June 23 , 2010 column from the Star Beacon and Gazette
by John Parker

"We finished planting soybeans in early May," said my friend, “and we have been making grass silage when the weather cooperates and with the good growth of corn we need to get our nitrogen on.”  Most of his fields are tilled using what is called minimum till and no-till. 
 
What is called a field cultivator, or sometimes different cultivating tools, is used that works up the top layer of soil and leaves a lot of organic matter on top.  This method saves energy because fewer trips are needed to get crops planted and there is also less compaction of the soil.  It also reduces soil erosion by helping control water run-off.
 
Local farmers and those across the United States have contributed to a 43 percent reduction in soil erosion over the last 25 years with these newer tillage and other conservation practices, according to a National Resource Inventory conducted by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).  This inventory is important because it provides a tracking of environmental methods such as the agricultural practices that help reduce erosion.

Large family farms are only eight percent of the farms in the U.S., yet they produce 62% of our food. But they get a smaller proportion of government payments.

June 16 , 2010 column from the Star Beacon and Gazette
by John Parker

Travel around Ashtabula and Trumbull County and other areas of northeast Ohio and notice the large fields that are being farmed. Most of them are planted to corn or soybeans and some can be 100 to 200 or more acres in size.

Making that observation raises some good questions. Why have farms and fields become so much larger compared to 30 or 40 years ago? Just what size farms really produce our food locally and in the United States?

Smaller farms of 40 years ago were not large enough to provide an income that would support an adequate farm family income. So families had some choices. One was to go out of the farming business. Let someone else farm the land. That made land available for others to buy and expand their operations, becoming more efficient.

In a recent session in Geauga County, consumers and farmers met to discuss livestock regulation concerns.

May 5, 2010 column from the Star Beacon and Gazette
by John Parker

More than 175 people turned out for the first Listening Session held recently by the new Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board in Parkman, Geauga County. The purpose of the session was to gather information from Ohioans to be used by the Board in developing standards for Ohio livestock. Represented were farms of all sizes, small and large, including organic and conventional agriculture. A few also identified themselves as consumers not farmers.

This was the first of six listening sessions to be held by the Livestock Care Standards Board across Ohio. Dominic Marchese from Trumbull County is a member of the Board and helpful in bringing this session to the area.

Widely different opinions were expressed as can be expected from a cross section of both farm and non-farm people. One thought that came from several sources was "please don't over-regulate our farms, we need to be allowed to farm.” This view was expressed by several people. It was also recognized that every regulation has a cost that farms have to pay to stay in business.

Some pointed out that we already have many good regulations in place now that farmers are following and those should be considered by the Board. Organic farmers wanted to be sure that any regulations passed did not interfere with organic standards already set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

May 5 , 2010 column from the Star Beacon and Gazette
by John Parker

We hear a few people use the term "factory farms," implying that much of our food today is produced on large, corporate farms where livestock is treated inhumanely and there is little concern for the environment. That idea is a myth, or simply untrue with no factual basis.

Let’s look at the facts, locally and across Ohio and the nation. First, a farm according to census definition is any parcel of land that grosses $1,000 or more in sales of agriculture products. That suggests we have many very small plots of land that might include a large garden selling locally or someone selling hay from a meadow or a few trees from the woods.