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Wednesday, December 11, 2024

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Ohio's milestone moment for women in government; Price growth ticked up in November as inflation progress stalls; NE public housing legal case touches on quality of life for vulnerable renters; California expert sounds alarm on avian flu's threat to humans, livestock.

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Debates on presidential accountability, the death penalty, gender equality, Medicare and Social Security cuts; and Ohio's education policies highlight critical issues shaping the nation's future.

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Many rural counties that voted for Trump also cast ballots against school vouchers and to protect abortion rights, Pennsylvania's Black mayors are collaborating to unite their communities and unique methods are being tried to address America's mental health crisis.

Study: How AL farmers can cultivate resilience

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Wednesday, December 4, 2024   

It is estimated Alabama row-crop farmers could lose more than $236 million this year, with prices for cotton, soybeans, corn, peanuts and wheat all hard-hit.

As climate patterns shift and farming becomes less predictable, some researchers suggest more resilient farming practices could offer a way forward.

Liz Carlisle, associate professor of environmental studies at the University of California-Santa Barbara and co-author of a new study published in the Frontiers science journal, highlighted the potential of what is known as "agroecological farming," practices mimicking natural ecosystems.

"If we want to have a more sustainable food system, we really need to invest in that next generation of farmers and their development of knowledge," Carlisle urged. "Think of them as the most important resource in farming."

She pointed out most farms today still rely on fossil fuel-based inputs, like chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The new approach prioritizes a living, healthy soil and aims to replace nonrenewable chemicals with practices tapping into natural ecosystems.

Carlisle noted new farms planted in wooded landscapes would look a lot like an actual forest, with multiple layers of crops, including trees. And farming on prairie lands could include regenerative grazing patterns created by native bison and other herbivores.

"Agroecological farming systems are really trying to work with nature and the services that nature provides, in terms of pest control and fertility, rather than working against nature," Carlisle explained.

Over the past century, as family farms have been swallowed up by large corporations, farming in the U.S. has trended in the opposite direction. Carlisle observed people with deep ties to their lands have been replaced by chemical-centered practices in an effort to lower labor costs and entire rural economies have paid the price.

"It's worth investing a little bit more of our tremendous wealth as a society in the people that do that critically important work," Carlisle contended. "And the landscapes that they're caring for."


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