Buy Local: Stay Local

Photo Credit: Cornell University

      Farmers market season is just around the corner. You can already hear the sounds of people bartering over fresh produce and smell pastries being peddled at the stands. It doesn't always come to mind that this time of the community gathering over fresh produce is actually an environmentally and economically sound system.
     A LA times article suggests that farmers markets in America date back to 1979 when a few farmers set up shop in Gardena, Calif.  Since then the idea of bringing the produce straight from the farm to the consumer has blossomed.

Infographic credit: USDA Agricultural Marketing Service

      The Agricultural Marketing Service for the United States Department of Agriculture reported that as of August of 2012 there are 7,864 farmers markets listed in the USDA's national farmers market directory. This is a 9.6 percent increase from 2011 the AMS reports.
      One reason many people choose to buy at farmers markets is to know where their food comes from. For example, in 2001 foot-and-mouth disease spread across England. Brian Halweil, author of "Home Grown, the Case for Local Food in a Global Market," writes that British citizens started asking where their food was coming from, growing wary of food that traveled a long distance.
      This knowing where food comes from is a major advantage of farmer's markets. The farmers can tell you the exact process that their food goes through from planting to selling.
     In 2012 a salmonella outbreak affected cantaloupes causing three people to die and 261 people to become ill. The CDC located the source of the outbreak to a farming operation in Owensville, Ind., Chamberlain Farms Produce, Inc.
     Near the start of the outbreak Amy Melton, manager of the farmers market at Minnetrista in Muncie, Ind. approached the farmer at the market that typically sells cantaloupes. Melton questioned the farmer about his farming practices and was assured that the farmer was using safe processes and allowed him to sell the produce.
     By selling produce at farmers markets, farmers can do their part to protect the environment by reducing the amount of travel the produce has to undergo to reach the consumer.
     What is your thought about farmers markets? Do you go to them? If so what is your favorite part? Leave a comment below letting me know what you think.
    Got an idea of something that you want to see covered? Leave a comment below and I will add it to a list of ideas. 

My dearest readers

I have had a blast writing these posts. I am writing this because I need your help! Coming up with fresh and new ideas can be troublesome. I try to write about what is modern and what concerns and would interest my audience. This is where you come into play! At the bottom of each post I have requested story ideas that you want to see covered. The response has been ... non existent. I put that there so I can hear what is on your mind. What is your concerns about Sustainable Agriculture? Please comment with your ideas and concerns. I want this blog to be more than one man's ramblings about sustainable agriculture.


That saying, I look forward to hearing what you have to say.

Regards,

Jacob Burbrink

Farming for Carbon

      Farmers have many options when deciding what to plant in their field depending on the region and season. They can choose from such staples as corn, beans, wheat and ... carbon?

    On September 15, 2011 the Australian Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency passed the Carbon Credits initiative. This allows farmers and land managers to earn carbon credits by practicing sustainable agriculture by storing carbon or reducing greenhouse emissions, the page states.
    The website also features an animation that clearly shows how carbon trading works.


Video credit: Australian DCCEE
     The United States is at the beginning steps of raising awareness of carbon farming. The United States Department of Agriculture held a workshop in 2012 to discuss carbon farming. In April the University of Maryland held a workshop on the topic.
     So what is the big deal about carbon farming? Like the video animation shows, carbon taxes are being put in place towards companies that emit a lot of carbon. Even though farmers are exempt from the tax, they can utilize green farming practices to reduce the amount of emissions produced.
     Farmers can do this by practicing some of the practices wrote about in my blog. They can use no-till farming to prevent the carbon from escaping the ground. They can use cover crops to absorb more carbon dioxide. These little acts build up to help protect the environment.
    When farmers choose to participate in these acts, they can earn credits which they can then sell to companies that produce a lot of emissions. These companies use the credits they buy to offset the amount of
carbon dioxide they release into the environment.
     Lets do the math here. Green farming methods that save money minus carbon emissions plus money for doing it: sounds like a pretty sweet deal.

   Would you participate in a Carbon Trade system at your farming operation? What is your opinion about this system? Leave a comment below letting me know what you think?

   Have a topic you want to see covered? If so leave a comment below and I will add it to a list of topics.

