Blog

Shiny New Tool Library at farmhack.org! After receiving a SARE grant in partnership with UVM this past spring to improve functionality of our Tool documentation platform, this summer has been a big web development push for Farm Hack.  We have just launched a re-design of the Tools section of the website. The new version is intended to make both […]

From: John Brown Lives! The research is clear: Education reduces recidivism, improves job prospects for individuals once they leave prison and strengthens communities. Since 1995, though, New York has blocked incarcerated individuals from receiving this aid. Our goal is to restore it.​ You can help - sign this petition today! Next month, John Brown Lives! will […]

November 30, 2015 The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC) in collaboration with IBERS, has sequenced and assembled the DNA of red clover to help breeders improve the beneficial traits of this important forage crop. The genome is published in Scientific Reports, a journal from the Nature publishing group. Before industrial nitrogen fertiliser production (from fossil fuels), […]

It may not be a samurai sword, but these tools are about as close to one as you can get! Hida Tool and Hardware Company features exceptional tools from Japan. Hida Tool is your source for woodworking tools, gardening tools, and kitchen knives that continue the metalworking traditions of the samurai sword makers. History of […]

Applications are currently being accepted for UVM's farmer training program! The six-month program offers a certificate in Sustainable Agriculture and provides students with a combination of classroom learning and hands-on experience managing the school's 10-acre education farm. Each year, 25 students are accepted and learn everything from crop rotation to marketing. If you're looking for an learning […]

[vimeo 142048712 w=500 h=281] Farm Hack 2015 from Sylvie Planel on Vimeo.

Does your work connect to land and food? The Harvard Just Food? Forum seeks proposals that focus on issues of land justice in the food system. We encourage proposals that highlight entrepreneurial initiatives and insights, lessons learned, successes, and opportunities to create a more just food system. We are especially seeking panels and workshops that […]

[vimeo 107305950 w=500 h=281] What we eat does more than just fill our stomachs and nourish our bodies; good food lifts our spirits and helps us understand the world a little better. We aim to make the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, and perhaps most important, inspire solutions to the environmental crisis. And nowhere […]

USDA has a new website and you can see it here.  Its purpose is to support new farmers and is pretty awesome. We are thankful for the websites, USDA! What we'd like is a national land bank that holds land in transition and allows young farmers to buy their way into ownership over the course of 30 […]

Great news everone! Farmier is now accepting signups for its farmOS Hosting Service. Sign up now and you can start a 30 day free trial. After 30 days, farmOS hosting will be $50 per year. This is a special price for the beta period, so sign up now! What is "farmOS Hosting," you ask? You're […]

There are 9 farms in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park that are part of a special program called the Countryside Initiative. These Park farms are committed to sustainable agriculture, and work with their park partners to be good land stewards. Earlier this year, the Countryside Initiative Request For Proposals (RFP) opened for two new farms. All […]

Check out this new free app to help connect communities to their local landscapes!  With real-time plant identification, this could be a wonderful tool to promote plant, flower and tree biodiversity. Available for android and iphone, click here to download this free app!

We are SO HAPPY to see continued discussion of SAIL FREIGHT! As you may remember, we've been obsessed since our first sail freight project in VERMONT a few years ago, and then again in with Maine Sail Freight this past August. Like they said in the Portland Press Herald: "It's art. It's protest. It's celebration. And, who knows? […]

8 minutes. It only takes this man 8 minutes.

Starting a career in regenerative agriculture? Want to develop technical skills in grassfed beef production, dairy management and cheesemaking, or heirloom fruit tree cultivation and holistic orchard management? The wonderful folks at the Quivira Coalition are seeking applicants for their New Agrarian Program's eight-month (March to Nov 2016) on-site apprenticeships at San Jaun Ranch in Alamosa, CO; James Ranch […]

Rewild! Escape from Monomania by: George Monbiot October 17, 2015, Rural America Most human endeavours, unless checked by public dissent, evolve into monocultures. Money seeks out a region’s comparative advantage—the field in which it competes most successfully—and promotes it to the exclusion of all else. Every landscape or seascape, if this process is loosed, performs […]

Calling all farmers and landowners! Are you a farmer looking for land to lease? What about a landowner who wants to lease your land? If this sounds like you, join Piedmont Environmental Council for one of two free workshops to learn more about leasing land, hear stories about current lease arrangements, and network with other […]

Application deadline is November 1st. Fellowship dates: January 11 – 14, 2016  Location: Stoneville, North Carolina What: A holistic leadership development program for young North American faith leaders (we define "faith leader" broadly) who are exploring vocational issues focused in the areas of food justice, sustainable agriculture, climate change, and ecological resilience. Why: There are […]

Calypso Farm and Ecology Center, located in Fairbanks, Alaska, is now accepting applications for their 2016 farmer training program! Calypso's Training Program is an intensive experiential education program focused on providing the skills, inspiration and experience necessary for participants to embark on starting their own small farm with confidence. A small group (5-6 people) of […]

[vimeo 131463009 w=500 h=281] Putting food from local farm fields onto dinner tables in Polson, Montana, (pop. 5,000) is about healthy eating and a whole lot more.The Polson Food Hub, part of the Montana Co-op, is a place where people not only pick up locally produced food, they might also stop by to take boxing lessons, […]

Although his jokes are goofy, he makes some very important points. Thank you for bringing these issues to the mainstream, John Oliver.

