small farms
There’s no snag in adding yarn to the “buy local” campaign
Niche marketing to nearby customers is a practical outlet for thousands of smaller-scale farmers. In northwestern Colorado, yarn is being woven into the fabric of local entrepreneurship, says Harvest Public Media.
China ponders how to remodel its farm sector
"From a bedrock of traditional culture, and an engine of the post-Mao economic boom in the 1980s, agriculture has become a burden for China," says the New York Times, "and few in the countryside see their future there."
Larger loans for smaller-scale farmers
New rules for "micro loans" to small and beginning farmers will take effect on Nov 7, said the Agriculture Department in carrying out a provision of the 2014 farm law.
A sailboat that is also a sale boat
For the last two summers, the sailboat Ceres has traveled the Hudson River, "carrying all manner of small-scale, artisanal farm products to eager consumers in New York City and at river towns along the way," writes Antonio Roman-Alcala at Civil Eats.
Hispanics move from farm labor to farm owner
In a story that puts a face on the Census of Agriculture statistic about the increase in Hispanic farmers, the New York Times says, "They have classic American bootstrap stories of grit, determination and a little bit of luck.
A loss in Maine for the food sovereignty movement
A court decision in Maine over unlicensed sale of milk by a small farmer may carry implications for food sovereignty advocates.
Lots of small US farms, some with very large sales
Some 14 pct of U.S. farms are 10 acres of smaller and most do produce little, says a USDA report adding, "Small acreage does not necessarily mean small sales." About 50,000 of the farms had sales above $10,000 a year; 6,000 grossed over $250,000 and 3,600 had sales of at least $500,000.
A California peach farmer rediscovers his family’s past
David "Mas" Matsumoto says he farms with ghosts, says producer Lisa Morehouse. On his family’s organic peach, nectarine and grape farm south of Fresno, he points out pruning scars from long-time workers, and walks down rows of trees he planted with his father. He says the labor and lessons of his ancestors are in the soil and the grapevines and orchards, and he’s passing these on to the next generations, Morehouse says in FERN's latest audio report produced in collaboration with KQED's The California Report. <strong>No paywall</strong>