Illegal Practice Damaging Family Farmers and Defrauding Consumers CORNUCOPIA, WIS: A Wisconsin-based farm policy research group, The Cornucopia Institute, announced this week that it is filing a formal legal complaint in an attempt to immediately halt the USDA from allowing factory farms producing “organic” milk from bringing conventional dairy cattle onto their farms. Cornucopia claims… Read more »
Search Results for: GMO
Why Farmers Are Turning To Local Food
OPB News Guy Hand A just released Zagat survey found that 68 percent of restaurant goers say they prefer locally grown food. Sixty percent of those would pay more for that food. That’s good news for the small, but increasing number of farmers and ranchers who grow products for local markets. Guy Hand finds out… Read more »
Frankenfood fight: Alfalfa grower opposes genetically engineered crop
Rapid City Journal By Adrea J. Cook After years of opposing the expansion of Roundup Ready alfalfa in South Dakota and across the nation, Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin’s endorsement of a Congressional effort to release the genetically modified perennial for fall planting frustrates alfalfa grower Pat Trask of Elm Springs. “It’s a frustrating disconnect when… Read more »
Organic Labeling Confuses Farmers
Times Herald-Record By Matt King There’s a tectonic shift under way in organic agriculture. An organic label was once a way for smaller farms to find a market niche with produce free of synthetic chemicals. But as the demand for organic produce and other products has grown, large farms have started muscling in, sparking intense… Read more »
Organic Soybean Shortage Squeezes U.S. Producers
Food companies, livestock industry look to other nations to supply needs The Des Moines Register (link no longer available) By Paula LaVigne, Staff Writer Before harvest, New Hampton organic farmer Tom Frantzen will cultivate and till his organic soybean acres at least four times to prevent weeds because he can’t use chemicals to keep his rows… Read more »
Organic Milk Supply Expected to Surge as Farmers Pursue a Payoff
The New York Times By Andrew Martin Dairy farmers are rushing to convert to organic milk production, and it is largely because of a blueberry farmer who lives in Maine with a solar-powered computer and an outhouse outfitted with a stained-glass window. Arthur Harvey, the blueberry farmer, persuaded a federal court in 2005 that some… Read more »
Dairy Debate
USDA investigation into local company puts spotlight on fight over organic labeling By Ben Ready The Longmont Daily Times-Call PLATTEVILLE — Officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture are formally investigating a local dairy after receiving complaints last year from a Wisconsin farming activist group made up of organic purists. But as much as the… Read more »
Berry Farmer’s Suit Stuns Organic Goliaths
Lax labeling claim gains steam in court By Andrew Martin Tribune national correspondent August 11, 2005 HARTFORD, Maine — Arthur Harvey, an organic blueberry farmer, lives in a 168-year-old house with an outhouse out back and a solar panel on the roof, which he uses to power his computer. He doesn’t care for pesticides or… Read more »
Soil Health is the Future of Agriculture
Cornucopia’s Take: The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition notes in the article below, “reforms to conservation, research and the farm safety net present an enormous opportunity to improve the health of our soils.” Cornucopia agrees that changes to the 2018 Farm Bill could go a long way toward healing agricultural lands, now some of the biggest… Read more »
Indoor Ag Warehouses Cannot Take the Place of Organic Farms
Cornucopia’s Take: It is becoming more and more common to convert buildings into hydroponic growing facilities using fertilizers and artificial lighting instead of soil and sunlight. Hydroponic growing techniques do not have the environmental and health benefits that come with organic farming. Local, organic farmers who steward the land are unfairly undercut by this cheaper, industrialized… Read more »
