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New Blood Sparks Identity Crisis for Fraternal Group of Farmers --Jeff Brady, NPR, June 14, 2013. Lots of passionate people are taking up farming these days, motivated by frustration with industrial farming, concerns about the environment, and a desire to build community and local food markets. Some of these new farmers have joined the Grange, […]

Brook Farm backers criticize Glynwood's bid for parcel of land By Jeremiah HorriganTimes Herald-Record Published: 2:00 AM - 06/05/13 NEW PALTZ — At first glance, Glynwood would appear to be the ideal new resident to an alternative-minded community that's shown deep and long support for community farming. Glynwood is a successful not-for-profit farming organization based […]

Dear Artists and Water Workers: In the case that you know international artists working in water reuse, here's a magazine article submission call out.  I am the guest editor for this issue on Art, women, social justice and water reuse, and identifying international artists doing very striking artistic work in water reuse is my task.  Have […]

In this round up of new forms of grocery distribution. A New Wave of Grocery Distribution Models Takes on FreshDirect As New Yorkers grow ever more interested in where their food comes from, a new wave of distribution models has emerged to take on FreshDirect, community-supported agriculture, and the farmers’ market by combining elements of […]

Krispijn van den Dries (28): biodynamic farmer, activist and entrepreneur, he does it all! Read more here.

Have you considered a subscription with the Small Farmers Journal? It is a fantastic publication in large format with exclusive articles, beautiful photos and great artwork. You can read an issue online for free and see if you like it: http://smallfarmersjournal.com/welcome-to-the-small-farmers-journal/

Family bequeaths farm to PFI By Jean Caspers-Simmet, Published 3/05/2013 AMES, Iowa —Tom and Irene Frantzen's desire to preserve their New Hampton land for generations to come led them to bequeath the 300-acre certified organic farm to Practical Farmers of Iowa. They announced the transition plan at the recent PFI conference in Ames. Their voices […]

Wenatchee recognized for lunchroom makeover By K.C. Mehaffey World staff writer  Saturday, May 25, 2013 WENATCHEE — Efforts to improve school lunches offered in the Wenatchee School District have gained statewide attention. Best known is the district’s farm to school food program, which, in its third year, purchased about $70,000 worth of fresh fruits and […]

Modified Wheat Is Discovered in Oregon By ANDREW POLLACK Published: May 29, 2013 Unapproved genetically engineered wheat has been found growing on a farm in Oregon, federal officials said Wednesday, a development that could disrupt American exports of the grain. The Agriculture Department said the wheat was of the type developed by Monsanto to be […]

Antibiotics in livestock raising concerns up the food chain Citing danger to humans, health groups challenge widespread use; FDA resisting demands for change While Sam Spitz's friends were loading up on pizza for lunch, the Whitney Young High School sophomore opted for a chicken Caesar salad. Spitz was in training for a big sophomore baseball […]

Hats off to the New York Times, who dare to face the music, not just laze in the apricot haze of artisan honey on an overpriced panna cotta. Wells Dry, Fertile Plains Turn to Dust By MICHAEL WINES Published: May 19, 2013

Bread of Beirut -- Street Food Series To mark the publication today of Anthony Shadid’s memoir House of Stone – which is full of the tastes and smells of traditional Lebanese cooking – Annia Ciezadlo takes us to her bustling local bakery in Beirut; reveals the mysteries of their best recipes and explains why they […]

27% of Spaniards are out of work. Yet in one town everyone has a job Alasdair Fotheringham  Marinaleda, Spain As Spanish unemployment reaches another record high, the residents of rural Marinaleda could be forgiven for feeling a little smug. In the small village in deepest Andalusia, the joblessness remains firmly – and almost certainly uniquely […]

Hicks Nix Climate Fix By TIMOTHY EGAN Everybody loves a farmer, judging by the popularity of this year’s hit Super Bowl ad about the virtues of those who coax food from dirt. And yet nobody wants to be one, with less than 1 percent of the population claiming it as an occupation. But somewhere among […]

French recession: Farms feeling the pinch A year after French President Francois Hollande was elected, promising growth and jobs, the economy has slipped back into recession. As the BBC's Christian Fraser reports, economic problems are affecting rural workers as much as those in the city. The Lot-et-Garonne region is home to the largest organic farming […]

The Old Farmer's Almanac -- Agrarian Chic In A High-Tech Age By Jack Smith IT WAS A CLEAR AND MOONLIT NIGHT, claimed the witness, and shortly before midnight he saw the defendant load a rock into his slingshot, take aim, and strike his victim right above the eye, killing him. An excited buzz went up […]

Federation of Southern Cooperatives Land Assistance Fund Contacts: Heather Gray  [email protected] / 404 765 0991 www.federation.coop   USDA discrimination by Tom Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-vp-0506voicelettersbriefs-20130506,0,2259372.story In "Easy harvest; A well-meaning USDA program implodes on taxpayers" (Editorial, April 30), the Tribune editorial board chose to give little attention to a deeply unfortunate history of widespread […]

Farm Hands: With a fresh perspective, Colbians join farming's next generation by Molly Pindell, Colby College As the nation’s farmers grow older, fewer young people are turning to agriculture as a career. Meet Colby farmers who are bucking the trend with everything from organic vegetables to rodeo calves.

Congrats to all of our editors and essayists - GREENHORNS: The Next Generation of American Farmers - has just won a 2013 Nautilus Gold Award in the Living Green / Sustainability category!  The Nautilus awards recognize "Better Books for a Better World". From Nautilus: Amidst the turmoil and turbulence in our world today, people everywhere […]

WEDNESDAY, MAY 01, 2013 Discrimination at USDA: Response to New York Times Susan A. Schneider Professor of Law and Director, LL.M. in Agricultural & Food Law University of Arkansas School of Law The New York Times published an article last week titled, U.S. Opens Spigot After Farmers Claim Discrimination. I read the article with interest, […]

Help a journalist out and share what you know! Here's a note from Jason: I am a freelance journalist writing an article on the economics of running a small farm, and am distributing the following survey (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CHJ58CF) in order to collect important information from farmers like you. Please fill out the following survey and share […]

This is the first issue of the Maine Grain and Oilseed Newsletter.  In response to the growing number of questions from farmers regarding the production of grains and oilseeds, we decided that it was best to start a newsletter that will, hopefully, provide timely research-based knowledge to Maine’s producers.  This newsletter will be distributed on […]

This Land Press

The Hunger Game Food banks may compound the very problems they should be solving By Nick Saul Picture a vast warehouse the size of a football field. Forklifts stand loaded with wooden pallets and cardboard boxes tightly secured with heavy-duty plastic wrap. In aisle upon aisle, boxes sit on metal shelves that reach all the […]

The Faith-based, Trickle-down Model of Conservation 4.0 — Michael Soulé Man has lost the capacity to foresee and to forestall. He will end by destroying the earth.                                           – - Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) Wildness.  Recently my wife and I spied on endangered female Leatherback Turtles depositing their ping-pong ball-size eggs at Grande Riviére, Trinidad, […]

An example of excellent journalism. You can only read the original Harper's Magazine Piece, The Way of All Flesh, if you are a subscriber.  But here is  Ted Conover being interviewed about the story on NPR's On the Media: http://www.onthemedia.org/2013/apr/19/going-undercover-industrial-slaughterhouse/. And here is a post he wrote on the Harper's Blog: http://harpers.org/blog/2013/04/on-meeting-our-meat/

