An illustration of a man holding tomatoes

Choose the Correct Cover Crop

Organic tomato farmers know that cover crops are key for ensuring adequate nitrogen supply in the soil each year. But not all covers are equal.
Gathering Sap at a Maple Sugar Camp, Vermont

Praising Maple Sugar in the Early American Republic

In Early America, some prestigious residents advocated for the replacement of cane sugar, supplied by enslaved workers, with maple sugar from family farms.
A farmer in Louisiana, 1972

The USDA Versus Black Farmers

Current attempts to correct historical discrimination by local and regional offices of the USDA have been met with charges of "reverse discrimination."
Leading Kentucky hemp farmer Joe "Daddy Burt" Burton with a harvested hemp plant.

The Return of Hemp

Even though it's made from cannabis plants, you can't get high on hemp. But it was classified as an illicit drug for nearly 50 years.
Olive groves, vineyards and farms on rolling hills of Abruzzo. Italy

Soil Health Can Positively Affect Farm Revenue

In a case study from Italy, researchers found that biodiverse soil had good economic results for farms.
Permaculture in Stockholm

Permaculture is Agriculture Reimagined

No permaculture site is the same, but all draw on a unifying set of principles to maintain biodiversity and create resilient systems now and in the future.
Dust rising from combine during crop harvesting

The Greenhouse Gas That’s More Potent Than Carbon Dioxide

Emitting just 1 ton of nitrous oxide—a common ingredient in synthetic fertilizer—is roughly equivalent to emitting 300 tons of carbon dioxide.
Cattle in a forest

Silvopasture; Or, Why Are There Cows in the Woods?

Cattle grazing on invasive plants in longleaf pine forests could benefit ecosystems and farmers alike.
A woman picking vegetables

How the Black Labor Movement Envisioned Liberty

To Reconstruction-era Black republicans, the key to preserving the country’s character was stopping the rise of a wage economy.
A cowboy pulling a sleigh of gifts

The Rise and Fall of Montana’s Christmas-Tree Harvest

Douglas firs weren't great for lumber, but they once made the small town of Eureka the Christmas-tree capital of America.