ATTRA - Voices from the Field

Episode 297. Digging into Texas' First Carbon Farm Plan 

In this episode of Voices from the Field, we dig into Texas’ first Carbon Farm Plan with New Leaf Agriculture Farm Director Matt Simon, NCAT Climate and Agriculture Program Manager Elise Haschke, and NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Darron Gaus.  

Matt shares his “aha” moments in farming and his vision for ecological restoration and community-building on New Leaf’s 21-acre farm in Elgin, Texas.  

Carbon Farm Planning is a comprehensive conservation planning framework that centers carbon as the organizing principle on working lands. With generous funding from a Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Professional Development Program grant and The Meadows Foundation, NCAT is working with Texas farmers and ranchers to pilot the Carbon Farm Planning conservation framework for a Texas context.  

Darron and Matt discuss specific conservation practices in the New Leaf’s Carbon Farm Plan, such as how they’re testing no-till and strip-till in a few of the fields and planting windbreaks for multiple co-benefits, including fruit and nut cash crops, on-farm mulch production, and wildlife habitat.  

Those practices indicate an estimated annual emissions reduction equivalent to 22 metric tons of carbon dioxide, based on the COMET-Planner quantification tool. 

If you’re a farmer or rancher in Texas and interested in developing a whole-farm conservation plan centered around opportunities to capture and store more carbon on-farm, we want to hear from you. You can email Elise and Darron at [email protected] or [email protected] to learn more about what’s going on in Texas. 

Register here for the May 22 Carbon Farm Demonstration Day on New Leaf Agriculture in Elgin, Texas.  

 Related ATTRA Resources: 

Growing Hope: Climate and Soils 

Carbon Farm Planning blog 

Carbon Farm Planning podcast 

Connecting Refugees to Sustainable Agriculture 

 
Other Resources: 

New Leaf Agriculture 

The Meadows Foundation 

Multicultural Refugee Coalition 

Carbon Cycle Institute - Carbon Farm Planning 

Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education 

Comet- Planner  

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You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find access to our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.  

In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Mike Lewis talks with Gary Zimmer, co-owner of Otter Creek Organic Farm in south-central Wisconsin and founder of Midwestern BioAg, a fertilizer company focused on biological and organic farming methods. 

Gary is also a co-founder of Rye Revival, an organization that aims to bolster the use of rye. Gary and Mike talk about rye’s health benefits and its use as an animal feed and a cover crop.
 

Related ATTRA Resources: 

·         Organic Small Grain Production Overview 

·         No-Till Case Study, Brown’s Ranch: Improving Soil Health Improves the Bottom Line 

·         Cover Crops and Their Impact on Soil Health, Crop Productivity 

·         Cover Crops and Water Infiltration 
 

Other Resources: 

·         Zimmer Ag Consulting 

·         Rye Revival 

Contact Mike Lewis at [email protected]. 

Please complete a brief survey to let us know your thoughts about the content of this podcast. 

You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find access to our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG. 

In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Agriculture Specialist Mike Lewis talks about pastured hogs based on his experience on his Kentucky farm, where he raises farrow-to-finish heritage hogs on pasture and in the woods.  

NCAT Livestock Specialist Linda Coffey poses questions to Mike asked by her beginning farmer son, John, who plans to raise pastured hogs in Arkansas. Mike shares valuable tips about reducing feed cost, making the enterprise labor efficient, taking good care of the land, and starting small to figure out what your niche will be.  

Many other practical topics are covered in this episode, which is the first of a series called “In the Pigpen with Mike and Linda.” 

If you would like Mike and Linda to do more episodes and maybe connect with them about a topic for the series, you can reach them at [email protected] or [email protected].    

Related ATTRA Resources: 

·        Hogs: Pastured or Forested Production

·        Farrowing on Pasture

·        Looking for On-farm Diversification? Consider Pastured Pigs

·        The Life and Death of Lucy the Sow

Please complete a brief survey to let us know your thoughts about the content of this podcast.

You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find access to our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.

In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Agricultural and Natural Resource Economist Jeff Schahczenski discusses the climate benefits of certified organic production systems with Dr. Amber Sciligo, Director of Science Programs at The Organic Center.  

With training in systems-based research, Dr. Sciligo has worked closely with researchers, industry, farmers, and policymakers to identify organic research needs, and she has collaborated on a diverse range of research programs.

