|
Good, D. farmdoc daily (5):226, Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, December 7, 2015 ~ Estimates from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), indicate that U.S. production of fuel ethanol totaled 14.313 billion gallons during the 2014 calendar year. That is 1.02 billion gallons more than produced in 2013 and .............. read more
 Country Living News, Nov. 23, 2015 ~ As the nights draw in and we retreat indoors, spare a thought for our feathered friends outside. Much as we are inclined to do, birds must fatten up in winter to ensure a reserve toasty enough to survive the frostiest of nights. Now more than ever, your local and visiting birds will appreciate any food you can offer but as with all wildlife, it’s important to know the right things to provide and what to avoid............... Read more
 Teresa Opheim, The Des Moines Register ~ The United States will experience a monumental shift in farmland ownership. Thirty-one percent of U.S. agricultural land is owned by non-operator landlords. In Iowa, 35 percent of Iowa farmland is owned by people over 75 years of age. At the same time, there is a surge in those who are wanting to farm. Practical Farmers has 1,600 of these beginning farmers in its network alone.
What’s to be done? Well, if you own farmland, how about a little soul searching about the future of that land? What matters most for Iowa, for agriculture? Could you seek out and sell that land to the next generation of farmers? Practical Farmers has just announced its Farmland Owner Award winner for 2015: Siblings Faith Sherman of Des Moines, Dale Nimrod of Decorah and Vance Nimrod of Mississippi. They sold the farmland they inherited, and sold their farmland to a local farm family at a below-market value price. The Farmland Owner Award is given to non-operator landlords who use their land to advance stewardship and help get the next generation started on the land. With this award, Practical Farmers is calling attention to the huge role non-operator farmland owners play in the future success of sustainable agriculture.............  Fred Perlak for Monsanto ~ From Ancient Rome to present-day Africa and beyond, famine has left tragic marks throughout human history. In the mid-twentieth century, we stood at the edge of what could have been an unprecedented disaster: lack of food for as many as one billion people.
The work of two brilliant, dedicated scientists played a pivotal role in averting this impending disaster and developed wheat and rice varieties that withstand challenges that often destroy harvests....
|
RSS Feed