In early June I had the chance to visit some of my family and friends while also going on a few work-related visits throughout Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania. This gave me the unique opportunity to learn more about the rich agricultural history in and around the area where I grew up.
Using uncertainty as an excuse to wait and see when it comes to the ecological and climate crisis is bad for business, bad for farming and bad for health.
A group of companies called the Agricultural Climate Market Collaborative believes that lack of “transparency” is one of major road blocks to acceptance. To address transparency, the Collaborative developed eleven principles to guide carbon ecosystem marketers when forming these new contracts with growers.
By many accounts, the winter of 2021-2022 has been windier than normal. While windiness is apparently a somewhat difficult phenomenon to compare across the years due to changes in how it’s been measured, reports from across the Great Plains and Midwest support the impression that there were more days with high winds than normal.
Some states are doing better than others when it comes to cover crop adoption. Indiana farmers have set a new record for living cover crops planted, at 1.5 million acres, according to a recent conservation survey by the Indiana Conservation Partnership.
Should crop insurance be encouraging growers to utilize cover crops? A white paper by the AGree Economic & Environmental Risk Coalition, a group that advocates for federal policies to drive the adoption of conservation practices, found that cover crops can reduce yield risk, and as a result, file fewer crop insurance claims.
The biggest flour miller in the U.S. is looking to shift 250,000 acres of wheat fields to using regenerative agriculture practices, including cover crops by the end of this year. Ardent Mills, the largest North American miller of wheat for flour, is based in Denver, Colo., and wants to improve soil health, water quality, and crop yields while simultaneously trying to keep climate change at bay.
A new report lays out a way for Canada to offset 11% of its carbon emissions annually through natural climate solutions, such as utilizing cover crops. The report was authored by more than 3 dozen scientists and found that Canada has the potential to offset 78 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions (ghg) by 2030.
The National Strip-Tillage Conference returns August 8-9, 2024!Build and refine your strip-till system with dozens of new ideas and connections at the 11th Annual National Strip-Tillage Conference in Madison, Wis. Aug. 8-9, 2024. Experience an energizing 2-day agenda featuring inspiring general session speakers, expert-led Strip-Till Classrooms and collaborative Strip-Till Roundtables. Plus, Certified Crop Adviser credits will be offered.
Georgetown, Del., no-tiller Jay Baxter was planning on conducting a cover crop experiment with oats, but when Mother Nature got in the way, he quickly pivoted to another idea for a different type of cover crop experiment.