Weekend reads

Worms and compost and fungi, oh my: A look at healthy soil and biodiversity

Monsanto watch: NC+ Hybrids, one of the top 10 national suppliers of corn seeds, is the latest buy out (third purchase in five weeks)

PA Sustainable Ag conference notes: "A network of local farms can be preferable and safer than being supplied only by large processing centers"

Rural poverty, machine/biotech, and the long-term viability of farming. Plus, on marker-assisted selection: “It is not simply about food and fibre production, but the source, worth paying for, of much of what is fundamental to mankind’s health, happiness and wellbeing”

Life on the farm is 24/7/365. The couple that runs my hometown organic farm in NJ recently attended a family wedding and spent their first night off the farm in 5 years.

A glass half-full in Alaska and half-empty in South Dakota

Local food mania at universities: 20-30% of the dollars that Bates spends on food now stays in Maine... at the same cost as a big national distributor

Court overturns Bush's changes to factory farm regulations: ruling reaffirms clean water standards and public notifications