Organic/Sustainable Farming

Despite critics, organic farming thrives in heart of U.S. corn country

By Keith Schneider People searching for ways to limit the toll industrialized American agriculture takes on communities, land, and water may want to make a visit to Clear Creek Acres in northern Iowa. With just shy of 800 residents, West Bend, Iowa is barely a blip on a prairie landscape, but it has become home […]

Nearly 70 seed companies take Seed Integrity Pledge for Safe Seed to provide non-GMO seeds

As GMO seeds start becoming available to home gardeners, Seed Integrity Pledge for Safe Seeds hosts a database of seed companies that have pledged to not sell GMO seeds and plants. Seventy garden seed companies have taken the Seed Integrity Pledge for Safe Seeds, a new initiative to ensure a non-GMO seed supply is available […]

Agroecology movement gaining ground in the U.S.

Holistic system offers healthy, ecological, and just alternative to the damage of industrial agriculture Organic and regenerative agriculture systems are considered the best alternatives to industrial agriculture with its environmentally damaging and health threatening practices like toxic pesticides and GMOs. But another, more holistic agriculture system—agroecology—is gaining greater recognition in the U.S. after successful adoption […]

The magical world of organic Montana

By Kathleen Delate, Professor-Organic Ag, Iowa State University Wheat Love Deep in the caverns of the sassi of Matera, Italy in 2014 was the beginning of our love of all things Triticum. We were introduced to durum wheat, Triticum turgidum subsp. durum, a tetraploid wheat (28 chromosomes), whose grain/flour/pasta has a lower glycemic index than regular wheat, […]

As consumers flock to organic foods, lawmakers urge more federal grants for farmers

Supporters eye uncertain farm bill as a vehicle for measure By Samantha Dietel U.S. lawmakers are pushing a bill that would boost support for organic farmers amid rising demand for their products. U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Angus King of Maine, alongside U.S. Representatives Chellie Pingree of Maine and Annie Kuster of New […]