The Economics of Farm Labor Shortages
Looking at farm labor shortages, people often scratch their heads, thinking, “Why can’t native-born Americans do that work? ”
Here’s why.
What Would It Take to Feed the Entire Human Population with Nothing but Mycoprotein?
A little back of the envelope math looking at the production requirements for feeding the world using nothing but mycoprotein synthesized from atmospheric CO2.
Why Cultured Meat Will Not Feed the World (but mycoprotein just might)
It may seem like cultured meat will be one of the best technology options for future sustainable food production. Here we address the misconception that cultured meat somehow will have the capacity to “feed all of humanity” in the near future.
Mass Movement and the ‘Femininization’ of Agriculture
‘Women are the first victims of climate change’, said Dumont at the 4th World Congress on Agroforestry in Montpellier, France, in May, ‘because they depend on tree resources’.
Eating Insects is Good for You –– And the Planet!
To meet the considerable challenge of ensuring food security for the future, it is imperative to find alternative and sustainable sources of protein, both for direct human consumption and for animal feed. Insect-derived proteins are one possible solution. Insects, especially fly larvae, have many qualities that make them well adapted to animal feed.
Convicts Are Returning to Farming – Anti-Immigrant Policies Are the Reason
As current anti-immigrant policies diminish the supply of migrant workers, farmers are not able to find the labor they need. So, in states such as Arizona, Idaho, and Washington that grow labor-intensive crops like onions, apples and tomatoes, prison systems have responded by leasing convicts to growers desperate for workers.
’Livestock Revolution’ Triggered Decline in Global Pasture
As countries develop, demand for meat often rises, increasing the temptation to further expand livestock-grazing areas into new frontiers. But, contrary to many predictions, global pastureland has waned, even in agricultural powerhouses like Brazil and mega-populous countries like China.
Organic Farming with Gene Editing: An oxymoron or a tool for sustainable agriculture?
“I see circumstances under which it could be useful for short-cutting a process that for traditional breeding might take many plant generations,” says Tom Willey, an organic farmer emeritus from California. The disruption of natural ecosystems is a major challenge to agriculture, Willey told me, and while the problem cannot be wholly addressed by genome editing, it could lend an opportunity to “reach back into genomes of the wild ancestors of crop species to recapture genetic material” that has been lost through millennia of breeding for high yields.
How Conservation Can Enhance a Farm’s Financial Health — even in challenging times
Given the current challenging economic outlook, some might assume that farmers will abandon conservation efforts and focus exclusively on their finances. However, many of the financial best practices cited by farmers and encouraged by farm financial advisers are the very same principles that can help farmers continue to improve environmental outcomes.
Scientists Are Working Globally to Make Useful Products from Agricultural Waste
As concern about waste grows, researchers and commercial partners around the world are working to turn what’s now being left behind or burned into new, useful products. By doing so, they hope to not only reduce the adverse environmental impacts of agriculture but also provide a new source of income for farmers.
Can We Turn Sewer Sludge into Something Valuable?
Sewage sludge doesn’t have much value as fertilizer. Could extracting the valuable elements put it to better use?
Looking Back at 2018
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We Don’t Need GE Crops But Africa Does
Robert Paarlberg argues that anti-science environmental groups and corrupt local governments deprive African farmers of the crops needed for progress.
2018 FAFDL Thanksgiving Reader
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SNAP CHALLENGE GOURMET: Stepped Up Mac n’ Cheese
Trying to help a friend with diabetes, a shoestring budget, and press for time do better than boxed mac n’ cheese. This dump and stir recipe might not be health food, but it’s cheap and easy step in the right direction.
In Praise of Bt Corn and RoundUp Ready Soybeans
Don’t apologize for GMO commodity crops. Say it loud and proud: These are the biggest innovations in sustainable agriculture of the last three decades.
Revisiting Acute and Chronic Toxicity Assessments
Alison Bernstein responds with clarification to misuse of her seminal essay on acute and chronic-toxicity assessments.
Silence on Two Neonicotinoid Reports
The EU and member states are moving to ban neonicotinoid insecticides. But two recently released reports on the issue conclude that a ban would push farmers back to using pest control options that are worse for the environment and possibly for bees as well.
Can We Improve Carbon Sequestration in Plants?
And here …The planet’s plants pull CO2 out of the atmosphere and store it in their leaves, stems and roots. Some of that carbon makes its way into the soil, and some of that soil carbon is ultimately mothballed for millennia.
These days, though, “we as humans are putting up so much CO2 that the Earth is not able to compensate,” says Wolfgang Busch, a plant biologist with the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California. Busch is working on a new project: to design plants that can suck even more CO2 out of the atmosphere and lock it away for centuries.
A U.S. Farm Bill Even a Butterfly Could Love?
Before there was a general understanding of the benefits of native vegetation and the risks of invasive plants — introduced species that outcompete other species, spread quickly and alter ecosystems — USDA had a hand in introducing foreign plants that proved aggressive. Long ago, the agency promoted kudzu for erosion control. Now it works to control invasive species and does not provide assistance for planting them. It also actively promotes the use of native species through some programs.