- Gain a thorough understanding of farming and the more regenerative, ecological approaches to food production
- Develop the skills you need to work in advisory, or activist roles in food production, supply-chains, and community regeneration
- Learn how to professionally monitor and assess producers against regenerative farming principles and practices
- Gain practical experience and insight in growing and running a food-oriented business
- See also: MSc Regenerative Food, Farming & Enterprise
BSc: 3 years FT/6 years PT
Other routes are available – see ‘Learning Pathways’
Autumn term: 25 September 2023 – 15 December
Winter term: 08 January 2024 – 28 March
Spring term: 29 April – 22 July
Welcome week: 19 – 23 September 2022
Autumn term: 26 September – 16 December
Winter term: 09 January 2023 – 31 March
Spring term: 17 April – 07 July
register for updates
You can also sign up for emails from us. We’ll keep you up-to-date and alert you when key deadlines are approaching.
This course is a residential programme during term time, and for the first year you are invited to stay on the Dartington estate to really immerse yourself in the experience.
Bachelor of Science (FT/PT; 360 credits)
Regenerative Food and Farming BSc (Hons) is available full time over three years (UK, EU or international students) or part time over six years (UK students only).
For a full breakdown of how the part time route works, download the schedule here (pdf).
Diploma of Higher Education (240 credits)
The DipHE offers an excellent entry point into certain careers. At two years, rather than three or four, it’s a speedier and more direct route into certain vocations, but it still equips you with the expertise that the job requires.
Certificate of Higher Education (120 credits)
It is the most basic level of qualification that a student can gain in higher education.
Completing a CertHE can demonstrate individuals’ capability of studying at university level. It can raise confidence, support a career change, or progression in a current career.
short course (unaccredited)
This course gives you the opportunity to explore leading-edge alternatives to mainstream agriculture in a unique practical setting on the Dartington estate. You’ll gain a change-mindset through a programme that combines practical and theoretical learning, studying alongside expert researchers in ecological approaches and practicing farmers, while also taking on your own work placements and independent projects.
When examining environmental and social sustainability, food systems are key. Sustainable farming practices can regenerate natural resources and rural economies, but they are only feasible if supported by retailers and consumers.
Consumer choices are governed by culture: education, cost, marketing and convenience. In order to create a more sustainable food system, we must first understand the system as a whole. Where are the barriers and opportunities? Where are the entry points for effective change? How can we build a thriving and resilient food and farming sector? What roles will food production and food enterprise play in shaping future food systems?
During your time in Schumacher College’s BSc in Regenerative Food and Farming, you will live and learn in a residential community environment on the stunning 1,200-acre Dartington Estate, which has been devoted to exploring sustainable agricultural practices since its establishment in 1925. In 2012, we renewed this focus with a manifesto to develop the estate land as an exemplar of agroecological practice. Most recently, in 2020, Dartington Trust focused its mission on being a centre for regenerative living and learning which fully integrates ecology, social justice, and the arts in an educational context.
Dartington, Totnes and South Devon have a vibrant ethical, local food culture supported by the world-renowned Transition Town Totnes. This setting offers a unique and exciting place from which to explore the future of sustainable and regenerative food and farming. We are delighted to be working with some excellent partners to deliver the programme including School Farm CSA and the Apricot Centre here at Dartington and Riverford just down the road.
programme structure & modules
Each year is worth 120 credits in total, and is delivered in a 3-term structure which consists of roughly 8 weeks of study time followed by a 2-week assessment period each term. We offer relevant short courses within the 2-week assessment periods to give students the opportunity to gain additional knowledge and skills.
Global Food systems
Food & farming business sits within the context of a global food system. This module gives an overview of the system as a whole and the multiple factors at play, for example, supply chains, economics, policy, food security, food justice, culture and public health. Students will learn and apply academic study skills to explore the ethical, environmental and socio-political implications of the food system.
The Evolution and Revolutions of Agriculture
This module contextualises modern agriculture by exploring how farming has evolved over time, through four ‘revolutions’, to be what it is today. Students explore the environmental and social impacts of different modern approaches alongside economic advantages and disadvantages. This will form a foundation upon which students will make comparisons, judgements and ultimately choices about agricultural systems.
Environmental and Agricultural Biosciences
This module provides a foundation of scientific theory for understanding of the biological and ecological factors relating to food production. Students will learn the basic principles of ecological systems, plant physiology, animal physiology and soil biology.
Ecological and Regenerative Agriculture
This module introduces the concepts of Agroecology and Regenerative Agriculture, and a broad range of sustainable food production methods currently in use. Students will begin by exploring measures of sustainability and apply those to a critical analysis of ‘sustainable’ food production systems and methods, drawing comparisons with some of the conventional approaches discussed in the Agricultural Systems module.
Food and Health
Examining the ways in which individuals, communities, and societies produce, distribute, and consume food is a core part of regenerative food and farming, but nutrition policy is often overlooked within this paradigm. In this module students will study the relationship between food and health, and how nutrition policy might influence both food production and processing and personal and public health.
Introduction to Agri-food Business
An introduction to key business management principles, strategies and functions within the Agri-food business context, such as financial management; business strategy; the marketing environment; business analysis; consultancy; and report preparation. Students will learn about the main types of agri-food businesses in the UK and utilise an analytical and problem-solving approach to analyse business ideas.
Practical Research Methods
This module will enable students to design and conduct their own scientific research trial in a chosen area of interest. They will learn practical research methods and apply them to self-designed trials, the results of which will be individually and collectively presented for critical analysis by the students themselves. This learning will then be applied to the interpretation and critical analysis of existing research.
Agri-food Marketing and Markets
This module covers the essential knowledge and skills required for effective agri-food marketing for businesspeople and consultants in the sector. This will include the study of the different types of UK and global agri-food markets and an exploration of the factors affecting consumer attitudes and behaviours. Students will learn the key principles of and strategies for effectively marketing ‘sustainable’ food products.
Crop Production Science
Building upon Environmental and Agricultural Biosciences in Level 4, this module will expand knowledge of plant biology and physiology and apply that knowledge for good crop management, plant growth and health, including a range of approaches and methods for pest and disease prevention and treatment. Students will learn how to evaluate system health through plant, soil and biodiversity indicators.
Farming with Animals
The scientific principles underlying the health and well-being of livestock with the application of scientific knowledge through a range of practical skills and tools. Students will explore a range of sustainable and ethical management approaches including mixed farming systems. Building upon knowledge gained in Level 4 modules Environmental & Agricultural Biosciences and Ecological and Regenerative Agriculture.
Industrial livestock farming can have negative animal welfare and environmental impacts, leading many people to choose plant-based diets. This module explores regenerative approaches to maintaining soil fertility and system health without the use of animal inputs. Using case studies and research, the practical, economic, social and environmental implications of animal-free farming will be evaluated.
Observing business theory in practice with an 8-week period of work-based learning within an appropriate farming and/or food business which demonstrates a sustainability ethos and sustainable practices. The student will analyse and evaluate operational systems, reflecting on their apparent efficacy, advantages and disadvantages. Students will develop practical skills and gain relevant career experience.
This module enables the student to see business theory in practice with an 8-week period of work-based learning within an appropriate farming and/or food business which demonstrates a sustainability ethos and sustainable practices. The student will observe and analyse management approaches, reflecting on their apparent efficacy, advantages and disadvantages. This period will also provide an opportunity to develop practical skills and gain relevant career experience.
Observing the way in which a research organisation is run during an 8-week period of work-based learning within an appropriate academic research organisation which undertakes agri-food projects with sustainability foci. The student will analyse the strategic, management and operational approaches in use. This period will also provide an opportunity to develop practical skills and gain relevant career experience.
Honours Research Project Introduction
The student chooses from a range of project briefs to undertake a self-directed study for their own research, investigation, project or business proposal resulting in a report of their findings, a project proposal or a business plan. In this first part, students are guided in using time management and study skills to plan their project and begin study under supervision.
Honours Research Project
In this substantial personal project, the student integrates subject-specific knowledge and skills to develop a specialist area of knowledge in depth. With supervision from a subject specialist, the student undertakes their chosen self-directed study of research investigation, project or business proposal resulting in a report of their findings, a project proposal or a business plan.
Innovative Production Systems
Familiarises students with current and evolving developments in regenerative food production and develops scientific understanding of the processes underlying innovative production methods and their cumulative effect. Systems are critically analysed in terms of their ‘regenerative’ value and studied in depth to identify appropriate contexts and limiting factors for adoption and efficacy.
Introducing students to a broad range of technologies available for use in agri-food business. This will include practical technology for crop and animal production and software for monitoring growth, health and productivity in the field, and machinery for small-scale and/or on-farm food processing. Students will also explore the concept of ‘appropriate technology’ in relation to sustainable food and farming business.
Managing Sustainable Food Enterprises
This module focuses on the strategic management theories and practical management procedures applied within the context of regenerative agri-food business. This will include in-depth study of financial and operational business management, including, for example: financial and management accounts, human resource management, operations management and supply chain management.
Contemporary Issues in Food and Farming
In this module, students will explore the factors which influence the ways in which food is produced and consumed, and how these impact upon society as a whole and the health, well-being and rights of individuals. This will include contemporary issues such as food security, food justice, food provenance, the rise of ‘alternative’ food supply chains or proposed agricultural policy.
Where will I study?
You’ll be based on the stunning Dartington Estate – a countryside estate that includes Schumacher College’s regenerative growing spaces, leading examples of permaculture and agroforesty in practice, as well as a traditional English country Deer Park. You’ll also have access to glasshouses, polytunnels and related resources. Read more about the College’s main agroforestry growing space, Henri’s Field, via this link >
All applicants must have GCSE (or equivalent) Maths and English at Grade C or above.
(A Foundation Biology course will be provided prior to Level 4 for those without science subjects to Level 3, enabling a broader intake of non-standard entries with relevant work/industry experience, dependent on interview.)
As well as meeting the above GCSE qualifications, you must hold at least one of the Accepted Qualifications, as follows:
accepted qualifications (tap to expand)
Minimum of 80 UCAS points at A/AS Level (CDD) or equivalent to ideally include a science, humanities or business subject.
BTEC National Diploma/QCF Extended Diploma
Candidates are interviewed before an offer is made. 80 UCAS points from an extended diploma (MMM) ideally in a relevant subject (e.g. Horticulture, Arboriculture, Agriculture, Countryside Management), although all applications will be considered individually.
Access to Higher Education at level 3
Applications from Access to HE programmes are welcomed, and will be considered on an individual basis. Candidates are interviewed before an offer is made.
80 UCAS points from Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate and/or Advanced Diploma to ideally include a science, humanities or business subject.
Scottish Qualifications Authority
80 UCAS points from Scottish Higher, Advance Higher and/or a Scottish Baccalaureate Interdisciplinary Project, to ideally include a science, humanities or business subject.
Irish Leaving Certificate
68 UCAS points at Higher Level, to ideally include a science, humanities or business subject, plus Ordinary Level Grade C Maths and English
80 UCAS points overall to include 1 at HL, to ideally include a science, humanities or business subject. If overseas and not studying English within IB, must have IELTS 6.0 overall with 5.5 in all other elements.
Mature students represent one of our main target groups and are therefore welcomed to apply, especially with relevant work and industry experience. They will be required to demonstrate at interview the necessary knowledge, experience and motivation to participate in the course. The programme will be offered in both full-time and part-time formats to increase accessibility for non-standard applicants.
The programme is offered in both full-time and part-time formats to increase accessibility for non-standard applicants. Mature applicants with relevant experience but without the stated qualifications will be considered individually and are encouraged to apply. All applicants will be required to demonstrate the necessary motivation, potential, experience and/or knowledge at interview.
fees & Funding
For full details on our fees, plus information about scholarships, student loans and bursaries, click here.
We encourage BSc students to live on campus for the first year of their studies. Further information on the unique experience of living on the Dartington estate, as well as rates for our full board accommodation, can be found here.
Bursary for English Students
We will be supporting the first cohort of full time students in this new programme by offering up to 25 bursaries of £3,000 to cover the difference between the Student Loan (£6,000) and the tuition fee (£9,000) for their first year. In future years we anticipate having a new status with Office for Students to allow students to apply for a Student Loan to cover the full tuition fees. The scheme is open to all full-time applicants applying from England who are eligible to apply for support from Student Loans Company England and are starting their studies in September 2022. This scheme will work on a first come first serve basis and will be automatically offered to the first 25 eligible applications via UCAS. International students may still apply to the general bursary pot.
Dartington Learning Bursary Fund
If you are not eligible for the above, you are still welcome to apply to the Dartington Learning Bursary Fund, which can cover up to £5,000 of the tuition fees. Full details can be found here.
Dr Simon Platten
Dr Simon Platten is senior lecturer and course lead for BSc Regenerative Food and Farming, and lecturer for our MSc Regenerative Food, Farming and Enterprise.
Caroline is Associate Lecturer on our Regenerative Food and Farming programme. She is also director of Whitefield Permaculture, an adult education and land design consultancy based in Devon.
This course has been designed to guide you to and prepare you for entering this exciting sector in a range of roles.
The expertise you develop throughout the course will enable you to either work in farming or food business at a managerial level, or in advisory roles for sustainable farming and food businesses.
There are many diverse career opportunities in all sectors of the food chain for people with knowledge and skills in regenerative food and farming. The holistic and practical nature of the programme alongside our diverse range of industry partnerships provides invaluable support networks and employment opportunities for graduates.
As a regenerative food and farming graduate you may go on to some of the following career paths:
- Managing a farming enterprise
- Managing a food enterprise
- Working in food supply and distribution organisations
- Advising on regenerative practice in food and farming
- Advising on sustainable business for food and farming
- Working for NGOs and campaign organisations on food and farming issues
- Working in food and/or farming policy
- Regenerative food and farming research
This programme also develops transferable skills such as academic, research and business skills.
Praise for Regenerative Food and Farming BSc
“As a new entrant grower some years ago, I searched for a course like this, combining practical and business skills within a wholistic perspective. Now, as a potential employer, this course looks set to equip students with a valuable breadth and depth of experience in sustainable food and farming, ready for this vital and growing sector. This course is an important part of the future of farming which is both efficient and ecologically regenerative.”
– Melissa Harvey, farmer and trainer at School Farm CSA
“This BSc is fit and ready to prepare students for the new agricultural era. If you’re after ethical and sustainable thinking then this course should be top of your list.”
– Ian Wilkinson, Cotswold Seeds and FarmEd
live chats & open days
latest news & blogs
Following a recent Engaged Ecology visit to Lower Sharpham Farm, we consider the ecological, social and political complexities of rewilding in practice.
Last week, Andy joined our Regenerative Food & Farming students to talk about his experiences and find out what we do at Dartington, including our agroforestry techniques.
This week our Regenerative Food, Farming and Enterprise MSc students have been learning all about the time-honoured practice of hedgelaying, and in this blog post we explore how it might be compared to the learning process more generally.


