The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak impacts farmers and ranchers, like everyone else, in their individual and family health as well as in their business operations. On top of that, the unique nature of agricultural enterprises introduces any number of additional considerations.
Here are links to collections of resources, assembled by other organizations, to help agricultural producers navigate these new challenges.
The USDA has a general information page on coronavirus’ agricultural impacts. There is also a page specifically for producer updates on government agricultural programs, such as the March 27 deadline for applying to the NRCS Wetland Reserve Easement. This covers agencies including the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Risk Management Agency. This information is important, as many offices are now closed, and the page contains instructions on how to contact agency personnel to apply for and participate in grant, loan, disaster relief, and other programs.
The Council for Healthy Food Systems’ resource page includes strategies for helping farmers markets remain open, alternative marketing platforms, sample guidelines/best practices for farmers markets, a guide to financial resources for farmers (including emergency loans), and consumer tools for locating local food.
A Greener World’s resource page includes links to various extension agencies’ pages on COVID-19, online sales/shipping/payment processing resources, and a news section.
Also, in a timely development, all of ATTRA’s 500+ publications on sustainable agriculture know-how are now free. (Shipping charges still apply for hard copies.)
We’ll be updating the Kerr Center’s own page of links to these and other COVID-19 resources as the situation develops. Please check back!
Most sustainable agriculture practitioners do not like GMO crops. The reasons given are numerous. Mixing plant and animal genetics, ownership and patenting of plants, and who controls the genetics, are just a few.
The book covers the relationship between the monarch and the milkweed. It is a quality published book with abundant references.
In 2018, Princeton University Press released an updated 2nd edition of Garden Insects of North America, with over 700 pages and more than 3,000 full color plates. If you wanted one book to help identify garden insects, this is it.
