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: farm
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:
Commentary – The Sanctuary of Cornfields
Fields of corn swaying in the breeze are a sure sign that summer has
arrived. As Great Lakes Radio Consortium commentator Suzanne Elston
reflects, they not only transform the landscape, they can also change
how we view the world:
Farmers Slow to Adopt Buffer Strips
The government launched an effort to help prevent water pollution from
agricultural runoff in 1997. The secretary of agriculture says buffer
strips could help eliminate serious water pollution from farms. The
Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports… despite the
government’s offer of payments for converting farmland to greenways
along streams… farmers have been slow to embrace the effort:
B-T Corn Research Heads Into Field
In a recent issue of the journal, Nature, Cornell researchers released a
report claiming that pollen from a genetically engineered, or BT, corn
has a deadly effect on the monarch butterfly. But industry
representatives criticized the results, saying the lab-work didn’t
duplicate a real-life scenario. So now, Cornell scientists are heading
into the field for more research. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
David Hammond has more:
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:
Turkey Power
Manure management is a messy business. While farmers usually spread
manure as fertilizer, some are struggling to find enough land and can be
left with the costly expense of disposal. Now turkey farmers in central
Minnesota want to build the country’s first manure fueled power plant.
They say the plant will be a financial boost to farmers and help ease
the public’s concern over odor and pollution. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Kathryn Herzog 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:
People Pay to Preserve Open Space
A new study shows that residents in Chicago’s suburbs are willing to pay
to protect their rapidly-disappearing open spaces. Those findings will
be put to the test Tuesday as voters decide on land conservation
referenda. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Susan Stephens reports:
New Restrictions on Farmwater Runoff
The Clinton administration is putting new restrictions on farms to
reduce the livestock waste running into the nation’s creeks and rivers.
The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports: