Previously, SNAP requirements stated that “able-bodied” adults 18-49 years old without dependents had to show they were enrolled in a job training program or worked for at least 80 hours a month in order to receive assistance. The legislation, signed into law by President Biden earlier this month, stretches that age range to 54 years old, although veterans, the homeless and young adults who were previously in foster care are exempted. The change is expected to be implemented gradually, according to the USDA. In October 2023, adults aged 50-52 will have to abide by the new rules. By the fall of 2024, adults up to 54 will have to adhere to new proof-of-work standards. 

Republicans who were involved in finalizing the debt ceiling legislation, notably House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, plugged the new work requirements as a win for welfare reform, by “putting people back to work.”

But advocates such as Gina Plata-Nino, deputy director for SNAP at the Food Research & Action Center, reject those assertions. She says there’s simply no evidence to indicate a proof-of-work requirement is an effective policy measure in growing the workforce. 

“This largely comes down to a misunderstanding of how difficult it is for low-income Americans to access these programs and, unfortunately, it’s going to be the cause of food insecurity rates spiking,” she says.  

Approximately one in 10 Americans experience food insecurity, but food banks and charities across the country have recently noted an uptick in demand. Last month in Boston, the line for the American Red Cross Food Pantry stretched the length of two football fields, exceeding some of the worst periods during the pandemic, while simultaneously reaching the second-highest monthly traffic since it opened 41 years ago. In April, more than half of the shelves were bare at the Atlanta Community Food Bank. And in central Ohio, Reuters reported that the number of households seeking food bank aid has increased by nearly half since last year. 

Photography by Ringo Chiu on Shutterstock

Plata-Nino points to a study from the American Economic Association, analyzing SNAP’s work-reporting requirement. It found that the reporting requirements do not “increase economic self-sufficiency.” The research also showed a 53-percent reduction in program participation. On the contrary, she notes that when SNAP benefits were issued during the pandemic, it reduced poverty by 9.6 percent and child poverty by 14 percent in states with emergency allotments.

Additional studies have shown that every $1 invested in SNAP benefits yields between $1.50 and $1.80 in economic activity during economic downturns.

The debt ceiling legislation falls on the heels of a Congressional decision to end pandemic-era emergency allotments to the SNAP program, which will impact more than 41 million Americans. Ed Bolen, director of SNAP state strategies at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, notes this earlier decision and says the additional changes to SNAP will likely push more marginalized groups farther into a state of poverty.

“It’s very unfortunate to see that in negotiations on what’s required for the government to keep its debt obligations and pay its bills, people think it’s worth taking away a program that provides basic food assistance to low-income folks,” he says. “The older you get, the more health challenges you experience and the harder it is to find a job.” 

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released estimates that some 750,000 adults aged 50-54 will lose food assistance as a result of increasing the age on the proof-of-work requirements. 

If individuals are unable to find work, and they are subsequently cut off from the program, it could exacerbate or create health challenges, says Bolen. This creates a dangerous cycle for already marginalized Americans. He adds that the new exemptions will be as much of a burden on eligible groups as they will be on the state agencies who will be tasked to fill out paperwork and provide documents to check all the boxes. 

Both Bolen and Plata-Nino believe the success of the exemption will largely depend on the resources of individual states, the training provided to caseworkers and how well the USDA co-ordinates and collaborates on the roll-out. 

Modern Farmer contacted the USDA to inquire about next steps and co-ordination plans with states to ensure eligible groups are supported in the exemption process. 

“The Fiscal Responsibility Act contains important exemptions from work requirement time limits for homeless individuals, veterans, and youth aging out of foster care, who often face significant barriers to employment that make it difficult to meet work requirements,” a USDA spokesperson wrote in an email. 

“We are working diligently to review the legislation, communicate with state agencies, work with our federal partners at the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs, and Health and Human Services, and issue guidance as expeditiously as possible to meet the parameters of the law.”

Despite the debt ceiling legislation being signed into law, there is a handful of Democrats who also oppose the SNAP changes and say they will continue to put up a fight. On June 7, House Democrats who sit on the Agriculture Committee also took a stand against the bill’s measures. 

Rep. David Scott, ranking member on the committee, told Modern Farmer he will “fight tooth and nail” to oppose any “legislative vehicle” that makes access to food more difficult. 

“We have the resources and farming capacity to feed every single American. We should take pride in SNAP and our ability to lift millions out of poverty by ensuring they have access to food until they’re able to stand on their own two feet,” Scott wrote in an email, where he noted that 43 percent of all SNAP participants are children. “Politicians who want to increase hunger in America should expect fierce resistance. I won’t stand for it.”

Although Scott did not elaborate on how he plans to rectify the recent SNAP changes, those who are part of advocacy and food policy circles say there’s an opportunity to do so in the 2023 Farm Bill. The Food Research & Action Centre has already proposed a slate of measures that includes expanding SNAP benefits for immigrants, people with disabilities and college students with lower incomes and eliminating three-month time limits on SNAP eligibility for certain working-age adults who cannot document sufficient hours of work, allowing benefits to be used at more food retailers. 

The Congressional Budget Office’s recent baseline projects that the next Farm Bill in the United States will cost US$1.51 trillion, making it the most expensive one in the country’s history, with 80 percent of the spending accounting for nutrition assistance. 

