A bill introduced by Republicans in Congress is meant to make it easier to find out who owns foreign farmland. Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Rick Crawford (R-AR) introduced the Agricultural Foreign Investment Transparency Act on December 8, with support from many other Republican lawmakers.

Rep. Crawford said, “This bill would bring to light American farmland that is owned by entities in communist China and other places, so we can figure out how much of a threat it is to our national security and take action.”

Farms.com says that the bill calls for the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act to be changed. In 1978, the U.S. passed this law to set up a way to find out who owns farmland outside of the country.

Reps. Stefanik and Crawford’s bill would: require the Secretary of Agriculture to put all new and old AFIDA reports on the USDA website for everyone to see; Expand the information that needs to be reported to AFIDA to include security interests and land leases for any length of time, including agricultural land that isn’t being used. Increase oversight and broaden the scope of reporting to make sure that there is a report of all acquisitions of land that isn’t being used, companies that issue foreign-traded equity securities, and all interests bought, sold, or held by a foreign person.

USDA data shows that as of December 2019, foreign investors owned about 35.2 million acres of farmland, which was worth about $63 billion and made up about 3% of all farmland. About the size of the state of Iowa, this area is about this big.

About 29% of this land is owned by Canadian investors, but people from more than 100 other countries, like the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, the UK, and China, also own parts of U.S. farmland.

In response to a question from Parliament this week, Minister for Agriculture Damien O’Connor said that this year, animals worth about $406 million will be exported.

The value of livestock exported in 2021 was about $340 million, which was up from $261 million in 2020.

Mark Willis, who is the chair of Livestock Export NZ, said that the value of animals exported went up by more than 20% from the previous price highs.

He said that Chinese importers and farmers wanted to get breeding stock from New Zealand before the ban, so the demand for breeding stock from New Zealand went up.

Data from the Ministry of Primary Industries showed that 109,921 animals were exported in 2020 and 134,722 animals were exported in 2021. So far this year, 109,835 had been sent abroad.

Willis said that a cow meant for export now sold for between $2,000 and $2,200 at the farm gate.

He said that China had a lot of dairy farms, but it could only breed about 40% of the cows it needed. The rest had to be brought in from other countries.

Willis said that about 4000 farmers sold their goods on the export market.
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Lyle Williams is a dairy farmer in Ashburton. For the last three years, he has sold about 150 young cows for export each year.

He said that he would usually get between $1600 and $1900 for an export cow.

In New Zealand, where there were already too many young cows on the market, he would get $500 to $600 for the same animal.

Williams said he was worried that putting even more animals on the local market that aren’t needed would hurt the whole business and cause prices to drop.

Williams said that the dairy industry was getting smaller and wouldn’t need the cows that were being sent abroad.

Since it costs him about $400 to raise one cow, he would also lose a lot of money if he raised them himself.

He thought that cows might be sold as bobby calves, but he said that this made about $25 per animal.

He said that there wasn’t enough grass to raise the replacement cows that were already there, and that more cows would put pressure on the grass.

Richard McColl, who works for the Meat Industry Association as manager of industrial operations and innovation, said that the export dairy cows couldn’t be raised for the meat trade because there wasn’t enough demand for meat in the country.

McColl said that the extra animals would also take the place of animals that are already raised for meat.

He said that when the live trade market was shut down, the animals lost a way to make a living.

He also said that farms wouldn’t be able to raise them because they would take the place of cows that are raised to give milk.

If you think of the “food industry” as a single entity, you ignore the fact that its three main parts—raw material production, or “farming,” manufacturing, and retail—have very different strategic drivers.

In the FMCG basket, you can find many grocery items that aren’t food. These range from cleaning and home goods to health, beauty, personal, and pet care. If you go to any grocery store, these non-food categories take up about 20% of the shelf space.
Farming

The “family farm” used to be the most common type of farm, but that is becoming less common as scale, which is made possible by capital, replaces intergenerational family ownership.

When a company owns a farm, the costs go down, but the farm is more likely to become a monoculture as short-term profits become more important.

Even though it isn’t perfect, the register of foreign ownership shows that 14.1% of agricultural land is owned by foreigners as of June 2021. This is up from 10.9% the year before.

The National Farmers Federation says that Australians own about 99 percent of farm businesses. It’s clear that the big are getting bigger at the expense of the small.

Infrastructure for farm production management needs a lot of money spent on it. Rail networks are broken, and the roads are a mess. This is a long-term problem, and the costs of running a farm will go up faster than the rate of inflation.
Manufacturing

A report from the AFGC says that retail concentration is a big reason why profits are going down, which means that imports will gain ground.

At the moment, the industry that makes food and drinks employs 276,000 people, 40% of whom work in rural areas. The industry’s output is worth $127 billion, which is 32% of all manufacturing output in Australia.

In other words, it is big and has a lot of different people and places, so it should be a big part of how we think about educating and training future leaders.

Gross numbers for the industry show that almost 30% of the value of what is made is exported. The problem is that most of this is raw or only lightly processed meat and grains, which don’t hire many people anywhere along their supply chains and compete in commodity markets.

One of the eight directors of the Australian Food and Grocery Council, the industry’s “representative” body, is the CEO of an Australian beverage company. The other nine directors are all CEOs of multinational companies.

