https://ashfount.com/ Articles on regenerative agriculture, the US local food scene and farm to table from Ashfount. en-US https://ashfount.com/politics/consolidation-in-meatpacking-and-seed-where-antitrust-stands/ https://ashfount.com/politics/consolidation-in-meatpacking-and-seed-where-antitrust-stands/ Mon, 12 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT Four firms buy 82 percent of fed cattle and two sell most corn and soybean seed. Where USDA's rules and DOJ antitrust cases stand in October 2026. https://ashfount.com/business/shipping-farm-products-across-state-lines/ https://ashfount.com/business/shipping-farm-products-across-state-lines/ Mon, 28 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Which farm products may cross a state line: meat and the CIS program, poultry, eggs, produce, plus carriers, dry ice and honest shipping prices. https://ashfount.com/infrastructure/delivering-local-food-routes-and-cold-chain/ https://ashfount.com/infrastructure/delivering-local-food-routes-and-cold-chain/ Mon, 14 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Route planning for CSA and restaurant drops, refrigerated vs insulated vans, temperature logs, delivery fees, shared routes and RFSI grants in 2026. https://ashfount.com/ethics/who-harvests-americas-food/ https://ashfount.com/ethics/who-harvests-americas-food/ Mon, 31 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Who harvests US food in 2026: hired labor numbers, the H-2A program, the wage rule a court rejected, enforcement fear, and what a fair small farm does. https://ashfount.com/technology/ai-assistants-on-a-small-farm/ https://ashfount.com/technology/ai-assistants-on-a-small-farm/ Mon, 17 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT What AI chat assistants do well on a small farm (records, drafts, soil test terms), where they fail (agronomy, invented facts, data) and a checklist. https://ashfount.com/finance/usda-disaster-programs-for-small-farms/ https://ashfount.com/finance/usda-disaster-programs-for-small-farms/ Mon, 03 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT What NAP, LIP, ELAP, ECP, TAP and FSA Emergency Loans pay a small farm after a storm, the deadlines, the records to keep, and what they do not cover. https://ashfount.com/livestock/portable-electric-fencing-for-rotational-grazing/ https://ashfount.com/livestock/portable-electric-fencing-for-rotational-grazing/ Mon, 20 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Energizer sizing, polywire versus netting, grounding in dry soil, training livestock, one-person daily moves and the FY2026 NRCS fence rates. https://ashfount.com/local-agriculture/selling-to-hospitals-colleges-and-senior-centers/ https://ashfount.com/local-agriculture/selling-to-hospitals-colleges-and-senior-centers/ Mon, 06 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT How hospitals, colleges and senior centers buy food: self-op and contract kitchens, state local purchasing incentives, specs and the first account. https://ashfount.com/sustainability/turning-farm-seconds-and-surplus-into-food/ https://ashfount.com/sustainability/turning-farm-seconds-and-surplus-into-food/ Mon, 22 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT How a farm turns seconds and surplus into food: grading, selling imperfect produce, gleaning, donation liability, the tax deduction and feeding livestock. https://ashfount.com/politics/colorado-river-deadlines-and-western-farms/ https://ashfount.com/politics/colorado-river-deadlines-and-western-farms/ Mon, 08 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT Where the post-2026 Colorado River rules stood in June 2026, how the water is divided, why farms hold most of it, and what an irrigated farm can plan for. https://ashfount.com/business/organic-certification-cost-process-and-cost-share/ https://ashfount.com/business/organic-certification-cost-process-and-cost-share/ Mon, 25 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT USDA organic certification for small farms: the 36-month transition, the organic system plan, inspection, fees, the 75 percent cost-share, when to skip it. https://ashfount.com/infrastructure/rural-grocery-stores-local-food-local-shelves/ https://ashfount.com/infrastructure/rural-grocery-stores-local-food-local-shelves/ Mon, 11 May 2026 12:00:00 GMT Why rural grocery stores close, the co-op, nonprofit