ATTRA - Voices from the Field

ATTRA - Voices from the Field

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ATTRA - Voices from the Field episodes

  • Episode 279. Patrick O’Neill on the Many Sides of Soil Health

    In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Martin Guerena, who works out of NCAT’s office in Davis, California, has a conversation with Patrick O’Neill of Soil Health Services in Alamosa, Colorado. They discuss Patrick’s projects, including consulting with farmers on cover crops systems, volunteer work with the Rio Grande Farm Park, and a conservation district project that focuses on fungal-dominated compost.

    Related ATTRA Resources:
    Soil

    Other Resources:
    How to Make Liquid Extract from Live, Fungal-Based Compost for Your Garden or Farm
    National Association of Conservation Districts. Patrick O’Neill Biography
    Dr. David C. Johnson YouTube Channel
    Rio Grande Farm Park 

    Contact Martin Guerena 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 our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.  

    Learn about NCAT’s other innovative sustainable agriculture programs.  

    27 min
  • A Look at the Texas Soil Wealth Alliance, Part 2

    This episode of Voices from the Field is the second of a two-part series about a new project called the Texas Soil Wealth Alliance.  

    NCAT’s team on the project – Climate Smart Agriculture Coordinator Elise Haschke and Sustainable Agriculture Specialists Robert Maggiani and Darron Gaus – talk with others involved in the project. They discuss the Texas Soil Wealth Alliance’s starting goals, the problems it is addressing, and how TSWA works jointly with other organizations and producers to resolve the major issues brought to the forefront by agriculture and climate. 
     

    Related ATTRA Resources: 

    • A Look at the Texas Soil Wealth Alliance 
    • Soil 
    • Healthy Soil for a Wealthy Tomorrow 
    • Managing Soils for Water: How Five Principles of Soil Health Support Water Infiltration and Storage 
    • Watch: NCAT Releases Soil Health 101 Series 
    • Soil for Water 

    Contact Elise Haschke, Robert Maggiani, and Darron Gaus at [email protected], [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 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. 


    40 min
  • A Look at the Texas Soil Wealth Alliance

    This episode of Voices from the Field is the first of a two-part series on a new project called the Texas Soil Wealth Alliance. NCAT’s team on the project – Climate Smart Agriculture Coordinator Elise Haschke and Sustainable Agriculture Specialists Robert Maggiani and Darron Gaus – join with other organizations and producers involved in the project to spread the word.

    Related ATTRA Resources:

    ·        Soil

    ·        Health Soil for a Wealthy Tomorrow 

    ·        Managing Soils for Water: How Five Principles of Soil Health Support Water Infiltration and Storage

    ·        Watch: NCAT Releases Soil Health 101 Series

    ·        Soil for Water

    Contact Elise Haschke, Robert Maggiani, and Darron Gaus at [email protected], [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.  

    39 min
  • Episode 276. Managing Photosynthesis Through Optimal Grazing

    The primary goal of grazing, or any other farming endeavor, is to convert light energy efficiently and profitably from the sun into food. Many graziers think of themselves as grass farmers, harvesting sunlight and converting it through forage into animal products.  

    In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialists Lee Rinehart and Justin Morris talk specifically about photosynthesis and whether it can be managed. And if so, how? If indeed it is possible to optimize photosynthetic activity and get more nutrient-dense forage for longer in the grazing season, it would be a new spin on grazing management. 

    Contact Lee Rinehart and Justin Morris 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.  

     
    Related ATTRA Resources: 

    • Grazing 
    • Advanced Grazing Series. Session 2. Plants and Grazing Management 
    • Building Healthy Pasture Soils 

    Other Resources: 

    • How Healthy Plants Create Healthy Soil  
    • Characterization of Root Exudates at Different Growth Stages of Ten Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Cultivars  
    • Responses of Root Exudation and Nutrient Cycling to Grazing Intensities and Recovery Practices in an Alpine Meadow: An Implication for Pasture Management  
    • Carbon Dioxide Concentration Gradients above the Soil Surface at High Elevations  

     

    1 hr 2 min
  • How 'Dirt Farming’ is the Foundation of a Mississippi Grazing Operation
    In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Felicia Bell talks grassfed beef and lamb with Mississippi grazier Johnny Wray. Johnny and his wife Deb own High Hope Farm in western Clay County, Mississippi, near the village of Cedar Bluff.  

    Johnny talks about the farm’s rotational grazing setup and use of composted manure with no chemical inputs. Johnny describes himself as a “dirt farmer,” because healthy soil leads to healthy grasses and healthy livestock. 
       

    Related ATTRA Resources: 

    ·         Paddock Design and Animal Movement 

    ·         Risk Management on a Livestock Operation. Part 1  

    ·         Risk Management on a Livestock Operation. Part 2 

    ·         Perennial Forages, Shrubs, and Trees. Part 1 

    ·         Perennial Forages, Shrubs, and Trees. Part 2 

    ·         Tool Kit: How to Reduce Synthetic Fertilizer Use

    ·         Multispecies Grazing: A Primer on Diversity

    ·         Soil Health and Adaptive Grazing with Dr. Allen Williams 

     
    Other Resources: 

    ·         High Hope Farm 

     
    Contact Felicia Bell 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 our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.  

    Learn about NCAT’s other innovative sustainable agriculture programs.

    51 min
  • Study Explores the Effects of Stress on Farmer Well-Being

    In this episode of Voices from the Field, North Carolina State University researcher Dr. Andrew Smolski and NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Justin Duncan look at farmer well-being through the lens of a Southern SARE funded project. 

     The project, “Navigating Financial and Mental Health Crises,” is aimed at understanding how farmers are accessing resources that address farm finances, stress management, and farming practices, as well as how they have navigated through financial crises. It also shares the wisdom farmers say they have gained through the challenges they faced. 

