#What is Agriculture Insurance Market

[dhirajmarketresearch]

[botanyshitposts]

Opinion on the US's Cogs damn obsession with corn?

don't know what you're talking about specifically but my understanding of US agricultural policy in general is that being a farmer in capitalism sucks and has since colonization and for a long time the US government tried to make it suck less with subsidies which sometimes work (because people get paid predictably regardless of demand and its less like gambling with crops) but sometimes go over really badly (because then too many people grow it and the price per bushel goes down and then government has too much corn) and then a couple times they got rid of all the subsides and related regulations and that REALLY didnt work (because then the price just crashed hard and with nothing to compensate them a bunch of farmers, many of whom were in debt for other farming-related reasons, couldnt get paid and actually had to foreclose their farms, which accelerated the long-standing trend of farms getting foreclosed on and then being bought out by bigger farms that then ended up running INSANE multi million dollar operations, sometimes even on farms in other states where the owners do not live, in communities they do not contribute to) and they had to backpedal on it and then eventually they just started on the current system where you simply pass a farm bill every 10-12 years instead of yearly or biyearly and that way you simply dont have to think about it, and then when it is election time you go stand by a cornfield for a while for tv. it does not fix the huge enormous farms buying out smaller farms problem or any of the complicated related problems but it DOES put it off for longer which is more important.

sometimes also you (USAID for instance) can give the too-much-corn you have from farm subsidies to a foreign country as a 'gift' and say youre just being a helpful little guy, but in the process of doing so undercut the local farmers in that country because they cant compete with free stuff but that's cool because then the foreign country can't really survive as well without US agricultural aid and you can manipulate them to do imperialism better AND you have more demand for the corn which might raise the price per bushel in the US. also sometimes the corn is fed to livestock en masse because the meat is worth more and sometimes its made into gas or high fructose corn syrup, and sometimes the price is so low per bushel that the insurance on the field is worth more than the actual corn.

but. i CANNOT stress enough that the most important thing about corn is that you can stand next to it on tv and if you cant do that, maybe you can stand next to a guy who is around it a lot and say you are helping him.

in my relatively uneducated opinion the most epic way to solve this complex multi-century interdisciplinary push and pull of supply and demand would be to just pay farmers a salary through the state since youre already paying out massive state subsidies for crops you dont need anyway and the farmers are performing a vital service and that way you can guarantee people a consistent salary AND control how much of each thing gets planted so you dont have a massive stockpile at all times AND you reward individual people instead of paying out large amounts of money to whatever massive operation sells the most corn by virtue of being big, but if you dont want to do that then the second best thing is to just pass another mediocre farm bill whos inflexible 10-ish year lifespan makes it impossible for it to respond well to changes in market demand and that way you can just put off making tough decisions and instead stand next to a guy and a cornfield on tv again. which as we have covered is the most important part of american agriculture

[thedansemacabres]

Introduction To Supporting Sustainable Agriculture For Witches and Pagans

[ID: An image of yellow grain stocks, soon to be harvested. The several stocks reach towards a blurred open sky, focusing the camera on he grains themselves. The leaves of the grains are green and the cereals are exposed].

PAGANISM AND WITCHCRAFT ARE MOVEMENTS WITHIN A SELF-DESTRUCTIVE CAPITALIST SOCIETY. As the world becomes more aware of the importance of sustainability, so does the duty of humanity to uphold the idea of the steward, stemming from various indigenous worldviews, in the modern era. I make this small introduction as a viticulturist working towards organic and environmentally friendly grape production. I also do work on a food farm, as a second job—a regenerative farm, so I suppose that is my qualifications. Sustainable—or rather regenerative agriculture—grows in recognition. And as paganism and witchcraft continue to blossom, learning and supporting sustainability is naturally a path for us to take. I will say that this is influenced by I living in the USA, however, there are thousands of groups across the world for sustainable agriculture, of which tend to be easy to research.

So let us unite in caring for the world together, and here is an introduction to supporting sustainable/regenerative agriculture. 

A QUICK BRIEF ON SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE 

Sustainable agriculture, in truth, is a movement to practise agriculture as it has been done for thousands of years—this time, with more innovation from science and microbiology especially. The legal definition in the USA of sustainable agriculture is: 

The term ”sustainable agriculture” (U.S. Code Title 7, Section 3103) means an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site-specific application that will over the long-term:

A more common man’s definition would be farming in a way that provides society’s food and textile needs without overuse of natural resources, artificial supplements and pest controls, without compromising the future generation’s needs and ability to produce resources. The agriculture industry has one of the largest and most detrimental impacts on the environment, and sustainable agriculture is the alternative movement to it. 

Sustainable agriculture also has the perk of being physically better for you—the nutrient quality of crops in the USA has dropped by 47%, and the majority of our food goes to waste. Imagine if it was composted and reused? Or even better—we buy only what we need. We as pagans and witches can help change this. 

BUYING ORGANIC (IT REALLY WORKS)

The first step is buying organic. While cliche, it does work: organic operations have certain rules to abide by, which excludes environmentally dangerous chemicals—many of which, such as DDT, which causes ecological genocide and death to people. Organic operations have to use natural ways of fertilising, such as compost, which to many of us—such as myself—revere the cycle of life, rot, and death. Organic standards do vary depending on the country, but the key idea is farming without artificial fertilisers, using organic seeds, supplementing with animal manure, fertility managed through management practices, etc. 

However, organic does have its flaws. Certified organic costs many, of which many small farmers cannot afford. The nutrient quality of organic food, while tending to be better, is still poor compared to regeneratively grown crops. Furthermore, the process to become certified organic is often gruelling—you can practise completely organically, but if you are not certified, it is not organic. Which, while a quality control insurance, is both a bonus and a hurdle. 

JOINING A CSA

Moving from organic is joining a CSA (“Community supported agriculture”). The USDA defines far better than I could: 

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), one type of direct marketing, consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so that the farmland becomes, either legally or spiritually, the community’s farm, with the growers and consumers providing mutual support and sharing the risks and benefits of food production.

By purchasing a farm share, you receive food from the farm for the agreed upon production year. I personally enjoy CSAs for the relational aspect—choosing a CSA is about having a relationship, not only with the farmer(s), but also the land you receive food from. I volunteer for my CSA and sometimes I get extra cash from it—partaking in the act of caring for the land. Joining a CSA also means taking your precious capital away from the larger food industry and directly supporting growers—and CSAs typically practise sustainable and/or regenerative agriculture. 

CSAs are also found all over the world and many can deliver their products to food deserts and other areas with limited agricultural access. I volunteer from time to time for a food bank that does exactly that with the produce I helped grow on the vegetable farm I work for. 

FARM MARKETS AND STALLS 

Another way of personally connecting to sustainable agriculture is entering the realm of the farm stall. The farmer’s market is one of my personal favourite experiences—people buzzing about searching for ingredients, smiles as farmers sell crops and products such as honey or baked goods, etc. The personal connection stretches into the earth, and into the past it buries—as I purchase my apples from the stall, I cannot help but see a thousand lives unfold. People have been doing this for thousands of years and here I stand, doing it all over again. 

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Farmers’ markets are dependent on your local area, yet in most you can still develop personal community connections. Paganism often stresses community as an ideal and a state of life. And witchcraft often stresses a connection to the soil. What better place, then, is purchasing the products from the locals who commune with the land? 

VOLUNTEERING 

If you are able to, I absolutely recommend volunteering. I have worked with aquaponic systems, food banks, farms, cider-making companies, soil conservation groups, etc. There is so much opportunity—and perhaps employment—in these fields. The knowledge I have gained has been wonderful. As one example, I learned that fertilisers reduce carbon sequestration as plants absorb carbon to help with nutrient intake. If they have all their nutrients ready, they do not need to work to obtain carbon to help absorb it. This does not even get into the symbiotic relationship fungi have with roots, or the world of hyphae. Volunteering provides community and connection. Actions and words change the world, and the world grows ever better with help—including how much or how little you may provide. It also makes a wonderful devotional activity. 