Our primary students created a garden-patch of their own! It is a short growing season in the northern part of Sweden. Therefore, you must sow seeds indoors in small pots until the weather gets warmer and you can plant your crops outdoors in a garden-patch. In groups of four they decided what vegetables, herbs and flowers they wanted to grow. Before sowing they learnt about the different species and the specific growing conditions. Time for sowing! The students filled pots and egg cartoons with soil to put their seeds in. And after that they waited and waited and waited… until one day when the first little green leaf appeared. An important part of the garden-patch project is to document the procedure in a diary. The work combined a lot of subjects; biology, maths and Swedish.
It was an important and happy day when the students took their crops and got outdoors to plant them. Returning after summer holidays they were welcomed by a green and lush garden!


Chives are a bulbous perennial herb used as an ornamental or as a culinary herb. It has an edible flower and leaves that are used for flavoring with eggs, soups, salads, butter, cheese, dips, spreads, etc. Harvest the leaves by clipping them off at the base so as to maintain the attractiveness of the clumps. Clumps can be divided easily in the spring or fall and they will easily self-seed in the garden.
Plant Chives in average well-drained soils in full sun to partial shade. They work well when planted in mass along borders, in rock or vegetable gardens or they can be potted up and grown on a patio or in a sunny window indoors.


NEW AND USED FEED BINS 02/04/16 3:21:27 PM|
Feed storage bins are important in efficiently managing feed on a dairy farm. It is for that reason, that we are Schuld /Bushnell feed bin dealers. We also buy and sell used feed bins for those not interested in buying new.
New Feed Bins
As a Schuld/Bushnell dealer, we will work with producers to order the correct size bin for each dairy. Our staff will help producers install the bin and ensure it is running correctly. We also have payment plans available for producers. Click here to learn more about Schuld/Bushnell feed bins.
Used Feed Bins
Because many producers are expanding their herds, they also need to upgrade their feed bin storage. Often we will buy used feed bins and will sell them back to our customers. If you are interested in a used bin or have any questions, please contact Mike Zutz at 920-901-8053 or at firstname.lastname@example.org
We currently have no used feed bins available.


Ocean State Hops is bringing hops back to Rhode Island. Fueled by a passion to cram as many hops into each batch of beer as humanly possible, we decided to start growing our own. And with our recent expansions, we are happy to be able to supply hops to other brewers looking to quench their thirst for hops.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
2010 Early Summer Picture Update
Tupelo and Summit, the new farm guard dogs, are happy with the progress so far...
The older plants reached the top of the trellis in mid to late June.
Look at those flowers!!
A few Chinooks are starting to form cones already.
A ways to go for the new plants, but they're off to a good start.
Summit says "where are the Summit plants??"
What a way to end the day...


