INTRODUCING A COVER CROP ROLLER WITHOUT ALL THE DRAWBACKS OF A STALK CHOPPER
From The New Farm®, www.newfarm.org
Farm manager of The Rodale Institute®, Jeff Moyer, and a plain Mennonite neighbor, John Brubaker, have designed and constructed a front-mounted cover-crop roller that allows you to knock down a weed-suppressing mat and plant through it, all in one quick pass. With one smooth pass, the roller makes an effective weed-suppressing mat out of a cover crop and gives corn and soybeans the time they need to establish themselves. Tools like this roller can revolutionize no-till and conservation tillage systems even for conventional farmers and make organic no-till not only feasible but highly effective and inexpensive.
http://www.newfarm.org/depts/NFfield_trials/1103/notillroller.shtml

HERITAGE TURKEYS: A FAST-GROWING PROFITABLE NICHE FOR ADVENTURESOME FARMERS
From The New Farm®, www.newfarm.org
This holiday season, thousands of Americans will forgo their normal Large White turkey to enjoy a different kind of bird. “Heritage” turkeys are enjoying a culinary comeback. Thanks to the joint efforts of breed conservationists, farmers and a consumer’s movement called Slow Food, demand for heritage turkeys surged in 2003. A new niche in a corporate controlled market, heritage turkeys are helping bring turkey genetics and profits back to the farm. $4 per pound vs. 39 cents; great marketing support from consumer groups; passionate consumers; the feel-good preservation of a uniquely American breed …. What’s NOT to like about raising heirloom turkeys?
http://www.newfarm.org/features/1103/heritageturkey.shtml

THE HOT TOPIC: MICROBES...AND HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF THEM
From The New Farm®, www.newfarm.org
Microbes are the hottest topic and yet the least known aspect of organic agriculture. The U.S. northwest has for years been the epicenter of compost tea research and use in North America. Researcher and reporter, Don Lotter, wandered the halls and seminar rooms of the Washington Tilth Producers' annual conference, gathering details on everything from a really inexpensive compost tea brewer to the growing of fungi that first attract, then later kill insect pests. Here are some of the things heheard at the conference.
http://www.newfarm.org/depts/talking_shop/1103/wa_tilth1.shtml

TOOLS

SMART TOOLS FOR SMALL FARMS
From The New Farm®, www.newfarm.org
Correspondent Don Lotter brings back tips on flame weeders, mustard cover crops, seed production and restaurant sales from four different workshops at the Washington Tilth conference.
http://www.newfarm.org/depts/talking_shop/1203/watilth2.shtml

PROFILE

A SMALL-SCALE FOREST FARM BUCKS THE LOCAL TREND
From The New Farm®, www.newfarm.org
On a nine-acre farm on the southeast quadrant of Costa Rica, two Hawaiian transplants buck the local trend to level forests and monocrop for quicker cash. Instead, they gather local wisdom and traditional plant varieties from older farmers while modeling the benefits of biodiversity for a younger generation.
http://www.newfarm.org/columns/susanna_costarica/december/san_isidro.shtml