ATTRA - Voices from the Field

In this second half of a two-part series, Steve Thompson, executive director of NCAT, sits down with Loren Birdrattler, project manager of the Blackfeet Agriculture Resource Management Plan, or ARMP. They take a closer look at a new partnership between NCAT and the Blackfeet Nation to evaluate the feasibility of a multispecies meat-processing plant. This project is a key part of the Tribe's strategy to create local markets for producers, engage youth more directly in agriculture, and provide healthy, culturally appropriate food for tribal members in this remote corner of rural Montana. In this episode, Loren and Steve have a conversation about how a beef and bison processing plant could support food sovereignty at the Blackfeet Nation. The climate-friendly plant would produce nutritionally superior meat and not only support biodiversity in the region, but also improve the health of Native peoples. Loren spent over a decade working for federal agencies in Washington D.C. and is now back in Montana working for the Blackfeet Tribal Government. Steve Thompson is located at NCAT's Rocky Mountain West Regional Office in Butte, Montana where this podcast was recorded.

Related ATTRA Resources:
Natural Livestock Feasibility Study reports on the feasibility of producers developing alternative markets for grass-finished and organic livestock in Inyo and Mono counties of California.
Building a Montana Organic Livestock Industry examines how organic beef producers in Montana can better access regional and national markets.
Organic and Grass-Finished Beef Cattle Production highlights the practices producers are using to provide customers with nutritious food from pasture- and rangeland-based farms and ranches.

Other Resources

SARE: Blackfeet Agriculture Resource Management Plan.

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 first part of a two-part series, Steve Thompson, executive director of NCAT, sits down with Loren Birdrattler, project manager of the Blackfeet Agriculture Resource Management Plan or ARMP.They talk about a new partnership between NCAT and the Blackfeet Nation to evaluate the feasibility of a multispecies meat processing plant. This project is a key part of the Tribe's strategy to create local markets for producers, engage youth more directly in agriculture, and provide healthy, culturally appropriate food for tribal members in this remote corner of rural Montana. In this episode, Loren and Steve have a conversation about the landscape, culture and history of land management by the nations of the Blackfoot Confederacy. They also discuss the overall vision that inspires the Blackfeet Agriculture Resource Management Plan. Loren spent over a decade working for federal agencies in Washington D.C. and is now back in Montana working for the Blackfeet Tribal Government.Steve Thompson is located at NCAT's Rocky Mountain West Regional Office in Butte, Montana where this podcast was recorded.

Related ATTRA Resources:
Natural Livestock Feasibility Study: A report on the feasibility of producers developing alternative markets for grass-finished and organic livestock in Inyo and Mono counties of California.
Building a Montana Organic Livestock Industry examines how organic beef producers in Montana can better access regional and national markets.
Organic and Grass-Finished Beef Cattle Production highlights the practices producers are using to provide customers with nutritious food from pasture- and rangeland-based farms and ranches.

Other Resources

SARE: Blackfeet Agriculture Resource Management Plan.

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:

In this episode, Nina Prater, a soil specialist with NCAT's ATTRA sustainable agriculture program, sits down for a conversation with NCAT Southeast Regional Director Margo Hale to talk about the basics of soil health and to go over the five soil health principles that farmers and ranchers can follow to regenerate soil to a healthy, productive condition. Margo is a livestock specialist, and she earned two degrees in Animal Science without a single soil class. Nina tries to remedy this around the office on a regular basis, so they decided to record one of these conversations. Margo and Nina both work out of NCAT's regional office in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

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

Related ATTRA Resources:
Soil Health and Regenerative Agriculture Podcast
Building Healthy Pasture Soils
Integrating Livestock and Crops: Improving Soil, Solving Problems, Increasing Income
Soil Health Tutorial
How to Add Compost on Your Small Farm

Other Resources

SARE: Building Soil for Better Crops

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 this episode, Ann Baier, a program specialist with NCAT's ATTRA sustainable agriculture program, talks with California pastured poultry producers Caleb Barron of Fogline Farm on the central coast of Santa Cruz and Gary Roberts of Zenter's Fogbound Farm in Petaluma during a break at the recent Small Farm Conference at the University of California Davis.Ann, who works out of NCAT's California office in Davis, talks with Caleb and Gary about the essential role that the availability of processing – and the processing rules that go along with operations of varying sizes – plays in pastured processing.

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

Related ATTRA Resources:
Poultry Processing

Other Resources

Fogline Farm website

Fogline Farm Facebook

Zenter's Fogbound Farm website

Zenter's Fogbound Farm Facebook

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 this episode of Voices from the Filed, Al Kurki, a program specialist with NCAT's ATTRA sustainable agriculture program, interviews Karla Buck, co-owner of Bear Paw Meats in Chinook, Montana. Al, who works out of NCAT's headquarters in Butte, Montana, talks with Karla about how the Bucks raise, process, and market meat to school districts in the area surrounding their business.

Related ATTRA Resources:
Farm to School Sales. Profiles of Ranches Making it Work

Other Resources

Bear Paw Meats website

Bear Paw Meats Facebook

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.

This podcast is 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.

This podcast episode is one of a number of case studies featuring farmers successfully navigating school sales as part of Bringing the Farm to School, a training program developed as a cooperative agreement between NCAT, the National Farm to School Network and the USDA Food and Nutrition Services." 

