ATTRA - Voices from the Field

This episode is the first in a two-part series featuring NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Kara Kroeger talking with ifamily members Glenn, Malanie, and Linnea Elzinga from Alderspring Ranch in Idaho. Glenn and his family raise wild, organic grass-fed beef on their remote family ranch and deliver their products to customers across the nation. In this episode, they discuss the family dynamics they have cultivate, how each family member determines his or her role and the effects of COVID-19, among other topics.

In the upcoming second part of the conversation, they talk about Alderspring's innovative marketing tools.

For more information on this topic, you can contact Kara Kroeger directly via email at [email protected].

Related Resources
Livestock and Pasture

Other Resources:
Alderspring Ranch

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, the second of a two-part series, NCAT Southwest Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Colin Mitchell continues his conversation with guest Rowan Reid from Australia on agroforestry -— farming with trees. Rowan was a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne for 20 years, is the managing director at the Australian Agroforestry Foundation, and has written or co-authored eight books, including his most recent release: Heartwood: The Art and Science of Growing Trees for Conservation and Profit. In part two, Colin and Rowan talk about tools farmers need for producing high- value timber on their farm, fire management, farmer- to- farmer learning networks, and climate adaptation.

The link to the first half of the conversation is in the list of resources below. In that conversation, Colin and Rowan talk about the balancing of conservation and production, defining agroforestry, Rowan's path to becoming a "forester among farmers," and how agroforestry can help improve the environment.

For more information on this topic, you can contact Colin Mitchell directly via email at [email protected].

Related Resources
Perspectives on Agroforestry with Rowan Reid. Part 1
Agroforestry: An Overview
ATTRA Opportunities in Agroforestry

Other Resources:
Agroforestry in Australia
Bambra Agroforestry Farm Instagram
Heartwood: The Art and Science of Growing Trees for Conservation and Profit

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

In this episode, the first of two, NCAT Southwest Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Colin Mitchell speaks with guest Rowan Reid from Australia to discuss agroforestry — farming with trees. Rowan was a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne for 20 years and is managing director of the Australian Agroforestry Foundation. He has written or co-authored eight books, including his most recent release: Heartwood: The Art and Science of Growing Trees for Conservation and Profit.

Colin and Rowan talk about balancing conservation and production, defining agroforestry, Rowan's path to become a "forester among farmers"; and how agroforestry can help improve the environment.

Watch for the second part of their conversation in a separate podcast, in which Colin and Rowan talk about tools farmers need for producing high-value timber on their farm, fire management, farmer-to-farmer learning networks, and climate adaptation.

For more information on this topic, you can contact Colin Mitchell directly via email at [email protected].

Related Resources
Agroforestry: An Overview
ATTRA Opportunities in Agroforestry

Other Resources:
Agroforestry in Australia
Bambra Agroforestry Farm Instagram
Heartwood: The Art and Science of Growing Trees for Conservation and Profit

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, Kei Matsunami, the National Center for Appropriate Technology's Montana local foods specialist, talks with Chris Gaskell of Grasmick Produce of Twin Falls and Boise, Idaho. Grasmick Produce is Montana's contracted USDA Foods and DoD Fresh vendor.

Chris talks about how he has worked with local producers to offer more Montana-grown fruits and vegetables to schools participating in farm-to-school efforts. He discusses requirements, such as volume and item specification, as well as important considerations regarding distribution logistics and pricing.

This conversation with Chris Gaskell is part of a series of podcasts and videos for Bringing the Farm to School, a producer training program on selling to schools. These case studies feature farmers successfully navigating school sales. NCAT and the National Farm to School Network are partnering to develop Bringing the Farm to School, with USDA Food and Nutrition Services as the sponsoring agency.

Related Resources
Farm to School: Profiles of Ranches Making it Work
Farm to School Aquaponics Program
Local Food Systems

Other Resources:
Grasmick Produce
USDA DoD Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program
USDA Foods in Schools
National Farm to School Network

For more information on this topic, you can contact Tammy Howard directly via email at [email protected].

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, Mike Morris, NCAT's Southwest Regional Director, talks with Dr. Barbara Bellows about her new ATTRA publication, Microbial Inoculants. Also known as biofertilizers or biostimulants, microbial inoculants contain beneficial microorganisms and are intended to stimulate plant growth, reduce pest and disease problems, and protect plants from various stress conditions.

Dr. Bellows is a soil scientist with the Texas Institute for Applied Environmental Research at Tarleton State University. She has been researching production methods for microbial inoculants and the various factors that can make them effective or ineffective. In this podcast, she explains how microbial inoculants work, offers practical advice for getting the most out of these products, and discusses which ones — if any — to use.

Related Resources
Microbial Inoculants
Soil Health Indicators and Tests
Alternative Soil Amendments
Notes on Compost Teas

Other Resources:
Texas Institute for Applied Environmental Research

For more information on this topic, you can contact Mike Morris directly via email at [email protected].

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, Margo Hale, NCAT's Southeast Regional Director, visits with U.S. Senator John Boozman of Arkansas. Margo has known the senator since she was a child and has worked with Sen. Boozman's office on agriculture issues since he entered Congress.

