Seedstock Digest: Nanotechnology on the Farm, Sustainable Aquaculture in the Midwest, Wireless Climate Monitoring Systems and more!

June 23, 2011 | Robert Puro

It’s Wednesday and that means another addition of the Seedstock Digest to get you through what remains of your hump day or evening. Today’s digest features articles on wireless climate monitoring systems, nanotechnology that reduces the environmental impact of pesticides, a sustainable Yellow Perch farm in Indiana and a unique permaculture operation in Sandy Lake, PA.

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Female Leaders Cultivate New Initiatives to Bolster Role in Agriculture

June 2, 2011 | Stephanie Schiefelbein

Women are a growing force in today’s food movement and they’re not going anywhere. From 2002 to 2007, the number of women farmers increased by 30 percent.

To support and bolster this growing crop of women farmers and activists working to transform the nation’s food system, from federal agriculture policy to plate The White House Project (WHP), Women, Food, and Agriculture Network (WFAN) and Rural Women’s Project of the Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) have collaborated on a project called Plate to Politics. Read More

USDA Dep. Sec. Merrigan Talks KYF2 and Hoop Houses at UC Davis

May 21, 2011 | Jeremy Ogul

There’s not a key issue that the next generation faces that doesn’t have agriculture at the center of it, according to US Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, who spoke Wednesday at UC Davis.

From the obesity epidemic to climate change to joblessness, what happens in agriculture plays a critical role, Merrigan said. Her speech focused on the USDA’s Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food (KYF2) initiative, a USDA-wide effort to carry out President Obama’s commitment to strengthening local and regional food systems. Read More

17 Down, 83 Years to Go in Epic Sustainable Agriculture Study

May 16, 2011 | Jeremy Ogul

Most agricultural experiments last anywhere from a few months to a few years, but at Russell Ranch near Davis, CA, researchers are in the midst of a 100-year study measuring the sustainability of various farming systems.

The study, known as Long-Term Research on Agricultural Systems (LTRAS), is designed to measure the long-term impact of different cropping systems, irrigation practices, tillage methods and carbon and nitrogen inputs on agricultural sustainability. It was started with a grant from the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program in 1990. Read More

Female Leaders to Meet at Cultivate 2012 Summit to Develop Sustainable Agriculture Strategy

May 12, 2011 | Robert Puro

From May 23 – 25, visionary female leaders in the fields of sustainable agriculture and food systems development will convene at the Johnson Foundation at Wingspread for the Cultivate 2012 Summit. The summit, co-sponsored by The White House Project, Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) and Women, Food and Agriculture Network (WFAN), will focus on the development of strategies for growing the sustainable agriculture movement in the US. Read More