This is not a bad thing, except for the obvious fact that it keeps lobbying and government policy in favour of MNCs instead of locally owned businesses.

As a young man in the late 1970s who had been a nomad for a few years, there were many different kinds and sizes of businesses I could work for. Over time, both the number and variety have dropped by a lot.

Important industries, like dairy, are almost entirely run by multinationals now. The only exception is produce, where there are still a lot of farm suppliers, even though a few very large consolidators, like Costas, now control most of the retail supply chain.

Aside from a few small organic brands, there are no proprietary produce brands in retail. This is because retailers have made sure to absorb all the proprietary margin in produce.

If there is a light at the end of the tunnel, it may be Bega. The disruption of supply chains and the low profit margins of FMCG manufacturing have made it harder to see the light.

Bega Cheese was saved from the receiver in the early 1990s by Dairy Farmers Ltd, which is now owned by a foreign company. Since then, Bega Cheese has been able to grow by buying the Port Melbourne site of Kraft, which was sold to Mondelez, and by buying the Vegemite brand and, more recently, the rebranded peanut butter business.

Maybe this is the start of something good?
Retail

The size and share of Australia’s food and grocery market depend on what is included.

Most studies show that Woolworths has about 37% of the market, Coles has about 28%, and Aldi, which is now the real third force, has about 11%. The wholesaler supplied groups have about 7%.

The last 17 percent is made up of a mix of fresh and farmer’s markets, delivery straight from the farm, small independent stores, and convenience stores.

There is also a huge food service market, with everything from small restaurants and takeout to fast food chains and five-star restaurants. This industry uses a lot of goods and puts thousands of people to work.

This group of 76 percent of food and grocery sales has a lot of power. As they have grown, they have moved out of the crowded retail market of the 1970s and 1980s, taking over or leaving behind weaker competitors.

They have used a variety of strategic weapons that are a perfect example of Michael Porter’s five forces to squeeze the profit margins of manufacturers.

As a result, manufacturers have also grown by using regional manufacturing hubs, which are usually in Asia.

The effect on domestically owned manufacturing has been huge, and it got worse when the Australian dollar was worth more than the US dollar. This made more people buy house brands made overseas, wiping out most of what was left of locally owned manufacturing.

With a few notable exceptions, like San Remo, Bega, and Sanitarium, which do not pay tax, most Australian-owned food manufacturing is done by small-scale cottage manufacturers who depend on the 24 percent of the market that is not controlled by the three retail “gorillas.”

It is fair to point fingers at the retailers while acknowledging that the local management failed to come up with a good plan.

The big FMCG brands that were built up by domestic companies over a long time didn’t realise how important it was to keep their brands in the long run.

Instead, they gave in to retailers’ demands for short-term promotional dollars that helped retailers’ profit margins and kept prices low.

Short-term, consumers may have benefited from the competition between prices, but they had a lot less to choose from.

In the long run, they will have to deal with the effects of an economy where only a small part of its biggest manufacturing industry is able to make strategic decisions based on what is most important to the country.
A few ideas about what’s to come

Technology has no choice but to take over more and more of the industry in all of its parts.

Australia is already one of the best places in the world to make and use agricultural technology.

If we don’t speed up the rate of innovation, Australian agriculture will lose the productivity edge it has now. Even though we have great farmers, the continent’s soils are old and poor, and there are a lot of climate risks.

So, if we want to keep our position, we need to keep getting smarter.

Changes in retail are happening in other places. Technology like “Amazon Go” will change the way people shop, and home delivery won’t go away.

Australian retailers, on the other hand, are set on improving the business model that has made them successful in the past. This will make room for different retail formats and ways of doing business.

Retailers are good at selling things, but they aren’t very good at making new ones.

In the past, businesses came up with new products and categories by getting to know their customers.

Those businesses are almost gone, though, so where will the next big idea come from? Not from the office of a buyer whose key performance indicators today are all about margin.

In a country as big and diverse as Australia, where logistics are so important, the logistics infrastructure is in bad shape.

Rail networks are broken, roads are getting worse, which was made worse by recent flooding, and it’s hard to find drivers for heavy and long-distance equipment.

The average age of all transport drivers is getting close to 50, and the average age of long-haul semi drivers is now 55, and no one is replacing them. When you think about jobs like picking up cattle from farms, which require specialised driving skills, the situation is already bad.

In short, the Australian food industry is facing a number of big problems that have been building up for a long time.

They will not be effectively addressed by industry or public authorities that think in terms of only a four or five year strategic horizon.

Allen Roberts is the head of StrategyAudit, a company that helps companies find and get rid of the things that stop them from doing their best.

Dairy has been a longtime partner of athletics due to the nutritional benefits of milk, yogurt, cheese, and other dairy products that help players perform their best. Since entering the virtual world of video games in 2021 as the Official Nutrition Partner of Complexity Gaming dairy’s digital game is stronger than ever. Staking its claim in the world of esports, also known as electronic sports – a form of competition where professional esports athletes play games against each other online – dairy now has an extended platform to interact with a broader audience.

Making a move into the esports space was the natural next step to better market dairy to the next generation by meeting them where they’re spending time — in the digital world. Gen Z, who are individuals born after 1996, are digital natives who have never experienced life without cell phones or internet access. This constant need for virtual connection has driven Gen Z to consider gaming as more than a hobby, but a lifestyle. In fact, 96 percent of Gen Z games, and 46 percent watch esports, giving way to another channel of marketing opportunities.

