Iowa Farmer Suggests Conservation Provisions for Crop Insurance
Iowa farmer Mark Peterson is on the front lines of the Mid-West’s sustainable agriculture movement. As a farmer in Stanton, IA he knows what is working for and what is hurting the soil health in popular farming practices. In an op ed to the Des Moines Register, Peterson outlines how a couple key changes to […]
Perennial Map: Find Farms in your Area
The Savanna Institute, an agroforestry research and public education non-profit, based in Madison, WI, has started an interactive map to help you find perennial farms in your area. The self-reporting database shows you a map of all the farms in the country using the perennial farming method to maintain the integrity of the landscape and […]
USDA issues Farmer Fair Practices Rules
After decades of waiting, the enforceable follow up to the Packers and Stockyards Act has been introduced by the USDA. This comes in the form of three rules (one interim final rule, and two proposed rules awaiting public comment) hoping to help level the playing field for contract farmers working in livestock, especially poultry. The […]
The Local Motive
Understanding our food system has grown increasingly difficult in today’s globalized world. Everything we could ever want to eat is at our fingertips, regardless of season or location, yet this accessibility is deceiving. Vermont PBS has created a six part series called The Local Motive which looks at Vermont’s local food system through various lenses including: production, processing, distribution, farm to […]
NSAC Ensures Better Loan Access for Farmers through Federal Budget “Anomaly”
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) has won a victory in a trying time in the US Federal Government. Without a comprehensive budget for fiscal year 2017 passed, most funding is stagnated in the continuing resolutions (CRs) the congress passes (temporary budget extensions) to keep the government open until a new budget can be passed […]
Virginia Outdoor Foundation stands up to Atlantic Coast Pipeline
The Virginia Outdoor Foundation stepped into the spotlight when they denied the applications of the Atlantic Coast pipeline from crossing land held by that trust under conservation easements. While the ACP submitted applications to VOF stating their intended crossing followed all regulations and would not change the status of the land, VOF saw it more […]
EU Conference seeks to crack Land Access Question (LIVE STREAM 12/7)
Land Access is a global problem. Across the globe, producers young and old, land owners, governments and non-profits are seeking the solutions to the ever pressing question: how can we guarantee land to the next generation of farmers? The ECVC, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Greens/EFA Group of the European Parliament is putting […]
Conservation County: San Diego protects 293 acres of Farmland through Conservation Easements
On November 16th the Board of Supervisors of San Diego County voted unanimously to approve the purchase of conservation easements on nearly 300 acres of farmland in the Pauma Valley and Ramona. These in-demand areas have tremendous pressure for development. The county’s efforts to purchase conservation easements on existing farm and ranch land will ensure […]
Farmland Affordability through Community Land Contribution
In Martin Adams’s new book Land: A New Paradigm for a Thriving World the author tackles the questions about land’s use and values through a plethora of lenses. In chapter 13, Adams delves into the impact of sustainable farming and farm access. Echoing Agrarian Trusts beliefs in land stewardship and the need for a affordable farmland […]
Reinventing the Commons: Social Ecosystems for Local Stewardship & Planetary Survival
Come meet Emma Hempstead, Agrarian Trust’s Agrarian Lawyers Network Shepherd in person at this event and learn more about commons in the modern era! Our friends at the Dynamics Ecological Design are putting on a workshop to answer the question: How can we consciously, creatively, and practically adapt and reintegrate practices and patterns of commoning into our modern cultural […]