The MSU Farmer Field School is comprised of intensive one and two day hands-on workshops. They are tailored to deliver in-depth, practical information building on the decade of farmer training on-going at the MSU Student Organic Farm and the wealth of knowledge in Michigan’s farming community. Experienced farmers and premier agriculture educators from our region […]

Here is an awesome video series on food in California. Topics include: the health of farming families , UC Santa Cruz's farm program, school lunches for food justice, the pollinator project at Full Belly Farm, wage justice in the restaurant industry, monitoring ocean acidification with oysters, the history of Chinese food, and wild edibles as meaningful […]

The next generation of fisherpeople are facing policies that force consolidation, privatization, and corporate takeover of the ocean and rights to fish. In 2010, the New England Fisheries Management Council implemented a Catch Share policy to manage New England's fish populations. At the time, the council promised protections against Fleet Consolidation for family fisherpeople. The […]

The fourth annual Fibershed Wool & Fine Fiber Symposium November 7th, 2015 • Dance Palace, Point Reyes Station 10:00 am to 6:00 pm In addition to hands-on activities and demonstrations, there will be informative presentations on collaborations between fiber farmers and designers, as well as on carbon farming, soil carbon sampling and drought tolerant breeds. […]

The Drake University Agricultural Law Center, in cooperation with the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, will host a two-day, state-wide conference on soil and water conservation policy. The conference will bring together individuals and organizations working to protect Iowa’s soil and water resources to consider the role of policy and law in shaping our stewardship […]

As scientists struggle to count fish, and conservationists attempt to save them, America’s oldest fishing community – Gloucester, Massachusetts is dying. Fishermen are losing their livelihood and even their homes. Last year, NOAA imposed a historic cut to the cod quota — a 78% catch reduction. Then, on Nov. 10, 2014 — the U.S. government […]

This absolutely mind-blowing APP, called Marine Traffic, shows real-time information about maritime traffic into and out of ports all over the world. It is an open-community based project, and costs $3.00, which we think is well worth the money. Next, we need one for semi-trailers and 18-wheelers. Interested in learning more? Check out the APP's FAQ […]

Are you a new farmer serious about pursuing a farming career in Maine?  Could your farm business benefit from 2 years of free hands-on training, technical support and mentorship from some of Maine’s best organic farmers and experts? If so, submit an application to the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association's Journeyperson Program! Over the […]

Birthing a New Compton Matthew Williams, September 14, 2010, KCET '"My neighborhood, explain it...it's joy, peace, love, and happiness, and the best riding we can do," Richland Farm resident and town horseshoer, Andrew Johnson explains at the end of Birthing a New Compton, a short documentary video produced by high school students from Environmental Charter High […]

Calling all sheep and goat enthusiasts! Mark your calendar to spend the weekend learning from featured speakers, veterinarians and crop experts at Cornell University. Don't be afraid to get dirty with hands-on learning opportunities, covering everything from eartagging to foot rot. The three day symposium will wrap-up with two tours at local sheep farms where you […]

Scientists at the Climate/Energy Design and Research institute (CEDAR) have just announced the discovery of an astounding new energy source that promises to solve several of humanity’s thorniest dilemmas at once. “This is a paradigm-shifting moment,” says Dawn O’Newday, the engineer in charge of the project. “Whatever your game is, this changes it. Big time.” […]

Schematic of farm environment using co-management approach for food safety and environment. In 2006, a deadly Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak in bagged spinach was traced to California’s Central Coast region, where >70% of the salad vegetables sold in the United States are produced. Although no definitive cause for the outbreak could be determined, wildlife was […]

The Northern New York Agricultural Development Program has funded a number of projects evaluating ways to extend the growing season and crop options for high tunnel farmers in Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties; photo: Michael Davis, Willsboro Agricultural Research Farm. Can cucumbers, basil, ginger, green beans and zucchini be more profitable […]

FarmHack, a Greenhorns open-source, easily accessible platform that allows members to interact, debate and build on each other’s innovations to common farm problems, received some great press from Holly Black of Sustainable Food Trust in regards to an event in the UK this past April. Here is an excerpt from the full article: Is technology the […]

Across Canada and the United States, women are becoming leaders in the agricultural industry. They are passionately involved in maintaining biodiveristy on the farm, in the soil, protecting the water and growing and raising food that is wholesome for their communities. Women who farm is a book that celebrates these women.  We want to hear your […]

An insult to all things holy and good.

http://bionutrient.org/  

Aerial Imagery Seminars Set for 2015 Empire Farm Days The view from an airplane or drone gives farmers a unique perspective of their land and crops. Daily seminars at 1pm at the new Soil Health Seminar Center at the August 11-13, 2015 Empire Farm Days at Rodman Lott and Son Farms in Seneca Falls, NY, […]

Innovative New Farm School Prepares Students to Feed People and our Planet A new farm school grows up in Sebastopol, CA, preparing a new generation of farmers to grow food in the face of changing climate, mounting challenges for family farmers, and a growing public desire for more sustainable ways to feed our world.