Farm Issues
Farm Bill: Healthy Food, not Corporate Welfare!
Unless you are a diehard policy wonk, it's tough to get excited about the Farm Bill. But consumers have a bigger stake in this mammoth piece of federal legislation than we may realize. Big Ag's lobbyists fight hard to protect corporate interests, almost always at the expense of consumers. The OCA is here to help you fight for for healthy food and against corporate welfare!
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Apples· steve urow© 2014 -
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steve urow's garden not· steve urow© 2014
For the first three weeks of July, Peter Martens prayed for rain. At the end of the month the rain finally arrived, but by then it was too late for some of his crops. For others, it was too much water, too quickly. The lack of rain, Mr. Martens said, will reduce his corn yield by about 20 percent, but the late-summer deluges damaged the quality of his spelt, a type of wheat.
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Every summer the US Central Plains go dry, leading farmers to tap into groundwater to irrigate sorghum, soy, cotton, wheat, and corn, and maintain large herds of cattle and hogs. As the heat rises, anxious irrigators gather to discuss whether and how they should adopt more stringent conservation measures.
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The concept of silvopasture challenges our notions of both modern agriculture and land use. For centuries, European settlers of North America have engaged in practices that separate the field from the forest, and even the food from the animal. Silvopasture systems integrate trees, animals, and forages in a whole-system approach that offers a number of benefits to the farmer and the environment.
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Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Tuesday unveiled a three-part, $12 billion plan seeking to ensure that U.S. farmers and ranchers — a key constituency for President Donald Trump and Republicans — don’t bear the brunt of an escalating trade fight as the administration pursues an aggressive course to rebalance America's trade relationships.
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President Trump’s trade tactics are causing pain in farm country, but that’s not knocking the president off his favored pedestal. “Despite all the high anxiety in farm country over the Trump trade tariffs, the president's polling improves in key farm states,” according to Pro Farmer’s policy analyst Jim Wiesemeyer.
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On July 9, supervisors in Todd Township, Huntingdon County, voted 2-1 to adopt a Community Bill of Rights ordinance banning industrial farming. The rights-based law prohibits farming operations when the animals are not owned locally and when most of the farm’s revenues do not stay within the Township.
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Founded and produced by Kevin Jones, founder of SOCAP, author/producer, Marc Barasch, and regenerative practitioner Dr. Holly Dublin, REGEN 18 was billed as a conference where ‘hundreds of world-changers in philanthropy, business, government and citizen activism will convene to foster the emergence of a new regenerative society’ with the intention to ‘help bring about a rapid shift from a degenerative economy to one that supports the mutual thriving of people and planet.’
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In an effort to address centuries of systemic racism, a new online tool seeks to connect Black, brown, and Indigenous farmers with land and resources.
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Provisions inside the delayed House farm bill would roll back restrictions on the wealthy obtaining federal farm subsidies, as well as allow extended family members to receive lucrative payments.
Read moreI am not a poultry owner and I am not interested in getting into the poultry industry. However, I like to eat chicken and I also like sharing entrepreneurial agricultural opportunities with people. Also, with all the debate out there about various ways to raise the chickens we eat, I found Haslett-Marroquin’s proven, researched ideas very positive because they can be implemented on a small number of acres in a pleasing, environmental fashion – all while being profitable too! If you’re passionate about poultry, his ideas are worth looking into.
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