By Brian Barth
Late fall, after the last crops have been harvested, is a time to rest and reflect on the successes and challenges of the gardening year. But for those whose need to putter around in the garden doesn't end when cold weather comes, there's surely a few lingering chores. Get them done now and you'll be ahead of the game in spring.
Tool Maintenance
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA4ODc1My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMjgzNzk2N30.xH4pp9AuzBdEKJrjZgpKzl_SIuhLUVzAG-5kmfDPq3g/img.jpg?width=980" id="4f50f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="714609ce8150e039db3a31d74d88f286" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>Tools take a beating during the year, and the offseason is the perfect time to give them a little TLC. At a minimum, wash off the dirt, dry them with a towel, and store them in a rain- and snow-protected place. You may also wish to sharpen cutting blades, and oil the joints on pruners and other hinged equipment. Hardware stores often offer the service for a modest fee.</p>Hose Repair
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA4ODc1Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNTY5ODM1Mn0.5xmze--FN2FTVco252fwsqbXc7OXJUVGOWfSCoR0Pwk/img.jpg?width=980" id="17aed" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="10e570d03c6ad7a27b840bddb82305da" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>Ditto on the TLC treatment for your hoses. There always seem to be a few leaky connections that you never have time to repair throughout the year. Often, all that's required is a new rubber washer in the female end of the hose. Any out-of-commission hoses that were cut or split open during the year can be repaired with an inexpensive coupling, rather than discarding them. You will find hose washers and repair kits at any garden center or hardware store.</p>Mulching
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA4ODc2Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5OTkwNTY0Nn0._-al8MpcaDkYVQHf0M8izLo7lgR5Jjrn7zIDhvTh9Eo/img.jpg?width=980" id="ef70a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="796853ece8704090cc87f52b5447d640" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>Wise gardeners know that bare soil is the enemy. It washes away in the rain and turns into a brick in the summer sun. Late in fall, after the vegetation has died down, is a great time to take stock of the places in the garden that could use a covering of mulch. Besides, you're likely to have some fallen leaves on hand, a free and high-quality form of mulch that enriches the soil more than wood chips.</p>Build Something with Wood
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA4ODc4Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTMwNjQ2Mn0.OQWw9CNw0Ue7Afr4lNAFZdC5VYPcSyss70cbX9DSRD8/img.jpg?width=980" id="697a2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8fcecb95c81fa5a8aaf6ff9a404a1748" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>Not all gardening projects need to take place outdoors. If you have a shed, garage or basement, along with a few power tools and a little carpentry know-how, now is a prime window for building that new planter box you've been dreaming of or the hand-painted birdhouse that your spouse would love as a Christmas gift. Avid gardeners never have time for such indulgences during the growing season, so knock yourself out while you can.</p>
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Pexels
By Dan Nosowitz
It's no secret that the past few years have been disastrous for the American farming industry.
<p>Freak weather, oversupply, trade wars, pesticide damage — it's been a perfect storm, on top of all the regular storms, for American farmers. The American Farm Bureau Federation, commonly just called the Farm Bureau, <a href="https://www.fb.org/market-intel/farm-bankruptcies-rise-again" target="_blank">released a study</a> examining the end result of all of that damage: bankruptcies.</p>
<p>The Farm Bureau, a lobbying group that typically leans to the corporate side of farming, analyzed statistical data from the U.S. Courts concerning bankruptcy filings. For the year leading up to September 2019, American farm bankruptcies were up by a whopping 24 percent compared to the year before. During this mostly-2019 period, there were 580 Chapter 12 bankruptcy filings.</p><p><a href="https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/chapter-12-bankruptcy-farmers-fishermen.html" target="_blank">Chapter 12</a> is a form of bankruptcy filing that was first passed in 1986, specifically for farms or fishing operations. The restrictions are brutal, requiring millions of dollars of debt, so it's even more concerning that so many farmers qualify.</p><p>The Farm Bureau's data analysis drills down further, finding that the highest number of bankruptcy filings were in Wisconsin, followed by Georgia, Nebraska and Kansas. Wisconsin's 48 bankruptcies in 2019 are likely high because of the dairy industry; an estimated 40 percent of dairy farms in the state nicknamed "America's Dairyland" have gone out of business in the past decade, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/09/10/759296506/wisconsin-is-again-leading-the-nation-in-farm-bankruptcies" target="_blank">according to NPR</a>.</p><p>The number of farm bankruptcies over the past few years is still not quite at the heights of the 1980s farm crisis, where a combination of a Soviet embargo, record supply, and an extreme drop in the value of farmland led directly to the creation of Chapter 12 bankruptcy in the first place. But the pattern is alarming, with the trade war continuing and <a href="https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2019/11/12/cold-weather-crops-harvest-farmers" target="_blank">a sudden brutally cold stretch of weather</a> affecting harvests. The USDA is attempting to address these problems with bailout money, but <a href="https://modernfarmer.com/2019/08/farm-bailout-money-may-be-disproportionately-helping-rich-farms-get-richer/" target="_blank">uneven distribution</a> and timing issues may mean <a href="https://modernfarmer.com/2018/07/trumps-12-billion-bailout-is-a-very-pricey-bandage-over-a-deeper-wound/" target="_blank">that funding is too little and too late</a> to save many farm businesses.</p>
