4 Startups Revolutionizing How Food Is Produced in the U.S.

http://nationswell.com/4-startups-changing-farmers-work

Chris Peak

NationSwell

24 September 2015

Text / 800-1500 Words

University research in Kansas and California is providing technical solutions for small farmers to help them compete against large scale farms.

After the Wars, Common Ground in Oregon's Forests

https://www.invw.org/2015/04/27/after-the-wars-common-ground-in-oregons-forests

Ben DeJarnette

Investigate West

27 April 2015

Text / 1500-3000 Words

Summer in the Northwest presents a great risk of wildfires. A pile burning operation, just one facet of the strategy that Oregon has enacted to conserve its forests, clears undergrowth to lessen the risk of mega-fire. The work stimulates the local economy and provides employment, but it's also a very small part of what needs to be done.

As wolves rebound, range riders keep watch over livestock

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/as-wolves-rebound-range-riders-keep-watch-over-livestock

Sandi Doughton

The Seattle Times

2 August 2015

Text / 800-1500 Words

Wolves in western America were once hunted to near-extinction but have now been reintroduced into certain territories with notable success. More wolves often means more attacks on ranchers' livestock, however, so cowboys are working to track wolf packs by computer to reduce conflicts.

From Our Prison to Your Dinner Table

http://www.psmag.com/business-economics/from-our-prison-to-your-dinner-table

Graeme Wood

Pacific Standard

3 March 2015

Text / 1500-3000 Words

In prison, most inmates are alienated from social practices and can be a tax burden for the states. The Colorado Correctional Industries is a program that positions inmates in different forms of labor such as making stuffed toys, farming fish, picking fruit, tending livestock, and creating crafts to be sold at grocery stores. The program makes inmates into taxpayers instead of tax burdens and offers skills that are useful for future employment once they leave prison.

From Eastern NC to Tokyo: A new breed of ‘silky' pork

http://highonthehog.nandointeractive.com

J. Andrew Curliss

The News & Observer

10 December 2014

Text / Over 3000 Words

A farm in North Carolina discovered a new market and revived their business. By focusing on the genetics of their hogs and altering the hogs' diet the farm was able to enter the competitive but lucrative Japanese pork market.

Greener Pastures for Cattle Ranching

https://web.archive.org/web/20171017065949/http://futurefood2050.com/greener-pastures-for-cattle-ranching

Lisa Palmer

Future Food

18 November 2014

Text / 800-1500 Words

In Colombia, traditional cattle pastures have caused soil degradation, deforestation, and desertification. To reconcile this, several thousand acres of land in Latin America have been transformed into a silvo-pastoral system of grazing and raising cattle with agro-forestry. The Colombia-based Center for Research in Sustainable Systems of Agriculture seeks to reduce pasture land by 26 million acres while increasing cattle numbers by 2019.

How cities are searching for solutions among massive mounds of data

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/how-cities-are-searching-for-solutions-among-massive-mounds-of-data/article23131733

John Lorinc

The Globe and Mail

20 February 2015

Text / 1500-3000 Words

New York City suffered from fires that erupted in overcrowded, run-down apartments. Then the city sleuthed through residential records and found that landlords who foreclosed let their properties fall apart and ignored safety-code violations. Greater Toronto wants to expand upon New York City’s method by using transportation surveys, census data and computer data to build transit lines.

In the Pastures of Colombia, Cows, Crops, and Timber Coexist

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/in_the_pastures_of_colombia_cows_crops_and_timber_coexist/2746

Lisa Palmer

Yale Environment 360

13 March 2014

Text / 1500-3000 Words

Colombia’s National Development Plan for cattle ranching seeks to reduce pasture land from 94 million acres to 70 million acres while increasing cattle numbers from 23 million head to 40 million. The program focuses on planting trees on grazing land and the "cut and carry method," whereby farmers grow fields of shrubs and distribute the fresh cuttings to cows in pastures. The result is greater cattle productivity and a more eco-friendly farming system.

In Grizzly country, what do you do with a dead cow?

http://modernfarmer.com/2014/02/grizzly-country-dead-cow

Benjamin Goldfarb

Modern Farmer

10 February 2014

Text / 800-1500 Words

When cattle die on ranches in Montana, they can attract grizzly bears that can come dangerously close landowners, ranches, and living livestock. Blackfoot Challenge, a coalition of ranchers and landowners who work with the government, collects and composts dead cattle into odorless woodchips. These woodchips are effective at repurposing carcasses into high-way side revegetation projects.

The Search for Land, Food, and Open Space on Silicon Valley's Coast

http://cattle-drive.com

Matt Hansen

Cattle Drive

1 July 2014

Text / Under 800 Words

Historically, open land conservationists and cattle ranchers in California were rivals but with new research, which praises controlled cattle grazing habits, cows are being welcomed back to open land grasslands, regenerating the habitat and agricultural economy.