A 4.5 acre farm surrounded by New Mexico's Sangre de Cristo Mountains is where owner Don Bustos fuses centuries of tradition with modern advances to feed local communities.
The Santa Cruz Farm has been in the hands of Bustos' family for more than 400 years. Working with experts at New Mexico State University, the owner said he gravitated to organic farming long before others adopted such practices.
The 68-year-old Bustos said he hasn't used any major chemicals or pesticides in more than 20 years.
"We do 72 different varieties of produce 12 months a year using nothing but solar energy," said Bustos. "I grow a lot of the traditional corn, the green chili. We still have our same seed, we still have our same corn seeds, the same melons - and then we got a lot into the specialty crops."
Bustos said he believes much of his success is due to taking risks, leaning on scientific advances while also adhering to sacred family traditions and ancestral farming practices.
In addition to solar power, the farm relies on water from a New Mexico acequia - an ancient irrigation ditch - that flows north through the state.
In addition to farming his land, Bustos spent more than a decade working for the American Friends Service Committee - training other New Mexico farmers how to successfully grow organic produce in the middle of winter.
Now, he's well-known for squash, asparagus, leafy greens and other fresh foods.
"We're not trying to save the world," said Bustos. "We're just trying to feed our community. So, we'll let other people worry about growing those big mega-farms and stuff. As long we're healthy, our friends are healthy, and our community's health, we're good with that."
Using research from New Mexico State University's science center, the Triple Crown Blackberry - known for its large size and sweet aromatic flavor - is one of his best-selling and most profitable crops.
Bustos said a business course through the university also helped him better understand the financial side of farm operations.
"I took over the farm in the early '80s, and I just fell in love with it," said Bustos. "I would've had to make a lot of money, but sometimes that's not the goal, that's not the mission. The mission is to have fun doing it."
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The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has approved a permit to expand Ridge Breeze Dairy in Salem despite hundreds of local objections.
The concentrated animal feeding operation would grow from 1,700 cows to 6,500 or four times its current size, making it the largest such facility in western Wisconsin. The approval starts a 60-day timer to contest the decision.
Danny Akenson, field organizer for the group Grassroots Organizing Western Wisconsin, said it has been on a mission to get more local operations ordinances passed to better regulate the industry.
"There are people in Pierce County whose lives could be put in harm's way because of this," Akenson contended. "Those people should have their voices heard and taken seriously, and we'll be both exploring options to make sure that's the case and continuing to push for local ordinances that will protect our homes."
Ridge Breeze's expansion plans include storing, hauling and spreading 80 million gallons of waste in Pierce, Pepin and Saint Croix counties. Akenson pointed out the operations ordinances, which have already been passed in some towns and counties, include requirements for such things as addressing damage to roads by large manure tankers.
The number of large-scale operations in the state has risen every year since 2005. Currently, there are more than 340 across the state and 90% of them are dairy operations. Grassroots organizers argued many aspects of their operations are unregulated or under-regulated, including air pollution, infectious disease, carcass removal and biosecurity plans.
Akenson noted regulations from the DNR primarily cover the effects of livestock waste on water and do not have a limit on how large they can be.
"What the operations ordinance essentially is, is a series of plans that is asking the CAFO to supply how they're going to address these concerns that are among residents," Akenson outlined. "It's not a ban on CAFOs. It's a message that said, 'Yes you can come into our community, but you have to show us your homework.'"
Akenson added the state has not seen any meaningful regulatory changes for concentrated animal feeding operations for about 20 years. Proponents said they are good for business and are an economic necessity to keep operating costs down and prices for milk, cheese and meat products affordable.
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A new analysis revealed a staggering amount of livestock waste is flowing through Michigan's waterways each year, equivalent to the sewage of 81 million people.
The nonprofit For Love of Water released the analysis. The waste, primarily from concentrated animal feeding operations, contains nitrogen and phosphorus, which contribute to toxic algal blooms.
Chelsea Thompson, legal assistant for the group, said legal challenges to the most recent permit sought in 2020 left Michigan farms under an outdated 2015 permit.
"There was a lot of challenges made by the ag community as well as the environmental community. I think something we can both agree on -- both sides anyways -- is the 2020 permit, as it was written, was not in the best interest of either party."
Michigan's Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy oversees permits for large operations and Thompson hopes it will apply lessons from 2020 legal issues to improve waste runoff rules, benefiting both agriculture and the environment.
She pointed out a new 2025 permit is expected in just a few months. Michigan now has nearly 300 permitted concentrated animal feeding operations, up from just 34 in 2005, producing about 4 billion gallons of untreated liquid waste and up to 60 million tons of solid manure annually.
Thompson acknowledged the issue is often framed as farmers against environmentalists but she believes they are on the same team.
"I want to be able to have food. I want to be able to have all of the different things that we couldn't have without the farming community," Thompson stressed. "But I also want our water to be safe for future generations. I believe that someone working in the farming community would say the same thing."
The Environmental Protection Agency regulates concentrated animal feeding operations nationwide, under the Clean Water Act but enforcement varies by state.
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Kentucky is launching a new program aimed at rewarding school districts that buy food directly from farmers in the Commonwealth. Three schools will be awarded $10,000, $8,000 and $6,000 for their efforts to serve local produce and meat.
Dana Feldman, executive director of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, says farming is the backbone of the state's economy and that it's important for schools to forge relationships with their local producers.
"Students love it because they know that some of their products that they're eating come from the farm down the street," she said.
She added that farm to school programs also come with economic benefits, noting for every dollar spent on local foods, $2.16 is generated in local economic activity. Eligible districts must participate in the National School Lunch Program. Only Kentucky grown or raised products used during breakfast and lunch during the regular school year are eligible, excluding milk.
John Cain, Kentucky Kids Eat Program Director, says research shows children who eat local food at school lunch or breakfast are more likely to eat more fruits and vegetables, with lifelong impacts for public health.
"After food is harvested, produce in particular, starts to lose it's nutrients, within 24 hours of harvest, so the sooner we can get that to the cafeteria and the tray to the children, the better," he said.
Feldman added that districts can apply for the program in the coming weeks.
"Schools have up until July 31 to apply for this program. We have not put the application up yet, but it will be on our Farm to School web page, on our KDA website," she added.
Across the country, nearly two-thirds of schools participating in the National School Lunch Program say they served local foods to students during the 2022-2023 academic year, and spent almost $1.8 billion on local foods, according to the USDA.
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