Even though New York City is a major metropolitan area, inhabitants of all ages can gain knowledge regarding agriculture and farming. Aside from the newest farming trend known as vertical farming, there are also other programs about farming that you must have to learn.

If you want to know much about agriculture activities in NYC, check out the latest agricultural education programs for people of all ages and abilities.

Programs for Agricultural Education in NYC

Here is the list of programs where you can learn more about farming in New York.

Citywide Program of Farm School NYC

The Citywide Program is a one-year food justice-based urban agriculture training program. Before immersing in classes that consider the flow of a growing season, the program begins with a framework in universal education, food justice, and botany.

Farm Beginnings of Grow NYC

Farm Beginnings is a holistic agriculture education established by professional farmers and Farmer Assistance employees for farmers in New York City.

The program intends to assist persons in the northeast (particularly those from underprivileged populations) in establishing an ecologically responsible and financially profitable farm business.

Summer Camp of Harlem Grown

The summer camp program at Harlem Grown is designed to engage and inspire youngsters to experience the beauty of nature, become skilled farmers, taste and produce delectable foods, and live healthier lives.

Over the last 150 years, half of the world’s topsoil has vanished.

Land degradation is a problem that is caused by both natural and human influences including pollution, droughts, and overfarming. During land degradation, half of the topsoil on earth has already disappeared.

What is Vertical Farming?

Growing crops indoors and on vertically stacked layers is the best definition of vertical farming. Vertical farms can produce 1 ton of lettuce in 17% of the space required by typical farms, making them significantly more space-efficient. Although this is a straightforward remedy to land deterioration, the advantages do not end there.

Because pesticides are no longer required, environment-controlled farming reduces the usage of chemicals. According to a recent study from the United States, almost 71% of cases are attributed to soil contamination due to pesticides and reduced biodiversity.

In addition, thanks to recirculation, vertical farms can save up to 90% on water. When you consider that typical farms attributing to 70% of world water consumption, this is a huge step forward.

Benefits of Vertical Farming

Vertical farming makes use of controlled environment agriculture (CEA) technology, which includes the following:

AEROPONICS

Plants float in the air and solvents rich in nutrients are being sprayed.

HYDROPONICS

A water-based solution rich in nutrients is the source of the plant’s habitat.

AQUAPONICS

The ecosystem wherein plants grow is closely similar to that of the environment that houses fish.

In terms of agriculture and climate change, the Biden Administration and Congress are on a risky road that might favor the most harmful farm operations while unable to solve the climate crisis effectively. Aid for agriculture carbon environments and subsidies for harmful factory farms, two major pillars of their approach, will worsen concentration in the industrial agriculture sector while increasing pollution in low-income regions, particularly communities of color.

The Benefit of Agricultural Carbon Markets into the Agribusiness won’t Naturally Work

The carbon industries have a lengthy history of failing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while causing harm to both the Black and brown communities.

Regardless of the financial effectiveness of the markets are, a few huge agrichemical and seed conglomerates seem to profit from this kind of soil carbon market strategy. For instance, Bayer and Syngenta are prepared to expand their market domination while sustaining chemical-intensive agriculture and food chain control.

Larger producers will most likely benefit from the carbon market leaving the smaller ones behind

In other areas, carbon markets have primarily benefited huge operators while leaving the smaller industries behind. Soil and other areas of the carbon markets will not have any distinction, increasing the consolidation of farmland ownership in the United States and eliminating small-scale farmers by introducing a new revenue stream that requires huge economies of scale to be sustainable.

Climate change is transforming the farming industry in approaches that we are just starting to getting to know with.

Wherever we go, climate change is highly present and felt by many. And, to be honest, this environmental phenomenon is such a big threat to the farming industry all over the world. Unfortunately, agriculture generally depends on good weather conditions such as rainfall, temperatures, wind, and the like.

With that in mind, farmers need to modify their practices in agriculture to be compliant with the continual change in the environment. Here are some ways that farmers generally adapt to reduce their effect on climate change.

Farmers’ Approaches in Reducing their Environmental Impact

1-Enhance Energy Efficiency

Energy utilization by farmers is generally higher as they use it for water heating, lighting, and space. This will then produces enormous amounts of operating costs and greater environmental impact. Knowing where and how to properly use such energy by farmers can effectively lower this effect.

