THOUGHT PIECES

By Joseph Byrum In these uncertain times, tangible investments provide comfort to the risk averse. Unlike buying shares in a company enjoying a spike in publicity, or taking up more complex instruments like derivatives, land is something you can see, touch, and smell. Real holdings don’t just exist on a computer screen — they can… WHY REAL ASSETS LIKE FARMLAND ARE THE FUTURE

PLANTINGS OF CORN AND SOYBEANS WOULD BE 5% LARGER THAN LAST YEAR, CORN UP BY 1.2 MILLION ACRES, AND SOYBEANS UP BY 6.9 MILLION ACRES.

Elizabeth Weise – USA TODAY Across this central northern county, wind turbine blades slowly slice the cold air over winter-brown fields. The 67 wind turbines of the Meridian Way Wind Farm straddle dozens of farms and ranches, following the contours of the land and the eddies of the wind above it. The turbines are tall… Wind energy gives American farmers a new crop to sell in tough times

With an ever-growing population, farming is more important than it ever was before. 200 years ago, people were self-reliant and grew their own food to live, but now that is no longer the case. Farming methods have become more efficient to produce higher yields in order to keep up with the increasing demand for food… Cover Crops: Impacts to Long-Term Soil Fertility and Producer Bottom Line

By Lynda V. Mapes Seattle Times environment reporter For nearly three decades, the region has been stuck in unending litigation and spiraling costs as salmon in the Columbia and Snake rivers decline toward extinction. But in a sweeping $34 billion proposal from an unlikely source, at an auspicious moment, comes a chance for a fresh… GOP congressman pitches $34 billion plan to breach Lower Snake River dams in new vision for Northwest

By Chuck Abbott Truterra, a subsidiary of farmer-owned Land O’Lakes, launched a carbon credit program on Thursday in which Microsoft, its first buyer, will pay $20 per ton for carbon sequestered in the soil. The program, called TruCarbon, “will help farmers generate and sell carbon credits to private sector buyers,” said the company.