Agriculture

Northeast Harvest will host an agricultural conference on March 28 at Coolidge Hall on the Topsfield Fairgrounds from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with registration and coffee at 8:30 a.m. Diverse offerings will include sessions on direct marketing, including community-supported agriculture and social networking, led by Diana Rodgers of Green Meadows Farm. A panel discussion on farmers markets will include participants from Arlington, Gloucester, Lexington, Salem, and Wayland. Megan Megrath, with the state's Department of Agricultural Resources, will speak about backyard poultry production, and George Hamilton, extension...

(Image courtesy ReVision Urban Farms ) A view of the Tucker Street location in Dorchester that ReVision Urban Farms will develop into a new urban farm. By Patrick D. Rosso, Town Correspondent Victory Program's ReVision Urban Farms was recently named one of the organizations to lead a city initiative to create more opportunities for urban farming in the city. The non-profit group currently has an urban farm located on Fabyan Street and a farm-stand on Blue Hill Avenue in Dorchester.

ALL THAT is grassy is not green. There are many good reasons to like local food, but any large-scale metropolitan farming will do more harm than good to the environment. Devoting scarce metropolitan land to agriculture means lower density levels, longer drives, and carbon emission increases which easily offset the modest greenhouse gas reductions associated with shipping less food. Last year, I chaired the Citizen’s Committee for the Future of Boston, and our report endorsed urban vegetable gardens.

Blue Hill at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture 630 Bedford Road Pocantico Hills, N.Y. 914-366-9600 Dinner, Wednesday-Saturday 5-10 p.m., Sunday 1-10. www.bluehillfarm.com Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture For tours and general information, 914-366-6200 Wednesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. year-round www.stonebarnscenter.org

As Haverhill health officials weigh the fate of the city's pig farms, a small band of volunteers is working fervently to support farmland preservation by reorganizing the Bradford Grange, which disappeared from the local landscape six years ago. The movement has attracted nearly a dozen people, just shy of the number needed to reorganize the local unit of the decades-old farmers' group. Haverhill, a city best known for its shoe industry, was once also a regional center for the cattle market.

Two Maine organizations are getting $325,000 in federal grants to help fight hunger. The two grants in Maine are among 27 grants totaling $4.8 million awarded nationwide by U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Cultivating Community, a nonprofit agency in Portland that promotes community development through agriculture training programs, will receive $300,000, while the Good Shepherd Food Bank in Auburn is getting $25,000.

IPSWICH - Mario Marini has tilled the rich soil at his farm for nearly all of his 75 years. Sweet corn, plump tomatoes, leafy greens, and other vegetable crops grow on 50 acres that dip and rise along Linebrook Road. The white-haired farmer, with strong hands and an easy smile, learned to plant and plow from his Italian immigrant father, one of four men who started the farm in 1928. "I love the growing," Marini said, stooping in a field to look at still-green tomatoes. "I love the challenge of making a crop grow… . If it's dry, what can I do to water it?

The port of Eastport, Maine, will be allowed to continue its growing cattle export business now that federal agriculture officials have agreed to continue livestock inspections at the city's shipping terminal. Port officials say the U.S. Department of Agriculture has agreed to send an inspector to the port on an as-needed basis when shipments are made. The Eastport shipping terminal for years has largely handled pulp and pulp-related products. The Bangor Daily News ( http://bit.ly/vnXhwt)

Blue Hill at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture 630 Bedford Road Pocantico Hills, N.Y. 914-366-9600 Dinner, Wednesday-Saturday 5-10 p.m., Sunday 1-10. www.bluehillfarm.com Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture For tours and general information, 914-366-6200 Wednesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. year-round www.stonebarnscenter.org

RENO, Nev. -- The government is investigating allegations of animal neglect and abuse at a state agriculture college. The incidents at the College of Agriculture at the University of Nevada, Reno, occurred over three years, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported yesterday, and included some allegations reported to the US Department of Agriculture by a faculty member. The teacher, Hussein S. Hussein, said that as a result the university retaliated against him and sought to have him fired.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - An attorney for a suicidal animal owner's widow who is seeking the return of exotic animals that survived an October release said she has adequate cages for them at her eastern Ohio farm, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press. Three leopards, two primates, and a bear survived the release of dozens of wild creatures in Zanesville. They have been under a state-issued quarantine at the Columbus Zoo. One leopard was euthanized after it was struck by a door at the zoo. Attorney Robert McClelland wrote to Ohio officials last week for client Marian Thompson.

