National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson agrees. WASHINGTON (Oct. 17, 2013) – National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson issued the following statement today, after the end of the U.S. federal government shutdown: “Last night’s action by Congress ended a shutdown of our government and will return agencies back to normal operating status. This is [...]
Posted on October 17th, 2013 by Debby
Filed under: Agriculture, Economy, Farm Bill 2012, Farms & Farmers, Federal Budget, POTUS, Rural Issues, US Congress | No Comments »
Growing up in Massachusetts means a special kind of connection to the Fourth of July. Along with Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July is one of two holidays all Americans can claim as our own. Both were born in Massachusetts: Thanksgiving in Plymouth around a communal dining table and the American Revolution, which started with the [...]
Posted on July 4th, 2013 by Debby
Filed under: Agriculture, Childhood Hunger, Farm Bill 2012, Farms & Farmers, Food, House of Representatives, House of Representatives, Nutrition, Public Option, Rural Urban Partnerships, US Congress | 1 Comment »
Agribusiness food giant Monsanto took on Indiana farmer Vernon Hugh Bowman (NPR photo by Dan Charles) in a dispute over a patent to grow genetically modified soybeans. The case went all the way to the top, with the Supreme Court ruling unanimously yesterday that Bowman violated Monsanto’s patent. Monsanto’s soybeans are resistant to the weed killer [...]
Posted on May 15th, 2013 by Debby
Filed under: Agriculture, Farms & Farmers, Genetically modified foods | No Comments »
A massive fire tore through the Golonka farmhouse in Whately, Massachusetts last week. Sonia and Mary Golonka died. A sad day for the Golonka family, the Pioneer Valley agricultural community and the never ending stream of customers who visit the Golonka Farm produce stand all season long. Most farms and ranches in the United States [...]
Posted on April 8th, 2013 by Debby
Filed under: Agriculture, Buy Local, Farms & Farmers, Rural Life, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Posted on February 22nd, 2013 by Debby
Filed under: Agriculture, Farms & Farmers, Food | No Comments »
The case of an Indiana farmer who planted the genetically altered soybeans he got from a local grain elevator has reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Hugh Bowman’s dispute with agricultural giant Monsanto has evolved into a larger debate of the influence big agribusinesses have on farmers. Monsanto, the producer of the powerful herbicide Roundup and the [...]
Posted on February 11th, 2013 by Debby
Filed under: Agriculture, Farms & Farmers, Food, Genetically modified foods, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Posted with permission from Richard S. Gilbert, this lovely piece of writing sets the stage for what happened in 2008. The second Barn for Barack was a story we posted as a slide show in September, 2008. Thank you, Richard, for allowing us a glimpse into the family and the people behind the Second Barn [...]
Posted on October 13th, 2012 by Debby
Filed under: Election 2008, Election 2012, Farms & Farmers, Obama, People, Rural Life | No Comments »
Dairy farmers will lose up to 10 percent of their monthly income from milk beginning in October because the Milk Income Loss Contract expired when the Farm Bill wasn’t renewed on Sept. 30. MILC is a program that provides dairy farmers with payments when the price of producing milk is more than the price for [...]
Posted on October 3rd, 2012 by Debby
Filed under: Agriculture, Buy Local, Farm Bill 2012, Farms & Farmers | 1 Comment »
The economy in rural areas of 10 Midwestern and Western states continued to look weak this month as the region begins a slow recovery from this summer’s oppressive drought, according to The Rural Mainstreet Index, an economic survey of rural bankers by Creighton University in Omaha. The economic index for this month is 48.3, up slightly [...]
Posted on September 24th, 2012 by Debby
Filed under: Agriculture, Environment, Farms & Farmers, Food, Rural Life | No Comments »
“It’s not difficult to see the dominant trendline in agriculture when nearly every view of the landscape provides evidence,” writes Heidi Marttila-Losure in the summer issue of Dakotafire, a regional reporting project of small news outlets in the eastern Dakotas. “The tractors and planting rigs that were out in the fields this spring were double the size [...]
Posted on September 21st, 2012 by Debby
Filed under: Farms & Farmers | No Comments »
