In my research I asked farmers how they evaluated farming practices and increased biodiversity was one of their metrics. They were right!
"Changing How We Farm Might Protect Wild Mammals—and Fight Climate Change
Nearly a quarter of U.S. mammal species are on the endangered species list. Researchers say farming with biodiversity in mind may help stave off further decline."
“Farmers’ union lobbied to increase pesticide limit in UK drinking water. NFU’s director of strategy asked for review of EU-derived protections as part of post-Brexit loosening of rules.” Well you wouldn’t want public health getting in the way of increased farm rents for rich landowners. #tories#farming
Who could have guessed that forcing cows to eat bird poo would result in spreading pathogens ?
Experts fear that H5N1, which was only first detected in cows a few weeks ago, may have been transmitted through a type of cattle feed called “poultry litter” – a mix of poultry excreta, spilled feed, feathers, and other waste scraped from the floors of industrial chicken and turkey production plants.
What Liberal Elites Don’t Know About Rural Americans Can Hurt Us
By Wendell Berry, originally published by Barn Raiser May 7, 2024
"...There is no interest in remedies for the bad ecological and human effects of mining, or in a farm bill that would make agriculture less destructive of land and people, or in ways to preserve the ecological integrity of our forests, or in ways to prevent the corporate destruction of the local economies necessary to support local communities—to name only a few rural needs.
...The space program is not the highest human accomplishment. All problems cannot be solved by science and technology. Good farmers are not mindless drudges who can be easily replicated from the “labor pool” or the Class of 2023..."
Food insecurity looms around the world, with worsening climatic conditions. Some crops can be adapted/changed but that is more difficult when the problem is unpredictable and wide-ranging between drought and flood.
In Her Own Words: An Indigenous Farmer’s Inventive Approach
"Michelle Week tells how she brings traditional foods to her community, many at no cost."
"The farm caused a lot of intergenerational healing and more openness with my family. I have all this ancestry and family trees, photographs my grandmother has gotten over the years, a bunch of books about our particular tribe. "
U.S. House votes to remove wolves from endangered list in 48 states.
AP reports: "The Republican-authored bill comes amid national debate on the wolves’ future. Hunters and farmers across the country maintain the species is stable and have been complaining for years about wolf attacks on game species and livestock. They want to be allowed to legally kill the animals."
The ducks and geese are now in their own pen, and have really been enjoying exploring their new home.アヒルとガチョウは今、自分の囲いの中にいて、新しい住処の探検をとても楽しんでいます。 #farming
The rain (and rain, and rain) over the last 18 months has had (unsurprisingly) a severe negative impact on agriculture, using down yields by around a fifth & now starting to push up (further) food prices.
Will be interesting to see how the BoE tries to blame such inflation on workers' pay rises, but clearly this is a demonstration of the economic impact(s) of climate change.
Strawberry picking is one of the worst jobs in agriculture — it's hard on the body, poorly paid, and workers are badly treated by bosses. Civil Eats talked to some of the people who work in the fields about what it's like, and their hopes for change. “People have to unite — and we need big demonstrations. It’s necessary to pressure the ranchers so they value our work. Without us they have nothing," says Matilde, a worker who refused to give her last name for fear of reprisals.