Northeast Harvest will host an agricultural conference on March 28 at Coolidge Hall on the Topsfield Fairgrounds from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with registration and coffee at 8:30 a.m. Diverse offerings will include sessions on direct marketing, including community-supported agriculture and social networking, led by Diana Rodgers of Green Meadows Farm. A panel discussion on farmers markets will include participants from Arlington, Gloucester, Lexington, Salem, and Wayland. Megan Megrath, with the state's Department of Agricultural Resources, will speak about backyard poultry production, and George Hamilton, extension...

Two Maine organizations are getting $325,000 in federal grants to help fight hunger. The two grants in Maine are among 27 grants totaling $4.8 million awarded nationwide by U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Cultivating Community, a nonprofit agency in Portland that promotes community development through agriculture training programs, will receive $300,000, while the Good Shepherd Food Bank in Auburn is getting $25,000.

The town's Agricultural Commission is holding its second annual "The Future of Farming in Lincoln: A Community Conversation" Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in Bemis Hall. The commission was formed in 2008 to preserve and protect Lincoln's farming legacy. The discussion is an opportunity for residents to give feedback on the future of agriculture in town. - Jennifer Fenn Lefferts

The White House says Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is sitting out President Barack Obama's State of the Union address. The administration typically picks one Cabinet member to stay away from the Capitol so the government can continue to function in case a catastrophe were to strike the Capitol. The State of the Union audience Tuesday night includes members of the Cabinet, top White House officials, lawmakers, members of the Supreme Court and the president's special guests.

Vermont former Agriculture Secretary Roger Allbee is joining Vermont Technical College as a consultant and advisor to the school's president. One of the school's areas of growth is in diversified agriculture. VTC president Philip Conroy said Monday that Albee's broad interest in the field makes him well equipped to help it respond to new developments in the industry. Albee, who also has served as head of the USDA Farm Services Agency, says Vermont is seeing a growing interest in agriculture and local food systems from vegetables to vineyards, artesian cheeses and farm-raised...

Pierce Middle School was recently awarded a Bronze Award from the US Department of Agriculture for promoting nutrition and physical activity. Schools that earn this award receive $500, which must be deposited into their food services account. The Bronze Award challenge is a voluntary initiative, started in 2004, which recognizes schools participating in the National School Lunch Program. - Natalie Feulner

I SHARE Edward L. Glaeser’s skepticism towards hyper-local urban farming (“The locavore’s dilemma; Urban farms do more harm than good to the environment,’’ Op-ed, June 16). However, there are other choices between localism and the modern system of global industrial agriculture. For instance, New York City has an extensive urban greenmarket system, featuring 54 market locations and over 230 regional farms. All food sold is grown within a radius of roughly 200 miles.The greenmarket system of regional agriculture is very efficient at matching small farmers with shoppers across the five...

The Agriculture Department is reinstating several reports that it had targeted for elimination two months ago in a cost-cutting move. The department says that it will reinstate reports for industries such as catfish and trout, hops, fruits and vegetables, and bees and honey. In October, the USDA had said that eliminating or reducing the frequency of 14 crop and livestock reports would save about $10 million. But some farmers complained that without the reports, they would be left guessing how much to produce and when to sell.

As Haverhill health officials weigh the fate of the city's pig farms, a small band of volunteers is working fervently to support farmland preservation by reorganizing the Bradford Grange, which disappeared from the local landscape six years ago. The movement has attracted nearly a dozen people, just shy of the number needed to reorganize the local unit of the decades-old farmers' group. Haverhill, a city best known for its shoe industry, was once also a regional center for the cattle market.