New book: How Home Gardens Outshine Industrial Food

The real cost of the food in the local supermarket is far more than what you pay at the checkout counter. In his new book, Just Grow It Yourself, botanist and author David G. Fisher compares home gardens to industrial food head-to-head, from taste and nutrition to cost, safety, and yield. Contrary to the popular […]

Synthetic nitrogen fertilizer use in industrial agriculture must stop to avert climate catastrophe

As governments panic over the escalating cost of synthetic nitrogen (N) fertilizers triggered by a natural gas price surge, it’s sobering to note that the fertilizers are a major contributor to the climate crisis. Three scientists working with Greenpeace, GRAIN, and IATP measured the impact of synthetic N fertilizers on climate, revealing that they are […]

Use of cover crops as climate tool on the rise

Purdue’s Ag Economy Barometer announced recently that over half of the U.S,’ largest farms (over $500,000 worth of production yearly) planted cover crops this year. Cover crops are now seen as a way to earn money from carbon contracts while lessening climate change impacts. In the survey of 400 producers, most were newcomers, with half […]

Planting perennial prairie strips—environmental boon, while increasing agricultural production

Less erosion, reduced nitrogen runoff, and loads more butterflies and microorganisms—sound worth it? Planting perennial prairie strips on farms provides these benefits, and more. Missouri farmer Frank Oberle has been using one-mile-long prairie strips for over 15 years—strips of 30-120 feet wide placed along waterways, through fields, or in terrace channels—seeding them with native flowers […]

Demand for non-GMO soybeans is “staggering”

U.S. soybean exports may have a record-breaking year for 2021—not just for the China market, but representing a vigorous, diverse base responding to the demand. “It won’t be a record to any one particular country…something we take pride in is our diverse footprint of U.S. soy going out,” said U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) CEO […]