farmers

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

ENVIRONMENT, POLITICS

Is Washington Listening? – Young Farmers Can Help The US Meet Its Climate Goals

A new survey shows that 86% of US farmers under 40 practice regenerative agriculture. But many — especially farmers of color — struggle to access land and capital. At Sanctuary Farms on Detroit’s East Side, Jøn Kent and a team of volunteers use cardboard and paper bags to starve invasive weedy plants instead of herbicides; they plant marigolds and lavender amid squash, melons, and collards instead of pesticides; and turn food scraps into lush, clean compost. He and his business partner, Parker Jean, wanted to grow fresh produce for their working-class community, which Kent describes as a “food desert.” They also wanted to make sure their farming practices didn’t contribute to the area’s water pollution crisis. “In Michigan, we have been left with polluted waters in Black neighborhoods fr...

Farmers Are Being Paid By The Government To Deplete The Ogallala Aquifer

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

ENVIRONMENT, VIDEO REELS

Farmers Are Being Paid By The Government To Deplete The Ogallala Aquifer

A slow-moving crisis threatens the U.S. Central Plains, which grow a quarter of the nation’s crops. Underground, the region’s lifeblood – water – is disappearing, placing one of the world’s major food-producing regions at risk. A center-pivot sprinkler with precision application drop nozzles irrigates cotton in Texas. USDA NRCS/Wikipedia The Ogallala-High Plains Aquifer is one of the world’s largest groundwater sources, extending from South Dakota down through the Texas Panhandle across portions of eight states. Its water supports US$35 billion in crop production each year. But farmers are pulling water out of the Ogallala faster than rain and snow can recharge it. Between 1900 and 2008 they drained some 89 trillion gallons from the aquifer – equivalent to two-thirds of Lake Erie. Deplet...

Despite Trade Wars And COVID-19 Most US Farmers Remain Loyal To Trump

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

BUSINESS, POLITICS

Despite Trade Wars And COVID-19 Most US Farmers Remain Loyal To Trump

U.S. farmers have suffered a lot in the past few years: The trade war with China, natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic have all resulted in substantial losses for many producers. Farmers overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump in 2016 and remain critical to his reelection in many swing states such as Iowa and Minnesota. But given the impact of all that’s happened, will they stick with the president in the November elections? We’ve conducted extensive research on American farmers in recent years through surveys and one-on-one interviews. We’ve also examined the impact of the U.S.-China trade war. While the economic costs have been steep, Trump has found a way to make it up to them: record subsidies. And that’s why we believe most U.S. farmers will stay loyal to Trump. Falling export...

A New Generation of Black Farmers Is Returning to the Land

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IMPACT

A New Generation of Black Farmers Is Returning to the Land

They are working to repair harm inflicted over the past 400 years, with an eye toward reparations. “Imagine your neighbor stole your cow. A few weeks later the neighbor comes over, laden with remorse, to offer a sincere apology and a promise to make it right. The neighbor offers to atone by giving you half a pound of butter every week for the rest of the cow’s life. What do you think of that?” The challenge was issued by Ed Whitfield, board member of the Southern Reparations Loan Fund, during the E.F. Schumacher Center lectures in 2018. His audience was unanimous in its response: “We would want our cow back!” And the United Nations agrees. The UN Principles on Reparations and Immunity, which provides basic guiding principles around gross human rights violations, holds t...