ATTRA - Voices from the Field

Cattle come in all sizes, and small cattle may be just right for a small or start-up farm, or they can offer an efficient add-on farm enterprise. NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Tracy Mumma raises Aberdeen Angus, and NCAT Southeast Regional Office Director Margo Hale raises Belted Galloway.

In this episode of Voices from the Field, Tracy and Margo discuss small cattle, ranging from miniature breeds to small-statured individuals of larger breeds. They explain the benefits of small-frame cattle and point out some of the challenges involved in raising, processing, and marketing less-common breeds.


 Related ATTRA Resources:

Working with Your Meat Processor

Organic and Grass-Finished Beef Cattle Production 

Soil Health and Livestock: ATTRA Resources

Contact Tracy Mumma and Margo Hale 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.

Meet NCAT’s sustainable agriculture team. Connect with us on Facebook and Instagram!

En este podcast, Edgar Mendoza Samaniego de Sol Seeker Farm habla con Ann Baier, especialista en agricultura sostenible de NCAT, sobre la producción de aves de pastoreo.

Edgar describe su producción en pastoreo de huevos y carne. El crecimiento de su negocio ha pasado por varias etapas. Se ha aprendido mucho de otros agricultores en su región, la Asociación Americana de Productores Avícolas de Pastoreo (APPPA.org por sus siglas en ingles), y con la asesoría de Kitchen Table Advisors.

Después de cambiarse de dos ranchos alquilados, consiguieron tierra propia donde están ahora. La alimentación de sus aves (gallinas y pollos, patos y pavos), la mano de obra, y los mercados (Farmers Markets, tiendas, un CSA, y ventas en línea) son factores importantes en su crecimiento.

Para proteger las aves de los depredadores, dependen de perros guardianes. Invirtieron en maquinaria para lavar huevos, y tomaron la decisión de llevar su producción de aves de carne a una planta procesadora. La cría de aves en pastoreo puede ser un negocio lucrativo siempre y cuándo se planifique con anticipación de los desafíos y oportunidades.

El éxito y la sostenibilidad de una empresa avícola se manifiesta no solo en los ingresos, sino también en la salud y bienestar de la tierra, las aves, y los agricultores y sus familias.

Recursos de ATTRA:

• Recursos en Español
• La Conferencia del Agricultor Latino Facebook

Contact Katherine Favor via email at [email protected]

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

NCAT Facebook

Granja SIFT de NCAT SITIO Website

Oficina del suroeste: Website / Facebook

Oficina occidental: Website / Facebook

Oficina de Rocky Mountain West: Website / Facebook

Oficina de los Estados del Golfo: Website / Facebook

Oficina sureste: Website / Facebook

Oficina del noreste: Website / Facebook

In this episode of Voices from the Field, Indiana shepherd and dog trainer Denice Rackley talks with Linda Poole, a regenerative grazing specialist with NCAT, about using herding dogs to handle livestock. A shepherd for more than 25 years, Denice handles a sizeable flock with only the help of her border collies. In this interview, Denice shares a wealth of information useful to listeners wondering whether a stockdog might be right for their farm or ranch.

Related ATTRA Resources:

• Livestock Guardian Dogs
• Predator Control for Sustainable & Organic Livestock Production
• Small (Ruminant) Talk: Pastures, Parasites, and Predators

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.

Please call ATTRA with any and all of your sustainable agriculture questions at 800-346-9140 or e-mail us at [email protected]. Our two dozen specialists can help you with a vast array of topics, everything from farm planning to pest management, from produce to livestock, and soils to aquaculture.

You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find our other extensive, and free, sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at NCAT/ATTRA's website.

You also can stay in touch with NCAT at its Facebook page.

Keep up with NCAT/ATTRA's SIFT farm at its website.

Also check out NCAT's Regional Offices' websites and Facebook Pages!