The main ingredients for making your soil a super hero from climate change is to make sure it is healthy and strong. Most properties have been inundated with synthetic fertilizers and chemicals for decades. The grass has been forced to grow in the worst of conditions. Most plant life in yards I see are often ill-selected and require too many resources to maintain. The grass type wouldn’t survive without the chemicals and irrigation used on site. The ground is often compacted and never recharged with the stuff it needs to perform well. It’s been watered incorrectly and the biodiversity has been shredded due to all of these things. And these are the good ones.
I work with other clients that have thought by doing nothing at all, they have a more sustainable yard. The truth is if you are doing nothing for your yard, you are still contributing to the negative impacts like downstream flooding. Usually, yards that aren’t maintained at all show signs of erosion as well as compaction and unhealthy soil. The grass doesn’t grow well and dirt spots abound.
When treated right, your soil can store huge amounts of carbon within it. It is by activating the natural relationship of plants to soil that allows CO2 to flow more effectively into the ground. The amount of carbon you can store by using the right plants is dwarfed by the amount you can store underground and the biology surrounding the root systems.
The Biology of Dirt
The CO2 your plants breathe in along with the sunlight is used to create food for its roots as well as all the little microorganisms that live on and around the roots. A cup of healthy soil has more life in it than humans on the planet. The life includes things like worms and bugs, but also beneficial bacteria with names like Rhizobia and Mycorrhizae. These bacterial families help your plants grow strong and support them in times of stress such as droughts and heat waves. They help to store nitrogen and carbon in the soil. They support a whole list of biodiversity such as fungi (aka mushrooms) that fights off disease and other pests that can kill your grass and plants. The fungi also help to store carbon deep in the soil. When all of these dirty players are present in your dirt, they naturally aerate it providing the needed airflow and oxidation needed deep down.
The best way to make sure these beneficial agents aren’t in your soil is to add things like synthetic fertilizers and pesticides like Roundup and other products like it. These artificial additives are so used that the soil is much more a dead zone than a wild world of biology. As the biology falls, the air pockets they create are filled with sediment. So what happens? The soil can’t retain water, so when it rains the rainwater runs right off your yard. Your soil deprived fluids means you have to use irrigation to keep it alive. All that water you pump onto your lawn takes lots of energy to get there, and all of that energy emits carbon into the atmosphere.
You don't want a zombie yard, but that's exactly what you might have. The lack of water in the soil only continues to kill the biology, so you need more sythentic fertilizer to make it grow. As you force your plants to grow, you weaken them making them more susceptible to pests, so you add more pesticides. As you add more pesticides, you create a lawn of the Growing Dead. The Growing Dead is the perfect landscape for weeds. Next thing you know, you're Rick Grimes running around trying to kill a yard of weeds too...and if you've been using toxins, you're pretty likely to just add more chemicals to get rid of weeds continuing the loop.
These factors are playing out in agriculture too. As soils are devalued for the promise of temporary high yields, we have seen GMOs (genetically modified organisms) explode to offer a solution. Even time you eat GMOs, you are extending the Growing Dead of the fertilizer/pesticide/irrigation/dead soil dynamic described above. The same is happening in lawn care. More and more companies are offering GMO grass seed to help you have a beautiful lawn. All these chemicals take huge amounts of energy to produce only adding more carbon to the atmosphere.
Worse yet, Atrazine, the active ingredient in many weed killers, is linked to birth defects. In my community, most people are here to have healthy families and have babies. Studies have found that birth defects are highest during times when pesticides and weed killer is most used – in the spring and summer months.
But, it’s easy to step out of the dynamic. We don't have to have a Zombie Earth. You will need to detox your yard, and rehab the soil. The first step is to stop using synthetic chemicals – that is the detox. The second step is to start rehab your soil, and that takes a little more active involvement. Part of this will mean selecting the right grass for your lawn. I’ve found that fescue is a great option for northern NJ. Tall fescue is the most common type available. You can get it in both sod and seed form. it likes the sun and shade which is important for most places. However, if you can, you should use a fescue mix that includes several types of fescue. Avoid fescue mixes with blue grass seed in it. I exclusively use a fescue blend that reduces your need for water on your lawn by 60 to 70%, and has a root structure that can extend as deep as 24 inches. A root system like this means tons and tons of those beneficial creatures. No Growing Dead with this seed. As the roots grow, the biology will start to kick start, and your soil will become a carbon storage powerhouse.
Fescue is step three. If you want to turn your lawn into a climate warrior, you’ll need to change up your grass if you don't have the best kind for your space. Overseeding with an overseeder is an easy, effective way to switch your grass out, plus overseeders aerate the top portion of the lawn as well.
As you go through the steps, your soil will open and be able to absorb rainwater too. This means your grass can self-water so you won’t need irrigation. The ecosystem of life in your dirt will be very happy because of it.
France has called for soils across the planet to increase their carbon storage ability by .04% annually. If you start to treat your dirt like the true hero it is, you will easily surpass that percentage and create both a lawn all your neighbors and friends will admire as well as a carbon storage forest that can turn the tide on global warming.
An excellent documentary about how soil is formed and how it's a party right under your feet. The doc is called Symphony of the Soil. I’ve embedded the trailer below:


How do you bake potatoes on the grill? What type of potato is ideal for a potato salad? When were potatoes first cultivated in the United States? Do potatoes really have more potassium than a banana? You’ve come to the right place to get all these questions answered and so much more. Dig in to learn everything you need to know about potatoes and nutrition!
One potato, two potato, three potato, more! There are hundreds of potato varieties planted around the world today but there are seven main potato types – Russets, reds, yellows, whites, blues/purples, fingerlings and petites – found in most major grocery stores today. Here you’ll find information on all of them, including best ideas for usage, flavor descriptions and recipes. Try a new type today!
The potato is full of history! From the Irish famine to today’s position as the world’s largest food crop, we’ve got all kinds of fun facts for your next trivia game or school report. Read on to raise your Potato IQ!
Welcome to your one-stop-shop for potato nutrition. That’s right, potatoes are a healthy and important staple in our diet. Find out why right here in our nutrition section which includes everything from the FDA-approved Nutrition Facts Label to why you should care about getting enough potassium (oh, and by the way, potatoes are an excellent source of potassium!).


The Best Way to Store Fresh Basil
Fresh herbs of all kinds are fleeting. We’ve all had the experience of reaching into the fridge only to find what was once a bountiful bunch of fresh herbs now wilted and dying. Some are quicker to slip away than others. The worst offender in the withering department is basil. Its moist and delicate leaves bruise and mold so easily that unless you plan on using it immediately, is it even worth the investment?
For us, that’s a resounding YES! Its sweet and floral fragrance cannot be beat. It just needs to be treated a little differently. With a little TLC, your fresh basil can stay fresh longer than you thought. Here’s how to make it last:
1. Buy It in a Pot
Ultimately, the best way to keep any plant fresh is to keep it alive. Basil is no exception. Buying potted basil isn’t just for green thumbs. It’s easy to care for and easy to find. Depending on the season, you can find it in the produce department alongside the packaged stuff in most major grocery stores. Just bring it home, find a sunny spot for it (indoors if the temperatures start to dip into the 40s) and keep it well watered. This will yield you fresh basil leaves for weeks on end so you won’t have to rush through it.
2. Treat It Like Cut Flowers (Sort Of)
Don’t have the room or enough sun to start your own indoor basil garden? No problem. You can still keep fresh basil happy by treating it like you would a bunch of cut flowers, with one small exception: instead of admiring it in the center of your table, you’ll be covering it with a plastic bag. Pretty centerpiece? Not really, but you’ll have plenty of fresh basil at the ready.
Here’s how you do it:
Step 1: Take your cut basil out the packaging and trim the last inch or so off the stems. This will help the stems take in water.
Step 2: Place the basil in a cup with a few inches of water and cover loosely with a plastic bag. (Don’t tuck it in. The basil needs to breathe!) Produce bags are great for this as they are thin and light and won’t easily crush the leaves.
Step 3: Then move your basil bunch to a small corner of your counter, changing the water every few days. Storing it this way will make a healthy bunch last just over a week.
Now, you may be wondering if putting it in the fridge will prolong its life. Nope! Basil hates the cold more than every grandparent in Florida. Moderate temperatures are the key to its well-being.
3. Freeze It
If you know your bunch of basil isn’t going to hang on much longer or you just want to preserve the sweet taste of summer, freezing is the way to go. Before you throw it in the freezer, blanch it first. Blanching sounds fancy, but it just means dipping your basil in boiling water briefly, then moving it to ice water to stop the cooking process. Blanching preserves the bright green color of the basil. Without it, frozen basil turns an ugly brownish black.
Dry off your blanched basil leaves before they are frozen to minimize freezer burn and ice buildup. You can freeze your leaves whole or chop them up and freeze them combined with a few teaspoons of water in ice cube trays (that’s our preferred method).
4. Dry It
DIY dried basil beats the pants off of the store-bought stuff that’s been sitting on the shelf for who knows how long. You don’t need any fancy equipment to dry basil either. Just spread out the basil leaves on a baking sheet and let them dry in the coolest setting of your oven (200 degrees or less) for 2 to 4 hours or until very dry and crumbly. The only trick here is to make sure the leaves are really, truly dry. If there is even a hint of moisture, it will get moldy in storage.
Let the basil cool, then crumble and store in a tightly sealed container. It will last this way for a year or more. And one more thing to note: Once dry, basil is more potent than it is when fresh. If you’re using a recipe that calls for fresh basil, but you’re using dried instead, cut the amount back by a third. By: Hilary Meyer


