By Tom Driscoll, Director of Conservation Policy and NFU Foundation Environmental markets, in addition to being science based, quantifiable, innovative, and permanent, will have to offer farmers adequate incentives to adopt new conservation practices. Cases in which a single practice achieves more than one quantifiable environmental benefit, verifiably reducing more than one pollutant, payments for credits … Read More
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Access to Markets: Homegrown by Heroes
By Natalie Grote, NFU Intern Many veterans, upon returning home from serving our country, discover a newfound passion for farming or ranching. After putting in hours of hard work to start their operations, farmer veterans are often determined to both make a living as well as bolster their local economies by selling their homemade products, … Read More
Cooperatives Build A Better World
By Cathy Statz, Wisconsin Farmers Union Education Director A mobile home park resident. A dairy farmer. A college student. A produce grower. A home care worker. A hardware store owner. What do these people all have in common? Each is the owner of a business called a cooperative. Many of us in rural America are familiar … Read More
What Do Farmers Need to Know About Climate Change? COMET-Farm
By Tom Driscoll, Director of Conservation Policy and NFU Foundation Farmers are a key participant in mitigating climate change. Agriculture is one of a few sectors that can sink existing atmospheric greenhouse gasses (GHGs) as well as reduce emissions moving forward. Environmental markets could compensate farmers for natural resource conservation benefits achieved on their land. A … Read More
Farmers Union Celebrates National Cooperative Month
October is National Cooperative Month, a time when more than 29,000 cooperatives across the country advocate for the cooperative business model and its myriad benefits for co-op members, consumers, and local communities. Cooperatives are of particular importance in rural America, where they have offered both political and economic sovereignty for over a century. Farmers Union’s roots … Read More
Access to Markets: Farm to School
By Tom Driscoll, Director of NFU Foundation and Conservation Policy A growing interest in local and regional food offers lucrative opportunities for beginning farmers, and growing farm products for these markets often require a less significant investment in land and equipment than other production methods would. However, direct-to-consumer sales do require that farmers spend a … Read More
What Do Farmers Need to Know About Climate Change? New York Climate Smart Communities Certification
By Tom Driscoll, Director of Conservation Policy and NFU Foundation The Climate Column has covered practices that allow farmers to reduce emissions and sink carbon into their soil, like no-till, as well as methods that help farmers secure the food system by adapting to the changing climate, like intercropping. As the harmful consequences of climate change increase, … Read More
Access To Markets: Virginia Grown and State Labels
By Tom Driscoll, Director of NFU Foundation and Conservation Policy The market for local and regional food is an important one for beginning producers. A January 2015 report to Congress issued by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service (ERS) notes that “producer participation in local food systems is growing, and the value of local food sales…appears to be … Read More
What Do Farmers Need to Know About Climate Change? Including Lentils in Crop Rotation
By Tom Driscoll, Director of NFU Foundation and Conservation Policy Here on the Climate Column, we have discussed the climate benefits that can be achieved through extending crop rotations. A longer rather than shorter rotation can mitigate erosion if the rotation reduces or eliminates time that soil lays bare; assist with pathogen, pest and weed … Read More
Access to Capital: Farm Ownership Loans
By Natalie Grote, NFU Intern The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) offers both direct ownership loans as well as guarantees for ownership loans from private banks. Direct loans have lower income requirements and generally do not require as extensive farm practice as private loans. Additionally, unlike most private lenders, FSA will work … Read More