and city-owned models that reopen them, how a farm supplies one, and the money behind them. https://ashfount.com/ethics/gene-edited-crops-and-the-regenerative-farm/ https://ashfount.com/ethics/gene-edited-crops-and-the-regenerative-farm/ Mon, 27 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMT How gene editing differs from transgenic crops, where USDA, FDA and EPA stand in 2026, what organic allows, and how a regenerative farm weighs seed choice. https://ashfount.com/technology/robotic-and-laser-weeders-for-vegetable-growers/ https://ashfount.com/technology/robotic-and-laser-weeders-for-vegetable-growers/ Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMT Robotic and laser weeders in 2026: how they work, what Rutgers, Cornell and Wisconsin trials found, the cost against hand weeding, and small-farm options. https://ashfount.com/finance/land-access-leases-land-trusts-rented-ground/ https://ashfount.com/finance/land-access-leases-land-trusts-rented-ground/ Mon, 30 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT Why most US farmers rent, what the March 2026 end of USDA's land access program means, and how leases, easements and land trusts protect soil you build. https://ashfount.com/livestock/timing-your-calving-season-to-the-grass/ https://ashfount.com/livestock/timing-your-calving-season-to-the-grass/ Mon, 16 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT How to match calving to your forage curve: cow demand vs grass growth by region, a 45 to 60 day breeding window, bulls and the cost of late calves. https://ashfount.com/local-agriculture/starting-a-farmers-market-in-a-small-town/ https://ashfount.com/local-agriculture/starting-a-farmers-market-in-a-small-town/ Mon, 02 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMT Starting a farmers market in a small town: legal structure, site agreement, insurance, vendor rules and fees, permits, SNAP, the manager's job and budget. https://ashfount.com/sustainability/perennial-grains-and-kernza-on-us-farms/ https://ashfount.com/sustainability/perennial-grains-and-kernza-on-us-farms/ Mon, 16 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMT Kernza perennial grain on US farms: acres by state, real yields, dual use for grain and forage, soil and water research, and what a small farm can do. https://ashfount.com/politics/snap-at-the-farmers-market/ https://ashfount.com/politics/snap-at-the-farmers-market/ Mon, 02 Feb 2026 12:00:00 GMT EBT at a farmers market explained: FNS authorization, free readers, GusNIP incentives, the 2025 SNAP law changes with dates, and the vendor to-do list. https://ashfount.com/business/keeping-customers-email-lists-and-repeat-buyers/ https://ashfount.com/business/keeping-customers-email-lists-and-repeat-buyers/ Mon, 19 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMT Why repeat buyers beat new reach for a small farm: building an email list at the stand, the 2024 sender rules, what to send, and how to measure retention. https://ashfount.com/infrastructure/building-a-multi-use-barn-small-farm/ https://ashfount.com/infrastructure/building-a-multi-use-barn-small-farm/ Mon, 05 Jan 2026 12:00:00 GMT Planning a multi-use small-farm barn: post-frame or steel, siting and drainage, flexible bays, permits, January 2026 material prices and FSA storage loans. https://ashfount.com/ethics/the-real-price-of-a-cheap-meal/ https://ashfount.com/ethics/the-real-price-of-a-cheap-meal/ Mon, 22 Dec 2025 12:00:00 GMT True cost accounting in plain terms: what a food price leaves out, the published US estimates, why local food looks expensive, and how to talk price. https://ashfount.com/technology/who-owns-your-farm-data/ https://ashfount.com/technology/who-owns-your-farm-data/ Mon, 08 Dec 2025 12:00:00 GMT Who owns farm data under US law, how the Farm Bureau principles and the Ag Data Transparent seal work, and how to keep records that outlast any app. https://ashfount.com/finance/farm-succession-starting-the-conversation/ https://ashfount.com/finance/farm-succession-starting-the-conversation/ Mon, 24 Nov 2025 12:00:00 GMT Why most farms lack a written succession plan, how to hold the first family meeting, fair versus equal, entity and lease tools, and non-family successors. https://ashfount.com/livestock/heritage-breeds-why-genetics-matter-on-pasture/ https://ashfount.com/livestock/heritage-breeds-why-genetics-matter-on-pasture/ Mon, 10 Nov 2025 12:00:00 GMT Heritage breeds on pasture: the Livestock Conservancy definitions and priority list, where to buy stock, and the markets that pay for slow growth. https://ashfount.com/local-agriculture/local-grain-economies-small-mills-and-regional-flour/ https://ashfount.com/local-agriculture/local-grain-economies-small-mills-and-regional-flour/ Mon, 27 Oct 2025 12:00:00 GMT How US small farms grow bread wheat, clean, test and store it, mill it on stones and sell regional flour through bakers, grain CSAs and grain alliances. https://ashfount.com/sustainability/soil-carbon-baseline-how-to-sample/ https://ashfount.com/sustainability/soil-carbon-baseline-how-to-sample/ Mon, 13 Oct 2025 12:00:00 GMT A practical guide to a soil carbon baseline: sampling depth, cores per field, bulk density, dry combustion, timing and what five years can show. https://ashfount.com/politics/what-happens-when-the-farm-bill-lapses/ https://ashfount.com/politics/what-happens-when-the-farm-bill-lapses/ Mon, 29 Sep 2025 12:00:00 GMT The farm bill extension and federal funding both end September 30, 2025. What keeps running, what pauses, and what to do with a pending USDA application. https://ashfount.com/business/producer-cooperatives-pooling-to-reach-bigger-buyers/ https://ashfount.com/business/producer-cooperatives-pooling-to-reach-bigger-buyers/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 12:00:00 GMT How US farmers form and govern a producer cooperative to reach wholesale buyers: Capper-Volstead, patronage, member equity and the failure modes to avoid. https://ashfount.com/infrastructure/farm-ponds-wells-and-livestock-water-lines/ https://ashfount.com/infrastructure/farm-ponds-wells-and-livestock-water-lines/ Mon, 01 Sep 2025 12:00:00 GMT Siting a stock pond, testing a well, burying livestock water lines below frost, tire tanks, solar pumps and the NRCS and FSA cost share that helps pay. https://ashfount.com/ethics/humane-slaughter-what-to-ask-your-processor/ https://ashfount.com/ethics/humane-slaughter-what-to-ask-your-processor/ Mon, 18 Aug 2025 12:00:00 GMT Humane slaughter for pasture farms: what the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act requires, stunning and pen rules, mobile harvest, and what to ask a processor. https://ashfount.com/technology/electric-tractors-and-farm-vehicles-what-is-real/ https://ashfount.com/technology/electric-tractors-and-farm-vehicles-what-is-real/ Mon, 04 Aug 2025 12:00:00 GMT Electric tractors and farm vehicles in 2025: what is really for sale, battery hours vs farm days, charging, maintenance and payback before credits end. https://ashfount.com/finance/know-your-cost-of-production-before-pricing/ https://ashfount.com/finance/know-your-cost-of-production-before-pricing/ Mon, 21 Jul 2025 12:00:00 GMT How a market farm or pasture operation builds an enterprise budget, prices its own labor and overhead, finds break-even per unit and sets a price list. https://ashfount.com/livestock/pastured-laying-hens-feed-and-egg-pricing/ https://ashfount.com/livestock/pastured-laying-hens-feed-and-egg-pricing/ Mon, 07 Jul 2025 12:00:00 GMT Flock size, mobile housing, the feed bill, seasonal lay rates, egg handling rules and honest pricing for a pastured laying flock after the 2025 egg spike. https://ashfount.com/local-agriculture/cottage-food-laws-what-you-can-sell/ https://ashfount.com/local-agriculture/cottage-food-laws-what-you-can-sell/ Mon, 23 Jun 2025 12:00:00 GMT What cottage food laws let a farm family sell from a home kitchen: allowed foods, sales caps, labels, where you may sell, and what changed in 2025. https://ashfount.com/sustainability/prairie-strips-small-set-aside-big-results/ https://ashfount.com/sustainability/prairie-strips-small-set-aside-big-results/ Mon, 09 Jun 2025 12:00:00 GMT Prairie strips on US row crop farms: the Iowa State STRIPS results, layout rules, seeding, first-year mowing, cost per treated acre and CRP CP43 payments. https://ashfount.com/politics/country-of-origin-labeling-where-the-law-stands/ https://ashfount.com/politics/country-of-origin-labeling-where-the-law-stands/ Mon, 26 May 2025 12:00:00 GMT COOL in 2025: the 2015 beef and pork repeal, the WTO fight, the Product of USA rule due in 2026, the American Beef Labeling Act and the grass-fed angle. https://ashfount.com/business/regenerative-certifications-compared/ https://ashfount.com/business/regenerative-certifications-compared/ Mon, 12 May 2025 12:00:00 GMT ROC, Land to Market, Regenified and AGW compared: requirements, audit costs, practice versus outcome checks, who asks for the seal, and when to skip it. https://ashfount.com/infrastructure/small-meat-plants-and-the-processing-bottleneck/ https://ashfount.com/infrastructure/small-meat-plants-and-the-processing-bottleneck/ Mon, 28 Apr 2025 12:00:00 GMT Small meat plants since 2020: why they closed, what USDA expansion grants built, state inspection, mobile units, and how a farm secures processing slots. https://ashfount.com/ethics/farm-interns-and-apprentices-fair-pay/ https://ashfount.com/ethics/farm-interns-and-apprentices-fair-pay/ Mon, 14 Apr 2025 12:00:00 GMT What US law says a farm owes an intern: the 500 man-day and state rules, housing credits, the 2025 H-2A wage benchmark, and building a real apprenticeship. https://ashfount.com/technology/small-farm-tools-that-earn-their-keep/ https://ashfount.com/technology/small-farm-tools-that-earn-their-keep/ Mon, 31 Mar 2025 12:00:00 GMT Which small farm tools pay for themselves on a few acres: walk-behind tractors, flail mowers, tarps, paper pot transplanters and no-till drills. https://ashfount.com/finance/usda-grants-worth-a-small-farms-time/ https://ashfount.com/finance/usda-grants-worth-a-small-farms-time/ Mon, 17 Mar 2025 12:00:00 GMT USDA grants that fit a small farm in spring 2025: VAPG due April 17, SARE farmer grants, FMPP, RFSI equipment money, match, reports and what to skip. https://ashfount.com/livestock/pigs-on-pasture-and-in-woodlots/ https://ashfount.com/livestock/pigs-on-pasture-and-in-woodlots/ Mon, 03 Mar 2025 12:00:00 GMT Pastured and woodlot pigs for a first season: stocking, heritage breeds, fencing, water, feed costs, farrowing, food-scrap rules and Proposition 12. https://ashfount.com/local-agriculture/running-a-roadside-farm-stand-that-pays/ https://ashfount.com/local-agriculture/running-a-roadside-farm-stand-that-pays/ Mon, 17 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT How to site, sign, price and staff a roadside farm stand that pays: zoning rules, honor boxes, scales, payment apps and the products that carry the season. https://ashfount.com/sustainability/cutting-synthetic-nitrogen-without-cutting-yields/ https://ashfount.com/sustainability/cutting-synthetic-nitrogen-without-cutting-yields/ Mon, 03 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT How to cut purchased nitrogen without losing bushels: legume and manure credits, split applications, the sidedress nitrate test and on-farm strip trials. https://ashfount.com/politics/new-administration-and-usda-what-to-watch/ https://ashfount.com/politics/new-administration-and-usda-what-to-watch/ Mon, 20 Jan 2025 12:00:00 GMT What a transition changes at USDA and your county office, what the American Relief Act locks in, where to watch, and how to protect a signed contract. https://ashfount.com/business/scaling-a-food-brand-co-packers-distributors-margins/ https://ashfount.com/business/scaling-a-food-brand-co-packers-distributors-margins/ Mon, 06 Jan 2025 12:00:00 GMT How a US farm food brand grows past its own kitchen: vetting a co-packer, labels and UPCs, distributor margin math, slotting fees and the cash flow trap. https://ashfount.com/infrastructure/shared-use-commercial-kitchens-for-food-entrepreneurs/ https://ashfount.com/infrastructure/shared-use-commercial-kitchens-for-food-entrepreneurs/ Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:00:00 GMT How shared-use commercial kitchens rent time by the hour, what storage and licenses cost, and how a farm or food startup leaves the home kitchen behind. https://ashfount.com/ethics/pesticide-drift-and-neighbors-a-regenerative-farms-duty/ https://ashfount.com/ethics/pesticide-drift-and-neighbors-a-regenerative-farms-duty/ Mon, 09 Dec 2024 12:00:00 GMT What the organic buffer rule requires, how to talk with neighbors before spring, how to document drift and file a complaint, and where dicamba stands. https://ashfount.com/technology/free-satellite-imagery-tools-for-farmers/ https://ashfount.com/technology/free-satellite-imagery-tools-for-farmers/ Mon, 25 Nov 2024 12:00:00 GMT What NDVI measures, what Landsat, Sentinel-2 and MODIS pixels cover, and the free USDA, NASA and university tools a small farm can use this winter.