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Farm and Biofuel Reports

United States

Many U.S. school cafeterias either don't get health inspections or get too few.

The 2007 Farm Bill is going to focus an awful lot on food crops, a.k.a. specialty crops, rather than the usual industrial input staple crops, a.k.a. program crops, that normally get funding and attention. Last Tuesday, at the House Agricultural Appropriations Subcommittee, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Connor went so far as to describe nutrition program spending on fresh fruits and vegetables as "unprecedented," the department having noticed that there's food beyond dairy and grain.

A Farm Bill initiative by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) would allow subsidized staple crop producers to grow fruit and vegetables. The previously linked article notes that this specific provision has led to specialty crop producers to argue that it will create unfair competition and that they don't want their industry affected by government subsidies and price supports, only a reasonable share of research and education funding. But good for Pence on at least one count: we should just say 'no' to monoculture folks, just say no.

More on the possibility of turning manure into fiberboard for home construction.

Carl Flatow at Grist says that promoting urban agriculture is good not only for promoting local food purchase, but educating people about where food comes from and how it's grown.

Henderson County, North Carolina, is looking for ways to keep their farms. Developers continue to find the area's farms to be attractive places to set up tract housing.

Why organic farm practices should be an important part of wildlife conservation, family farm preservation and nutrition strategies:

Years ago, when Bill Arnold's father began farming with synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, he noticed fewer rabbits hopping around on his Sipesville farm.

Earlier this week, however, Bill Arnold saw five rabbits in one morning on the dairy farm. On the same day, he almost stepped on a dove. He's crediting the resurgence in wildlife to organic farming practices he's implemented at Dormel Farms.

... The most immediate financial benefit of selling organic milk was the high price Horizon pays its producers for their milk. Organic milk brings a price of twice as much as regular milk. Horizon is paying Arnold $30 per 100 weight of milk, while conventional dairy farmers receive an average of $12 to $15 per 100 weight.

... For his wife, Lori, the issue is simple. As a mom, she said she likes to know she's feeding her children good food. Other moms she talks to feel similarly, she said. ...

The Seven Springs organic farm in Virginia supports an on-premise community garden and provides organic gardening supplies. Considering the vast amount of chemicals that are put on the nation's laws, this part seemed particularly interesting:

... This business caters to backyard gardeners, landscapers, vineyard and orchard owners and farmers. “They buy our products because they want to have cleaner food or need to be certified organic, and they need a source,’’ explained Juftes. One such person is Clark Vest, who owns All Phase/Affordable Lawns in Christiansburg and has offered an organic lawn care service for about a decade.

Vest found that attending seminars in his industry was frustrating when it came to garnering organic information. “Ron educated me about what it took to become certified,’’ he said. But more importantly, Vest said he has found that his organic program has been a success. “We found that when we started applying organic material to lawns, it greatly reduced the need for herbicides and insecticides. It increased root depth and made sick grass better. Chemical fertilizers tend to bring roots to the surface, and organics increase root depth and make them stronger and more drought resistant.’’

... Juftes feels strongly about organic gardening. “This whole business of lots of people applying lots of chemicals to their lawns is absolute nonsense. They are poisoning pets and their children, and affecting the groundwater.’’ He said the shame is that there are so many alternatives. “Having two dandelions in your yard is not the end of the world. Cancer can be.” ...

Agriculture.com: Looking for advice on selecting a closing disk? Planting estimates have corn plantings up by around 9 million acres and soy down about 5 million acres over last year. NOAA is predicting a high chance of flooding in the upper Midwest and drought in most of the rest of the country.

AgWeb.com: This week in ag notes that around $15 billion in additional spending might be included in the Senate version of the Farm Bill and that soybean rust has hit Iowa. John Phipps thinks that cellulosic ethanol is just a hustle. President Bush tells Brazil that the U.S. ethanol tariff will stay. The estimated daily livestock slaughter. The Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) has been extended for FY 2007.

What confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and bare row crop soil do to watersheds.

Des Moines Register: An ethanol Q&A, just the facts, ma'am. The challenges of commercializing cellulosic biomass ethanol lie mainly in the storage and transport of the high-bulk, low-energy feedstock.

IndyCar is switching to 100% ethanol.

Biodiesel from chicken fat is supplying 5 megawatts of power to the Texas electricity grid.

In Illinois, the Quincy/Adams County Enterprise Zone may be expanded for a new biodiesel plant near the Mississippi river.

Soybean farming representatives are as enthusiastic about biodiesel as corn farmers are about ethanol.

World

Paraguayan women work for sustainable agriculture and gender equity as they face the encroachement of corporate agriculture that uses poisonous chemicals banned for use in the U.S. and a local culture steeped in poverty and machismo.

The Canadian government in British Columbia looks into enforcing stricter farm worker safety rules after an overloaded truck crashed, killing three of its occupants.

A series of workshops on farm diversification will soon be held for farmers in Norfolk, England.

I, for one, welcome our new biodiesel monoculture overlords.

Isn't this just the cutest little Canadian biodiesel co-op you ever heard about? Okay, it's probably the only one you've ever heard about. But there are 16 people in it. On an island. Just adorable.

Bird Flu News: A 65th human victim dies in Indonesia, where the virus is widespread among birds, and the World Health Organization confirms the death of a second human victim in Laos. Nigeria's Ministry of Information is planning a mass public awareness rally to educate people about bird flu. A 54th bird is diagnosed in Kuwait, though no human victims as yet. Strontium in bird feathers might be useful in tracking migration patterns and hence, the travel of avian influenza. Burma culls 1,500 chickens after several dozen poultry deaths, though the government has as yet found no human cases.

Natasha is currently an intern with the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, an organization dedicated to outreach and education in sustainable agriculture and food systems issues. The opinions expressed in this post are her own and are not representations on behalf of MFAI. For regular legislative alerts about food sustainability issues, sign up with the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture.

Posted by natasha at March 18, 2007 10:00 AM | Agriculture | Technorati links |