<p> <em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://modernfarmer.com/2019/11/farm-bankruptcies-are-way-up-this-year/" target="_blank">Modern Farmer</a>.</em><em></em></p>Related Articles Around the Web
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EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
By Alex Robinson
Leah Garcés used to hate poultry farmers.
The animal rights activist, who opposes factory farming, had an adversarial relationship with chicken farmers until around five years ago, when she sat down to listen to one. She met a poultry farmer called Craig Watts in rural North Carolina and learned that the problems stemming from factory farming extended beyond animal cruelty.
<p>"My anger toward him got replaced with the realization that he felt as trapped as the chickens," says Garcés, who is the president of animal rights group Mercy for Animals.</p><p>Ever since then, Garcés has been thinking about how she could work with farmers, rather than against them. In order to solve the problems of factory farming, she couldn't simply advocate to take away the livelihood of poultry farmers. She would need to offer a sustainable alternative.</p><p>This week, her organization, Mercy for Animals, is launching a new project called the <a href="https://thetransfarmationproject.org/" target="_blank">Transfarmation Project</a> which looks to transition poultry farmers into plant-based farmers.</p><em></em>
<div id="3a92f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="13D6H41576661150"><blockquote class="instagram-media"
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B4x7rGwA4Qa/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif;
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word-wrap:break-word;" target="_top">Mercy For Animals on Instagram: “We're unveiling a revolutionary new project that will help farmers switch from farming animals to growing crops used for plant-based…”</a></p>
</div></blockquote></div><p>Most chicken farmers work under contract with large poultry companies, and many agree to take on considerable debt to do so. Advocates say that farmers often find themselves unable to pay off unsurmountable levels of debt, as they are on the hook for required upgrades and for when their livestock is devastated by disease. Groups that represent poultry farmers have argued that their contracts are too restrictive and that poultry companies often use unfair pay systems.<br></p><p>As an example for how farmers can transition, Mercy for Animals points to Mike Weaver, a former contract poultry farmer in West Virginia. Two years ago, Weaver decided he had had enough of raising chickens for Pilgrim's Pride and converted his barns into a hemp-growing operation. Weaver was able to pay off his debt, and he stresses the importance of doing so to farmers who want to get out of poultry farming.</p>
<p>"It's really easy when you get that chicken check to go buy a new pickup truck, or something for the kids, a piece of land or whatever suits your fancy," he says. "But the best advice I could give them is to get out from under that debt. Get that paid off so you're not a slave to the poultry company. Then you can decide what you want to do."</p><p>Through the Transfarmation Project, Mercy for Animals is hoping to create a network of farmers, innovators, engineers and advocates to tackle how they can help farmers leave poultry farming behind. The project aims to start by holding an incubator with a group of thinkers in the start of 2020. Then, Garcés says the group will run pilot projects with five to ten farmers.<br><br>It's unclear what will stop other farmers from simply taking the place of those that transition out of contract poultry farming, but Garcés says that's one of the problems the group will have to think through.</p><p>"I worry if we're just taking out what the industry would see as the squeaky wheels," she says.</p><p>Mercy for Animals is looking for poultry farmers who would be interested in participating in the project, and it hopes to connect with them through its website, <a href="http://www.thetransfarmationproject.org/" target="_blank">www.TheTransfarmationProject.org</a>.</p>
<p class=""><em><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://modernfarmer.com/2019/11/animal-rights-group-hopes-to-turn-poultry-farmers-into-plant-growers/" target="_blank">Modern Farmer</a>.</em><br/></em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Animal rights activists hold a rally in support of a bill to ban the sale of foie gras on June 18 at New York City Hall in New York. ANGELA WEISS / AFP / Getty Images
By Lindsay Campbell
New Yorkers will have to say au revoir to foie gras come 2022.