Southwest Regional Office: Website / Facebook

Western Regional Office: Website / Facebook

Rocky Mountain West Regional Office: Facebook

Gulf States Regional Office: Website / Facebook

Southeast Regional Office: Website / Facebook

Northeast Regional Office: Website / Facebook

In this episode of Voices from the Field, Margo Hale, NCAT’s Southeast Regional Director and Director of NCAT’s Armed to Farm Program, visits with NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist and farmer veteran Mike Lewis. Mike and his family operate a diversified farm in Southeast Kentucky.

Mike talks about the farm’s enterprises and how USDA programs have helped him meet his farm goals.

Mike also discusses two programs — AgrAbility and the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network (FRSAN) — that address the physical and mental needs of many farmers.

Related ATTRA Resources:

• NCAT Armed to Farm website
• NCAT Armed to Farm Facebook
• Veteran Resources
• Equipment Resources
• Financing Your Farm: Guidance for Beginning Farmers
• Federal Conservation Resources for Sustainable Farming and Ranching
• Veterans Discuss USDA Programs
• From the Air Force to Alpacas
• High Tunnels and the NRCS
• Meet NCAT: Veteran Farmer Mike Lewis Brings Diverse Experience to Our Team

Other Resources:

• AgrAbility
• Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network
• Farmers Resource Network
• Farmer Veteran Coalition
• USDA Veteran Initiatives
• USDA Service Center Locator
• USDA Farm Service Agency
• USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
• Step-by-Step: How to Get Assistance from NRCS
• USDA Rural Development

Contact Margo Hale and Mike Lewis 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.

Please call ATTRA with any and all of your sustainable agriculture questions at 800-346-9140 or e-mail us at [email protected]. Our two dozen specialists can help you with a vast array of topics, everything from farm planning to pest management, from produce to livestock, and soils to aquaculture.

You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find our other extensive, and free, sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, and podcasts. 

In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Katherine Favor sits down with silvopasture specialist Delie Wilkens to talk about the basics of silvopasture, an agroforestry practice integrating trees, forage, and the grazing of livestock.

Delie currently serves as the program analyst for the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, a nonprofit organization that works to advance the health and vitality of the nation’s working forests and forest-reliant communities. She has been working in forestry, agroforestry, and sustainable agriculture for many years, and has researched silvopasture adoption and best practices in the Southeast.

Less than one percent of farms in the U.S. use silvopasture, Delie says, although she sees it gaining popularity in the future.

Katherine and Delie discuss the benefits, applications, and social considerations surrounding silvopasture adoption in the U.S. Delie also shares advice for designing, implementing, and managing silvopasture systems as well as things to keep in mind before beginning a silvopasture enterprise.

Related ATTRA Resources:

• Agroforestry: An Overview
• Opportunities in Agroforestry

Other Resources:

• U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities
• California Department of Food and Agriculture Healthy Soils Program
• NRCS Conservation Programs

Contact Katherine Favor via email at [email protected].

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

Please call ATTRA with any and all of your sustainable agriculture questions at 800-346-9140 or e-mail us at [email protected]. Our two dozen specialists can help you with a vast array of topics, everything from farm planning to pest management, from produce to livestock, and soils to aquaculture.

You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find our other extensive, and free, sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at NCAT/ATTRA's website.

You also can stay in touch with NCAT at its Facebook page.

Keep up with NCAT/ATTRA's SIFT farm at its website.

Also check out NCAT's Regional Offices' websites and Facebook Pages!

Southwest Regional Office: Website / Facebook

Western Regional Office: Website / Facebook

Rocky Mountain West Regional Office: Facebook

Gulf States Regional Office: Website / Facebook

Southeast Regional Office: Website / Facebook

Twenty-nine states have, or are now developing, state soil health initiatives or coalitions. How is Montana approaching soil health at the statewide level, and how can Montanans participate?

