Bee Friendly
Bees are essential. They pollinate plants that feed the world and help maintain a balance between other species and the environment. By carrying pollen from one plant to another, other pollinators like butterflies, birds and bats also contribute to food production. However, with the population of bees declining by 30% each year, researchers have battled to understand why.
iFarm
Farmers blasting weeds with pinpoint lasers? Precision planting drones? Farmhands running on solar power rather than morning joe? These aren’t futuristic Star Trek episodes but rather today’s ag-tech breakthroughs. After years of anticipation, robotics is taking a major leap into the ag workforce: making a critical difference for farmers and helping feed the planet.
The Art of Listening
For new farmers looking to invest in land, the task can feel daunting. Pressures abound, like finding the perfect plot, the purchase price, competing with those who have deeper pockets in a volatile market, There are a million ways to invest in the family farm, whether it’s technology, machinery, or staff. But there’s one way that doesn’t cost a dime, and pays out dividends for years to come: listening. It’s an art that most people haven’t mastered, yet is essential for a healthy farm and family.
Lawn Prep Now, Green Grass Later
Although lawns do not require as much care in cooler months as they do in spring, summer and fall, winter weather doesn’t mean completely ignoring your yard. For grass that’s spring-time ready, here are a few steps you can take now to have the envy of the neighborhood yard later.
Next Gen Farming
For new farmers looking to invest in land, the task can feel daunting. Pressures abound, like finding the perfect plot, the purchase price, competing with those who have deeper pockets in a volatile market, creating a solid business plan to gain financing and how to engage with consumers to move the needle towards profitability. Now, consider the growers speeding towards retirement. The average age of the US farmer is 58. Close to 60% own their property and are 65 years or older. While many lease their acreage to others for farming, some continue rolling up their sleeves daily out in the fields. The face of agriculture is changing over the next few years and the dance between transfers of knowledge, skills and––lest we forget––land means everything. Whether discussing legacy farmers or white-collar workers ready to ditch the rat race, they’ve shown up ready to go, right on time and with methods and measures a little different than their predecessors.
Under the Turf
for participants and fans. Not every weekend in the stands is filled with sunshine. Rain delays happen, but canceled events due to water-logged fields don’t have to. From iconic stadiums to Little League baseball diamonds, having the right pipe in place means standing water, torn turf and Mother Nature won’t dominate on the field.
New Fratco Spaces & Places
When you work in manufacturing, adding extra sunshine into the day makes everything brighter. That was one of the ambitious goals Fratco brought to the design table when planning the new employee break room at its Francesville location. Wrapped in windows, the break room is warm and inviting with thoughtful touches throughout. New tables and chairs, a big-screen television, vending machines and a large refrigerator to store lunches are just a few of the amenities you’ll find.
Dry Spell
Farming seems like a pretty simple process, right? Till the soil, plant seeds, nurture plants and, finally, it’s harvest time. If farming were that easy, growers would be delighted, and their yields would thrive no matter the climate, weather or terrain; a little piece of heaven on earth.
Farm & Family
For decades, Hollywood has shaped our view of agriculture through their storytelling lenses of what rural farm-living looks like. If you loved Eva Gabor and Eddie Albert’s 1965 sitcom Green Acres, then you witnessed a socialite uprooted from NYC when her lawyer- husband yearned for a simpler life. Children of the 1970s were convinced Little House on the Prairie was the real deal: outhouses, Nellie Olson- types and lemon verbena perfume. In the 1990s, we lived vicariously through Kevin Costner’s film Field of Dreams with the infamous line: “If you build it, he will come.” Life on the farm seems easy when storylines tie neatly into a bow at the end, don’t they?
Greener Fairways & Good Deeds
When it comes to golf course planning, a developer’s focus is location, location, location. For landscape architects and contractors creating a scenically manicured 18 hole experience, their mantra is drainage, drainage, drainage.