1. Coastal soils are prone to salinity intrusion. However, the response and resiliency of soil microbial communities to this environmental perturbation is a complex interplay of hydrobiogeochemical processes. I am evaluating the impact of salinity intrusion on microbe-mediated biogeochemistry of soil carbon and furthering conceptual understanding of coupled feedbacks on the soil microbial communities themselves.
Coastal inundation dynamics impact carbon biogeochemistry and soil microbial ecology (Sengupta et al., 2019)
2. The evolution of a fertile soil, either from parent rock material or from a degraded system, is a function of abiotic and biotic processes with microbe-mediated processes occurring at fine scales of pores and aggregates, and impacting processes over multiple scales of space and time.
I am investigating spatiotemporal heterogeneity of microbial community structure and function in basalt soils. My work focuses on understanding effects of coupled hydrogeochemical forcings on microbial community composition and function, and how this affects organic carbon sequestration and cycling in incipient soil systems. This work has pushed the boundaries of identifying incipient soil systems capable of harboring heterogeneous microbial life and influencing early soil ecology. Results thus far reveal the presence of significant heterogeneity in predicted functions and ecologically deterministic shifts in community composition in a homogeneous soil system.
Interestingly, community diversity was found to be strongly correlated with soil depth, irrespective of whether sampling was carried out in 2m x 0.5m or 30m x 11m lysimeters housed at Landscape Evolution Observatory, Biosphere 2. This comparative assessment is unique to the question of scaling in microbial ecology studies, where spatial variability was evaluated while controlling for other edaphic variables (including parent material, temperature, precipitation, and topography). The evidence of conserved spatial trends in microbial community composition in the incipient basalt soil will allow predictive estimates to be developed when investigating microbial community movement and establishment in landscapes.
2m x 0.5 m x 1m soil lysimeter, miniLEO
30 m x 11m x 1m soil lysimeter, LEO
3. Fertile top soil is being lost at unprecedented rates. FAO estiamtes that about 60 years of arable land is left globally if we continue to use our soils in the current manner to grow food and fiber. With this problem in mind, I am evaluating the capacity of marginal soils to support plant growth. While not all marginal soils can be used for food production, the ability to vegetate marginal soils will improve the overall quality of any ecosystem. Particularly, I am researching the efficacy of native plants to grow and sustain in marginal soils. Going back in history and using native knowledge stands to preserve culture heritage as well.
Greenhouse experiment evaluating ability of incipient soil to support growth of plansts native Southwestern Arizona


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Welcome to the online home of the North Dakota Grain Dealers Association.
Serving North Dakota since 1911
North Dakota Grain Dealers Association
1325 23rd Street South, Suite A
Fargo, ND 58103-3723
Toll Free (In North Dakota 800-342-4778
The Farmers Grain Dealers Association of North Dakota was organized at a meeting of farmers and grain elevator operators in Devils Lake, ND on May 23, 1911. (The name was changed to North Dakota Grain Dealers Association in 1975.) In 1911 there were approximately 2000 grain elevators in North Dakota. Some towns had half a dozen elevators.
Safety and Health Director Position
Please complete, print, sign and mail this application to: NDGDA, 1325 23rd St S, Suite A, Fargo, ND 58103-3723.


The Vineyard Years chronicles the journey of Susan Sokol Blosser, a pioneering female winery owner. From deciding on a whim to grow wine grapes in the early 1970s to the trials and tribulations of starting her family-owned winery, Sokol Blosser, in the then little-known Willamette Valley, to the transfer of leadership from the first generation to the present, Susan shares the key moments in her life. Delicious recipes appear between candid tales of feminism, love, and loss.
Ability Accommodation Information
This event provides the following accommodations:
- Handicap Accessible


Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between hard and soft wheat berries?
Everlasting Harvest carries three main types of wheat berries; hard red, hard white, and soft white.
Let's focus on hard vs. soft first. Hard wheat has more gluten than soft wheat, which provides the elasticity needed for yeast bread to rise. So, hard wheat is better for yeast recipes, and soft wheat should only be used in baking powder recipes.
As for the color, hard red wheat has a nuttier whole wheat bread flavor than hard white wheat. Hard white wheat tastes like whole wheat but isn't as nutty. Soft white wheat has the least amount of whole wheat flavor.
Here is a simple cheat sheet. These are not rules, only suggestions:
Hard Red Wheat
Hard White Wheat
Soft White Wheat


RISMEDIA, August 28, 2010–Got a hundred bucks and a free weekend? Then you’ve got what it takes to invest in some yard care improvements.
“Some of the best upgrades to your yard can be done with a few dollars and a few hours,” says Trey Rogers, Ph.D., the Briggs & Stratton Yard Doctor. “When budgets are tight, get creative and do it yourself.”
For those who’d like one-on-one advice from Rogers, enter the Yard Smarts Boot Camp. Attendees will learn how to easily take care of their yard, tour amazing green spaces and win a new lawn mower and more. Visit http://www.yardsmarts.com to enter.
What can you do for $100 right now?
— Mow the right way. Don’t scalp your lawn. Instead, let it grow a little longer, which is healthy for the lawn. When you mow, cut only one-third the length of the grass blade. Cost: About $3.00 for a month of mowing.
— Apply bark mulch. Few things dress up a yard more than mulch around flowerbeds and trees. Cost: About $3.00 per bag.
— Fertilize naturally. When you mow, leave a light layer of grass clippings on the lawn as a natural fertilizer. Cost: $0.
— Maintain your mower. Once a year, change the oil, replace the spark plug and change the filter. Tune-up kits are available and make it\ easy. Cost: $10-14 for a walk-behind mower.
— Let nature water your lawn. If water is costly where you live, let nature handle irrigation. If too little rain falls, your lawn may go dormant, but unless you are in a drought situation, it will green up
again when the rain falls. Cost: $0.
With the rest of your $100 bill, splurge on some annual flowers to dress up your front doorway, patio or deck.


On 17 November 2020, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) published the deadlines for submitting Minimum Market Access permit applications on agricultural products for 2021.
Minimum Market Access permits provide preferential duty rates on certain agricultural products. The preferential duty rates are typically lower than the normal customs duty which may result in cost savings.
It is important to note that permits are either granted on an annual, bi-annual or quarterly basis depending on the product. The application deadlines stipulated by DALRRD are as follows:
Annual permits (valid from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021) have to be submitted by 15 December 2020.
Half-yearly permits (1 January 2021 to 30 June 2021) – If you intend to import during the first half of 2021, applications need to be lodged by 15 December 2021.
Half-yearly permits (1 July 2021- 31 December 2021) – If you intend to import during the second half of 2021, applications need to be lodged between 1 May and 31 May 2021.
Minimum Market access permits applied for utilisation on a quarterly basis have to be lodged within the deadlines below depending on the quota period of interest:
|Quota period||2021 importation period||Applications open||Applications close|
|1st Quota||1 January – 30 April||17 November 2020||2 December 2020|
|2nd Quota||1 April – 31 July||1 February 2021||28 February 2021|
|3rd Quota||1 July – 31 October||1 May 2021||31 May 2021|
|4th Quota||1 October – 31 January||1 August 2021||31 August 2021|
For more information on the agricultural products covered under the minimum market access, please contact us at firstname.lastname@example.org.


Sunflower Growing Competition
FINAL MEASURING DAY APPROACHES!
SUNDAY 19TH SEPTEMBER
Would you like to grow a sunflower?
Do you think you can grow the biggest sunflower?
LEBC has been donated some sunflower seeds to share with the community. The little packets come with instructions - but you need to supply somewhere for them to grow. We will be having a competition at the end of the summer to see who has the tallest sunflower!
OK, so how do I join in?
1. Click here
to fill out the simple registration form.
2. Come to LEBC on Sunday 16th May 2-3pm
to pick up your seeds. (If you can't come to us to collect your seeds at this time, we can deliver them to you - just let us know on your form.
3. Download and print your Sunflower Record Sheet
to track the growth of your super seedling.
4. Come along to LEBC on Sunday 19th September at 2-3pm with your final sunflower height measurement to collect your reward!
We'd love you to spread the word! To advertise this green-fingered competition, click here to view and download the poster.
Want to know how we will handle your data? Read our Privacy Notice.


