Factory Farms and Antibiotics

A well-researched article on factory farms, antibiotic use in animals, and the implications to humans.
http://baltimorechronicle.com/2009/080309Keiger.shtml

USDA Budget

63% of the USDA budget goes to nutrition programs.

Chicken Manure

An interesting set of Frontline interviews with various parties commenting on Chesapeake Bay chicken operations.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/poisonedwaters/themes/chicken.html

USDA Office of Ecosystem Services and Markets

An  interesting article about early ideas from the new Office at USDA.
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2009/02/03/new-us-office-takes-fresh-approach-to-carbon/

Food Safety?????

An article on HR 875 The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009
http://www.alternet.org/environment/135002/will_new_food_safety_bills_really_outlaw_backyard_gardening_and_end_farmers%27_markets/

A 50-Year Farm Bill

Published on January 4th in the New York Times by Wes Jackson and Wendell Berry
The extraordinary rainstorms last June caused catastrophic soil erosion in the grain lands of Iowa, where there were gullies 200 feet wide. But even worse damage is done over the long term under normal rainfall — by the little rills and [...]

USDA Announces New Office of Ecosystem Services and Markets

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18, 2008–Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer today announced the intention to establish a new USDA Office of Ecosystem Services and Markets and the creation of a federal government-wide Conservation and Land Management Environmental Services Board to assist the Secretary of Agriculture in the development of new technical guidelines and science-based methods to assess environmental [...]

Obama and McCain on Agriculture

Last minute update before the election on Obama and McCain positions on agriculture.
Ag Positions

Grain Farmers

I just read John Phipps most recent blog about farm finances, fertilizer prices, etc. (http://johnwphipps.blogspot.com/) and realized it sounds a lot like someone trying to explain our recent banking industry. John’s a smart guy who I respect…so I’m worried.
First, it was confusing….lots of stuff that sounded like speculation and manipulation. Second, it was complicated….not complex [...]

Iowa Farmland

As you might readily image, the life of an Iowa farmer has changed….expanded acreage, new high tech machines, the push to biofuel production, and the increasing cost of farmland.
The cost of farmland, and the competition for rental and purchase, is evidently changing the rural ethic…creating a new ‘pushiness’ in rural America.
The New York Times just [...]