Securing land to farm can be an enormous stumbling block for new farmers -- get a leg up on your search with this in-depth course. The Farmland Access Bootcamp will provide beginning farmers with a comprehensive overview of land access strategies, tools and resources and help them plan their next steps towards land tenure. The day-long session is designed for farmers with 10 or less years of experience, who are ready to begin or are actively searching for land or are working to change their current land situation. [node:read-more:link]

Kohlman said asking people if they’re thinking about suicide, taking the time to listen, and showing they care are ways everyone can help producers in crisis. That’s anyone from veterinarians to bankers to the faith community. “The financial burdens are very real and the uncertainty with everything,” she said. “You might not be mental health professionals, but we all have a role to play in preventing suicide.” [node:read-more:link]

President Donald Trump has formally nominated Andrew Wheeler to be EPA administrator, cementing the no-nonsense former attorney as his pick to carry out his deregulatory agenda, the White House announced. [node:read-more:link]

With inflation alone, crop prices should have increased by 17.5% since 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It’s important to understand that price increases due to inflation don’t equal growth. It’s merely a price floating up with the rest of the economy. Healthy businesses increase their prices at a faster pace than inflation in order to re-invest in the company and build cash reserves. But that’s not what you reported happened in the vegetable industry. A small percentage — 27.2% — say your crop prices are more than 10% higher than they were 10 years ago. [node:read-more:link]

A group of nine Democratic state lawmakers from different coastal states announced that they are going to use their coming legislative sessions to try to block attempts at offshore drilling. The lawmakers’ announcement came as new and re-elected legislators were entering office around the country after an election that saw high turnover in some states, and the group said it wants to take advantage of new political dynamics that could favor environmental bills. [node:read-more:link]

According to a Jan. 8 disease notification from Alberta Pork, a case of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) was confirmed in the province at a 400-head hog farm. Officials with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry and Alberta Pork are investigating the cause of the outbreak and working to prevent the spread of the contagious disease, but according to reports, no quarantine boundaries have been established. While the disease can cause 100 percent mortality among young pigs, it is not considered a threat to human health or food safety. [node:read-more:link]

The small city of Storm Lake, Iowa, is full of surprises. Its population grows with each Census. Its public-school students speak 23 languages. It still has two newspapers, one of which won a Pulitzer Prize. Art Cullen shows the complexity of today’s rural America in the book Storm Lake. [node:read-more:link]

Farmers are more than technicians who merely implement the "best practices" that are defined in the lab or in the boardroom. If we want food policy that works, farmers have to have a place at the table. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been framed as one of the biggest threats to humanity in the 21st century. By 2050, more humans could die because of AMR than cancer. [node:read-more:link]