big picture agriculture

Cathartic Blogging: Writers, Bloggers, and Cab Drivers

2012-01-13T08:08:00.000-08:00

sourceLoyal Readers,It is the beginning of a new year, and marks two years of me turning out blog posts crazily on this site, as if the site was run by five people instead of one. Quite frankly, just as the honeybees are very, very tired, so am I. Adding insult to injury, in a recent discussion with my 20 year old son over my frustrations with blogging, he told me, "Mom, bloggers are lowlier than

1941 California Sheep Photo by Ansel Adams

2012-01-12T07:35:00.000-08:00

Sheep "Flock in Owens Valley, 1941."by Adams, Ansel, 1902-1984Photo: U.S. National Archives

Agriculture News January 9, 2012

2012-01-08T22:40:00.000-08:00

Flickr CC/C C ChapmanThe internet dispenses information the way a ketchup bottle dispenses ketchup. At first, there was too little; now, there is too much. In between, there was a halcyon interval of just-enoughness. For me, it lasted about 10 years. They were the best years of my life. ---Judith Rich HarrisRodale: Organic pioneer, farmer and author Gene Logsdon welcomes Susie Sutphin to

Noodling for Catfish in Mississippi

2012-01-07T20:30:00.000-08:00

Another great episode from the Perennial Plate . . . enjoy . . .For more on "noodling" see wikipedia here.

Virginia Food Documentary: The Truth on the Table

2012-01-07T07:40:00.000-08:00

The Truth on the Table series by Alpha Vision Films.

The World Food Programme Online Game: Freerice

2012-01-06T09:11:00.000-08:00

To learn more and play the game which helps feed the world, go here. For each question answer you get right, ten grains of rice are donated through the World Food Programme (WFP). Freerice players have already donated nearly 100 billion grains of rice since the game’s launch in 2007—enough to feed almost five million people for a day.

The Honeybee Decline Story: Neonicotinoid and Spinosad Insecticides which Harm Honeybee Central Nervous Systems

2012-01-05T04:51:00.000-08:00

flickr CC/Kevin LabiancoIf Germany, France, Italy, and Slovenia have banned Clothianidin, a pesticide which harms the central nervous system of insects and is known by the EPA to significantly harm the honeybee, why is it not banned here in the United States?One can't help but be confused by the multitude of headlines over these past several years which have claimed to know (or not know) the

Photo of Sheep on Maryland Farm

2012-01-05T01:50:00.000-08:00

Sheep grazing in pasture in central Maryland.1981. (usda)

Former Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey Sees the need to Re-Evaluate the 1944 Pick-Sloan Flood Control Act

2012-01-04T08:30:00.000-08:00

Bob Kerrey is exactly right. Wildlife habitat and biodiversity along the Missouri River is more important to Nebraska's economy and aesthetics than the minimal navigation provided by the currently unnatural, ditched, sterile, polluted, bleak appearance of the Corps controlled river. A more natural river in this region would be a huge ecological asset to the states of Nebraska and Iowa.In this ten

CBS News: All is not Rosy in Iowa

2012-01-03T07:45:00.000-08:00

In this CBS news video, the Iowa caucus has cast a spotlight on soaring Iowa farmland prices. This has not translated to a booming local economy, as they report that the general economy in Iowa and job growth are both hurting.As farms get larger, small communities continue to die, younger people can't afford to begin farming, and the rural residents drive farther for groceries and goods and to

Agriculture News January 2, 2012

2012-01-01T21:25:00.000-08:00

2012. Another new year. Another opportunity for a fresh start. Another blank slate.Well, this is the year that we've all been waiting for, isn't it? About five years ago I was convinced that 2012 would be the year that all of the world's problems would converge and implode upon each other. My outlook and the way I think about global problem solving has changed quite a bit since then, in part

Prospero: Robot Farmers of the Future

2012-01-01T02:58:00.000-08:00

What better way to bring in the new year than to feature a "futuristic farming" video. Enjoy.by David Dorhout

Cave of Forgotten Dreams Trailer

2011-12-31T08:08:00.000-08:00

This cave contains the most ancient visual art known to have been created by man, from 32,000 years ago.

