Vermont Business Magazine talks about the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and how it is encouraging agricultural producers and forest landowners in Vermont to participate in voluntary conservation programs and adopt climate-smart practices in fiscal year 2024 as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. “USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is accepting applications for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), which help a wide variety of producers, including urban and organic producers.” Find out how it can affect urban agriculture and organic agriculture in their full article. For…
Author: urbanagnews
The Dallas Center is proud to announce the 5th annual controlled environment conference to be held on December 7 followed by a tour of Eden Green Technology, the high-tech vertical hydroponic systems in greenhouses in Cleburne, TX on December 8. We are grateful to Eden Green Technology who is graciously hosting a tour of their facilities. We have assembled experts in controlled environment horticulture from The University of Arizona, Michigan State University, and Arizona State University, to present their latest research and share their expertise in their field. We will also present our latest research from Dallas and Uvalde Centers. Our…
Agricultural producers and landowners have chosen conservation on more than 23 million acres of private land nationwide WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued more than $1.77 billion this year to agricultural producers and landowners through its Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), a critical piece of the Department’s efforts to support climate-smart agriculture and forestry on working lands. Right now, CRP’s more than 667,000 participants received payments from USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) for their voluntary conservation efforts on more than 23 million acres of private land. Since 2021, CRP has grown by 21 percent in terms of acres…
University of Florida Greenhouse Training Online courses Hydroponic Vegetable Production Starts November 13! Learn to manage different hydroponics systems, as well as the fundamentals of climate, water, nutrition, and plant health in these systems. Hydroponic Vegetable is part of the award-winning Greenhouse Online Training courses offered by the University of Florida IFAS Extension. This intermediate course is designed for growers with some experience and training. Topics covered include hydroponics growing systems and structures, specific vegetable crop examples, business management, and food safety. The course is offered in English and Spanish. Rated 4.4 out of 5 by grower participants, with an…
Growers, manufacturers, researchers, and efficiency professionals from across North America are attending the Greenhouse Lighting and Systems Engineering (GLASE) consortium’s annual Summit this month to explore pathways to greenhouse resilience and profitability. The two-day event will take place in Leamington, Ontario on October 25 and 26, 2023. The first day features a keynote address, industry speakers, and a winery tour. On the following day, the GLASE Industry Advisory Board will meet and attend members-only greenhouse tours at Horteca and Allegro Acres. “We are delighted to hold our first event in Canada to cross-pollinate greenhouse expertise across borders. The 2023 GLASE Summit theme…
The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) released the 2022 Impact Report today, Leveraging Bold Science: FFAR 2022 Impact Report. This report highlights FFAR’s impact on food and agriculture research. In 2022, FFAR continued to outperform, raising over $82 million in matching funds and bringing FFAR’s total awards to $605 million. A comprehensive list of all FFAR grant awards can be found on the FFAR website. Visit the 2022 Impact Report to see how FFAR is maximizing investment in agricultural research. Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) builds public-private partnerships to fund bold research addressing big food and agriculture challenges. FFAR…
WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2023 – Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is announcing a new crop insurance program designed for agricultural producers who use controlled environments in their operations. The new Controlled Environment program from USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) is specifically for plants grown in fully enclosed controlled environments and provides coverage against plant diseases subject to destruction orders. Available beginning in the 2024 crop year, the Controlled Environment program provides a risk management resource for urban, specialty crop, and organic producers who often use controlled environments as a major part of their operations. “We are always looking to improve and…
The global population is estimated to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, with global demand for food set to increase by 60% as a result. However, with the agricultural sector already heavily criticised for its contribution to global warming, and the sector vulnerable to climate change impacts, increasing global food production to feed an additional two million inhabitants using conventional models is no longer seen as viable. Plant factories with artificial lighting (PFALs) – more widely known as vertical or indoor farms – are recognised as a promising model that protects food production from weather extremes, optimises yields and can reduce…
CHARLESTON, SC: As vertical farming continues to expand, there are more and more instances of multi-location farms managed by individual operators. While it is typical for operators to have access to significant amounts of data from and about their farm environment, most controlled environment agriculture (CEA) software platforms are built around monitoring and analytics of an isolated farm. AmplifiedAg, an agtech company built on the principles and architecture of enterprise-grade multi-tenant SaaS agricultural technology, has broken the segmented application mold and announces the release of the Enterprise Farm Health (EFH) function for operators running on its AmpEDGE farm software platform.…
University of Florida Greenhouse Training Online courses Weed Management Starts October 16! Understand all aspects of weed management in nurseries and greenhouses including weed identification, developing herbicide programs, and the latest non-chemical methods of weed control that work. Weed Management is part of the award-winning Greenhouse Online Training courses offered by the University of Florida IFAS Extension. This course is intermediate level and designed for people with some experience or entry university level, who are in production, technical, or sales role for greenhouse and nursery crops. Topics covered include weed identification, herbicides, calibration, non-chemical methods of weed control, impact of…
WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2023 – Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is announcing a new crop insurance program designed for agricultural producers who use controlled environments in their operations. The new Controlled Environment program from USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) is specifically for plants grown in fully enclosed controlled environments and provides coverage against plant diseases subject to destruction orders. Available beginning in the 2024 crop year, the Controlled Environment program provides a risk management resource for urban, specialty crop, and organic producers who often use controlled environments as a major part of their operations. “We are always looking to improve and…
AmplifiedAg, an agricultural technology company focused in controlled environment agriculture (CEA), announces the contract award from the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Fort Pierce, Florida to supply vertical farming research labs to the agency’s Horticultural Research Laboratory. The labs will be customized to carry out CEA vegetable production research unique to the Fort Pierce laboratory.AmplifiedAg has also supplied 16 vertical farming labs to the USDA-ARS U.S. Vegetable Research Lab in Charleston, South Carolina, designed to support its wide range of CEA research in vegetable growing processes, LED spectrum analysis, renewable energy, plant pathology, and plant breeding and selection for controlled environments. …
Located in Wappingers Falls, the Old Myers project is a 2MW community solar project that will give residents and businesses access to electricity bill savings through discounted community solar subscriptions September 06, 2023: Traditional territories of the Mohican and Wappinger people / Wappingers Falls, New York – Today, Lightstar Renewables is about to break ground on its permitted Old Myers project, the first agrivoltaics (dual-use) project in New York. The project marks a significant milestone for the agriculture and solar industry, fostering energy independence as well as environmental and land stewardship in New York. Located in Wappingers Falls, Poughkeepsie, Old…
A new Climate Management online course has been added to the award-winning Greenhouse Online Training series offered by the University of Florida IFAS Extension (UF). Climate Management will take your environmental control knowledge to an expert level and help you produce crops under optimal conditions. Topics covered include photoperiod and supplemental lighting, plant energy balance, photosynthesis, controlling growth and flowering, propagation, vapor pressure deficit, and environmental control systems. This course is at an advanced level, designed for experienced, well-trained growers. The course is offered in English and Spanish. PhD instructors include Paul Fisher from University of Florida, Erik Runkle and…