The post Changes to SNAP Benefits Spark Fear of Hunger Crisis appeared first on Modern Farmer.

But those who raise horses for human consumption wonder how many of those seasons are left. 

Jane, who asked that Modern Farmer not share her real name over fear of harassment from animal rights activists, has been breeding and raising Belgians and Percherons for nearly two decades in northern Alberta. About 25 percent of her animals get sent to an exporter at five to 10 months. There, they are raised for another 18 to 24 months before being shipped overseas for processing.

“We treat every horse with love and care, but the meat business is essential and complementary to our family’s entire operation and preserving cultural traditions as a Métis person. It would be hard to imagine life without it,” says Jane. Horses have important cultural significance and jobs in many Indigenous communities, including sleigh and wagon rallies. For Jane, those rallies are a way to preserve community and commune with nature, and she’ll typically attend a rally four times a year. But, she says, she’s not able to own and train horses and maintain their upkeep simply for these rallies. 

Political Tug of War

Exporting horses for slaughter has become a thorny social and political issue in Canada. The country is the eighth largest exporter of horse meat in the world. In 2022, the industry brought in nearly $19 million to the country’s economy. But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government committed to banning the live exporting of the animals upon re-election in 2021. 

Calls from animal rights advocates for the federal government to follow through on those promises have grown louder in recent months. Most notably, Canadian singer-songwriter Jann Arden drafted a petition in February, asking the federal government to ban live export of horses for slaughter. Around the same time, a non-profit group called Animal Justice filed a legal complaint with the government after a December 2022 shipment of live horses to Japan exceeded the legal 28-hour limit where horses are allowed to be in crates without food or water. But the central concern among groups is that the horses are treated inhumanely, including when they are transported by airplane overseas, says Kaitlyn Mitchell, Animal Justice’s director of legal advocacy.

“The fact is that Canada has some of the weakest animal transport laws in the western world, and horses can be legally transported for up to 28 hours without food, water, and rest,” Mitchell wrote in an emailed response. “As the December 2022 shipment of horses from Winnipeg shows, those in the industry do not always comply with these incredibly weak standards… three horses collapsed during their grueling trip overseas, which was well over the 28-hour limit. Since the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has refused to take any enforcement action in relation to that shipment, we are now considering our own legal options to ensure the law is upheld.”

Meanwhile, those in the horse meat industry say opposing parties are misinformed. And many sources told Modern Farmer they have been afraid to present their side publicly over the possibility that animal activists might find their operation, trespass on their property and issue threats. Their belief is that an export ban would result in negative implications from an economic, social and animal welfare standpoint. 

A Sensitive Issue

Jane, who is a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta, says the policy change would impact her family’s ability to sustain its business. But more than that, she feels the decision is unpleasantly familiar to a past policy that sought to discriminate against Indigenous people looking to produce and harvest their own food. 

The measure, called the Peasant Farm Policy, was implemented in the late 1800s by the federal government, and it set limits on Indigenous agriculture in the prairie provinces. It restricted the types of tools First Nations farmers could use on reserve lands, along with how much they grew and what they could sell, and reduced their ability to compete with settlers on the open market. 

“The policy was trying to set us back because we were becoming too competitive… People still haven’t forgotten about that,” says Jane. “Is the pressure coming from rich, white women, like Jann Arden? These are outsiders who don’t know the industry.” 

Jennifer Woods, director of the Animal Transportation Association and a veterinarian by trade, has been conducting independent audits throughout Canada’s animal agriculture supply chain since 2007. This involves going to see breeders and exporters and meeting CFIA officials at the airport to see the animals off. In the case of horse exports, she says she has been to countries such as Japan, to monitor how the animals are tended to on foreign soil. As a result, she echoed Jane’s sentiment about opponents being misinformed.

“There are a lot of other animal welfare issues that people are not paying attention to right now. Horses not being used for export are being mistreated and abandoned at feedlots,” Woods says. “I think the opposition is less about how humane it is to export and more about people’s sensitivities around eating horse meat.”

Japan, which has relied on Canada for the past 30 years, considers the raw meat of horses as a delicacy called “basashi.” In the country’s restaurants, customers will pay as much as 8,000 yen or about $100 a serving, comparable to what Canadians might pay for a top of-the-line steak. Recent statistics say Japan accounts for the largest portion of exports at an annual value of $14.7 million.

Woods says the December 2022 incident was a rare case, but that every proper protocol was followed under the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s regulations.

“As anyone who travels knows, you are at the mercy of airlines and weather when traveling—by air, land, train or boat. That is why CFIA requires that all transporters have contingency plans in place to make sure you have a plan when your trip is going to exceed the allowed time,” she says. “Does it happen often with the Japanese horses? No. This is the first one in a long time.” 

Canadian government statistics state the mortality rate of horses at all stages of export transport since 2013 is 0.012 percent. 

Under CFIA regulations, horses are loaded into crates with the agency’s veterinary staff. Transporters are required to use foam pool noodles and flexible poles with rags on the end to start horses down a ramp into the crates. This is followed by a visual inspection to verify horses can stand in their preferred position and do not come into contact with the container cover. Inspectors are also required to verify at the airport that no horses are down or showing signs of distress that would make them unfit for transport. 