RESOURCING FOOD AND COOKING 

Buying from farmers is not always easy, however. Produce often has to be processed, requiring labour and work with some crops such as carrots. Other times, it is a hard effort to cook and many of us—such as myself—often have very limited energy. There are solutions to this, thankfully:

Many farmers can and will process foods. Some even do canning, which can be good to stock up on food and lessen the energy inputs. 

Value-added products: farms also try to avoid waste, and these products often become dried snacks if fruit, frozen, etc. 

Asking farmers if they would be open to accommodating this. Chances are, they would! The farmer I purchase my CSA share from certainly does. 

Going to farmers markets instead of buying a CSA, aligning with your energy levels. 

And if any of your purchased goods are going unused, you can always freeze them. 

DEMETER, CERES, VEIA, ETC: THE FORGOTTEN AGRICULTURE GODS

Agricultural gods are often neglected. Even gods presiding over agriculture often do not have those aspects venerated—Dionysos is a god of viticulture and Apollon a god of cattle. While I myself love Dionysos as a party and wine god, the core of him remains firmly in the vineyards and fields, branching into the expanses of the wild. I find him far more in the curling vines as I prune them than in the simple delights of the wine I ferment. Even more obscure gods, such as Veia, the Etruscan goddess of agriculture, are seldom known.

Persephone receives the worst of this: I enjoy her too as a dread queen, and people do acknowledge her as Kore, but she is far more popular as the queen of the underworld instead of the dear daughter of Demeter. I do understand this, though—I did not feel the might of Demeter and Persephone until I began to move soil with my own hands. A complete difference to the ancient world, where the Eleusinian mysteries appealed to thousands. Times change, and while some things should be left to the past, our link to these gods have been severed. After all, how many of us reading know where our food comes from? I did not until I began to purchase from the land I grew to know personally. The grocery store has become a land of tearing us from the land, instead of the food hub it should be.

Yet, while paganism forgets agriculture gods, they have not forgotten us. The new world of farming is more conductive and welcoming than ever. I find that while older, bigoted people exist, the majority of new farmers tend to be LGBT+. My own boss is trans and aro, and I myself am transgender and gay. The other young farmers I know are some flavour of LGBT+, or mixed/poc. There’s a growing movement for Black farmers, elaborated in a lovely text called We Are Each Other’s Harvest. 

Indigenous farming is also growing and I absolutely recommend buying from indigenous farmers. At this point, I consider Demeter to be a patron of LGBT+ people in this regard—she gives an escape to farmers such as myself. Bigotry is far from my mind under her tender care, as divine Helios shines above and Okeanos’ daughters bring fresh water to the crops. Paganism is also more commonly accepted—I find that farmers find out that I am pagan and tell me to do rituals for their crops instead of reacting poorly. Or they’re pagan themselves; a farmer I know turned out to be Wiccan and uses the wheel of the year to keep track of production. 

Incorporating these divinities—or concepts surrounding them—into our crafts and altars is the spiritual step towards better agriculture. Holy Demeter continues to guide me, even before I knew it. 

WANT CHANGE? DO IT YOURSELF! 

If you want change in the world, you have to act. And if you wish for better agriculture, there is always the chance to do it yourself. Sustainable agriculture is often far more accessible than people think: like witchcraft and divination, it is a practice. Homesteading is often appealing to many of us, including myself, and there are plenty of resources to begin. There are even grants to help one improve their home to be more sustainable, i.e. solar panels. Gardening is another, smaller option. Many of us find that plants we grow and nourish are far more potentant in craft, and more receptive to magical workings. 

Caring for plants is fundamental to our natures and there are a thousand ways to delve into it. I personally have joined conservation groups, my local soil conservation group, work with the NRCs in the USA, and more. The path to fully reconnecting to nature and agriculture is personal—united in a common cause to fight for this beautiful world. To immerse yourself in sustainable agriculture, I honestly recommend researching and finding your own path. Mine lies in soil and rot, grapevines and fruit trees. Others do vegetables and cereal grains, or perhaps join unions and legislators. Everyone has a share in the beauty of life, our lives stemming from the land’s gentle sprouts. 

Questions and or help may be given through my ask box on tumblr—if there is a way I can help, let me know. My knowledge is invaluable I believe, as I continue to learn and grow in the grey-clothed arms of Demeter, Dionysos, and Kore. 

FURTHER READING:

Baszile, N. (2021). We are each other’s harvest. HarperCollins.

Hatley, J. (2016). Robin Wall Kimmerer. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants. Environmental Philosophy, 13(1), 143–145. https://doi.org/10.5840/envirophil201613137

Regenerative Agriculture 101. (2021, November 29). https://www.nrdc.org/stories/regenerative-agriculture-101#what-is

And in truth, far more than I could count. 

References

Community Supported Agriculture | National Agricultural Library. (n.d.). https://www.nal.usda.gov/farms-and-agricultural-production-systems/community-supported-agriculture

Navazio, J. (2012). The Organic seed Grower: A Farmer’s Guide to Vegetable Seed Production. Chelsea Green Publishing.

Plaster, E. (2008). Soil Science and Management. Cengage Learning.

Sheaffer, C. C., & Moncada, K. M. (2012). Introduction to agronomy: food, crops, and environment. Cengage Learning.

Sheldrake, M. (2020). Entangled life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures. Random House.

Sustainable Agriculture | National Agricultural Library. (n.d.). https://www.nal.usda.gov/farms-and-agricultural-production-systems/sustainable-agriculture

[centrally-unplanned]

Gonna make this a quick one since I just don’t have the spoons for a really big effort post: Pre-CCP 20th Century China Did Not Have Feudal or Slave-like Land Tenancy Systems

Obviously what counts as “slave-like” is going to be subjective, but I think it's common, for *ahem* reasons, for people to believe that in the 1930’s Chinese agriculture was dominated by massive-scale, absentee landlords who held the large majority of peasant workers in a virtual chokehold and dictated all terms of labor.

That is not how Chinese land ownership & agricultural systems worked. I am going to pull from Chinese Agriculture in the 1930s: Investigations into John Lossing Buck’s Rediscovered ‘Land Utilization in China’ Microdata, which is some of the best ground-level data you can get on how land use functioned, in practice, in China during the "Nanjing Decade" before WW2 ruins all data collection. It looks at a series of north-central provinces, which gives you the money table of this:

On average, 4/5ths of Chinese peasants owned land, and primarily farmed land that they owned. Tenancy was, by huge margins, the minority practice. I really don’t need to say more than this, but I'm going to because there is a deeper point I want to make. And it's fair to say that while this is representative of Northern China, Southern China did have higher tenancy rates - not crazy higher, but higher.

So let's look at those part-owner farmers; sounds bad right? Like they own part of their land, but it's not enough? Well, sometimes, but sometimes not:

A huge class (about ~1/3rd) of those part-owners were farming too much land, not too little; they were enterprising households renting land to expand their businesses. They would often engage in diversified production, like cash crops on the rented land and staple crops on their owned land. Many of them would actually leave some of their owned land fallow, because it wasn’t worth the time to farm!

Meanwhile the small part-owners and the landless tenant farmers would rent out land to earn a living…sometimes. Because that wasn’t the only way to make a living - trades existed. From our data, if you are a small part-owner, you got a substantial chunk of your income from non-farm labor; if you owned no land you got the majority of your income from non-farm labor:

(Notice how that includes child labor by default, welcome to pre-modernism!)