<p>This week, the New York City Council voted overwhelmingly (42-6) in favor of <a href="https://legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3844860&GUID=A91556AB-4F62-4902-A808-0FEE9B46F16D&Options=Advanced&Search=" target="_blank">a bill</a> that will ban the sale of foie gras in three years. The legislation will bar stores, farmers' markets and restaurants from storing and selling products that come from the practice of force feeding birds.</p><p>The traditional method of making foie gras, known as gavage, involves force feeding corn to ducks or geese through a tube to fatten up their livers.</p><p>While <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/animal-rights">animal rights</a> activists have cheered the bill, many chefs are not happy with the ban. It will reportedly impact around 1,000 restaurants that serve foie gras on their menus. Once it comes into effect, those caught serving force-fed foie gras could face fines of up to $2,000.</p>
<p>Opponents have argued that the ban will also threaten the livelihood of upstate farmers that produce foie gras, as the city's restaurants make up a significant proportion of their market.</p><p>On Wednesday, a spokeswoman for Mayor Bill de Blasio told the Times that the mayor would sign the bill into law.</p><p>In 2012, California implemented its own ban, which led to a court challenge. It was ultimately upheld in an appeals court. Chicago also banned foie gras production in 2006, but that city's ban was reversed two years later.</p>
<p> <em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://modernfarmer.com/2019/11/new-york-city-to-ban-foie-gras/" target="_blank">Modern Farmer</a>.</em><em></em></p>
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Maskot / Maskot / Getty Images
By Alex Robinson
Youngstown, Ohio probably doesn't strike most people as a destination for foodies. But Mark Winne begs to differ.
<p>Over the last decade, the food activist and writer has witnessed an explosion of farm-to-table restaurants, brewpubs and independent coffee shops in America. Many might think this food renaissance is only happening in large coastal cities. But through his travels, Winne has found something much more expansive is going on.</p><p>Winne's new book, <a href="https://islandpress.org/books/food-town-usa" target="_blank"><em>Food Town, USA</em></a>, follows his journey through seven unlikely food towns to show the presence of good food is becoming a new normal across the country.</p><p>"Good food was available increasingly around the country in all kinds of places, and people were paying much more attention to locally produced food," Winne said.</p>
<p>He met with farmers, local politicians and brew masters in places like Sitka, Alaska and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. What these places had in common was an unexpectedly thriving food scene. Many of these places didn't have farmers' markets a decade ago, let alone farm-to-table restaurants and brewpubs. But the shifting population and demographics of these areas during that ten years created a greater demand for good food.</p><p>"They didn't want to eat at Denny's. They wanted to have the real thing," Winne said.</p><p>In addition to caring more about where their food came from, Winne said, people were also starting to care about tackling problems like food insecurity. One of the overarching concerns he heard everywhere was whether there would be enough new farmers to meet the emerging demand for good food.</p><p>In many of the places he went, Winne found new establishments had been started by young people who had grown up in these towns, left to learn their craft in big cities and then returned home to start their own businesses. Winne said some of these people knew their hometowns didn't necessarily have the same opportunities as the larger cities, but they felt a draw or homing instinct.</p>
<p>Chefs from Portland, Oregon were also moving to places like Boise, Idaho, because the culinary scene in the former was oversaturated and crowded. It also didn't hurt that real estate was cheaper.</p><p>One of the big questions Winne has wrestled with is whether economic development has brought good restaurants to these places, or if food was playing a part in bringing new businesses to town.</p><p>"It's a little bit of the chicken and egg deal. I saw a little bit of both," he said. In some places, Winne said, food has been seen as an economic engine that can jumpstart development. If these places were going to try to attract new businesses, the employees they would bring would want a quality of life similar to where they came from. So these towns needed to have nice coffee shops, good local brewpubs and a farmers' market.</p><p>Winne said he also saw the emergence of an entrepreneurial class. "They were looking at the marketplace and wondering is this place ready for good food, or do I need to make them ready by opening up a place and hoping they will come?" he added.</p><p>For Winne, this has all illustrated a new national consciousness that has taken hold across the country, and it is apparent in these new food towns.<br></p>
<p> <em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://modernfarmer.com/2019/10/a-food-activists-journey-through-unlikely-food-towns/" target="_blank">Modern Farmer</a>.</em><em></em></p>Related Articles Around the Web
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Tinnakorn Jorruang / iStock / Getty Images
By Dan Nosowitz
The budding research on cannabidiol, or CBD, attracts a great deal of interest in the agricultural field.
<p>After all, CBD is most commonly derived from industrial hemp, a crop newly legal nationwide that could end up being a fantastically valuable one for farmers. So we keep a close eye on the burgeoning research for exactly what CBD can do, including new work from scientists at University College London, who demonstrated that CBD might be helpful for addiction—both from marijuana and cigarettes.</p>
<p>CBD is found in high doses in particular strains of the cannabis plant, bred to have low (or no) quantities of THC, usually referred to as the psychoactive element of the plant. Smoking industrial hemp <a href="https://modernfarmer.com/2019/07/people-keep-stealing-industrial-hemp-which-will-not-get-them-high/" target="_blank">won't get you high</a>, but as a result of its legality (and a recent trendiness for plant-based drugs), CBD has become wildly popular and <a href="https://modernfarmer.com/2019/03/kentucky-is-hoping-to-become-the-california-of-hemp/" target="_blank">widely available</a>. CBD is also notoriously under-studied, due to its long status as an illegal drug prior to the 2018 Farm Bill, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/11/1/18024806/cbd-oil-vape-hemp" target="_blank">most of the claims at your local vape shop</a> are misleading at best.</p><p>But this isn't to say that CBD is a Himalayan salt lamp (read: totally useless). It does have some interesting effects, and researchers are working to figure out how they can be used. At a New Scientist Live presentation this week, Val Curran, a professor of pharmacology at University College London, demonstrated some possible addiction-treating benefits of the chemical compound.</p>
<p>Her most recent study tested out whether doses of CBD could help people identified as addicted to marijuana to quit. Marijuana addiction, contrary to popular belief, is absolutely a real thing, complete with withdrawal symptoms and both physical and psychological discomfort, <a href="https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/marijuana-addictive" target="_blank">according to the National Institute of Health</a>. Curran's test encompassed a four-week treatment including different doses of CBD as well as a placebo.</p><p>The sample size, at 82, is small, but her work lines up with what other researchers have found about CBD. One of the doses of CBD seemed to help dramatically with those seeking to quit marijuana. Those given that dose showed a reduced quantity of marijuana used. CBD has been previously indicated to sort of counterbalance the THC in marijuana, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3797438/" target="_blank">in laboratory settings</a>.</p><p>But the key part here is the dosage. Curran tested at zero mg of CBD (the placebo), as well as 200mg, 400mg, and 800mg. The zero and 200mg doses had no effect whatsoever. The 400mg was that goldilocks zone, the most effective dose that showed those doubled marijuana-free days, and the 800mg was found to be slightly less effective than the 400mg. This lines up with <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30328956" target="_blank">other research</a>, in which a few hundred mg have been indicated to be the most effective for treating, for example, anxiety.</p><p>It's also worth noting that the standard dose of CBD that you might get in gummies, coffees, and tinctures is around 20mg at most, which would do, according to this research, nothing at all. But it's an extremely promising bit of research, <a href="https://entheonation.com/blog/want-quit-smoking-study-says-cbd-cannabis-oil-can-help/" target="_blank">following Curran's previous work</a> showing that CBD can help with nicotine addiction. Given the effective doses, our farmers will have to grow a lot more industrial hemp.</p>
<p> <em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://modernfarmer.com/2019/10/can-cbd-help-you-quit-smoking/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Modern Farmer</a>.</em><em></em></p>
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New Initiative Aims to Mobilize the Restaurant Industry to Fight Climate Change
09 October 2019
Food
A Buddha bowl vegan meal with kale, quinoa, green sprouts and season greens. fortyforks / iStock / Getty Images Plus
By Lindsay Campbell
Anthony Myint believes that you can use food to fight climate change.
