ATTRA - Voices from the Field

In this episode of Voices from the Field, we meet Dr. Carolyn Krejci, an industrial engineer and expert on supply-chain management at the University of Texas at Arlington who is designing surprising new ways of supporting local and regional food systems. 

She and NCAT Southwest Regional Director Mike Morris sit down to discuss her pioneering research on food transportation and the ingenious new “crowdshipping” phone app she and her team recently created for matching small farms with drivers who are willing to deliver farm products to urban markets. Could a ride-sharing system for food products expand markets and increase incomes for small farms? 

 Related ATTRA Resources: 

·         Selling to Local and Regional Markets: Barriers and Opportunities for Beginning Farmers

·         Scaling Up Your Vegetable Farm for Regional Markets

·         Food Hubs: A Producer Guide  

·         Intermediated Markets 
 

Other Resources:   

·         Project report for “Regional Food Transportation for Texas Farmers,” Southern SARE Research and Education Project #LS19-312 

·         Evaluating the Suitability of Crowd-Shipping Platforms for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises 

·         Logistics Best Practices for Regional Food Systems: A Review 

·         Resilient Regional Food Supply Chains and Rethinking the Way Forward: Key Takeaways from the COVID-19 Pandemic  

·         Iowa Food Hub Network

Contact Mike Morris 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.

Learn about NCAT’s other innovative sustainable agriculture programs.

In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Luz Ballesteros talks with Michael Navarro of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley about his biochar research. Michael, working with biochar created from grapefruit peels, is examining its ability to remediate soils that have been contaminated with heavy metals.

Luz and Michael also talk about the ways biochar is used in agriculture, such as water filtration and seed coating, and other ways it may be used in the future. They also discuss nuts-and-bolt issues such as its availability for producers.

Related ATTRA Resources:

·        Biochar

·        Biochar and Sustainable Agriculture

·        Building a Biochar Retort Kiln

 Contact Luz Ballesteros 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.

Learn about NCAT’s other innovative sustainable agriculture programs.

This episode is a conversation between Stacie Peterson, NCAT’s Energy Program Director and Manager of the AgriSolar Clearinghouse, and Nate Tassinari, the owner of Million Little Sunbeams, a third-generation hay farm in Monson, Massachusetts.

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

 
Nate’s hay operation is a 1-acre farm co-located with a solar array that generates 250 kilowatts of power. It is centrally located among a network of family farms and has solar panels that are elevated 10 feet above the ground, both to accommodate haying equipment and to satisfy Massachusetts regulations for incentives.

In the conversation, Nate describes the financial aspects of owning a solar array, how to harvest the sun during the winter, the interconnection of family farmlands, and the role solar can play in farm ownership.

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 ATTRA Resources:

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

Other Resources:

•  AgriSolar Clearinghouse
•  Case Study: Million Little Sunbeams  
• UMass Clean Energy Extension Plays Part in First SMART-Approved Dual-Use Solar Project 

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. 

Lynette Niebrugge, Associate Director of Education and Training at the Carbon Cycle Institute (CCI), and Loren Poncia, co-owner of Stemple Creek Ranch in Tomales, California, broke new ground with one of CCI’s first Carbon Farm Plans almost a decade ago. 

 In this episode of Voices from the Field, Lynette and Loren speak with NCAT Climate and Agriculture Program Manager Elise Haschke about what it means to approach conservation planning through a carbon lens. They also share the process for developing a Carbon Farm Plan for individual farms and ranches, as well as the many co-benefits associated with implementing conservation practices included in a Carbon Farm Plan.

 Contact Elise Haschke at [email protected].

Related ATTRA Resources:

·        A Look at the Texas Soil Wealth Alliance. Part 1

·        A Look at the Texas Soil Wealth Alliance. Part 2

 Other Resources:

·        Carbon Cycle Institute

·        Stemple Creek Ranch

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.
• Learn about NCAT’s other innovative sustainable agriculture programs.

How is organic farming changing in America? Should soil-free hydroponic produce be certified as organic? And why have 1,100 certified-organic farms started adding a Real Organic label to the familiar green USDA Organic label? In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Southwest Regional Director Mike Morris sits down with Linley Dixon, Co-Director of the Real Organic Project, for a conversation about integrity, soil, transparency, and changes happening within the organic movement.  