With a focus on better reaching Gen Z consumers to extend nutrition education, Dairy MAX has announced a new partnership with OpTic, one of the most winning esports organizations in the world. This partnership will allow collaboration at live and virtual events, integrated social media campaigns, and video content showcasing esports pros and gaming personalities testing dairy’s benefits on their cognitive performance and opportunities for students to compete and learn.

To further the work in esports, Dairy MAX and Gaming Community Network (GCN), recently held the Fuel Up to Play 60 Madden NFL 23 Open Tournament, an online EA SPORTS competition for students in the Dallas Cowboys’ viewing area. The free tournament tested middle and high school students’ gaming skills for a chance to live like the Dallas Cowboys for a day. The tournament also educated the youth gaming community on the importance of fueling their bodies with healthy foods, so they have the energy to perform at their highest level.

“For more than 100 years, dairy farmers have been focused on youth health and wellness, starting with feeding kids in schools,” said Mike Konkle, CEO, Dairy MAX. “For the past decade, we’ve worked closely with traditional sports – most notably with the NFL through our Fuel Up to Play 60 program – to help teach kids and their families that performing at your best starts with eating right.

The grand prize winner of the Fuel Up to Play 60 Madden Open Tournament, Quiterence Cotton is a 7th-grade student at Dr. Frederick Douglass Todd Sr. Middle School in Dallas. Cotton’s school was awarded a branded breakfast cart for having the most students registered for the tournament, courtesy of the Hubert Company. The breakfast cart makes it incredibly easy for students to get breakfast on the go, increasing the likelihood that they will eat this important meal. Cotton also won free Whataburger for a year and in addition to ultimate bragging rights, he will become an honorary Dallas Cowboys player for a day, which allows him to sign a team “contract” and attend a Dallas Cowboys game and practice.

You can send comments to regulations@labor.ny.gov by email.

In September, a three-person wage board voted to send its suggestion to state Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon for her to look over. Over the next ten years, that recommendation was to lower the overtime limit for farmworkers from 60 to 40 hours.

Reardon agreed to that plan, and the process of making rules started. The public has 60 days to say what they think about the process.

Starting in 2024, the number of hours a farm worker must work before getting overtime will drop from 60 to 56. The limit will drop by four hours every two years, from 52 in 2026 to 48 in 2028 to 44 in 2030 to 40 in 2032.

Farmers and state lawmakers don’t like the plan because they think it will hurt farming in New York. They point to a Cornell report that surveyed dairy farmers and found that almost two-thirds of farms would stop making milk, move out of state, or leave the industry. Half of the people who grow vegetables said they would either cut back or stop.

The lower overtime threshold is supported by groups that speak up for farmworkers. One of their main points is that it would make farmworkers the same as workers in other industries who get overtime after 40 hours of work.

“Dairy farming isn’t done by as many people as it used to be. Maggie Mathews said, “It’s the fastest way for me to see the results of my work because it’s almost instant.”

Mathews, who is 19 years old, is the third generation of his family to work on the farm, carrying on a 60-year-old practise.

Her stepfather, Donald Bickel, and Matthew’s mother, Jackie Bickel, own and run the business.

“You have to want to do it and love it, or else milking cows every day can get pretty boring,” said Donald Bickel.

The dairy business is getting smaller.

In 2021, the United States Department of Agriculture said that there were 1,620 dairy farms in Ohio. There were 3,170 in use ten years ago.

Jackie Bickell said that 2015 was a bad year for the dairy business.

“My husband and I stuck it out for about a year and a half, and we were seriously thinking about a way out,” she said.

Mathews, on the other hand, had an idea that changed the way their farm was run.

“In agriculture class, we had to come up with a business plan for a class project. We had just been to Swallow Hill farms, so I thought it would be a good idea to have my own bottling plant,” she said.

It was a good idea.

Happy Cows Creamery now sells directly to customers through its farm store and online through Market Wagon.

“The farm is much more sustainable and financially healthy now than it was five years ago. We still have a ways to go, but every year we definitely grow and get bigger,” Jackie said.

Holstein UK is delighted to announce that South Wales dairy farmer Iwan Morgan has been appointed as the judge of The National Holstein Show at UK Dairy Day 2023.

The ninth UK Dairy Day takes place at the International Centre in Telford on Wednesday, 13th September. The event is the leading dairy trade event in the UK and brings together over 300 businesses, over 8,000 visitors, leading suppliers, dairy farmers and industry representatives.

Iwan and his father Edward run the Erie herd of 150 Holsteins and 30 Jerseys. The grazing herd, based near Carmarthen, is well known nationally with prominent cow families such as the Lustre’s, Supreme Maude’s, Roxy Red’s and Gold Barbara’s.

The Morgan family have had great success over the years, twice receiving the Holstein UK Master Breeder award and achieving over twenty wins in the Holstein UK All Britain Awards. They have won Supreme Champion three times at The Royal Welsh Show, won Champion Red and White at the National Holstein show and twice won Champion Jersey at UK Dairy Day.

