RUTHERFORD, Calif. — John Williams uses a tough-love approach for the grapes on his Napa Valley vineyard. He never waters them.
"Ninety-seven percent of the wineries in Napa use irrigation, which we think is a serious mistake for wine quality," Williams said on a hot, sunny afternoon as he walked among the rows of cabernet sauvignon at his organic winery, Frog's Leap. CONTINUE READING >>>
There's a new agricultural commodity that farmers, food giants and grassroots groups are all rallying behind — carbon.
Proponents say that if the United States' 20th-century success as a global agricultural power was measured by how much food came from American soil, the 21st century offers a new paradigm: measuring how much carbon dioxide American farmers can retain in the soil while still producing food.
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STONINGTON, Conn. — Here in one of New England's oldest fishing communities, there's a longing for the old days, long before climate change and the federal government's quota system got so complicated.
Convinced that Congress and NOAA will never allow them larger quotas, many fishermen want to take their grievances straight to the White House, hoping the commander in chief will intervene and allow them to catch more fish.
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NARRAGANSETT, R.I. — The warming waters associated with climate change are creating big ripple effects across fishing communities, including in this picturesque seaside town with a long fishing history.
Take Joel Hovanesian, who last fall docked his 40-foot trawler at the Port of Galilee, calling it quits after a 42-year career of chasing fish.
"It's kind of a waste, isn't it?" said Hovanesian, 62, showing his idle boat to a visitor. "All you've got to do is jump on it and go."
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KERN COUNTY, Calif. — Historically one of the most polluting industries in California, dairy farms are fixing how they contribute to climate change.
And they are doing it with manure.
California is the country's dairy capital, pumping a fifth of America's milk. Those dairies, however, also produce more than half of the state's emissions of methane, a potent heat-trapping gas. It comes in roughly equal amounts from both the front of cows — in burps — and the back — in manure. CONTINUE READING >>>
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — For Raluca Mateescu, the battle against climate change involves an unusual task: breeding a better steak.
A researcher at the University of Florida, Mateescu is tweaking cattle genes to try to unlock one of the mysteries of Southern agriculture: developing a breed that can withstand the hot, humid weather that has become more pronounced due to climate change while still producing high-quality beef.
That's not so simple, said Mateescu, a native of Romania who came to the United States to study animal agriculture and is herself a fan of a good rib-eye.
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MADISON, Minn. — Carmen Fernholz's 500-acre farm here is a modest proving ground for what is being heralded as crop agriculture's best chance to beat back climate change: Kernza. The perennial crop's deep, weblike root system acts as a massive sponge and repository for carbon dioxide.
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FORT VALLEY, Ga. — A 25-acre greenhouse here produces several times as many tomatoes and cucumbers per acre as field-grown plants, and it isn't dependent on weather. Indoor agriculture is seeing an expansion as traditional farming grapples with increased challenges due to climate change. Said Chris Veillon of Pure Hothouse Foods Inc., "We've completely removed seasonality."
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