Sustainable Ag News

California rice growers have a new tool to help them deal with drought and environmental change, thanks to University of California researchers. A new crop rotation calculator provides farmers in the Sacramento Valley with information on the financial costs of transitioning fields from rice to four alternative crops: dry beans, safflower, sunflower or tomato. Having the flexibility to rotate to less water-intensive crops is one way for farmers to manage during times when there’s not enough water to grow rice. Rotation can also aid with weed, disease, and insect control. The calculator is a collaborative effort of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, UC Integrated Pest Management, and UC Davis.

University of Maine Cooperative Extension is offering a comprehensive nine-month hybrid (online and in-person) Boots-2-Bushels: Boot Camp for Market Gardeners training program. Participants will acquire the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to successfully grow produce for small-scale private or commercial fruit and vegetable operations. Online training begins January 17, 2023. The program continues twice-monthly through the end of September and includes farm field days throughout the growing season. Registration is open to all beginning farmers; priority will be given to veterans, their family members, and farmers with a disability. Registration closes December 14, 2022.

Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) released a new bulletin, Scaling Up Your Vegetable Farm for Wholesale Markets, that provides a variety of strategies and tools to help owners of small- to mid-scale operations branch out into wholesale markets. The free 16-page publication features a range of effective strategies for business planning, working with wholesale buyers, and increasing production capacity. It offers examples of producers who scaled up to enter wholesale markets and explores how producers can work together to overcome barriers that prevent them from accessing larger markets.
Related ATTRA Tutorial: Scaling Up for Regional Markets

USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Auburn University’s College of Agriculture, and the Auburn Research and Technology Foundation hosted a groundbreaking ceremony in Auburn, Alabama, for a new research facility to house the National Soil Dynamics Laboratory. According to USDA, two new buildings will house research on conservation cropping systems, environmentally sound animal waste management, and global climate change. Research efforts will also focus on improved poultry production practices, cotton disease control, improved forage production, and the use of biochar in agriculture.

The Center for Arkansas Farms and Food (CAFF) is accepting applications to become a Farm Apprentice for 2023. In this program that runs from January through November, a CAFF Apprentice is paired with an experienced farmer in Northwest Arkansas. Before the hands-on experience at the farm begins, CAFF Apprentices complete 21 online educational classes to learn the basics of farming from successful farmers. The priority placement deadline for applications is December 1, 2022.
Related ATTRA resource: ATTRA Internship Hub

The Illinois Sustainable Ag Partnership has launched an interactive Conservation Story Map to showcase sustainable agriculture efforts in Illinois and facilitate connections to support healthy soil, clean water, and profitable farms. ISAP’s Conservation Story Map features farmers, service providers, conservation specialists, research, and demonstration sites across the state of Illinois that are successfully adopting, exploring, or promoting conservation cropping systems and conservation drainage management. Its purpose is to connect farmers with service providers or other local farmers willing to share their expertise. Users can filter map profiles by geographic location, 11 different conservation practices, over 20 agronomic services, and several beneficial outcomes of conservation cropping systems.
Related NCAT Resource: The Regenerator’s Atlas of America

Scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), are testing microbial fuel cells to power soil-moisture sensing systems on farms. The microbial fuel cells, also known as mud batteries, gather energy from bacteria that live in soil using a power-harvesting chip. The researchers are working to refine chips designed for other uses for this application. In field testing at the UCSC farm, the mud batteries are teamed with low-cost soil-moisture sensing technology to create a rugged, long-term moisture monitoring system that also provides an indication of soil health based on the soil bacteria’s performance.

Research by a University of Illinois graduate student explored the linkage between midwestern grassland birds’ population decline and a regional transition from grazing to row crops. John Strauser spent three years looking at how to address the economic, social, and community motivations needed to return marginal lands to forage production in support of wildlife interests. Data collected from farmers and landowners in Illinois and Wisconsin identified barriers to increasing grazing, such as economic pressures, safety concerns of the aging farm population working around livestock, and pressures related to community and social norms. However, local stakeholders also identified opportunities connected with increased grazing, including lower-cost opportunities for young and beginning farmers and income diversification.

A study published by University of Illinois researchers found that sweet corn yields drop significantly in rainfed fields as a result of extreme heat during flowering. With 20 to 30 more days of extreme heat predicted per summer by mid-century in the Midwest, researchers predict that growing sweet corn is likely to become much more difficult. “The reality is that producing sweet corn, one of the most popular vegetable crops in the U.S., will be more difficult in the future. We need to develop new approaches and technologies to help crops adapt to climate change,” says lead study author Daljeet Dhaliwal. Comparisons using 27 years of sweet-corn production data showed that even small temperature changes affected yields more than variations in precipitation. In rainfed regions in particular, every degree day over 30 C during flowering led to an additional yield loss of 2%, but more than one day at 40 C could cause yield to drop by 20%.

