Notices by Sarah Taber (sarahtaber@mastodon.online), page 5

The flip side is vegetables also need a lot of labor per acre. That's why farms with larger acreage tend to shy away from them.

The goal with veggie farms is getting sales & field operations tight enough that the $/acre and labor/acre match up for a livable wage.

The Nation kindly invited me to write an op-ed on my run for North Carolina's Commissioner of Agriculture.

This office doesn't get much attention, but it's crucial to democracy. Local politics & corruption don't stay local.

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/commissioner-agriculture-north-carolina-democrat/

Bottom line? Rural poverty drives radicalization. Republicans in our state are driving rural poverty. And farmers know it.

It's time for leadership that works for us, instead of draining our countryside dry with mismanagement, trade wars, and fraud.

Money quote on our incumbent Commissioner of Agriculture:

"One hog farmer put it to me this way. 'Politicians are a bit like piggies. They're frisky… But then they discover corn and become hogs.'

"He paused and went on. 'Maybe it’s time to put this one in the smokehouse.'”

@feld Great question, there's a big difference between tomatoes for fresh eating (what Mastronardi does) & tomatoes for cooking down into sauce.

Tomatoes for fresh eating are worth $40-60K/acre in open field; even higher production in a greenhouse. High $/acre means it's worth growing them in a greenhouse & harvesting by hand so they don't bruise.

Meanwhile tomatoes for sauce don't have to be pretty. They're harvested by machine & worth maybe $5K/acre. Not worth it to grow in greenhouses.

Ok it's time to talk another way to help with the western water crisis, AND bring quality economic development to the rural South.

Plain ol' tomatoes. For sauce.

#SupplyChain

We all love a good fresh tomato!

At the same time, most of the tomatoes Americans eat (over 90%!) are in sauce, chili, or some other cooked dish. Because they taste awesome that way.

And 95% of the US's sauce tomatoes are grown in California.

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/fe1027

Why? Sure, California's got a nice long season so you can grow multiple crops. But so does most of the South.

The tl;dr for "Why California?" is "You need canning facilities to cook tomatoes down into sauce. And *they're* in California."

But there's a problem. California's tomato sauce makers want to make more, bc growing population & more diverse diets means more people want that tasty sauce.

But they can't. There's not enough land & water in California to expand the fields or canneries.

Between growing the tomatoes & water use at the canneries (mostly for cleaning), making tomato sauce in CA uses about the same amount of water as the entire city of Los Angeles.

Oof!

@feld AFAIK the main issue is that there aren't any herbicides registered for hemp in the US. So you have to grow hemp completely herbicide free. Very few US farmers farm anything that way.

That would make it less of a "we don't remember how to grow hemp" issue and more of a "we don't know how to grow any field crops without Roundup anymore" issue 💀

Hemp & cannabis are still important parts of the farm economy to open up. We need laws that both legalize these crops, & make opening a business actually accessible. E.g. no "You must be already make $10K/month in sales before you can open a bank account" requirements that screen legitimate new operators out.

But no one crop can be a silver bullet for a whole state's economy. We have to keep developing other crops, in addition to legalizing hemp & cannabis.

Peanut hay is a little dusty thanks to the harvest process, but dairy cows don't mind. They get the same nutrition & performance from peanut hay as alfalfa.

https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/UF/E0/02/26/93/00001/eckert_j.pdf

If you're seeing dire news about the water & alfalfa lately in the US, I have good news for you.

The US's water problems have solutions!

One of the most powerful solutions: give serious attention & investment to agriculture in the southeastern US.

Let's talk about just one way to do that.

In the South, we make hay that's as good or better than alfalfa... from peanuts.

We just haven't gotten around to exporting it.

That's a pretty simple problem to fix!

Peanuts grow underground. After you get the peanuts off the roots, you can use the leaves & stems as hay.

And unlike alfalfa, peanuts thrive in humid weather.

In other words, you can grow peanuts in rainy climates! Where the water is!

https://youtu.be/idrhrNm-4uQ

I'm pleased to announce my run for Commissioner of Agriculture for North Carolina!

https://taberfornc.com

Try and find someone else in North Carolina's farm sector who's built something worth $4 billion- never mind with new, inexperienced farmers. You won't.

We desperately need young farmers. And I have a proven track record of bringing them in and setting them up for success.

Let's talk about why I'm qualified to lead North Carolina's farm sector.

As a farm operations specialist, I helped family farms and food companies launch vegetable greenhouses. Few had ever farmed vegetables before.

My clients are worth $4 billion dollars now.

What does a Commissioner of Agriculture do? I'm so glad you asked!

A state CA has two jobs. We grow the farm sector in our state, and we handle farm safety & law enforcement.

Trying to build a flour mill? Your CA can help!

Bird flu outbreaks: We handle that too.

Now let's talk the safety side of the job. I have years of experience sitting with farmers, identifying health and safety issues on their farms, and identifying solutions that work for them.

Safety and enforcement don't always make you popular! One colleague described working on health & safety issue as being "a dentist for food."

But like skipping trips to the dentist, letting our farm sector's integrity slide is bad for our state's health.