BIPOC

Dakarai Howard focuses on urban agriculture and food systems as the senior policy adviser for the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

The 2023 National FFA Annual Report was recently published, outlining the organization’s achievements and laying a blueprint for its future.

A celebration of agriculture that crossed generations kicked off the 54th annual Illinois Agricultural Legislative Day. The event drew nearly 50 diverse agricultural organizations and about 1,000 FFA members together to meet with lawmakers.

The Agriculture Council of America announced March 19 will be National Agriculture Day with the theme of “Agriculture: Growing a Climate for Tomorrow.”

Agriculture plays a key role in everyday life. As the membership in the National FFA Organization continues to grow, it’s evident that students today understand the important role they can also play in agriculture.

The National FFA Organization and MANRRS signed a memorandum of understanding to create a formative alliance with the shared goal of growing diversity, equity and inclusion in agriculture.

Several factors are impacting agricultural land ownership in the United States, including the transfer of farmland to the next generation.

Illinois farmers traveled to Washington to tell Congress that the next farm bill must be a climate bill.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking applications for projects that will improve outreach to underserved producers and underserved communities about conservation programs and services and opportunities for students.

Black History Month is an important time to remember the agricultural contributions of the African American community — such as those of George Washington Carver.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Agriculture shared accomplishments made in 2022 to support the state’s No. 1 industry.

Illinois will use $14.4 million in U.S. Department of Agriculture funding to buy locally produced food and distribute it to those in need, according to state officials.

Agriculture remains a top employer in rural parts of the United States, but who worked in the industry has changed during the past three years, according to new data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service.

By the time you read this column, the year’s corn harvest will be finished and the soybeans harvested and trucked off to market. Another year in the farmers’ calendar is just about complete.

Zach Ducheneaux is a child of farm financial crisis of the 1980s, when farmers were dealing with rising inflation, rising interest rates, uncertainty in the markets and weather events.

November is Native American Heritage Month, a time to recognize the significant contributions that the first Americans made to the establishment and growth of the United States.

Agriculture education supporters learned a youth organization helps students learn about agricultural careers even if their school doesn’t offer ag classes.

Local foods and regenerative agriculture efforts scored some major wins by the close of the Illinois General Assembly session.

Embracing the role model within themselves is important for women in agriculture. “Any time I have the opportunity to engage with a group of women that love agriculture as much as I do is a good day,” said Kim Kidwell.

On a secluded ridge surrounded by trees and corn lies a unique piece of Monona County history that few seem to know exists.

A plot of land in Connecticut, once a thriving tobacco farm where Martin Luther King Jr. worked as a college student in the 1940s, will be protected for its historic and cultural significance to the state’s civil rights history.

Six Black farmworkers in Mississippi say in a new lawsuit that their former employer brought white laborers from South Africa to do the same jobs they were doing, and that the farm has been violating federal law by paying the white immigrants more for the same type of work.

Illinois will hold an extra lottery to give six applicants an opportunity to operate marijuana retail stores after they were wrongly denied fair chances to win earlier, officials said.

As farmers, we all have ideas about how our farms should be run, but that doesn’t mean we always have the best ideas. I realize that a good idea can come from anyone on our farm, whether they work in the milking parlor, drive a planter or manage payroll.

In farming, the late Farm Journal economist John Marten liked to say, we keep score with acres. Right or wrong, acres — and the wealth they represent — have always been a measure of personal and professional success.

Minority farmers who for decades have faced systemic discrimination will begin to receive debt relief beginning in early June under what Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack called one of the most significant pieces of civil rights legislation in decades.

When Sylvester Bembry inherited the family farm in Hawkinsville from his parents, he inherited the debt that came with it. Debt that he doesn’t want to pass on to the next generation. “All we can do is pray about it,” he said. “And hopefully it will work out.”

During the beginning of the pandemic, as many people were trying to grasp what exactly COVID-19 was, Eugenia Alexander decided she’d start growing produce for her family and the community at her Glen Carbon home. She thought she needed it for survival.

A hydroponic produce farm in Indianapolis is filling a need in food deserts around the city. Food deserts are areas where grocery stores aren’t easily accessible. More than 200,000 people live in food deserts in Indy, according to a study published by SAVI.