2-Promote Proper Water Consumption

Due to climate change, there is an increasing scarcity of water. So, to promote farmers’ water conservation, try to adopt responsible water practices in agricultural settings.

3-Enhance Agricultural Diversity

The agricultural system can highly adapt to climate change once it becomes more diverse. Make use of farm integrated systems that mix crops, forestry, and livestock in one.

The following two areas are likely to see the most transformation during the coming year in agriculture: 1) alterations to support schemes, and 2), a concentration on the environment.

Rural areas are facing a period of revolutionary change. At Christmas, when people traditionally look to the future, it’s interesting to think about where new income streams could be found.

While there are a lot of issues to address, we think that businesses in the countryside have huge potential. If they do things properly and make some changes, they could see some great results.

Factors that may Trigger Change in Farming in 2022

Here are some of the key points to consider when you want to achieve a possible agricultural change by next year.

1-Carbon Credits

Carbon credits for rural businesses could bring new opportunities and income. But before selling carbon credits, people should understand how the market works and the long-term implications for their business.

2-Renewable Energy

Solar developers are likely to see a boom as the UK works to become carbon-neutral by 2050. Farmers and landowners are being encouraged to make use of their land, while the need for storage is expected to rise.

3-Environmental and Social Governance

Corporate efforts to offset their carbon emissions are turning former food-producing land into forestland. This creates opportunities for forest stewardship and rewilding but also threatens farmers’ livelihoods.

Businesses have evolved to include farming since the beginning of time. Farmers grow crops and sell them for profit, raising animals for food and other uses, as well as growing plants for juice and other products. Farming is a business that can be started at any time, with little investment. In fact, even though farming is kind of underrated, there are many games focused around it, which is fairly interesting too.

In this article, you will learn how to start your own farming business by following these simple steps:.

What is farming?

Farming is the practice of growing plants, raising animals and gathering feed. It is also the act of producing or gathering food, fiber, or other materials that are grown or made. Farming can be done by a small farmer with just a few acres of land, as well as by large landowners who have thousands of acres under cultivation.

Farming is the oldest industry in the world and has always been reliant on natural resources. The majority of the population still farms for their food and to sell excess crops at market. However, there are many types of farms; some focus on raising livestock for meat production while others produce vegetables, flowers and fruit.

Starting up Your Farm

The first step in starting a farm is deciding whether you want to buy a farm or start out with an existing farm. If you are starting from scratch, you may want to choose a location based on where you feel that the demand for products is high. This can help estimate how much money you will be able to make from farming, which will in turn help decide on what type of business you want to do.

Once you’ve decided where your farm will be located, it’s time to prepare the land. If you’re buying an existing property, there are many steps involved in preparing the land for farming activities like plowing and fertilizing.

After preparing the land, whether by yourself or with help from others, it’s time to work on building structures such as sheds and barns.

The next step is setting up irrigation systems so that plants can grow properly without dying due to lack of water; this includes designing irrigation systems as well as turning on water pumps.

The new commitment to the environment has been bound together through the UK law known as the Environment Act 2021. This law will generally control the UK government as well as the other account related to environmental concerns. The following are the key areas of concern that farmers should look after:

1-WATER

• The act plans to implement an abstraction licensing that will cover the amendment or revocation of licenses.
• In addition, the authority will also establish steps in the reduction of pollution that basically come from wastewater, agriculture, and metal mines.

2-BIODIVERSITY NET GAIN

• For this area, the act plan to elevate the competition for land into farm and to distribute biodiversity and forestry. The main goal for this is to produce wildlife corridors, forests, and imposition of fines for those who will commit illegal logging.
• Under the act, the local government handling this area is required to submit reports every five years period.

3-AIR QUALITY

• In terms of air quality, the government targets to lower the average level of fine particulate matter present in the air per year.

4-WASTE & WASTE CRIME

• The creation of this act aims to take control in handling single-use plastics. In general, this is highly applicable to all products and on-farm plastics like crop cover and silage wrap.

More than 50% of the whole global marine section should be credited to seaweed cultivation. This is generally equal to 34.7 million tons. The good thing about this industry is that it supports about 6 million livelihoods of farmers and processors in the small-scale area.

