Increasing numbers of American farmers are going "back to the
future" – moving away from the high-investment, high-energy farming
methods of the last fifty years, and experimenting with modern versions
of more traditional techniques. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Stephanie Hemphill reports:
Tag: agriculture
Government Ropes in Hemp Growers
Hemp is big business. In the U.S., industry is expected to top 100
million dollars in sales this year. But the government keeps close tabs
on the plant’s use. That’s because marijuana is part of the hemp
family. As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports,
that’s led to a crack down on some hemp products:
Keeping Disabled Farmers Farming
The life of a farmer isn’t easy. The work is hard. The days are long.
The profit margins, low. It’s tough work for anyone, but when a farmer
becomes disabled, the challenges are even greater. But as the Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Wendy Nelson reports, help is available…and
it’s keeping disabled farmers, farming:
A New Threat to Agriculture?
The gulf war highlighted the fact that biological weapons are a real
and serious threat to human health. But only recently has a related
danger come to light: That is, the possibility of bioterrorists
targeting plants and animals and affecting the food supply. As the
Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Wendy Nelson reports, plant pathologists
gathered in Montreal this month (August) to talk about protecting
agriculture from bioterrorism:
Dairy Farm Endangers Trout Stream
In the tiny town of Martell in western Wisconsin, residents are trying
to stop a big new dairy farm they fear will pollute one of the best
trout streams in the Midwest — the Rush River, about an hour’s drive
east of the Twin Cities. Its the same kind of battle small towns and
rural residents are fighting across the Midwest, as large-scale
livestock operations continue to expand. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Mary Losure reports:
Federal Proposal May Drown Farmland
It doesn’t happen very often, but for the last year, a republican
governor, the farming community, and environmentalists have been working
together to protect endangered wetlands, by taking certain farmlands out
of production. But now, a new federal proposal could be separating the
groups. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jonathan Ahl has the story:
Honey Bees Face Another Threat
A new threat to honey bees that had been isolated to four southern
states has just been spotted in the Great Lakes region……and
agriculture officials are warning beekeepers to be on the lookout. The
Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Cohen has more:
Corn-To-Ethanol Study
A technology group in upstate New York was recently awarded a
187-thousand dollar grant to study the feasibility of opening a
corn-to-ethanol facility. The study will determine the economic
potential of producing ethanol at a long-vacant grain processing plant
in the region. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Elizabeth Christensen
reports on what could be a boon to corn farmers in the Great Lakes
region:
State Commits to Farmland Preservation
This spring the state of Ohio begins a program to preserve farmland
that’s facing development pressures. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Lester Graham reports… it’s one of the first statewide efforts in the
Midwest to control urban sprawl:
Scientists Improve Tree Inbreeding
The timber industry specially breeds trees to increase their value.
Trees are worth more when they grow straight, tall and fast. Inbreeding
trees within the same family can increase the frequency of these traits,
but now a new study shows it can also be fatal. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Todd Witter has more: