By James Tillman, Acting Associate Chief for Conservation, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service Are you interested in protecting the soil, water, plants, and air and achieving economic sustainability on your newly acquired farm, ranch, or forest? Would you like to increase your marketing and income potential while focusing on increasing wildlife habitat on some of … Read More
By Steven Emmen, NFU Intern Access to capital is one of the toughest hurdles a beginning farmer will overcome. Beginning producers frequently don’t have collateral to offer lenders. And it can be hard to build a good credit score as a farmhand or apprentice. New farms may also lack accurate income projections that are used … Read More
By Steven Emmen, NFU Intern Blake Osborn is a water resources specialist at Colorado State University (CSU) Extension in Pueblo, CO. On Tuesday, June 20, we had the opportunity to discuss how beginning farmers can conserve water. Q: For a beginning farmer, what are the first steps to ensure you are conserving water? A: In … Read More
By Steven Emmen, NFU Intern Farmers and ranchers who are feeding a growing population often think about more. The more crops planted and the more they yield, the more mouths are fed, right? However, when speaking in terms of efficiency, whether it’s inputs, land, or water, farmers and ranchers need to think about less. In … Read More
By Tom Driscoll, Director of NFU Foundation and Conservation Policy Administered by the Farm Service Agency, (FSA) the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) awards producers rental payments for taking environmentally sensitive land out of production. Contracts last between 10-15 years, at which point, a producer can either re-enroll or put the land back into production. In some … Read More
By Lura Roti, South Dakota Farmers Union When Cheryl and Fred Schaefers tied the knot 40 years ago, the two shared a strong passion for farming. And, along with crops and livestock, the couple wanted to raise a large family. “We originally wanted 12 kids. Fred is the youngest of 9 and I am the … Read More
By Steven Emmen, NFU Intern Earlier this week, we briefly discussed what the prior appropriation system is and its unique characteristics. To give beginning farmers a better idea of the practical application of prior appropriation, we reached out to a farmer on the western slope of Colorado. Harrison Topp manages a peach farm and is currently … Read More
By Steven Emmen, NFU Intern It would be very difficult to be a successful farmer without adequate access to water. Depending on the topography of the region and the basin that a farmer is diverting from, they will face vastly different issues when acquiring water. When managing water resources there are two things to always remember: the … Read More
By Steven Emmen, NFU Intern It would be very difficult to be a successful farmer without adequate access to water. Depending on the topography of the region and the basin that a farmer is diverting from, they will face vastly different issues when acquiring water. When managing water resources there are two things to always remember: the … Read More
By Jimmy Dula, NFU Intern Pricing has been one of the most difficult ideas in farming for me to wrap my head around. Estimating cost of production can be difficult in a small but highly diversified operation. Most farmers don’t keep track of how many hours were spent weeding and managing rows of carrots versus rows … Read More