Iwan is experienced in the show ring, having judged all dairy breeds at many shows. His highlights include Balmoral Show, The Bailey’s Virginia Show, The Irish National Calf Show, The Great Yorkshire Show, The Royal Cornwall Show and The All Breeds All Britain Calf Show. He has also been fortunate to judge internationally in New Zealand, Italy and Australia. Iwan and his wife Menna, have three children who all love the farm and sports, especially football and gymnastics.

Iwan Morgan, 2023 National Holstein Show judge, said; “It is a great honour to be asked to judge the National Holstein Show. I have competed there for many years. I look forward to having my opportunity to stand in the ring as the judge. There is always a superb display of cows from all over the UK at UK Dairy Day, it is the show to be at. I look forward to tapping out my class winners and champion.”

Lynden Bustard, UK Dairy Day Cattle Show Manager, added, “We are delighted to welcome Iwan to judge The National Holstein Show. He brings a wealth of breeding and showing experience to the ring. We look forward to seeing his winners.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has extended the deadline for producers to enroll in Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) and Supplemental Dairy Margin Coverage (SDMC) for program year 2023 to Jan. 31, 2023.   

DMC is a voluntary risk management program that offers protection to dairy producers when the difference between the all-milk price and the average feed price (the margin) falls below a certain dollar amount selected by the producer.    

“We recognize this is a busy time of year with many competing priorities, so we’ve extended the DMC enrollment deadline to ensure every producer who wants coverage for 2023 has the opportunity to enroll in the program,” said Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Zach Ducheneaux. “Early projections indicate DMC payments are likely to trigger for the first eight months in 2023. We all know that markets fluctuate, sometimes at a moment’s notice and sometimes with no warning at all, so now’s the time to ensure your operation is covered. Please don’t let this second chance slide.”  

Nearly 18,000 operations that enrolled in DMC for 2022 have received margin payments for August and September for a total of $76.3 million. At $0.15 per hundredweight for $9.50 coverage, risk coverage through DMC is a relatively inexpensive investment.   

DMC offers different levels of coverage, even an option that is free to producers, aside from a $100 administrative fee. Limited resource, beginning, socially disadvantaged, and military veteran farmers and ranchers are exempt from paying the administrative fee, if requested. To determine the appropriate level of DMC coverage for a specific dairy operation, producers can use the online dairy decision tool.    

Supplemental DMC  

Last year, USDA introduced Supplemental DMC, which provided $42.8 million in payments to better help small- and mid-sized dairy operations that had increased production over the years but were not able to enroll the additional production. Supplemental DMC is also available for 2023.  The enrollment period for 2023 Supplemental DMC is also extended to Jan. 31, 2023. 

Supplemental DMC coverage is applicable to calendar years 2021, 2022 and 2023.  Eligible dairy operations with less than 5 million pounds of established production history may enroll supplemental pounds.    

For producers who enrolled in Supplemental DMC in 2022, the supplemental coverage will automatically be added to the 2023 DMC contract that previously established a supplemental production history.   

Producers who did not enroll in Supplemental DMC in 2022 can do so now. Producers should complete their Supplemental DMC enrollment before enrolling in 2023 DMC. To enroll, producers will need to provide their 2019 actual milk marketing, which FSA uses to determine established production history.  

DMC Payments  

FSA will continue to calculate DMC payments using updated feed and premium hay costs, making the program more reflective of actual dairy producer expenses.  These updated feed calculations use 100% premium alfalfa hay rather than 50%. 

For more information on DMC, visit the DMC webpage or contact your local USDA Service Center. 

The owner of a dairy farm in Kewaunee County, the manure hauler he hired to spread manure on the farm’s land, and an agronomist who submitted a false report about that waste to the Department of Natural Resources have all been charged by the Wisconsin Department of Justice. These individuals are being held accountable for their roles in spreading manure on the farm’s land.

According to the complaint, Gregory Stodola was hired by Johannes Wakker of Kewaunee in late 2019 to disperse extra manure on the farm that Johannes Wakker owned. Because the quantity exceeded what was allowed by Wakker’s permit, some of it was discharged into tributaries that lead to Lake Michigan with E. coli bacteria readings that were as much as 100 times higher than those that would result in the closure of a public beach.

According to the records, Stodola was responsible for creating a document that severely under stated the amount of manure that was really spread by more than 1.9 million gallons. After that, Stodola delivered the document to Wakker, and Wakker gave it to the defendant Benjamin Koss, who was a consultant engaged by Wakker to complete a mandatory report with DNR on the spreading of manure.

Before filing charges, the Department of Natural Resources conducted an investigation into the incident.

On the 12th of January, everyone of individuals implicated in the case is scheduled to make their initial appearance in the Kewaunee County Circuit Court.

On Wednesday, November 30, World Dairy Expo hosted its annual Friends of Expo celebration, honoring the hundreds of volunteers, paid workers, and partners who make World Dairy Expo possible. Highlighting the evening was the presentation of the 2022 Friends of Expo awards. Receiving recognition this year were Bob and Marge Kaether, Berta Hansen and Adam Alesch.

Bob and Marge Kaether, Waunakee, Wis., have been essential in the success of World Dairy Expo, specifically in the Purple Cow Gift Shop and WDE’s School Tour program. After a two-year hiatus of school tours, no one was more excited to see them return than Bob, who has led numerous fourth-grade students around Expo grounds, sharing his passion for the dairy industry. Marge can be found in the Purple Cow Gift Shop throughout the week, doing everything from sorting hangers and inventory to helping customers find the perfect gifts for their loved ones.