Woods says her concern is that an export ban would have the opposite effect from what animal rights activists are intending.  The 2006 Horse Slaughter Prevention Act in the US has increased the number of abandoned horses, Woods says, as people don’t have the financial means to care for them or a market to send them. 

Prior to the legislation being passed, a study conducted by the Animal Welfare Council Inc., said the ban would likely result in a large number of abandoned or unwanted horses flooding public animal rescue facilities that are already overwhelmed. The report found that in 2005, the cost to maintain an unwanted horse until its natural death was on average $2,340 per year per horse, amounting to as much as $25,740. This figure does not include veterinary costs incurred if the horse is sick or injured.

An Uncertain Future

Kevin, an exporter from eastern Ontario, has seen the impact of the US legislation first hand. He has also asked that his full name not be shared for this story. He regularly attends market auctions where owners in the US are having trouble finding a buyer and as a result will abandon the animals on site. 

“We’ll sometimes pick up horses that aren’t in the best condition and give them a good life,” he says.

Roughly 60 percent of Kevin’s horses are raised for meat. The remainder are sold as work or competition horses. He also maintains that opponents of the industry don’t understand the details, stating that those who are in the market for horse meat, especially Japan, are very particular about quality. He’s had buyers travel to Canada to inspect the animals before purchase.

“This is a product and we want our product to arrive at its destination in the best shape it can possibly be. Would you want to go to the grocery store and buy a bunch of grapes that were smashed?” he said. “People think that we’re evil and we don’t care. We do our best day in and day out to ensure these animals are kept in good health.”

Canada’s Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Marie-Claude Bibeau, did not respond to a request for comment on the issue, but has publicly acknowledged the opposition to the ban and Arden’s recent petition. In her written reply, she re-affirmed the government’s commitment to implement a ban on the live export of horses for slaughter, while stating that the government is “performing its due diligence to minimize potential unintended consequences” around legal obligations, international trade commitments and relations, as well as acts and regulations involving animals more broadly. “Prior to the ban of the live export of horses for slaughter, the CFIA continues, in the meantime, to inspect all live horse shipments before export by air to verify that the horses are fit to travel and are transported in accordance with the Health of Animals Act.

Jane and Kevin, and others like them in the agriculture world who have relied on the horse meat market to support their families, hope governing officials take a moment to hear the voices of those who spend day in and day out with the animals. At present, it’s not clear to either breeders or exporters what the federal government’s plan or timeline is going forward.

The post Animal Advocates Push for an End to Canadian Horse Meat Market appeared first on Modern Farmer.

This is how a group of biomaterial scientists and engineers are envisioning the future of crops after developing the first microneedle-based drug delivery technique for plants. Their paper, published in the journal Advanced Materials, details how they were able to provide small compounds to a wide variety of plants and monitor plant response via biomaterial injection. 

For roughly a year and a half, researchers based in Singapore and Cambridge, Massachusetts tested the needles using GA3, a plant growth regulator widely used in agriculture. Via genetic analysis, the group was able to closely examine the reaction of tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, rice, corn, barley and soybeans and confirm the effectiveness of the method, noting that it resulted in minimal scar and callus formation. 

Benedetto Marelli, a corresponding author of the paper and associate professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says that the research on microneedle technology was motivated by the desire to offer farmers an alternative to spraying that is more sustainable and ecologically friendly. 

“There is increasing pressure for the agriculture sector to adapt and stay resilient to the realities of climate change,” says Marelli. “When we consider the current option of spraying, it is scalable, but it can be harmful to the farmer and the environment by sending particles into the air or percolating in the soil, going into the aquifer and then draining into the water stream.” 

According to Marelli, when sprays are used, roughly 50 to 90 per cent of an  application ends up in the air or soil or doesn’t get fully absorbed into the plant tissue. The reason why the technology holds so much promise, he says, is because it offers a precise and streamlined way to deliver a substance by directly targeting the plant tissue. And because the needles are made of silk, they are biodegradable. 

“You minimize the waste,” says Marelli. 

While the invention is essentially a plant vaccine, these needles aren’t like the syringes used at the doctors office. To make them, Marelli and his team mixed functional compounds (in this case, GA3) into a silk fibroin solution. The mixture was then cast into a mold to dry and form the needles. Researchers used tweezers to grab the needles and pierce them into the plant tissue to release the compound directly inside the plant. 

Yunteng Cao, the first author of the paper and postdoc researcher at MIT, says there are many ways in which the technology could make a positive impact, but Cao sees the microneedle as an especially promising solution to citrus greening disease, which has decimated the orange industry, particularly in Florida. A 2020 study estimated the damage of the disease amounted to more than $1 billion in annual revenue losses and 5,000 jobs lost each year in the sunshine state. 

An example of citrus greening disease on an orange tree. (Photo: Shutterstock)

There is currently no cure for the disease, and spraying trees with an antibiotic has been shown to be largely ineffective because so little of the drug is absorbed into the plant’s system.

“I see this as a tool to help ensure the world has greater food security and ensure we can continue to grow food into the future,” says Cao. “I think we can have hope and excitement for what sorts of meaningful impacts our work can have.”

Researchers say the microneedles could also be used to design new crop traits, in addition to administering drugs or other inputs. 

