Researchers are working with the Rodale Institute in Fulton County, Georgia, to explore whether high-value saffron would be a viable potential specialty crop for growers in the state, reports WABE. The two-year project is comparing different methods of growing the plant, evaluating high tunnel plantings compared to field-grown plants. Researchers say high-value specialty crops could […]

Purdue University is offering a free Handbook on Processing Fish for Small-Scale Fish Farmers, to aid producers in the Midwest with limited or no access to economically feasible seafood processing infrastructure for farmed seafood products. Local kitchens, such as shared-use commercial kitchens and licensed on-farm kitchens, can provide resources for fish farming entrepreneurs interested in […]

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service is offering a free, on-demand webinar titled “An Overview of Technical Note 190-12: Conservation Activities in Organic Farming Systems Part 2: Organic IPM, Livestock, Pastures, and Buffers.” This webinar, presented by Rebecca Champagne and Mark Schonbeck of the Organic Farming Research Foundation, covers the areas of organic integrated pest management, […]

Michigan State University reports that truffle dogs and their handlers have found two new species of truffle in the United States, as verified by scientists at the university. The scientists’ DNA analysis of the truffles shows that they have many compounds similar to valuable European truffles. Associate professor Gregory Bonito says there is increasing interest […]

Western University professor Joshua M. Pearce wrote in The Conversation about a Canadian study that found “solar shepherds” grazing sheep under solar panels can earn incomes equivalent to doctors, senior engineers, or lawyers. The study evaluated grazing sheep on small solar projects (200 kilowatts) and large solar projects (465 megawatts). It also contrasted sheep breeding […]