This piece was originally published by Ohio Valley ReSource. A proposed rule in the Kentucky Department of Public Health would raise the permitting fees for small-scale food producers in the commonwealth. Some producers worry the increase could put them out of business. The regulation would impact 536 food producers and […]
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Despite Increasing Demand, Some W.Va. Apple Farmers Struggle
When you think of some of West Virginia’s biggest economic drivers, extractive industries like coal or natural gas are likely the first things that often come to mind. But agriculture has been a fixture in West Virginia’s economy for hundreds of years. Yet today, farmers struggle to keep their business […]
Read MoreHemp Prices Crash Leaving Ohio Valley Farmers Feeling Burned
This article was originally published by Ohio Valley ReSource. Ohio Valley farmers planted more than 27,000 acres of hemp last year — about four times more than in 2018 — to cash in on a booming market for popular CBD products made from the crop. Yet with that growing boom, […]
Read MorePA’s Dairy Industry Is Changing. These Family Farmers Are Innovating to Keep Up.
Cara Stephenson carefully navigates the short, well-worn path that begins at her grandparents’ back door and drops down a gentle slope before ending at the milking barn. It’s muddy and slick this time of year, saturated with fall rain and melting snow and rutted by the repeated pounding of work […]
Read MoreNew SNAP Rule Could Hit Ohio Valley Hardest
This article was originally published by Ohio Valley ReSource. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates almost 700,000 people across the country will lose food stamps in a new Trump Administration rule announced December 4. Regional anti-hunger advocates and policy analysts say the Ohio Valley — and Appalachia in particular — could be […]
Read MoreGrassroots Growing: Hemp Farmers Form Cooperatives Amid Growth and Uncertainty
This article was originally published by the Ohio Valley ReSource. Tony Silvernail swings a heavy machete at a stalk of bushy hemp and chops the plant near the root, grabbing the five-foot-tall shoot with his sun-weathered hand. It’s an unusually hot October day on his farm, Beyond The Bridge LLC, […]
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