With the release of a music video to the song “Common Ground” by the Awful Purdies, the Sustainable Iowa Land Trust (SILT) is hoping to raise awareness about the ongoing loss of Iowa farmland to development and the challenges facing new farmers — and showcase the SILT’s effort to protect the land and support a new farming generation.
Iowa Agriculture
Posted inArts & Entertainment
‘Good Apples’ details the curious history of apples and challenges facing farmers
Author and Iowa City resident Susan Futrell starts out her book ‘Good Apples: Behind Every Bite’ with the auction of the oldest commercial apple orchard in Iowa: an orchard outside Fort Madison that had been in the same family for five generations, but now faced an uncertain future dependent upon the winning bidder. It’s a fitting place to start a book about the long history of apples in the United States and the uncertain future the apple industry faces in a global economy.
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa’s dwindling bee population is part of a larger, frightening trend
Deep in the belly of the Vermeer Science Center at Central College in Pella, Iowa, cardboard boxes are stacked against the wall in a dimly lit laboratory. The boxes contain thousands of bees — carefully preserved and meticulously categorized based on their Latin genus and species — each with a unique tale to tell. Some are as small as a gnat; others are the size of a cockroach. Their colors span the spectrum, too, from rich, reflective blues to the familiar striped yellow and black of the common honey bee. Paulina Mena, an associate professor of biology, is their veritable warden.
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa’s bird flu burden: Disposal of more than 25 million birds creates new challenges for health officials
Over 25 million birds at 52 northwest Iowa farms have been, or will soon be euthanized in an attempt to prevent the spread of the H5N2 virus, a highly…
Posted inBread & Butter Dining Guide, Dining Features
Farmer Spotlight: An interview with Lois Pavelka and Bill Ellison of Pavelka’s Point Meats
On their small farm nestled between Solon and Mount Vernon, Lois Pavelka and Bill Ellison of Pavelka’s Point Meats have set the local standard for sustainable…