High-rise horticulture

photo credit: dcgreenworks

      Roofs are good for many reasons: they keep out the weather, they provide support, and now with the growing "green roof" movement they provide a spot for plant growth.
      The United States Environmental Protection Agency is working with cities across the US to promote the implantation of green roofs. Benefits, according to the EPA include reduced energy use, reduced air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, improved human health and comfort, enhanced stormwater management and water quality and improved quality of life.
       The EPA says that green roofs can cool the temperature of the roof to below air temperature, while conventional rooftops can be up to 90 degrees warmer.
       Green roofs can not only be a source of relief from the heat, they can also be a source of food.
       Popupcity.net features five rooftop farms that produce produce in major cities. One of these farms, the Brooklyn Garage Farm, is boasted as the largest rooftop farming operation in the world.

photo credit: brooklyngarage

       Founded in 2010, the farming operation grows over 40,000 pounds of organically-cultivated produce per year, the operation's website states.
      New York is beginning to see possible green, other than the produce. In June of 2012 the city began looking for private developers to build a farm on a 200,000 square-foot roof of a warehouse, Patrick Wall reports.

pictured: a future farm, photo credit: google earth

       This potential operation would bring jobs and fresh produce for the area, Wall's story says. If you live in an area with a green roof you could buy food picked straight from your roof, talk about buying locally!

       What do you think of urban horticulture or green roofs? Do you live an area with one, or work one? If so leave a comment below sharing your experience.
      Got a topic you want to see covered? Leave a comment below and I will add it to a list of stories.
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Windbreakers: No... not the clothing item

          Soil erosion has been a long time problem for farmers. One example in American history where the loss of top soil lead to a national disaster is the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

        A story on History.com about the Dust Bowl says that ranchers and farmers went to Oklahoma and Texas panhandles as well as neighboring sections of Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico lured by promises of rich land.

photo credit: illinois.edu

       Here the farmers plowed under the native grass cover to make room for wheat farms to meet the growing demand, the History.com story says.
       "Wheat crops, in high demand during World War I, exhausted the topsoil," a story on PBS says, "Overgrazing by cattle and sheep herds stripped the western plains of their cover. When the drought hit, the land just blew away in the wind."
     In 1935 the Soil Conservation Service was formed to promote farm rehabilitation. They instructed farmers to reincorporate natural cover and plant trees.
      Why was this the solution? Trees and natural cover act as a windbreak to slow the erosion of the soil.

photo credit: egardens

      Windbreaks are useful not only to prevent soil erosion, but also to slow water erosion and protect wind-sensitive plants, a report by the United States Department of Agriculture says.
      The report says that the benefits of windbreaks include improved income, added protection, carbon storage and enhanced aesthetics.
      By incorporating windbreaks into your farm design you can add benefits to your production while preventing another Dust Bowl from happening.
     What do you think of windbreaks? Do you use them on your farm? If so what has your results been like? Leave a comment below letting me know.
    Have a topic you want to see covered? Leave a comment below and I will add it to a list of stories.
      

Aquaponics: a wetter way to plant

infographic credit: aquaponicsource.com

      Growing crops in the winter usually involves greenhouses and carefully timed automatic watering system. In order to conserve water, some farms such as Aqua Farms utilize an aquaponic system.
      Oxford dictionary defines aquaponics as a system of aquaculture in which the waste produced by farmed fish or other aquatic animals supplies nutrients for plants grown hydroponically, which in turn purify the water.
      Myles Harston of Aqua Ranch says this system creates a closed ecosystem where if something affects the plants it affects the fish. 
      By using aquaponics, almost all of the water is recycled back into the process. 
      For more information on how hydroponics works check out HowStuffWorks.
      What do you think of hydroponics? Would you be willing to have a home set-up? Let me know by leaving a comment below. Have an idea of something you want covered? Leave a comment below and I will add it to a list of topics.

Green Manure: Smells like sustainability

Photo Credit: Angelicaorganicfarm.com

      The word manure brings up many mental images to people. Images such as cattle yards, flies and brown substances that smell. Green farmers are attempting to change the notion of manure by making it green.

      According to about.com Green manure, or cover crops is plants grown for the purpose of adding nutrients to the soil to make it more fertile. In addition, a report by the Colorado master gardener program says that cover crops are beneficial for erosion protection, weed suppression, nitrogen fixation, soil structure creation and insect rests reduction. 

    Using cover crops as an alternative to traditional manure protects the environment by reducing polluted runoff. Science daily published an article saying that cover crops help to reduce the amount of free nutrients in the soil during intercrop periods. 

    The Department of Natural Resources released a feature length video to show why cover crop farming is beneficial to both the environment and the farmer's wallet. The video focuses on a town in North Carolina started using multi-species cover crops in their farming.

    By releasing videos focusing on sustainable agriculture, organizations are attempting to reduce apprehension to switch to no till and green manure.

    For farmers interested in how to incorporate cover crops into their field, be it a small garden or multi-acre farm, there are videos on YouTube with tutorials. One video by About.com shows the process of growing green manure.

   What is your opinion on cover crops? Leave a comment below saying if you would use this method in your farm or garden and why. Got a topic that you want covered? Leave a comment below and I will take your suggestions for future posts.