To me and perhaps much of the local population, the word "biochar" is just as foreign as the Brazilian turf from which it originates. Near the end of the 19th century, researchers found highly fertile sites in the Amazon that contained astounding
Northeastern woodlands that were once farm fields are currently one of Earth's largest carbon sinks, holding nearly 26 billion tons, but climate scientists are concerned that with ongoing warming trees and soils could become sources, rather than rep
As I read through page after page of food items and materials that preppers should stock up on, I have to wonder, “Have people really thought out what is coming?” I believe we are heading for at least a collapse of the US dollar, if not all fiat curr
Over 5,000 experimental tests have been conducted by Monsanto, Dow, Dupont/Pioneer, Syngenta and BASF that spray chemicals on an almost daily basis on our most valuable lands.
Chickens are big business. In the United States alone 8.7 billion chickens are processed every year. That’s 36 billion pounds (16 billion kg) of poultry of which the average American consumes 50 pounds (23 kg). On such a scale, costs due to inefficie
Linblom was hired by the Peace River Regional District after goat grazing became the only option left to remove the toadflax and prevent it from encroaching on surrounding agricultural crops.
“It’s close to a residential area, so they can’t use thei
In recent years, some workers have started talking about the conditions they face and trying to organize for better ones. Whenever this has happened, the company takes two approaches, Rita tells me. They start with a small raise (most meatpacking wor
Mario Batali, Dan Barber, Rick Bayless, and Alice Waters have had it with our food system. These well-known chefs — along with a group of 70 food movement celebrities, including Michael Pollan, Will Allen, Laurie David, Robert Kenner, and Wendell B
In a last minute addition to the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) has submitted an amendment that would legalize the production of industrial hemp, a potential new bumper crop for U.S. farmers.
Farmers in Colorado are watching their fields dry up amid one of the worst droughts in the state’s history. But just a few feet beneath them, the water is so plentiful it’s flooding basements and causing septic systems to overflow.
In a bottom-up approach to fighting climate change, the indigenous use of mangroves is now leading local and national plans to stem the destruction of land and communities by coastal flooding an
At the rate that acreage devoted to biotech crops is increasing, it won’t be long until maximum saturation is achieved, and genetic contamination unavoidable.
Tomato flavor depends on sugars, acids, and a host of less well-defined aroma volatiles (so named for the ease with which they vaporize, sending scent molecules into the air). Klee's team set out to define the chemicals that are most important to ou
A botanist brings a species of alfalfa from Siberia, to the United States. His hope? The plant survives, and leads to a new winter-hardy alfalfa. But what also happened during this time in the late 1800's, isn't just a story of legend and lore.
For the first time, the genome of the tomato, Solanum lycopersicum, has been decoded, and it becomes an important step toward improving yield, nutrition, disease resistance, taste and color of the tomato and other crops.
On March 23, 2012 the collective of farmers, seed growers and farm groups (OSGATA) supporting organic and non-GMO farming filed an appeal for their case against Monsanto to be heard in The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Man
But plants can't make their own phosphorus; they get all they need at the root-soil interface, in the form of inorganic phosphate (Pi), so one way to maximise the amount of phosphorus in the plant is to turn up Pi uptake by root cells.
We have a centrally managed production system. Few producers. Few suppliers. Even fewer retailers. Even our demand is centrally managed (although brand marketing creates the illusion of choice and desire).
Managed Demand
Few alternatives.
that chlorothalonil killed amphibians, snails, zooplankton, algae, and aquatic plants below estimated environmental concentrations previously deemed safe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The loss of these herbivores and plants freed t
The UN report was not the only study conducted recently favoring small-scale organic farming. Feeding the Future, a report released by the UK's Soil Association, confirmed the UN study with the added focus of organic farming for soil preservation.
When New Zealand reported the disease in 2010, the United States immediately banned all imports of kiwifruit plant material and pollen to keep it from infecting American crops, and so far, the bacteria have not been found in the America. However, if
The oldest agricultural settlement ever found on a Mediterranean island has been discovered in Cyprus by a team of French archaeologists involving CNRS, the National Museum of Natural History, INRAP, EHESS and the University of Toulouse.
Lonicera caerulea is a circumpolar species native to the northern boreal forests and can be found in mountains as well as marshlands. Although harvested from the wild for centuries in Japan and Russia, breeding programs began the 1950’s in Russia and
Thanks to the blessings of nature and good farmers, you and I can enjoy such scrumptious delights as fresh corn-on-the-cob, popcorn and many other variations of this truly great grain.