Elizabeth Whitlow

This article outlines the uncertain future of California asparagus and its farmers, shedding light on the critical issues undermining the future of food production. Asparagus farming in California faces unprecedented challenges, serving as a cautionary tale for the state's agriculture. Since its peak in 2000, when it covered 37,000 acres, the asparagus fields have decreased to fewer than 3,000 acres. Factors such as labor costs, global competition, and regulatory changes are pushing farmers to the brink. Link to the article: https://lat.ms/3wAHlEf #Agriculture #FoodProduction #CaliforniaAgriculture

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When we follow the principles of soil health and let those principles guide our management decisions, we harness the self-healing, self-regulating, and self-perpetuating capacity of natural systems to be profitable. The principles are universal, regardless of context. Specific tools used will vary depending upon context. Want to learn more? Attend a Soil Health Academy or contact Understanding Ag, LLC - Experts in Regenerative Ag.

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Florida sued over lab meat ban, winter wheat planting is underway, and USDA to allow H5N1 vaccine trials for dairy cows. Farmer confidence is falling, Impossible and Motif end legal dispute, and a new app matches strangers for a meal. Common questions I get from ag stakeholders: What #agtech should I be looking for? Do I need agtech? Where do I go to find the right agtech? What should it cost? It’s difficult to navigate the dynamic agtech landscape. We could use a trusted advisor in agtech. The agtech entrepreneurs that become trusted advisors will unlock enormous value. I’ll explain how in this week’s newsletter. #agtechfriday #agriculture #advisor #trust #startups #innovation #trustedtech #agtwitter #agtechadvisor https://lnkd.in/gBgcGDEy

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I've seen this article about Regenerative corn/maize being posted a lot in my #foodsystems circles, and was interested to take a deeper dive into it. Some reactions: -It was cool to see that some of the farmers in the study are from my home state of #Nebraska, not far from the farming community where I grew up. -It's truly wonderful to see farmers in the Midwestern US being able to increase profitability while investing in #soilhealth, reducing pesticide usage, and improving #biodiversity. This is something I'm celebrating, and I wish we could see more farmers adopting in that context. However, this section gave me pause: "Regenerative farms produced 29% less corn grain than conventional operations" "They also received higher value for their crop by receiving an organic premium, by selling their grain directly to consumers as seed or feed" What's difficult about translating this for smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa is that the context can be quite different: a) For many vulnerable farmers One Acre Fund works with, a 29% decrease in grain yields can be devastating to their families. b) All of the nine countries in sub-Saharan Africa One Acre Fund works in are currently net importers of cereals and grains. c) There is currently no regenerative organic price premium to offset the 29% drop in yields for staple crops like maize or beans in the smallholder context in sub-Saharan Africa (higher value crops like cacao and coffee are a slightly different story). Bottom line: We need to make #Regenerative practices like cover crops make financial sense for smallholders (which is one of the reasons why One Acre Fund joined the CASH Coalition: to figure out how to make regenerative practices economically viable for #smallholders across the world). https://lnkd.in/duRdHhur

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🌍💥 Unmasking Big Meat & Dairy: The Hidden Culprits of Climate Inaction 💥 Following on from the February 2024 report by The Freedom Food Alliance disinformation report, Changing Markets Foundation has continued the conversation on how the powerful agribusiness giants are deploying distraction, delay, and derailment tactics to obstruct global environmental progress. Key findings include: 🐄 Extensive lobbying to block climate policies 🐄 Greenwashing and weak net zero targets 🐄 Targeted disinformation campaigns to Gen Z 🐄 ‘Unproven technofixes’ that taxpayers foot the bill for,  🐄 Delaying much-needed transition to more plant-based diets. It’s time to hold these industries accountable and champion a sustainable future for our planet. Link to my commentary below 👇