Why are we Depleting and Polluting the Ogallala Aquifer to Manufacture Ethanol?

2011-12-29T09:33:00.000-08:00

I would like to point readers to Grist today, where my friend Julene Bair has written another excellent article, "Can the 2012 Farm Bill protect the Ogallala Aquifer?" In it, she goes after one of the subjects which upsets me most, that of Nebraska corn farmers using precious ancient aquifer water to make corn ethanol to burn in our gas guzzling SUV tanks, lawn mowers, 4-wheelers, snowmobiles,

Photo: Wyoming Cattle in Snow

2011-12-29T03:47:00.000-08:00

Feeding cattle hay in winter. Jackson, Wyoming. 2002.photo: usda

Here's a Watercolor Artist Who Likes to Paint Farm and Garden Related Subjects.

2011-12-27T20:15:00.000-08:00

Today, I'm pleased to feature the San Antonio, Texas artist, Lesta Frank. She is a watercolor artist who earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art, and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Rochester Institute of Technology. She enjoys doing gardening, farming, and vegetable art and has just recently done a series of 12 designs for a new heirloom organic seed company that is

Agriculture News December 26, 2011

2011-12-26T08:48:00.000-08:00

photo: flickr CC via Maia C"The dining table in the Susquehanna Plantation House in Greenfield Village is laden with a typical banquet dishes. In tidewater Maryland, where the house was built, it was traditional to hold weddings at Christmastime because guests would have fewer farm chores in the winter and could therefore travel."China's central government is stepping up fiscal spending to

Holiday Greetings!

2011-12-25T03:14:00.000-08:00

PEACE ON EARTHflickr cc via sogni_hal "in Tokyo"

Merry Christmas ~ Reminiscing Band Aid of the 1980's ~ Feed The World

2011-12-24T00:23:00.000-08:00

Band Aid ~ Do they know it's Christmas ~ Feed the world ~ 1984Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, produced by Quincy Jones, recorded by popular musicians to raise funds to help famine-relief efforts in Ethiopia which experienced unusual drought in 1985.

Average Annual Prices for Soybeans, Wheat and Corn from 1990 to 2011

2011-12-23T08:16:00.000-08:00

Very large gains in annual receipts are expected for wheat, corn, hay, and cotton in 2011, often reflecting prices that are forecast to exceed their previous records. The U.S. annual wheat price is expected to increase to $7.43 per bushel, a 44 percent increase from 2010 and 8 cents-per-bushel below its 2008 average, reflecting a large increase in wheat exports. The U.S. annual corn price is

In Scotland, the aim to Increase Forest Cover from 17% to 25% by 2025 is Hurting Sheep Farming and Driving Up Land Prices.

2011-12-22T09:05:00.000-08:00

Scottish farmers and landowners are being offered generous tree-planting grants and a government assurance that forestry cover will be expanded from 17% to 25% of the country by 2025. Yet despite the lures very few have been enticed to turn any of their land over to commercial conifers.

UK Farm Photo from 1941

2011-12-22T03:02:00.000-08:00

1941 Gyrotiller at work Bomford Bros, Evesham, Worcestershirephoto: reading.ac.uk

Christmas Tree Sales Totaled $375 Million in 2010

2011-12-21T10:19:00.000-08:00

2010 Christmas Tree Sales by StateChristmas trees are grown in all 50 states including Hawaii and Alaska. Christmas tree growers are as diverse as any other farm specialization, ranging from large sophisticated operations in the Pacific Northwest to smaller cut your own operations in the Southeast. In 2010, Christmas trees produced by U.S. farms generated $375 million in cash receipts. The top

TED Talk: Roger Doiron's Garden Plot

2011-12-20T10:15:00.000-08:00

Doiron’s the founder of Kitchen Garden International, a network of home gardeners.

Agriculture News December 19, 2011

2011-12-19T00:05:00.000-08:00

Flickr CC via tslaks82 "near Vermont" January 2009K.M.: I chose this photo for the winter solstice this week. It is time for us in the Northern Hemisphere to enjoy a little hibernation. Thank goodness for the electricity, which we take for granted, and for the oven, which bakes peppermint mini chocolate chip meringue cookies.MUST-READ by Wes Jackson: That we can feed billions is less a sign of