Business of Agriculture: On the farm, the end of life is commonplace and easy
I had a volunteer on the farm once who had trouble thinning carrots. She couldn’t bear to see the little baby thinnings shriveling in the sun as we moved down the rows. She shoved a bunch into her pockets with the idea of replanting them when she got home. I don’t know how that worked out. She never came back. Hers was an unusual case, though I think she had a fundamental insight into farming that is easy to miss: Death is...
Business of Agriculture: The threat of falling oil prices
Can fruit and vegetable farms in the Upper Valley survive the tumbling price of fuel? That’s a question I’ve been thinking about lately, with more than a little alarm, as both gas and diesel have fallen below the $2 per gallon mark. That’s less than half of what they were a few years ago. You might think that tumbling fuel prices would be good for local fruit and vegetable farmers, since we use gas in our trucks, diesel in our...
Business of Agriculture: The threat of falling oil prices
Can fruit and vegetable farms in the Upper Valley survive the tumbling price of fuel? That’s a question I’ve been thinking about lately, with more than a little alarm, as both gas and diesel have fallen below the $2 per gallon mark. That’s less than half of what they were a few years ago. You might think that tumbling fuel prices would be good for local fruit and vegetable farmers, since we use gas in our trucks, diesel in our...
Business of Agriculture: Winter Greens
We’re experimenting with growing greens like kale and spinach on our farm this winter, and right about now, I’m thinking I should have my head examined. If the door to the greenhouse isn’t frozen solid on a typical morning, I know my fingers soon will be. Despite an occasional frozen thumb, the experiment is showing signs of life, not just on our farm but on farms across the valley and the country. Primarily this is thanks to the...
Business of Agriculture: Region’s farmers see more ‘extreme precipitation events’
I was standing in my greenhouse two summers ago, planting seeds for fall broccoli, when the water started rising around my feet. First it was just puddles on the greenhouse floor. Soon water covered the whole floor, and within a few minutes, it was ankle deep. By the time it reached mid-shin, I went outside to see what was going on. I might have gone earlier, but it had been pelting rain all afternoon and I was otherwise dry for the...
Business of Agriculture: Region’s farmers see more ‘extreme precipitation events’
I was standing in my greenhouse two summers ago, planting seeds for fall broccoli, when the water started rising around my feet. First it was just puddles on the greenhouse floor. Soon water covered the whole floor, and within a few minutes, it was ankle deep. By the time it reached mid-shin, I went outside to see what was going on. I might have gone earlier, but it had been pelting rain all afternoon and I was otherwise dry for the...
The Business of Agriculture: If Consumers Demand Local Meat, More Local Producers Will Supply It
At a farmers market last summer, I overheard a woman standing in line to buy some chicken say to her companion, “Wow, this is expensive. If we had more competition around here, we’d get better prices.” I almost blurted out that I thought she had it exactly backward, that it’s not the lack of farmers that is keeping prices high but rather it’s the lack of high prices that’s keeping farmers away. The problem, in other words, isn’t on...
The Business of Agriculture: If Consumers Demand Local Meat, More Local Producers Will Supply It
At a farmers market last summer, I overheard a woman standing in line to buy some chicken say to her companion, “Wow, this is expensive. If we had more competition around here, we’d get better prices.” I almost blurted out that I thought she had it exactly backward, that it’s not the lack of farmers that is keeping prices high but rather it’s the lack of high prices that’s keeping farmers away. The problem, in other words, isn’t on...
