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In Price of Farmland, Echoes of Another Boom By WILLIAM NEUMAN The 80 acres of rich farmland that Jeff Freking and his brother Randy bought near Le Mars, Iowa, on Monday for $10,000 an acre would seem to have nothing in common with a condo in Miami or a house in Las Vegas. But as […]

nice little digestible subsidy piece by mark bittman: NYtimes.com  

someone said this on comfood: "In more and more places there isn't enough money for fixing potholes, much less beautiful landscaping projects." Which prompted an interesting response from daniel. Potholes!  One of my favorite topics. Last time they were mentioned on Comfood was a while back. http://blogs.reuters.com/shop-talk/2009/03/25/pothole-filling-thats-finger-lickin-good/ Interesting thing that I learned from: Follow That […]

More Oregon greenhorns, keeping a great blog! Here's a letter from Eric of Wild Garden Seeds. Wild Garden Seeds grows organic, open pollinated vegetable seeds in Philomath, Oregon, seven miles west of Corvallis. Most of what we grow are various salad crops, including lettuces, mustards, brassicas, chard and beets. The company was started by Frank […]

In the last three weeks. New crops. ALfalfa, sugar beets, ethanol corn. What is going on ? obama? You need us to show you the movement? You need us to get direct up in your space? You need some squealing piglets on the white house lawn? These developments erode the resiliency of our agricultural system, […]

We love hearing from young people who want to farm!  If you're a teen aspiring agrarian and want to share your story, we'd like to hear it: [email protected] Hello, I am Ariel, and I write the blog, The Future Farmer, at http://joyoffarming.blogspot.com/. I am currently in my sophomore year of high school, and I intend […]

Thanks, Alisa, for writing this inspiring piece for us! “Where is the midwife!?!” Erin, a young organic apprentice, jokes as the rolling cackle of a hen sharpens and peaks signaling the arrival of a new egg. I turn and smile at the rusty, little hen tucked in the corner of the tool shed. “Just breath […]

For a market garden in Orange County's Black Dirt region. Greetings, I'm interested in possibly soliciting an investment from you in my farm.   It's a 7 acre plan on, both upland, and bottomland, growing herbs, cut flowers, salad mix, and truck crops.  I'd be retailing at Farmers' Markets, and operating a small CSA.  My […]

In the film. On the land. Surfing it up-- and dealing with the ASIAN CITRUS PSYLLID the best way he can. So since I have seen you last I have moved down to Watsonville (just south of Santa Cruz) to set up a new growing grounds for Four Winds Growers. We have 13 acres total, probably […]

Rooted tells the stories of a new generation of farmers and ranchers in Montana through still photography and written profiles. I began this project in the spring of 2010 as an assignment for a photo-documentary journalism course at the University of Montana. At the end of that course, there was more that I wanted to […]

check 'em out! http://berkeleystudentfoodcollective.org/ Berkeley co-op aims to educate about food choices by Debra Levi Holtz, The San Francisco Chronicle The brightly colored mural of farmers loading fresh fruits and vegetables onto a train illustrates the mission of the city's newest food co-op: to provide healthful alternatives to junk food while educating the UC Berkeley […]

As I said to the berkeley class I spoke to last night: we have to Choose to choose! http://www.theatlantic.com/food/archive/2011/02/why-you-should-care-about-genetically-modified-alfalfa/70557/

This is a well articulated article about the need for more young farmers in Multnomah county, Oregon, informed by an ambitious new program by the county food commission. This is how small government agencies, farmers, activists, service providers AND press can work together to reshape the foodshed. http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2011/01/multnomah_county_farm_incubato.html

Unaffordable land stunts new generation of small farmers in California By Julia Scott [email protected] This story was produced in partnership with KALW 91.7 FM. Tune in to KALW's Crosscurrents at 5 p.m. Monday to hear from California's emerging farmers, or listen to the podcast at http://kalwnews.org. PESCADERO -- In 2005, would-be farmers Nancy Vail and […]

A recent piece on the farm bill: Money Where Our Mouths Are by Ken Cook, Environmental Working Group President Food and agriculture policy always comes down to money: how federal dollars will be prioritized and spent. If anyone needed reminders of this dynamic, 2010 provided at least two. The lesson to be drawn from both […]

if you can read japanese, here's their website: http://www.kf831.com/girls// Young, Female, College Degree -- Farmer published January 9, 2011 in the Daily Yomiuri Online YAMAGATA--With the job market for young graduates said to have entered an "ultra-ice age," farming has cropped up as a potential option for some young women, with at least one farm […]

The Land is written by and for people who believe that the roots of justice, freedom, social security and democracy lie not so much in access to money, or to the ballot box, as in access to land and its resources. It contains feature articles, information on land campaigns, and a Chapter 7 section with […]

Dead Birds Fall From Sky AGAIN In Louisiana, 300 Miles From Arkansas Incident Days Earlier Travis Walter Donovan for the Huffington Post Around 500 dead birds have fallen from the sky in Louisiana, found scattered along a quarter-mile portion of highway in Point Coupee Parish, the AP reports. The discovery is approximately 300 miles south […]

The super expensive inputs, infrastructure, hydrolics and gear of industrial farming... is also vulnerable to theft. These are the risks of stewarding more land than your dogs can guard. it's an older piece from the LA Times, but surely still relevant. Theft of Irrigation Pipes Soars, but Police Efforts Cropping Up by Coll Metcalfe

