By Lura Roti, South Dakota Farmers Union Ask Marlow Christensen and his three sons, Dale, Don and Doug, why they chose farming as a career and their responses are similar. “It’s all we’ve ever known,” explains Dale, who, like his younger brothers, joined the family operation full-time right out of high school. His brother, Don, … Read More
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Access to Land: Christensen Farm Family & Succession Planning
By Lura Roti, South Dakota Farmers Union Ask Marlow Christensen and his three sons, Dale, Don and Doug, why they chose farming as a career and their responses are similar. “It’s all we’ve ever known,” explains Dale, who, like his younger brothers, joined the family operation full-time right out of high school. His brother, Don, … Read More
What Do Farmers Need to Know About Climate Change? Developing Protocols for Environmental Markets
By Kristen Ford, Program Manager for Farmer Veteran Coalition Relatively few range or pasture land projects are producing marketable greenhouse gas (GHG) credits, and producer awareness of environmental markets is extremely low. Through a U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG), Farmer Veteran Coalition, a national nonprofit organization that … Read More
Ten Reasons to Attend NFU’s Women’s Conference
By Lisa Kivirist, Endowed Chair at the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, author of Soil Sisters Just as we farmers need to care for our soil, we also need to nurture our minds and plant new idea seeds to shape a healthy business vision. That’s exactly what’s on the menu for women farmers at this year’s … Read More
Access to Markets: LocalFood App
By Elise Rothman, Founder of LocalMotive Is there a proven strategy to boost demand and revenue for local food? And if so, can the local food shift be measured? LocalMotive, a Public Benefit Corp out of Manitou Springs, Colorado, thinks they may have the answers. In 2015, they piloted LocalFood, a mobile application (“app”) that uses … Read More
NFU at the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture
By Chris Holman, NFU Member In mid-January, I flew to Berlin to attend the annual Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA), this year entitled “Agriculture and Water – The Key to Feeding the World.” While there, I represented National Farmers Union (NFU) and the World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO), and served as the North American … Read More
Access to Markets: Local Food Databases
By Jimmy Dula, NFU Intern As technology revolutionizes travel, products, games, and people, food producers should be looking to identify its role in food access. In what ways can technology facilitate the relationship between farmers and consumers? During the most recent Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry hearing on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program … Read More
What Can Farmers Do About Climate Change? Silvopasture
By Tom Driscoll, Director of Conservation Policy and NFU Foundation As discussed previously in the Climate Column, trees sequester carbon that, if left in the atmosphere, would trap heat and contribute to climate change. Growing trees on farmland allows producers to store more carbon while simultaneously achieving other advantages for their farms’ productivity. The National Agroforestry Center (NAC) shares information on … Read More
Access to Land: Boulder County Land Lease Program
By Jimmy Dula, NFU Intern, and Vanessa McCracken, Agricultural Resource Specialist for Boulder County Parks & Open Space Boulder County, whose most populous city is the eponymous Boulder, Colorado, is home to the University of Colorado Buffs, and is infamous for an expansive population of tree hugging, rock loving, spiritually centered citizens. In the 1970’s, an intergovernmental … Read More
Access to Land: Farming on County Property
By Jimmy Dula, NFU Intern As land values in many parts of the county continue to rise, and as urban development threatens rural landscapes, county governments have begun taking stewardship of farmland and its development rights in order to make the land available to farmers. Though programs vary in structure and funding, they share the … Read More
Chapter Elects First Female Muslim President in NFU History
By Tommy Enright, Wisconsin Farmers Union Communications Associate The Wood-Portage-Waupaca County Chapter of Wisconsin Farmers Union made history in November with the election of Alicia Razvi, a CSA farmer from Stevens Point, as their chapter president. Razvi served as the chapter’s secretary/treasurer for two years prior to her election to the office of president. “Two … Read More
What Can Farmers Do About Climate Change? Forest Farming
By Tom Driscoll, Director of Conservation Policy and NFU Foundation Last week, the Climate Column discussed one practice, alley cropping, that builds climate resilience of farmland by incorporating trees. The National Agroforesty Center (NAC) promotes other such practices, including forest farming. Forest farming “is the cultivation of high-value specialty crops under the protection of a forest canopy that has been … Read More
Access to Markets: Organic Q&A With Harrison Topp
By Jimmy Dula, NFU Intern Harrison Topp, NFU member and Director of Membership for Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, is the operator of Topp Fruits in Paonia, Colorado. Topp holistically manages the stone fruit orchard, giving special consideration to environmental stewardship and resource management. The orchard first received organic certification two years ago. In this Q&A, Harrison … Read More