 Their process to advance the project will involve trials on different plants and at various stages in their life cycle. They will also attempt to attract business partners that might be interested in manufacturing the technology and bringing it into the commercial space. 

With those steps in mind, the researchers say they would be happy if the technology was available to farmers within the next seven years. 

The post Plant Vaccines Delivered Via Microneedle Could Offer Alternative To Chemical Spraying appeared first on Modern Farmer.

But now, a group of researchers from the U.K. has built a roadmap that quantifies the source of emissions and outlines what reduction methods are possible. The study, published in Nature Food, found that two-thirds of all greenhouse gas emissions take place after fertilizers are applied onto cropland, while one-third of emissions result from fertilizer production. A combination of technical, agricultural and policy interventions in both areas, however, could reduce emissions by as much as 80 percent by 2050, the study found.

Researchers say increasing the efficiency of fertilizer use is the single most effective strategy to reduce emissions. Precision agriculture, the timing of application, using improved plant breeds that better utilize fertilizer and adopting improved irrigation methods are outlined as ways to reduce emissions by nearly 50 percent. 

They suggest that replacing some of the fertilizers with the highest emissions, such as urea with ammonium nitrate, could reduce emissions by anywhere between 20 percent and 30 percent. Fertilizers could be mixed with chemicals called nitrification inhibitors, which prevent bacteria from forming nitrous oxide, resulting in an emission reduction between 42 percent and 55 percent. 

The research is the first of its kind to make the calculations from petrochemical production to farm application. Notably, findings also revealed that manure and synthetic fertilizers emit the equivalent of 2.6 gigatonnes of carbon per year—more than emitted by global aviation and shipping combined. 

“I see this opening the door to a lot of other important questions of how we can best reduce the amount of fertilizer as much as we can, without any loss in productivity of crops,” says André Cabrera Serrenho, a co-author of the paper and assistant professor for Cambridge University’s Department of Engineering. “This is what matters at the end of the day, and we have started to paint a clearer picture of it all.”  

Both the production and use of fertilizers, particularly nitrogen fertilizer,  release carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane. Natural gas, coal and oil are used as feedstock and fuels for the production of ammonia, a crucial ingredient in fertilizer.  These gases are also released from the extraction and combustion of these fuels as well as the product of chemical reactions. Additional emissions result from the generation of electricity used to drive the compressors and pumps. 

When fertilizers are used on cropland, nitrous oxide is generated through a chemical reaction between soil bacteria and the fertilizer via nitrification and denitrification. Carbon dioxide is also produced as urea and ammonium bicarbonate break down in the soil.

The paper states that its recommendations will only be worthwhile if the fertilizer industry takes steps to decarbonize—a specific area where public and private investment could also be beneficial. Electrolysis could be used to supply hydrogen in replacing ammonia synthesis, where up to 27 percent of total emissions could see a reduction. Electrifying the production process using electric heating also has the potential to reduce 21 percent of total emissions by avoiding fuel combustion. Carbon capture and storage was also outlined as having the potential to reduce current emissions by 25 percent by 2050. 

Cabrera Serrenho says he hopes the research helps facilitate better public policy towards emission reductions. 

“Farming is an incredibly tough business at the moment,” he says. “There are very few incentives right now for both farmers and fertilizer companies to care about emissions or to tackle fertilizer use because it’s largely driven by costs. I believe our research highlights some need for incentives to facilitate behavior. ”  

The study’s findings come against a backdrop of widespread global inflation, and countries such as Holland, New Zealand and Canada face political tensions with farmers who fear agriculture emission reduction policies will curtail food production and, in turn, their profits. But for the U.S., where the Biden administration has been clear that net-zero emissions will require adjusting agricultural systems, the study’s recommendations present a possible way forward.  

Cabrera Serrenho says the new study only scratches the surface of what’s possible. Right now, he’s keen on exploring the impact of specific dietary changes on fertilizer use and emissions. 

“It’s worth pointing out that we still have 20 percent of emissions that haven’t been accounted for, that we don’t know how we could possibly eliminate [them],” he says. “This is important and yet concerning as we set out to make food systems more sustainable.”

The post It’s Possible to Reduce Fertilizer Emissions by 80 Percent Before 2050 appeared first on Modern Farmer.

The Migrant Workers Alliance for Change has tagged tables in hundreds of restaurants in Ottawa, Toronto and surrounding areas with large political offices with the codes. The codes  appear to be menus; but upon first scan, they instead showcase the exploitative working conditions faced by many foreign farm workers. 

The “To-Die-For Sweet Potato Fries” item, for example, tells the tale of a potato harvester from Jamaica named Garvin Yapp who was killed in a farming accident in southern Ontario last summer. The “Bitter Strawberry Tart” explains the 18-hour days some workers spend harvesting strawberries on their hands and knees—most of the time under the hot summer sun. Those who come in contact with these secret menus are also directed to a petition that calls on the Canadian government to provide better labor conditions for migrant workers and to grant them permanent resident status. 

Robert, a greenhouse worker from Jamaica who has been in Canada for the past seven years with temporary resident status, is no stranger to such conditions. He tells Modern Farmer he hasn’t had a day off since the pandemic began in 2020. He came to work on Canadian farms in hopes of building a better life for himself. 

