Vermont is known for its picturesque pastures, red barns and grazing cows. But that scenery is getting harder to find.  A state that once had thousands of dairy farms now has just over 800 and another one is about to close. This weekend a farm in Weathersfield is saying goodbye to its cows forever.

David Fuller has owned a dairy farm in Weathersfield since 1977.

"Since I was a kid I've had cows and I just like them," said Fuller. 

And over the past 40 years, he's sold over 50 million pounds of milk.  [node:read-more:link]

The mini-farm in the cafeteria at Philip’s Academy is a significant piece of technology. In fact, it is a key to the story, and it figures in the larger picture of vertical farming worldwide and of indoor agriculture in general. If the current movement to grow more food locally, in urban settings, and by high-tech indoor methods follows the path that some predict for it, the mini-farm in the school cafeteria may one day have its own historical plaque. [node:read-more:link]

Farmers operate a business and they have many of the same questions that most businesses have about the year 2017. They do have a few more things to consider than many other kinds of businesses.

Two of the big questions they think about for next year are the export market and the weather. [node:read-more:link]

The energy debate on Capitol Hill this year could turn quickly into talk of farm policy as a large section of the utility sector and other groups prepare to make sure energy policy doesn't get overlooked in next year's farm bill.

The next five-year reauthorization of the farm bill comes up in 2018, which has groups set to make sure the bill's increased energy focus over the last decade doesn't face the cuts it experienced in the last Congress. [node:read-more:link]

After lying largely dormant for the last few years, US trade policy is now back in the spotlight. In particular, concerns have been raised about our trade relations with Mexico and China, who together are the market for almost one-third of total U.S. agricultural exports. Given this recent scrutiny, I thought it would be useful to review the current state of trade in US agriculture. [node:read-more:link]

Every generation influences society, and in recent years, it has been the millennials' turn. About a year ago, for instance, the millennials, generally thought of as adults from ages 19 to 35, became the age group to make up the biggest chunk of the American workforce. So it should be no surprise that when businesses want to attract the masses, they make sure what they're doing makes their millennial customers happy. [node:read-more:link]

Welcome to what could be the future of the world’s produce supply. And unlike today’s messy farms, it won’t require soil, sunlight, or nearly as much water. (Add in a couple quarts of coffee, and that’s basically the environment in which NextDraft grows.) The New Yorker’s Ian Frazier with a very interesting look at the folks who are growing crops in the city: The Vertical Farm.  If you can raise crops indoors in the city, then you can go fishing in a barn in Iowa. From MoJo: A Fish Out of Water. Can farmers in Iowa help save the world’s seafood supply?

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Here’s something that I think is really cool that’s happening in the veterinary community right now. It’s a group called WisCARES. We realized there were all these people that had pets, but that had trouble accessing the veterinary care they needed. There were reasons why they were having difficulty getting that care, from homelessness to poverty. Under the leadership of Dr. William Gilles, the organization has taken off and is now part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine. [node:read-more:link]