So the amount of people actually doing full-tenancy agriculture for a living is…pretty small, less than 10% for sure. But what did it look like for those who do? The tenancy rates can be pretty steep - 50/50 splits were very common. But that is deceiving actually; this would be called “share rent”, but other systems, such as cash rents, bulk crop rents, long-term leases with combined payment structures, etc, also existed and were plentiful - and most of those had lower rent rates. However, share rent did two things; one, it hedged against risk; in the case of a crop failure you weren't out anything as the tenant, a form of insurance. And two, it implied reciprocal obligations - the land owner was providing the seed, normally the tools as well, and other inputs like fertilizer.

Whether someone chose one type of tenancy agreement or the other was based on balancing their own labor availability, other wage opportunities, the type of crop being grown, and so on. From the data we have, negotiations were common around these types of agreements; a lot of land that was share rent one year would be cash rent another, because the tenants and market conditions shifted to encourage one or the other form.

I’m doing a little trick here, by throwing all these things at you. Remember the point at the top? “Was this system like slavery?” What defines slavery? To me, its a lack of options - that is the bedrock of a slave system. Labor that you are compelled by law to do, with no claim on the output of that work. And as I hit you with eight tiers of land ownership and tenancy agreements and multi-source household incomes, as you see that the median person renting out land to a tenant farmer was himself a farmer as a profession and by no means some noble in the city, what I hope becomes apparent is that the Chinese agricultural system was a fully liquid market based on choice and expected returns. By no means am I saying that it was a nice way to live; it was an awful way to live. But nowhere in this system was state coercion the bedrock of the labor system. China’s agricultural system was in fact one of the most free, commercial, and contract-based systems on the planet in the pre-modern era, that was a big source of why China as a society was so wealthy. It was a massive, moving market of opportunities for wages, loans, land ownership, tenancy agreements, haggled contracts, everyone trying in their own way to make the living that they could.

It's a system that left many poor, and to be clear injustices, robberies, corruption, oh for sure were legion. Particularly during the Warlord Era mass armies might just sweep in and confiscate all your hard currency and fresh crops. But, even ignoring that the whole ‘poverty’ thing is 90% tech level and there was no amount of redistribution that was going to improve that very much, what is more important is that the pre-modern world was *not* equally bad in all places. The American South was also pretty poor, but richer than China in the 19th century. And being a slave in the American South was WAY worse than being a peasant in China during times of peace - because Confederate society built systems to remove choice, to short-circuit the ebb and flow of the open system to enshrine their elite ‘permanently’ at the top. If you lived in feudal Russia it was a good deal worse, with huge amounts of your yearly labor compelled by the state onto estates held by those who owned them unimpeachably by virtue of their birthright (though you were a good deal richer just due to basic agriculture productivity & population density, bit of a tradeoff there).

If you simply throw around the word “slavery” to describe every pre-modern agricultural system because it was poor and shitty, that back-doors a massive amount of apologia for past social systems that were actively worse than the benchmarks of the time. Which is something the CCP did; their diagnosis of China’s problem for the rural poor of needing massive land redistribution was wrong! It was just wrong, it was not the issue they were having. It was not why rural China was often poor and miserable. It could help, sure, I myself would support some compensated land redistribution in the post-war era as a welfare idea for a fiscally-strapped state. But that was gonna do 1% of the heavy lifting here in making the rural poor's lives better. And I don’t think we should continue to the job of spreading the CCP's propaganda for them.

There ya go @chiefaccelerator, who alas I was not permitted to compel via state force into writing this for me, you Qing Dynasty lazy peasant.

[rjzimmerman]

Food as You Know It Is About to Change. (New York Times Op-Ed)

From the vantage of the American supermarket aisle, the modern food system looks like a kind of miracle. Everything has been carefully cultivated for taste and convenience — even those foods billed as organic or heirloom — and produce regarded as exotic luxuries just a few generations ago now seems more like staples, available on demand: avocados, mangoes, out-of-season blueberries imported from Uruguay.

But the supermarket is also increasingly a diorama of the fragility of a system — disrupted in recent years by the pandemic, conflict and, increasingly, climate change. What comes next? Almost certainly, more disruptions and more hazards, enough to remake the whole future of food.

The world as a whole is already facing what the Cornell agricultural economist Chris Barrett calls a “food polycrisis.” Over the past decade, he says, what had long been reliable global patterns of year-on-year improvements in hunger first stalled and then reversed. Rates of undernourishment have grown 21 percent since 2017. Agricultural yields are still growing, but not as quickly as they used to and not as quickly as demand is booming. Obesity has continued to rise, and the average micronutrient content of dozens of popular vegetables has continued to fall. The food system is contributing to the growing burden of diabetes and heart disease and to new spillovers of infectious diseases from animals to humans as well.

And then there are prices. Worldwide, wholesale food prices, adjusted for inflation, have grown about 50 percent since 1999, and those prices have also grown considerably more volatile, making not just markets but the whole agricultural Rube Goldberg network less reliable. Overall, American grocery prices have grown by almost 21 percent since President Biden took office, a phenomenon central to the widespread perception that the cost of living has exploded on his watch. Between 2020 and 2023, the wholesale price of olive oil tripled; the price of cocoa delivered to American ports jumped by even more in less than two years. The economist Isabella Weber has proposed maintaining the food equivalent of a strategic petroleum reserve, to buffer against shortages and ease inevitable bursts of market chaos.

Price spikes are like seismographs for the food system, registering much larger drama elsewhere — and sometimes suggesting more tectonic changes underway as well. More than three-quarters of the population of Africa, which has already surpassed one billion, cannot today afford a healthy diet; this is where most of our global population growth is expected to happen this century, and there has been little agricultural productivity growth there for 20 years. Over the same time period, there hasn’t been much growth in the United States either.

Though American agriculture as a whole produces massive profits, Mr. Barrett says, most of the country’s farms actually lose money, and around the world, food scarcity is driving record levels of human displacement and migration. According to the World Food Program, 282 million people in 59 countries went hungry last year, 24 million more than the previous year. And already, Mr. Barrett says, building from research by his Cornell colleague Ariel Ortiz-Bobea, the effects of climate change have reduced the growth of overall global agricultural productivity by between 30 and 35 percent. The climate threats to come loom even larger.

It can be tempting, in an age of apocalyptic imagination, to picture the most dire future climate scenarios: not just yield declines but mass crop failures, not just price spikes but food shortages, not just worsening hunger but mass famine. In a much hotter world, those will indeed become likelier, particularly if agricultural innovation fails to keep pace with climate change; over a 30-year time horizon, the insurer Lloyd’s recently estimated a 50 percent chance of what it called a “major” global food shock.

But disruption is only half the story and perhaps much less than that. Adaptation and innovation will transform the global food supply, too. At least to some degree, crops such as avocados or cocoa, which now regularly appear on lists of climate-endangered foodstuffs, will be replaced or redesigned. Diets will shift, and with them the farmland currently producing staple crops — corn, wheat, soy, rice. The pressure on the present food system is not a sign that it will necessarily fail, only that it must change. Even if that progress does come to pass, securing a stable and bountiful future for food on a much warmer planet, what will it all actually look like?

[stephensmithuk]

The Five Orange Pips

ACD likes a shipwreck, doesn't he?

I will leave discussions about the Ku Klux Klan to those with more knowledge on the subject.

A mendicant is someone who generally takes a vow of poverty and relies on charity to survive - such as a wandering preacher. In Christianity, this was often done in deliberate imitation of the Apostles, who were told to rely on others (and by extension God) for their needs. Mendicants having a luxurious club would be a tad hypocritical.

We have two barques referenced here. To repeat my comment from "The Gloria Scott": a bark - or barque - is a type of sailing ship with three or more masts - the first two masts have square sails, the one at the back had them aligned with the hull. They were fast ships that needed a relatively small crew.

The UK's position on the Gulf Stream may keep the place from getting very cold in winter, but it also leaves us open to big storms.

Pince-nez glasses were very popular in this time period.

