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Women play a key role in agriculture – so why are they often unable to own land?

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When we expect of a farmer, we often picture a man. But in reality, women contribute 49% to real farm income.

It isn’t nearly women working as farmers an increasing number of often. Maintaining agricultural activities normally also relies on women working off the farm, especially in times of drought.

Yet women often don’t own farmland. And when it comes to who gets the family farm in succession planning, daughters, moms and daughters-in-law are likely to be ignored.

There are established legal safeguards that girls can use to challenge this. But our latest research states that girls are often perceived as a threat to the continuity of the family farm and attempts are made to deliberately exclude them from it.

Australian agriculture is just suffering as a result. To solve this problem, some stubborn attitudes could have to change.

Passing the family farm from generation to generation

The means of deciding who will take over the family farm is generally known as farm transition and succession. Passing the land from one generation to the subsequent is highest importance for farming families.

Farmers see themselves as custodians of the land, constructing on the work of previous generations for the advantage of their descendants. Owning agricultural land is tied to identity, social standing, culture, and community.

Transferring a profitable farming business often means keeping it together quite than dividing it up between siblings. However, farmland prices shot upwhich suggests that for a lot of families, succession planning could be a multi-million dollar issue.

Farmland prices in Australia have increased dramatically in recent many years.
Author: RobynCharnley/Shutterstock

Aside from the plain emotional toll, this also makes it incredibly difficult for siblings who want to take over the farm to buy out the others. It may also mean that siblings who don’t take over the farm will find yourself freely giving an increasing number of money.

As you would possibly expect, this has made succession planning on the farm big business. Lawyers, accountants and business consultants are being tapped to help farm families negotiate a way forward.

So who gets the farm?

Sons, mostly. Latest data suggests that daughters take over the family farm only 10 percent of the time. But because these data are quite old, a large upcoming study will assess whether this remains to be the case.

The default position of most Australian farming families is that the farmer is equal to the person – their sons are seen as one of the best placed to take over the farm. They are often socialised into this role from birth.

Close-up of hands controlling a combine harvester, digital display
Agriculture has undergone an incredible technological change.
Igor Klyakhin/Shutterstock

But this view could be very outdated. As agriculture becomes more skilled, entrepreneurial and technology-orientedthe parable that this requires brutal male physical strength is losing its validity.

Fortunately, gender norms in agriculture are is slowly moving. Although we still have a good distance to go, daughters are increasingly being considered farmers and are less likely to be ignored when dividing family wealth.

The “terrible” daughter-in-law-a village girl

Few are as wary of farm succession politics because the daughter-in-law. Yet their work on and off the farm, and their roles as caregivers and community members, are crucial to the reproduction of farm families, the family farm, and rural communities.

Women have turn into less accepting deprivation of land ownership due to changes in education levels, family law and gender norms.

But for the generation of landowners they are still often perceived as a threat to the continuity of the family farm.

Attempts by a daughter-in-law to begin the succession planning process, to challenge allegations of underpaying her partner or herself, or to seek a profession outside of the agricultural areas can be seen as challenges to the standard farming family.

This is despite the indisputable fact that he’s often simply trying to provide reassurance to his immediate family.

Intentionally blocked

For a while now, Australian family law has covered each cohabiting and married couples.

In the event of a divorce or breakdown of a partnership, the court has the suitable to determine how property – for instance farms – is split between the partners.

In this fashion, an equitable division is sought, quite than assets being viewed as being held in a 50/50 split. It can take into consideration the needs of every partner and their financial and non-financial contributions, equivalent to childcare.

Despite this, our tests found that generations of landowners use farm inheritance processes to protect the continuity of the farm from claims by their daughters-in-law.

a man and a woman are writing on a document
Various tactics are sometimes used to exclude women from succession planning.
Bacho/Shutterstock

This includes delaying the transfer of the farm to their adult children so that the daughter-in-law cannot make a claim in the event of a divorce. Family business structures are also used that quarantine the farm’s assets, equivalent to binding financial agreements.

But the collective marginalization of the farmer’s daughter-in-law and the exclusion of daughters from succession only harms the industry. In their attempts to maintain the establishment of gender relations, many family farms are not preparing for the changing business and social environment.

Women have been graduating from agricultural colleges in equal numbers to men for over twenty years. Female farmers are found have a high level of entrepreneurship, innovation and powerful sustainable development values.

How can farming families higher plan for succession?

Food Security and the Agricultural Industry in Australia depend about how to do succession well. It has to be an ongoing conversation with the entire family, supported by professionals with different skills.

This signifies that women can now not be deliberately excluded. As one skilled in our study commented:

Plenty of these girls have sacrificed a lot and… they are incredibly intelligent and in fact could make a huge contribution to the success of those businesses if they (the older generation) would put their fear aside, be clear about what they are afraid of, take care of it and move on.

If the industry wants to thrive in the twenty first century, a change of approach shall be essential.

