Articles by Fran Howard

Producers, lawmakers, and administration staffers all agree on the benefits of the technical assistance provided by Agriculture Department conservation officials. The only issue is getting the funding – and the people – to make it happen.

Agrivoltaics — derived from the words agriculture and photovoltaics — creates a symbiotic energy system. Not all solar farms are agrivoltaic, but these systems are getting more attention due to concerns that solar land leases take farmland out of production.

New animal rights agendas in Western states are threatening to curtail livestock production there as animal rights groups latched onto an environmental platform that calls for cutting back or eliminating meat consumption altogether to help slow climate change.

Companies that make plant-based meat, egg and dairy alternatives have been heavily relying on imported crops for the ingredients they need and hope to convince more U.S. farmers to start growing peas, beans and other commodities.

In mid-March 2020, when restaurants and foodservice mostly shut down due to COVID-19, the livestock and dairy industries experienced unparalleled disruption.

Surging demand for safe, locally-produced fresh vegetables is prompting investors and young entrepreneurs to plant indoor farms that are reaching consumers through some of the nation’s largest retail chains.

The $900 billion COVID relief bill, passed in late December, is providing new funding for programs to help feed the millions of people whose jobs have been lost to the pandemic, but anti-hunger advocates say more help is needed and have already turned to Congress and the incoming Biden administration for help.

Many states are falling behind in their early projections of how quickly they will be able to deploy COVID-19 vaccines, and many are still working to determine where ag workers will be on their vaccination prioritization schedules.