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Factory farmers transitioning out of industrial agriculture report better quality of life, despite the economic and physical tolls of the work. Cara Buckley reports for The New York Times. In short: Factory farming often traps farmers in financial distress, with median net revenue for poultry farmers under $10,000 annually. Many farmers are leaving industrial livestock for alternative ventures like mushroom or vegetable farming, leading to improved well-being. Consumers can help shift the food system by choosing plant-based options and supporting sustainable practices. Key quote: “I came to view factory farming as a cancer on rural America. I hated how it robbed people of their humanity and reduced them down to a number, to a widget, to a cog.” — Tyler Whitley, director of the Transfarmation Project Why this matters: Factory farming harms animals and the environment and exploits farmers, leaving them financially and emotionally drained. Supporting sustainable agriculture can improve rural livelihoods and reduce environmental impact. #factoryfarms #cafos #industrialfarming #animalwelfare #plantbased #plantbaseddiets #smallfarmers #smallholderfarmers #socialjustice #foodjustice #foodsystem #foodsystems #foodsystemtransformation #sustainablefoodsystems #sustainablelivelihoods #environment #environmental #environmentalhealth

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DAFF and APVMA refuse to test Australian pesticides to see if they contain PFAS contaminants (even after US products were proven to in 2022). They prefer to wait until they can measure enough forever chemicals in the produce and people to definitely, certainly, cause more endocrine disruption and cancer. Seriously, this is their logic. Any notion of preventative health action around PFAS is dismissed in Australia, as if it is hysterical, or just inconvenient to implement. Just as we lead world in cancer- we all know someone with breast, prostate and skin cancer. We all know someone who suffered from infertility- as it is now 1 in 6 that need reproductive intervention to have kids. It used to be almost no-one needed such pharmacological intervention. Our fertility is declining. Our Government is not protecting its people.

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Small Business, Big Solutions: How Small Farmers Lead the Way. The landscape of small businesses, the small farm is emerging as the ultimate model for sustainability, health, and community resilience. At a time when large-scale agriculture dominates the narrative, small farms are quietly transforming how we think about food, the environment, our health, and our economy. The USDA has acknowledged that over 90% of U.S. farms are small family farms, yet they generate only 21% of agricultural production revenue highlighting grave disparity in our food system. Trust me those stats directly correlate back to our health system but more on that later. Here’s the reality: Small farms are more than a place to grow food—they’re a business model that embodies everything we need for a better future. • Sustainable by Design: Small farms operate with the land, not against it. By prioritizing regenerative practices, they restore soil health, capture carbon, conserve water, and foster biodiversity. It’s a business rooted in sustainability, not exploitation. • Healthier Communities: America’s health is on a steady decline, with diet-related diseases reaching epidemic proportions. Small farms are more likely to be chemical free and grow nutrient-dense, clean food while offering a direct connection to the source—removing the disconnect that has plagued the industrial food system. • A Local Economy That Thrives: Unlike many businesses, small farms directly feed their communities. They create fair-wage jobs, keep dollars circulating locally, and fill the gaps where food deserts once existed. The small farm is everything a great small business should be: mission-driven, community-focused, and endlessly innovative. It’s the best kind of business for our bodies, our planet, and our future. But small farms can’t survive without community support. To thrive, farmers need partnerships, fair pay for goods, and customers who value local, sustainable food systems. They need people like you to see them not as a niche, but as the backbone of a new, healthier economy. This Small Business Saturday, I challenge you to rethink what “small business” means. Support the small farmer—not just for the fresh produce, but for the larger story of hope they’re growing for all of us. The small farm is the new best small business. And it has the power to save the world. How will your home or company support your local small farmer? https://lnkd.in/exTh6QF5 #SmallBusinessSaturday #SupportLocal #SmallFarms #RegenerativeAgriculture #Sustainability #FoodIsMedicine

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Finally they are increasing consumption of vegetables.

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It is the balance between emissions and productivity that is key. Researchers also note that the greatest greenhouse gas reductions—more than half—could be realized by changes to grazing and pasture management. To achieve this impact expanded MRV is vital so producers can actively manage the emissions derived from grazing systems. For adoption to be feasible the focus needs to include methane intensity rather than just methane emissions per day. This is vital to ensure that food production, producer livelihoods, and food security are not compromised when implementing climate friendly solutions.