There are many uses of seaweeds that can be highly beneficial in the pharmaceutical, food, agriculture, and cosmetic sectors, In addition to that, seaweeds also have a high potential in the biofuel industry. Moreover, cultivators also see a growing demand for seaweed-derived products in the commercial market. Examples of these are food ingredients (hydrocolloids), specialist agar (for medical treatments), and laboratory medium.

Because of that growing demand,  farmers and cultivators need to sustain the continuous production of seaweed products.

Ensuring a Sustainable Seaweed Farming

Here are some recommendations to sustain the production of seaweeds:

1-Keep the genetic diversity all over the wild stocks

This is highly achievable through the conservation of wild populations.

2-Utilization of modern assessment tools

In order to balance the environmental risks related to seaweed farming with the advantages of its production, the use of up-to-date assessment tools is highly crucial.

3-Give incentives on seaweed integration with other species and marine activities

The objective of this recommendation is to decrease the chances of eutrophication and to lessen the possibility of conflicts on the use of resources within the marine environment.

Compost is basically organic materials that reached the decomposition stage like grass clippings, kitchen waste and even leaves. This is essential in farming for it provides essential nutrients that plant needs for continuous growth. Therefore, you can typically see compost used as a fertilizer. Composts improve soil structure so by that, soil can store the appropriate amount of nutrients, moisture as well as air.

This in return improves the texture of both sandy and clay soils which makes it moisture-retentive, rich or loamy.

Why Start to Compost?

The truth is, compost is one of the best soil amendments and mulches that the nature can offer us. A lot of gardeners are well aware of its value in terms of improving soil and delivering a healthier environment for the plants.

Being able to understand how to make compost and how to use them is in public’s best interest. After all, there are always new challenges that a country’s waste disposal team is constantly facing.

There are many benefits of composting actually and some of it includes but not limited to the following:

• Great for the environment
• Covering food waste problem
• Improves drainage and soil structure
• Fertilizes the soil
• Helps plants grow
• Reduces water infiltration

The Basics of Composting

When you have the compost prepared, you will probably need storage to keep them. You can build one easily with a few planks and screw them together with your best impact drivers UK. The nice thing about compost is that, there are several ways of making it. Doing a quick Google search will show you hundreds of results.

Challenges of Composting

Any type of organic waste is suited for composting. However, there are some challenges that you might encounter along the way. For instance, despite providing numerous benefits and being abundant as well, numerous gardeners are puzzled even by the simplest thing when it comes to composting like combining kitchen scraps and greens together. Such process requires the materials to be changed often to break down just like when a composting bin is used.

On the other hand, as you become more familiar with composting, these challenges will be easier to handle.

It’s a tale as old as time. Cats go together with barns. Our hard-working barn cats are essential as a natural way to get obviate mice. Not only do they keep mice cornered, but they also use the rodents they catch as snacks and gifts! What a pleasing surprise to search out as you head into the barn on a cold morning. Some of our barn cats are gifted to us and a few are sought out. Once we lose a pair to adulthood or illness, we do adopt some new cats for the barn. While anyone curious about working cats should first research the way to raise a barn cat, our barn cats are an integral part of homesteading today for us.

Since they work so hard, our barn cats should be treated like other high-performing work animals. I’ve got heard people state opinions about how you shouldn’t feed them much because then they won’t be hungry enough to chase their own dinner! Nonsense! If you would like an animal to perform work for you, then you must feed it adequate nutrition so it’s the energy and stamina to perform.

You have the farm or homestead, and therefore the barn for your animals. Now you’ve got added the barn cats or they need to find their way to your barn on their own. How does one take care of these somewhat independent felines so they live healthy long lives?

Spay or Neuter All Cats

Cats are like paper clips, a friend once told me. They’re everywhere, and in an exceedingly lot of how, she was right. The rationale that cats are everywhere which shelters are overrun with unwanted cats and kittens is because people simply don’t take the trouble to spay or neuter their pets. Now offering discount spay and neuter services are many animal welfare organizations. The local Animal Control facility, in my area, now offers spayed and neutered cats to farm owners if they’ll take care of them as barn cats. This can be an enormous step from some years ago after you had to vow that the cat would be a house cat, with its very own scratch post The unwanted cat population will still grow as an issue unless all cat owners like better to spay and neuter.