With Senator Boozman's new role as Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Margo welcomed an opportunity to visit with the senator about issues affecting small farmers. In their conversation, Senator Boozman shares his connection to agriculture, and they talk about the diversity of Arkansas agriculture.

They also discuss the impact COVID-19 has had on the food supply and farmers, opportunities for small farmers in local food systems, the economic situation for farms, and looking ahead to the next Farm Bill.

Senator Boozman has been a long-time supporter of NCAT's ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture Program and Armed to Farm.

Senator Boozman has been a long-time supporter of NCAT's ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture Program and Armed to Farm.

Watch the video version of this interview here and the related ATTRA Blog.

Related Resources
ATTRA COVID-19 Resources
Armed to Farm

Other Resources:
Senator John Boozman

For more information on this topic, you can contact Margo Hale directly via email at [email protected].

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, Mike Morris, NCAT's Southwest Regional Director, talks with Dr. Barbara Bellows about her new ATTRA publication Soil Health Indicators and Tests.

Recent years have seen an explosion of new soil health tests, measuring a wide variety of indicators that depend on the activity of soil microorganisms.

Dr. Bellows is a soil scientist with the Texas Institute for Applied Environmental Research at Tarleton State University. In this podcast, she explains how more than a dozen soil health test procedures actually work and offers practical advice on choosing a test that will meet your needs.

Related Resources
Soil Health Indicators and Tests
Microbial Inoculants
Managing Soils for Water: How Five Principles of Soil Health Support Water Infiltration and Storage
Soil Health and Livestock: ATTRA Resources
Building Healthy Pasture Soils
Livestock As a Tool: Improving Soil Health, Boosting Crops
The Haney Soil Test
The PLFA Soil Test

Other Resources:
Texas Institute for Applied Environmental Research

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, NCAT Southeast Regional Office Director Margo continues her conversation with Linda Coffey, an NCAT livestock specialist, regarding tips for those considering raising livestock.

Margo also is a livestock specialist and lifelong livestock producer, and she and Linda both raise livestock near Fayetteville, Arkansas, where the NCAT Southeast Regional Office is located.

In Part 1 (Episode 179), they covered some of the main points to consider before beginning a livestock enterprise.

This episode addresses more of the strengths, challenges, and primary needs of various animals. Many resources are mentioned and linked below to help you learn more and be well prepared to include animals on your farm. The Small-Scale Livestock Production, publication, Managed Grazing tutorial, and many ATTRA blog posts are especially recommended to learn vital information.

For more information on this topic or to suggest a subject for a future podcast about livestock, you can contact Margo Hale and Linda Coffey directly via email at [email protected] or [email protected].

Related Resources
Livestock and Pasture
Livestock and Pasture
Small-Scale Livestock Production
Working with Your Meat Processor
Managed Grazing tutorial
Blog 6: Adaptive Grazing: You Can Do It
Blog 41: Getting Started with Livestock
Blog 42: Farm Equipment and Infrastructure
Bees
Beekeeping for Beginners
Blog 31: Beekeeping Basics: Making Splits
Rabbits
Small Scale Sustainable Rabbit Production
Poultry
Getting Started in Poultry
Blog 24: Processing Poultry Meat for Sale
Podcast episode 83: Poultry Processing
Podcast episode 98: Poultry Processing Strategies
Hogs
Hogs: Pastured or Forested Production
Managing Rotational Grazing for Pigs and Poultry
Sheep and Goats
Sheep and Goats: Frequently Asked Questions
An Illustrated Guide to Sheep and Goat Production
Getting Started in Sheep and Goats
Small Ruminant Tool Box
Cattle
Cattle Production
Business Planning
Business Planning

Other Resources

In this episode, Rockiell Woods, director of NCAT's Gulf States Regional Office in Jackson, Mississippi, has a conversation about the effect the COVID-19 pandemic is having on farms – both as a growing operation and as a business.

Joining him are Dr. Cindy Ayers-Elliot of Foot Print Farms in Jackson and Dr. Bill Evans, director of horticulture at Up in Farms Food Hub, also located in Jackson.

For more information on this topic, you can contact Rockiell Woods directly via email at [email protected].

Related Resources
ATTRA COVID-19 Response

Other Resources:
Foot Print Farms
Up in Farms Food Hub

Please complete a brief survey to let us know what you thought of the content presented here.

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, Nina Prater, a sustainable agriculture specialist with NCAT's southeast office in Fayetteville, Arkansas, talks with Dr. Phillip Owens and Dr. Amanda Ashworth about a new piece of farm technology called a subsurfer.

Dr. Owens is research leader with the Dale Bumpers Small-Farm Research Center in Booneville, Arkansas, and Dr. Ashworth is a research soil scientist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service.

The subsurfer inserts dry poultry litter into the soil without tilling the soil. It was originally designed for use in pastures, but Dr. Ashworth has been conducting research on the use of this technology in organic edamame and sweet corn production.

Related Resources
Arsenic in Poultry Litter: Organic Regulations
Edamame: Vegetable Soybean
Sweet Corn: Organic Production
Nutrient Cycling in Pastures

Other Resources:
Effect of Seeding Distance from Subsurface Banded Poultry Litter on Corn Yield and Leaf Greenness
The Subsurfer

Please complete a brief survey to let us know what you thought of the content presented here.

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