The San Francisco chef has a new project in the works. In January, Myint hopes to formally launch Restore California, a joint initiative with the State of California that will enlist the golden state's restaurant industry to support climate-beneficial farming practices.
<p>"If you can imagine a scientist at Exxon discovering a fuel additive that made it so burning gas had no emissions and in fact it subbed emissions out of the atmosphere to make more gas, that would be an amazing discovery," Myint says. "In some ways, it feels like food and farming are actually offering that same opportunity to actually solve and reverse the problem and almost nobody is aware of it or taking advantage of that opportunity."</p><p>Participating restaurants will add an optional one-percent surcharge to customer's bills. Customers will be able to choose whether to pay the surcharge, and these funds will go directly to Californian farmers implementing practices that will sequester carbon.</p><p>Myint says there are better ways to farm, but he believes the current food system rewards conventional practices.</p><p>So far, he's had 33 restaurants join the initiative. But he says he's aiming to get one percent of California's restaurants to sign up for the surcharge in its first year. He estimates this would generate about $10 million a year to help farmers sequester carbon.</p><p>Restore California will offer a funding boost to the state's Healthy Soil Program, which already pays farmers to implement practices that improve <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/soil">soil</a> health, sequester carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Myint says that the program hasn't yet received sufficient funding to make an impact.</p><p>He's hopeful that if his initiative takes off, it will certainly benefit state efforts.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">An interesting idea: A new initiative asks restaurants that opt into the program to add a 1% surcharge (a voluntary fee) to each bill. The money will go to a state fund supporting sustainable agricultural practices that reduce <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GHGemissions?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GHGemissions</a>. <a href="https://t.co/RJOLcak65x">https://t.co/RJOLcak65x</a></p>— Center 4 Food Safety (@CFSTrueFood) <a href="https://twitter.com/CFSTrueFood/status/1123320488443301888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://modernfarmer.com/2019/10/new-initiative-aims-to-mobilize-the-restaurant-industry-to-fight-climate-change/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Modern Farmer</a>.</em></p>
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The estimated Population in drought areas is 60,851,010. Brian Fuchs / National Drought Mitigation Center / United States Drought Monitor
By Dan Nosowitz
While the northern reaches of the continental U.S. are finally starting to feel a little chill, the Southeast is dealing with something very different.
