The sustainable agriculture community lost a true friend this week when Bud Markhart passed away after a courageous battle with cancer. I had the opportunity to interview Markhart last fall… Read more »
Posts Tagged: sustainable agriculture
Senate Listens to Public & Makes Crop Insurance More Accountable to the Environment
The U.S. Senate passed its version of the 2012 Farm Bill this week. While it’s far from perfect, specific amendments related to conservation and accountability that were passed during the… Read more »
Eating Our Own Farm Financial Cooking
One winter evening in 1999 I was sitting in on a Farm Beginnings class being held in the southeast Minnesota community of Plainview when a local banker stood up and… Read more »
Conversations with the Land
Many good arguments can be made for supporting a type of agriculture less reliant on energy, technology and Wall Street, and more on soil, communities and people: it’s better for… Read more »
How Gov. Dayton Can Keep Pheasant Openers Part of Minnesota’s Future
Minnesota’s first ever Governor’s Pheasant Opener next week couldn’t come at a better time in terms of highlighting the need for supporting working lands conservation. After Gov. Dayton has a… Read more »
Riding the Storm Out in Dairyland
A few years ago, Brad and Shelley Schrandt faced a dilemma: should they keep their dairy herd at around 20 cows for a few more years while working off the… Read more »
MDA Sustainable Ag Program Under Siege (Again)
Remember the financial punch to the stomach the MDA’s Sustainable Ag Demonstration Grant Program took in 2009? Well, the Senate is attempting to finish the job with a budget proposal… Read more »
Enabling a New Kind of Ag
It’s been argued that promoting a type of agriculture that is more environmentally friendly threatens the food security of poor people all over the world. But a special “right to… Read more »
Ag Conservation’s Unfair Burden
At a time when the budget mantra “we must all share in the pain” is being repeated ad nauseam, it doesn’t take much searching to find some hypocritical exceptions. Take,… Read more »
Sustainable Farming’s Most Critical Conversation
What is the most critical discussion that needs to take place to ensure a sustainable food and farming system long into the future? Is it one on policy, farming techniques,… Read more »