Hi,

I’m trying to start a small business in Florida and was searching what can be a profitable business.

Im not sure if organic farming is a good idea and was looking for an advice from someone with current or past experience.

Thank you

I’ve been doing research on Jasmonic acid and it’s proven to have several benefits to plants, including increased drought resistance and essential oil production. JA is a natural plant hormone and to my knowledge, it is produced by processing the essential oils of jasmine.

I searched the OMRI database and couldn’t find anything. I’m curious if anyone in this community knows if JA is an active ingredient in any registered products, or if it’s allowed in organic production.

Thanks

Sorry for the dumb question

I've recently learned that poultry and other meat products in the US are treated with chemicals to kill bacteria. Does anyone know if organic chicken is treated with chlorine as well? I googled but I'm only finding what it says about how the chicken lived, not how it was processed.

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Hello All, with the push for better eating practices and a resurgence of small, family farming, my partner and I are exploring the creation of an app to make local, organic CSAs more readily available to consumers. I've worked on farms for years and have felt that our CSAs have been crucial for the overall prosperity of the farm as a business.

Now...Is this something you could benefit from? If so, what key functions of an app would inspire you to use it or make fielding CSA interest and organizing orders easier? Do you believe this would be helpful in drawing awareness to your business? Our goal is to bolster local farmers whilst also making their administrative life a bit easier through in-app direct payments (if preferred) and a business profile that is easy to create and easier to manage. The last thing we want is to add another thing to tend to.

Thanks for reading and hope to hear from some of you

Hey guys. I’ve recently started growing wheatgrass indoors from seed from juicing purposes. What are the steps I need to take to maintain the grass and then let it grow so I can harvest it.

Hello, I will soon be starting at an apple orchard, in michigan, as their head orchardist. The orchard has had a field that has been used for sunflowers for as long as I can remember. Because of this, you can see how much worse the sunflowers look year after year. In planning for next year, I'd like to do something different, yet attractive. I know that something like soy beans should be planted, but I'm wondering if marigolds would be a good idea. A beautiful and beneficial flower. One of the best companion plants around. However, upon simple googeling, I cannot find much for sunflower rotation other than the basics and the fact that sunflowers eat up a lot of nutrients. Any help is gratefully appreciated!

Does anyone have any tips or experience dealing with large squash bug populations? They are all over my winter squash and I'm currently doing semi regular applications of Pyganic and well as pulling them off/squishing eggs by hand, but new eggs keep showing up so I must be missing a bunch of adults. I'd rather not use more Pyganic than I already am, and it's about an acre of squash so killing them by hand is time consuming and honestly not very effective. Any advice would be super appreciated!

Does anyone buy organic honey? What do you think of it?

Hi folks! I own a soil biology analysis business in Wisconsin and I have three questions I'd like to pose to the farmers on this page. While these questions have to do with my soil analysis business, I am not trying to sell or promote here. Instead, I’d like gain some perspective of the market into which I’m trying to fit, that is "Customer Discovery". Hopefully these questions will also stimulate conversation. Anyway, for anyone growing plants:

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1. How much do you understand about the soil microbiology to your garden?

2. How do you value the myriad functions that a fully functioning soil microbial ecosystem has to offer?

3. How much would you (or do you) pay for an analysis of a sample of your soil's microbiology-an analysis that includes concentrations of bacteria, fungi, nematodes and protozoa as well as an estimation of the soil's fungal-to-bacteria ratio by biomass?

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Bernard Winn moves a tractor across the Jubilee Justice farm on April 4, 2023, in Alexandria, Louisiana. Winn, an operations specialist, is running the farm’s new solar-powered rice mill that is cooperatively owned by Black farmers and will give each of them a bigger share of the profits from rice production. (Photo by Rashah McChesney/Gulf States Newsroom)

To get to Eros, Louisiana, you pass through a literal one-stoplight town, but otherwise, the drive is largely rural. Drive far enough, and you eventually find the DeLaTerre Permaculture Farm — a 43-acre homestead. Its name translates to “of the earth” in French.

The farm, started by Waylon Breaux and Donna Isaacs in October 2019, is run in conjunction with Campti Field of Dreams. The Louisiana-based nonprofit has been in operation since 2001, working to make farming in climate-friendly ways practical for rural and underserved farmers.

*“*Our goal is to teach people that you can do this in your backyard, you can do this in containers or you can do it at a quarter-acre or two-acre or five-acre scale,” said Donna Isaacs, Campti Field of Dreams’ executive director.

The nonprofit’s brand of climate-smart agriculture was on full display in early April when DeLaTerre was the site of one of its workshop demonstrations offered throughout the year. This time, it focused on discussing practices and tools to help small farmers get healthier soil — drawing a crowd of both local farmers and backyard gardeners.

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https://www.wwno.org/coastal-desk/2023-06-07/as-the-u-s-invests-more-in-climate-smart-ag-these-louisiana-farmers-could-serve-as-a-model

Hello all!

I have 6 acres of alfalfa, a jd 5075 and brushhog. The field is mostly level. My mom's partner said (hes several states away) that when I cut th alfalfa Im supposed to go around the perimeter and then start in the middle. I'm confused and cant find any info on the appropriate pattern to cut. I thought it would be just rows. Is there a pattern and if so where might I find it :)

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p.s. I am going to replace the alfalfa next season with something more water friendly. I am in NM and not sure what would be a good choice. We do have surface irrigation rights so any suggestions.

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Thank you :)

Has anyone heard about the Soil Food Web approach to improving soil health? Does anyone practice it currently or in the past? I'm curious to know your experience.

Okay that's a bit of a guestimate.. but the land we just bought is all sand. I honestly can't find a speck of soil in it.. most my experience is with clay soils. Sand is new. What are your recommendations for making my soil groweable. I considered just buying top soil and compost. Which I know I'll have to do anyways .($$ isn't my strongest area ATM ) . but just curious what some advice would be to improve my sandy soil health . I plant on planting next spring !

Just planted a baby fig outside and was recommended to put a layer of mulch around it. The fig is about 1ft tall, started as a cutting back in January.

Can anyone recommend the best organic mulch for my situation?

(Location: Southern California. Zone 10a.)

I am looking for a USDA Organic Certified manufacturer that can make my Organic Anti-Dandruff Shampoo for my business. Do you guys have any recommendations?

I understand that deer leave ragged edges when then eat leaves. Is there a way to tell from the bite marks if rabbits or woodchucks did damage?

I imagine woodchuck can reach a bit higher than rabbits, but that's all I've got to go one if there's no tracks.