Some of those research topics include mitigating climate change, increasing the feasibility of integrating livestock into produce cropping systems, increasing the accessibility of equitable agricultural technology for organic farmers, reducing tensions between National Organic Program standards and third-party food safety requirements, and tackling challenges associated with inadvertent pesticide contamination across the organic supply chain.

Related ATTRA Resources:

·        Agriculture, Climate Disruption, and Carbon Sequestration

·        Growing Hope: Practical Tools for Our Changing Climate: 
 Conference keynote address by Dr. Rattan Lal

·        Reducing Tillage Intensity in Organic Production Systems

Other Resources:

·        The Organic Center

Contact Jeff Schahczenski at [email protected].  

Please complete a brief survey to let us know your thoughts about the content of this podcast.  

You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find access to our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at NCAT.ORG.  

This episode features a conversation between Stacie Peterson, NCAT’s Energy Program Director and Manager of the AgriSolar Clearinghouse, and Pete Berthelsen, Executive Director of The Bee and Butterfly Habitat Fund and President of Conservation Blueprint. 

It is the fourth in a series of AgriSolar Clearinghouse podcasts that are being featured on ATTRA’S Voices from the Field podcast.  

Pete and Stacie discuss the benefits of pollinator habitat at solar energy sites, pollinator habitat design, seed mixes, pollinator health and quality, and what anyone can do to help pollinators in their own backyard.  

AgriSolar Clearinghouse Resources: 

·         AgriSolar Clearinghouse 

·         Solar Pollinator Habitat 

·         Solar Apiaries 

·         Fact Sheet: Making the Case for Solar Beekeeping 

Other Resources: 

·         Conservation Blueprint 

·         The Bee and Butterfly Habitat Fund 

Contact Stacie Peterson at [email protected].  

Please complete a brief survey to let us know your thoughts about the content of this podcast.  

You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find access to our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.  

Learn about NCAT’s other innovative sustainable agriculture programs.  

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Solar Energy Technologies Office Award Number DE-EE000937. Legal Disclaimer: The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Energy or the United States Government.  

Here’s a fun fact. Before European settlement, as much as 10% of the continental U.S. was influenced by the presence of beaver dams. Although beavers have been displaced from much of their historic range, land managers don't have to be high and dry in their absence. More and more people are rehydrating their land by mimicking beavers to catch and hold more water.  

In this episode of Voices from the Field, Aaron Clausen of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Montana rancher Amber Smith chat with NCAT Regenerative Grazing Specialist Linda Poole about constructing do-it-yourself beaver dams, called beaver dam analogues.  

Built mostly by hand with carefully placed sticks and rocks, these low-tech, affordable structures help landowners safely catch and hold more water on their land during runoff. The conversation also includes a bit about Aaron's work with WWF's RSVP (Ranching Sustainability and Viability Program) and Amber Smith's leadership of the nonprofit Women in Ranching.  

Resources: 

• World Wildlife Fund 
• Women in Ranching 
• BDA Stream Restoration 
• Beaver Dams Without Beavers? Artificial Logjams are a Popular but Controversial Restoration Tool 
• Cheap and Cheerful Stream and Riparian Restoration: Beaver Dam Analogues as a Low-Cost Tool 

Contact Linda Poole at [email protected].  

Please complete a brief survey to let us know your thoughts about the content of this podcast.  

You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find access to our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at NCAT.ORG.  

En este episodio de Voices from the Field, Martin Guerena, especialista en agricultura sostenible de la oficina regional occidental de NCAT en Davis, California, habla con Patricio O'Neil de Soil Health Services en Alamosa, Colorado. Su conversación describe los cultivos característicos de la región del valle de San Luis Colorado, la sequía de la región y sus desafíos, prácticas para mejorar la salud del suelo y el secuestro de carbono por medio de cultivos de cobertura, la composta dominada por hongos y la rotación de cultivos. También habla sobre el Parque Agrícola Rio Grande de Alamosa, Colorado.  

Recursos de ATTRA:

• Recursos en Español

Otros Recursos:

·       Rio Grande Farm Park

Para obtener más información sobre este tema, puede contactar a Martin Guerena directamente: [email protected].

Llame a la línea de “ATTRA en Español” con cualquier pregunta sobre agricultura sostenible al 800 411-3222 o por correo electrónico a [email protected].

Nuestros especialistas pueden ayudarle con una amplia gama de temas, inclusivamente: planificación de fincas, manejo de plagas, producción hortícola, ganadería, suelos, acuicultura, y mucho más.