The area around Horsham does indeed have pretty clay-ey soil that's good for growing crops.

Horsham is a market and commuter town 31 miles from London.

Cheating at cards was apparently the worst thing a gentleman could do. In Ian Fleming's novels, two of the villains are immediately clearly wrong-uns as they're rich guys who feel the need to cheat.

Being "sent to Coventry" is a British expression for being ostracised. Joseph appears to have sent himself to the West Midlands town.

Pondicherry, now called Puducherry, was in fact a French enclave on the south-eastern coast of India and was not in fact transferred to Indian control until 1954.

"London E." was one of the postal divisions of the city at the time - it remains as the E postcode area, split into 22 districts, including two specially for Natwest and News International. Yep, Murdoch has his own postcode.

PC Cook is rather off his normal beat. H Division covered Whitechapel and had, a few years prior to this story coming out, failed to catch Jack the Ripper.

The Embankment here refers to the Victoria Embankment, a road and pedestrian avenue built by the river as part of a land reclamation project earlier in the century. It had the side effect of permanently ending any hope of Frost Fairs - the river now flows too fast to freeze.

I believe this story takes place pretty much entirely in Baker Street.

Lloyd's refers to Lloyd's of London, a very long running maritime insurance marketplace, who also underwrite a bunch of other insurance policies, including film stars' legs. They keep comprehensive records of ship movements for this purposes.

Gravesend is a town in Kent near what is now the M25 and would be a good place to spot a ship before the Thames Estuary widens out - beyond that, you might easily miss a ship in poor visibility from the few communities beyond it.

The transatlantic telegraph cables were firmly in operation by this point. Their successor cables form the backbone of the modern Internet.

Mail was generally transported on the fastest ships i.e. the ocean liners; so you'd be talking around a week to cross the Atlantic at this point. A sailing ship would be looking at three times as long.

Sliced bread - i.e. bread that came pre-sliced when you bought it - was not a thing until 1928.

Please note that those who wish to post orange pips to the United States today will require a permit from the US Department of Agriculture.

[stevishabitat]

Soil: The Secret Weapon in the Fight Against Climate Change - EcoWatch

www.ecowatch.com

Soil: The Secret Weapon in the Fight Against Climate Change

EcoWatch

7 - 8 minutes

By Claire O’Connor

Agriculture is on the front lines of climate change. Whether it’s the a seven-year drought drying up fields in California, the devastating Midwest flooding in 2019, or hurricane after hurricane hitting the Eastern Shore, agriculture and rural communities are already feeling the effects of a changing climate. Scientists expect climate change to make these extreme weather events both more frequent and more intense in coming years.

Agriculture is also an important — in fact a necessary — partner in fighting climate change. The science is clear: We cannot stay beneath the most dangerous climate thresholds without sequestering a significant amount of carbon in our soils.

Agricultural soils have the potential to sequester, relatively inexpensively, 250 million metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent greenhouse gasses annually — equivalent to the annual emissions of 64 coal fired power plants, according to National Academy of Sciences.

But we can’t get there without engaging farmers, turning a source of emissions into a carbon sink. Here are just a few of the ways the Natural Resources Defense Council works to encourage climate-friendly farming:

Creating New Incentives for Cover Crops: Cover crops are planted in between growing seasons with the specific purpose of building soil health. Despite their multiple agronomic and environmental benefits, adoption is low — only about 7% of U.S. farmland uses cover crops. NRDC is working to scale up cover cropping through innovative incentives delivered through the largest federal farm subsidy: crop insurance. We’ve worked with partners in Iowa and Illinois to launch programs that give farmers who use cover crops /acre off of their crop insurance bill. And partners in Minnesota and Wisconsin are exploring similar options. While we’re delighted at the benefit this program has for farmers in those individual states, we’re even more excited about the potential to scale this program to the 350 million acres that utilize subsidized crop insurance nationwide. A recent study suggests that cover crops sequester an average of .79 tons of carbon per acre annually, making cover crops one of the pillars of climate-friendly farming systems.

Supporting Carbon as a New “Agricultural Product”: Championed by Senator Ron Wyden, the 2018 Farm Bill created a new program, the Soil Health Demonstration Trial, that encourages farmers to adopt practices that improve their soil health, and tracks and measures the outcomes. NRDC worked alongside our partners at E2 and a number of commodity groups, farmer organizations, and agribusinesses to secure passage of this provision. The Demonstration Trial will create a new, reliable income stream — farmers will get paid for the carbon they sequester regardless of how their crops turn out, and it builds the data needed for confidence in any future carbon markets. USDA recently announced the first round of awards under this new program, totaling over million in investments to improve soil health. Senator Cory Booker has since drafted legislation that would increase funding for the program nearly 10-fold to 0 million annually; Representative Deb Haaland released a companion bill in the House.

Scaling up Regenerative Agriculture: Regenerative agriculture is an approach to farming that looks to work with nature to rebuild the overall health of the system. Regenerative farmers use a variety of tactics, including reduced chemical inputs, diverse crop and livestock rotations, incorporating compost into their systems, and agroforestry, among others. Our team is in the midst of interviewing regenerative farmers and ranchers to learn more about what’s working for them and what challenges they’ve faced in their shift to a regenerative approach. We’re planning to analyze our interview results and combine them with a literature review to identify what role NRDC could potentially play in helping to scale up regenerative farming and ranching systems. We’ll also be sharing quotes and photos from our interviews on social media every Friday starting in January, so stay tuned for some inspiring farm footage!

Supporting Organic Farmers: Organic agriculture by design reduces greenhouse gas emissions, sequesters carbon in the soil, does not rely on energy-intensive chemical inputs, and builds resiliency within our food system. Practices integrated into organic production will become increasingly more important in the face of a changing climate. NRDC supports organic farmers through policy initiatives like the Organic Farm-to-School program that was introduced in the California legislature last year. In the coming year, we’ll continue to work to support organic farmers in California.

Reducing Food Waste: Food waste generates nearly 3% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., and NRDC is working hard to reduce that number, and improve soil health in the process. Some of our policy proposals include securing passage of date labelling legislation to eliminate confusion about whether food is still good to eat, working with cities to reduce waste and increase rescue of surplus food, and supporting efforts at all levels to increase composting of food scraps. Adding compost to soils improves their ability to sequester carbon, store nutrients, and retain water. Composting food scraps also helps to “close the loop” on organic matter and nutrients by returning them to the agricultural production cycle, rather than sending that organic material to landfills, where it generates methane (a powerful climate pollutant).

Climate-friendly farming also offers a host of important co-benefits. For example, when farmers use complex crop rotations to break weed, pest, and disease cycles, they can reduce the amount of synthetic chemicals they need to use. When they use practices like cover crops, no-till, and adding compost to protect and restore the soil, they reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers that emit greenhouse gasses. And when farmers can reinvest the oppressive amount of money they had been previously spending on expensive, synthetic inputs into the additional labor required to carbon farm, they bring new jobs to economically-depressed rural areas.

Farmers understand better than many of us the harsh realities of climate change, regardless of their opinions about what’s causing those changes. And tight margins and trade wars make the potential of new value streams particularly attractive for farmers right now. By working alongside the farmers and farmworkers who tend the land, we can bring new allies into the fight against climate change, restore the health of our soil, and create a healthy, equitable, and resilient food system.

[sonalikrishnan]

How to Choose the Right Crop Insurance Policy? | Kshema General Insurance

In an unpredictable world where natural disasters can severely impact agricultural productivity, crop insurance serves as a crucial lifeline for farmers. It’s designed to provide financial protection against crop loss or damage due to natural perils like drought, floods, and other unforeseen events. 

1. Understand Your Risks and Coverage Needs

The first step in choosing a crop insurance policy is understanding the specific risks faced by your farm. 

Key Coverage Types:

Yield-based Coverage: This type of coverage protects against significant declines in crop yield due to perils like flood, pests, or disease.

