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The USDA reported sales from U.S. organic farms up 72 percent. According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) survey, however, organic acres are shrinking.
The nation’s dairy farmers need additional time this fall to consider their risk management options under the new Margin Protection Program (MPP) offered by the USDA, according to the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), which asked the USDA to extend the MPP sign-up deadline by two months.
Welcome to the random ramblings and humble thoughts from an addled producer and agricultural advocate. I am a farmer and rancher from the northern Flint Hills in Pottawatomie County, Kansas, and a former county extension agent.
If you enjoy a pumpkin-flavored coffee or dish of ice cream this fall, you'll be in good company. According to Nielsen data, 37 percent of U.S. consumers purchased a pumpkin-flavored product, which could have included anything from cereal to oral care.
For years now, the Prigel Family Creamery has been trying hard to mimic Serengeti-type grazing with its 180 milk cows in Glen Arm, Maryland. Well, it must be working because in May 2015 the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) called. They wanted to use the farm’s pastures and cattle to test brand new anti-poaching equipment, soon bound for the African savanna.
The weaning of spring calves is upon us, and many decisions are being made this year regarding the best methods to minimize morbidity and mortality. Weaning is typically the most stressful time of a calf’s life, and each year seems to bring new challenges.
Cattlemen throughout the nation are under increasing scrutiny for land use and conservation measures to stabilize soils and preserve water quality. Kentucky cattleman Jon Bednarski, at Sherwood Acres in Oldham County, is ahead of the curve in those efforts.
Conservation practices
The concept of land conservation sounds good; it’s the practice that’s difficult. If you have a waterway running through your cattle pasture, for example, conservation becomes much more than a theoretical, feel-good concept; it requires fencing, tree buffer zones or excavated and reinforced access points. It absolutely requires labor, sweat and time.
The power of our thoughts is an amazing weapon that can work for or against us. When I was 19 years old, I used to work for a cow outfit in East Tennessee for one of the finest stockmen you’ll find anywhere.