This special edition of Voices from the Field takes a look back at some highlights from the podcast during 2022. It was a great year for Voices from the Field, with 50 interesting conversations and loads of practical information running the gamut of sustainable-agriculture topics. 

We’re honored that Voices from the Field has become a trusted source of information about sustainable agriculture and renewable energy since it began more than five years ago, with thousands of subscribers adding it to their weekly downloads. 

Featured Podcasts: 

·         Episode 258. Everything Old is New Again, Exploring Indigenous and Traditional Agriculture Methods, Part 1 

·         Episode 259. Everything Old is New Again, Exploring Indigenous and Traditional Agriculture Methods, Part 2 

NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialists Felicia Bell and Justin Duncan take a look at the traditional family agricultural methods that were passed down to them, and how they parallel indigenous practices. 

Contact Felicia Bell and Justin Duncan at [email protected] and [email protected]. 
 

·         Episode 267. How Farmers Markets Do More than Sell Local Goods 

NCAT Director of Communications Emilie Ritter and NCAT Community Food Systems Specialist Maura Henn talk about the sometimes unexpected beneficial impacts of famers markets. 

Contact Emilie Ritter and Maura Henn at [email protected] and [email protected]. 
 

·         Episode 271. Farmer Veteran Finds Passion in Horticulture Therapy 

NCAT ATTRA Program Director Margo Hale talks with Charley Jordan, a military veteran and flower farmer in Tennessee, about how he came to begin a flower-growing operation and his passion for horticulture therapy and using agriculture as a tool to help others heal. 

Contact Margo Hale at [email protected].
 

·         AgriSolar Podcasts Ep. 1: Growing Crops Among the Solar Panels in Colorado 

NCAT Energy Program Director Stacie Peterson has a conversation with Meg Caley, Executive Director and co-founder of Colorado nonprofit Sprout City Farms. Among its partnerships, Sprout City Farms works with Jack’s Solar Garden in Longmont, Colorado, growing crops in the spaces between solar panels at the site, which is now the largest agrivoltaic research facility of its kind in the United States. 

Contact Stacie Peterson at [email protected].  

Please complete a brief survey to let us know your thoughts about the content of this podcast.  

You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find access to our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at NCAT.ORG.  

This episode features a conversation between Stacie Peterson, NCAT’s Energy Program Director and Manager of the AgriSolar Clearinghouse, and Lexie Hain, the country’s leading solar grazing expert.  

It is the third in a series of AgriSolar Clearinghouse podcasts that are being featured on ATTRA’S Voices from the Field podcast. 

Lexie is a farmer, solar grazer, and the Director of Agrivoltaics at Lightsource BP.  She co-founded the American Solar Grazing Association and is a stakeholder in the AgriSolar Clearinghouse. She also coined the term solar grazing.  

Lexie and Stacie discuss the practicalities of solar grazing, how to prepare and manage agrivoltaic sites, opportunities for grazers and solar developers, and how sheep and solar are made for each other. 

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Solar Energy Technologies Office Award Number DE-EE000937. Legal Disclaimer: The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Energy or the United States Government. 

Related NCAT Resources: 

·         AgriSolar Podcasts Ep. 1: Growing Crops Among the Solar Panels in Colorado

·         AgriSolar Podcasts Ep. 2:  Keeping Family Farm in Family Hands with AgriSolar in Massachusetts 

Other Resources: 

·         Lighthouse BP – Agrivoltaics & Solar Grazing 

·         AgriSolar Clearinghouse – Solar Grazing 

·         American Solar Grazing Association  

Contact Stacie Peterson at [email protected]. 

Please complete a brief survey to let us know your thoughts about the content of this podcast.  

You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find access to our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.  Learn about NCAT’s other innovative sustainable agriculture programs.  

In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Horticulture Specialist Tammy Howard talks with Drew Shanafelt, Director of Abundant Montana. Abundant Montana has been a local foods directory staple in Montana since the 1990s. In recent years, it has evolved from being a static directory to a dynamic multimedia resource for consumers, food suppliers, and producers. In this conversation, Tammy and Drew talk about how producers can use Abundant Montana as a resource in their marketing and outreach to consumers.  

Related ATTRA Resources: 

·         Tips for Selling at Farmers Markets 

·         Farm Branding: Selling Your Products Through Story 

·         Direct Marketing 

Other Resources: 

·         Abundant Montana 

Contact Tammy Howard at [email protected]. 

Please complete a brief survey to let us know your thoughts about the content of this podcast. 

You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find access to our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at NCAT.ORG.