In this episode of Voices from the Field, Mike Morris, NCAT’s Southwest Regional Director, talks with Cole Mannix, who facilitates the developing Montana Soil Outreach effort, and NRCS Montana Soil Health Specialist Marni Thompson along with NCAT Regenerative Grazing Specialist Linda Poole about soil health programs in and beyond Montana.

Related ATTRA Resources:

• Soil for Water
• Soils & Compost

Other Resources:

• Montana Soil Outreach
• Soil Health Policy: Developing Community-Driven State Soil Health Policy and Programs

Contact Mike Morris and Linda Poole 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.

Please call ATTRA with any and all of your sustainable agriculture questions at 800-346-9140 or e-mail us at [email protected]. Our two dozen specialists can help you with a vast array of topics, everything from farm planning to pest management, from produce to livestock, and soils to aquaculture.

You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find our other extensive, and free, sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at NCAT/ATTRA's website.

You also can stay in touch with NCAT at its Facebook page.

Keep up with NCAT/ATTRA's SIFT farm at its website.

Also check out NCAT's Regional Offices' websites and Facebook Pages!

Southwest Regional Office: Website / Facebook

Western Regional Office: Website / Facebook

Rocky Mountain West Regional Office: Facebook

Gulf States Regional Office: Website / Facebook

Southeast Regional Office: Website / Facebook

Northeast Regional Office: Website / Facebook

Jose Robles es un ex agricultor de almendras que comparte su experiencia aplicando prácticas de conservación a su huerta. Explica porque empezó a aplicar compost y sembrar cultivos de cobertura cuando sus vecinos no lo hacían. También habla sobre su nueva transición en su nuevo rancho con ideas de producir ganado y también aplicar prácticas de conservación.

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] o [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.

Recursos de ATTRA:

• Recursos en Español
• La Conferencia del Agricultor Latino Facebook

Contact Katherine Favor via email at [email protected]

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

NCAT Facebook

Granja SIFT de NCAT SITIO Website

Oficina del suroeste: Website / Facebook

Oficina occidental: Website / Facebook

Oficina de Rocky Mountain West: Website / Facebook

Oficina de los Estados del Golfo: Website / Facebook

Oficina sureste: Website / Facebook

Oficina del noreste: Website / Facebook

In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Katherine Favor heads to Terranova Ranch in the central San Joaquin Valley of California to talk about conservation hedgerows with Don Cameron, the ranch’s general manager and vice president.

Terranova Ranch is dedicated to producing over 25 premium-quality crops as effectively, productively, and sustainably as possible. They have implemented a wide variety of conservation and regenerative agriculture practices, including sustainable irrigation practices and conservation hedgerows.

Learn about the benefits and challenges of hedgerows, along with do’s and don'ts for hedgerow design and installation.

Since planting these hedgerows just two years ago, Don has seen a wide variety of positive changes at the ranch, including increased biodiversity, more beneficial insects and pollinators, reduced erosion, and a more aesthetically pleasing farmscape.

Related ATTRA Resources:

• A Pictorial Guide to Hedgerow Plants for Beneficial Insects
• Farmscaping to Enhance Biological Control
• Agroforestry: An Overview
• Miles of Hedgerows, a California Update
• Native Plants Offer More Than Beauty to the Farmscape

Other Resources:

• Terranova Ranch

Contact Katherine Favor via email at [email protected]

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

Please call ATTRA with any and all of your sustainable agriculture questions at 800-346-9140 or e-mail us at [email protected]. Our two dozen specialists can help you with a vast array of topics, everything from farm planning to pest management, from produce to livestock, and soils to aquaculture.

You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find our other extensive, and free, sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at NCAT/ATTRA's website.

You also can stay in touch with NCAT at its Facebook page.

Keep up with NCAT/ATTRA's SIFT farm at its website.

Also check out NCAT's Regional Offices' websites and Facebook Pages!

