Zaid Kurdieh of Norwich Meadows Farm
In spring 2020, just as they were hitting their stride at the start of the season, many farmers were suddenly faced with a market picture drastically changed by the arrival of COVID-19, and the subsequent shutdown of farmers markets and shuttering of restaurants. Many not only had to “build a new plane as they flew it,” they did so while flying into a hurricane with no radar. Three farmers at three very different scales talked about their challenges, successes, and lessons learned as they made their lightning-fast pivots to adapt to the pandemic. They spoke at the New York winter conference.
A small farm moves online over one weekend
Before the pandemic, 90% of sales from the 1.5-acre Lovin’ Mama Farm in Amsterdam, New York, were through farmers markets. “On March 13th, we found that all of our markets were cancelled,” said co-owner Corinne Hansch. But with hoop houses full of over-wintered greens, they had produce that couldn’t wait.
[Read more…] about Lightning-fast Pivots Kept Three Farms Thriving in the Face of the Pandemic
This picture illustrates the flight zone of a large flock of sheep. Herds of cattle behave much the same way. Notice that the sheep are circling around the handlers while maintaining a safe distance and keeping the people in sight. Note that the sheep tend to move in the opposite direction of handler move-ment. Walking in the opposite direction of the direction of desired movement can be used to move groups of animals. Walking in the opposite direction tends to speed up movement and walking in the same direction tends to slow down movement. These principles work with all herding animals. When ani-mals are completely tame they will have no flight zone. Leading is usually the most effective way to move very tame animals. Handlers on farms and ranches can reduce the size of the flight zone by spending time walking through the herd or flock.
The point of balance is usually at the animal’s shoulder and it is determined by the animal’s wide angle vision. All species of livestock will move forward if the handler stands behind the point of balance. They will back up if the handler stands in front of the point of balance. Many handlers make the mistake of standing in front of the point of balance while attempting to make an animal move forward in a chute (race). Groups of cattle or pigs in a chute (race) will often move forward without prodding when the handler walks past the point of balance in the opposite direction of each animal in the chute (race). It is not necessary to prod every animal. If the animals are moving through the chute (race) by themselves, leave them alone.
One of my pet peeves is the assertion — that I read so often in the writings of well-meaning but poorly informed people commenting on the food system – that livestock production is wasteful of land, water and resources badly needed to feed people.
This paper is dedicated to the indelible spirit of my Grandmother Evelyn Clapperton.
The immune system (September 2013)
Access to land is a top challenge for both new and established farmers. Government can play several important roles to address this challenge. One of these roles is as landlord: making public land available for farming.
It is often said that organically produced food has higher prices at the store because it takes more time and energy to produce than its chemical-intensive counterpart. Compared to so-called conventional chemical-intensive farming, organic farmers pay closer attention to the health of their agricultural ecosystems and the potential results of their farming practices for both humans and the natural world, and this more intensive management does come with a price tag.
New songs, new murals, new laws, new poems…
The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is a complex cell-signaling system identified in the early 1990s by researchers exploring THC, a well-known cannabinoid. Cannabinoids are compounds found in cannabis.