“The moment I got off the plane, it didn’t take long to realize all of our rights were taken, our rights have been forgotten,” he says. “We do what [the employer] wants us to do. We can’t say no because the moment we stand up to say no… I will be told that I can go home, back to where I came from.” 

Robert has seen cases where injured workers were prevented from going to the hospital because businesses were worried about the visit raising the price of their insurance. He’s spent long days with fellow workers in unventilated greenhouses, where the air is thick and pesticide-ridden. 

“I had problems breathing. I had coworkers with constant headaches. Sometimes, you have people throwing up, blood coming out from their nostrils,” Robert recalls. 

The Migrant Workers Alliance for Change has documented these issues and other examples where farmworkers say their employers subjected them to crowded, substandard housing, long hours and unsafe working conditions that threaten their health. And those who want to raise concerns, like Robert indicated, fear they will be deported or barred from coming back into the country. Canadian studies have also illustrated the bleak reality of these conditions where, between January 2020 and June 2021, nine migrant agricultural workers died in Ontario.

Workers like Robert believe permanent residency status will help them better assert their rights, grant them access to social services such as health care without the permission of their employer and allow many workers to reunite with their families in Canada. Prime Minister Trudeau  promised  a change in status for all temporary foreign workers in his 2021 immigration policy priorities. 

Canada brings in more than 60,000 seasonal agricultural workers each year, under the  Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP), which allows Canadian employers to hire temporary migrant workers from Mexico and 11 countries in the Caribbean. 

Photography courtesy of Migrant Workers Alliance for Change.

As politicians headed back to the House of Commons in Ottawa at the end of January, organizer Luisa Ortiz-Garza says it was the perfect opportunity to launch the campaign and get attention from both civilians and politicians. 

“We thought, what better way of making people part of our fight than showing them what it takes for the food to reach their tables while they’re at the table—the hidden cost,” she says. “What we are really saying is that our workers need equal rights and deserve to live a dignified life with their families.” 

Ortiz-Garza says the response to the campaign has been overwhelming. The group has  garnered thousands of signatures since the initiative began in late January. She notes, however, that momentum is building and QR stickers will eventually be plastered inside the country’s east and west coast provinces over the next few weeks. The organization says they will continue to campaign until the Canadian government fulfills its promise. It is planning to hold an event this weekend and another one in late March, centering around the secret menu initiative and its request for permanent residency. Ortiz-Garza says details would be published on the organization’s website in the near future.

As for Robert, regardless of how successful the campaign ends up being, he says he will continue to find ways to speak up and speak out. 

“I’m never going to be tired of telling my story, until the world knows what migrant workers are faced with,” he says. “If people are enjoying a cucumber or a pepper and it comes from Canada, I am one of the persons who helped to have that get to their table. I hope at least they think about the people on the ground who make this happen.”

The post Farmworkers in Canada Hack Menus, Protest for Better Labor Conditions appeared first on Modern Farmer.

The owner and president of Oakdell Egg Farms, in North Salt Lake, UT, says he’s never experienced a year more difficult or more disruptive than the one that’s just passed.

“Our farms were not spared from bird flu,” says Lillywhite, referencing two separate incidents that required him to cull nearly half of his flock, more than one million chickens. 

There is the emotional impact of culling an inflected flock and there’s the financial impact, too, he explains, having lost several thousand dollars. But what also weighs heavily, says Lillywhite, is knowing that his business was partly responsible for egg scarcity and bare shelves in the communities they serve. 

“My wife’s family started this business in 1905, and the family has always felt an obligation to our loyal customers,” he says. “I thought ‘we can’t keep going like this if we want to stick around. Something has to change.’” 

He’s hoping a new co-operative, ProEgg, will remedy his farming woes. Together, eight farms in the western U.S. are raising a collective 24 million hens, and Lillywhite he says everyone has the same reason for teaming up: They can’t navigate today’s challenges in agriculture on their own. 

“There’s strength in numbers,” says Lillywhite. “We’re going to be able to help each other out and stay nimble with production to ensure our customers can continue to rely on us.”

The goal for ProEgg is that, by having a wide pool of producers, there’s access to supply that could fill any gaps in orders. In the case of an avian flu outbreak or any other situation, one member of the co-op could take over fulfilling orders from another member, instead of letting production screech to a halt.  

Photography courtesy of ProEgg.

Ric Herrera, ProEgg’s CEO, will be overseeing sales and customer relations for the farmers. He anticipates that, by reducing supply shortages, consumers will also see a price reduction. 

“I see this model being key to the sustainability of egg producers in this country,” he says. “There are a lot of smaller producers that don’t have the scale of operations to cope with a hit to their production, and a lot of them are facing a decision to leave the industry. It’s a scary, scary thought.” 

Lillywhite says his motivation for joining the co-op is that he’s particularly worried about future bird flu outbreaks. 

Since the outbreak was detected in February 2022, it’s been deemed the deadliest year for outbreaks in U.S. history. More than 57 million birds in hundreds of commercial and backyard flocks have been affected by it—according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture data. The depopulations at commercial facilities have decreased the domestic egg supply by about 7.5 percent on average each month since the outbreak began. And, although the United Egg Producers has projected “a lull in detections” over the next few months, there is anticipation that cases will pick back up again as the bird migration season renews. 