Southwest Regional Office: Website / Facebook

Western Regional Office: Website / Facebook

Rocky Mountain West Regional Office: Facebook

Gulf States Regional Office: Website / Facebook

Southeast Regional Office: Website /

Damian Valdez and Jamie Williamson run Lighthouse Herb’n Farm, an organic herb, tea, medicinal plant, and dye-plant operation in eastern San Diego. The farm is located on what is considered Luiseño Payómkawichum native land.

In this episode of Voices from the Field, Jamie and Damian talk with NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Katherine Favor about their ethic of "leave no trace" -- how they farm organically in San Diego's harsh desert climate in a way that honors this sacred native land, and ensures that it is kept intact for generations to come.

For Jamie and Damian, "leave no trace" farming means farming in a way that honors the past while preserving the future.

It involves knowing your landscape and its limitations; tailoring every farming practice to the specifics of your growing context; choosing crops that are appropriate to your growing context; keeping your soil covered and disturbing it as little as possible; creating self-regulating systems rather than relying on inputs; using only natural principles of biomimicry and succession to alter your landscape; seed saving; and always attempting to leave the land better than you found it.

Related ATTRA Resources:

• Herb Production in Organic Systems
• Lavendar Production, Markets, and Agritourism
• Ginseng, Goldenseal, and Other Native Roots

Other Resources:

• Lighthouse Herb’n Farm

Contact Katherine Favor via email at [email protected]

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

Please call ATTRA with any and all of your sustainable agriculture questions at 800-346-9140 or e-mail us at [email protected]. Our two dozen specialists can help you with a vast array of topics, everything from farm planning to pest management, from produce to livestock, and soils to aquaculture.

You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find our other extensive, and free, sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at NCAT/ATTRA's website.

You also can stay in touch with NCAT at its Facebook page.

Keep up with NCAT/ATTRA's SIFT farm at its website.

Also check out NCAT's Regional Offices' websites and Facebook Pages!

Southwest Regional Office: Website / Facebook

Western Regional Office: Website / Facebook

Rocky Mountain West Regional Office: Facebook

Gulf States Regional Office: Website / Facebook

Southeast Regional Office: Website / Facebook

Northeast Regional Office:

The National Center for Appropriate Technology has launched America’s first AgriSolar Clearinghouse to connect farmers, ranchers, land managers, solar developers, and researchers with trusted, practical information to increase the co-location of solar and agriculture.

In less than a decade, solar installations are expected to cover more than 3 million acres of the United States, creating a big opportunity to pair solar with agricultural land to produce food, conserve ecosystems, create renewable energy, increase pollinator habitat, and maximize farm revenue.

In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Communications Director Emilie Ritter Saunders speaks with Energy Programs Director Stacie Peterson, Phd., about how the AgriSolar Clearinghouse aims to make solar more accessible to land managers looking to make the most out of their land, diversify their revenue, and produce renewable energy.

Visit the new resource at AGRISOLARCLEARINGHOUSE.ORG

Related ATTRA Resources:

• AgriSolar Clearinghouse
• Sheep and the Sun: Solar Grazing with Lexie Hain

Contact Stacie Peterson and Emilie Ritter Saunders 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.

Please call ATTRA with any and all of your sustainable agriculture questions at 800-346-9140 or e-mail us at [email protected]. Our two dozen specialists can help you with a vast array of topics, everything from farm planning to pest management, from produce to livestock, and soils to aquaculture.

You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find our other extensive, and free, sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at NCAT/ATTRA's website.

You also can stay in touch with NCAT at its Facebook page.

Keep up with NCAT/ATTRA's SIFT farm at its website.

Also check out NCAT's Regional Offices' websites and Facebook Pages!

Southwest Regional Office: Website / Facebook

Western Regional Office: Website / Facebook

Rocky Mountain West Regional Office: Facebook

Gulf States Regional Office: Website / Facebook

Southeast Regional Office: Website / Facebook

Northeast Regional Office: Website / Facebook