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Greenhorns! It's no secret that the National Young Farmers Coalition goes to Herculean efforts for young farmers across the country, from fighting lobbyists from big ag to make sure the farm bill addresses the needs of small farmers to advocating their chaps off for farmer student loan forgiveness programs. Now, it's time to help them […]

Who? This conference will bring together service providers, policymakers and advocates working on land access, farm succession, conservation, beginning farmers, tenure arrangements, and farm landowners. What? This national conference will explore the issues surrounding land access, tenure and transfer. Topics include tenure innovations, farmers without successors, affordability, special populations, public policy, equity challenges, and more. This event […]

Last week the Rodale Institute announced that it was launching the Organic Farmers' Association, headed up by Elizabeth Kucinich, Board Policy Chair for Rodale Institute. From the regional organic farmer associations to the Organic Trade Association to NYFC to your humble Greenhorns here, there sure are a lot of associations composed of or supposedly representing farmers. So maybe […]

This just in from the Organic Consumers Association newsletter: DARK Act Comeback? Everybody loves a Comeback Kid—unless that "kid" is the DARK Act. In March, the Senate voted down the DARK Act, the bill that would Deny Americans our Right to Know about GMOs. Since then, Monsanto and its front groups, the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) have been […]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rtySUhuokM] In 13:22 gloriously-illustrated minutes, Berkeley professor Ananya Roy takes our assumptions about welfare and poverty to task.

Time to pay attention. You can stream the debate here: https://youtu.be/RVHmox70vbI One thing we noticed: ZERO mention food, farmers, or agriculture -  not in the context of public health or climate change. We are also not sure why CNN isn't hosting a easy-to-find full length debate video and lively comment section! The media prefers to offer you the soundbytes - instead […]

Before it was over, the Salmonella outbreak of 2008-2009 infected hundreds of people, killed nine, and was traced to peanut butter from the Peanut Butter Corporation of America. Seven years later, the CEO of the company, Stewart Parnell, has been sentenced to 29 years in prison for his role in the outbreak. Parnell, his brother, and […]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh3LWzRCnzQ] This. Conversation. We think it's the one the whole country should be having. (Get money out of politics. It's a no brainer.) This

Seeing as the the USDA's worker-training about pesticide safety still (very necessarily) includes the above image and instructions, we couldn't welcome these development more. The new revisions to EPA standards "give farmworkers health protections under the law similar to those already afforded to workers in other industries." You can read the full list of revisions […]

On one hand you have an established order that, while quick to conjure its Populist origins, appears threatened by the kind of grassroots change it once championed. On the other, a contingent of rogue Grangers—progressives decidedly less interested in nostalgia than their national counterpart—attempting to breathe new life into an aging system that doesn’t seem […]

Who protect the organic industry from besmirchment and collusive bad boy behaviors by watchdogging mercilessly. Good for the small start-ups among us, really.  Though sometimes hard to like it. Connect Your Career and Your Heart --- Organic Farming Champions Wanted (locations: virtually-officed/national and Wisconsin) The Cornucopia Institute is a farm policy research group focused on […]

this is the cluster of bills I keep talking about. Young would-be farmers have a tough row to hoe by By GABRIEL SILVERMAN in the News Observer ASHINGTON -- The average age of the American farmer has been rising for decades and now is edging toward 60, as rural youth traded work in soil for […]

Looking to get involved in the National Young Farmers' Coalition? Guess what...WE are looking for collaborators, particularly when it comes to reading, evaluating, interpreting and accessing policy documents. We are also looking for bloggers for the NYFC blog. Interested?  Email [email protected]

FARM FINANCING: Helping New Farmers Scale the Capital Access Barriers Monday, May 9 from 12pm - 1pm Dorothy Suput, founder and executive director of The Carrot Project, will summarize the findings and recommendations of a national working group on farm financing, whose report Farm Financing: Opportunities to Improve the Financial and Business Environment for Small […]

lots of times people wonder how this local food movement is going to 'Feed the masses' Those of you here likely have your own favorite answer to this question, but recently mine has had to do with Succession. the succession of local farm operations, that grow more sophisticated, more logisticated, more formalized and diversified with […]

Greenhorn Olivia Sargent just wrote this piece for Civil Eats.  How do you fit into our food economy? Changing Roles in the Local Food Economy The DIY craze has shacked up with the local food movement to produce some inspiring examples of entrepreneurialism: Mason jar magic made by suburban fruit salvagers powered by pedals; workshops […]

The Garden Cycles Bike Tour Presents: Faces From The New Farm Liz Tylander, Lara Sheets and Kat Shiffler are the Garden Cycles Bike Tour. In the summer of 2007, these quirky ladies took off on bikes and filmed what would become a 35-minute film chronicling their 2,000 plus mile journey in search "the new American […]

here are some resources for this important component of your farm. from a Washington State agronomist. Cover Crop Chart - Remember it's 48 pages - before you press the print key.... http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=20323 Youtube Webinar http://www.youtube.com/user/NCATATTRA#p/u/2/zjI2zWf4uMI ATTRA video Innovative No-Till: Using Multi-Species Cover Crops to Improve Soil Health http://www.attra.org/video/index.php#vids

WE STAND UNITED IN OPPOSITION TO GE ALFALFA We stand united in opposition to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) decision to once again allow unlimited, nationwide commercial planting of Monsanto's genetically engineered (GE) Roundup Ready alfalfa, despite the many risks to organic and conventional farmers. Last spring more than 200,000 people submitted comments to […]

If you like the greenhorns blog, and support young farmers, and feel connected to entrepreneurship in agriculture: PLEASE ACT TODAY. BREAK THE BEEF PORK POULTRY TRUST. Please take a few moments of your day this Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday to call the White House and tell President Obama that you support the proposed Fair Livestock Competition […]