A wonderful, long piece in the April 18, 2018 New York Times Magazine explains how changing land and agricultural management can “sip carbon from the air” and put it back in the soil — improving soil health and a farmer’s profit margin, while mitigating climate change. “Can Dirt Save the Earth?” by Moises Velasquez-Manoff starts with […]
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The Washington State Department of Ecology has once again denied the use of the neonicotinoid pesticide imidacloprid on coastal shellfish beds, as reported in the Seattle Times. A association of oyster growers based out of Willapa Bay in southwest Washington have been fighting since 2015 to be allowed to use imidacloprid to combat an infestation of burrowing shrimp, […]
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In March 2018 Jay Inslee, the governor of Washington state, signed into law a bill that will end farming of non-native Atlantic salmon in the state’s marine waters, as reported by NPR’s food blog The Salt. The move follows the failure of a net-pen aquaculture operation that buckled in strong currents (see the Seattle Times photo, right) on […]
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We have all seen the signs on the gasoline pumps proudly proclaiming “Contains Ethanol.” The U.S. gas supply includes this biofuel derived from corn due a bill passed in 2007, the Renewable Fuel Standard. It mandates that the nation’s gasoline contains a certain portion of corn-based ethanol, courtesy of America’s heartland. At the time, politicians […]
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The debate about whose to blame for the dicamba drift crisis of 2016 and 2017 continues, with a new lawsuit filed in federal court last week taking aim at the Environmental Protection Agency for their approval and regulation of the new dicamba formulations. A recent story in the Wisconsin Gazette describes the suit against the EPA […]
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Thanks to Mark Keating for sharing these sage words on the ODairy listserv. “Many people blame science for our surplus of farm products. They say that science taught us how to grow two blades of grass where one grew before. I think the trouble is that is exactly what science did not teach us. Instead, […]
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We cover today a new estimate of the increase in carbon emissions per year from renewable-fuels-driven land conversion over a five year period (2008-2012) in this “In the News” item. This latest study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison will surely not settle the ongoing debate over whether corn ethanol and soy biodiesel increase or decrease […]
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Note: Thanks to Mary-Howell Martens for permission to share with HA readers her reflections from a speaking engagement at a recent Youth Climate Summit. Mary-Howell is an organic grain farmer who also manages an organic feed and seed business in upstate New York, Lakeview Organic Grains. We had an interesting experience this week, speaking to […]
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Note — Guest blog by Steve Smith, Director of Agriculture, Red Gold, and founder and chairman of the Save Our Crops Coalition (SOCC). It is a lightly edited version of an October 14, 2017 email update sent by Steve Smith to the active members of SOCC. At the request of readers, more information is included on […]
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A significant body of research now suggests that dietary exposure to glyphosate can alter the microbiome in the human stomach. One outcome of shifting the microbiome in the human GI track is what is often referred to as “sour stomach.” Anyone who has experienced a sour stomach knows what it is (but perhaps not by […]
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