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From Ayorinde Ogunyiola Maaz Gardezi Ryan Stock "Precision Agriculture raises critical social questions that have implications for farmers’ autonomy and control over agrarian production systems. We critically examine the social consequences of PA through the theoretical lenses of accumulation by dispossession and the agrarian question of labor. We use data from six focus group discussions conducted during the Fall of 2019 in heterogeneous production systems in South Dakota and Vermont. We assert that agritech firms design PA technologies as accumulation strategies predicated on the dispossession of farmers’ autonomy and control over agrarian production systems. As such, PA is fundamentally reconfiguring the future of agrarian labor in the US food system." https://lnkd.in/eqbzS6TT

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It is great connecting with fellow industry professionals at the NW Hort Expo in Yakima! 🍎 Pacific Biocontrol presented a helpful overview of the distinctions between Codling Moth and Oriental Fruit Moth. A video summary by Peter McGhee, Pacific Biocontrol president and entomologist, below. Erica Moretti’s, USDA entomologist, presentation on biocontrol best practices was also a highlight. Biocontrol, along with pheromones, play a crucial role in integrated pest management for orchards. #NWHortExpo #PacificBiocontrol #CodlingMoth #OrientalFruitMoth #Biocontrol #IPM #PestManagement #Entomology

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Calculating Dairy Methane Emissions Reductions!! The California Air Resources Board (CARB) held a public workshop in late August about CARB’s progress in compiling California-specific dairy activity data and evaluating the dairy sector emissions trends. “Community advocates and residents have raised concerns about the impacts of dairies and dairy digesters on adjacent communities through both public comments and through rulemaking petitions submitted to CARB,” explained the Board in its workshop announcement. “In CARB’s most recent petition response, staff committed to continuing to evaluate the dairy sector based on the best available data and to host this workshop on dairy sector data. To better understand these concerns and emissions trends in the State’s dairy sector, CARB staff utilized data sources from federal, state, and local agencies to develop the California Dairy and Livestock Database (CADD). The database contains facility-level cattle population and digester information for California dairies from 2012 to 2022. CADD is based on publicly accessible documents and improves CARB’s ability to track the California dairy and livestock sector trends.” https://lnkd.in/gPcHZV69

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Say what you will about Millennials, but we're a resilient bunch. In the face of #climatechange, young #farmers are digging deep (and planting trees) to adapt to the new normal. Everyone take notes! In Vermont, "100 year floods" seem to come every 10 years now -- sometimes, even more frequently than that. Much of the state's affordable farmland sits in the flood plain, and young farmers who frequently work this "cheap" land are sitting ducks. How do you mitigate a risk like this? So far, young farmers in Vermont have... ✅ Produced a diverse output of crops and livestock which means if one is lost, another may survive ✅ Replanted their fields in narrow strips, alternating crops, so that taller plants can offer some protection to smaller plants ✅ Added yards of topsoil and raised beds to protect plants from rising waters ✅ Experimented with planting vegetables near banks of clover and rye so the deep roots will hold the soil in place and keep it from washing away ✅ Planted hundreds of trees along river buffer zones And, perhaps most importantly, ✅ Formed close ties between other young farmers to more easily share strategies and equipment and help each other harvest early if heavy weather is on the horizon. It sounds like these farmers are heading in a #regenerative direction. What else can be done? Although resilient, young farmers still need help and are asking for ➡ On farm technical advisors to provide further support and ➡ Mental health services. Will this next Farm Bill deliver? * #SustainableAgriculture https://lnkd.in/gjdAP5WG

