In today's episode, we will learn about Carbon Sponge, an interdisciplinary collaboration in New York City that explores the potential for urban soils to sequester carbon as a means to reduce greenhouse gases and build healthy soil. Justin Duncan, Sustainable Agriculture Specialist at NCAT's Southwestern Regional Office in San Antonio, Texas, interviews Katharhy G., a plant and soil science researcher with Carbon Sponge. Katharhy talks about how they are engineering their own soil and researching the use of cover crops in urban areas for carbon sequestration. Originally from South America, Katharhy's background is in agroecosystem health, ethnobiology, regenerative food production and social ecology.

For more information on this topic, you can contact Justin Duncan directly at [email protected].

Please note: There is some background noise during the interview, but we think the conversation is worthwhile.

ATTRA Resources:

Urban Agriculture in the United States: Baseline Findings of a Nationwide Survey

Other Resources

Overview of Cover Crops and Green Manures

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 Director Margo Hale talks with Linda Coffey, an NCAT livestock specialist, about springtime on their farms.  Both Margo and Linda are specialists with NCAT's ATTRA sustainable-agriculture program, among other duties, out of NCAT's office in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and they both farm in Prairie Grove, Arkansas.

Their discussion includes grazing, kidding, watching for parasites, dairy goats, and Linda's new livestock guardian dog puppy. Margo also points listeners to ATTRA resources, including the page dedicated to COVID-19 resources on NCAT's ATTRA sustainable-agriculture website.

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

ATTRA Resources:

ATTRA Covid-19 Response

Managed Grazing Tutorial

Livestock Guardian Animals: Protecting the Flock or Herd

Goats: Sustainable Production Overview

Dairy Goats: Sustainable Production

An Illustrated Guide to Sheep and Goat Production

Sheep and Goats: Frequently Asked Questions

Tips for: Preventing Internal Parasites

NCAT's ATTRA Specialists: COVID 19 Market Adjustments

Small (Ruminant) Talk: Fall Feed and Breeding for Sheep and Goats

Small (Ruminant) Talk: Considerations for Fall

Small (Ruminant) Talk: Pastures, Parasites, and Predators

Trimming Sheep & Goat Hooves

Other Resources

Food Animal Concerns Trust webinars (See "Pasture Based Systems") 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<

Javier Zamora es agricultor orgánico productor de fresas, moras, flores y vegetales en Watsonville, California. Narra su historia personal y cómo desarrolló su negocio en el éxito que es hoy. También habla sobre su educación y experiencia con ALBA la incubadora de agricultores orgánicos en Salinas California, acceso a tierra, establecimiento de mercados, detalles sobre la producción de fresa, extensión de temporada por medio de túneles.

Describe los desafíos de producción orgánica, control de plagas, fertilización y termina con su consejo a agricultores principiantes.

Para obtener más información sobre este tema, puede contactar a Martin Guerena directamente: [email protected].

Recursos de ATTRA:

Recursos en Español

La Conferencia del Agricultor Latino Facebook

NCAT Facebook

Granja SIFT de NCAT SITIO Website

Oficina del suroeste: Website / Facebook

Oficina occidental: Website / Facebook

Oficina de Rocky Mountain West: Facebook

Oficina de los Estados del Golfo: Website / Facebook

Oficina sureste: Website / Facebook

Oficina del noreste: Website / Facebook

In this episode, Devona Bell, NCAT director of sustainable agriculture and NCAT's ATTRA sustainable agriculture program, talks with Dr. Sunjya Schweig about the treatment of Lyme disease.

Dr. Schweig works with the California Center for Functional Medicine.

This episode is the second of a two-part series on the effect of Lyme Disease on farmers and ranchers.

In the first part of the series, Devona, who has contracted Lyme Disease twice, spoke with farmers from New Hampshire and Minnesota about how Lyme Disease has affected their families and their farming operations.

Be sure to listen to the first part of the series. A link is provided in the notes below.

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

ATTRA Resources:
Farmers Battling Lyme Disease. Part 1.
Is There an Organic Control for Ticks?
Where Can I Find Information on Guinea Fowl Production?

Other Resources
International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society
California Center for Functional Medicine
Why a 30-Day Elimination Diet?
Infectious Disease Society of America
Out of the Woods. Healing Lyme Disease – Mind, Body, & Spirit
The Spoon Theory
Cowden Protocol
BuhnerProtocol

Please call ATTRA with any and all of your sustainable agriculture questions at 1-800-346-9140 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

So

In this episode, Devona Bell, NCAT director of sustainable agriculture and NCAT's ATTRA sustainable agriculture program, talks with two farmers about the impact of Lyme Disease on agriculture.

Christine Pressman and her husband, Andy Pressman, own and operate Foggy Hill Farm, a sustainable produce operation near Jaffrey, New Hampshire.

Dayna Burtness and her husband, Nick Nguyen, own and operate Nettle Valley Farm, a 70-acre farmstead near Spring Grove, Minnesota. Her main focus is finishing heritage breed hogs on pasture.

Christine, Dayna, and Devona all have contracted Lyme Disease, and they talk about the battle to overcome the disease, how it affects their families and farming operations, the food sensitivities it can bring, and strategies for coping with the ticks that carry the disease.

