British Vogue: FarmTok: The Wholesome Social Media Trend I Can’t Get Enough Of. “While social media can often feel oppressive, a place laden with perfect-looking people trying to sell us things, wholesome nature accounts are a joyful antidote to all of that. I’ve also found that it’s a great reminder that there is something beyond all of the noise, and it’s there for all of us at all times.”
Stockton University: Center to Preserve Jewish Farming History Receives Grant. “The Alliance Heritage Center will use a new grant to create a public digital database of its collection documenting the history of Jewish farming in southern New Jersey. The New Jersey Historical Commission recently awarded more than $300,000 to 14 organizations to explore under-represented history in the state, including $24,500 to the Alliance Heritage Center at Stockton University.”
BBC: US farmers win right to repair John Deere equipment. “Tractor maker John Deere has agreed to give its US customers the right to fix their own equipment. Previously, farmers were only allowed to use authorised parts and service facilities rather than cheaper independent repair options. Deere and Co. is one of the world’s largest makers farming equipment.”
University of California Fruit & Vegetable Preservation Resources: New interactive web tools help growers cope with climate change. “Growers and crop consultants can use CalAgroClimate’s crop and location-specific tools and resources to help make on-farm decisions, such as preparing for frost or untimely rain and taking advantage of expected favorable conditions. CalAgroClimate currently includes heat advisory, frost advisory, cropphenology and pest advisory tools.” That’s “crop phenology” the science and not CropPhenology the R package.
National Center for Appropriate Technology: National Sustainable Agriculture Program Launches New Interactive Website For Farmers. “Since 1987, ATTRA has been a key resource for sustainable and organic farmers and ranchers. The new website is at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG…. The new ATTRA website features nearly 400 practical digital publications on everything from growing organic tomatoes to becoming an agrotourism destination. Each publication is free, and most now include the ability to listen to a publication in a variety of languages. The site makes available archived episodes of ATTRA’s weekly podcast series, Voices from the Field, and hundreds of how-to videos.”
USDA: USDA Launches Loan Assistance Tool to Enhance Equity and Customer Service. “The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched a new online tool to help farmers and ranchers better navigate the farm loan application process.”
University of Hawaii: Valuable data tool designed for Hawaiʻi Island farmers. “A new climate dashboard will display weather, climate predictions and environmental conditions relevant to Hawaiʻi Island farmers. The pilot project will co-produce a poly-forestry climate dashboard in partnership with the Keaukaha Panaʻewa Farmers Association on Hawaiʻi Island.”
WIRED: A New Jailbreak for John Deere Tractors Rides the Right-to-Repair Wave. “At the DefCon security conference in Las Vegas on Saturday, the hacker known as Sick Codes is presenting a new jailbreak for John Deere & Co. tractors that allows him to take control of multiple models through their touchscreens.”
Farm & Ranch: Nebraska launches farm crisis website. “The Nebraska Rural Response Council, sponsor of the Rural Response Hotline, has a new website with information on resources available to farmers in crisis. Since 1984, the Rural Response Hotline has been providing information and resources in times of crisis.”
National Agricultural Aviation Association: NAAA’s database connects farmers with aerial applicators. “America’s aerial applicators — or crop dusters as they are known in older jargon — are primed and ready to support farmers in need of fast, timely and effective applications this growing season. If they don’t have an existing relationship with an aerial applicator, farmers in need of an aerial application service provider should search NAAA’s ‘Find an Aerial Applicator’ database.”
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: FAO unveils new public tool based on agricultural census data. “The new domain allows rapid access to knowing how many farms exist in a given country, what their sizes are, the tenure typology determining its ownership, the farmer’s gender, and how many people live and work on them, all sourced to national Agricultural Censuses.”
WSET: Eastern Iowa dairy farmer uses social media to entertain and educate. “Dan Venteicher is no stranger to technology. On his Iowa dairy farm, robots milk and feed his cows every day…. Over the last year, though, he’s made connections through another tool – his smartphone.”
The Conversation: Farmers are finding a new following on social media – our research suggests it could help with isolation. “In the wake of a chaotic Brexit and an ongoing pandemic, farmers in the UK are experiencing high levels of isolation and loneliness. A poll in Farmers Guardian found that 94% of UK farmers felt this isolation was harming their mental health. In research funded by the British Academy, we looked at how farmers engage with social media to understand whether it can help overcome isolation. To do this, we analysed 5,000 tweets by farmers and interviewed 25 farmers who use social media.”
AGDAILY: The history of New Farmers of America to be digitized. “When it comes to remembering our history, one of the most important steps is to have the recorded documents easily assessable to the public. North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University has been awarded a new grant to digitize its unique collection of materials belonging to a former national youth organization that helped train generations of Black farmers and leaders. The project will digitize an estimated 150,000 pieces of memorabilia from New Farmers of America.”
KY3: New website makes finding farmers markets easier for consumers. “Missouri Grown is part of the Missouri Department of Agriculture and works to connect farmers with customers and promote Missouri agribusiness. The map was created to make it easier to locate farmers’ markets but you can also locate many other agritourism hot spots.”
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