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Shambles. USDA -- I hope you get on-farm oversight authority. It is central to any progress on the climate-front. I can't believe how brazenly Tyson Foods is getting away with this without publishing any proof. "“Because Congress did not provide USDA with on-farm oversight authority that would enable it to verify these types of labeling claims, companies must use third-party certifying organizations to substantiate these claims,” the spokesperson wrote in an email, directing Inside Climate News to the third-party verifier or Tyson for more information." "“They’re being incredibly obstinate about sharing anything right now,” said Matthew Hayek, a researcher with New York University who studies the environmental and climate impacts of the food system. “Speaking as a scientist, it’s not transparent and it’s a scandal in its own right that the government can’t provide this information.”" "This lack of transparency from the agency worries environmental and legal advocacy groups, especially now that billions of dollars in taxpayer funds are available for agricultural practices deemed to have benefits for the climate. The Biden administration’s signature climate legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act, appropriated nearly $20 billion for these practices; another $3.1 billion is available through a Biden-era program called the Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities. “This is an important test case for USDA,” Faber said. “If they can’t say no to a clearly misleading climate claim like ‘climate friendly’ beef, why should they be trusted to say no to other misleading climate claims? There’s a lot of money at stake.”" "Last year, the Center for Biological Diversity submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the USDA, asking for details about funding to support “low carbon” beef. The agency’s response was heavily redacted and the Center is now appealing." ^^^What??? "Silvia Secchi, a natural resource economist at the University of Iowa and outspoken critic of U.S. agricultural policy, said the environmental groups, universities and corporations taking money from the USDA for climate-focused efforts should all be subject to the same rules. “USDA should have a transparent methodology that’s applicable to everyone—the outsourcing, the monitoring, the verification—for all these groups that have incentives to make things look better than they are,” Secchi said. “There’s no transparency. How are they actually going to verify that farmers are reducing nitrogen? Are they getting GPS coordinates for tractors every day of the year? I think it’s complete bullshit. They’re only looking at select indicators, not the whole system.”" https://lnkd.in/eQkuHEUE

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This is something worth applying serious thought in the agricultural real estate space. A good organic matter soil could repay the land cost rather quickly. Building organic matter is directly proportional to farm productivity and profitability and it could take up to several years to build organic matter levels in depleted soils. It could actually be a very good tool to make informed decisions when purchasing agricultural lands.

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The seed sector needs to support information that improves farmer adoption of new technologies & limits costs. Complete the CFIA survey before May 1 to have your voice heard. https://ow.ly/qcyH50Rk7up #

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IFOAM - Organics International represents organic farmers around the world. Not least the millions of smallholder farmers in the global south, often women, who farm just an acre or two, or three. We have taken a stand in a lawsuit against the USDA where the result could threaten an accessible, affordable and robust organic certification of "grower groups" that gives millions of organic farmers, most all in the global south, access to global markets while ensuring the integrity of organic labelling. The case is brought by a hazelnut farmer in the US, who believes that the certifications risk fraud. While we also see ways that grower group certification can be improved and have fought for decades to create the global organic certification that gives a strong guarantee to consumers (and producers), this is one baby we will not throw out with the bathwater. As is often the case, the debate has gone off the rails in the US, with watchdogs seeing conspiracy, and too many forgetting the millions of smallholder organic farmers and their family members and communities being impacted. As IFOAM president Karen Mapusua, Fiji, writes: “Grower groups play a key role in supporting organic farming and provide organic market access for millions of honest, hard-working smallholder farmers that care for the land and provide ecological benefits. As a result, they should be considered a strong force for good in rapidly scaling climate and nature-friendly farming that mitigates and addresses the biggest crises of our times.” Karen adds: "There is no place for fraud in the organic sector. The allegations made in the complaint deserve a thorough investigation using the stringent processes built into organic guarantee systems designed to detect and tackle fraud where it occurs. If fraud is uncovered, those perpetrating it should be dealt with to the full extent of the law to protect the integrity and reputation of organic agriculture worldwide." See the full statement, and an “explainer” about grower group certification for smallholder organic farmers here: https://lnkd.in/dhMJCbhi   See how we work with grower group certification and training here: https://lnkd.in/dkPfYXYa And guidelines here: https://lnkd.in/dA5G35j4 La Via Campesina, IFOAM Organics Europe, Organic Trade Association, Real Organic Project, Ryan Zinn, Dr. Bronner's, Vladyslav Zhmailo, Organic Insider, Agroecology Coalition, National Organic Agricultural Movement of Uganda. TOAM TANZANIA ORGANIC AGRICULTURE MOVEMENT, Rwanda Organic Agriculture Movement (ROAM), Markus Arbenz, Konrad Hauptfleisch, Flávia Moura e Castro, Naturland - Association for Organic Agriculture, Tradin Organic https://lnkd.in/dhMJCbhi

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Like any other agriculture sector standards must be developed implemented and self monitored, this must be backed by sound logical uncumbersome legislation and regulation within an enabling environment for farming fish 🐟

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