Category: Farmers

Farmers Fear Contamination at Start of Growing Season Near Train Derailment

With spring planting just around the corner, Ohio and Pennsylvania farmers near the Norfolk Southern train derailment are worried about the effect spilled chemicals will have on their crops and livestock. In a joint letter on Wednesday, Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and John Fetterman (D-Pa.) asked Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Thomas…


Exhausted Farmers Say ‘ANC-Inspired’ Blackouts Destroying Food Production in Africa’s Breadbasket

Herman du Preez planted his boots in the red dust at the entrance to one of his chicken sheds, its silver coating gleaming in the sunlight. He folded his thick, brown forearms across his chest, and declared quietly, but firmly: “I’ve had enough.”  The 46-year-old fourth-generation farmer in South Africa’s arid North West Province exuded…


US Farmers Plan to Go ‘Heavy on Corn’ in 2023 Despite Risks

CHICAGO—U.S. farmers are planning to boost corn acreage in 2023, eyeing lower prices of fertilizer needed to grow the crop and hoping for a bumper crop after a late season drought withered last year’s grain harvest and left U.S. corn supplies near a decade low. Plans for the upcoming season were made even as doubts…


Avian Flu Is Crushing Farmers

Commentary HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania—The public’s pocketbooks have been hit hard by the skyrocketing cost of eggs in the last few months. Prices have doubled and, in some places, tripled over what they cost a year ago—if you can even find them in your local grocery store. The average cost of a dozen eggs in the United…


John Deere Vows to Let American Farmers Repair Their Own Machines

John Deere & Co., the world’s largest manufacturer of agricultural equipment, may finally allow American farmers to repair the company’s products on their own. A pioneer of integrating advanced computer systems into farming machinery, John Deere controls more than half of the tractor market in the United States. As John Deere machines became increasingly high-tech…


Organic Livestock Farmers, Hit by Rising Prices, Seek Help

WHITINGHAM, Vt.—Organic dairy and other livestock farmers are seeking emergency federal aid as they grapple with skyrocketing organic feed costs, steep fuel, and utility expenses as well as the consequences of drought in many parts of the country. Two dozen U.S. senators and representatives wrote to U.S. Agriculture Department Secretary Tom Vilsack this week asking…


Are Lab-Grown Foods a Threat to the Health of the American People?

Commentary Now that companies promoting lab-based dairy and lab-grown foods are getting FDA approval, it’s time to have an uncomfortable but important discussion about the push to reinvent the American diet. Lab-based dairy, we’re told, is the future. Removing dairy cows from the equation means fewer methane emissions. The environment wins. But you know who…


Why We Farm | Documentary

Three small New England farmers of different types tell what they do, how they got to where they are today and, most importantly, what motivates them to continue. * Click the “Save” button below the video to access it later on “My List.” – Feature Films: Cinema collection: epochcinema.com Epoch Original content: epochoriginal.com Feature Films:…


California Water Agencies, Farmers Work Together to Conserve Water in the Delta

Alex Wilson is a sixth-generation California farmer, growing fruits and grain in a state that has been severely affected by an ongoing water shortage. At 27, he is the youngest member to continue the family tradition of farming in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region. Through the years, Wilson’s family has survived periods of drought and…


Signing Biden’s Methane Pledge a Betrayal of Farmers: Opposition Leader

The federal government will have betrayed its election promise to support farmers if it considers signing up to the Biden administration’s global pledge to reduce methane emissions by 30 percent, opposition leader Peter Dutton has said. This follows comments from Agricultural Minister Murray Watt on ABC Radio on Oct. 13 that the federal government was…