Farmers with flocks that become infected must complete a carcass disposal, followed by thorough cleaning, disinfecting and a 28-day downtime period where they are unable to start raising flocks. The state also has to complete surveillance testing on birds before they’re cleared to enter commercial markets. The entire process can push producers back by 10 to 15 weeks. But it takes on average four to five months, says Lillywhite, for a producer to bounce back to peak productivity. 

Combined with inflationary issues such as the high cost of feed, fuel and packaging, an outbreak can really take a bite out of profits. It’s also one of the reasons U.S. supermarket shelves are often bare or sell product at a markedly higher rate.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says egg prices in December rose 60 percent from a year earlier.

Some stores such as Kroger, Whole Foods and Lidl have put limits on how many cartons of eggs buyers can purchase at once, simply because supply is stretched so thin. “We’re hoping to avoid that,” says Lillywhite. “It will be a successful year for me if I see no empty shelves in the regions I serve.” 

Right now, the co-op’s eggs will be sold in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, but Herrera says there’s a plan to not only expand eastward but generally to add more members. 

ProEgg’s head office will be based in Aurora, CO, where Herrera will be working with a team concentrating on expanding its reach.  “We want the farmers to only have to focus on and worry about one thing: producing eggs,” he says. “That’s what they’re good at.” 

The co-op is in the process of finalizing its details and building out a plan, but it is scheduled to take over sales in the spring. Members will offer up a percentage of their profits to Herrera and his team. Although that percentage or fee has not yet been established, Lillywhite says he suspects it will be a “moving target” adjusted to market conditions. 

In order to keep Oakdell Farms alive, the business has to adapt to change—and band together with its neighbors. 

The post A New Egg Co-operative Has Hatched in the Western U.S. appeared first on Modern Farmer.

 “Lots of the farmers here, they joke and call me the queen of millet,” she says. “We’re very enthusiastic about millets for a lot of reasons, but how can you not be? You look at it sideways and the crop just wants to grow.”  

Jean Hediger’s fields of millet.

On the high plains of her farm, Golden Prairie, this water-efficient whole grain has consistently produced a harvest since the family mixed it into a crop rotation with their hard red winter wheat. The demand for it began to shoot up over the years, Hediger says, largely in part to the emergence of the gluten-free and celiac diet, as millet doesn’t contain gluten. 

But now with drought and water shortages becoming more prevalent across the country, Hediger says her phone has been ringing off the hook as more growers are looking for ways they can grow a crop and use less water. As Hediger’s land typically receives less than 15 inches of rain each year, she’s very familiar with millet’s ability to grow in parched conditions. 

Hediger grows Proso millet, one of the most commonly grown varieties, which produces a seed within 60 to 90 days. Proso, also known as common millet, could become even more common, as Hediger anticipates the UN’s platform will give rise to its popularity even more.  

“In America, our idea of a grain is Uncle Ben’s white rice,” she says. “I see this being a critical moment to educate people.” 

Although millet is not as well known as other cereal crops such as wheat and rice, it’s considered to be an ancient crop, first cultivated in Asia more than 4,000 years ago. It continues to be a staple crop in the continent’s semi-arid regions, and it is grown and consumed widely in India, Mali, Niger and Nigeria. In the U.S., the crop has been adopted in eastern Colorado, western Nebraska and North and South Dakota. 

Increasing millet’s prevalence in global diets by 10 percent would result in strong co-benefits between increased nutrient supply and reduced environmental impacts, according to a 2021 study published in​​ Environmental Research Letters.  

Kelly LeBlanc, director of nutrition at the non-profit Oldways Whole Grains Council, says millet’s drought tolerance is due to the fact that it’s a C4 cereal, meaning it produces a “4-carbon” compound. This allows it to be more water-efficient, by retaining more water vapor in photosynthesis. 

“The year of millets is significant, because it will raise awareness of these underutilized whole grains,” says LeBlanc. “We hope to see the interest in millets grow.”

There are many different types of millets, and some may be better suited to certain regions than others. According to the National Research Council, finger millet is best for upland and humid areas, while pearl millet does better in dry areas, as it can withstand heat and low moisture. 

LeBlanc also points to the crop’s nutritional value: A 45-gram serving of millet has about five grams of protein and four grams of fiber, and it is a good source of nutrients such as magnesium, phosphorus, thiamin, niacin, vitamin B6 and folate. Some finger millet varieties also have high levels of methionine, which is an essential amino acid that is often lacking in starch-based diets. 

Proso millet thrives on Jean Hediger’s farm.

It’s described as having a nutty flavor, with a creamy, slightly chewy texture. Hediger has an entire guide on her farm’s website providing recipe inspiration for those unsure about how to cook with it. The easiest way to think about it is a rice substitute, she says. 

Hediger, who notes her state of Colorado accounts for 60 percent of organic millet production, believes millet is due for a comeback. Deciding to adopt the crop into her farm model continues to be one of the best decisions she’s made. 

The post Millet is Having a Moment. Is the Ancient Grain Ready for a Resurgence? appeared first on Modern Farmer.