Revenue-based Coverage: This coverage is ideal for protecting your revenue in case of market price fluctuations or yield loss. It ensures that you receive a certain level of income even if crop prices drop.

Comprehensive Coverage: Some policies offer a more extensive form of protection, covering a broad range of risks, from weather-related issues.

2. Research Crop Insurance Providers

Different providers offer varying terms, premiums, and levels of support. It’s crucial to research providers in your area and assess their reputation for handling claims efficiently. 

Questions to Ask When Evaluating Providers:

– How long have they been providing crop insurance?

– Do they have a good reputation among local farmers?

3. Compare Policy Options and Costs

Comparing policy options is essential to find the best crop insurance policy for your needs. Look beyond the premium cost to understand what you’re actually getting. Often, cheaper policies might have limited coverage, which may not be beneficial in case of significant crop loss.

Key Aspects to Compare:

Premiums: Compare premium rates from multiple providers. However, a lower premium isn’t always the best choice if it comes with reduced coverage.

Payout Limits: Look for any limitations on the payout amount. Some policies might cap their payouts, which could leave you underinsured during large-scale losses.

Read More: https://kshema.co/how-to-choose-the-right-crop-insurance-policy/

[crop-insurance]

How to choose the Right Crop Insurance Policy? | Kshema General Insurance

In an unpredictable world where natural disasters can severely impact agricultural productivity, crop insurance serves as a crucial lifeline for farmers. It’s designed to provide financial protection against crop loss or damage due to natural perils like drought, floods, and other unforeseen events. 

1. Understand Your Risks and Coverage Needs

The first step in choosing a crop insurance policy is understanding the specific risks faced by your farm. 

Key Coverage Types:

Yield-based Coverage: This type of coverage protects against significant declines in crop yield due to perils like flood, pests, or disease.

Revenue-based Coverage: This coverage is ideal for protecting your revenue in case of market price fluctuations or yield loss. It ensures that you receive a certain level of income even if crop prices drop.

Comprehensive Coverage: Some policies offer a more extensive form of protection, covering a broad range of risks, from weather-related issues.

2. Research Crop Insurance Providers

Different providers offer varying terms, premiums, and levels of support. It’s crucial to research providers in your area and assess their reputation for handling claims efficiently. 

Questions to Ask When Evaluating Providers:

– How long have they been providing crop insurance?

– Do they have a good reputation among local farmers?

3. Compare Policy Options and Costs

Comparing policy options is essential to find the best crop insurance policy for your needs. Look beyond the premium cost to understand what you’re actually getting. Often, cheaper policies might have limited coverage, which may not be beneficial in case of significant crop loss.

Key Aspects to Compare:

Premiums: Compare premium rates from multiple providers. However, a lower premium isn’t always the best choice if it comes with reduced coverage.

Payout Limits: Look for any limitations on the payout amount. Some policies might cap their payouts, which could leave you underinsured during large-scale losses.

Read More: https://kshema.co/how-to-choose-the-right-crop-insurance-policy/

[galaxybooper]

Just a thought. You know how the price increase and the income not increasing as well happened before? And since everything was so costly, no one bought anything, so the economy got bad, people panicked, prices rose more, people still didn't buy, and everything crashed into the dirt?

According to History.com, The Great Depression's causes were, "The stock market, centered at the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street in New York City, was the scene of reckless speculation, where everyone from millionaire tycoons to cooks and janitors poured their savings into stocks. As a result, the stock market underwent rapid expansion, reaching its peak in August 1929. By then, production had already declined and unemployment had risen, leaving stock prices much higher than their actual value. Additionally, wages at that time were low, consumer debt was proliferating, the agricultural sector of the economy was struggling due to drought and falling food prices and banks had an excess of large loans that could not be liquidated. The American economy entered a mild recession during the summer of 1929, as consumer spending slowed and unsold goods began to pile up, which in turn slowed factory production."

Another important quote from the article is this, "As consumer confidence vanished in the wake of the stock market crash, the downturn in spending and investment led factories and other businesses to slow down production and begin firing their workers. For those who were lucky enough to remain employed, wages fell and buying power decreased."

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? The US unemployment rate right now, according to the Department of Labor Statistics, is 4.2%. Wages are low. Thousands of workers were let go during Covid (and it seems hard right now to get a decent-paying job). Not to mention how everything is raising prices.

About a year and some ago, I could pay $150- $180 US dollars for basic food necessities and a few ingredients for cooking. I came back to the USA for the holidays and bought like 20 items? Maybe 15? It was $280 US dollars.

$280!!!!!! FOR HEALTHY FOOD!!!!! FOR ONE FUCKING RECIPE AND BREAKFAST!!!!

As an outsider of the USA, things don't have to be what it is now. You may not know it but there are so many countries out there that have affordable needs. Things can be better. Food doesn't have to cost so much, insurance doesn't have to cost so much and be so useless, and basic human needs shouldn't be a costly purchase.

I'd suggest watching Oversimplied's French Revolution (Part One & Two) and The Emu War beginning. From 1:20-1:53.

We need to learn history to not repeat the past but at this point, the past has been repeated one too many times. Be smart. Learn. Expand your horizons. And if anyone tells you "It is what it is" fucking bite them.

[aralintheobsessive]

And why does America grow so much fucking corn? Well, several reasons, but dominant among them: Subsidised revenue insurance programs! "In 1949, government payments made up 1.4% of total net farm income — a measure of profit — while in 2000 government payments made up 45.8% of such profits. In 2019, farms received $22.6 billion in government payments, representing 20.4% of $111.1 billion in profits."

Bad year? Bad market? Get paid anyway. Grow corn! Why go to all the risk and expense of diversifying your operation to try and grow crops there's an actual market demand for when you could instead go all-in on corn and soybeans? Now so many farmers have gone down this route that if the government reduces those subsidies, it would devastate entire regions. In today's agricultural industry of broadacre cropping, most farming is done by massive, expensive, highly specialized machinery. You can't just pivot, because you're in debt on giant machines that really only work on corn. So the government isn't going to cut the subsidies. So more farmers are going to go all-in on the safe bet that is corn. It's a horrible self-perpetuating cycle.

(Source for quote and image: https://usafacts.org/articles/federal-farm-subsidies-what-data-says/)

I will write this thought about Veganism and Classism in the USA in another post so as to not derail the other thread:

There are comments in the notes that say meat is only cheaper than plant based foods because of subsidies artificially lowering the price of meat in the United States. This is...part of the story but not all of it.

For my animal agriculture lab we went to a butcher shop and watched the butcher cut up a pig into various cuts of meat. I have had to study quite a bit about the meat industry in that class. This has been the first time I fully realized how strongly the meat on a single animal is divided up by socioeconomic class.

Like yes, meat cumulatively takes more natural resources to create and thus should be more expensive, but once that animal is cut apart, it is divided up between rich and poor based on how good to eat the parts are. I was really shocked at watching this process and seeing just how clean and crisp an indicator of class this is.

Specifically, the types of meat I'm most familiar with are traditionally "waste" parts left over once the desirable parts are gone. For example, beef brisket is the dangly, floppy bit on the front of a cow's neck. Pork spareribs are the part of the ribcage that's barely got anything on it.

And that stuff is a tier above the "meat" that is most of what poor people eat: sausage, hot dogs, bologna, other heavily processed meat products that are essentially made up of all the scraps from the carcass that can't go into the "cuts" of meat. Where my mom comes from in North Carolina, you can buy "livermush" which is a processed meat product made up of a mixture of liver and a bunch of random body parts ground up and congealed together. There's also "head cheese" (made of parts of the pig's head) and pickled pigs' feet and chitlin's (that's made of intestines iirc) and cracklin's (basically crispy fried pig skin) and probably a bunch of stuff i'm forgetting. A lot of traditional Southern cooking uses basically scraps of animal ingredients to stretch across multiple meals, like putting pork fat in beans or saving bacon grease for gravy or the like.

