ATTRA - Voices from the Field

Welcome back to a conversation between NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialists Felicia Bell and Justin Duncan about traditional and indigenous farming techniques, both in their own families and in cultures around the world. 

This episode of Voices from the Field is second of a two-part series. If you missed the first half of the discussion, you can find a link to it in the show notes accompanying this episode. 

This week, Felicia and Justin talk about traditional methods of meat preservation, growing on relatively large acreages without relying on chemicals, and the myth that traditional and sustainable methods can’t generate good profits. 

 
Related ATTRA Resources: 

How to Reduce Synthetic Fertilizer Use 

 Everything Old is New Again, Exploring Indigenous and Traditional Agriculture Methods  

Indigenous Perspectives on Soil and Water 

Indigenous and Traditional Soil Health Practices 

 
Other Resources:  

Gather Stories. Food Sovereignty Films 

Contact Felicia Bell and Justin Duncan via email 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 cutting-edge sustainable agriculture programs. 

In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialists Felicia Bell and Justin Duncan begin a conversation about farming techniques passed down through generations of indigenous people and how those practices have similarities around the world.  
Felicia and Justin grew up in families with relatives who taught younger generations traditional practices, handing down traditional wisdom about growing crops, raising livestock, and harvesting what the land naturally provides. 

 Many people, they say, who want to farm are turning to sustainable practices that parallel those traditional ways. 

 Felicia and Justin cover a variety of topics, such as how older ways can be easier for new farmers, some traditional crops that cross cultures, and the importance of greens and herbs in traditional practices. 

 Don’t forget to come back for the second part of the conversation, which will include traditional meat preservation, growing without chemicals on larger acreages, and the myth that traditional methods can’t generate good profits. 

ATTRA Resources: 

 Indigenous Perspectives on Soil and Water 

 Indigenous and Traditional Soil Health Practices 

 Other Resources:  

 Gather Stories. Food Sovereignty Films 

 
Contact Felicia Bell and Justin Duncan via email 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 cutting-edge sustainable agriculture programs. 

In this episode of Voices from the Field, we meet new NCAT employee Elise Haschke, who is leading the development of a new program, “Climate Smart Agriculture.” Elise explains the “transformative moments” in her life that led her from a love of science and nature to studying nutrition and food systems, improving nutrition in school lunch programs, running farmers markets, and helping the City of Austin, Texas, reduce its food-related greenhouse gas emissions.  

 ATTRA Resources:  

• Agriculture, Climate Disruption, and Carbon Sequestration 
• Climate Change and Perennial Fruit and Nut Production: Investing in Resilience in Uncertain Times 
• Farmers and Ranchers Are Neither the Cause Nor the Solution to Climate Disruption 
• Climate-Smart Agriculture 
• Climate Disruption, Agriculture, and Crop Insurance: What are the Connections? 
• Payment for Ecosystem Services, Part 1 
• Payment for Ecosystem Services, Part 2 

Other Resources: 

• Project Drawdown  

Contact Mike Morris and Elise Haschke via email 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 cutting-edge sustainable agriculture programs. 

This episode of Voices from the Field is the second part of a conversation between NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Mike Lewis and Michael O’ Gorman, an organic farming pioneer and founder of the Farmer Veteran Coalition.  

Mike and Michael talk about mitigating risk, in tomato crops in particular and agricultural operations in general. Michael also describes why he thinks the current high price of fuel and its effect on transportation costs may help new, locally oriented farmers get into the business. 

If you missed the first part of the discussion, you can find a link in the show notes for this podcast. 

ATTRA Resources: 

• Resource Guide to Organic and Sustainable Vegetable Production 
• Scaling Up Your Vegetable Farm for Regional Markets 

Other Resources: 

• Farmer Veteran Coalition 

Contact Mike Lewis 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. 

This episode of Voices from the Field is the first of a two-part conversation with organic farming pioneer and founder of the Farmer Veteran Coalition Michael O’Gorman. For 50 years, Michael has spearheaded some of the country’s most influential farming ventures. In this part of the conversation, he and NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Mike Lewis talk about Michael’s history and how good planning and record keeping can help farmers cope with rising prices for inputs and supplies. 

Be sure to come back for the second part of the conversation, when the discussion turns to what tomatoes can teach farmers about choosing new crops and how current energy situation may help new farmers get into the business. 

ATTRA Resources: 

Resource Guide to Organic and Sustainable Vegetable Production 

Scaling Up Your Vegetable Farm for Regional Markets 

Other Resources: 

Farmer Veteran Coalition 

 
Contact Mike Lewis 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. 

