ATTRA - Sustainable Agriculture

In this episode, Kara Kroeger, a sustainable agriculture specialist who works out of NCAT's Southwest Regional Office in San Antonio, Texas, talks with Bill Nieman, the owner of Native American Seed, a native seed company in Junction, Texas. Bill shares his history in the native-seed business and talks about how native seeds can help improve ecosystem health, among other benefits. He also shares success stories of folks he's worked with over the years.

In this episode, Linda Coffey, a Livestock Specialist with NCAT's Southeast Regional Office in Fayetteville, Arkansas, talks with Janet Vorwald Dohner, a farmer and noted expert on livestock guardian animals. The author of four books about the wonderful dogs that serve as livestock guardians, Jan brings more than 40 years of experience and a wealth of research and knowledge to the conversation in hopes of helping people succeed with these dogs. Jan talks about the history and traits of livestock guardian dogs and how to find and manage them. She explains how to handle some common problems experienced by dog owners and talks about how to set up our dogs for success.

In this episode, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Colin Mitchell is joined by Brian Brandt, the Agriculture Conservation Innovations Director at the American Farmland Trust. Colin and Brian discuss ecosystem service markets with a focus on water quality trading, a type of ecosystem service market that pays farmers for the adoption of sustainable agriculture practices that improve water quality through the reduction of runoff from manure, nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers, and sedimentation from soil erosion. Brian goes into extensive detail discussing a multistate water quality trading pilot project focused on the Ohio River Basin watershed and a new pilot on the Scioto River watershed in Central Ohio.

In this episode, Margo Hale, NCAT's Southeast Regional Director and Director of NCAT's Armed to Farm Program, talks with Eric Grandon and Sara Creech. Eric is an Army veteran and owner of Sugar Bottom Farm in Ovapa, West Virginia. Sara is an Air Force veteran and owner of Blue Yonder Organic Farm in North Salem, Indiana. Both are alumni of NCAT's Armed to Farm program, a week-long, sustainable agriculture training for military veterans.

In today's episode, Justin Duncan, sustainable agriculture specialist at NCAT's Southwest Regional Office in San Antonio, Texas, interviews Helen Smiley, a sustainable agriculture consultant located in Turkey. Helen is formerly of Texas and was invited to Turkey to educate refugees in organic farming. She shares some of the differences in agriculture in Turkey versus Texas — from giant-sized cabbage to purple carrots.

In this episode, Andrew Coggins, director of the National Center for Appropriate Technology's Rocky Mountain West office, has a conversation with farm manager John Wallace about the unusual growing season so far at NCAT's SIFT Farm.

In this episode, Nina Prater, a soil specialist with NCAT's ATTRA sustainable-agriculture program, and NCAT's Southeast Regional Director Margo Hale discuss soil pH. They cover the basics – why it's important, how to measure pH, and how to best remedy soil acidity, which is a common concern in Arkansas where they live.

In this episode, Devona Bell, NCAT's Director of Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Communities, has a conversation with Maya and Ed Skopal.

Today's podcast is part of the occasional series entitled "Starting a Farm" from Rockiell Woods, Director of NCAT's Gulf States Regional Office in Jackson, Mississippi, and Bill Evans, Director of Horticulture at Up in Farms Food Hub in Jackson. This episode is about soil considerations on a new farm. They talk about factors that affect soil, how to have yours tested, and the various ways you can improve your soil.

In this episode, NCAT Livestock Specialist Dave Scott has a conversation with Caleb Pirc of Good Shepherd Farm in Meridian, Idaho, about integrated pest-management strategies for their sheep operations.