USDA has awarded a more than $400,000 grant to native villages in rural Alaska to help them grow their own food. The grant, given to the Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension, will help residents of remote communities grow food for themselves and 10 other families. The project focuses on areas where groceries are expensive and access to fresh vegetables is limited. (Associated Press) Read more.
The number of Pennsylvania dairy farms dropped 14 percent between 2006 and 2009, according to a report from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. The number of operations, including milking farms dropped from 8,610 in 2006 to 7,400 in 2009. Nationwide, dairy farm totals decreased 11.4 percent over the same time period. (The Times-Tribune) Read more
Researchers from the USDA Agriculture Research Service have found an alternative way to produce fish feed to meet the increasing demand by consumers to have a healthier diet. Traditionally, fishmeal comes from small, boney fish like menhaden, herring and capelin, which are in short supply. By using concentrated plant proteins, researchers have found a way to specialize meals for specific fish that provide the needed protein for growth. Ongoing studies indicate that the modern alternative diets work better for fish than previous alternative diets. Read more.
Agricultural productivity is not on par to keep up with population demand, according to The Global Harvest Initiative 2010 GAP Report. The report — compiled by the Farm Foundation and the USDA Economics Research Service — states that the world population is expected to double by 2050 and agricultural output must grow by 1.75 percent per year in total factor productivity in order to meet that demand. Total factor productivity is the increase in output per unit of total resources employed in production. Between 2000 and 2007, that number averaged 1.4 percent per year. (Agri-Pulse) Learn more.
The Environmental Protection Agency plans to announce that it will allow ethanol levels in gas used by newer cars to increase to 15 percent. The new E15 will be used by cars made since 2007. Additional research must be conducted before cars made between 2001 and 2006 can be approved to use the newer ethanol blend. The news is great for corn growers, but draws criticism from groups that claim more research is needed before E15 is brought to the public and that the new blend will cause confusion for consumers at the pump. Currently, consumers use a 10 percent ethanol blend at the pump. (Wall Street Journal) Learn more.
Land’s Sake Farm is offering suburbanites an opportunity to become backyard chicken farmers. For $100, the Massachusetts farm allows residents to rent two chickens, a portable coop and organic feed for two weeks. Help is just a phone call away for those who sign up for the “risk-free trial,” according to education director Douglas Cook. The program is in its second year and runs from spring through mid-November. Read more.
The anaerobic digester is supplied with liquid cow manure from the nearby dairy lagoon. Pipes transfer the raw materials to the digester inside the building.
USDA officials visited a Vermont dairy farm this week to see one of the state’s first anaerobic digesters, funded with help from the agency. The 300-kilowatt digester will use manure from the herd to produce electricity that will power the entire North Troy dairy farm. Excess electricity will be sold to the local utility. The digester is the first to go online through Vermont’s Standard Offer Program that will pay the farm 16 cents per kilowatt hour for the next 20 years. The Natural Resource Conservation Service funded four new digesters in Vermont this year, while the USDA Farm Service Agency implemented a new conservation loan program that can be used to finance anaerobic digester projects. (GovMonitor) Read more or learn more about available USDA programs.
A study by the USDA Agriculture Research Service found that consistently good yields of winter canola can be obtained by varying planting dates, planting rates and other establishment techniques. Generally used to control weeds, supplement animal feed and produce biodiesel, winter canola has not been a good candidate for weed control because it did not emerge in the fall and could not survive the winter. By planting in mid-August on 28-inch row spacing, the seedlings had enough time to bulk up before winter, producing an average of 1,300 pounds per acre. Learn more.
In an effort to create a better understanding between consumers and producers, the American Farmland Trust has launched the first ever National Dine Out for Farms Week. The event — which runs Oct. 10-16 — features 40 restaurants in 17 states. Information is placed on menus and in stores to highlight the importance farmers, farmland and good food on the table. (Brownfield Ag News) Learn more.
For more than 100 years and three generations, the Rohe dairy farm has been a fixture in Onondaga, N.Y. As of last week, the 800-acre dairy operation closed down. Citing low milk prices that make it difficult to earn a living, Steve and Trish Rohe are now turning to crops, vegetables and beef cattle to help make ends meet. The Rohe's are one of thousands of dairy farmers who have called it quits. In the decade ending in 2009, the number of dairy operations in New York dropped from 8,032 to 5,495. (The Post-Standard) Read more.
