Tag Archives: farming

There Is A Family Dairy Farm Crisis

Posted on April 25, 2018 by

Things are bad when the coop sends the suicide hotline number with the milk payment. Milk prices are currently about $15 per hundred weight while cost of production at family farms is more than $22 per hundred weight. Like so … Continue reading →

Posted in Farming | Tagged , , ,

Grit Alone Won’t Protect Local Food Systems

Posted on October 5, 2017 by

The marketplace of home vegetable gardens, community supported agriculture, farmers markets, road side vegetable stands, restaurants, retail interests and direct farm sales hasn’t coalesced into a sustainable local food system, and may not. One should never doubt the resilience of … Continue reading →

Posted in Farming, Local Food | Tagged , ,

Organic Food’s Sticky Wicket

Posted on July 17, 2017 by

When people think of local food, most have seasonal sweet corn and tomatoes in mind. That hasn’t changed much in years. The quest for good-tasting food that does no harm has also been around for a long time. Organic food … Continue reading →

Posted in Farming, Local Food, Organic Foods & Farming, politics | Tagged , , , ,

An Iowa Onion Trimmer

Posted on August 19, 2016 by

Between picture perfect onions and the compost heap lies an opportunity. A friend grows onions using organic practices as part of a Community Supported Agriculture project. Onions are harvested from the field then dried in the greenhouse for storage. Sorting, … Continue reading →

Posted in Farming, Labor | Tagged , , , ,

Women Protecting Pollinators, Protecting Food

Posted on August 20, 2015 by

Nine fantastic breakout sessions are scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 7, during the 2015 Women, Food and Agriculture Network annual conference in Davenport. Click here to learn more about the conference and to register. On Saturday, learn the basics of starting a … Continue reading →

Posted in Farming, Local Food | Tagged , , , , ,

Iowa Farmers Offer Cover Crop Webinar

Posted on July 28, 2015 by

Practical Farmers of Iowa, Cover Crop Solutions and the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation Present Webinar on the Basics of Cover Crops Thursday, July 30, at 1 p.m. Mark your calendar for a webinar to be held on July 30 that … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Farming, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , ,

Resisting CAFOs In Iowa – JFAN

Posted on August 8, 2014 by

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Jefferson County Farmers and Neighbors (JFAN) is a nonprofit community organization composed of rural and town residents, and traditional family farmers. Their common concern is to stop the growth of CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) factories in Jefferson … Continue reading →

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Feeding The World–Iowa-Style

Posted on July 25, 2014 by

Iowa Can’t Feed the World; Local Producers Can’t Either The frequent jeremiad of big agriculture is about propping them up so Iowa farmers can feed the world. Political speeches at the recent opening of a first of its kind biorational … Continue reading →

Posted in Farming, Food Insecurity, Local Food | Tagged , , , , ,

Iowa Agriculture Won't Feed The World

Posted on June 17, 2014 by

Some of us are not over replacing James Harlan with Norman Borlaug in the National Statuary Hall. Give me a Free Soiler, abolitionist and friend of Abraham Lincoln over agriculture’s “greatest spokesperson” to represent the State of Iowa any day. … Continue reading →

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New Study on Bee Colony Collapse

Posted on July 26, 2013 by

A new study indicates that identifying and resolving the environmental issues surrounding bee colony collapse disorder in the United States is more complicated than banning a class of insecticides (neonicotinoids) as has been suggested in social media and elsewhere. What … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Farming | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment