What it Means to be a Farmer or Rancher

Definition of “Farming”: The activity or business of growing crops and raising livestock.?

Sounds pretty simple coming out of the dictionary right? Those of us who live it every day know that is absolutely not the case. There are so many forms of management when it comes to operating a farm from accounting to inventory management, crop forecasting, and manure management. All of the things we do are vital to the production of food, but every day we are faced with the question of how we produce with the smallest footprint possible. The University of Illinois has released a new study that may just give us some insight into better manure management to help with that. Read the full story below!

This Week in Agriculture

Animal agriculture can be a source of water pollution in the United States, if not managed correctly, as manure runoff carries excess nutrients into rivers and lakes.?

A new study from the University of Illinois focuses on local manure management regulations in Wisconsin and how they affect water quality in the state. “Wisconsin is unique because they have allowed counties to participate in the enforcement of state agricultural code without state approval. Wisconsin has more county-level participation in manure management than neighboring states, although the state still maintains enforcement authority as well,” explains Marin Skidmore, assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at U of I.

The first of these rules require all farms to draw up a nutrient management plan, regardless of whether they have a manure storage facility. The second rule addresses a subset of counties that have more restrictive rules on manure spreading based on the presence of Silurian bedrock in the area, also requiring a nutrient management plan. “In a nutrient management plan, farmers must outline how, when, where and at what rate they are going to apply nutrients. Ideally, the plan optimizes nutrient management according to the four R’s, which immediately reduces the number of excess nutrients in the fields and the availability for runoff,” Skidmore explains.

Would this be a program you would want to participate in? Leave a comment below!

To read the full story, you can find it here; https://www.morningagclips.com/local-manure-regulations-help-reduce-water-pollution-from-dairy-farms/

Let’s Discover Ag

This week on Discover Ag, Natalie and I are covering everything on this week's trending news topics,

• In Fields Sown With Bombs, Ukraine’s Farmers Risk Deadly Harvest
• Wash, blow dry and 1.5 degrees please: hairdressers trained to talk about climate action
• Italy Proposes A Ban On Lab-Grown Meats To Protect Its Food Heritage

Tune in on YouTube or listen to the episode at the link below!

https://pod.link/1615443750/episode/316447e540609085ca04ac2166b807e0

Or catch us on YouTube!

As Seen On The Carnivore Cast

Last week, Natalie and I were on The Carnivore Cast where we were able to chat about a couple of topics in and around agriculture like:

• Grass-fed vs. Grain Fed cattle; is one better than the other?
• Are pro-meat diets helping the agriculture industry?
• What do ruminants add to the food system versus other food sources?
• Is removing nutrition from the food system irresponsible?

Check it out below!?

https://www.carnivorecast.com/podcast/tn

Advocacy Resource

Did you know it takes just over 5? gallons of water to produce a small chocolate bar? It may surprise you that of the 9,000 diets studied, 25% of the water scarcity footprint came from discretionary foods and beverages such as cakes, biscuits, sugar-sweetened drinks, and alcohol. The second highest food group in terms of contributing to water scarcity was fruit, at 19%. The consumption of red meat - beef and lamb - contributed only 3.7% of the total dietary water scarcity footprint. To read more on this study, you can find it here; https://theconversation.com/it-takes-21-litres-of-water-to-produce-a-small-chocolate-bar-how-water-wise-is-your-diet-123180

I have some openings in the next couple of months for speaking opportunities so if you're looking for a speaker that can bring an energetic conversation about agriculture to your event, then please reach out to me at [email protected]. I look forward to hearing from you!