Farming with the sun on South America's rooftop...

 In one of northern Chile's sunniest corners, a quartet of solar-powered irrigation systems is providing water to farmers when they need it, and energy to the grid when the pumps aren't running.  Each of the four systems can produce up to 500 watts of power, enough to provide water for as much as two-and-a-half acres. The systems were developed by a team consisting  of Chile's National Energy Commission, the Agriculture Ministry and the regional government.  The northern desert region, with its abundant sunlight, is also the setting for residential solar projects, and the planned site of a 10 megawatt, $40 million solar generation plant that would be the country's first such installation. For more information about that project, go to      http://ecoworldly.com/2008/07/16/chile-bets-on-solar-power/ It's interesting to note that solar projects are gaining traction not just in the U.S., but around the world.

Last year at this time, dairymen were receiving $20 per hundredweight for their milk. This year, in some cases, Mid-Atlantic dairy farmers are seeing payments for half that amount. Lancaster Farming's special sections editor and a dairy farmer herself, talks about shrinking milk checks in this week's edition.

Had a  technical problem with Friday's end-of-the-blog funny bit, so in case you missed Johnny playing with his broccoli, here it is again...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GabHGlGm14