USDA encourages urban producers, innovative producers, and other stakeholders to virtually attend the third public meeting of the Federal Advisory Committee for Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production on November 29, 2022. The Committee will discuss recommendations it intends to submit to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to remove barriers to urban and innovative producers and increase access of urban and innovative producers to USDA programs and services. Register by November 28, 2022, to attend virtually

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is asking for public input on implementation of more than $19 billion provided by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). NRCS asks for comments by December 21, 2022, on how to target program benefits, quantify impact, and improve program delivery and outreach, especially for underserved producers. Specifically, NRCS is asking for public input on to how to best maximize benefits for climate mitigation, including targeting practices and programs that provide quantifiable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, NRCS is requesting feedback to help identify strategies and provide recommendations on how to maximize, target, monitor, and quantify improvements to soil carbon, reductions in nitrogen losses, and the reduction, capture, avoidance, or sequestration of carbon dioxide, methane, or nitrous oxide emissions associated with agricultural production. NRCS is also seeking ideas for how to further streamline and improve program delivery to increase efficiencies and expand program access for producers, especially underserved producers.

Montana State University’s Food Product Development Lab is inviting all Montana specialty crop producers, processors, retailers, food services, R&D, and nonprofits to participate in a 10-minute survey that will help in work to advance the food systems. Respondents will receive a $25 gift card for completing the survey.

USDA invested $59.4 million to support the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program‘s (GusNIP) Produce Prescription and Nutrition Incentive programs. GusNIP programs strive to improve dietary health through increased consumption of fresh produce, improve individual and household food security, and reduce health care use and associated costs. GusNIP Nutrition Incentive programs provide incentives at the point of purchase among income-eligible consumers participating in USDA’s SNAP and income-eligible consumers participating in other USDA nutrition assistance programs. Eight Nutrition Incentive programs received funding. Produce Prescriptions leverage medical assistance programs to provide “prescriptions” from a health care provider for fresh fruits and vegetables. Forty-three of these projects were awarded funding.

USDA extended the comment period for its proposed rule, “Inclusive Competition and Market Integrity Under the Packers and Stockyards Act,” for an additional 45 days through January 17, 2023. The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register October 3, 2022, with comments originally due by December 2, 2022. USDA is proposing modernized regulations under the Packers and Stockyards Act’s provisions prohibiting undue prejudice, unjust discrimination, and deception to provide for clearer, more effective standards to govern the modern marketplace. USDA is accepting comments at Regulations.gov. Information regarding the proposed rule and commenting process is available in a recorded webinar on the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Fair and Competitive Markets webpage.

USDA National Organic Program announced a new, free, online course on Organic Field Crop Practices, available through the Organic Integrity Learning Center. The Organic Field Crop Practices course provides inspectors and certifiers with a foundational understanding of the basics of soil health; fertility management; strategies for weed, pest, disease control; seasonal field activities; and the possibilities for offering professional organic technical advising services. It can strengthen inspectors’ and certifiers’ understanding of on-farm production practices and equipment, to help in assessing a farm’s implementation of its organic system plan.

The Cornell Chronicle reported on a new project that will pay farmers an incentive to use regenerative agricultural practices for environmental outcomes. The Soil and Water Outcomes Fund involves an initial investment from the Great Lakes Protection Fund to pay farmers from the New York State Corn and Soybean Growers Association to use regenerative agriculture in a pilot project. Cornell University scientists will be involved in designing and building a technology platform to verify implementation and measure outcomes in terms of biodiversity, habitat protection, water quality, soil health, and carbon sequestration. This project builds on an earlier grant awarded to Cornell by the Great Lakes Protection Fund to assess and create new tools to finance regenerative agriculture in the Great Lakes watershed.

Scientists with the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station studied alternative forages to find which performed best during the slump periods in early spring, late summer, and late fall. These are times when traditional forage crops slow their growth in northern New England. Researchers tested several alternative forages, evaluating them on biomass production and nutritional value, including when they were planted in a mixture. In their testing, barley and triticale performed well during the early spring slump, Japenese millet in mid- to late-summer, and canola in early fall. The goal of the study was to identify cover crops that would work well for grazing as supplements to traditional forages during periods of slow growth.

USDA announced the award of $21.6 million in Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture to help small businesses further develop transformative agricultural solutions. Grant funding will support 34 research projects that propose innovative and disruptive solutions on topics ranging from food science and nutrition to natural resources conservation. Four awards in the small and mid-sized farms topic area were for a solar dehydration device, an efficient greens spinner, a ventilation system, and a geothermal heating and cooling system for farmstead applications. A complete list of the funded projects is available online.

In the Center for Dairy Excellence’s latest episode of the “Cow-Side Conversations” podcast, Jennifer Orr, a dairy producer from Harmony Acres in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, shared what sparked her family to enter the value-added space and begin bottling milk from their 170-cow herd. Jennifer now manages the processing side of the business, and her husband manages the herd and overall dairy operation. Jennifer described how they decided to take the first steps into the value-added space and offered other producers advice about beginning value-added dairy processing and navigating regulatory hurdles. This episode is the first in the podcast’s third season.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the appointment of 20 members to the Farm, Ranch, and Rural Communities Federal Advisory Committee (FRRCC), which provides independent policy advice, information, and recommendations to the EPA Administrator on a range of environmental issues that are of importance to agriculture and rural communities. The 20 newly appointed members will join 17 existing members of the committee. Members include representatives from academia, industry (e.g., agriculture and allied industries), non-governmental organizations, and state, local, and tribal governments. Dr. Beth Sauerhaft from American Farmland Trust and Dr. Raymon Shange from Tuskegee University will lead the FRRCC. Under a new charge this year, the committee will consider how EPA’s tools and programs can best advance the agriculture sector’s climate mitigation and adaptation goals, ensuring EPA can best support farmers and ranchers in their efforts to reduce emissions and accelerate a more resilient food and agriculture system.