When Louie Kazemier of Rickreall Dairy is looking to make an improvement on his farm, he prefers to do so with his eyes wide open. In the world of dairy, that means checking with others in the dairy industry – others who aren’t hesitant about sharing.
| Posted in: News, Partnerships
The cover crop is planted without tilling the soil, using special no-till equipment that penetrates through existing vegetation. In the spring, when it’s time to plant the corn again farmers plant it into the cover crop without tilling the soil.
| Posted in: Land Sustainability & Stewardship, News
I recently had a discussion with a friend of mine about misconceptions that happen about her chosen field. She works with nuclear power plants for a living, and some activist segments are mission-based to complain about energy. Maybe the form of energy is inefficient or it’s not green enough, etc. But when you learn from people like her, the engineers that do it for a living, you have to wonder why the activists choose to ignore the experts and the facts about just how far they’ve come with technology and how eco-friendly many of their businesses really are.
| Posted in: News
I woke up this morning tagged on some rebuttal tweets to actress Natalie Portman where she had railed against “factory” farming and how awful it is. She’s partnered up with some “go vegan” activist groups in New York City to make a new anti-meat movie. In it, she talks about the efficient “steel masterpieces” of agricultural facilities that increase production, while also claiming that they are designed to help keep the operation secret from the public.
| Posted in: Land Sustainability & Stewardship, News
Large farmers — who are responsible for 80 percent of the food sales in the United States, though they make up fewer than 8 percent of all farms, according to 2012 data from the Department of Agriculture — are among the most progressive, technologically savvy growers on the planet. Their technology has helped make them far gentler on the environment than at any time in history. And a new wave of innovation makes them more sustainable still.
| Posted in: Partnerships