Latest News
ATTRA’s daily recap of sustainable agriculture news and resources gleaned from the Internet.
1st Annual Soil Health Innovations Conference
Did you miss our inaugural virtual conference? You can still register to watch all the recorded sessions until September 5, 2021!
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Blog 61. Plant Diversity for Animal Health
While many people make conscious decisions about what foods they eat for health reasons, the same considerations are not often made for livestock. We rarely discuss how the variety of plants they eat affects their health, wellness, and nutrient density of their meat.
By Kara Kroeger, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist30 April, 2021
Blog 60. A Spring IPM Toolbox for Controlling Powdery Mildew in Vineyards
Powdery mildew has plagued vineyards since time immemorial. If temperatures reach between 70 and 85 degrees, chances are, powdery mildew has woken up from its slumber and is ready to infect your grapes. When left unchecked, this fungus can reduce vine growth, sabotage yields, and reduce fruit quality. There are all sorts of practices in our integrated pest-management toolbox that we can use to control powdery mildew. Prevention is always number one, but there are plenty of mitigation strategies we can employ as well. Here are some good examples:
By Katherine Favor, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist22 April, 2021
Blog 59. Fruit and the Freeze of 2021
Better Than I Feared but Worse Than It Looks By Guy K. Ames, NCAT Horticulture Specialist Photo at right: Peach flowers from a previous spring, a sight we won’t be seeing much of this year because of the deep freeze. A dipping polar vortex delivered a cruel and chilling Valentine’s gift to the Midwest and South on Valentine’s Week 2021. The damage in Texas may be among the worst. It certainly garnered the most headlines. An estimated $300 million winter citrus crop in the Rio Grande Valley is gone. Gone. Worse, it’s likely that the trees in the valley suffered...
16 April, 2021
Blog 58. Safety Nets and the Polar Vortex
I’m still trying to wrap my head around the polar vortex that hit the United States in mid-February: leaving people in Texas without power for up to two weeks, coming within five minutes of crashing the entire Texas power grid, and devastating farms and ranches across the state, including some good friends of mine. It was a “teachable moment” for sure, offering lessons about climate disruption and power industry deregulation among other things. As someone who spent several years working on improving crop insurance for organic farms, the storm also got me thinking about safety nets: who has them and why some people don’t.
By Mike Morris, NCAT Southwest Regional Director09 April, 2021
Upcoming Events
ATTRA’s interactive calendar of events will keep you updated on the the goings on in Sustainable Agriculture. We also provide the opportunity for organizations to publicize their upcoming event, festival and projects through our online events calendar.
Internship Opportunities
A directory of on-the-job learning opportunities in sustainable and organic agriculture in the U.S. (and some in Canada) has been published since 1989 as a tool to help farmers and apprentices connect with each other.
Funding Opportunities
A clearinghouse of available grant and funding opportunities within the realm of Sustainable Agriculture.
American Rescue Plan Offers Debt Relief to BIPOC Producers
The American Rescue Plan enacted this spring included $5 billion in direct aid for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) farmers, explains the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC). NSAC reports that
10 May, 2021Pennsylvania Urban Agriculture Grant Program Awards $500,000
The Pennsylvania Farm Bill’s Urban Agriculture Grant Program is awarding $500,000 in grant funding to 42 projects. The program funded 18 microgrants and 24 collaboration grants for projects that improve agriculture
10 May, 2021Farmer Veteran Coalition Announces Fellowship Fund Recipients
More than 100 farmer veterans received the news that they are being awarded equipment through the 2021 Farmer Veteran Fellowship Fund, a grant that supports veterans in their early years of farming and ranching. Over 11
10 May, 2021
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