Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/tag/agriculture/page/6/)
According to JLo, a sister Puerto Rican born and raised in New York City, my homies, or peeps, are the boys and girls I grew up with on the streets of the South Bronx. Well, yes and no. I had lots of good friends on Tiffany Street, but my heart and life have been elsewhere for a long time. Continue Reading
The University of Minnesota’s ties to the agriculture industry and communities in greater Minnesota mean the much-delayed passage of the 2014 Farm Bill hits home for students and employees alike.
It’s a big week in the agriculture world. Just days before Obama signed the new Farm Bill into law, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the locations of seven regional hubs for climate change adaptation and mitigation. These hubs will attempt to address the risks that farmers increasingly face due to climate change—including fires, pests, droughts and floods—by disseminating research on ways landowners can adapt to and adjust management strategies to build resilience. Continue Reading
Sue Nelson, the Tea Party member challenging incumbent conservative Republican state representative Mary Franson, continued her holy war against ditch weed on Facebook Tuesday. Along with several other Minnesota Republicans, Franson supports allowing Minnesota farmers to grow hemp for fiber, building materials and other non-recreational purposes. Continue Reading
“I love farming so much. Even though I’ve farmed all day long, when I go home and lay down my head I dream about farming,” a Hmong farmer told us her story about immigrating to Minnesota and why she continues to farm. She longs for her three grown sons to join her in the fields but they have chosen more financially rewarding careers. Her friends tell her maybe her sons will decide to farm when they get bigger. “I don’t think they are going to get any bigger,” she joked. Continue Reading
One day after his declared Republican opponent cavorts in Willmar with the Tea Party, state representative Andrew Falk and the Minnesota House Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Finance will be looking at the growing threat of super weeds. Continue Reading
The U.S. trade debate shifted into high gear yesterday with the introduction of Congressional bills to fast track trade deals. If approved, this would give the administration the authority to negotiate trade deals behind closed doors and then submit the resulting agreements to Congress for an up or down vote, with very limited debate and no possibility of amendments. Unions, environmental organizations and many other civil society groups immediately denounced the bill as undemocratic and out of date. Some 151 Democrats issued a letter last week expressing opposition to the bill, so its passage is far from assured. Continue Reading
The illusion of choice takes away from our ability to get to a just, sustainable food system, meaning we’ll have to “Vote with our Vote.” We can’t afford to just “Vote with our Fork.” Continue Reading
A growing number of hospitals are shifting the way they think about protecting and improving health, and taking a closer look at how and where the food they serve is grown. This is great news for the people who receive treatment, work at and visit the hospitals, but it’s also great news for local, sustainable farmers, and could become an important infrastructure pillar in building stronger local food systems. Continue Reading
It’s common to make biblical references when we want to underscore how ancient something is, but in the case of apples, we know they’ve been around for a very long time. Originating in Central Asia, hybrid varieties propagated through grafting were well established over 6,000 years ago. Today there are over 7,500 cultivars world-wide. Despite the range, diversity and quantity of apples produced in the world, however, Malus domestica apparently isn’t measuring up to the modern consumer’s expectations. At least that’s what Neal Carter, president of Okanagan Specialty Fruits thinks. He has developed genetically engineered Granny Smith and Golden Delicious apples that won’t turn brown when the flesh is exposed to air. Carter isn’t alone in searching for technological improvements to the apple. Nanotech coatings to keep fruits like apples, pears and mangos firm are already in use. Continue Reading