FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 28, 2017 Contact: Andrew Jerome, 202-314-3106 ajerome@nfudc.org WASHINGTON (February 28, 2017) – Amidst reports of a pending executive order to change the point of obligation for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), National Farmers Union (NFU) is urging the Trump Administration to avoid changes to the RFS that would undermine the success … Read More
Month: February 2017
Access to Efficiency: Introduction
By Thomas Driscoll, Director of Conservation Policy and NFU Foundation Whether growing grain and hauling it to the same elevator your grandparents did, raising vegetables to sell to your neighbors, managing a small herd or a big one, beginning producers seek greater efficiencies for their farms and ranches. Running an operation efficiently is critical for … Read More
Funding Available Through Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources
February 27, 2017By London Muegge, Education InternContact: Chelsea Matzen, 202-554-1600 cmatzen@nfudc.orgThe Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) is currently seeking projects to invest in that will help achieve the goals of the Massachusetts Local Food Action Plan and contribute to the viability of agriculture in Massachusetts, which could include investing in food, and particularly produce, … Read More
What Can Farmers Do About Climate Change? Dynamic Cropping Systems: Nash Huber’s Story
By Laura Lengnick, founder of Cultivating Resilience, LLC This story is excerpted from Resilient Agriculture: Cultivating Food Systems for a Changing Climate (New Society Publishers, 2015). Resilient Agriculture explores climate risk, resilience, and the future of food through the adaptation stories of 25 award-winning sustainable farmers and ranchers growing fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, and livestock across … Read More
Access to Land: Reis Ranch Family & Succession Planning
By Lura Roti, South Dakota Farmers Union While some ranchers are nervous about what will happen to their operation when they are ready to retire, David and Brenda Reis are not too worried. “All of our kids want to take over the ranch. That would not be sustainable, but the one thing about having a … Read More
Trump Administration Building Positive Record on Renewable Fuels, NFU Says
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 23, 2017 Contact: Andrew Jerome, 202-314-3106 ajerome@nfudc.org WASHINGTON (February 23, 2017) – Stressing the need for certainty around the administration’s support for the renewable fuels industry, National Farmers Union (NFU) recognizes the Trump Administration’s growing positive record in support of renewable fuels as a means to spur economic growth, provide good-paying … Read More
Access to Land: Ficke Farm Legacy Letter
By Del Ficke, Owner and Operator of Ficke Cattle Company This letter was originally published in The Future of Family Farms: Practical Farmers’ Legacy Letter Project To my future generations: In 1860, Johann Ficke made the trip from Germany to settle in the United States. Just nine years later, after first arriving in Wisconsin, he found a … Read More
What Can Farmers Do About Climate Change? Dynamic Cropping Systems
By Laura Lengnick, founder of Cultivating Resilience, LLC Some of America’s forward-thinking farmers and ranchers are innovating more flexible crop rotations that allow them to fine-tune crop choices in response to increasing weather variability. This kind of crop rotation strategy is called “dynamic cropping.” Dynamic cropping is an ecologically-based management strategy that optimizes production through the … Read More
Access to Land: Farm Legacy Letters
By Teresa Opheim, Editor of The Future of Family Farms: Practical Farmers’ Legacy Letter Project About five years ago, a farmer stopped during a farm tour and confided that he worried that his son would not be able to continue farming. The farmer’s land-owning mother had just died, and her farmland was being divided among her children. … Read More
Access to Efficiency: Kolousek Family & Intensive Grazing
By Lura Roti, South Dakota Farmers Union Shadowing an engineer for a few days his sophomore year of college was all the exposure Scott Kolousek needed to realize he would be happier building a career on his family’s Wessington Springs cattle and crop farm. “That experience saved me a lot of time pursuing the wrong … Read More