<p>The <a href="https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/" target="_blank">United States Drought Monitor</a> releases an update once a week with a map of the drought situation across the country. Its report this week echoes what farmers in the Southeast have been saying: We have a problem.</p>
<div id="5c2ef" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6GGIEV1576661346"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1179763499830001664" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#DroughtMonitor 10/1: @NWSCPC’s Oct. outlook shows more #drought development likely over much of Southeast as… https://t.co/4OlH1WXHUm</div> — NOAA (@NOAA)<a href="https://twitter.com/NOAA/statuses/1179763499830001664">1570112511.0</a></blockquote></div><p>According to the Drought Monitor, the Southeast is enduring temperatures between nine and twelve degrees above normal. From Virginia through Northern Florida, and especially in states such as Kentucky and Georgia, temperatures are reaching record highs. <a href="https://timesfreepress.com/news/breakingnews/story/2019/oct/03/drought-conditions-worsen-southern-states/505003/" target="_blank">Chattanooga, Tennessee</a> hit its highest temperature ever for this week, breaking 100 degrees Fahrenheit. It's the same story for <a href="https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article235769427.html" target="_blank">Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina</a>: 100 degrees in October, something the area has never before recorded.</p>
<div id="d5256" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="R6U6061576661346"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1179900849771991041" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Thursday’s 100-degree mark sets 2 new records: It’s the hottest October day at RDU. https://t.co/KJuWO4lCKf</div> — Madhusudan Katti ☕️🦉 #RedForKashmir (@Madhusudan Katti ☕️🦉 #RedForKashmir)<a href="https://twitter.com/leafwarbler/statuses/1179900849771991041">1570145258.0</a></blockquote></div><p>For much of the region, the Drought Monitor says the conditions are a moderate drought at minimum. Large chunks are much worse than that, rating as a "severe" drought, with some pockets even hitting a bright-red "extreme" drought level. "Outside of coastal areas impacted by recent tropical weather, almost the entire region is abnormally dry or worse," reads this week's report.</p><p>Agriculture, according to the <a href="https://timesfreepress.com/news/breakingnews/story/2019/oct/03/drought-conditions-worsen-southern-states/505003/" target="_blank">Chattanooga Times Free Press</a>, is struggling in the Southeast as well. At the "severe" drought level, corn pretty much shrivels and dies. Rivers are shriveled, which makes it difficult to transport agricultural goods via barge. Grass is essentially dead, which means that those with grazing livestock have to spend money on hay, as well as, of course, water. And, <a href="https://wfpl.org/kentucky-facing-unprecedented-drought/" target="_blank">as WFPL notes</a>, even if farmers can get in to harvest their corn or soy crops, the weather stress makes them fetch lower prices than usual.</p><p>There will, according to weather predictions from the Drought Monitor, hopefully be some precipitation soon, at least in the parts of the Southeast that border the Midwest. But there's no guarantee, and it may be too late at a crucial time of the year for farmers.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://modernfarmer.com/2019/10/extreme-flash-drought-hits-farmers-in-the-southeast/" target="_blank">Modern Farmer</a>.</em><br/></p>From Your Site Articles
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Chiot's Run / Flickr / CC BY-NC 2.0
By Alex Robinson
The effects of climate change are nothing new for maple syrup farmers like Larry Yoder.
<p>The Indiana syrup producer has seen worrying changes to the "sugaring" season in his lifetime alone. When Yoder first started sugaring with his grandfather, the family expected to tap its trees around the first weekend in March. In recent years, when tapping with his own grandchildren, the season has moved up to mid-February.</p>
<p>"The long-term prospects going into the next generation of our family are a little dicey at this point," says Yoder, whose farm has been in his family for five generations. His maple syrup operation—the Yoder Farm—currently taps around 200 trees a season, selling 60 to 80 gallons of syrup a year through local retail outlets.</p><p>The warming climate could cause the loss of ideal conditions for sap flow in certain parts of North America, according to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112719303019?via%3Dihub" target="_blank">a new study</a>. Temperatures need to dip below freezing at night and rise to thawing during the day for sap to start flowing from sugar maple trees. While the changes in climate could simply mean an earlier season for maple syrup farmers in New England and Canada, the study has found that the industry could be completely wiped out in Virginia and Indiana by 2100.<br><br>The study, published in Forest Ecology and Management<em>, </em>suggests Quebec's syrup yields could double in that time, while they would decline across much of the U.S.</p><p>For Yoder, no longer having his family's sugar bush would be a loss of identity. It would also cause a change in lifestyle for his family.</p><p>"Maple sugaring has a mystic all of its own and families tied to the land, whether they're making syrup or lumber or in fisheries, you are tied and that aspect of the natural world becomes very much a part of who you are," he says.</p><p>Yoder says it may be too late to take the necessary action to mitigate the effects of climate change and that humans might have to adjust the best they can. That adjustment could mean leaving behind a tradition that has been part of his family for more than 100 years.</p>
<em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://modernfarmer.com/2019/09/some-of-americas-maple-syrup-production-could-dry-up-by-2100/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Modern Farmer</a>.</em>
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Organic carrots and radishes at a farmers' market. carterdayne / iStock / Getty Images Plus
By Brian Barth
There's something of a civil war brewing in the organic movement.