For over 20 years, Berta Hansen, Evansville, Wis., has served as the International Registration Coordinator. During this time, she has personally greeted over 58,000 international guests and manages the on-site interpreter team. Hansen has created a team that is compassionate, dedicated and essential to creating a memorable experience for Expo’s international guests.

The final friend honored was Adam Alesch of Madison, Wis. As an employee at Alliant Energy Center, Alesch touches every part of Expo and ensures its success. From setting the Showring and booths for the Trade Show to creating a home for dairy cattle and their exhibitors in the New Holland Pavilions, his work begins weeks in advance of the event and concludes weeks after the last cow goes home.

 Serving as the meeting place of the global dairy industry, World Dairy Expo brings together the latest in dairy innovation and the best cattle in North America. The global dairy industry will return to Madison, Wis. for the 56^th event, October 1-6, 2023, when the world’s largest dairy-focused trade show, dairy and forage seminars, a world-class dairy cattle show and more will be on display. Download the World Dairy Expo mobile event app, visitworlddairyexpo.com or follow WDE on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Spotify, Instagram or YouTube for more information.

Pepsi started a promotion on Thursday that encourages people to try the combo and use the hashtag #PilkandCookies (as in Pepsi plus milk) to exhibit their Santa-friendly concoctions. The campaign will run through December 24. Those who take part in the online challenge that will be running until Christmas Day will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win cash prizes.

“Combining Pepsi with milk has long been a hidden hack among Pepsi lovers,” said Todd Kaplan, Pepsi’s chief marketing officer, in a statement about the campaign. “Combining Pepsi and milk has long been a secret hack among Pepsi fans.”

Pepsi is now promoting the cocktail as its own unique take on the popular TikTok craze known as “dirty soda,” which consists of combining soda with syrup and cream. Companies such as PepsiCo pay attention to what is going on on TikTok, and they frequently search for ways to join in on trends as a way to ensure that they continue to be relevant to young consumers.

“With the rise of the ‘dirty soda’ trend on TikTok and throughout the country, we thought Pilk and Cookies would be a great way to unapologetically celebrate the holidays,” said Kaplan. “With the rise of the ‘dirty soda’ trend on TikTok and throughout the country, we thought Pilk and Cookies would be a great way to una

Pepsi wanted to make the campaign even more popular, so they recruited Lindsay Lohan, who stars in the Christmas movie “Falling for Christmas” that is available on Netflix, to promote the combo.

Pepsi is attempting to create its own viral combination, so the company is providing a variety of recipe suggestions for anyone who want to expand their options beyond just mixing Pepsi with milk.

Some of these recipes include the Naughty & Ice, which combines Pepsi with one cup of whole milk, one tablespoon of heavy cream and one tablespoon of vanilla cream in addition to Pepsi; the Cherry on Top, which combines Pepsi Wild Cherry with half a cup of 2% milk, two tablespoons of heavy cream, and two tablespoons of caramel creamer; and the Snow Fl(oat), which combines Pepsi Zero Sugar and half a cup of oat milk

TikTok trends

The soda cocktails are relatively new to TikTok, but they have been popular in Utah for years. Utah has a significant proportion of Mormons, and some members of this religious group refrain from alcoholic beverages as well as hot beverages.

TikTok found out about the beverage after the Gen Z pop diva Olivia Rodrigo shared a photo of herself holding a Swig cup in December of the previous year. The image sent people searching for information about the Utah-based brand. Swig, which has been in business since 2010 and proclaims to be “home of the original dirty soda,” provides a wide variety of carbonated mash-ups and calls itself “home of the original dirty soda.”

According to a report published in April by Eater, the trend gained momentum very quickly. The article stated that “TikTok is now replete with more than 700,000 mentions of the #dirtysoda hashtag,” the majority of which accompany videos of creators showing viewers how to make their own dirty sodas at home.

Corporations have been motivated to capitalise on culinary trends by viral food sensations. Sometimes, these companies even create new goods based on what they see in the market.

For example, in September 2020, Dunkin’ Donuts collaborated with the popular TikTok star Charli D’Amelio to create a limited-time beverage called The Charli. This drink consisted of cold brew with whole milk and three pumps of caramel swirl, and it was modelled after D’Amelio’s preferred beverage order. On the day the app was launched, Dunkin’ Donuts broke their own record for the number of daily active app users. And during the course of the previous year, Starbucks conducted several tests about the viability of selling the popular Iced Matcha Latte with Chai on social media sites.

This year, Kraft Heinz introduced a new product called Dip & Crunch, which is a dipping sauce for burgers that comes packaged with “salty potato crunchers.” People are supposed to start by dipping a burger or sandwich into the sauce, then into the crunchers, and finally take a bite off of it. This is something that has supposedly been popular on TikTok, with some users praising the fad while others questioned it.

A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of California, Merced shows that the addition of even a small amount of biochar, which is a material similar to charcoal that is produced by burning organic matter, to the manure-composting process at a dairy can reduce methane emissions by 84%.

