Could This Mobile, Solar-Powered Livestock Barn Reshape the Corn Belt?

In India, 15 farmers are piloting a program that utilizes greenhouses to grow crops that would otherwise perish in the unpredictable climate. The income generated from this capability is allowing families to pay for their children's education. In addition, women are being given opportunities to play a part in the agricultural success through training and networking.

Agroforestry has become a powerful tool in El Salvador communities and is helping farmers grow crops they otherwise wouldn't be able to. The practices which has played a major role in bringing cacao back to the region, is also beneficial for the climante and ecosystem.

In Kansas, a group of younger ranchers are shifting away from decades long, traditional, ranching practices and instead using methods synched with nature. Changes include things like burning the pasture to clear dead grass in the spring, instead of burning in the summer. Research shows summer burns save millions in operating costs and it's actually a long-held practice by indigenous people before settlers arrived. The ranchers are also changing how they graze and spray, methods that use less pesticides and increase wildlife.

Communities across Uganda have been realizing the benefits of agroforestry, an old farming system that mimics natural ecosystems. Apart from creating a diverse, stable local food supply, the practice promotes soil health, bolsters biodiversity, creates wildlife habitat, and sequesters carbon. An NGO is working with communities to spread the practice across the region, with marked effect.

Coffee growers in Oaxaca, Mexico, are renovating their plantations into agroforestry systems to adapt to the effects of climate change. The new growing style integrates native trees and shrubs to diversify the fields. This makes the plants more resistant to unpredictable weather, diseases, and pests.

The Organic Seed Alliance is running corn seed trials to find a variety that can grow in the Pacific Northwest’s short growing season to improve local farmers’ climate crisis resiliency.

With the help of community projects and organizations, farmers in Bikita, Zimbabwe, are transitioning back to growing traditional small grains after hybrid maize crops led to disappointing results.

More and more farmers are turning to regenerative agriculture techniques as a way to cut down on costs, increase crop yields, and sequester carbon into soil as a way to reverse the effects of climate change. One farming family in Minnesota switched to no tillage farming and also planted cover crops and used animals to fertilize their land. Some people question their methods, but these farmers saw their cost of production decrease and increased the amount of organic matter in their soil compared with their neighbors.

A group of women called The Women, Food and Agriculture Network was founded in 1998 in Iowa to educate female landowners about land conservation and implementing sustainable practices on their farms. The group has held more than 250 meetings since 2009, reaching more than 3,800 women landowners—and their surveys find that after a one-day session, 50-70% of the women go on to take an action to improve conservation on their property. Longterm, this group empowers women to play a bigger role in the future of agriculture in the state.

The Urban Bee Lab at UC Berkeley has spent over a decade collecting data about native Californian bees who regularly interact with humans so that they can share their findings to help farmers improve production. The lab collects specimens to help researchers down the line; they observe bees in nature; and they actively work with local farmers to exchange useful information. Short-term, the collaborations help farmers improve yield and provide a welcoming space to bees; short-term, the data collected will help protect and conserve native bee populations.