This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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How a Black-owned radio station stayed independent for 50 years while other media became corporatized.

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WDKX, WDKX Radio, WDKX Rochester, Rochester radio stations, B lack-owned radio stations, WDKX Andria Langston, theGrio.com

If you have ever checked out a radio station’s call letters, it can have gave the impression of they were just letters to you.

But at WDKX radios in Rochester, New York, the letter “D” stands for Frederick Douglass, “K” stands for Martin Luther King Jr., and “X” stands for

In a media environment where many Black radio stations that air promoting to Black listeners usually are not Black-owned, WDKX exemplifies the legacy and power of independent Black media. This yr the station is celebrating 50 years in business.

According to African American Public Radio Consortiuman estimated 10,000 industrial radio stations broadcast each day within the U.S., but lower than 1% are black-owned. This discrepancy reveals greater than just an ownership gap; highlights a systemic problem that ends in fewer Black leaders being accountable for the voices and messages that claim to talk for Black people.

“Anyone can play black music or turn on black shows, but with black creators there is a different kind of authenticity and connection,” says Andria Langston, current co-owner of WDKX and national sales manager.

Langston is Andre Langston’s daughter and granddaughter Andrew Langstonwho founded WDKX in 1974 in Rochester. While the northern New York city is commonly considered a destination for abolitionists like Frederick Douglass, that does not imply racism wasn’t prevalent in the realm.

Andrew Langston (right) is the founder and visionary of WDKX Radio, which he founded in 1974. (Photo via WROC-TV)
(*50*)
Andria Langston poses along with her father, Andre Langston, current owner of WDKX radio in Rochester, New York, who made sure the station remained independently owned. (Photo courtesy of The Langston Family)
(*50*)

“My grandfather was a visionary, and interestingly enough, he moved to Rochester, New York, because he was promised a job at CBS,” Langston tells Grio. “But when he got there and they saw he was black, they didn’t want to show him on TV. Being in Rochester during the Rochester Riots, my grandparents saw there was a need to tell our story.”

Today, WDKX is a model of resilience, being certainly one of the last independently operated Black-owned radio stations within the United States. The station organizes community events and highlights issues related to health, education and politics. Its mission is deeply rooted within the vision of Mr. Langston, who overcame regulatory and racial barriers to create a platform dedicated to authentic Black voices. For Andria, who began learning the station’s operations on the age of 5, that is of great importance.

“I’m a third-generation owner and seeing my grandfather build this station throughout my life and my father continuing it, I think it’s a testament to the American dream; what can be achieved with persistence and community and simply focusing on your goals,” Langston tells theGrio.

(*50*)

Like many Black-owned public radio stations, WDKX attracts socially and culturally aware listeners who help keep this legacy alive. Although many African-American public radio stations are licensed by universities – accounting for 70% of all such stations, including NPR affiliates – WDKX is certainly one of the few that also operates independently.

This weekend, as WDKX celebrates its fiftieth anniversary, it does in order a testament to the importance of getting Black people in media. From its commitment to unfiltered storytelling to its ability to construct authentic connections, WDKX stays a critical voice in an era where community-centered, Black-owned media is required greater than ever. For listeners in Rochester and beyond, WDKX is greater than just a radio station. It reminds us of the strength and resilience that comes from having your personal narrative.

“My grandfather was in his 40s when he finally started a radio station,” Langston explains. “So you may have a dream in your 20s and it should take you years to comprehend it. Don’t surrender in your dreams. To proceed. Because you have got time and there may be enough for everyone here.

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This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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No, the boom in battery factories in America is not over – construction of the largest factories is proceeding as planned and it is planned to employ over 23,000 people

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The United States is experiencing the largest-ever boom in investment in clean energy production, driven by laws such as the bipartisan bill Act on infrastructure investments and employment and Act on reducing inflation.

They have these rights used billions of dollars government support to drive private sector investment in clean energy supply chains across the country.

For several years, one of us, Jay Turner, and his students at Wellesley College have been tracking clean energy investments in the U.S. and sharing the data on the website The big green machine website. This study shows that since the Inflation Control Act went into effect in 2022, firms have announced 225 projects with a complete investment of $127 billion and the creation of greater than 131,000 latest jobs.

You could have seen on the news that these projects are in danger of failure or significant delays. In August 2024, the Financial Times reported this. 40% of over 100 projects he assessed that they were delayed. These include battery production, renewable energy and metals and hydrogen projects, as well as semiconductor manufacturing plants. The technology industry magazine The Information recently warned of this 1 in 4 firms left from government subsidies for investment in batteries.

Workers assemble battery packs for electric vehicles in Spartanburg, South Carolina. New battery factories in the state will help move the supply chain closer to U.S. electric vehicle factories.
BMW

We checked all 23 battery cell factories announced or prolonged since the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law – just about all of them are gigafactories which might be expected to produce greater than 1 gigawatt-hour of battery cell capability. These factories have one of the highest employment potentials of all the projects supported by the Act.