This episode is the first of a two-part series on Lyme Disease. Next week, Devona will Dr. Sunjya Schweig of the California Center for Functional Medicine about the issues involved with treating Lyme Disease.

ATTRA Resources:
Is There an Organic Control for Ticks?
Where Can I Find Information of Guinea Fowl Production?

Other Resources
Out of the Woods. Healing Lyme Disease – Mind, Body, & Spirit
The Spoon Theory
Cowden Protocol
Buhner Protocol
Foggy Hill Farm Facebook page
Nettle Valley Farm Facebook page

Please call ATTRA with any and all of your sustainable agriculture questions at 1-800-346-9140 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

In this episode, Tammy Howard, an agriculture specialist with NCAT's ATTRA sustainable-agriculture program, talks with Heather Folls of the Folls Flower Farm, which is based in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State.

Tammy also has a flower operation, which is located in Belgrade, Montana. She works out of NCAT's national headquarters in Butte, Montana.

Heather and her mother, Thea, have been operating Folls Flower Farm for nearly two decades. Tammy and Heather talk about the evolution of the farm over the years. Heather also has some tips for flower farmers just getting started.

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

ATTRA Resources:
Specialty Cut Flower Production and Marketing
Woody Ornamentals for Cut Flower Growers
Cut Flower Production

Other Resources
Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers
Growing for Market
The Flower Farmer

Please call ATTRA with any and all of your sustainable agriculture questions at 1-800-346-9140 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 today's episode, we learn about a program in Texas that connects refugees with sustainable agriculture. Colin Mitchell, Sustainable Agriculture Specialist at NCAT's Southwestern Regional Office in San Antonio, Texas, visits with New Leaf Agriculture's Director, Matt Simon, and a New Leaf Agriculture farm apprentice Doli Wikongo. New Leaf Agriculture is a social enterprise of the Multicultural Refugee Coalition based in Elgin, Texas, near Austin. It connects refugees to sustainable farming opportunities by operating community gardens and a commercial farm. Matt discusses New Leaf's mission, farm practices, and community partners. Doli, a refugee, describes her experiences from her home country of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and her transition to life in Austin, Texas, that led her back to a life of farming.

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

ATTRA Resources:
Sustainable Agriculture: An Introduction

Other Resources
Multicultural Refugee Coalition, website
New Leaf Agriculture, website
New Leaf Agriculture, Facebook
>New Leaf Agriculture, Instagram

Please call ATTRA with any and all of your sustainable agriculture questions at 1-800-346-9140 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

Today's episode focuses on soil considerations for fruit and nut trees. Rex Dufour, the director of NCAT's Western Regional Office in Davis, California, talks with Guy Ames, Horticulture Specialist at NCAT's Southeastern Regional Office in Fayetteville, Arkansas, about the differences between soils in the western United States versus the soils in the East.

For more information on this topic, you can contact Rex Dufour directly at [email protected] or Guy Ames at [email protected].

ATTRA Resources:
Climate Change and Perennial Fruit and Nut Production
Fruit Trees, Bushes, and Vines for Natural Growing in the Ozarks
Soils and Sites for Organic Orchards and Vineyards

Other Resources
Web Soil Survey, website

Please call ATTRA with any and all of your sustainable agriculture questions at 1-800-346-9140 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

COMING SOON!

The National Center for Appropriate Technology, in cooperation with USDA Rural Development, Montana State University, and Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (WSARE), is pleased to announce the 1st Annual Soil Health Innovations Conference. This national conference will be held at Montana State University on March 30 and 31, 2020.

The 2020 Soil Health Innovations Conference will bring together producers, industry professionals, educators, and students who are at the cutting edge of soil health across the country: On-farm practices, soil biology, carbon markets, and public policy. Join us for a far-reaching exploration of agriculture's sustainable future.

For more information and to regist

In this episode, Kara Kroeger, a sustainable agriculture specialist with NCAT's ATTRA sustainable-agriculture program, talks with soil specialist Lance Gunderson about the PLFA soil test.

The conversation is the second of two that Kara and Lance have had on ATTRA: Voices from the Field concerning soil tests – last week's podcast featured Lance's take on the Haney test. You can find the link to that podcast in the notes below.

This week, they discuss the scientific basis of the PLFA, when it's appropriate, and a number of the ways in which it's scored.

Kara works out of NCAT's Southwest Regional Office in San Antonio, Texas, and Lance is the founder of Regen Ag Lab in Pleasanton, Nebraska.

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

ATTRA Resources:
Soils and Compost
The Haney Soil Test

Other Resources
Haney Test Interpretation Guide
Regen Ag Lab website

Please call ATTRA with any and all of your sustainable agriculture questions at 1-800-346-9140 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

COMING SOON!

The National Center for Appropriate Technology, in cooperation with USDA Rural Development, Montana State University, and Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (WSARE), is pleased to announce the 1st Annual Soil Health Innovations Conference. This national conference will be held at Montana State University on March 30 and 31, 2020.

The 2020 Soil Health Innovations Conference will bring together producers, industry professionals, educators, and students who are at the cutting edge of soil health across the country: On-farm practices, soil biology, carbon markets, and public policy. Join us for a far-reaching explo