<p>On one side are industry boosters boasting about how organic has gone mainstream. These folks are fine with a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/big-food" rel="noopener noreferrer">Big Ag</a> version of organic <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/agriculture" rel="noopener noreferrer">agriculture</a> — enormous monocrop fields and global distribution to every Walmart across the land. On the other side are purists who feel that the spirit of organic — building healthy <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/soil" rel="noopener noreferrer">soil</a>, promoting <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity" rel="noopener noreferrer">biodiversity</a>, focusing on small producers and distributing regionally — is no longer represented by the USDA certified organic label (hence the various alternative organic labels popping up).</p><p>The USDA certification has never explicitly required any of those things, however. Instead, organic rules focus primarily on substituting natural fertilizers and pest control methods for chemical ones. But even here things aren't quite as they seem.</p>
<p><strong>Does Organic Mean Toxin-Free?</strong></p><p>Not entirely. USDA standards allow the use of several dozen synthetic <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/chemicals">chemicals</a> on certified organic farms, although most are fairly benign substances, and those that aren't tend to be heavily restricted in the ways that they can be applied (certain synthetic fertilizers are also permitted in limited circumstances). More of an issue is that some of the naturally derived substances permitted for use as <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pesticides" rel="noopener noreferrer">pesticides</a> are used in unnatural concentrations that make them highly toxic (to creatures such as <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/bees" rel="noopener noreferrer">bees</a>, for example). Rotenone, a notoriously toxic but naturally derived pesticide, was on the list of permitted substances until last year.</p>
<p><strong>Does Organic Mean Local?</strong></p><p>Not at all. Organic products constitute around five percent of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/food/" rel="noopener noreferrer">food</a> sales in the U.S., but only about one percent of U.S. farmland is organic, suggesting that most organic food is imported. Organic certification does not take carbon footprints into account — and it's fairly clear that organic grapes flown in from Chile have a larger environmental impact than their locally grown but conventional counterparts.</p>
<p><strong>Does Organic Mean Grown on a Small, Diversified Farm?</strong></p><p>The organic standards say nothing about size and little about diversity. Things such as hedgerows for habitat are encouraged by the standards, but there is nothing in the rules that prevents organic farmers from planting monocultures fence line to fence line.</p>
<p><strong>Does Organic Mean Livestock Roam Free and Forage on Grass?</strong></p><p>This is an extremely contentious topic between Big Organic and the purists. Organic livestock must be provided access to the outdoors and, depending on the species, must receive a portion of their diet from foraging. But there are a lot of convoluted rules — some would call them loopholes— regarding how those requirements can be met. The bottom line is that it's possible to stick to the letter of the organic law and run a livestock operation that differs little from a confined animal feeding operation, aka <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/factory-farming" rel="noopener noreferrer">factory farming</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Does Organic Mean Topsoil is Restored?</strong></p><p>Rebuilding topsoil that teems with microbial life was the foundation of the organic movement in the 1960s. This was a response to the sterile, eroded soil that 20th-century conventional agriculture methods left across the planet. The inconvenient truth is that organic agriculture requires frequent cultivation to control weeds, leaving it bare and susceptible to erosion. In the 21st century, conventional agriculture is increasingly based on the use of herbicide-tolerant GMO crops that have vastly reduced the amount of tillage required, cutting down significantly on erosion (at the cost of greater herbicide use, however). Erosion as a result of frequent cultivation isn't much of an issue on a small diversified farm, but large monocultures of organic produce are likely to lose more topsoil each year than well-managed conventional ones.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Organic Farms Are Under Attack From Agribusiness, Weakened Standards <a href="https://t.co/2S3xWUmlCl">https://t.co/2S3xWUmlCl</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Organic?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Organic</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Farming?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Farming</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Agriculture?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Agriculture</a> <a href="https://t.co/VsubeM7rFs">pic.twitter.com/VsubeM7rFs</a></p>— Renewable Search (@RenewableSearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RenewableSearch/status/1109788973650460674?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://modernfarmer.com/2019/09/does-certified-organic-mean-what-we-think-it-does/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Modern Farmer</a>.</em><br/></p>
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Hinterhaus Productions / DigitalVision / Getty Images
By Lindsay Campbell
From pastries to plant-based—we've got you covered.