One of the most significant contributors to methane emissions in California is the dairy business, which is responsible for fifty percent of the state’s total methane output. The efforts being made by the state and the federal government to combat climate change must include the reduction of these emissions.

Rebecca Ryals, a professor of life and environmental sciences, referred to this phenomenon as a “great example of an undiscovered climate solution.” “Pollutant emissions from open burning of biomass and methane emissions from decomposing biomass are both reduced by using biochar,” says one study.

It is not common for dairies to have equipment like anaerobic digesters, but the dairy that the researchers worked on did so that it could properly manage the waste produced by its livestock. To achieve the climate goals that have been set, it is anticipated that most dairies will have digesters by the year 2030; however, at the moment, only a small fraction of dairies actually have them. One of the most significant contributors of organic waste in the state is manure from dairy farms. According to Brendan Harrison, a graduate student in his fourth year who is studying agroecology under Ryals and explains that farmers drain the waste from their barns and the liquids go into enormous uncovered ponds, while the solids are built up, the ponds are not covered. The farmers may sometimes cover the ponds in order to collect the methane emissions, which are then piped into generators and burned in order to produce energy.

According to Harrison, with the technology that are currently available, this strategy for cutting methane emissions is “really a pretty good way to reduce methane emissions.” “However, it does not account for any of the solids, which is an issue since in order to get rid of it, they either pile it up in large mounds or spread it out over areas that are close to the one in which it was produced. When you drive by a dairy, you’ll notice them covered in white plastic and kept down by tyres; they’re easy to spot. They are capable of generating so much heat that it causes them to spontaneously ignite.

Instead of hoarding the manure, the researchers looked into the possibility of composting it with biochar. According to Mechanical Engineering Professor Gerardo Diaz, biochar enhances the quality of composted manure, making it a more effective fertiliser for farmers to use on other portions of their land. This is one of the many benefits of using biochar.

“We were looking at ways to minimise emissions, but we were also looking at ways to bring some value to the community, particularly in areas that are disadvantaged,” Diaz said. “We investigated the potential of creating a mobile machine that we might take to various locations in order to process part of the material there.”

According to the findings of the study, smaller farmers would be able to utilise the improved fertiliser on their own farms to raise production or sell it to other people who have a requirement for it.

The study was made possible by funding from the California Strategic Growth Council. The research team, which was directed by Diaz, collaborated with Philip Verwey Dairy as well as industrial partners such as Golden State Carbon, LLC, and made use of the biomass that was found locally.

According to Diaz, “there is an urgent need to do something with that biomass because open-air burning is going to be banned in 2025.” Burning in an enclosed environment is required for the production of biochar.

The researchers, which included Diaz, Ryals, and professors Teamrat Ghezzehei, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, YangQuan Chen, and Catherine Keske, examined the project from a variety of perspectives, such as emissions, a life-cycle analysis, the economic viability of such work, and how it affected the soil. The researchers also looked at how the project affected the soil.

Biochar, which was used by Indigenous people in their own farming practises, has the propensity to stay in the soil for much longer than other types of compounds, but the length of time it spends there is contingent on how the biochar is interacted with by the ecosystem of the soil, which includes the myriad of different microbes that can be found there. According to Ryals’ explanation, the longevity of any carbon that does remain in the soil is dependent on the ecosystem.

The conclusion that can be drawn from this research is that biochar is beneficial to dairy farmers as well as the environment. Diaz stated that additional research will investigate the various types of biochar that are composted together with dairy manure in an effort to encourage farmers to adopt this technology.

“Composting the solid manure isn’t the common practice, but if we go from stockpiling to composting, now we’ve gone from a carbon source to a carbon sink,” said Ryals. “If we go from stockpiling to composting, now we’ve gone from a carbon source to a carbon sink.” “Composting, by its very nature, is an activity that is incredibly good to the environment. And if you add just a tiny bit of biochar to that compost, you can basically double the impact that you have.

In response to the increased difficulty of producing milk and maple syrup due to climate change and other environmental concerns, a slew of new crops and agricultural enterprises have emerged.  Saffron, communal farming, and Vermont goats: The agricultural landscape of Vermont is shifting due to the introduction of new crops and industries.

There was a time when every country store in Vermont was stocked to the ceiling with homemade maple syrup and candies and the state’s landscape was lined with weathered red barns housing herds of dairy cows. Still present are the barns with their deteriorating cow paintings and the sugar maples that continue to attract autumn leaf peepers. However, the state’s most important agricultural products are in jeopardy due to changes in industry and environment.

According to the University of Vermont’s Climate Assessment 2021, the average temperature in Vermont has risen by over 2 degrees Fahrenheit since 1900, and the state has seen a worrisome 21 percent increase in precipitation. The state’s freeze-free period has expanded by three weeks since 1960, while winter temperatures have increased at a rate that is 2.5 times the yearly average. More flooding and drought are expected, which will make it harder to cultivate important crops and create additional problems for the state’s dairy farmers, according to experts.

As traditional crops grow more difficult to cultivate, a new wave of “agripreneurs” are jumping in to attempt something new. These farmers tend to be young, have never farmed before, and be more likely to be women or people of colour. And over time, these new crops and farmers have the potential to change the character of a state that has been defined for generations by its relationship to the soil.

Here are some examples of the innovative food and farming projects that are reshaping Vermont.