Access to Markets: Organic Q&A With Harrison Topp
By Jimmy Dula, NFU Intern Harrison Topp, NFU member and Director of Membership for Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, is the operator of Topp Fruits in Paonia, Colorado. Topp holistically manages the stone fruit orchard, giving special consideration to environmental stewardship and resource management. The orchard first received organic certification two years ago. In this Q&A, Harrison … Read More
Access to Markets: Organic Certification
By Hannah Packman, NFU Communications Coordinator Although Organic Certification has only been offered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for about 15 years, there are already more than 20,000 organic operations nationwide. According to the USDA, Organic Certification is given to operations that “demonstrate that they are protecting natural resources, conserving biodiversity, and … Read More
What Can Farmers Do About Climate Change? Alley Cropping
By Tom Driscoll, Director of Conservation Policy and NFU Foundation The Climate Column has covered many practices supported by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). In addition to its own work promoting conservation practices, NRCS also collaborates with the United States Forest Service to provide resources through the National Agroforestry Center (NAC) to help farmers contribute to climate resilience. NAC promotes … Read More
Access to Education: Young Farmers Conference
By Christy Ottinger, Manager of Little Gunpowder Farm As a beginning farmer, I try to seize every opportunity to further my education and learn more about all aspects of farming. Thus far, I have done this by attending conferences during the winter, participating in NFU’s Beginning Farmers Institute, and enrolling in short workshops during the season. … Read More
Access to Education: Introduction
By Jimmy Dula, NFU Intern Snow and cold weather may slow down food production, but there is no off-season for farmers. Even when it is too cold for crops, farmers are readying for the spring, researching new production methods, educating themselves on new farm technologies, and planning market strategies. Thorough preparation for the growing season can greatly reduce … Read More
What Do Farmers Need to Know About Climate Change? United States Mid-Century Strategy for Deep Decarbonization
By Tom Driscoll, NFU Director of Conservation Policy and Education National Farmers Union (NFU) members understand the negative impacts of climate change are exacerbated by greater concentrations of greenhouse gasses in the Earth’s atmosphere. Everyone in the world should be concerned about the broad consequences of climate change, but family farmers are particularly worried about the direct impact climate change … Read More
Access to Markets: Selecting Seeds
By Whitney Will, Farm Manager at Roaring Gardens at TCI Lane Ranch January is a time for dreaming about the next season of farming, planning the garden, and ordering seeds. For me, looking forward to the next season always starts with looking back on previous ones. What worked well last season? Which vegetables did we need … Read More
NFU at the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture
By Chris Holman, NFU Member Next week, I will be flying to Berlin, Germany to represent National Farmers Union (NFU) at the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFAA). NFU’s participation in this forum is tied to its role as a founding member of the World Farmers Organization (WFO). If you are a relatively new member of Farmers Union … Read More
Access to Markets: Growing for a Farmers Market
By Hannah Packman, NFU Communications Coordinator Farmers markets can be an important source of supplementary income and public exposure for both small scale producers and beginning farmers and ranchers. Not only do they provide access to additional markets and new consumers, but they also eliminate the costs of processing, storage, wholesale, and distributing associated with traditional … Read More
What Can Farmers Do About Climate Change? Forage and Biomass Planting
By Thomas Driscoll, NFU Director of Conservation Policy and Education Since October, when the Climate Column started featuring ways farmers can address climate change, we have primarily discussed practices to build climate resilience in crop production. There are, of course, many things livestock producers can do about climate change as well. Livestock producers often have … Read More
Access to Land: Farm Church Q&A
By Jimmy Dula, NFU Intern Allen Brimer is the farmer/pastor at Farm Church, an agriculturally-minded religious community. Brimer has extensive experience cultivating produce and raising farm animals, as well as over a decade of religious service. In this Q&A, Brimer tells us more about his operation and the challenges and opportunities he has encountered farming for … Read More
Access to Land: Farm Church Q&A
By Jimmy Dula, NFU Intern Allen Brimer is the farmer/pastor at Farm Church, an agriculturally-minded religious community. Brimer has extensive experience cultivating produce and raising farm animals, as well as over a decade of religious service. In this Q&A, Brimer tells us more about his operation and the challenges and opportunities he has encountered farming for … Read More