Whole Food Cooking Every Day
<p><span>Australian chef Amy Chaplin is well known for her ability to whip up a vegetarian meal with local, organic ingredients. Her latest cookbook is an unconventional take of nourishing recipes free of gluten, dairy and refined sugars. Each chapter is crafted carefully using a base recipe on everything from pastas and soups to beans and muffins. </span><em data-redactor-tag="em">($40, </em><em data-redactor-tag="em">Artisan, Sept. 17, 2019)</em></p><em data-redactor-tag="em"><br></em>Cook Like a Local
<p>"Reframe your idea of what your local food is by including the food of the people who live nearby, especially the people who may not look or sound like you," writes chef and author Chris Shepherd. In six different food staple chapters, Shepherd shares his experiences exploring ethnic neighborhoods in Houston. He aims to teach readers what it takes to push past their culinary comfort-zone and cook like a local. <em>($35, </em><em>Clarkson Potter, Sept. 3, 2019)</em></p><em><br></em>Butcher + Beast
<p>Calling all carnivores—this one is for you. Angie Mar, chef and owner of New York chophouse the Beatrice Inn, shares essays on her dry-aging technique and tells the story of her iconic restaurant. In her first cookbook, Mar includes recipes for many meaty mains with flavorful dishes like milk-braised pork shoulder, buttermilk fried chicken and lavender aged beef. <em>($40, </em><em>Clarkson Potter, Oct. 1, 2019)</em></p>Jubilee
<p>Toni Tipton-Martin provides us with a collection of more than 125 recipes on African American cuisine. Tipton-Martin, an award-winning culinary journalist, creates recipes based on historical texts from the time of slavery and rare African American cookbooks. Her southern pecan pie laced with whiskey is an inventive take on the timeless dessert. <em>($35, Clarkson Potter, Nov. 5, 2019)</em></p><em><br></em>The Plant Paradox Family Cookbook
<p>Dr. Steven Gundry is back with a sequel to his 2017 bestseller. The Plant Paradox Family Cookbook builds off the physician's food philosophy first told in the Plant Paradox. In this latest book, Dr. Gundry shows readers how they can make his dietary program family friendly in a crock pot or pressure cooker. <em>($29.99, </em><em>Harper Wave, Nov. 19, 2019)</em></p>Pastry Love: A Baker’s Journal Of Favorite Recipes
<p>Joanne Chang's book has been dubbed the bakery bible. The award-winning pastry chef has filled pages full of recipes that would appeal to both beginners and advanced bakers. Get prepared for how-tos on making pastry cream, lemon curd and puff pastry along with treats like strawberry slab pie or passion fruit crepe cake. <em>($40, </em><em>Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Nov. 15, 2019)</em> </p>The Foxfire Book of Appalachian Cookery, Revised Edition
<p>Trace your way back to the traditional food of southern Appalachia. In this revised version of the 1984 edition, Sean Brock pens a foreword that promises recipes written as oral histories. Find unseen photographs, documentation and more accessible recipes in this modified 2019 version. There's also a new chapter on smokehouses and curing processes for those interested in processes involving salt, sugar and wood smoke. <em>($37.95, </em><em>The University of North Carolina Press, Sept. 16, 2019)</em></p><em><br></em>On Flowers, Lessons from an Accidental Florist
<p>Not a cookbook, but an informative take on blossoms, buds and blooms. Amy Merrick shares what she learned from a collection of her adventures, like her stint on a flower farm off the coast of Washington State. Her tips and tricks consist of picking the perfect vase and how to compile a floral arrangement like a farm girl. <em>($35, </em><em>Artisan, Oct. 15, 2019)</em></p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmodernfarmer.com%2F2019%2F09%2Feight-cookbooks-were-reading-this-fall%2F"><span></span></a>
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