In this episode, Andrew Coggins, the Sustainable Agriculture Project Coordinator with NCAT ATTRA's SIFT - Small-Scale Intensive Farm Training program - talks with John Wallace, who manages NCAT's SIFT farm.

Andrew and John are both specialists with NCAT's ATTRA - the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service – and work at NCAT's headquarters in Butte, Montana, where the SIFT farm is located.

Butte is in a USDA zone 3 area, and its cold climate and short growing season can be...let's just say challenging.

Starting in 2017, the SIFT farm began growing fruit bushes to see which would thrive best in Butte, including several varieties of cherries and a relatively new species in Montana — honeyberries.

Andrew and John talk about their plans for continuing the project and what they've learned so far.

For more information on this topic, you can contact Andrew Coggins and John Wallace directly at [email protected] and [email protected].

Resources Mentioned in the Podcast

NCAT/ATTRA's SIFT farm Website

Honeyberry USA

Some Related ATTRA Resources:

Cherries: Organic Production

ATTRA Identification Sheet: Cherry Insect Pests

ATTRA Identification Sheet: Cherry Diseases

High Tunnel Fruit and Grape Production for Eastern Growers

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.

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

Mycology is the study of fungi, an important topic in agriculture and soil science.

Myco Alliance is a science and education company focusing on mycology in the central Texas area.

In this podcast, Colin and Daniel cover a range of topics, from raising mushrooms – a type of fungi – to the role of fungi in soil health and the story of how the Mycology Alliance came to be.

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

Resources Mentioned in the Podcast

Myco Alliance Website / Facebook

Central Texas Mycological Society Website

Some Related ATTRA Resources:

ATTRA: Voices from the Field: Christmas Trees to Mushrooms

Mushroom Cultivation and Marketing

Alternative Soil Amendments

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.

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, Martin Guerana, a sustainable agriculture specialist with NCAT's ATTRA – the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service – talks with Brett Melone, the Director of Lending with California FarmLink.

California FarmLink, which began in 1999, helps beginning, limited-resource, immigrant, and other underserved farmers who are trying to get access to land or financing. It is particularly focused on the Central Coast, Central Valley, and North Coast regions of California.

Martin, who works out of the NCAT Western Regional Office in Davis, California, spoke with Brett during the Ecological Farming Association's recent EcoFarm Conference in Pacific Grove, California.

Brett gives advice for farmers who might be in a position to come to California Farm Link for assistance and how they should prepare to begin a search for land access. He also talks about organizations that can help, both in California and around the country.

Let's listen.

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

Resources Mentioned in the Podcast:

California Farm link

Farmland Information Center

Land for Good

Young Farmer Coalition Finding Farmland Calculator

Some Related ATTRA Resources:

Financing Your Farm: Guidance for Beginning Farmers

Sustainable Farming Internships and Apprenticeships

Beginning Farmer Tutorials

Financing a Farmland Purchase

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.

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, Linda Coffey, a livestock specialist with NCAT's ATTRA, the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, at NCAT's Southeast Regional Office in Fayetteville, Arkansas, talks with Ken Coffey, a Ruminant Nutritionist at the University of Arkansas about strategies for winter ruminant feeding.

Linda and Ken, who are married, have raised sheep since 1986.

They talk about a number of subjects, including feeding strategies; managing hay waste; assessing hay quality; protecting hay from winter weather; and nutrition and nutrition supplementation.

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

Related ATTRA Resources:

Small Ruminant Resource Manual

Ruminant Nutrition for Graziers

Sheep: Sustainable and Organic Production

Goats: Sustainable Production Overview

Sheep and Goats Frequently Asked Questions

In this short video, Dr. Ken Coffey demonstrates how to sample hay using a core sampler. Note that the video tself has been edited to shorten the length, so the actual sampling process is shown at the beginning.
How to Sample Hay Using a Core Sampler

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.

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 soil specialist with NCAT's ATTRA - the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service - sits down for a conversation with NCAT Southeast Regional Director Margo Hale to talk about Margo's recent soil test results for her 20-acre livestock farm.

Margo and Nina both work out of NCAT's regional office in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Margo and her family graze cattle and meat goats, and while they have been happy with forage productivity, they wanted to do soil tests to see if there was any room for improvement. Nina and Margo discuss the many, sometimes mystifying, numbers reported on a University of Arkansas Extension Service soil test and how to turn these numbers into cost-effective and sustainable management practices on the farm.

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

Related ATTRA Resources:

Margo Hale's Soil Test Result

Building Healthy Pasture Soils

Nutrient Cycling in Pastures

Soil Health Tutorial

Managed Grazing Tutorial's Fertility Lesson

Video: Regenerative Grazing: Learning from Nature. Stockpiled Grass.

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.

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 Soil Specialist with NCAT's ATTRA - National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service - at NCAT's Southeast Regional Office in Fayetteville, Arkansas, sits down with Dr. Buz Kloot of the University of South Carolina to talk about a new composting system developed by Dr. David Johnson and Hui-Chen Su Johnson, dubbed the Johnson-Su Composting Bioreactor, which allows for beneficial-fungal growth. The conversation, which took place during the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SSAWG) 2019 Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas, also includes discussion of fungi-to-bacteria ratios as a soil health indicator, the five "Soil Health Principles," and how soil health practices can help farmers achieve greater financial freedom.

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

Related ATTRA Resources

Soil and Compost

Learn more about Johnson-Su Composting

The Johnson-Su Composting Bioreactor video

Managing Soil Microbiology to Increase Soil Carbon Sequestration video

Follow Dr. Buz Kloot's work on 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.

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, Al Kurki, a specialist with NCAT's ATTRA, the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, at NCAT's headquarters in Butte, Montana, talks about growing oilseed and oilseed production with Bob Quinn of Big Sandy, Montana.

Bob operates Quinn Farms and the Oil Barn in Big Sandy, Montana. The Oil Barn is a processing plant that produces 100% organic, high-oleic safflower oil that is grown and pressed in Montana.

Al and Bob discuss growing oilseeds, processing them on the farm, and marketing the oil to institutional and retail markets - along with some sound advice for producers who might be interested in growing oilseeds.

Bob also was one of 14 Montana farmers who began growing hemp in 2017 under an experimental program administered by the Montana Department of Agriculture. He talks about his experience growing hemp, and what he learned.

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

Resources Mentioned in the Podcast:

• Oilseed Processing for Small-Scale Producers
• The Oil Barn Website
• The Oil Barn Facebook

Other Related ATTRA Resources:

• Adding Value to Farm Products - An Overview
• Bringing Local Food to Local Institutions
• Tips for Selling to Restaurants
• Biodiesel: Do-It-Yourself Basics

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.

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