     This podcast was 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. It also is funded by a grant from Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education. Project 2019-38640-29878 

     Related ATTRA Resources: 

    ·         Farmer Well-Being 

    ·         Helping Farmers in Financial Crisis 

      Other Resources 

    ·         Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network 

    ·         AgrAbility 

     
    Contact Justine Duncan 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 our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.  

    Learn about NCAT’s other innovative sustainable agriculture programs.  


    32 min
  • Tootie's Tempeh: Bringing Organic Plant-Based Proteins to Local Consumers and Institutions
    In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Chris Lent has a conversation with Sarah Speare of Tootie's Tempeh in Biddeford, Maine.  

     NCAT and two other organizations – Health Care Without Harm and the Plant Forward Future Project -- partnered to form a producer cohort in the Northeast to develop and market plant-based proteins to hospitals.  

     The project is funded by a USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant, and Sarah is part of the producer cohort. She and Chris talk about sourcing beans from organic farms, using worker-owned cooperatives as a business model, manufacturing tempeh, and marketing plant-based proteins to both consumers and hospitals.   

     They also get into strategies for helping plant-based protein food companies thrive in the Northeast. 

    Related ATTRA Resources: 

    • Farm to Healthcare 
    • Farm to Healthcare Tipsheet: Procuring Local Food, Improving Health 
    • Scaling Up for Institutional Markets: Midwest Case Studies 
    Other Resources: 

    • Tootie’s Tempeh 
    • Health Care Without Harm 
    • USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant Program 
     Contact Chris Lent via email 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 our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.  

    Learn about NCAT’s other cutting-edge sustainable agriculture programs.  

    39 min
  • She's Raising Sheep: Minnesota Shepherd Janet McNally. Part 2
    Minnesota shepherd Janet McNally has learned from facing challenges. In fact, dealing with a wolf pack bent on her flock as a food source was one of the factors that led her to regenerative grazing. In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Regenerative Grazing Specialist Linda Poole talks with Janet about her successes and challenges, including those wolves, along with parasites, drought, tornadoes, wildfires, and Minnesota’s infamous winters.   

    ATTRA Resources: 

    ·         Livestock and Pasture

    ·         She’s Raising Sheep. Janet McNally of Minnesota. Part 1

     ·         She’s Raising Sheep: Indiana’s Denice Rackley 

    ·         She’s Raising Sheep: New Zealand Shepherd Bev Towbridge 

    ·         She’s Raising Sheep: Montana Shepherd Becky Weed 

    ·         She’s Raising Sheep: California Shepherd Lani Estill 

    Outside Resources: 

    ·         Tamarack Lamb and Wool 

    ·         Graze 

    ·         Grassfed Exchange 2014 – Janet McNally 

    Contact Linda Poole via email 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 our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG. 

    Learn about NCAT’s other cutting-edge sustainable agriculture programs. 



    1 hr 2 min
  • Episode 271. Farmer Veteran Finds Passion in Horticulture Therapy

    In this episode of Voices from the Field, Margo Hale, NCAT’s ATTRA Program Director, visits with Charley Jordan, a flower farmer in Tennessee. Charley is a military veteran and talks with Margo about his journey to farming. 

    Charley discusses his farm operation and the enterprises he has pursued, including how his military service and farming experience led him to horticulture therapy. Charley shares his passion for horticulture therapy, and for using agriculture to help others heal. Charley also discusses USDA programs and other resources he has used to help his farm. 

    ATTRA Resources: 

    ·         NCAT Armed to FarmNCAT Armed to Farm Facebook 

    ·         Veteran Resources 

    ·         Federal Conservation Resources for Sustainable Farming and Ranching 

    ·         Programs Focus on Farmer Well-Being 

    ·         Veterans Discuss USDA Programs 

    ·         From the Air Force to Alpacas 

    ·         High Tunnels and the NRCS 

     

    Other Resources: 

    ·         University of Tennessee Horticulture Therapy Program 

    ·         Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network 

    ·         Farmer Veteran Coalition  

    ·         USDA Service Center Locator 

    ·         USDA Farm Service Agency 

    Contact Margo Hale 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 our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG. 


    50 min
  • Episode 270. Grazing with Wildlife in Mind. Part 2

    This episode of Voices from the Field continues a conversation between Dr. Sam Fuhlendorf of Oklahoma State University and NCAT Grazing Specialist Linda Poole about using grazing to bolster, rather than unintentionally harm, desirable wildlife on farms and ranches. 

    Many regenerative ranchers use mob grazing – dense herds of livestock grazing a place for a very brief time before moving on – to increase grass production and improve soil health. It has been a successful strategy for graziers around the world, but often also affects bird populations and other wildlife.

    Sam and Linda talk about the role of fire in range management and the positive effect it can have for wildlife. They also discuss applying range management strategies on smaller operations and regionally. 

    ATTRA Resources: 

    ·        Grazing with Wildlife in Mind. Part 1

    ·        For the Love of the Wild. Livestock Pastures as Wildlife Habitat

     

    Other Resources: 

    ·        The Prairie Project

    ·         Samuel D. Fuhlendorf Publications

    ·        Conservation of Pattern and Process: Developing an Alternative Paradigm of Rangeland Management

    ·        Animals, Fences and Fires: Heterogeneity and Grassland Management

     

    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 our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.

    Learn about NCAT’s other innovative sustainable agriculture programs.

    41 min

About ATTRA - Voices from the Field

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From cover crops to regenerative grazing and organic production to marketing, ATTRA - Voices from the Field is your sustainable agriculture podcast. Voices from the Field is produced by the…