So another dysfunctional thing about our food system, is that instead of people of each socioeconomic class eating a certain number of animals, every individual animal is basically divided up along class lines, with the poorest people eating the scraps no one else will eat (oftentimes heavily processed in a way that makes it incredibly unhealthy).

Even the 70% lean ground beef is made by injecting extra leftover fat back into the ground-up meat because the extra fat is undesirable on the "better" cuts. (Gross!)

I've made, or eaten, many a recipe where the only thing that makes it non-vegan is the chicken broth. Chicken broth, just leftover chicken bones and cartilage rendered and boiled down in water? How much is that "driving demand" for meat, when it's basically a byproduct?

That class really made me twist my brain around about the idea of abstaining from animal products as a way to deprive the industry of profits. Nobody eats "X number of cows, pigs, chickens in a lifetime" because depending on the socioeconomic class, they're eating different parts of the animal, splitting it with someone richer or poorer than they are. If a bunch of people who only ate processed meats anyway abstained, that wouldn't equal "saving" X number of animals, it would just mean the scraps and byproducts from a bunch of people's steaks or pork chops would have something different happen to them.

The other major relevant conclusion I got from that class, was that animal agriculture is so dominant because of monoculture. People think it's animal agriculture vs. plant agriculture (or plants used for human consumption vs. using them to feed livestock), but from capitalism's point of view, feeding animals corn is just another way to use corn to generate profits.

People think we could feed the world by using the grain fed to animals to feed humans, but...the grain fed to animals, is not actually a viable diet for the human population, because it's literally just corn and soybean. Like animal agriculture is used to give some semblance of variety to the consumer's diet in a system that is almost totally dominated by like 3 monocrops.

Do y'all have any idea how much of the American diet is just corn?!?! Corn starch, corn syrup, corn this, corn that, processed into the appearance of variety. And chickens and pigs are just another way to process corn. That's basically why we have them, because they can eat our corn. It's a total disaster.

And it's even worse because almost all the USA's plant foods that aren't the giant industrial monocrops maintained by pesticides and machines, are harvested and cared for by undocumented migrant workers that get abused and mistreated and can't say anything because their boss will tattle on them to ICE.

[fpotci01]

FPO Platforms in India: Transforming Agricultural Supply Chains

Agriculture is the backbone of India, employing a significant portion of the population. However, small and marginal farmers often face challenges like limited market access, high input costs, and inefficiencies in supply chains. Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) have emerged as a solution to these challenges, and with the advent of digital FPO platforms, their impact has amplified significantly.

This blog explores how FPO platforms are transforming agricultural supply chains in India, benefiting farmers and ensuring a more efficient and equitable system.

What Are FPO Platforms?

FPO platforms are digital tools or ecosystems that enable Farmer Producer Organizations to streamline their operations, connect with markets, and access resources. These platforms act as a bridge between farmers, buyers, input suppliers, and financial institutions, fostering transparency and efficiency in agricultural supply chains.

Challenges in Traditional Agricultural Supply Chains

Before the integration of FPO platforms, the agricultural supply chain in India faced several issues:

1. Dependence on Middlemen

Farmers often had to rely on intermediaries to sell their produce, leading to lower earnings.

2. Limited Market Access

Small farmers struggled to access larger markets due to logistical and informational barriers.

3. High Input Costs

Purchasing seeds, fertilizers, and equipment individually increased costs for farmers.

4. Lack of Transparency

Pricing and demand trends were often opaque, leaving farmers at a disadvantage.

5. Inefficient Logistics

Poor transportation and storage infrastructure led to significant post-harvest losses.

How FPO Platforms Are Transforming Supply Chains

1. Streamlining Input Procurement

FPO platforms enable bulk procurement of agricultural inputs like seeds, fertilizers, and machinery. By aggregating demand from member farmers, FPOs can negotiate better prices and ensure timely delivery.

Example:

An FPO in Punjab uses a digital platform to procure organic fertilizers in bulk, reducing costs for its members by 30%.

2. Market Linkages and Price Discovery

FPO platforms connect farmers directly with buyers, including wholesalers, retailers, and exporters. Real-time price discovery tools help farmers get fair prices for their produce.

Example:

A digital FPO platform in Maharashtra helped farmers sell mangoes directly to international buyers, bypassing intermediaries and increasing their income.

3. Efficient Logistics and Storage Solutions

Some FPO platforms offer integrated logistics services, including transportation and warehousing. This reduces post-harvest losses and ensures that produce reaches markets in optimal condition.

Example:

An FPO in Karnataka partnered with a platform offering cold storage facilities, preserving perishable produce and extending its marketability.

4. Access to Financial Services

Many platforms integrate with financial institutions, enabling FPOs to secure loans, insurance, and subsidies. Digital tools also help track expenses and manage finances effectively.

Example:

Through an FPO platform, a farmer group in Tamil Nadu accessed crop insurance, protecting them from unexpected losses due to extreme weather.

5. Real-Time Data and Insights

FPO platforms provide valuable data on weather forecasts, market trends, and pest outbreaks. This helps farmers make informed decisions, improving productivity and profitability.

Example:

A platform in Rajasthan alerted farmers about an impending locust attack, enabling them to take preventive measures and save their crops.

6. Promoting Sustainable Practices

FPO platforms often include modules on sustainable farming practices, encouraging crop diversification, organic farming, and water conservation.

Example:

An FPO in Gujarat used a platform to train its members in organic farming, tapping into the growing demand for organic produce.

Success Stories of FPO Platforms

Case 1: Connecting Small Farmers to Export Markets

An FPO in Andhra Pradesh partnered with a digital platform to export high-quality rice to global markets. The platform facilitated quality control, certification, and logistics, enabling the farmers to earn premium prices.

Case 2: Reducing Input Costs in Bihar

A Bihar-based FPO used an interactive platform to bulk-purchase seeds and fertilizers, reducing input costs by 25% for its members.

Case 3: Empowering Women Farmers in Tamil Nadu

A women-led FPO in Tamil Nadu leveraged a digital platform to market their hand-crafted spices and pickles. The platform provided branding and e-commerce support, increasing their reach and income.

Government and Institutional Support for FPO Platforms

The Indian government and organizations like NABARD are actively promoting the use of FPO platforms to enhance agricultural supply chains.

Key Initiatives:

NABARD FPO Portal: Provides a centralized hub for financial and technical assistance.

Digital India Program: Encourages the adoption of technology in agriculture.

FPO Hub and FPO Platform for India: Dedicated platforms to support the growth and development of FPOs.

Benefits of FPO Platforms

For Farmers:

Better Prices: Access to markets and real-time price data ensures fair compensation.

Lower Costs: Bulk procurement and resource optimization reduce expenses.

Knowledge Access: Training modules and data insights empower farmers with modern practices.

For Buyers:

Reliable Supply: Platforms ensure consistent quality and quantity of produce.

Transparency: Direct dealings with FPOs eliminate intermediaries and enhance trust.

For the Economy:

Reduced Wastage: Improved logistics minimize post-harvest losses.

Sustainable Growth: Promoting eco-friendly practices benefits the environment and future generations.

Challenges in Scaling FPO Platforms

Despite their potential, FPO platforms face some challenges:

Digital Divide: Limited internet access and digital literacy in rural areas hinder adoption.

Initial Costs: High setup and subscription costs can be a barrier for small FPOs.

Trust Issues: Farmers may be hesitant to adopt new technologies without proven results.

The Future of FPO Platforms in India

As technology continues to advance, FPO platforms are expected to become more sophisticated and accessible. Emerging trends include:

AI and Machine Learning: Predictive analytics for crop planning and market trends.

Blockchain Technology: Ensuring transparency and traceability in supply chains.

