Naoki Nitta 4/19/23 Naoki Nitta 4/19/23

Calculating New Options for Shrinking Rice Fields

Naoki Nitta 4/3/23 Naoki Nitta 4/3/23

A High-tech Upgrade for H-2A Visas

A San Francisco-based startup is modernizing an antiquated federal program to help tackle the farmworker shortage.

Naoki Nitta 2/6/23 Naoki Nitta 2/6/23

One City’s Waste Is Also Its Lifeline

Healdsburg, in the heart of Northern California’s wine country, recycles 350 million gallons of effluent annually and gives it away for free.

Naoki Nitta 1/31/23 Naoki Nitta 1/31/23

What A Gas Stove Ban Could Extinguish

Rumors of a potential natural gas ban has a group of chefs inflamed about the impacts it could cause to their art and livelihood.

Naoki Nitta 1/31/23 Naoki Nitta 1/31/23

Tamping Down on the Dust

Farm fallowing to save water can result in a host of unintended consequences, but the right kind of crop management can build in climate resilience.

Naoki Nitta 1/26/23 Naoki Nitta 1/26/23

Record Floods Impact California Ag

While California assesses agricultural damage from a historic deluge, official tallies may overlook an important segment of the industry: small farms and farmworkers.

Naoki Nitta 1/26/23 Naoki Nitta 1/26/23

Farming, on the Spectrum

With a new photovoltaic panel, farmers may no longer have to choose between crops and solar panels. New research is shedding light on harnessing sunshine to harvest energy and food together, taking advantage of the full light spectrum.

Naoki Nitta 1/23/23 Naoki Nitta 1/23/23

Milking More Value Out of Deer

From luscious desserts to high-end nutraceuticals, this novel product is helping New Zealand venison farmers squeeze a premium from their herds, while treading lightly on the land.

Naoki Nitta 11/30/22 Naoki Nitta 11/30/22

Harnessing the Wind, Sun and Sea for Salt

From its provenance and harvest to the hands that craft it, everything about this mineral-rich sea salt seems rooted in its Marin, California surroundings — including the artisanal price point.

Naoki Nitta 10/11/22 Naoki Nitta 10/11/22

Sheep Cheese Is an Ode to the Seasons

A flock of Northern Californian farmstead dairies use seasonal cues to shape the flavor and complexity of their cheese. Lactation cycles and the changes in forage can influence the outcome, resulting in curds that hum with high floral notes or belt out rich, buttery tunes.

Naoki Nitta 9/13/22 Naoki Nitta 9/13/22

Cowless Milk Is About to Get Real

By milking microbes instead of udders, precision fermentation creates the same dairy proteins produced by cows to make cheese, ice cream, and other treats that are indistinguishable from their conventional counterparts.

Naoki Nitta 7/9/22 Naoki Nitta 7/9/22

Rerooting Farmers in a New Land

At PGC Farms in Kuni, on the island of O’ahu, immigrants from across Southeast Asia and the Pacfic cultivate 41 individual plots. Along with affordable farmland and help in accessing capital, PGC’s farmers receive field training, financial and regulatory expertise, and language resources — the full support they need to root themselves in Hawai’i.