In this episode of Voices from the Field, we meet up with one of NCAT’s newest sustainable agriculture specialists, Luz Ballesteros Gonzalez. In her conversation with colleague Robert Maggiani in the NCAT Southwest Regional Office in San Antonio, Texas, Luz explains how she decided on a career in sustainable agriculture. After initially setting out to study medicine, her interests in chemistry and environmental sciences led her to see the connections between health and food, agriculture, and community. 

Environmental scientists, Luz says, are the “doctors of the Earth.” 

ATTRA Resources: 

• Luz Ballesteros Gonzalez Bio 
• NCAT Staff 

Other Resources: 

• Texas Water Development Board 
• University of Texas Rio Grande Valley 
• Edinburg First United Methodist Church-University of Texas Sustainable Agriculture Community Garden 

Contact Luz Ballesteros Gonzalez and Robert Maggiani via email 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 cutting-edge sustainable agriculture programs. 

NCAT’s headquarters in Butte, Montana, has a complicated growing climate to say the least. That makes John Wallace’s job as farm manager of NCAT’s Small-Scale Intensive Farm Training program – or SIFT – challenging as well. 

In this episode of Voices from the Field, John talks with NCAT Energy Analyst Victorian Smart about the SIFT farm’s strategies for conserving water. Since the farm is located in what is essentially a high mountain desert and relies on city water, those strategies are essential, as is increasing organic matter in its decomposed-granite soil.  

 
ATTRA Resources: 

• Local Food Systems 
• Water Management 
• Soils and Compost 
• Cherries and Berries in a Cold Climate 
• Hydroponic Trials at NCAT’s SIFT Farm 
• SIFT 2018: Lessons from a Small-Scale Urban Intensive Farm 
• SIFT 2019: Continuing Lessons from a Small-Scale Urban Intensive Farm
   

Contact John Wallace and Victorian Smart via email 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 cutting-edge sustainable agriculture programs. 

Darron Gaus grew up in Yoakum, Texas, a small agricultural town. After some other career moves, he made his way back to agriculture, including a stint as the farm manager at the San Antonio Food Bank. 

In this episode of Voices from the Field, Darron – NCAT’s newest Sustainable Agriculture Specialist -- tells fellow NCAT staffer Justin Duncan about his journey and the passion he feels for spreading the word about sustainable agriculture. Now that Darron has gone from using NCAT’s ATTRA sustainable-agriculture resources to being a staff member, he describes what he thinks he can contribute to ATTRA and some of what he hopes to learn. 

ATTRA Resources: 

• Darron Gaus Bio 
• NCAT Staff  

 
Other Resources: 

• San Antonio Food Bank Farms 

Contact Darron Gaus and Justin Duncan via email 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 cutting-edge sustainable agriculture programs. 

Lani Estill has built a good life and strong business around fine-wool sheep on the California-Nevada border. Far from a one-woman enterprise, running 3,000 Rambouillet sheep across a half-million acres of public and private lands involves Lani’s family and contract herders.  

This episode of Voices from the Field is part of our “She’s Raising Sheep” series. Lani tells NCAT Grazing Specialist Linda Poole about her journey -- first raising sheep, then teaching kids about wool, followed by developing her successful wool business, Lani’s Lana.  

Lani also details how an innovative partnership led by the nonprofit Fibershed brings together woolgrowers, climate scientists, fashion designers, and textile manufacturers to regenerate land and communities through the wild world of wool and shepherding. 

 
Related ATTRA Resources: 

• She’s Raising Sheep: New Zealand Shepherd Bev Trowbridge  
• She’s Raising Sheep: Indiana Shepherd Denice Rackley  
• She’s Raising Sheep: Montana Shepherd Becky Weed 

Other Resources: 

• Lani’s Lana 
• Fibershed 
• Fibershed Climate Beneficial Program  

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. 

For more than 35 years, the National Center for Appropriate Technology’s ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture program has been helping farmers and ranchers grow nutritious food and operate successful businesses without synthetic fertilizer. Now, NCAT has released a new toolkit with trusted and practical resources for farmers who want to transition away from the use of synthetic fertilizers.  

In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Communications Director Emilie Ritter Saunders speaks with Sustainable Agriculture Specialists Nina Prater and Lee Rinehart about the new toolkit, and the easy-to-follow steps for transitioning away from synthetic fertilizer use.  

 
As you’re listening to this episode, check out the toolkit at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.  

 ATTRA Resources: 

Toolkit: How to Reduce Synthetic Fertilizer Use 

Other Resources: 

NRCS Cost Sharing Programs 

Christine Jones: Liquid Carbon Pathway 

Contact Emilie Ritter Saunders, Nina Prater, and Lee Rinehart via email 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 cutting-edge sustainable agriculture programs.