Mobile-First Platforms: Designing tools optimized for smartphone users in rural areas.

Conclusion

FPO platforms are revolutionizing agricultural supply chains in India by empowering farmers, enhancing efficiency, and ensuring fair market practices. By leveraging technology, these platforms address long-standing challenges in Indian agriculture, creating a more inclusive and sustainable system.

As FPO platforms continue to evolve, they hold the promise of transforming India’s agricultural landscape, ensuring prosperity for farmers and a robust supply chain for the nation. For farmers and stakeholders, embracing these platforms is not just an option—it’s a necessity for future growth. For more information, visit: https://fpo.tci.cornell.edu/

[thelistingteammiami]

7 Signs You're Ready To Stop Renting and Finally Buy Your First Home

7 Signs You're Ready To Stop Renting and Finally Buy Your First Home | The Listing Team

While there's certainly a huge debate on renting vs buying a home, no one could argue that it’s a major decision for many people. Some say renting is like throwing money down the drain and you’re just paying off someone else’s mortgage. Others insist that there’s no way they could give up their flexibility and be tied up in one place. 

If you’re finally thinking about taking the plunge into homeownership this year, how do you know that it’s time for you to take that leap? The decision on whether to rent or buy is a huge and costly endeavor, but you can always justify it based on logic and emotion. To help with your case, we’ve laid out seven signs you’re ready to make the switch from renter to homeowner.

1. Your rent payments keep going up.

Rents keep on escalating in many parts of the country, and this is one of the biggest reasons why any renter would want to buy a home. In some neighborhoods and real estate markets, the cost of renting is even higher than the average monthly mortgage of a single-family home. If you already feel trapped with the uncertainty of your rent payments, you might be better off purchasing a home where your mortgage is consistent, and you'll be gradually putting equity into your biggest asset.

2. You have steady employment. 

Employment plays a huge role in the mortgage application process since lenders and mortgage companies take into account your employment history before approving you for a loan. Typically, they would want to see that you spent at least two years working for the same company or in a similar field, and that you'll likely continue having the funds to pay your debt. If you’re a freelancer or a gig economy worker, you need to prove that you have a steady source of income for a couple of years through your W-2s, tax returns, and other documents. Just remember that for lenders, a stable job means a stable income, which lowers your risk as a borrower.

3. You've saved up for a down payment, closing costs, and other costs associated with owning a home.

 For many home buyers, the most difficult step in the home buying process is saving for a down payment, according to the 2019 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Setting aside money for a down payment towards their dream home is made even harder because of student loans and credit card debts. So if you have a stable job for a while now and your income has improved, there's a better chance for you to save up enough extra money to cover up the added expenses of homeownership.

And remember that the 20 percent down payment requirement for you to qualify for a mortgage is already a myth. In fact, mortgage insured by the Federal Housing Administration, also known as FHA loans, require only 3.5 percent of the home’s purchase price. Meanwhile, government loans guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA Loans) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA Loans) require no down payment at all, so there’s no need to scrape all your money just to cover the 20 percent down payment if it means leaving zero balance in your savings. 

You know you’re ready to get the keys to your new home instead of renewing your lease if you have also saved up for closing costs and other homeownership expenses, such as property taxes, maintenance funds, and homeowner’s insurance.

4. You're managing your debts.

It isn't necessary for you to be totally debt-free when you apply for a mortgage. Loan companies simply need to make sure that you aren’t carrying too much debt compared to what you make, and that you’ll be able to afford to take on additional responsibility, such as your potential monthly mortgage payment. They do this by determining your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio, which measures how much of your monthly income goes toward paying off your debts. 

Lenders ideally prefer a ratio lower than 36 percent, but borrowers with no more than 43 percent DTI ratio can still get qualified for a home loan. Getting your debt down to a more manageable level will help put you in a stronger position to get pre-approved. Assess your spending habits even while still renting, and change them as much as possible to improve your chances of finally owning your first place.

5. Your credit score is in good shape.

One of the biggest reasons why renters can't make the leap to owning a home is because of their low credit score. Having good credit matters because it will determine how much money you can borrow and how much you’ll pay in interest. A good FICO score is usually about 690 and higher, although borrowers with a credit score as low as 500 can already qualify for a mortgage depending on the loan program. 

When was the last time you’ve checked your credit report? If your credit is looking healthier because you’re making timely payments and settling your debts, you can have access to more conventional loan programs with lower down payments. Once you have addressed this important issue, you can rest assured that homeownership is now within your reach.

6. You're ready to settle in a neighborhood you love.

This one's quite subjective, but your preferred location and your capability to settle in one place are also huge considerations when buying your first home. If you anticipate moving in a few years, you know that you’ll only live in a particular area for a year or two, or you just can’t imagine yourself being tied down in one place, renting is likely your best option since you can leave whenever you want. Renting is also your smarter bet if you want to test out the waters in different areas where you’re thinking of buying a place. 

But once you’re ready to settle down in a neighborhood you love, you’re secured in your job, and that you can see yourself putting down roots in the next five years, purchasing a home is your next sensible step.

7. You're ready to finally become a homeowner.

In the 2019 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report by the National Association of RealtorsⓇ, 29 percent of all buyers cited their main reason for purchasing was the desire to own a home. Your readiness to become a homeowner matters above everything else. When you own a property, you'll be in charge of all the repairs, maintenance, and upkeep costs. If you’re not comfortable with these tasks and you’d rather leave the problem to a landlord, you may be better off renting for longer. Many people simply prefer to rent instead of taking advantage of lower interest rates because of this reason.

If the idea of home maintenance no longer intimidates you, you actually enjoy fixing things up in your place, and you’re ready to stay for the weekends just to mow the lawn and do other yard work, these are signs that you’re finally ready to call a place your home. You know you’re ready for the huge responsibility that is homeownership and you’re ready to be your own landlord.

[livestockanimalnews]

Shrimp Farming: सरकार चला रही है ये योजना, अपनी झींगा फसल का इस तरह कराएं बीमा

Shrimp Farming: The Government’s Initiative and How to Insure Your Shrimp Crop Shrimp farming has become one of the fastest-growing aquaculture practices in India. With its increasing demand in both domestic and international markets, it plays a crucial role in uplifting rural economies, generating employment, and boosting exports. However, shrimp farming, like any other agricultural activity, is fraught with risks such as disease outbreaks, natural disasters, and fluctuating market conditions. To support farmers and mitigate these risks, the Indian government has introduced various schemes, including insurance plans tailored for shrimp farming.

Why Shrimp Farming is Important Shrimp farming contributes significantly to the livelihood of thousands of farmers, especially in coastal regions. India is one of the largest exporters of shrimp, and this industry adds billions of dollars to the economy each year. With its potential to improve rural prosperity, shrimp farming is not just about producing seafood—it's a pathway to economic growth.

Government’s Support for Shrimp Farmers The government has rolled out various initiatives to encourage shrimp farming and safeguard farmers’ investments. These schemes provide financial aid, technical support, and insurance to protect against unforeseen losses. Subsidies for setting up shrimp farms, access to quality seeds, and training programs are some of the highlights of these initiatives.

What is Shrimp Farming Insurance? Insurance for shrimp farming is designed to protect farmers from financial losses due to risks like natural calamities, disease outbreaks, or other unforeseen events. It ensures that farmers can continue their operations without facing devastating financial setbacks.