Another problem contributed to by careless or unthinking cat owners are Feral cats. Adding to the feral cat population are cats left intact and allowed to roam free and “be a cat.” These felines are often not able of being house pets and sometimes the sole choice is to euthanize. With some training, feral cats can often be acclimated to remain around a barn and hunt mice. The method involves keeping them during a crate for an extended time while being fed and cared for daily. When released from the crate the feral cats won’t stray far although the thought is that they’re going to begin to associate the barn with food and shelter. They’ll never be affectionate sort of a domestic cat, but they’ll be superb at hunting rodents.

ALSO READ: 9 Must-Know Things When Shipping Agricultural Products

Veterinary Care

As your livestock and house pets need regular checkups and vaccinations, so will your barn cats, and that is an important point when learning the way to raise a barn cat. At the bare minimum, a rabies vaccination is maybe required by your government. Being exposed to the rabies virus, not only protects the cat but also protects you and your other pets. What may help your outdoor barn cat resist deadly illness are Feline Leukemia, Tetanus and Distemper are other vaccinations.

While we are talking about veterinary care, let’s not forget to stay toxic substances put far away from curious felines. Lots of machinery liquids are toxic, like antifreeze. Wormers meant for livestock may also be fatal to cats. Where cats cannot access them, and pesticides should be stored. Curiosity really can kill the cat.

Shelter

You are probably wondering about a way to keep outdoor cats warm. The barn cats will do exactly fine curling up during a corner during cold or weather, assuming that you just even have a barn on your farm. Our cats find many creative spots to require refuge or sneak in an exceedingly cat nap. During extreme cold snaps, we’ve got pampered our cats by building a tiny low hut out of hay bales. They move into and bend within the insulation of warm hay and sleep through the storms.

Nutritional Needs

Cats need a diet that contains quality protein. Living outside, chasing rodents, eating rodents, running from the massive dogs, of these activities require strong bodies and much energy. Cats are carnivores. They only eat meat. Cats don’t need vegetables, sweets, or grain fillers. Most dry cat foods contain a protein amount of twenty-two percent or higher. Unless your cat has tract issues, feed a high-quality protein-rich food. Our cats are rather spoiled for barn kitties. They need their own bowls and acquire fed twice each day, a bit like everyone else within the barnyard. Not only do they get dry cat chow in their bowl, but they also share a can of pet food. Cats often don’t drink enough water. Feeding the canned pet food additionally to the dry increases their water intake. Ensure you save for the cats within the winter when bringing warm water to your backyard chickens and dairy goats. I do know my barn cats enjoy a warm drink of water on a freezing cold morning.

While in our case the dog trying to “share” the dinner, so try to give the cats an area to eat where they won’t be chased off by livestock entering the barn. To date, i’ve got not seen the goats attempt to get the cat chow up there, but they appear to be forming an inspiration.

One farm in Baltimore, Maryland named Spore and Seed is growing out flowers and mushrooms. Their main goal here is to honor the earth.

The Start of Everything

Spore and Seed was started on 2018 by Cortney Cohen. Just right after working on the flower farm for 7 years, the Spore and Seed farm all began. Initially, Cohen only cultivate flowers on the farm. But, her partner notice a high demand on mushrooms among their consumers. That is the birth of adding mushrooms into the farm and making it a part of the business.

Steps in Achieving the Goal

Generally, the incorporation of mushrooms into Cohen’s farm has the objective of having a lasting effect on the planet. There are actually two prolonged approaches that the farm are being taken:

1-Leaving the environment as progressive as it is that it was before

In order to achieve this goal, the following should be performed:

• Introduce native crops by investing into the land
• Avoid the use of heavy machineries that can disrupt the soil’s surface and heigtened the runoff

2-Maintaining on being a low impact

The Spore and Seed basically depends on farmers market. This is the best channel for them to reach out to the local consumers.

Shipping commodities from wherever you’re to several parts of the globe comes with lots of perks, conditions, and guidelines to always adhere to confirm you have got a smooth operation.

Whether you’re exporting solid minerals, agricultural produce, or petroleum products, there are standards you want to adhere to it will ensure everything goes right with the shipment, and intrinsically, you want to follow a group of laid down best practices from start to complete.

