from across the country signed up to plant over 23 miles of hedgerows. Read More
Ruth Dahlquist-Willard is a small farms adviser with the University of California Cooperative Extension, focusing on immigrant, refugee and other farmers with limited resources in the San Joaquin Valley.
Many of the Southeast Asian farmers she supports are first-generation immigrants who came to California starting in the late 1970s after the Secret War in Laos, or who came as recently as 2004. Some of the Latino farmers are first-generation immigrants who were previously farm laborers and are now moving into operating their own farms. Read More
Arizona’s rivers, creeks and lakes provide valuable drinking water, critical habitat for wildlife, and serene spaces for people to enjoy with their families and friends. However, many of these ecologically important waterways are now at risk of pollution and even destruction as a result of recent rollbacks of federal protections. Read More
Small grain crops, like oats and wheat, are making a comeback in the Midwest, disrupting the traditional corn-soy rotation and delivering big benefits for farmers and the environment. And they’re about to get another big boost.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently awarded a $1.1 million Conservation Innovation Grant to Practical Farmers of Iowa to advance the use of small grains crops and test market-based solutions for lowering emissions linked to nitrogen from manure and fertilizer. Read More
Any investment, from Wall Street to a local park, requires investors to establish expectations for the costs, benefits and timing. They dedicate significant resources to researching and identifying these expectations to optimize their investment decision.
Investing in soil health should be no different.
No one is more accustomed to walking a tightrope of variable weather and economic fluctuations than the American farmer. However, 2020 has been especially harsh on the farm economy.
From floods and fires to trade wars and a global pandemic, the incoming administration will need to provide a swift lifeline to farmers, ranchers and forestland managers, and to Americans who depend on vital food and nutrition programs. In addition to addressing these immediate challenges, there is also an urgent need to invest in longer-term solutions that build resilience to future risks. Read More
Forests are the nation’s largest terrestrial carbon sink, offsetting approximately 15% of carbon dioxide emitted in the U.S. each year. Grasslands, wetlands and coastal habitats also store significant amounts of carbon in soils, sediment and vegetation.
Optimizing that carbon storage will be critical to meeting climate goals, and, with the right financial incentives, can create a new source of rural income. Read More
Agricultural and environmental advocates have joined forces to push Congress to act on climate change. The new Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance developed more than 40 joint policy recommendations for making farms, ranches and forests more climate resilient, harnessing the power of natural climate solutions.
Environmental Defense Fund, American Farm Bureau Federation, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives and National Farmers Union co-chair the alliance, and membership has expanded to include FMI-The Food Industry Association, National Alliance of Forest Owners, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture and The Nature Conservancy. Read More
Virginia is experiencing the highest rates of sea level rise on the Atlantic seaboard, posing a significant risk to 70% of its population that lives along the coast.
Last month Gov. Northam released the Virginia Coastal Master Planning Framework, a roadmap to guide development of the Commonwealth’s first Coastal Resilience Master Plan expected to be released in 2021. The plan will lay out a suite of projects to build resilience and reduce future flood risk to Virginia’s communities, economy and ecosystems. Read More
In some parts of rural Arizona, groundwater is the primary or only source of water for households, farmers and entire communities. But groundwater pumping has caused wells, rivers and springs to go dry.
A study by Arizona’s Department of Water Resources found that areas of Mohave County, which includes Kingman, may have only 60 years of groundwater remaining under certain pumping scenarios. Last month, the U.S. Geological Survey presented a new study showing areas of Mohave County could have over 100 years of groundwater supply.
The USGS study assumed that farmers will switch to less water-intensive crops and that new acreage won’t be converted to farmland. The difference in projections between these studies demonstrates that how we collectively manage and use groundwater matters, leading Mohave County Supervisor Gary Watson to conclude, “time is of the essence.” Read More
