Agriculture sucks a whopping 80 percent of the Colorado River’s water every year. The largest contributor to that massive amount of drainage is not commonly criticized culprits such as California almonds or avocados—it’s hay. Alfalfa hay, the nutrient-rich backbone of the dairy, beef and horse industries in the West, produces more protein per acre than […]

Andrea Parish holds back Zora, her black Labrador Retriever, who is coiled like a spring. Zora, a detection dog, can’t wait to get to those potatoes. Parish scans the environment for potential distractions—how noisy is it? Did the wind just change?—then releases Zora and watches her  posture and ear and tail positions for cues. Zora […]

On most farms, a crop field is a timestamp that reflects a specific moment in a specific place. The fields at Norwich Meadows Farm, however, are more akin to a time capsule—or even a treasure chest. With their meticulously selected collection of approximately 1,300 crop varieties, farmers Zaid and Haifa Kurdieh have gathered generations of […]