But while shipping minerals and petroleum products may be done easier, handling agricultural products must include even greater care as a little mistake could ruin the complete consignment before it reaches the delivery destination.

If you currently ship or decide to ship food-based products, aside from tracking post and shipment, here are 9 important belongings you must know when shipping agricultural products.

1). The Moisture Must Be Below 10%

High moisture levels are one of the fastest ways to ruin agricultural products. When the moisture levels of most agro commodities are above 10%, their qualities start to deteriorate quickly, and per se, the complete consignment could get spoilt within 2 to three weeks, causing the importer and/or exporter to lose their entire investments.

Before you export any agricultural product, make sure the goods are well dried which the moisture content is under 10% or you’re risking the complete commodities getting spoilt before arrival at the delivery port.

2). You Need To Fumigate The Shipping Container

Insects destroy and thrive within the presence of most agricultural products. They see it as a bountiful meal and then would reproduce and consume the maximum amount as possible of the products as they possibly can if left unattended.

Before you ship any agricultural consignment, make sure the container is fumigated with a fumigation gel, which the gel is aloof from the container after a maximum of three days of sealing the container.

3). The Agreed Specifications Must Match The Chemical Compositions

When an agreement for the provision of agricultural produce is effected by an importer and an exporter, a group of quality specifications is usually specified, and looking at what the importer plans to use the products for, some chemical specifications would be agreed on.

If you’re shipping agricultural products supported by an agreed set of chemical compositions, it’s important that you just make sure the goods you’re shipping match the specifications, else, you ought to simply just comply with a physical inspection.

4). You Want To Use The Proper Packaging Method For The Product

Various agro commodities require various packaging standards. Some require they’re packed in cans, others in jute bags, some in mesh bags, and therefore the overwhelming majority in PPE bags.

Understanding the standard of products you’re shipping and also the packaging standards that are required is vital to making sure you do not damage the products with the way they’re packaged and to make sure you furthermore might meet the packaging standards of the country you’re shipping to.

ALSO READ: 4 Reasons Why Organic Farm Food Complements Naturopathy

5). The Products Must Be Transported Within The Right Shipping Container

Depending on whether you’re shipping fresh foods or dry foods, you would like to stuff the commodities within the right form of a shipping container.

If you’re shipping fresh agricultural products, you’d load the products during a reefer container. This container is sort of a freezer and cools the products all the way until it gets to its destination, although it’s much more expensive to use.

6). The Food Regulations Of The Country You’re Shipping To Must Be Understood

Every nation adheres to some form of food regulations. Usually, European countries all adhere to identical rules, but each country could have varying differences in other conditions.

In the same way, countries in many parts of the planet could use identical or varying conditions to manipulate their food regulations, and per se, every exporter shipping agricultural products must know what these regulations are and must prepare the products to fulfill them or risk the cargo being seized at the destination port.

To air a secure side, ask that your importer gives you all the desired conditions he wants for the products, and make sure you sign into the contract that he’s to blame for everything that goes on at his destination port provided you’ve met all the terms you agreed to at the origin port.

7). For Exporting Agricultural Products, Get All The Documents Required

When shipping agricultural products, you’re usually required to produce a collection of documents. The foremost popular are:

• Phytosanitary Certificate
• Fumigation Certificate
• Inspection Certificate
• Veterinary Certificate (depending on the country and product)

These documents are usually required by the customs at the destination country to clear the products, and in and of itself, you want to provide them for your importer anytime you’re shipping agricultural products to them.

8). With Carton Walls, Floors, & Desiccants, Dress The Shipping Container

The floors and walls must be dressed with carton paper to avoid contamination with the contact of the products with the metal surface of the container when a container shipping agricultural produce is getting used.

Also, you want to hang desiccants, popularly referred to as dry bags, within the walls of the shipping container. What these dry bags would do is regulate the moisture absorption rate of the container and also try and reduce the moisture rate of the products within the container.

The more desiccants you persist the shipping container, the higher moisture control you’ve got for your products, and therefore the more confidence you’ve got within the quality of the products upon delivery.

