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Agriculture

USDA invests nearly millions to boost school nutrition

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As part of a cooperative agreement to develop and implement the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative, Action for Healthy Kids recently announced that it is awarding nearly $30 million in subgrants to 264 school districts across 44 states and the District of Columbia, reaching students in some of our nation’s highest need schools. These funds are being provided by USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. “Students in every community deserve access to healthy and nutritious meals,” USDA Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small, said. ...

Just add water: how the gardens of the future are transforming food today

Wealth of Geeks It’s projected that humans must increase worldwide food production by roughly 70% by 2050 to meet the caloric needs of 10 billion people. Through traditional agricultural practices, this would require people to convert 593 hectares of land for new food production, about double the size of India. Traditional agriculture’s resource expenditure is astronomical when accounting for land, water, fertilizer, and pesticides. Currently, 38% of the earth’s non-frozen land is used for growing food. Worldwide, 70% of freshwater goes towards agricultural production, mainly ...

Fifth-generation corn, pumpkin farm preserved through trust

By Jordan Hansen Everett Herald MALTBY, Wash. — Contrary to popular belief, corn mazes are a relatively new phenomenon. Bob Ricci, a fifth-generation farmer co-owns Bob’s Corn and Pumpkin Farm with his wife Sarah, remembers seeing a Pennsylvania corn maze for the first time in a 1995 edition of Successful Farming magazine. He was astounded. There was just something about 50,000 people paying $5 to walk through a cornfield that the lifelong farmer had trouble wrapping his head around. It was an early taste of agricultural tourism, something the Ricci family has since fully ...

Online course to cover sheep management and production

UNIVERSITY PARK — An upcoming Penn State Extension online course will cover many aspects of sheep production and operation management, including evaluating and selecting sheep, setting up sheep facilities, keeping records, selecting feeds to meet sheep nutritional requirements, managing grazing, understanding and preventing health issues, and marketing sheep and their products. Designed for anyone getting started in the sheep business and producers who want to improve their sheep operation, this course will open Aug. 29. Webinars will take place at 7 p.m. Sept. 18, Oct. 2, Oct. 16 ...

Mifflin County Farm to Table Gala Sept. 7

BELLEVILLE — Mifflin County Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee and the Young Ag Professionals are hosting the second Farm to Table Gala, Sept. 7 at Brookmere Winery and Vineyard Inn, Rte. 655 in Belleville. Cocktail hour is from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. with dinner to follow. The goal is to bridge the gap between farmers and consumers and make local consumers aware of all the products available locally. Organizers are working with producers to locally source as many menu items as possible. One free beverage is included with your ticket purchase (additional beverages will be ...

Fun facts from the Juniata County Dairy Ambassador

Hello, I am Jackson and I am a Juniata County Dairy Ambassador. I want to remind everyone to get three servings of dairy everyday! Fun Dairy Facts: • America’s favorite cheese is cheddar. • The first dairy cows came to America in 1611 in Jamestown. • Cows have one stomach ...