Suzan Erem, left, speaks with Patti Edwardson about organizing a SILT trip to her region of the state. This year's Iowa Fruit and Vegetable Growers meeting had a new face in the exhibitor crowd with SILT planted neatly between Practical Farmers of Iowa and Iowa State's new Value Added program. SILT President Suzan Erem, board member Paul Durrenberger and volunteer Julia McGuire staffed the table and spoke to new friends about the concept of protecting their fruit and vegetable growing land in perpetuity. The two-day conference drew about 100 people and included workshops on alternative fruits, agritourism [...]

O’Brien is the founder of the Women, Food, and Agriculture Network (WFAN) and has been farming in southwest Iowa for approximately 40 years. She grows three acres of fruits and vegetables, six acres of apples, and raises organic chicken and turkey. In addition, she was the president of the National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC), worked with the Iowa Farm Unity Coalition, and directed the Rural Women’s Leadership Development Project. In 2011, she was appointed by the Obama administration to become a U.S. Department of Agriculture advisor in Afghanistan. O’Brien advocates and promotes topics involving domestic and international women’s and [...]

"Explaining the Impact of USDA’s Healthy Incentives Pilot on Different Spending Outcomes,” is paper reporting spending results for the USDA's Healthy Incentives Pilot (HIP), which tested a 30% incentive on fruit and vegetable purchases with SNAP benefits. The study found that monthly spending on fruits and vegetables was $6.15 higher for randomly assigned HIP participant households than for a control group. Find the study here:  https://aepp.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/11/30/aepp.ppv028.full and learn how SILT supports healthy, affordable food.

@Modern Farmer recently released a video about the need to support the next generation of farmers. "In the next 25 years, we'll need more than 700,000 new farmers—but in the last five, the population's increased by only 1,220". Check it out here: https://modernfarmer.com/2016/01/clif-bar-farmers-speak-young-farmers/ and find how SILT helps beginning farmers get access to land by visiting our website at https://silt.org/.

Each year more than $3 billion of the U.S. agricultural economy depends on the pollination services of native pollinators like wild bees. A newly published map shows Iowa at ground zero for native bee losses. @Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture https://www.uvm.edu/giee/?Page=news&storyID=22053&category=gund

USDA's "New Farmers" website helps individuals and organizations find the resources they need to get started. A Discovery Tool allows people to personalize their search. Resources for Women in Ag, Youth, and Veterans are easily accessible. Find how SILT supports beginning farmers and how you can help here. https://newfarmers.usda.gov/ 

The number of women farmers, and women who own farms, has risen dramatically in the last four decades. This trend, and these numbers, has spurred the  U.S. Department of Agriculture to look more closely at the whos, hows, and why of this possible demographic transition. Read more about how women are starting farm operations or inheriting them at https://www.dailyyonder.com/the-rising-tide-of-female-farmers/2015/12/14/10141/. And find out how SILT helps beginning farmers access land.  

ISU recently published a set of online resources about climate and cropping systems that were developed out of a multi-state USDA funded project on climate and corn-based cropping systems.  Find out about the impact of climate change on the corn belt, farmer perspectives on climate change, and a lot more information about resilient agriculture here: https://store.extension.iastate.edu/Topic/Environment/Climate-and-Agriculture And find more resources about sustainable practices that SILT supports here.

Mary Ellen Miller was the first person to ever say she would donate her land to the Sustainable Iowa Land Trust. That was in December 2014, before SILT even existed. Then she told scores of Iowa media at SILT's official launch in late January and on IPR that week. Then she was honored for her generous gesture at SILT's first birthday in Perry, when the board voted that day on a resolution to accept her donation. Mary Ellen Miller signs the deed to her 40 acres over to SILT in early December. Finally, on Dec. 3, 2015, Mary Ellen signed over her [...]