A new study from the University of California San Diego and the U.S. National Science Foundation looked at how these plant mouths, also called the stomata, function. Researchers built upon 20 years of findings from the stomata and its molecular, genetic and mechanical functions around carbon dioxide—the stuff we exhale with each breath. The study found that plants are able to sense carbon dioxide levels in their surroundings, and then control their stomata based on how much CO2 they want to suck up. In a sense, plants can regulate their breathing.

A plant’s stomata.                                                  Photography by Douglas Clark

To understand the significance of this finding is to understand the careful balance plants must strike between carbon dioxide intake and water vapor loss—all of which is influenced by how long their stomata stay open. On a basic level, stomata open their central pore to take in carbon dioxide. But as this happens, the inside of the plant is exposed to the elements, causing water to get lost in the surrounding air. If too much water is lost, that’s when plants dry out. 

Researchers say their discovery will allow them to modify a plant’s sensors either through gene editing or breeding—in other words, creating crops that can retain water more efficiently when drought hits or CO2 levels increase as the planet heats up. 

In this year alone, drought has decimated farmers’ fields in California all the way to the Midwest. A report from the American Farm Bureau Federation found that nearly three quarters of farmers had a reduction in harvest yields because of it. Thirty seven percent said they were tilling fields that won’t produce anything because of water shortage. This was up from 24 percent recorded last year. 

For this reason, Richard Cyr, program director of the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Biological Sciences, believes this research comes at a crucial time. 

“Climate change is making it harder to feed our growing population sustainably,” says Cyr. “Whether it is increased CO2 levels, drier growing seasons, increased rainfall leading to flooding or any number of other potential impacts, we need to develop new tools and new plant breeds that can withstand the results of climate change.”

Of course, there are still more questions to be answered before those tools can be created and refined. In the immediate future, the task will be identifying plant cultivars that have superior CO2 sensors.

Researchers say they hope to soon look at the sensor functions in grain crops, as their stomata structure is different. The investigation could also cover forests just as much as it does fields, ensuring their function is optimized so they can continue to serve the planet as carbon sinks. These tiny plant mouths could offer big insights into feeding our planet. 

The post Plants Have Mouths–And They Could Help Agriculture Adapt to Climate Change appeared first on Modern Farmer.

However, experts say that avian influenza outbreaks and steep operational costs throughout the supply chain are to blame for the smaller-than-average birds.

Ashley Klaphake, a third-generation turkey farmer based in Melrose, MN, has certainly felt the pressures of inflation. Feed is roughly 20 percent more expensive compared to last year and anything that requires gas or propane, such as heating her barn, has shot up by 10 to 15 percent. 

“It’s really been a challenging year for the sector,” she says. “Just when you think you’re caught up and have made it out of the last two years of…the pandemic, prices spike and the bird flu hits.” 

Ashley and Jon Klaphake with their turkeys.

Since March, more than 7.4 million commercial market turkeys have been euthanized due to avian flu outbreaks. This is a loss equivalent to roughly five percent of annual U.S. turkey production. Minnesota, the country’s top turkey-producing state, has had the most commercial poultry flocks affected by the virus. As of mid-November, the  state has had 78 cases with more than 3.8 millions birds euthanized. 

Avian influenza, a highly contagious virus, comes from wild waterfowl, such as ducks and geese. When domesticated poultry, such as chickens and turkeys, comes in direct or indirect contact with the feces of infected wild birds, they become infected and start to show symptoms, such as lethargy, coughing and sneezing and often sudden death. To stop the spread of this highly contagious virus, producers resort to culling.

Klaphake, who raises roughly 345,000 turkeys each year, has so far managed to shield her flocks from avian flu. But she fears for the day when that’s no longer the case. Recently, outbreaks in her region have been reported and she’s aware of neighbors who’ve been directly impacted.

Farmers with flocks that become infected must complete a carcass disposal, followed by thorough cleaning, disinfecting and a 28-day down time period where they are unable to start raising flocks. The state also has to complete three rounds of surveillance testing on birds before they’re cleared to enter commercial markets. The entire process can push producers back by 10-15 weeks, Klaphake says, but she’s heard of farms that have been behind by three months because it takes so long to get state approval.

Producers are also eligible for federal indemnity payments. These cover costs associated with animals that have to be destroyed because of avian influenza as well as culling, cleaning and disinfecting. The catch, however, is that financial assistance often doesn’t cover all of farmers’ expenses. 

To play catch-up, Michael Stepien, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, says farmers are increasing the production of lighter-weight birds they can raise in a shorter amount of time. 

“In September, there was a 4-percent shift in traditional production patterns from heavier toms to lighter hens,” Stepien says. “By processing lighter birds that have a shorter grow-out cycle, the industry can increase the number of whole birds for the holiday season.”

Still, the USDA’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report forecasts turkey meat production for the fourth quarter of 2022 at 1.290 billion pounds, a decline of 5.6 percent from 2021. The latest data from the Consumer Price Index shows that turkeys are roughly 17 percent more than expensive than they were in 2021. 

David Ortega, a food economist and associate professor at Michigan State University, says the reason why farmers, such as Klaphake, are seeing their on-farm expenses soar has a lot to do with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is exacerbating grain, fertilizer and energy prices.  

“Cost of fertilizer and cost of grain has gone up and that goes into the cost of feed,” he says. “Naturally, this means birds will be more expensive to raise. Fuel diesel, needed to transport birds across the country, that’s spiked, too.”