How Organic Gardening Helps the Environment?
But do you know how organic farming benefits the environment? It’s not only the plants that benefit from organic farming. In fact, lots of the plants we eat and grow on a daily basis would be unthinkable in an organic garden – however they would not be found on a”non-organic” farm either! Consider it -weeds, pests, rot, fungus… all of them have their place at a non-organic garden. However, because organic farmers use organic substances, we avoid all these problems.
Importance of Composting
Among the greatest ways how organic gardening helps the environment is that rather than throwing away everything thatan old garden plants and soil have gathered over time (like fertilizer, lawn pesticides, etc), the gardener instead requires those things and uses them in their owngardens. Composting your garden soil is a great way to help your plants grow better and much healthier. By composting your dirt, you’re building upon the pure strength and construction of the dirt to make it even more helpful in retaining and providing nutrients to your plants. Plus, building upon soil health allows it to hold nutrients,carbon dioxide, and water, and it provides your plants somewhere to root. In this manner, your plants won’t need to go searching to get both of those things – they’ll discover that it’s already constructed within their healthy soils. Unlike chemical fertilizers that can also damage the surrounding area of your plants once you put water on it.
Selecting the Best Composting Process
When you’re not certain about how to do your mulch pile in your garden, there are a couple of different options that are available to you. If you do not have a compost pile, or when a mulch pile is too big, you can purchase a prefabricated compost pile from a garden store. However, this kind of compost pile can be quite thick and bulky, and many men and women find it difficult to move. Also, it can take up to two years to compost one compost bag; depending on just how much waste you’re compressing in each bag. This means thatyou will need to make more compost bags with time so as to satisfy your composting requirements. It would also rely on the climate whether long it will take for you to compost. Insects are also important in organic farming practices since they prey on other insects that damage your crops and make the practice of farming harder.
Additional Alternatives to Making Your
A nice alternative to making your own compost pile is using dirt that is already composted. You can purchase compost in stores that are specially made to assist you compost your soil. These pre-compost greenhouses are extremely simple to prepare and use, and they’ll compost your dirt in a matter of a couple of weeks. They work well since they feature moisture, which makes it simpler for the plants to soak up the nutrients that composting soil naturally comprises. Your plants will grow stronger, have greater blooms, and be healthier as a consequence of organicfarming.
Of course, compost isn’t the only thing that you can do to help your environment. You can also plant trees in your garden. You can do this year round with plants that have young roots already. By using organic gardening techniques, you’ll be reducing your effect on the environment whilst still growing strong, beautiful plants. In the procedure, you’ll have stronger and healthier food for yourself and family to enjoy.
Assessing your Family’s Health
If you have kids, it is possible to show them how organic gardening benefits the environment by growing their own food. If you reside in a town, you can raise the amount of new food you and your family get by teaching your children how to compost at home. You can find these strategies and more by visiting farming or gardening sites on the web or by simply attending a local organic gardening event near you. If you’re interested in learning more about how organic farming can enhance your own life and the environment, you should start practicing agriculture related videos online.
Avoiding Damage to the Environment
A lot of men and women are concerned about the environment and the damage that humans have done to it. With effective organic gardening, it promotes the quality of goods being produced. The thought of using synthetic fertilizers on the crops in their gardens may be frightening to some individuals, however, organic gardening can help the environment in several of ways. First of all, organic gardening is not as detrimental to the environment than conventional farming, since the use of pesticides and other harmful chemicals is removed. In fact, organic gardening is the sole method of agriculture that completely eliminates the use of substances. This means that the plants won’t produce seeds that can be consumed by bugs or that can pollute the soil.
Improving the Cycle inside the Ecosystem
Second of organic gardening products assist the environment about it by drawing birds. When birds locate seeds, they’ll consume them, pollinating the dirt and helping to break the waste down from the birdhouses. This can be an important part of the”greening” procedure too, as many birds depend upon the earth for food. Therefore, planting organic crops to your garden is important to the survival of the birds in the area and overall organic production.
Improving Soil Quality
How can organic matter make a difference in the environment ? The plants that we plant provides oxygen into the soil, which is vital to the health of the plants and the organisms that reside in the soil. We need oxygen to get plants to replicate, and the dirt will get depleted if there aren’t any plants to provide the oxygen. This will lead to the death of the plants, and also the passing of the wildlife that resides in the area too. So developing healthy soils is of importance to organic agriculture to prevent plant diseases that are usually caused by conventional farming methods using synthetic chemicals that increase your overall carbon footprints.
The other thing that organic practices do to market organic dirt is to work as a sponge. The sponge will soak up the pollutants that we put from the soil, in addition to boost soil fertility out of matter that comes from animals and birds that we have in the area. As the organic foods from the soil absorb the pollutants, as the degree of these toxins will decrease, and also the degree of oxygen will rise.
Soil as a Filter
Well, these organic systems can act as a filter boosting the soil construction. As the plants grow, they’ll filter out the nutrients from the soil, leaving it at a higher quality for your wildlife to feed upon. As the plants absorb from rich soil, the animals will depart the soil quality at a better state over time since there’ll be many more plants and animals to eat.
There are numerous benefits to organic gardening that have good environmental effect. We’ve only touched on the surface. If you want to enhance the environment around your house or grow your own organic veggies, there are lots of books available on the market that will assist you find out more. You simply have to make sure to avoid synthetic chemicals and conventional agriculture to the reduction in carbon footprint. Perhaps you will decide thatyou want to get into organic gardening so thatyou can helpmake this world a better place.


Local farms and markets produce some of the best community-based food systems you can find - all within Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
Growing and buying local foods has become more important than ever in Northeast Ohio. Our park partner, Countryside Conservancy, has helped rehabilitate and revive 11 old farms within park boundaries.
Check out the following links and discover where to find the best produce and livestock. While you're at it, grab a glass of homemade wine, learn about sustainable farming, and much more!


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agriOpenLink: Expected Effects
The agriculture today is facing many challenges related to the quantity and quality of products, resources used, and environmental sustainability. The advancements in information and communication technology, including robotic technology, data communication technology, data processing technology, knowledge and data mining, user interaction technology, and artificial intelligence can bring immense improvements to the production processes in general and agricultural processes in particular.
The project agriOpenLink targets optimization of production processes in agriculture, and fast creation of ICT application to support new processes, which have as the high-level goal the sustainability in the use of resources, reduction of the impact on the environment, better quality of the food, improvement of the quality of work and working conditions for the working force.
- improvement of the expertise and the process knowledge for the working force hence higher employment competitiveness
- improvement of the conditions for the farm animals, hence better effects of prevention and lower costs of treatments
- lower use of fuel and better efficiency of machinery, hence lower total cost and better use of man power.
- Better utilization of process data hence improvement of the process knowledge and opening the potential for optimizing resources for high quality of agricultural products benefitting the whole society


All our vegetables are organically grown, which is one of our core values.
It is important to us to defend a production that respects the environment and human beings. All our vegetables have always been organically grown, preferably locally.
Moreover, thanks to the unique and authentic taste of our products, we hope to contribute to the fight against the standardisation of taste.
The search for mixtures and textures with unbeatable taste is our daily concern.
The ultimate goal of Notes de mon Jardin is to bring out the unique taste of quality products.
We bring out the best in vegetables, thanks to a fine and well researched combination of spices and aromatic plants.
As the seasons go by, we work with all the vegetables, from the most essential to the most forgotten, such as parsnips, rutabaga, tuberous parsley, etc.
In order to avoid standardisation of products and taste, we are constantly looking for new ideas, both for recipes and for production processes and textures. In particular, we have developed an alternative to the pasteurisation of fresh soups in order to reveal the flavours of each vegetable.
It is possible to offer quality products while following an eco-responsible approach and respecting the strictest manufacturing standards!
Quality is our priority at all stages of the production process.
Our 1,200 m² workshop is IFS-certified and complies with all applicable hygiene standards. The manufacturing process has been designed to optimise each stage of production and to limit waste.
At Notes de mon Jardin, we favour short circuits and carefully select our suppliers of organic vegetables, spices and aromatic herbs.
In addition, the traceability of all our products is ensured by our computerised production system. Finally, we sort and recycle our packaging and waste. Daily maintenance is carried out using enzymatic products, which are more ecological. We are also thinking of obtaining a clean label in order to continue our eco-responsible approach.


Discover fresh opportunities
Grain has been a major agricultural export for Australia for more than a century. Recognised for the quality of our product, Australian grains remain structurally important to the global market.
At ASX, we are committed to the Australian grains industry. This means working with our customers and industry representatives to build and deliver effective products to service the market.
If you have an interest in Australian grain, then you and your business may benefit from ASX Grains – used by growers, mills, feedlots, bulk handlers, exporters and traders, among others.


Create a plant and flower propagation station anywhere on your walls, with the Ikea Skadis pegboard and the propagation hooks. Having plants and flowers on the wall will optimize your living space and decorate the walls. Having plants and flowers in your living space will optimize the air in that space. These are also perfect for dried plants ad flowers. Start a cutting station to multiply your garden flowers. This makes for a lovely gift for any occasion. A propagation station on your wall is very easy to set up and has instant satisfaction.
Each holder can hold large and smaller tubes. The maximum diameter of the holder is 21.8 mm / 0.85".
Cleaning the vertical garden holders is very easy, the hooks can withstand dishwasher heat or hot water from a tap to clean them.
Glass tubes are not included.
The hooks are made of biodegradable plastic.


NC 10% CampaignRaleigh, NC nc10percent.com
The NC 10% Campaign is a collaborative statewide initiative led by the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) and North Carolina Cooperative Extension. The campaign promotes locally grown and caught food, farmers and fishers, as well as the businesses and people who prepare, distribute, and sell food grown in North Carolina. It is estimated that North Carolina residents spend over $35 billion on food each year. If 10% of those purchases were from NC farms, $3.5 billion would stay within North Carolina’s statewide economy.


Cabbage, Kraut, Pumpkin
With us, "it always looks like cabbage and turnips"! Incidentally, this phrase also comes from earlier centuries. Since cabbage and turnip are round, they can not be stacked in the warehouse, which makes it look messy there.
However, we do not let that stop us and offer you these typical winter vegetables every day. We are the specialists when it comes to cabbage, cabbage and pumpkin! Well, strictly speaking, there is no botanical difference between cabbage and cabbage. The Austrians say more often herb - our German neighbors just Kohl. Was not he also chancellor?
To be honest, what would a martini without red cabbage be? We have some ideas for you!
Autumn is pumpkin time!
Originally from Mexico and South America, the vegetables are one of the most versatile.
Whether in hearty form as pumpkin soup, pumpkin strudel, etc. up to the lesser known sweet variants in pumpkin pie and pumpkin muffins. And for all Harry Potter fans - pumpkin juice.
But which pumpkin is suitable for which dish? Which one must peel, which not? And how do you cut that hard stuff the best?
You can find out everything here. We show you the tips and tricks for preparing and processing this popular autumn vegetable.
And for Halloween, you can also buy a few adorable decorative pumpkins.
In our shop we offer:
Butternut, cabbage, red cabbage, ornamental squash, Chinese cabbage, cabbage flat, black cabbage, delicacies, cabbage, round spaghetti burgers, kale, ragwort, hokaido, nutmeg and ornamental pumpkins in varying sizes.