The ETC Group. A Canadian action group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration get the jive on biochar land grabs and "climate-ready" crops so when these issues come up people say, hey that farmer kid is smart. they're also responsible for  "Who will Feed Us?", a publication about food in the climate crisis (answer: probably peasants, […]

http://www.rimonthly.com/Rhode-Island-Monthly/February-2008/The-Cheese-Stands-Alone/ and coordinator of Seed Circus, Oakland Museum.

new yorker magazine. a profile of our favorite fermentation guru: Ssandor katz.. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/11/22/101122fa_fact_bilger

our tireless artist and a brilliant urban greenhorn - brooke budner. Urban agriculture: S.F. considers allowing sales by Robert Selna, in the San Francisco Chronicle Thursday, December 23, 2010 With all the talk about locavores, victory garden revivals and residents raising chickens and bees, a San Franciscan might be surprised to learn that he can't […]

we hope to get these guys on Greenhorn Radio! which returns to live shows in january.   here's an older story about them. Gemini Farms: Back to the Land By Mark Schiller and Kay Matthews published by La Jacarita News Editor's Note: As the Agricultural Revitalization Initiative (ARI) gets off the ground (see page 3) we […]

African Farmers Displaced as Investors Move In By NEIL MacFARQUHAR Published: December 21, 2010 SOUMOUNI, Mali — The half-dozen strangers who descended on this remote West African village brought its hand-to-mouth farmers alarming news: their humble fields, tilled from one generation to the next, were now controlled by Libya’s leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, and the […]

Leaked document shows EPA allowed bee-toxic pesticide despite own scientists’ red flags by Tom Philpott 10 Dec 2010 It's not just the State and Defense departments that are reeling this month from leaked documents. The Environmental Protection Agency now has some explaining to do, too. In place of dodgy dealings with foreign leaders, this case […]

Amish country... soon to be even an more compelling destination for young farmers Farm Futures Program to Bring Landowners, New Farmers Together Dec 11, 2010 by Jennifer Hetrick in Lancaster Farming EXTON, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) introduced its Farm Futures program last weekend at the Chester County Economic Development Council, […]

Are you a young farmer whose work journal sometimes yields whole prose passages? Do you have some shrewd stories to tell or discerning perspectives to share on the issues of contemporary America's young farmerdom? We've extended the essay deadline for the book project we're working on. We'll be accepting essays until JANUARY 15th. Download the […]

Lindsey Lusher breaks down loan obstacles to young and beginning farmers. Young farmers need help from the USDA—and the next Farm Bill by Lindsey Lusher Shute 15 Dec 2010 in Grist More and more Millennials are rejecting Cubicleville and instead opting for hands-on professions, including farming -- and not a minute too soon. Over the last […]

Agriculture Gets Old: Will The West Run Out of Farmers? A nonprofit helps young farmers break into an increasingly tough business. By Tim Sprinkle, New West Food & Agriculture First, consider the numbers. According to the latest census data, there are about 285 million people living in the U.S., every single one of whom has […]

So maybe there is money to be made in Dairy at the right scale and with the right skills. Crop of Small Dairies Hits Market By Melanie  Grayce West The Wall Street Journal Decades after most small dairies were forced out of business in New York, a new crop of boutique dairies is springing up […]

I've met some of these girlies, agri-bitties who worry that the humane society will destroy american agriculture. At farm bureau training you could easily spot them, size six, power suit, 'funky glasses', heels. SPIN DOCTOR LAMOs Big Meat vs Michael Pollan A beef industry group crusades to stop the Pollan-ation of America's college students. November/December […]

a new book by Tom Rivers. apparently New York Assemblyman Steve Hawley purchased and distributed a copy of Farm Hands to all 212 state legislators in New York. Batavia, N.Y. newspaper reporter Tom Rivers wrote a first-person series about farm work in 2008 that won state and national awards. Now the series, with more background […]

words of wisdom for all you hustle bustling collectives: http://www.anarres.org.au/essays/amndx.htm

CENTER FOR FOOD SAFETY UPDATE: WINNING THE BATTLE ON GMOS IN THE UNITED STATES San Francisco, CA – Today Federal District Judge Jeffrey S. White issued a preliminary injunction ordering the immediate destruction of hundreds of acres of genetically engineered (GE) sugar beet seedlings planted in September after finding the seedlings had been planted in violation […]

Here's a note from our friend & Greenhorn Tasha Bowens, who write a blog called Brown. Girl. Farming. This summer I said goodbye to Washington, D.C., a job, a sweet house, great people, and a guy to transplant myself onto an organic farm and dig barefoot in the mud. Why? Well, the mud splattering was […]

Young Chinese farmers sowing seeds for organic revolution By William Wan, Washington Post IN CHONGMING ISLAND, CHINA The small-scale farmer is a dying breed in China, made up mostly of the elderly left behind in the mass exodus of migrant workers to much higher-paying jobs in industrial cities. But on an island called Chongming, a […]

Activists Submit 240,000 Petitions Demanding Action to Curb Food Monopolies WASHINGTON – On the eve of the final Department of Justice/USDA public workshop examining the effects of corporate concentration in food and agriculture, a coalition of farm and food activists submitted almost a quarter of a million (nearly 240,000) petitions calling on both the Justice […]

this is a region to watch!  Here is a listing of area farms: http://pressrepublican.com/0100_news/x155062778/New-farm-trend-revives-local-industry keep your eyes out for a grange event in the area, greenhorns style, june 2011.

(self-described!) I was just introduced to your web page and am delighted to find like minded people speaking out to those that may be hearing the call to be stewards of the soil. Upon reading your webpage, I found myself struck by an irresistible urge to write and provide you some feedback from the perspective […]