FOOD vs. PESTS
America’s farmers protect crops and livestock from harmful, damaging pests every day. This is your invitation to see how they do it.
FOOD vs. PESTS
How Farmers Protect Crops and Livestock from Uninvited Guests
Numerous pests – from harmful insects to deadly diseases – work against our food by competing for the very resources crops and livestock need to survive. How do farmers fight those pests and yet keep our food safe?
Food vs. Pests is a series from CommonGround. It’s an invitation to see and hear directly from America’s farmers about how and when they intervene to protect crops and livestock from the harmful weeds, predators and invasive insects that threaten our food supply every growing season.
FEATURED BLOGS
On summer days, it’s not just the heat that challenges Rachel Gray’s cattle - it’s also cattle flies. Horn flies in particular can become stressful for all cattle. In the U.S. beef industry alone, horn flies cause an estimated loss of $1 billion annually due to the negative impact an infestation can have on livestock
If foxtail ends up in hay used for horse feed , it causes painful sores and bleeding in horses' mouths and throats. That's why Belinda protects her race horse customers by stopping foxtail at first sight.
Who likes to drink sour, green wine? No one. That’s why Jennie Schmidt, a Maryland farmer, says raising desirable grapes requires three farmer defenses.
Erin Stackhouse, a Minnesota farmer and agronomist, says every bag of corn seed has the potential to achieve 700 bushels at harvest. An important part of her job is to provide for and protect that potential. A common threat to the health and potential of her corn are harmful insects - the northern corn rootworm.
Ranching is often romanticized online as just grass, cows and endless sunshine. But anyone who has spent a summer on a working ranch knows it’s far more complex than what shows up in a social media scroll, especially when it comes to keeping cattle healthy.
FEATURED VIDEOS
Hay vs Foxtail
Cows vs Pinkeye
Corn vs Pests