It’s that time of year when a lot of people start to think about their gardens again. After all, the garden is an essential part of the home. Before long, the sun will be out shining, and we will remember that the garden needs looking after. Whether you are particularly green-fingered yourself, you must admit there are some benefits to having a plot of land. But sometimes it can be difficult to find inspiration for what to do with the garden. Famously, people often let their gardens go until they are almost beyond repair! Don’t be one of those people who leave it too late. If you are thinking about getting your tools out and refreshing your garden this spring, consider these four things. Your garden may well benefit from them.
A New Shed
We’ve all been there – the old garden shed has indeed seen better days. Perhaps, like mine, it is even starting to physically fall apart. It’s amazing how quickly those things can succumb to a bit of wind and rain! Nonetheless, there is always the option of simply replacing it. Garden sheds are not too expensive these days, especially if you are happy building it yourself (or know someone who will do it for you). The costs involved in building a basic shed are relatively minor, and it shouldn’t take too long to put up, either. This is a quick and easy way to tell your garden that you still care.
Now is an ideal time to get planting those spring bulbs. You can usually get a bunch of daffodil bulbs for less than the price of a cup of coffee. Install some borders around the edges of your garden and get planting. In a matter of weeks, you will have a beautifully arranged plot which took hardly any work, or money, at all. Then all you need to do is sit back and relax in your beautiful garden!
Increasingly, conservatories are becoming more and more essential to any garden. They are certainly ideal for any green-fingered gardeners out there. Using a conservatory makes growing plants a much quicker and simpler process. Even a simple Lean To Conservatory can make growing your favourites an absolute breeze. What’s more, it need not take up all that much space. This is an ideal addition, regardless of the size of your yard.
Fresh Fruit & Veg
As people become more disillusioned with the fast food lifestyle, more and more people are turning to growing their own food. And what a fantastic idea – growing your own veg is so simple that you don’t have any excuse not to. It is also cheaper than buying from a supermarket, as your main cost is the price of seeds and soil, and these usually last a pretty long time. If you find yourself thinking that growing fruit and veg is for the experts, think again. It is as easy as planting a seed and waiting. And with that new conservatory you have installed, you won’t even need to wait that long.


Below is our planting list and maturity dates. Some plants may mature earlier depending on the spring weather conditions and temperatures.
Yellow beans are eaten around the world! They can be eaten raw or steamed, boiled, stir-fried, or baked. They are commonly cooked in other dishes such as soups, stews and casseroles.
Red beets are what most of us think of when our minds turn to beets.Look for beets with their fresh, leafy greens still attached. The great thing about beets is that they are amazing storage vegetables. They lose a bit of tenderness as they are stored but also gain sweetness along the way.
Corn is a diet staple for many people around the world. It’s found as a side dish, in soup, in casseroles, and more. When corn kernels are popped, they become a favorite snack while watching a movie.
The carrot is a root vegetable, usually orange in colour. Carrots are rich in vitamins, minerals, and fiber. They are also a good source of antioxidants.
There are three main varieties of cucumber: slicing, pickling, and seedless. Cucumbers have a mild, refreshing taste and a high water content.
It’s most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds. Lettuce is most often used for salads, although it is also seen in other kinds of food, such as soups, sandwiches and wraps;
Snap & Sugar Peas
The snap pea, also known as the sugar snap pea, is an edible-pod pea with rounded pods and thick pod walls.
A pumpkin is round with smooth, slightly ribbed skin, and most often deep yellow to orange in coloration. The thick shell contains the seeds and pulp. Pumpkins are very versatile in their uses for cooking. Most parts of the pumpkin are edible, including the fleshy shell, the seeds, the leaves, and even the flowers.
Radishes are grown and consumed throughout the world, being mostly eaten raw as a crunchy salad vegetable with bite.
Salad Turnip is nothing like the classic turnip. It’s soft enough, even when raw, to cut with a butter knife. It’s sweet and even a little fruity, but also has a bit of a bite like the classic turnip. And the greens are great to eat as well.
The tomato is consumed in many ways, raw or cooked, in many dishes, sauces, salads, and drinks. They are commonly used as a vegetable ingredient or side dish.
Garlic is widely used around the world for its pungent flavor as a seasoning or condiment. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, and chive.
The onion, also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium.
Zucchini is usually served cooked. It can be prepared using a variety of cooking techniques, including steamed, boiled, grilled, stuffed and baked, barbecued or fried. Zucchini can also be baked into a bread similar to banana bread.
Swiss chard can be used raw in salads, stirfrys, soups or omelets. Swiss Chard has shiny, green, ribbed leaves.
Potatoes, grown in cooler climates or seasons, are often thought of as roots because they usually grow in the ground.
Turnip is a root vegetable commonly grown in temperate climates worldwide for its white, fleshy taproot. Small, tender varieties are grown for human consumption, while larger varieties are grown as feed for livestock.