 Related ATTRA Resources: 

·         Takeaways from the Real Organic Symposium 

·         Organic Farming 

·         Organic Regulations 

·         Organic Certification 
 
Other Resources:   

·         Real Organic Project

·         Real Organic Podcast 

·         Real Organic EcoFarm Pre-Conference 2023

Contact Mike Morris 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 edition of Voices from the Field, Lacy Stephens of the National Farm to School Network talks to Rae Rusnak of L&R Poultry and Produce and Kate Seybold of Minneapolis Public Schools. L&R Poultry and Produce has been consistently selling to MPS for more than eight years. Rae and Kate discuss what has made this partnership successful and beneficial for both of them, and they each share recommendations for building long-term relationships with school buyers.

This podcast is produced by the National Center for Appropriate Technology through the ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture program, under a cooperative agreement with USDA Rural Development. ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.

This podcast episode is one of a number of case studies featuring farmers successfully navigating school sales as part of Bringing the Farm to School, a training program developed as a cooperative agreement between NCAT, the National Farm to School Network and the USDA Food and Nutrition Services." 

In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Specialist Kei Matsunami talks with Chris Gaskell of Grasmick Produce of Twin Falls and Boise, Idaho, about the company’s farm to school sales and DoD Fresh contract with the Montana Office of Public Instruction.

This podcast is produced by the National Center for Appropriate Technology through the ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture program, under a cooperative agreement with USDA Rural Development. ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.

This podcast episode is one of a number of case studies featuring farmers successfully navigating school sales as part of Bringing the Farm to School, a training program developed as a cooperative agreement between NCAT, the National Farm to School Network and the USDA Food and Nutrition Services.

Sixteen-year-old Maloi Lannan is a passionate and knowledgeable climate warrior using profits from her self-published soil health coloring book to build a flock of 100-percent grassfed sheep in Montana's Paradise Valley. 

In this episode of Voices from the Field, Maloi and her mom Meagan tell NCAT's Linda Poole about their approach to maintaining their fifth-generation family ranch. Their methods include regenerative agriculture, land stewardship, and low-stress stockmanship (except maybe when lambs escape) with a goal of building interdependent and profitable businesses and communities.

Listen in to hear a real-life, feel-good story about raising capable, resilient, caring kids through daily hands-on work in regenerative agriculture. 

Related ATTRA Resources:  

·         Wisdom from SHEperds: ATTRA’s She’s Raising Sheep Podcast Series, Episodes 1-5 

·         Grazing to Control Parasites 

Other Resources: 

·         Barney Creek Livestock 

·         Barney Creek Regenerative Agriculture Coloring Book 

·         To Which We Belong 

·         2022 Montana Leopold Conservation Award — Barney Creek Livestock 

 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 ATTRA.NCAT.ORG. 

Learn about NCAT’s other innovative sustainable agriculture programs. 

In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialists Nina Prater and Lee Rinehart talk about how to improve profitability on livestock operations. They focus specifically on ruminants — choosing the right animals for your environment, grazing management, farm infrastructure, and marketing. Lee shares some guiding questions farmers and ranchers can ask themselves when making farm-management decisions to be sure their operations remain profitable.  

Related ATTRA Resources: 

Small-Scale Livestock Production 

Demystifying Regenerative Grazing and Soil Health with Dr. Allen Williams  

Scaling Up for Regional Markets 

Regenerative Grazing with Travis Krause 

Managing Photosynthesis Through Optimal Grazing 

Other Resources: 

Livestock Compass Spreadsheet 

Contact Nina Prater and Lee Rinehart at [email protected] and [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 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, Stacie Peterson, Energy Program Director at the National Center for Appropriate Technology, talks with Meg Caley, Executive Director and co-founder of the Colorado nonprofit Sprout City Farms. 

Sprout City Farms began in 2010 with a vision of increasing food access and community resiliency through farming underutilized urban land. 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 the largest agrivoltaic research facility of its kind in the United States.

Related NCAT Resources:

Sheep and the Sun. Solar Grazing with Lexie Hain

NCAT’s AgriSolar Clearinghouse Aims to Make Solar More Accessible to Land Managers

NCAT’s AgriSolar Clearinghouse Brings Together Solar and Agriculture

AgriSolar Clearinghouse

Soil for Water

Other Resources: 

Sprout City Farms

Jack’s Solar Garden

Colorado Agrivoltaic Learning Center 

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.