John Brawley cares for something considerably smaller than the cows that previously inhabited an ancient milking barn near Charlotte. He collects 100 pounds of Pacific white-leg shrimp every week from above-ground, indoor recirculating saltwater pools at Vermont’s first shrimp aquaculture business, Sweet Sound Aquaculture.

Seventy percent of the state’s agricultural economy was historically dependent on the dairy industry. However, Vermont’s small-scale operations lost ground to California’s expansive undertakings, and the state’s total number of dairy farms fell from more than 4,000 in 1969 to fewer than 600 in 2021. Hotter weather played a role in that change as well by making cows reduce their food intake and milk output. Charlotte’s 600-acre Nordic Farms, a dairy farm, went bankrupt in 2017. After a year, everyone sold their cows at auction. The area, however, was eventually incorporated into Vermont’s agricultural landscape. Gardener’s Supply’s creator, Will Raap, purchased the land with the intention of making it a showcase for Vermont’s “post-dairy agricultural economy.”

Raap decided that a cooperative farming model could succeed where Nordic Farms had failed, and thus Earthkeep Farmcommon was founded in 2021. Farmers markets and other events help more than a dozen farms, including Brawley’s, increase their customer base and strengthen their brands in the eyes of the general public.

Brawley wanted to cultivate locally caught shrimp, the United States’ second most popular seafood, in a landlocked state far from coastlines without negatively impacting the local ecosystem.

Brawley said as he used a net to collect virtually transparent mature shrimp, “This is efficient, sustainable, healthful, and helps the local economy.” The shrimp were kept in insulated lumber-framed ponds with smoother rubber liners. As of right now, Brawley is working solo, ensuring that the tanks have adequate oxygen levels and pH. Still, it costs him between $6 and $9 to produce a pound of shrimp, and the barn still reeks of a combination of shrimp and cows.

An outdated land-use regulation is partially responsible for Vermont’s renewed agricultural vitality. Act 250 went into effect in 1970, when Vermont was facing significant pressure to grow, and has proved crucial in preserving the state’s distinctive character. Because of its stringent evaluation process for new uses of farmland, commercial development is slowed down and other viable agricultural companies are given higher priority.

Vermont now enjoys a longer growing season thanks to global warming, making the state ideal for the cultivation of cereal crops like wheat. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has increased global grain prices, helping to fuel the industry’s expansion. The viability and competitiveness of regional grains have increased, but they still face challenges due to a lack of processing facilities and infrastructure.

In order to “relocalize the grain industry,” as stated by Vermont Malthouse general manager Rob Hunter, the only malthouse in the state supplies malted grains obtained locally to the state’s brewers and distillers.

The grain “right now” comes from “a multitude of places geographically,” he said. We work with local farmers to grow as much as we can, and for the remainder, we look no more than 500 miles away,” Hunter explained. The majority of Vermont’s breweries (about 77) are interested in producing at least one beer made entirely from local ingredients.

Before Earthkeep’s release, one of Nordic Farms’ two main barns had been transformed into a granary, serving as a grain co-op that enabled milling, flaking, roasting, smoking, and blending. By installing steep tanks, a heating system, a chiller, and a flaker, the malthouse was able to increase its output by a factor of two.

Malting often occurs with rye, wheat, and barley. The process of steeping grain involves soaking the grain in water to reawaken the dormant seeds, which are then given time to germinate and grow. The sprouting grain is kilned after about four days of growth, after which it is cleaned and bagged. Eventually, Hunter hopes to crank out 75 metric tonnes of finished malt per month. In its current, more modest form: Yesterday I hauled 30 fifty-pound bags to the original Foam Brewers location in Burlington, Vermont, on the banks of Lake Champlain. We’re trying out a new method for making koji malt, the rice malt used in making sake. It’s a group effort,” Hunter remarked.

To prevent milk prices from plummeting in 2020, the co-op that the Jones family was a part of mandated that all members reduce production to 85 percent of capacity and dump the excess. (Because at the start of the pandemic, businesses and institutions didn’t feel comfortable purchasing milk.) Meanwhile, due in part to drought and climate change-related harsh weather, the cost of feed, hauling fees, and even manure disposal had soared. There was a common belief that you needed at least a thousand cows to make a profit. No one in the Jones family owned enough land to house that many people.

The Jones family parted ways with their 320 milkers in April of 2020, selling them to a New York farmer. The Jones family had a dreadful day, but sons Brian and Steven, the fifth generation to farm the land, were prepared.

Carolyn, their mother, still gets emotional recalling her cows and the painted plywood cow head that she installed atop their barn. Now, though, 1,500 goats are seen inside the pen, parkouring across the hay piles and each other. The goat milk produced at Joneslan Farm in Hyde Park is sold to Vermont Creamery, making it the state’s largest goat dairy.

What’s the deal with the goats? Because it is solid rather than liquid, their waste does not pose the same environmental problems as cow manure does. Furthermore, it’s much less of a hassle to compost. Since the Joneses have stopped spreading 2 million gallons of liquid manure across their farm, their diesel use has decreased. Goats benefit from the milder environment of Vermont, where the Jones brothers farmed feed grains on 300 of their acres and rented other fields to meet the family’s needs while they had cows.

