What kind of species in your meadow mix?

Helped work on this project when I was a graduate student

Gutting USDA staff, both in dc and at local farm service offices (especially conservation staff). Decimating research funding, especially at NIFA. Steel tariffs increasing the cost of farm equipment.

Multiple Mechanisms Required to Predict Grass Community Composition In efforts to improve the predictive understanding of plant community assembly, this study evaluates how well different combinations of ecological mechanisms predict plant community composition. Our ...

"...because of complementarity among mechanisms and interspecific trait tradeoffs,—and provided enough core mechanisms are captured—we can accurately forecast community composition and in a flexible way." doi.org/10.1111/ele....

Important.

This drives a lot of climate action fights on social media. Some folks think anything but “reduce fossil CO2” is a distraction. Meanwhile, 1/3 of emissions are from food systems.

Also beware “solutions” that reduce fossil CO2 but increase land use CO2 even more (eg crop-based biofuels).

A newly transplanted apple tree (i.e., a stick in the ground) with small, green buds

Planted a few dozen trees on Friday, and they're pushing buds this morning. Need to run water out to them before the heat this week

The chemical treadmill continues. Waterhemp winning again -

"The vast majority of our soybean acres here in Wisconsin currently are Enlist acres, so the big question is, 'Do I go with Enlist One (2,4-D)? Do I go with Liberty (glufosinate)? How about mixing?'" www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/...

this is nuts

Comparison of various fertilizer recommendations for forage crops in the Western United States Fertilizer recommendations for field crops can vary greatly depending on the recommendation source. Differences in recommendations are primarily due to recommendation philosophies used. Fertilizer r...

"Fertilizer recommendations from the five laboratories varied greatly, both for types of nutrients and rates recommended, with differences between highest and lowest treatment costs ranging from $528 to $2024 per hectare across sites" doi.org/10.1002/csc2...

want to repost this article, but I'm struggling with the risible decision to replace "perennial" with "immortal" in the headline

The branch of an apple tree, with several buds full of young leaves

This is the time of year where things in the orchard seem to change hour by hour

"Offering temporally stable habitats, perennial fruit orchards constitute unique testing grounds for conservation and restoration action" // Orchard systems offer low-hanging fruit for low-carbon, biodiversity-friendly farming doi.org/10.1093/bios...

‘We’re harvesting the sun’: A huge solar project grows in California A sweeping plan to build 21 gigawatts of solar plus batteries on 136,000 acres could be a lifeline for Central Valley farmers facing devastating water shortages.

“'The way we look at it is as a new crop,' he said. 'We’re harvesting the sun and producing electricity.'

Critically, farmers will retain land ownership under VCIP’s lease and easement deals, and thus, access to the water allocations." grist.org/energy/were-...

Pulling Nitrogen From the Air At a moment where fertilizer trade concerns are dominating headlines, a revolutionary sourcing alternative has emerged — as if from thin air.

All indications are that a novel method of pulling nitrogen from the air could revolutionize fertilizer production. But farmers worry it's too good to be true.

New from @dkruzman.bsky.social:
ambrook.com/offrange/tec...

Climate driven extremes aren’t coming, they’re here…

meditating on how many problems we could solve if we ate the food that we grow

Just Can’t Wait, by Kokoroko from the album Tuff Times Never Last

had this on repeat the last couple of days kokoroko.bandcamp.com/track/just-c...

Nearly 150 USDA County Offices Have No Conservation Staff, New Data Shows Farmers who met with lawmakers in the capital last week say these county-level staff are essential to effective conservation programs.

"half of about 2,400 total counties experienced overall net losses in NRCS staff. In addition, 139 counties no longer had any staff... Of counties that had staff at the start of 2025 dedicated to rangeland management... one in four no longer have anyone in that role." civileats.com/2026/03/23/n...

Frontiers | Rethinking scientists’ ongoing participation in “feeding the world” Agricultural science necessarily involves a commitment to some form of humanitarian and environmental ethics. For the past century, agricultural science has ...

see also: doi.org/10.3389/fsuf...

Releasing agriculture from the food security mandate The state of food security is achieved if no one has to worry whether or how they can acquire—typically purchase—healthy and nutritious meals. In theory, food security could be addressed from two side...

"The responsibility for food security must shift decisively toward social and economic systems... rather than through pressure on farm-gate prices" doi.org/10.1126/scie...

**CONFIRMED: the temperature fall from 87° yesterday to 33° today in 21 hours is a record temeprature fall for Charlottesville (54 degrees) since records began at CHO in 1961. Big props to Peter Forister (GOAT) for the information!

A better visual of the recent local weather insanity: comparing 2pm Wednesday to 2pm Thursday.

A dog enjoying a heavy wintery mix, with large snowflakes showing against her black fur

It was 88⁰F here yesterday, and I was pruning trees in shorts

A row of baby trees from the nursery, planted in a shallow trench and sticking diagonally out of the ground

Received some standard sized Arkansas Black trees that I'm not ready to plant yet, so I heeled them in today

The heat is on: Warmer weather drives fuller-season hybrids Across Agronomy: Fuller-season hybrids thrive as rising Midwest growing degree days give room to push maturity safely.

How to talk to farmers about climate change: "Note dramatic differences in growing degree day accumulation over the past 30 years." www.farmprogress.com/crops/the-he...

A regional network is racing to save the Midwest's native seeds As climate change intensifies wildfires and other extreme weather events, demand for native seeds is surging.

“I want them to say, ‘We have access to all the seed we need,' and we can move on to the next challenging question, like, ‘Why isn’t the seed establishing in my restoration?'" grist.org/solutions/a-...

RFK Jr statement after Bayer, corporate owner of glyphosate, agrees to billion-dollar settlement for glyphosate health claims. "If my life were a Superman comic, Monsanto would be my Lex Luther I’ve seen this company as the enemy of every admirable American value since Rachel Carson visited my home in 1962 at a time when Monsanto had her under fierce assault for her expose on DDT in Silent Spring. My first legal case as an environmental lawyer arose out of Monsanto’s PCBs in the Hudson. I’m so grateful to Michael Baum, Brent Wisner and all the our legal team for finally bringing Monsanto to justice."

RFK Jr' statement: “Donald Trump’s executive order puts America first where it matters most — our defense readiness and our food supply,” Mr. Kennedy said in the statement. “We must safeguard America’s national security first, because all of our priorities depend on it.” Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/us/politics/trump-boost-weedkiller.html

On the left, RFKJr in 2020, denouncing Monsanto--"the enemy of every American value"--and cheering its court loss on glyphosate (Roundup).

On the right, RFKJr in 2025, obediently cheering Donald Trump's executive order boosting the production of glyphosate.

Craven even by current standards.

Minnesota youth hockey playoff game spans 3 days, 12 overtimes The Cottage Grove Wolfpack emerged victorious Wednesday in a Minnesota U12 girls hockey postseason game that started Monday and ended Wednesday.

Possibly the most important OT game in hockey this week www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/...

Four minutes of air conditioning Billions of people have access to far less electricity per day than is required to run an air conditioner for just one hour.

'Four minutes of air conditioning'

The new, excellent essay by my colleague @hannahritchie.bsky.social on energy poverty.

ourworldindata.org/four-minutes...

a stunningly clear day