Recent Content
Are We Ready for Grassland 2.0?
A thoughtful new piece published online by Aeon calls for …
Early-Life Insecticide Exposure Compromises Brain Development in Bees
New science has, for the first time, replicated in a …
A Tale of Two Dairies: Farms at Risk From the Emerging Threat of PFAS Chemicals
“Forever chemical” contamination of groundwater is both extremely hazardous and …
See also:
General
- 2018 story on KQED about the impacts of industrial ag on air quality, “Crops May Contribute More to California’s Smog Than Previously Thought”
- 2015 paper in PeerJ “Significance and value of non-traded ecosystem services on farmland”
- “Sustainability of three apple production systems,” 2001 article in Nature
Climate Change
- New science on climate change, aquaculture and global food security in Nature: Ecology & Evolution (2018)
- Wheat genetics research shows great adaptability and hope for crops resilient to climate change, as reported in August 2018 in ScienceDaily
- NPR reports in August 2018 on concern over reduced nutrient availability caused by our changing climate
- A solution-oriented look at carbon sequestration on ranch lands, summer 2018
- Scientists with the European Commission develop a new predictive model that shows that soil organic carbon stocks will increase in Europe by 2050 with expected land use patterns. They report that changing cropland to grassland sequesters the same amount of carbon as planting tress on old farm fields. Does this give new hope that changes in ag practices (grassmilk dairies, anyone?) can result in meaningful amounts of carbon sequestration, perhaps even mitigating the impacts of climate change? Read their study published in 2016 in Science of the Total Environment here.
Energy
- The Organic Center’s State of Science Review on energy use of organic and conventional ag
- Renewable energy is booming, not so much for the organic industry which still just represents around 5% of the U.S. food economy. This piece from 2017 asks why.
Water
- EWG released new report on nitrate pollution from agriculture in fall 2018
- September 2018, exploring the “irrigation paradox“
- “Influence of Alternative and Conventional Farming Practices on Subsurface Drainage and Water Quality,” Journal of Environmental Quality, 2007
- Organic Orchards Deliver Dual Benefits
- Pesticides All Too Common in Streams and Groundwater
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