Labor shortages throughout all segments of the food supply chain also play into higher turkey prices, says Ortega. There may also be increased demand this year, as more families are planning to gather together now. 

Regardless, Klaphake says she hopes that Americans understand that it’s not farmers’ intent to leave anyone feeling squeezed when they reach the checkout line.

“It’s a lot of work to put food on the table and get turkeys to market,” she says. “Any business, any person, is affected by inflation right now. Farmers aren’t the exception… I think that’s why this holiday season is so important for us and our bottom line.” 

The post The Great (Sticker Shock) Thanksgiving appeared first on Modern Farmer.

“As a soldier, you serve, and you often see a lot of bad things,” he says. “Coming back into civilian life isn’t easy. I struggled for many years.” 

It was on a patch of 308 acres outside of Manhattan, Kansas where life turned around for Graham. That’s where he found SAVE Farm. SAVE, which stands for Servicemember Agricultural Vocation Education, has existed as a non-profit since 2016 to provide veterans with training in sustainable and regenerative farming, paired with support services in mental and physical health.

SAVE Farm.              Photography by Daniel J. Videtich ofThe Nature Conservancy.

SAVE’s program, which is five months long, aims to support veterans in their transition to civilian life and prepare them for a career path in agriculture, if they so choose. 

“I think this is appealing to a lot of veterans,” says Graham. “It’s peaceful because it’s just you and the animals and the land. You get your hands dirty, but you put in the work to make sure the land can sustain itself.” 

Graham, who enrolled in the program with his wife Jennifer in 2021, is working to build a farming business. Since the farm’s inception, more than 50 veterans have graduated from its program. Roughly 75 per cent of its graduates have chosen to pursue a profession in farming.  

At a time when more than a third of U.S. farm and ranch operators are over 65 and the rate of suicide for veterans is 1.5 higher than that of the general population, SAVE Farm founders say the non-profit offers multiple wins.

SAVE is the brainchild of retired colonel Gary LaGrange and his daughter Shari, who saw results from providing soldiers with beekeeping training and therapy at nearby Fort Riley army installation in north central Kansas. Tod Bunting, SAVE’s CEO and co-founding member, says he’s seen the positive transformation that happens at the farm.

Having also served in the military, Bunting believes there is a great need for SAVE’s model to be replicated across the country.  “I believe that our veterans are in crisis, due to the challenges that come with service,” he says. “This is important work, especially for those with the deepest wounds, the ones that may fall through the cracks, who need a tighter safety net and who need to know people care for them.” 

Three part-time farm staff and two AmeriCorps staff help manage SAVE’s operations, where they have goats, sheep, ducks, cattle and rabbits. They grow corn, sorghum, soybeans and wheat, as well as barley, triticale and alfalfa for cover crops. An orchard currently grows hazelnuts and blackberries. There’s also an apiary for beekeeping and a high tunnel, which is a teaching station for horticulture. 

But Bunting says it’s the partnerships between Kansas State University, the USDA’s NCRS, the Kansas Association of Conservation Districts, The Nature Conservancy and other farmers that have allowed the non-profit to build a network of people to design the curriculum and provide specialized educational sessions. Those who enroll in SAVE’s comparative agricultural programming are taught all parts of farming, animal science and plant science with sustainability top of mind. Regenerative practices such as no-till, cover crops, diversification, grazing for wildlife and managing for pollinators are all integrated into the farm’s programs.

And, in keeping with a vision to grow the program and graduate 100 veterans a year, the organization hopes its programs will become an accredited university under the G.I. Bill, meaning the government would cover the cost of enrollment. 

Heidi Mehl, The Nature Conservancy’s director of Kansas Water and Agriculture, would also like to see the non-profit get that accreditation. Mehl, who has worked with SAVE to design its curriculum and incorporate regenerative practices, says the farm’s work can make a substantial environmental impact.

“We’re hoping for ripples in a pond,” says Mehl. What she means is that, ideally, a graduate incorporates those practices on their farm, and then their neighbor sees that they work and also adopts them. Studies have shown that farmers and ranchers are more likely to try something different on their land if they see their neighbor do it.

Those regenerative practices, such as rotational grazing, cover crops and promotion of soil health, are key to building resiliency in the land, says Mehl, highlighting a third benefit to the farm’s model. 

 “I know how important farming is to our economy and to our local communities in Kansas,” she adds. “These regenerative practices are just another tool we can use to ensure our communities are strong.”

Joe and Jen Graham at SAVE Farm.

That approach to environmental stewardship and conservation are something that Joe and Jen Graham try to honor in their own farm work. Currently, in an “incubation” period on SAVE Farm, the pair is raising a flock of 40 chickens—or what they hope is a humble beginning of a thriving farm business. By spring, they’re aiming to have tripled their flock, selling their eggs at local farmers markets. Later, they plan to incorporate some livestock they can raise. 

Beyond being the springboard for the couple’s business, the Grahams say the SAVE Farm and its community are the reason the future looks bright. 

“This has given my life a sense of direction, an opportunity to heal and find my new life in this world,” Graham says. “It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s a good life.” 

The post This Kansas Farm Gives Veterans A New Path To Civilian Life appeared first on Modern Farmer.