ATTRA - Sustainable Agriculture

In this episode, we talk with Dave Halpin, a young beginning farmer who, with his wife, has recently reached the “jumping-off point” and has begun planning to begin an operation in St. Charles County, Missouri.

After you listen to Dave's story, be sure to check out ATTRA’s extensive - and free - resources for beginning farmers. A good place to start is https://attra.ncat.org/beginning-farmer/.  ATTRA has a wide array of free resources for all aspects of sustainable farming - publications, webinars, videos, databases, and our popular Ask an Ag Expert hotline and email service. You can find all the details at www.attra.ncat.org.

In this episode we talk with Margaret Krome, the Policy Program Director of the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute in East Troy, New York. She is also a board member of the National Center for Appropriate Technology.Margaret talks about the impact of the ATTRA program - which is managed by NCAT through a cooperative agreement with USDA Rural Business Cooperative Service - and the important sustainable-agriculture issues she sees going into the future.ATTRA resources on issues Margaret mentions in the episode - soil health, urban agriculture, cover crops, internships, and more - can be found on our website.

In this episode, Rich Myers of the National Center for Appropriate Technology talks with Gil Senger of Candlewick Farms in New York about his experience in the Armed to Farm agriculture-business training for veterans sponsored and hosted by NCAT/ATTRA.

In this episode, Rich Myers of the National Center for Appropriate Technology talks with Gil Senger of Candlewick Farms in New York about how starting a Christmas tree farm led him to begin selling mushrooms.

To ask a sustainable agriculture expert a question - for free - go to the Ask an Ag Expert Form:  https://attra.ncat.org/ask/

Related Resources:

Mushroom Cultivation and Marketing: https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/summaries/summary.php?pub=77

Check out other sustainable-agriculture resources on the ATTRA website at www.attra.ncat.org.

In this episode, National Center for Appropriate Technology Poultry Specialist Kevin Ellis talks with Ty Burk of Westfold Farm in Buda, Texas. Ty talks about the value of heritage poultry breeds and why he’s an advocate of fermented feed, among other topics.

To ask a sustainable-agriculture expert a question - for free - go to the ATTRA website.

A Sampling of Related ATTRA Publications

Small Scale Poultry Processing

Pastured Poultry Nutrition and Forages

Poultry Genetics for Pastured Production

Small-Scale Poultry Processing

Some Related ATTRA Videos and Webinars

Can a Heritage Poultry Market Thrive in Montana?

Pastured Poultry Production and Profitability

Integrating Pastured Poultry Production into Farming Operations and Marketing by Janie Burns 

Branding for Differentiating and Marketing Pastured Poultry Products

Biosecurity for Pastured and Organic Poultry

In this episode, award-winning cheesemaker Veronica Baetje of Baetje Farms LLC in Missouri talks with NCAT Specialists Linda Coffey and Daniel Prial about the history of the operation -- which started with a goat named Cookie -- and marketing small-ruminant dairy products.

Some Related ATTRA resources:

Tips for Marketing Sheep and Goat Products.

Dairy Sheep.

In this episode, award-winning cheesemaker Veronica Baetje of Baetje Farms LLC in Missouri continues her conversation with NCAT Specialists Linda Coffey and Daniel Prial, including how to find the balance production and sales.

Some Related ATTRA resources:

Tips for Marketing Sheep and Goat Products.

Dairy Sheep.

In this episode, NCAT sustainable agriculture specialist Kevin Ellis sits in the cab of a farm truck with Mike Marchand of Whitehurst Heritage Farms to talk about farming livestock in Texas and having to prepare for and deal with the damage caused by hurricane Harvey in the fall of 2017.

In this episode, Daniel Prial of the National Center for Appropriate Technology talks with Abby Ferris, Member Services Coordinator with the National Farmers Union, about the role of her organization and the importance of educating consumers about how the agriculture industry works.