by Paige Stanley How grass-fed cattle can sequester carbon and rebuild soil. Meat has received a renewed wave of scrutiny from environmentalists since the October UN climate change report. Beef is painted especially poorly in this narrative, with claims that cattle disrupt the climate, destroy ecosystems, drive deforestation and make us unhealthy all at once….
by Marcia DeLonge, senior scientist | November 23, 2018 This year’s harvest season has been bittersweet. Interspersed with delightful treats like apple cider and pumpkin pie has been a disheartening stream of news from America’s farmers, many of whom are struggling to stay afloat amidst low crop prices, trade wars, and disasters stretching from east…
by Sam Bloch and Joe Fassler | November 21st, 2018 Most Americans have no direct contact with agricultural production. And while blockchain could collect reams of data that might interest more engaged farm-to-table eaters, Cargill isn’t necessarily tracking that information. Last year, Cargill—one of the world’s largest agribusiness companies, a sprawling multinational that maintains a…
by Laura Parker | August 2016 The Ogallala aquifer turned the region into America’s breadbasket. Now it, and a way of life, are being drained away. This story appears in the August 2016 issue of National Geographic magazine. “Whoa,” yells Brownie Wilson, as the steel measuring tape I am feeding down the throat of an…
September 8, 2018 I’ve come from Wollongong to visit Allan Yeomans, the inventor of the Yeomans Carbon Still. It seems fitting that Allan’s workshop is located here at the Gold Coast, where hundreds of skyscrapers cluster along the beach, perched barely above sea level. What will happen to this place in the near future, when…
by Humeyra Pamuk | November 16, 2018 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture terminated a $240,000 purchase contract with Chinese-owned Smithfield Foods that had been awarded under the Trump administration’s agricultural trade bailout program, a move taken at the company’s request, a department spokesman told Reuters on Friday. The move comes weeks after…
Dear Mike, On Tuesday, Drovers issued a poll asking the question, “Do you believe the Beef Checkoff is helping stimulate beef demand and support your cattle business?” By Thursday afternoon, the polling showed that 70 percent of Drovers’ audience who responded flatly rejected the notion that the checkoff was helpful to their farms and ranches….
Dear Mike, Yesterday marked the start of the most critical phase in our four-year legal battle over the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s refusal to release public audit and financial documents related to Beef Checkoff Program spending. By law, farmers and ranchers are mandated to pay into the government fund for research, promotion, and development of…
by Phil Cross | November 8, 2018 OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — From the food we eat to the clothes we wear, we thank a farmer. But there are fewer farmers in Oklahoma these days. The family farmer is disappearing as the cost of breaking even is getting higher. From atop the farmer’s grain elevator in…