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Hello [name]. Winter finally found southeastern Pennsylvania last weekend, blanketing fields that have been visible for months with more than a foot of snow. Pent-up desire to plow, scrape, salt, and blow snow meant that by Monday morning, very few kids in rural school around here even got a day off. Has your “slow time” on the farm arrived yet – the off-season for crops people and graziers when you planned to take stock of your production, marketing and management? If not, make a date with yourself when you promise to push away from your email, turn off the tv, unplug the landline, hide your cell phone, skip a morning at the coffee shop, and postpone reading your ”Must Read Now” pile. If you haven’t had blizzard-induced downtime or the discipline to do this yet, spend a half hour with as much quiet as you can stand to sketch in the big-picture plans for your farm for the coming year. If that’s not enough, figure out how to carve out the time you need before the demands of the season suck you back into ruts you’d rather not be in. Maybe we can help your reflections with our story from Virginia on how a 1,000-acre plantation keeps up with development, a Pennsylvania farmer shares his business skills for building a better farmers’ market, goats are big news in Kentucky, a new farmer finds success in Michigan and a special Maryland farm teaches a grad student life lessons. There’s fresh classifieds and answers to reader questions and more…much more. Read. Reflect. And snooze at least once more by the woodstove before things really break open this spring. Read on! p.s. In your time of deep thought, please log your story requests for the year so our writing keeps pace with your future. |
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| Historic
Tidewater plantation sustains farming through organic grains and turning
crowds into customers Regional demand for organic grains and local interest in on-farm experiences keep large acreage farm active. |
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| New
to livestock, former tobacco farmers ponder the omnivorous option Meat goat production is one of the many hands-on demonstration projects under way at Kentucky State University to help the state's farmers meet new market demands. |
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| Starting
a farmers’ market the right way For the farmers to come—and customers to be happy—start with a clear goal, a sound business plan and sharp people who know what they are doing. |
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| Color
of opportunity in Van Buren is blue...berries Study says flexibility, innovation are new keys to prosperous agriculture. |
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| Farming
felt deeply, and without limits Growing healthy food with people working at the top of their game provides special education for this young farmer seeking a career that is engaging, dynamic and thrilling. |
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| Reader
Mail You ask, we answer. Questions from all of you answered by all our expert contacts; from Jeff Moyer, our farm manager, to worm gurus, to other farmers. |
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News
& Views ag policy perspectives |
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sustainable
in senegal |
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| Farmers
gear up cover-killing rollers for spring no-till planting season Interest in chemical-free crop systems lead more farmers to seek high-value alternatives. |
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| one
farm to another When your compost ingredients come from somewhere else, know what’s in the truck Garbage in, garbage out – no matter how well you manage it. |
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| dr.
paul's research perspectives SANREM: Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management A new dawn for longer-term thinking. |
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| T H E N E W F A R M – R E G E N E R A T I V E A G R I C U L T U R E W O R L D W I D E |