Sunday - 5:00 pm Social Hour
Monday - Sessions from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm
Monday Evening Dinner Social for All
Tuesday - Sessions from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm
Seminar Concludes with Tuesday Sessions
See the detailed agenda here -->
Founder - Colby Ag Tech
President - Brock Associates
Dr. David Kohl
Prof. Emeritus - Virginia Tech
Chad Colby grew up on his family’s Central Illinois farm; he says he was always the tech “geek,” and that has not changed. Beginning in April of 2016 Chad works full-time as the General Manager for Central Illinois Ag, a 5th generation Case IH dealership with locations in Central IL.
Chad developed AgTechTalk.com in 2013 to provide ag technology experts and enthusiasts with on-time information about the latest in technology advances. In 2015, Chad established Colby AgTech to further reach and inform agriculture’s most progressive farmers, companies and organizations. To date, Chad has provided information and demonstrations at a majority of U.S. agribusiness company and organization meetings, presented at hundreds of conferences and meetings, such as National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, Commercial Drone Expo, Commodity Classic, Australian Summer Grains Conference, InfoAg and Farm Progress Show, and conducted hundreds of media interviews, including This Week in Agribusiness, WGN Radio, RFDTV Market Day Report, XM Satellite Rural Radio, Iowa Public Radio, and TV program Market to Market.
Richard Brock is owner and president of Brock Associates, an agricultural marketing advisory service and publisher of The Brock Report, a 20 page weekly fundamental and technical newsletter. His firm, based in Milwaukee, WI manages grain sales on over 500,000 acres throughout the U.S. and is an advisor on purchasing strategies for many large poultry, pork, dairy and food companies. Brock is on retainer with several agri-business firms for his input on strategic planning. He writes a monthly column for Delta Farm Press and Feed Stuffs magazines and speaks at over 50 conventions and conferences per year.
Richard grew up on the family grain and pork farm in central Indiana. He received his Bachelors of Science Degree in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University and his Masters Degree from Cornell University. He and his wife Cathy, have three grown children and five grandchildren.
David Kohl received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University. For 25 years, Kohl was Professor of Agricultural Finance and Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia. Dr. Kohl is Professor Emeritus in the Agricultural and Applied Economics Department at Virginia Tech. Dr. Kohl has conducted more than 6,000 workshops and seminars for agricultural groups such as bankers, Farm Credit, FSA, and regulators, as well as producer and agribusiness groups. He has published four books and over 1,500 articles on financial and business-related topics in journals, extension, and other popular publications. Kohl regularly writes for Corn and Soybean Digest, and other ag lending publications.
Strategic Planning for Farm Operations & The Ten Golden Rules of Management
This informal nuts-and-bolts session with Dr. David Kohl will provide producers with important tools and benchmarks needed for the growth and transition of their farm operations. Specifically designed for farm operators who are seeking to expand, downsize, or transition to new management, this session will provide important financial benchmarks and the ten characteristics of successful operations. This
Jason has been a Brock Associates Marketing Consultant since 2005 and currently operates a branch office in Quincy, Ill. As a Senior Marketing Consultant, Jason works with a variety of producers across the country in developing and implementing marketing plans to best manage their price risk—from the undersold to oversold, small to large, and knowledgeable experts to inexperienced beginners.
The greatest concentration of clients he works with is in the South, as he has led the company’s expansion into cotton and rice consulting from corn, soybeans and wheat. Jason’s competitive advantage is his ability to discuss real farm management decisions with real perspective—a refreshing and helpful edge that comes from direct interest and involvement in his family’s corn, hog, and farm management enterprises.
As Chief Operating Officer and member of the Senior Management Team at Brock Associates, Jason is in charge of developing new products, improving customer development and streamlining customer relationship management. Jason’s pursuit of agricultural and business education includes a B.S. degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Illinois, a M.S. degree in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University and a M.B.A. from Indiana University. He resides in Quincy, Ill., with his wife and four children.
Mr. Kurt Barth is a Senior Grain Marketing Consultant and Director of Finance at Brock Associates, working with grain, cotton, dairy and livestock farmers in the Midwest as well as the Carolinas, Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi and his home state of Wisconsin. Kurt is a botanist by education, having graduated from UW-Milwaukee in 1979.
His 35 + years of experience in the financial markets and running successful companies, combined with education and experience in plant sciences enable him to design individualized plans that integrate market outlook, cash flow needs, as well as on-farm storage and balance sheet analysis.
Mr. Barth is married to Candi-recently retired after 30 years as Operations Finance Analyst at MillerCoors. Kurt and Candi have two grown sons that live in SE Wisconsin. When they are not crunching numbers, they are chopping wood, hiking, kayaking, or skiing in the Kettle Moraine Forest where they reside
COO - Brock Associates
CFO - Brock Associates
Click the Presenter Image or Scroll Down for Detail
Dr. David Kohl
Director Application Technology - Amvac Chemical
Rick lives in Collierville, TN, and gained extensive experience in the seed chemical, and traits business with Monsanto, Delta & Pine Land, AgrEvo, and Elanco, and in the area of precision ag yield data analysis while working as technology director for AgVeritas during a joint assignment with Plant Health Care, plc and XS, Inc.
Rick will provide an update on AMVAC's development progress and ultimate commercialization plans for SIMPAS application equipment and technology.
SIMPAS is an acronym for Smart-Integrated-Multi-product-Prescriptive-Application-System, and it builds on the foundation of accurate at-plant, in-furrow chemical application that’s been the basis of AMVAC’s proprietary SmartBox application system for applying at-plant, in-furrow granular insecticides.
interactive program will allow participants to work through a scorecard worksheet and case study to more closely analyze their business, sustain profits, and make improvements along the way.
Dr. Fred Below
University of Illinois Agronomist
Dr. Fred Below
Dr. Fred E. Below is a Professor of Crop Physiology in the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois. He received his B.S, M.S, and Ph.D. degrees in Agronomy all from the University of Illinois, and he has been in his current position since 1985. His research is focused on understanding factors limiting crop productivity, particularly corn and soybeans. He is author or coauthor on more than 80 peer-reviewed manuscripts, numerous abstracts, books and proceedings chapters, and he has trained more than 60 graduate and postdoctoral students. He has taught introductory crops courses to undergraduates, as well as advanced courses to graduate students, and given numerous presentations at national conferences and local meetings. He developed the ‘Seven Wonders of The Corn Yield World’ and the ‘Six Secrets of Soybean Success’ as tools to teach farmers and agricultural professionals the value of their individual crop management decisions, and he is actively using these concepts to develop systems capable of sustainably producing high yield corn and soybean.
Presentation Topic: The Quest for High Yield Corn and Soybean
The ‘Seven Wonders of Corn Yield’ and the ‘Six Secrets of Soybean Success’ were developed as tools to teach farmers and agricultural professionals the value of their individual management decisions. In this presentation I will show what we have learned using these concepts, and how we are using them to develop cropping systems to aid in our quest for high corn and soybean yields.
Agronomy Lead - Farmer's Edge
"Digital Farming: Where we are and where we are going"
Shawntel grew up on a small farm and ranch in Oklahoma and went on to earn her bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma State University (OSU), majoring in plant and soil sciences.
She continued on to graduate studies, earning a Masters in Science and studying under the OSU’s precision nutrient management specialist. During her time as a graduate student, Shawntel participated in extension activities, was a guest lecturer in the precision ag class and, for a short time, taught an introductory course on plant and soil science.
In May 2016, Shawntel began working as a precision agronomist with Farmers Edge in the Northern Plains region, making her the first precision agronomist in the US. Within 10 months, she became a senior precision agronomist and began to mentor the newer US-based agronomists.
In January 2018, Shawntel was elevated into the role of Regional Digital Ag Lead. Her goal is to make it easier for growers to use and understand on-farm data in order to make more informed agronomic decisions.
North America Product Director -
Dir. Global Product Management & Technology - GSI
Lead Commercial Agronomist -
Jason was raised on grain farm in East Central Illinois located in Kankakee, Livingston, and Ford counties. Today he manages the family farming operation where he has been actively farming for 30 years.
After graduating from Illinois State University, Jason’s career began with Professional Farm Management at Pontiac National Bank located in Pontiac, IL where he managed farm tenants, grain marketing, on-farm research testing, seed selection, fertility programs, and annual reporting for absentee landowners.
To further enhance the opportunity for more on-farm research, Jason continued his career with Beck’s Hybrids and built their first Illinois on-farm research facility near Bloomington, IL in 2006. This research was designed to help growers understand various new products and technology coming to the commercial market, as well as challenging farmers to find new ways to increase yields and profitability. Thousands of farmers and industry representatives had the opportunity to visit the research farm each year to evaluate the agronomic practices being studied on the farm.
Jason joined Precision Planting in November of 2016 as Lead Commercial Agronomist. His responsibilities are to implement on-farm field trials, development of field trial protocols, and offering education and agronomic training to staff, dealers, and customers. Jason acts as the key researcher and educator for the Precision Planting Commercial team, dealers and growers. His experience bolsters on-farm research efforts and the capability to provide solid agronomic education for dealers and growers. Jason is an industry-leading expert in the agronomic and profit impacts of different farming practices.
Adam Weiss is the Director of Global Product Management & Technology at GSI, and has spent over 20 years bringing innovative products to market.
From Silicon Valley startups to massive Wind Turbines at General Electric, Adam has used technology to make products and customers more safe and efficient.
With dozens of patents and applications, Adam continues to drive innovation across GSI’s five global market segments, ensuring GSI is the technology leader in each of these segments.
Adam holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s of Business Administration. He currently lives in Central Illinois with his wife and three daughters.
A 42-year veteran of the Agricultural Equipment industry, Russ Green is the Director of Product and Brand Strategy for the North American region of the AGCO Corporation in Duluth, GA.
In this role, Russ is the captain of a team of marketing thought-leaders who work ‘behind the curtain’ to develop new agricultural products and innovations for the corporation. Using methods of product development, employee innovation and voice of the customer, Russ’ team is working on over 65 new product programs investing nearly $850 million in new product development.
An Iowa native, Russ and his wife Katy reside in Lexington, KY. Russ earned a BA in Education from the University of Northern Iowa, and later his Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
Russ has developed other industry interests serving for four years on the Sponsors Board of the FFA Foundation and also participated on the FFA Foundation Board of Trustees, chairing this Board in 2014. In addition to his FFA involvement, Russ has been a contributor to the Editorial Advisory Board of AgriMarketing Magazine.
Russ is equally comfortable in the boardroom or in the cab of a combine, and enjoys his opportunities in the field to learn from the customer. When not talking product innovation with his team, you might find Russ in a duck blind pursuing his love for water-fowling. After all, he was the first runner-up to his brother Ron, the champion in the 1960-61, Des Moines Register and Tribune, Iowa State duck calling contest.
Executive Vice President
National Corn Growers Association
Jon Doggett is the Executive Vice President of the National Corn Growers Association. In this capacity, he leads efforts to expand NCGA’s alliances and strategic partnerships, to elevate its national profile.
He was promoted to this position in December 2014, from the post of Vice President, Public Policy, and continues to manage the organization’s 10-person Washington office and lead its public policy efforts.
Raised on his family’s Montana ranch, Doggett has substantial knowledge of production agricultural and more than 30 years of agricultural policy experience.
Prior to joining NCGA, Doggett served 11 years at the American Farm Bureau Federation, where he was the Bureau’s lead lobbyist on a number of public policy issues, including ethanol, climate change, land use, conservation, and endangered species.
While in Washington, Doggett also worked for the National Cattleman’s Beef Association/Public Lands Council and served as senior legislative assistant for former Montana Congressman Ron Marlenee (mar len aa). His ability to look at issues with a fresh perspective and find a common ground has been the cornerstone
of Doggett’s work in the legislative arena. In 2004, he was named one of the most influential lobbyists in Washington by The Hill newspaper.
Doggett has served as President of the Washington Agri-Business Club and currently sits on the Board of Directors of the National Institute of Lobbying and Ethics.
In addition to his public policy experience, Doggett was a stockbroker for Dean Ritter Reynolds and a district manager for Allis Chalmers Corp. He attended the University of Montana, where he majored in finance and journalism.
Doggett enjoys returning to his family’s ranch in Meagher County, Montana. He is an enthusiastic kayaker and is has earned a Sea Kayak Instructor certificate. Jon resides in Northern Virginia with his wife, Nancy. They have two adult children, Katie and Andrew, and the two most wonderful granddaughters in the whole world.
Founded in 1957, the National Corn Growers Association represents more than 40,000 dues-paying corn growers and the interests of more than 300,000 farmers who contribute through corn checkoff programs in their states. NCGA and its 48 affiliated state associations and checkoff organizations work together to help protect and advance corn growers’ interests.
Hertz Farm Management
KCOE - ISOM
Randy has over thirty-five years experience as a farmland professional in farmland brokerage, farm management, and appraisal.
He is a member of the Iowa and American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, Iowa and National REALTORS® Land Institute, serving as National President in 2006. Randy is also a member of the Iowa Farm Multiple Listing Service, Central Iowa Board of REALTORS®, and Financial Planners Association. He has been recognized with the prestigious award of the Iowa Farm and Land Broker of the Year in 1991 and Land REALTOR® of America in 2010. Randy is a senior instructor for the REALTORS® Land Institute teaching courses in Land Brokerage, AgLand Brokerage, and Land Investment Analysis.
Randy has served as President for several community activities including the Nevada Rotary Club, Nevada Economic Development Council and the United Way of Story County. He has served on numerous committees of the Nevada United Methodist Church. Randy and his wife Liz have three daughters.
Doug will discuss the recent tax bill and what its impact on agriculture will be.
With his agriculture and accounting expertise, Doug is dedicated to helping ag business owners with financial, operational, and tax challenges. He brings over 20 years of experience working for agribusinesses involved in beef production, dairy operations, grain production, and marketing.
He serves as an advisor throughout the lifecycle of a business. Staying abreast of changes to tax regulations and financial reporting requirements, most of Doug’s conversations with business owners revolve around their goals, feeding his ability to apply effective strategies for tax planning, equity management, and cash flow creating results that greatly impact the day-to-day business.
Doug has a special passion for agribusiness with direct experience working at a feed yard and a grain company early in his career. Fostering long-term relationships and spending quality time with producers on-site at their operations is his favorite part of the job.


Today took place the 2nd PhosV4 project workshop "Phosphorus recovery – challenges and perspectives in V4" (online). During the workshop, the invited Experts from other countries presented the already implemented technologies for P recovery from waste and fertilizer production in their countries. The workshop included the session presenting the inventory of technologies developed (or under development in V4) that have the chance to be implemented on an industrial scale in V4.
We would like to thank the experts who took part in the workshops: Marzena Smol, Kinga Lorencz, Zoltán Tóth, Damien Cazalet, Yariv Cohen, Jiří Jaromír Klemeš, Tomáš Bakalár and all the listeners! Below we present a short photo report from today's event.


A 90-year-old Japanese farmer recently passed a drone training and flying exam. Mamoru Tanaka is sick of walking around his rice fields while carrying more than 60 pounds of fertilizer on his back. The goal is to deploy an agricultural drone to sprinkle fertilizer over the fields in a smart and targeted manner. The farmer intends to get a permit to fly heavy drones as the following step.
90-year-old Japanese farmer embraces drone technology
Mamoru Tanaka began his agricultural profession after leaving the erstwhile Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation. He currently cultivates rice on approximately 2 acres of paddy fields. However, it became increasingly difficult for him to go through the fields while carrying a heavy sprinkler installation on his back, and he grew interested in agricultural drone applications.
Tanaka completed a five-hour course in aviation law and meteorology, as prescribed by the Japanese Ministry of Transportation, and 10 hours of flight training before passing the theoretical and practical exams at the Drone Pilot Training Association’s training center in Fukuchiyama, Kyoto Prefecture.
The elderly farmer had no issue handling the drone and astonished the instructor with his steady flight. The 90-year-old drone operator, on the other hand, had considerable difficulty gauging the distance to the drone by sight.
Tanaka received a special driver’s license for heavy motor vehicles earlier this month, “to drive something other than a tractor.” The farmer is keen to learn about smart agricultural approaches, such as employing drones to spread fertilizer and wants to incorporate them into his business, according to news outlet Mainichi.
90-year-old Japanese farmer likely to pick the DJI Agras
Tanaka’s agricultural drone of choice is unknown, although it will most likely be one from the DJI Agras series. These are heavy-duty drones that can carry a tank and sprayers to spread highly targeted liquid pesticides and fertilizers.
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Photo credit: Koji Sato


There are many elements that influence the health of a garden. Pests, sunlight, soil quality and possibly the most overlooked, proper watering. Every gardener needs to know how much to water and how to properly water in order to reduce the risk of plant diseases and pests. Here are some tips to ensure proper watering:
1. Water in the morning, when the sun is low and the air is cool. This will provide time throughout the day for your plants leaves to dry off and the cool water won’t shock the roots.
2. Water regularly. There should be consistency to the time and amount that you water your garden.
3. Water at the base of the plants. This ensures that the water is reaching the roots and prevents the leaves of the plant from developing diseases.
4. Try to water by hand rather than using overhead sprinklers. Lots of water evaporates and is wasted with overhead sprinklers. Using a soaker hose ensures that all of the water is reaching the roots. This also allows you to be selective with which plants need water.
5. Add a layer of mulch to the top of your garden soil. This retains moisture and protects the plants from being sprayed by wet soil.
6. Water deeply and thoroughly. Use your finger, water meter or shovel to check how deep the water is reaching in the soil.


Pheromone Communication in Bees
Why Study Pheromones?
One of the most exciting things about any area of science is that the more we know, the more it seems there is to know. Yet as scientists continue to investigate pheromone communication, they are doing more than satisfying their curiosity. There are very practical reasons for studying the pheromones of honey bees, as well as those of other animals. The knowledge we gain from such research can be used to benefit humans in a variety of ways.
As they forage for food, bees and other insects spread pollen from flower to flower. In so doing, they ensure that many kinds of plants will continue to produce seeds year after year, seeds that will grow into the plants that provide us with food and other useful products. It might someday be possible to use synthetic pheromones to make these insect pollinators more efficient.
In the future, for instance, farmers may be able to attract bees to crops that need pollinating by spraying their ﬁelds with synthetic pheromone. Learn more at http://austingosser.bcz.com
Researchers at the U.S.Department of Agriculture conducting an experiment with the trail pheromones of ﬁre ants. The pheromones might be used to attract the insects to food treated with insecticide. This would then be carried back to the nest and consumed. This is only one of the ways in which pheromones may be helpful in controlling insect pests.


ANOTHER Pikes vintage is in the books and didn’t it throw up a few curve balls?
“A strange old year,” says Neil Pike.
“One of the driest growing seasons I can remember,” says Andrew Pike.
After the 2016-17 growing season delivered rampant rains and bumper crops, 2017-18 took us to the other extreme, challenging our water resources, reducing yields and forcing Andrew and Neil and their vineyard and winery teams to draw on all of their vast experience and know-how.
Without it, Vintage 2018 could have been very awkward indeed.
Throughout the Clare Valley growing season – from October 1 to early April – we normally expect 250-300mm of rain. This year we recorded less than 150mm.
“That’s almost unheard of for the six-month period,” Andrew said.
“We’ve been through summer droughts before,” Neil said. “But we’d always get something, some precipitation in January or February to stretch out the vintage. This year the tap was turned off early December.”
And that followed a winter of well below average rainfall. Our dam was half empty and soil moisture reserves were down. Effectively, we entered the growing season with our tank half full.
And so, it was in early December rather than early January, that we started to irrigate, after Andrew and his team noted growth was slowing in the shoot tips and soil moisture probes suggested vines were approaching stress. We drew on our dam and our bore and used more of our expensive mains water allocation than we ever have before.
“It was really a gut-feeling call,” Andrew said. “But, had we not irrigated early, I’m sure we would have got caught by that mid-January burst of extremely hot weather.
“A lot of vineyards around the area did get opened up – their vines dropped basal leaf and the fruit was open to the direct sunlight – but I think we were able to withstand that burst better than many.”
And there were more big decisions to be made. With only a finite amount of water for 100 hectares of vineyards, which fruit would get enough to drink and which would be forced to struggle?
“Riesling had to take priority,” Neil said.
“Because that’s what drives our business.
“Some riesling vineyards still lost leaf and we can see different characters coming from that fruit. Rather than bright, citrus, lemon-lime we see some more floral, baked apple, stressed characteristics in some parcels.
“But, by and large, our riesling fruit has been excellent. We kept up our water; we kept our canopies engaged. There’s enough good stuff in the tanks from us and our other growers for another great vintage of ‘Traditionale’.
“There’s a reason Clare’s known for its riesling, we seem to be able to make good stuff no matter the conditions and 2018 will be no different. We’ll make some really good wine and everyone in the Clare Valley who knows what they’re doing will make really good wine.”
“We picked our riesling early, no question,” Andrew said. “We started at 10 Baume or under where we normally wouldn’t start until 10 to 10.5. Because some of those blocks had a good crop on them and didn’t really have enough leaf to really ripen the fruit to the expected level.
“We knew we’d have enough riesling coming in later at 11 to 11.5 Baume to balance that maturity and alcohol content. You can’t get it all off at once.”
Overall, Pikes expects to process 1650-1700 tonnes of fruit for the 2018 vintage, about 1000 tonnes of which will be riesling.
And there’s plenty of optimism for other varieties too. Semillon took a long time to get ripe but the juice is good and might be called on to provide more support than usual for our sauvignon blanc, which looks a little “neutral” after the dry year.
Chardonnay and viognier were picked early to preserve acidity and they each look in great shape.
Yields are down on our reds because we couldn’t maintain normal levels of water, and some vines were looking a little “crunchy” around the leaves come harvest time.
“And we’re seeing thicker skins,” Neil said. “So, the wines are very dense in colour and there’ll probably be more tannin than recent years.
“Will there be really bright fruit characters? Probably too early to say. We have detected a little ‘stewed’ fruit character in shiraz and you expect that in a warmer year.
“With sangiovese, the crop was really quite low so it’s more concentrated, more colourful, there’ll be more tannin. It actually looks very promising.”
Andrew sees it as a vintage for refined Clare reds.
“There are going to be some really nice reds come through,” he said. “It’s not going to be a big, buxom red year, they’re going to be elegant and, I hope, varietal.”
And to finish, we’ll put Andrew and Neil on the spot for an overall rating of the 2018 vintage, which finished with the picking of our mourvedre on April 5.
“Will 2018 be the best wines we’ve ever made? Probably not,” Neil said.
“But they’ll be a long, long way from the worst. Across the whole vintage I think we’re looking at a 7.5 to 8 out of 10. And I don’t give 10s!”
“I think,” says Andrew, “that we’re looking at a good, solid, average vintage. And anytime you get a good, solid, average vintage, you have to be happy.”
No mean achievement given the tricky forces at play.