In this episode Dave Scott, agriculture specialist with NCAT's ATTRA sustainable agriculture program, sits down with Korey Fauque, a farmer of 4,500 acres and owner of KW Insurance, a crop insurance company in Sunburst, Montana. He has an Agriculture Technology degree from Montana State University Northern in Havre, Montana. Dave Scott is located at NCAT's Rocky Mountain West Office in Butte, Montana.

In this podcast, Dave and Korey talk about soil health and regenerative agriculture, which is the use of agriculture practices that mimic nature.

They talk about the issues that go into a CSA - crop planning, marketing, effective harvesting strategies, qualifying to accept SNAP payments, deciding what to do with excess produce, and more.

They discuss the Five Principles of Soil Health, which are: 1) Minimum disturbance; 2) Roots in the ground year-round; 3) Crop diversity; 4) Soil Armor; and 5) Incorporating livestock. Korey explains how he implements these principles on his farm, how a farmer can transition to a soil health approach, and the pros and cons of chasing markets.

ATTRA Resources:

Crop Insurance Options for Specialty, Diversified, and Organic Farmers

Primer on Whole-Farm Revenue Protection Crop Insurance: Updates for 2018

No-Till Case Study, Brown's Ranch: Improving Soil Health Improves the Bottom Line

Building Healthy Pasture Soils

Integrating Livestock and Crops: Improving Soil, Solving Problems, Increasing Income

Nutrient Cycling in Pastures

Tutorials:

Soil Health Online Tutorial

Videos:

Gabe Brown: Farming in Nature's Image

Organic Farming and Crop Insurance Options

Intensive Grazing: One Farm's Set Up

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:

In this episode, Andy Pressman, director of the National Center for Appropriate Technology's Northeast Regional Office in Keene, New Hampshire, and a specialist with NCAT's ATTRA sustainable agriculture program, talks with two farmers with differing experiences in offering Community Support Agriculture – or CSA – subscriptions to their customers.

Sam Humphrey, director of the NCAT Demonstration Farm at Piney Woods School near Jackson, Mississippi, joins in the discussion along with Christine Doherty Pressman, of the Foggy Hill Farm near Jaffrey, New Hampshire.

Christine, who is married to Andy, has nearly 20 years' worth of experience with CSAs. By contrast, the most recent growing season was Sam's first time offering a CSA.

They talk about the issues that go into a CSA – crop planning, marketing, effective harvesting strategies, qualifying to accept SNAP payments, deciding what to do with excess produce, and more.

For more information on this topic, you can contact Andy Pressman directly at [email protected] and Sam Humphrey at [email protected]

Related ATTRA Resources:

Community Supported Agriculture

Tips for Selling Through CSAs — Community Supported Agriculture

Urban Agriculture

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Low-Income Local Food Access

Using Social Media to Grow Your Farm Business

Marketing, Business, and Risk Management

Beginning 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 this episode Guy Ames, horticulture specialist with NCAT's ATTRA sustainable agriculture program at NCAT's Southeastern Regional Office in Fayetteville, Arkansas, talks with Jared M. Phillips, author of the new book Hipbillies: Deep Revolution in the Arkansas Ozarks. In his book, Jared writes about the back-to-the-land movement of the 1960s and 1970s and how that counterculture affected the Arkansas Ozarks.

Jared holds a doctorate in American history and is assistant professor of international studies at the University of Arkansas. He lives and works on a small, traditional farm outside of Prairie Grove, Arkansas.

In this podcast, Guy and Jared also talk about the value of slowing down and working on an appropriate scale while comparing traditional farm practices to newer, "more efficient" ones.

Resources:
Hipbillies: Deep Revolution in the Arkansas Ozarks by Jared M. Phillips

ATTRA publications:
Sustainable Agriculture: An Introduction

Applying the Principles of Sustainable Farming

Draft Animal Power for Farming

Other resources:
How Can I Use Draft Horses for Power on My Farm?

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 this podcast Rex Dufour, director of NCAT's Western Regional Office in Davis, California, talks with Omar Rodriguez, sustainable agriculture specialist with NCAT's ATTRA sustainable agriculture program, about working with California farmers to establish hedgerows.

Hedgerows provide many benefits to farms in addition to adding beauty. They play an important role in pest management and help prevent erosion as well as create visual and dust barriers.

Omar and Rex also discuss preparing the ground for planting a hedgerow and what kinds of plants are commonly used.

ATTRA publications:

A Pictorial Guide to Hedgerow Plants for Beneficial Insects

Companion Planting & Botanical Pesticides: Concepts and Resources

Conservation Buffers in Organic Systems

Farmscaping to Enhance Biological Control

Other Resources

Beneficial Insect Habitat Assessment Form and Guide

Hedgerows and Farmscaping for California Agriculture

Farming with Native Beneficial Insects

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, Madelynn Nelson, an AmeriCorps member serving with Energy Corps as a sustainable-agriculture farm-energy educator at NCAT's headquarters in Butte, Montana, talks with West Virginia farmer and beekeeper Eric Grandon.

Eric and Madelynn talk about farm energy conservation and using solar power on the farm as well as water and other kinds of conservation. He also discusses the work and learning curve that came along with the decision to pursue sustainable energy.

Related ATTRA Resources

Crop Insurance Options for Specialty, Diversified, and Organic Farmers

Energy-Efficient Lighting for the Farm

Federal Conservation Resources for Sustainable Farming and Ranching

Renewable Energy Opportunities on the Farm

Solar-Powered Livestock Watering Systems

Farm Energy Alternatives

Other Resources

Sugar Bottom Farm Facebook

Sugar Bottom Farm website

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