Key Benefits of Insuring Your Shrimp Crop Financial Security: Insurance provides a safety net, ensuring that farmers are compensated for their losses. Risk Mitigation: Protects against events like floods, cyclones, or sudden disease outbreaks. Encourages Growth: With reduced financial stress, farmers can focus on expanding their operations. Boosts Confidence: Knowing that their crops are insured motivates farmers to adopt better farming practices. How to Apply for Shrimp Farming Insurance The government has simplified the process to make insurance easily accessible to shrimp farmers. Here’s how you can apply:

Visit the Nearest Fisheries Office: Start by visiting your local fisheries department or a recognized insurance agency. Fill Out the Application Form: Provide details about your farm, production capacity, and the type of shrimp you cultivate. Submit Required Documents: These include proof of ownership or lease agreement of the farm, identification proof, and bank account details. Pay the Premium: Depending on the coverage, you will need to pay a nominal premium, often subsidized by the government. Eligibility for Shrimp Farming Insurance The eligibility criteria are straightforward. Most shrimp farmers, whether operating on a small or large scale, can apply. The primary requirement is that the farm should be registered with the fisheries department.

Claim Process for Insurance In case of a loss, farmers need to follow these steps to file a claim:

Notify the insurance provider immediately after the incident. Provide evidence of the loss, such as photographs or reports from local authorities. Submit a claim form along with supporting documents. The claim will be processed and settled within the stipulated time. Success Stories of Insured Shrimp Farmers Several farmers have benefitted from these insurance schemes. For instance, a shrimp farmer in Andhra Pradesh reported significant losses due to a cyclone but recovered thanks to insurance, allowing him to restart his operations. Such stories highlight the importance of government-backed insurance for the sustainability of shrimp farming.

Challenges Faced by Shrimp Farmers Despite the government’s efforts, many farmers remain unaware of the insurance schemes available to them. Additionally, disease outbreaks, poor quality of water, and inadequate infrastructure continue to pose challenges. Addressing these issues through better outreach and education is essential.

Conclusion Shrimp farming is a promising venture that holds immense potential for India’s economic growth. By insuring their crops, farmers can protect their investments and ensure steady growth. The government’s initiatives, coupled with proactive participation from farmers, can take this industry to new heights. If you are a shrimp farmer, don’t hesitate to explore the insurance options available and secure your future today.

FAQs Why is shrimp farming insurance important? Shrimp farming insurance protects farmers from financial losses due to risks like natural disasters and disease outbreaks, ensuring their operations remain sustainable.

How can I apply for shrimp farming insurance? You can apply through your local fisheries department or an authorized insurance provider by submitting the required documents and paying the premium.

What does shrimp farming insurance cover? It typically covers losses due to natural calamities, disease outbreaks, theft, and other unforeseen events.

Are small-scale shrimp farmers eligible for insurance? Yes, small-scale shrimp farmers are eligible as long as they meet the basic criteria set by the government.

What is the cost of shrimp farming insurance? The cost varies depending on the coverage, but the government often subsidizes the premium to make it affordable for farmers.

[dutifullyhopefulllama]

Understanding the Market: How to Price Your Vacant Land for Sale

Introduction

When best practices for selling vacant lands it comes to real estate, one of the most intriguing yet perplexing segments is vacant land. If you're pondering over "how to sell land," you're not alone. Many property owners find themselves wondering how to navigate the process of pricing their vacant lots effectively. After all, understanding the market is crucial when you want to sell your land quickly and profitably.

In this comprehensive guide, we will explore everything from market analysis to effective marketing strategies. Whether you're just dipping your toes into selling vacant land or are a seasoned pro, there’s always more to learn about how to price your property right. Get ready for an adventurous journey through the realm of land sales!

Understanding the Market: How to Price Your Vacant Land for Sale

To effectively price your vacant land for sale, understanding the market dynamics is paramount. What influences land value? How do regional trends impact pricing? Are there hidden costs that can affect your bottom line? Let’s unpack these questions.

What Influences Land Value?

Several factors play into determining how much you can sell your vacant land for:

Location: The old adage "location, location, location" holds true in real estate. Proximity to urban centers, amenities, and natural attractions can significantly enhance a parcel's appeal.

Zoning Regulations: Zoning laws dictate how land can be used. If your lot is zoned for residential or commercial use, it may fetch a higher price compared to agricultural zoning.

Market Trends: Keep an eye on local real estate trends. Are home prices rising? Is there development in the area? These indicators can influence demand and pricing.

Access and Utilities: Does your vacant land have road access? Are utilities like water and electricity available nearby? Easier access often translates to a higher selling price.

How Do Regional Trends Impact Pricing?

Regionalism plays a vital role in how much you selling vacant land can ask when you want to sell vacant land. Here’s how:

Urban vs. Rural Areas: Urban lots usually command higher prices than rural ones due to demand and development potential.

Seasonal Trends: Real estate markets often fluctuate with seasons. Spring and summer generally see more activity as families prefer moving during these months.

Economic Conditions: Economic booms lead to increased buying power, while recessions might force sellers to lower their prices.

Hidden Costs That Can Affect Your Bottom Line

When pricing your vacant land, don't forget about potential costs that could eat into profits:

Taxes: Property taxes can vary widely depending on where you live and should be factored into your pricing structure.

Maintenance Costs: Even if it's vacant, maintaining the lot (mowing grass, clearing debris) incurs costs that need consideration.

Closing Costs: Understand what fees you'll incur at closing; don’t forget about title insurance or escrow fees!

Creating an Accurate Market Analy

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What is Farmer Identification Card ?

BY: Pankaj Bansal, Founder at NewsPatrolling.com

A Farmer Identification Card (FIC) is an official document issued by governments or agricultural authorities to identify and authenticate individuals engaged in farming activities. It serves as proof of a person's status as a farmer and helps them access various agricultural benefits, subsidies, and government schemes.

Key Features of a Farmer Identification Card:

Personal Information: Contains details like the farmer's name, address, and photograph.

Unique Identification Number: A unique number assigned to the farmer for record-keeping.

Land Details: Includes information about the farmer's landholding, such as size, location, and type of crops cultivated.

Validity Period: Some cards may have an expiration date requiring periodic renewal.

QR Code/Barcode (if applicable): For digital verification and authentication.

Benefits of a Farmer Identification Card:

Subsidies and Grants: Access to government subsidies on seeds, fertilizers, and equipment.

Loan Eligibility: Easier approval for agricultural loans and credit schemes.

Insurance and Compensation: Eligibility for crop insurance and disaster relief funds.

Market Access: Priority access to government-regulated markets and minimum support price programs.

Training and Support: Access to agricultural training programs and technical assistance.

Different countries may have specific versions of such cards with varying features based on local agricultural policies.

Who Issues the Farmer Identification Card?

Government Agencies: Typically, the Ministry of Agriculture or a similar government department.

Local Authorities: State or district-level agricultural departments in federal systems.

Agricultural Cooperatives: In some countries, cooperatives issue such cards to their registered members.

Eligibility Criteria for Farmer Identification Card:

Land Ownership: Farmers must own or lease agricultural land.

Tenant Farmers: Some programs also include tenant farmers with legal agreements.

Farm Workers: In certain regions, farm laborers may be eligible.

How to Apply for a Farmer Identification Card:

Application Form: Available online or at local agricultural offices.

Required Documents:

Proof of identity (Aadhaar card, voter ID, or passport).

Land ownership records or lease agreements.

Passport-sized photographs.

Bank account details (for subsidy transfers).

Verification Process:

Local officials verify the submitted documents and inspect the farmland if needed.

Approval and Issuance:

After verification, the card is issued, sometimes digitally linked to government databases.

Key Benefits in Detail:

Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT):

Many governments provide subsidies and welfare payments directly into farmers’ bank accounts.

Crop Insurance and Compensation:

Farmers are eligible for compensation in case of crop damage due to natural disasters or pests.

Financial Support and Loans:

Easy access to low-interest agricultural loans.

Support for farm mechanization through equipment loans.

Access to Agricultural Markets:

Priority participation in government procurement programs.

Guaranteed minimum support prices (MSP) for certain crops.

Training and Capacity Building:

Farmers gain access to workshops, training programs, and new agricultural technologies.

Subsidies on Inputs:

Subsidies on seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and farm machinery.