Learn More About Lloyd Kahn, Shelter Editor of Whole Earth Catalog

The following is one of the most delightful videos I've seen in a while, in part because of my love for architecture and design with a permaculture twist. (Thank you to Fair Companies, which posted this a few days ago here: Whole Earth Catalog revisited: Steve Job’s Google of the 60s)Whole Earth Catalog covered all worldly and practical topics, categorized as Land Use and Shelter, Industry, Craft

U.S. Weekly Grain Market in Review November 4, 2011

~November 4, 2011~The grain markets were volatile this week closing mixed. Declines in the outside markets helped force grains lower as the stock market suffered sharp losses and crude oil in negative territory triggered the weakness earlier in the week, along with sharp gains in the U.S. dollar. However, outside markets recovered late in the week bringing grains back into positive territory.

Latest Global Stocks-to-Use Ratios for Rice, Wheat, Cereal and Coarse Grain

Under my Food Security Tab (above) I keep this ongoing global stocks-to-use ratio chart. I have just updated it with the latest FAO figures. The world is successfully ramping up food production. Coarse grains includes corn, and we all know where that disappearance is coming from.——K.M.Global stocks-to-use ratios2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11estim.2011/12f'cast World Cereal 19.8 19.3

U.S. Map Showing Increased Acres of Crop Production From 2006 to 2008

Farms increased total harvested acreage by expanding cropland or increasing double cropping between 2006 and 2008 especially for the ethanol production ramp-up:Note: Counties in blue increased the sum total of harvested acreage for major crops either by bringing additional land into crop production or by expanding double cropping. Counties in gray had approximately the same harvested acreage.

SNAP Program: $68 Billion in 2010

Federal spending for USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) reached $68.2 billion in fiscal year 2010, and an average of 40.3 million people per month participated, the largest number of participants ever.ERS has added 2008 participation counts and 2009 benefit amounts to its historical State and county-level data file and interactive maps, allowing analysis of program growth

On the Growing Global Grain Supplies and Our Secretary of Agriculture's Plan

This morning I updated the charts under the tabs across the top of this blog for "wheat", "corn", "rice", and "soybeans" five-year futures.Guess what? Every single one of these commodities has gone in price down since I did the last update mid-July. And that was a pretty significant time period, since it marks the end of the growing season in the world's number one Ag-exporting North American

Industrial Agriculture's Seed Companies Family Tree Graphic

Biotech Seed IllustrationThe above graphic shows that the seed suppliers for industrial Ag all stem from under the umbrella of a few large companies: Monsanto, DuPont, Syngenta, Limagrain, Land O'Lakes, KWS, Bayer, Dow, BASF. (with some connection even amongst these)sourceh/t rjs

1941 Ansel Adams Photo of Corn in Arizona on an Indian Farm

Looking across rows of corn, cliff in background, "Corn Field, Indian Farm near Tuba City, Arizona, in Rain, 1941."by Adams, Ansel, 1902-1984Photo: U.S. National Archives

Metro and Nonmetro Poverty Rates According to Education Level 2005 to 20009

Workers with higher levels of educational attainment fared much better in the labor market. During 2010, the unemployment rate in nonmetro counties was 14.3 percent for adults with less than a high school diploma, 8.8 percent for adults with a high school diploma or equivalent, 6.9 percent for adults with some college or an associate’s degree, and 3.7 percent for adults with a bachelor’s degree

Ted Turner, Second Largest Land Owner in North America

The second largest land owner in North America, Ted Turner, was in Boulder a few days ago urging the city to graze some of his bison on open space lands which would be part of the impression gained by driving "over the proverbial (gasp) hill" into Boulder.The twenty bison would be a gift to Boulder from Turner, who has gifted CU with its last couple of "Ralphies" (CU bison mascot). He has a Ted's

Tillage systems Used for Corn in the U.S. Between 1996-2005

Tillage systems in U.S. corn, 1996-2005No-till and mulch till are conservation tillage practices that leave at least 30 percent of the soil covered by crop residues after planting, while reduced-till leaves 15-30 percent and conventional tillage leaves less than 15 percent of the soil covered. Reducing soil erosion and mitigating the impact of higher energy prices are both motivations for

Sustaining 7 Billion: A report on the 2011 Annual Meeting of the Agronomy, Crop Science, and Soil Science Societies.

Sustaining 7 Billion: A report on the 2011 Annual Meetingof the Agronomy, Crop Science, and Soil Science Societies.by James GieseSometime, approximately this week, the world population will reach 7 billion, according to U.N. Population Fund report. [pdf]With this milestone and the expectation that world population could double by 2100, more than 4,100 agronomists, crop scientists, and soil