We wanted to discover whether the U.S. clean energy production boom was about to fizzle out. Most of what we learned is reassuring.

The largest battery factories are on the right track

While exact investment amounts are difficult to determine, our study shows that planned capital expenditure shall be $52 billion, which would supply 490 gigawatt-hours of battery production capability per 12 months – enough to put about 5 million latest electric vehicles on the road.

While not all 23 firms have announced hiring plans, the facilities are expected to create nearly 30,000 latest jobs, with projects primarily in the U.S. Southeast, Midwest and Southwest.

We wanted to know whether these projects were progressing as planned or whether there have been delays or problems.

To do that, we first contacted local and state economic development agencies. In many cases, local and state tax incentives support these projects. Where possible, we now have tried to confirm the status of the project through public data Or formal announcements. In other cases, we looked for messages to see in the event that they existed construction proof Or hiring.

Our study shows that 13 of 23 projects are on the right track, with total planned capital investment exceeding $40 billion and production capability of nearly 352 gigawatt hours per 12 months. Importantly, they include most of the largest projects with the largest investments and expected production.

Our calculations show that 77% of total planned capital investment, 79% of proposed jobs, and 72% of planned battery production are on the right track, meaning the project is likely to be accomplished roughly on time and overall as expected. result. level of investment and employment.

Three projects are on the bubble. These have shown progress but have experienced delays in construction or financing.

Five others show deeper signs of distress. We do not yet have enough information to draw conclusions about the two projects.

An example of an ongoing project is the Envision AESC battery plant in Florence, South Carolina. His the scale has been enlarged twice since it was first announced in December 2022. It is now a $3 billion investment with the goal of producing 30 gigawatt-hours of batteries per 12 months supplies the BMW factory in Woodruff, South Carolina.

In early October 2024, South Carolina Secretary of Commerce Harry Lightsey visited the Envision i facility published a video. Construction of the plant began in February 2024, and 850 employees are working six days per week to complete the 1.4 million square foot facility by August 2025. Once full production begins, the project shall be accomplished expected to hire 2,700 people.

The 2024 elections could end or speed up the boom

However, much relies on what is going to occur in the upcoming elections.

Our data suggests that the real risk facing these projects and projects like them is not sluggish demand for electric vehicles, as some suggest – in fact demand continues to grow. It’s not the local opposition that did it either it only slowed down a number of projects.

The the biggest risk is policy change. Many of these projects are counting on advanced manufacturing tax credits approved by the Inflation Reduction Act through 2032.

During the campaign, Republicans are promising to repeal key laws under Biden, including the Inflation Reduction Act, which incorporates funding for grants and loans to support clean energy, as well as tax incentives to support domestic manufacturing.

While an entire repeal of the Act could also be unlikely, an an administration hostile to clean energy redirect unspent funds to other purposes, slow the pace of grants or loans by slow project approvals, or find other ways to make tax incentives tougher to obtain. Although our research focused on the battery industry, concerns concern investments in wind energy AND solar energy too.

So will the great U.S. boom in clean energy production soon come to an end? Our data is optimistic, but the policy is uncertain.

This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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Jaylen Brown is launching his own sports brand thanks to Kobe Bryant

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NBA champion Jaylen Brown did the other of most superstars once they were offered a giant contract. He turned down the offer, but as a substitute decided to start his own brand, crediting the thought to the late Kobe Bryant.

In an exclusive interview with and , a Boston Celtics player discussed his latest enterprise, 741, a footwear and sports brand. After meeting with several firms and never feeling the offers thrown at him, Brown announced that he followed the trail that the nice Kobe planned. The Lakers legend was planning to start his own sports company, so he decided to do the identical.

After turning down $50 million in sponsorship deals, he launched 741 in September.

“Honestly, I got the thought from Kobe (Bryant), rest in peace. Before his death, he planned to launch his own shoe brand, sign contracts with athletes and offer them higher deals and percentages. I remember reading an article about it and pondering it was bullshit. I analyzed my own experiences of working for big corporations and the way they value your creativity and also you. I’ve tried every brand and none of them stood out. Everyone approaches things the identical way. I used to be on the lookout for a brand of the long run, not a brand of the past. I could not find it so I had to start.

Brown also stated that he also helped design products for his line. Outside of design, he said that creating 741 allowed him to explore his creativity.

“I designed all the pieces myself. I used to be just on the factory in South Korea, on the road, ensuring all the pieces was done the way in which I believed it must be. I’ve done probably close to $50 million value of deals (from other brands) to start something on my own. And it wasn’t because I didn’t like the cash they were offering. It’s because these contracts pigeonholed me and didn’t allow me to be creative.

Brown also said he didn’t want to force anything when it comes to brand promotion. He favors a slow-build approach and admitted that “it doesn’t have to be the hottest brand on the street tomorrow.”


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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