Thursday, April 10, 2014

Clemson Extension Research Farm

Today I returned to the Clemson Extension Research Center with my friend Madeline. We got the opportunity to see the cover crops and the wheat fully grown. We learned about the different research projects going on at the site as well. For example, we learned about the project they are doing with "Amy's Kitchen", which is an organic food company. It was interesting to hear about the different ways to receive grants for the program, which are given through the state and the federal government. We learned that the average grant they receive for a project is around $28,000, which covers a full-time field hand and the tools necessary for the study. 

In addition, we also learned about the crimson clover, which they were using as a cover crop. It was really pretty to see in the fields- we were told that they glean a couple hundred of pounds of the pink clovers, which are then shipped to other farms. 

Lastly, we learned a lot about nitrogen nodules- a major part of all healthy plants. These small nodules are visible on the roots of plants, and they produce a ton of nitrogen for the environment to use. 

Crimson Clover

Nitrogen Nodules

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Southern SARE Stories and Accomplishments

Southern SARE provides farmers, ranchers, and communities with financial backing to sustainable and innovative projects throughout the Southern regions. Southern SARE bridges the gap between farmers and buyers by funding a range of projects that improve farmers' ability to process, market, and deliver their products locally.
For example, Jonny Harris received grant money for crop cover research on his farm in Screvens, GA. "Georgia's soils are sandy and low in organic matter, which means they do a bad job in holding water and plant nutrients. In the trials, his soil's water- holding capacity has increased 15-20%, and soil organic matter has increased as much as 1%." In his trials, he planted 45 acre combinations of ryegrass, triticale, and crimson clover, followed by a cotton crop. As a result of planting a cover crop of ryegrass, his cotton yields amounted to 1,600 pounds of lint per acre. In comparison, he only had 1,100 pounds of lint per acre without the cover crop. Thanks to Southern SARE,  Jonny Harris found that forage cover crops improve soil health and provide high- quality hay for livestock.
To read more Southern SARE stories, use the following link to read 2013/2014 Report from the Field:
file:///C:/Users/Mina%20Rismani/Downloads/2013.2014_SARE_Report_from_the_Field.pdf

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Monday, March 17, 2014

Overview of Organic Certification for Growers

The Cornell Small Farms Program Newsletter linked me to a publication by The National Young Farmers Coalition titled "Vegetable Grower's Guide to Organic Certification", which was a comprehensive and informative guide to the steps of becoming a certified organic grower.

Firstly I would like to inform readers that I am not necessarily pushing growers to become certified organic. Besides NOP (USDA's National Organic Program), there are other options for environmentally conscious farmers such as Certified Naturally Grown (naturallygrown.org), Certified Biodynamic (demeter-usa.org), and others.

Here are the basic rules for organic certification:
1. A minimum of 3 years without use of prohibited substances
2. Sufficient buffer zone between operation and conventional plots
3. Must maintain and build soil organic matter/ no erosion
4. Fertility management
5. No soil/ groundwater leaching, no water pollution
6. Raw manure must be applied at least 120 days before harvest for plants on ground an 90 days before harvest for plants not on the ground.
7. Organic seed must be used when available.
8. No use of treated seeds
9. Use of strictly organic transplants
10. Organic planting stock when available
11. Manual control of disease and pest prevention
12. Mechanical weed control
13. Use of approved substances only when mechanical prevention isn't working
14. No treated lumber in presence of growing medium
15. Must clean equipment before and after use
16. No GMO
17. No irradiation or sewer sludge
*all of these practices must be adequately documented for your certification application
*These rules are applicable to both the paper certification process as well as the on-site inspection process

Things to Have for Your Certifier
1. An Organic System Plan (contamination prevention plan, soil building program, etc)
2. At least 5 years of previous records (soil tests, field maps, seed and transplant orders, etc)
3. Crop rotation, planting, and harvesting schedules
4. Recorded pest and disease observations, treatments, etc
*Go to ams.usda.gov to find and choose a certifier

Read more at http://www.youngfarmers.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/NYFC-Organic-Certification-Guide.pdf
 

Monday, March 10, 2014

New Tool to Test Organic Matter in Soil

Researchers from Ohio State University have developed a new tool that enables farmers to easily test the organic matter in their soil. The soil organic matter calculator is a spreadsheet- based tool that includes a user guide, a data manager, a calculator for the prediction of soil organic matter, and printed test results. 

The calculator is based on the following: crop rotation, yields, tillage type, tillage depth, erosion rate, manure applications and cover crops. With all of these factors, the calculator is able to predict annual soil organic matter dynamics and parameters for up to 50 years. 

Due to the increasing demand for crop residue from the biofuels industry, farmers are in business with this new calculator tool. The tool additionally predicts the revenue from residue sales and the amount of carbon emitted as carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. 

While there are other similar tools already in existence, the calculator is easy and inexpensive. 
Islam (the Soil, Water, Bioenergy Resources Program Leader at Ohio State) and his co-workers are also working towards the addition of the following features to the calculator tool: liming and irrigation applications, nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics, soil compaction management, greenhouse gas emissions, and soil health. 

More information is available online at http://southcenters.osu.edu/soil-and-bioenergy. Select “SOM Soil Organic Matter Calculator” under the Extension menu. 

Link to article: http://cfaes.osu.edu/news/articles/new-tool-offers-growers-easy-option-measure-soil-organic-matter-content 
If you are especially interested, contact Islam at Ohio State University 
Rafiq Islam
740-289-2071, ext. 147
islam.27@osu.edu 

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Conservation Grazing

Why would a conservation organization want to implement grazing practices? A few benefits include the enhancement of neighbor/community relations, revenue generation, and habitat management. In the US, there are currently 770 million acres of grazing land that are not considered parts of conservation efforts. However, with the rising concern for agricultural conservation, many efforts are planning to incorporate grazing practices into their strategies. Many conservation organizations are creating partnerships to compliment each others' work. For example, two organizations might create a partnership in which one organization concentrates on a grazing operation while the other concentrates on a cattle system to restore the ecosystem.
Other conservation methods, such as mow brush encroaching in a prairie, calls for lots of fuel and transportation. These methods don't seem like the most efficient in terms of cost or ecological purpose. Many farmers who use the alternative methods to grazing believe that habitat loss and species endangerment are two great risks of grazing methods. However, with an additional focus on biodiversity. Studies actually show that populations are benefited by grazing techniques. For example, in one study provided in this document, the Greater Prairie Chicken and the Bobwhite Quail species were actually shown to increase in population size during the presence of grazing methods and decrease after the methods were removed from the habitat.
*The studies on rotational grazing included in this document were conducted by the National Audubon Society.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Cornell's Study on the Economic Impacts of Food Hubs

The USDA Agriculture Marketing Survey and The National Institute for Food and Agriculture recently funded a Cornell project to conduct a comprehensive study on the economic effects of food hubs. I read about this study from an article titled Study: Food Hubs' Support for Local Economy is Mixed from The Cornell Chronicle 
Cornell found that food hubs provide a wide variety of crops to their local population. In addition to ameliorating the diet of local consumers, food hubs also promote local farm aggregation and and distribution businesses. Food hubs have somewhat of a "multiplier" impact. For every dollar that is spent on a food hub, more money stays and is re-spent in the local economy.
Other businesses, however, do suffer. Research shows that businesses that sell substitute products suffer a 10% decrease in sales.
Lastly, Cornell's research also showed that middle- sized farms are the ones that benefit most from food hubs. This makes sense because these are the farms that have outgrown sales at a street stand market but are too small to be distributed by large corporations such as Walmart.
Customer survey results from Cornell's study revealed room for improvement in the food hub sector in terms of logistics; specifically a need for lower minimum order sizes and increased frequency of deliveries.
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2014/01/study-food-hubs-support-local-economy-mixed

News for a Positive Change in Organic Crop Insurance

ATTRA linked me to an article called Organic Crop Insurance Is Growing in New Ways! It is great news that RMA (Risk Management Agency) is changing its policies for 2014 organic crop growers. 
As of 2014, the following changes will be implemented:
1. Organic crop farmers will no longer be changed an additional 5% subcharge on premiums for their insurance. Their premiums will instead be based off of production history. 
2. There are new crop insurance opportunities specific to the type of organic crop. 
3. There will be a "Contact Price" option, which will be available to organic farmers who receive a contract price for their crop. This allows farmers under certain circumstances to base their crop insurance price on what they are receiving from their market contract. 
http://blogs.usda.gov/2014/02/04/organic-crop-insurance-is-growing-in-new-ways/ 

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

South Carolina Living

The recent edition of South Carolina Living was full of good farming advice and farmer success stories. Its article on Walters farm expresses that young farmers bring fresh energy and ideas to SC agriculture. Steven Walters is a farmer in Dorchester County. He has learned many of his farming practices on his own through trial and error and has many innovative ideas. He is building a CSA program and a line of natural baby foods called “Ginger Baby.” He has been working with GrowFood Carolina and local restaurants, through which he has been marketing interesting varieties of crops, such as the Chioggia beet, which is striped like a candy cane. I remember Sara Clow, the director of GrowFood Carolina, told me that crop planning is one of the most difficult tasks of a farmer. You have to grow something that is very marketable. Growing interesting varieties such as the Chioggia beet is important in helping a farmer’s products stand out among others and sell. There are many upbeat success stories that new generation SC farmers have to tell. This edition also included a story on Eric McClam, who left a budding career in architecture to form City Roots, which is one of the only urban gardens in Columbia.

I also learned more about blueberry production through this edition. I learned that fertilization is “a double-edged sword” through a piece on building better blueberry bushes. You need good fertilization for blueberries to grow, but over-fertilization can also result in excessive flower growth and limited berry growth.  It is also effective to cut off one or two of the eldest stems in the center of the plant. This will yield more light for the plant’s growth. Make sure your plant doesn't grow too big- you must trim your stems, otherwise your plant will grow too big and your yields will decrease. It is recommended that you remove up to one third of your stems in a year. These stems are easy to spot- they are very tall and barren looking. 
chioggia beets...yummm 

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

"A Day in the Life of a Farmer" Event

This past Saturday Slow Food YCAC plus a few visited the Dirt Works Incubator Farm for my "Day in the life of a Farmer" event. I was so pleased with the turnout and the enthusiasm that everyone put into their participation. We primarily worked with Gina Perez on Fiddle Farms. We worked with a few other farmers that were working on their plots during the day as well.
My day started at 8:00 am. It was rather chilly and rainy outside, but I hopped out of my car with Grayson at the farm. Pretty soon there were a handful of us there, so we all helped Gina pull out some tools from the tool shed (pitchfork, etc.) Afterwards a few others arrived, we walked down to her plot with our tools in hand. We started by spreading out a pile of mulch compost on her plot. It was quite the work out... and surprisingly fun! We were in groups for the rest of the day, doing different tasks with different farmers. We changed groups after each task was finished. I did some seeding, weeding around the inside of a greenhouse, weeding of a couple of row crops, and wheelbarrow-ing of compost through out the day. I had so much fun and was so happy to see others having fun as well. At the end of the day we all took turns in Gina's car to have a tour around the Incubator Farm and Rosebanks Farms. Rosebanks Farms is the neighboring farm from which Lowcountry First leases its land.
We truly experienced what it is like to work on a farm. I have a better sense now of the daily struggles that farmers face. I also can finally wrap my mind around how farming is truly a 24/7 job- the work never ends!
Here is a picture of some of us who were involved-
Oh... and great news! I was offered an apprenticeship on the Dirt Works Incubator Farm for over the summer! 

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

"Farm to School"

"Farm to School" is a whole new market open to farmers everywhere. In some areas of the country, public school systems have already created relationships with farmers. It is more viable for private schools to create partnerships with farmers since these schools are independent from the state. This publication convinced me that there is a lot of potential in creating food plans between farmers and schools. When you think about it, this situation would be similar to a CSA program, in that the schools agree to pay in advance and receive whatever he or she grows. There are copious benefits for the school and the farmer. The "Farm to School" relationship is strong for a couple of reasons; it encourages local producers and processors, long- term relationships with farmers, transparent prices, and clear policies. 
The document concluded with some basic tips for farmers when establishing excellent farm to school programs. It suggested the following...
1. Celebrate the small steps, it is a slow process
2. Don't "bad mouth" school meals when advertising local meal plans to schools
3. Keep everything as local as possible for the greatest benefits
4. Involve everyone in the community 
5. Help consumers understand that the food isn't cheap
6. Keep raising the bar
7. Insist that food sourcing is transparent so that consumers know where it comes from
8. Promote what you are trying to accomplish in the community 
9. Work to change policies for big steps 
http://www.hcfs.org/resources/FarmToSchool_20131023.pdf 

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

"Selecting Profitable Enterprises to Ensure Economic Sustainability"

This week I focused on particular marketing strategies through ATTRA's resources links. I read three comprehensive pdf files on marketing strategies. They are called "Alternative Agronomic Crops," "Evaluating a Farmer Enterprise," and "Moving Beyond Conventional Cash Cropping." The links to view these online are listed below:
https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/summaries/summary.php?pub=84
https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/summaries/summary.php?pub=277
https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/summaries/summary.php?pub=104
1. I will briefly write about the take away messages that I learned from these files.
First of all, if you are a farmer looking for experience to work on a farm to gain experience prior to starting your own farm, apprenticeship opportunities are available through ATTRA. Follow this link to find an opportunity for you: https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/internships.
2. If you have experience working on a farm and are interested in purchasing land, it is suggested to find land purchasing opportunities through your local NRCS office.
3. Choose a centerpiece enterprise; something that will work well with your land based on soil quality and other similar contributing factors. Choose something that has infrastructure that could work well with other products. Pay attention to what farmers around you are growing. Try to tap into a market that hasn't been discovered yet. Along the lines of that, crop planning is one of the most important aspects of farm planning. It is important to study the markets (identify wholesalers, retailers, etc.), learn the specialty market standards required, learn about the equipment, read about your new enterprise, talk to others who are already doing it, and make your connections before you grow your crop.
4. Establish income goals for your farm. Ask yourself the following questions: Do you want farming to supply all of your income? Do you want your farm to supply enough income that you only work part time? Do you want your farm to support your family for a long- term (ie, retirement fund, college tuition?) Do you want to bring your children or other relatives in as business partners eventually? Do you want the farm to supply enough money for health insurance?
5. Once you have started your farm, it is important to not let your business growth get ahead of itself. Ask yourself periodically questions such as the following: How are my financial backing or resources? Do I currently have adequate access to equipment? If you find yourself to be lacking in some areas, it is important to take a step back and work on getting more experience, strengthening connections, finding resources, etc.
6. When considering farm profitability, add your costs from machinery repair, labor, and all other farm expenses to your desired profit to determine the amount needed to pay costs and profit (margin.)
7. A few things to consider when planning your enterprise as a successful farmer: Capacity (acreage, infrastructure), record keeping, certification, communication, and sales/ promotion.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

South Carolina Regional Study

Recently I have been studying a lot about the different regions of South Carolina. Farmers are very limited to what they can grow due to the type of soil and other conditions that are controlled by their locations. I have learned that our state varies widely in terms of topography and other geographical conditions, which makes for an interesting array of farmers across the state.
Here are some interesting maps that display the regions of South Carolina.


Here are some significant marked areas in each region that influence agriculture in that area economically and geographically. 
Blue Ridge Region- Blue Ridge Mts, headwaters of Saluda River, Lake Keowee, Chattooga River area, Greenville, Pickens county, Oconee county
Piedmont Region- Catawba river, Old English District: York, Chester, Union, Fairfield, Lancaster, Kershaw, Chesterfield County
Sandhills Region- Congaree river, the Sandhills, Lake Murray, the Broad River, Saluda, Columbia
Coastal Plain Region- Pee Dee, Santee, Lake Marion, Lake Moultrie, Edisto River
Coastal Zone Region- Barrier Islands, Sea Islands, Ace Basin: Ashepoo, Combahee, South Edisto Rivers 

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The Farm Incubator Toolkit

Exciting news! ATTRA's Sustainable Agriculture Weekly Harvest Newsletter recently posted a link to a new guide, called "The Farm Incubator Toolkit." It was developed by the National Incubator Farm Training Initiative (NIFTI), was published by the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, and was sponsored by Tufts University.

The definition of a incubator farm is "a farm that provides infrastructure and support to reduce the risks for new farmers launching their new farm businesses." The incubator farm is one of the most upcoming and progressive practices in the ag world. I see the potential for incubator farms to usher in new generations of farmers. I find it very exciting to see new documents such as the Farm Incubator Toolkit being created, because the more information that is out there, the more likely farmers will be inclined to go into agriculture.

This guide is a "manifestation of the collaboration of incubator projects coming together in a national community of practice where the knowledge and best practices can be shared with one another to the ultimate benefit of farmers and the food system as a whole." The end of this document includes many marketing and financial resources that apply to farmers specifically in the incubator farm business, as well as to farmers in general. I am investigating many of these resources for my own resource guide. Needless to say, I am very thankful for ATTRA connecting me to this new document!

http://nesfp.org/sites/default/files/uploads/nifti_toolkit_v2.pdf

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Cotton, Cotton, Cotton

I adventured to Pleasant Hill, SC again and got the opportunity to see the cotton modules! Cotton is my favorite row crop, so this was quite exciting. Dr. Cribb talked to me about the cotton industry and walked me through how they pack the cotton into the modules. The machinery that packs the cotton is very similar to a combine. The machinery is called a "module builder." Use the link below to watch a video of a module builder in action if you are interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbp7tvDpaeQ
I also learned about the anatomy of cotton and how to pick it, which is the old-fashioned way. To pick it, you have to take the cotton out of the cotton boll and pick the seeds out of it. This is what they had to do before Eli Whitney's cotton gin was invented. Here is a picture of cotton in the cotton boll.

Lastly, I learned about the business and marketing behind cotton farming. Here are a few facts for you.
-Each cotton module weighs about 30,000 lbs., the equivalent to 15 tons
-Once cotton goes through the cotton gin, it will be about 7500-8500 lbs. of marketable cotton. The farmer can receive about $7500-8500 for this amount of cotton
-Farmers can also sell the cotton seeds for about $1500
Here are some photos of me with the cotton module! As you can see in the both images, there is a lot of cotton left of the ground. This is because the cotton module builder is quite ineffective. It is more cost efficient for farmers to use the cotton module builder than to hire field hands, so for this reason most farmers chose to use this machinery despite its inability to pick up all of the cotton on the field.