Op-Ed: To Recruit a New Generation of Farmers, We’ve Got to Get the Story Right The National Young Farmers Coalition wants to set straight the economic facts of local food production. By Lindsey Lusher Shute, April 16, 2013 In the past year, the mainstream media featured more than a few stories critiquing America’s local and […]

from The Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development Special Topic Call for Papers:        Land for Food: A Focus on Farmland Protection and Land Grabbing Deadline for manuscripts: May 15, 2013, for publication in the fall 2013 issue Sustainable and equitable food systems require adequate volumes of high quality and affordable farmland. Many farmers invest heavily in their […]

via Little City Gardens.  A public hearing is scheduled for tomorrow.  CA greenhorns, take action! Access to land is a crucial issue for small scale farming, both urban and rural, and as we’ve previously talked about here, insecure land tenure has been one of the biggest obstacles we’ve come across in our three years of […]

Agriculture Department mapping Montana’s food system A new interactive online map created by Montana’s Department of Agriculture paints a picture of the potential for improving Montana’s food system infrastructure and providing new economic opportunities for agriculture and locally-grown food products. Based on the outcome of a 2011 economic analysis commissioned by Lake County’s Community Development […]

Obama Signs Monsanto Protection Act Into Law After Promising GMO Labeling in 2007 By Anthony Gucciardi, via NationofChange.org President Obama has signed into law the notorious Monsanto Protection Act legislation hidden inside of the Continuing Resolution spending bill, which protects Monsanto and its genetically modified creations from federal courts. Passing up the chance to veto the bill […]

Farming's New Faces by Daniel Looker published March 20, 2013 on Agriculture.com They are different, yet united by a toughness that farming demands. They are among the newest faces on the nation’s landscape, yet many have a long heritage in growing food. Laurie Schmidt of Nemaha, Iowa, is one. By midsummer of 2012, her face […]

America: Becoming a Land Without Farmers by Evaggelos Vallianatos published May 2, 2013 in Independent Science News The plutocratic remaking of America has a parallel in the countryside. In rural America less than 3 percent of farmers make more than 63 percent of the money, including government subsidies. The results of this emerging feudal economy […]

brought to you by The Land Magazine Demands to “make poverty history”, and the responses from those in power, revolve around money: less debt, freer and fairer trade, more aid. Rarely will you hear someone with access to a microphone mouth the word “land”.That is because economists define wealth and justice in terms of access […]

Published on Monday, March 11, 2013 by The Asian Age Tilling the Soil with Pesticides by Vandana Shiva The ministry of agriculture had organised a conference on Doubling Food Production from February 1-3. The “eminent speakers” invited were not members of International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) or top Indian scientists. Rather they […]

Immigrant Farmers Breaking Barriers in US Midwest In the Midwest, where the immigrant population has soared in recent years, Latino farmers are breaking through cultural and language barriers to operate their own farms. A new US government project is also supporting their efforts. Reporter Anna Boiko-Weyrauch reports on two immigrant farmers’ journeys. Every evening after […]

Flooded rice field is tested as salmon nursery in Yolo Bypass By Matt Weiser Decades of experience have proved that Sacramento Valley rice farmers can use their fields to grow healthy ducks. Now, research under way in the Yolo Bypass aims to find out if they can grow salmon, too. On Tuesday, researchers from UC […]

In the Midwest, where the immigrant population has soared in recent years, Latino farmers are breaking through cultural and language barriers to operate their own farms. A new US government project is also supporting their efforts. Reporter Anna Boiko-Weyrauch reports on two immigrant farmers’ journeys. read + listen to learn more: http://www.theworld.org/2013/02/immigrant-farmers-midwest/ brought to you by […]

In Wired: Analyze This: Design Contest Seeks Your Cheap, Open Source Spectrometers By Nathan Hurst, 03.07.13 Spectral analysis might not really be your thing, but nonprofit science network Public Lab thinks it should be. Formed to provide a community for citizen scientists who want to monitor the health and quality of their surroundings, Public Lab […]

via Catskill Mountainkeeper Two Year Fracking Moratorium Introduced in both NYS Senate and Assembly Yesterday, I joined Senators Diane Savino and David Carlucci at a press conference with other environmental leaders at the Capitol Building in Albany to announce that the Senate's five-member Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) had unveiled legislation that would stop the clock […]