According to Todd Haire, co-owner of Burlington’s Foam Brewers, “changes have occurred that have allowed grapes to grow — and people are betting on it.” Haire’s passion project is the production of organic wines. Until recently, Vermont wineries could only use hybrid grapes that were resistant to the state’s cold climate. The changes in climate are also allowing him to use a wider variety of ingredients in his brews.
This past month’s selections from House of Fermentology. The changing climate has allowed the brewery to use a wider variety of ingredients. The Washington Post’s Zoeann Murphy.

For a while, “this is the fruit we have, so these are the beers we can create,” Haire explained. The ability to cultivate a peach in Vermont was severely limited 15 years ago. And now they’re wherever you look.

Haire’s side endeavour, House of Fermentology, is located at Earthkeep and is one of Vermont Malthouse’s clientele. The beers he is ageing in barrels are made with local ingredients like honey and botanicals from the farm, as well as ingredients like regional grains and hops and local fruits.

The sugar maple’s ideal climate is moving farther north into Canada as the planet warms. Shorter seasons, lower sap flow rates, and reduced sugar content in the syrup have resulted from not-as-cold low temperatures, higher high temperatures, and a lack of cold nights. (More sap is needed to boil into syrup when the sugar level is low.) The soil in Vermont is becoming less sugar maple-friendly as a result of climate change, and pests have a longer growing season as a result.

The state’s agricultural scientists are looking into methods through which farmers might “hedge their bets” by increasing the variety and economic value of their harvests. Saffron is one of Vermont’s up-and-coming spices.

About $16 million worth of the tiny red crocus pistils used to season and colour dishes like bouillabaisse and risotto are imported annually by the United States. Even though Iran and Spain have long been associated with the cultivation of the world’s most expensive spice, over 200 growers in Vermont are now doing it as well. Arash Ghalehgolabbehbahani, an agroecologist specialising in sustainable agriculture and crop diversification, and University of Vermont research professor Margaret Skinner established the North American Center for Saffron Research & Development in South Burlington, pioneering the farming of this lucrative crop as a way for small Vermont farmers to expand their options.

These low-growing floral plants are typically planted around the outside of a solar array, nestled in the shadow of the panels. In a world with increasingly harsh sun, drought, and extreme rain events, a new field of agricultural study called agrovoltaics uses the same land to capture solar energy and food.
Saffron is harvested in South Burlington, where the North American Center for Saffron Research and Development is located. The Washington Post’s Zoeann Murphy.

After most of the state’s other crops have been harvested, late summer is when you plant these bulblike corms to enjoy their purple blossoms in October and November. Harvesting the flowers and removing the vivid red filaments requires farmers to work quickly. About 75,000 blooms are required to produce a pound of the prized spice, which is then dried and stored. Farmers can leave the corms in the ground for three to five years before replanting, which is beneficial for the soil and helps absorb carbon from the atmosphere because there is less need for tilling and field disturbance.

Because of the extremes and unpredictability brought on by climate change, diversification is crucial for farmers. Skinner said on Monday that saffron “fits nicely into that model.” Even though we only had our first hard frost a week ago, saffron flowering is nearly complete this week in the Burlington area. I don’t care about the numbers; I care about what I see: if we keep having drops like this year, I’m not sure I want to invest in the state’s ski industry.

“The idea to reproduce the moment from the film “Christmas Vacation,” about a family whose Christmas plans turn into a massive disaster,” he said, “came at the ideal time, when we were emptying out the manure pit.” “Christmas Vacation” is about a family whose Christmas plans turn into a huge disaster.

In reference to the endeavour that his farm undertakes twice each year, he stated, “When she’s full, she’s full.”

In the film, the character of Cousin Eddie, who is portrayed by Randy Quaid, is seen parking his recreational vehicle in front of the house of a relative, saying, “That there’s an RV. It’s a nice-looking motor vehicle, wouldn’t you say? He then goes on to shake hands with the neighbours while simultaneously emptying the septic tank of the camper into the storm sewer. He does all of this while wearing a bathrobe and a winter cap, smoking a cigar, and drinking a beer.

“Farmer Blake” can be seen in the Hansen video, which was initially published on TikTok on Monday, “agitating the manure” in order to make it simpler to empty the pit. He puffs on a cigar while wearing an identical getup, which includes the bathrobe that belonged to his wife. He is not holding a drink but rather a gallon of Hansen’s milk in his hand.

According to Hansen, “we hope that it lightens the mood around the holidays, especially during these terrible times with the economy being how it is.”

TikTok, along with other sites such as Facebook, has already seen a significant number of users click on the video.

He initially watched the movie around the time it was released three decades ago, and ever since then, his family has made it a tradition to watch it at least once a year.

Hansen said that the book “has so many good lines that you can use in everyday life.” [Citation needed]

The farm is always looking for new and inventive methods to demonstrate its business practises and the steps that are taken to bring its produce “from the cow to the table.”

“People don’t comprehend how much money the manure saves us in fertiliser,” Hansen said. “People don’t grasp how much money the manure saves us.” It is of great assistance to us in the cultivation of our crops, which in turn provide food for our cattle.

Hansen thinks that the thing that’s really getting people’s attention is the fact that they can see his legs through the white bathrobe.

Hansen cracked a joke by saying, “My family claims I have the ugliest legs.”