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.”
WDBJ: Grown Here at Home: New website helping to connect farmers in Virginia. “A resource for farmers has a new look. The Virginia Farm Link website is an interactive resource to help match retiring farmers with beginning and expanding farmers. ‘There’s going to be a major transition of land over the next 10 years or so as the older generations needs to retire and pass their farms onto someone,’ said Jen Perkins, Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services farmland preservation coordinator.”
Bangor Daily News: More local farmers relying on social media to help survive the pandemic. “Maine farmers aren’t strangers to social media, but the pandemic made the need for a robust and responsive social media presence even clearer for many of them. Farming organizations over the past few years have offered more social media training, and Maine’s farmers have reaped the benefits.”
Safety+Health: New website offers health and safety resources for farmers and ranchers. “Launched by the AgriSafe Network, an international nonprofit representing health and safety professionals, the website combines the organization’s learning management system, which includes fact sheets, webinars and safety information, with health topics such as COVID-19, heat-related illness, opioids and mental health.”
Michigan Daily: The Summer of Farming Simulations. “Farming sims are games in which the player typically grows and harvests crops, raises animals, and decorates their farm. There is also a large social component to most games in the genre, often involving both friendship and romance through a system of talking with the various townsfolk, giving them gifts and leveling up your relationship. These bonds and activities are not just vital to the experience of each game but have also helped me grow in unexpected ways in real life.” Sometimes you just want to fire up Stardew Valley and go fishing for a few hours.
Arkansas Department of Agriculture: Arkansas Department of Agriculture Launches Farm to School and Arkansas Grown Website. This link goes to a PDF. “Farmers and producers can search the multi-site platform to find contact information for school districts that buy local food. Alternatively, schools can find contact information for farmers and producers when searching the site for sources to buy local food. The website enables schools and farms to create profiles and customize listings to include information on the local products they buy or sell respectively. This is a free service for schools, farmers, and producers.”
Mint: Tata-Cornell Institute (TCI) launches hub housing database of over 4,400 Indian FPOs. “Tata-Cornell Institute (TCI) for Agriculture and Nutrition on Wednesday launched a hub for Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) within its Center of Excellence in New Delhi. The hub, which features a first-of-its-kind database of Indian FPOs, has been created with a USD 1 million grant from the Walmart Foundation.” You can get an overview of FPOs here.
Folger Shakespeare Library: New Website Showcases Before ‘Farm to Table’ Project Discoveries. “The website includes early modern recipes; interactive features examining how food made it from farm to table in an increasingly global marketplace; and recorded panel discussions, essays, and blog posts showing the project’s wide-ranging scholarly research and intersecting interests with food professionals, farmers, bioarcheologists, and a public fascinated by food and its production.”
KPAX: Agritourism industry sees opportunity with new website. “A labor of love 3 years in the making came to fruition this May with a first-of-its kind website offering a step-by-step guide for busting into the agritourism industry. Here, you’ll find advice from agritourism experts, videos and detailed podcasts so you can pop in the headphones and learn without missing a weed.”
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