9). Use An Agent Experienced In Forwarding Agricultural Products

Lastly, it’s important that you simply use an agent who is vastly experienced in handling the forwarding of agricultural products from your port of origin. This can be important to avoid problems with incomplete documentation, poor container preparation, and other negative experiences which will be caused by inexperience.

An experienced agent will ensure you’re doing everything right, will be sure of procuring all the desired tools for the shipping, and can make sure you have a seamless/fast shipping experience.

Farming: Bright sunlight, rich soil, and … recovery from addiction? Strange because it may sound initially, people are farming to assist them to get over alcohol and misuse. Once you learn “why,” their reasons make plenty of sense. Whether or not it’s to create a way of the community as within the past with communal farming or a brand new wave of Green Care Therapy, the advantages of farming as a sort of therapy is trending up in America.

Farming and Community

Many addicts cite feeling lonely and different because the main reason why they used drugs or alcohol. Working with others in therapy, to comprehend they’re not alone, may be a good way to assist them to accept their addiction and flaws, but which will only do such a lot. To really work with a team of others to contribute to something bigger than themselves shows addicts in recovery the various benefits of team building additionally as gives them a way of purpose.

Getting back to the world is nothing new. Hippies and members of the counterculture created communal farms as a part of their communes within the 1960s and 1970s. They created the farms to be self-sustaining within the hopes of making a replacement style of society.

Communal farms have long been popular in other areas of the globe. Within the Near East, a kibbutz could be a type of community that started in Palestine (now Israel) within the early 1900s. Early kibbutzim (the word form of kibbutz) featured communal farms, but many are now privatized and have other sources of revenue, including manufacturing.

Exploring their spirituality is what these communes and kibbutzim encourage people to. The communities recognize that farming is physical work that may touch various aspects of a person’s life. Working outside can provide ways to interact with this spirituality. Per community gardener Fred Bahnson, “To grow and share food with others in an exceedingly garden is to enter a holy country.”

Farming and Spirituality

Other programs connect farming to spirituality. Some also address other concerns, like the requirements of individuals who have struggled with drugs or habits.

Participants in such programs have said that farming is like meditating and appreciated the actual fact that they might see and luxuriate in the products of their toil. Organizers of such programs said that farming teaches valuable job skills which will help people find jobs and improve their lives. It’s also the way to provide someone who struggles with drug and alcohol abuse a way of responsibility and structure that tends to be lost after years of drug and alcohol abuse.

ALSO READ: 4 Reasons Why Organic Farm Food Complements Naturopathy

Farming and Recovery from Addiction

Sometimes rehab facilities themselves incorporate farming in their treatment programs as farming and agricultural pursuits could be an alternative to rehab. Some rehab centers have partnered with farms in their areas or have on-site farms. Other facilities encourage people in treatment to require care of animals, like horses or dogs.

Very much like they’d at more traditional rehab centers such as Addiction Treatment Phoenix AZ, clients undergo detox and participate in therapy and sobriety support group meetings at these facilities. But, these facilities also encourage residents to assist take care of the farms and also the animals that live there. This offers the patients a way of purpose and may even be an introduction to a brand new hobby or perhaps a brand new career after leaving treatment.

Such treatment might help an individual with a dual diagnosis, a condition during which the person has both psychopathies (such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, an eating disorder) together with a drug or drug addiction. Dual diagnosis treatment centers treat both the mental illnesses and habits of their patients in order that one condition doesn’t influence the opposite. This could only do most as people enter back to the important world after treatment and still have to find ways to address their triggers for substance abuse furthermore as their mental state.

People believe that farming can encourage spirituality and supply help from addiction by allowing people to shift their focus. Rather than concentrating on their own addictions and problems, working within the soil or caring for animals allows people to target their tasks. This focus could boost people’s self-esteem once they complete those tasks. Such a lot of struggle to work out something through, and once they do, it can greatly impact how they feel about themselves. It could provide them with a way of purpose, which could help them with their treatment and their ongoing recovery.

Farming enables people to contribute to society, encourages them to explore their spiritual natures, and is a therapy in their healing. Digging within the ground, feeding horses, and performing other tasks can help people endure misuse and rebuild their lives. There’s nothing better than completing a tough day’s work, although the physical labor will be tough, the sense of accomplishment someone can get from farming may be a great motivational factor.