July/August

An organic agronomist’s perspective on the tillage debate

By Rob Wallbridge For a number of years now, no-till—the practice of planting and tending a crop without mechanically disturbing the soil—has been the darling of sustainable agriculture. “Minimizing soil disturbance” is a key principle of the regenerative agriculture movement, and for good reason. Organic farming is often criticized for its reliance on tillage, with […]

GMO ice cream rushed to market; maker hides that it is GMO-derived

Brands use Perfect Day® synbio proteins to create GMO ice cream A genetically engineered ice cream has been rushed to market with consumer messaging that obscures the fact that the ice cream is GMO, according to a prominent public health attorney. The Urgent Company recently launched Brave Robot ice cream, which is made using synthetic […]

Rodale Midwest Center crop consultants aim to “transition as many farmers to organic as possible”

Crop consultants with the Rodale Institute’s Midwest Center are working with farmers in the region to transition land to organic production. Léa Vereecke, who is based in Madison, Wisconsin, and Nic Podoll, based in Nevis, Minnesota, both joined the Rodale Midwest Center in January. Vereecke, who was a research specialist at the University of Wisconsin […]

Regenerative farmer to peers: We can farm without pesticides

Rick Clark, a no-till organic farmer from Indiana, recently encouraged a group of farmers at a field day to move away from synthetic pesticides. “Eliminate all of these caustic inputs that are harming our bodies. We can farm without all these inputs,” he said. “Let’s figure out how to move forward and make it happen.” […]

Iowa farmer-poet offers new paradigm of agriculture

The longer I farm the more I find I’ve got weeds of every kind. Hit ‘em with Roundup—chemical blast At first, they died but it did not last. Hit ‘em a second time at a double rate Now food smells of glyphosate on my plate. I’m sick of poison, the bitter taste. You can’t beat […]