For centuries, draft animals were the premier power source for agriculture.  Although tractors eventually usurped draft animals on most farms, ranches, and forests, some teamsters have kept the traditions alive. With the upswing of modern homesteading and people striving for ecologically beneficial agricultural practices, it looks like draft power is making a comeback. 

 In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist and
wanna-be teamster Linda Poole quizzes seasoned experts Tracy Mumma (also an NCAT staff member), Tracy’s husband David Sturman, and Jim Gronau – an oxen teamster from Canada –on the what, why, and how of getting started with draft animals.  

If you want to learn more, be sure to come back for the next episode– an in-depth conversation between Tracy and Jim about using draft animals in farming. 

Related ATTRA Resources: 

·        Draft Animal Power for Farming: 

Other Related Resources: 

·        Oxen: A Teamster’s Guide to Raising, Training, Driving & Showing 

·        Oxen: Their Care, Training, and Use  

·        Small Farmer’s Journal  

·        Rural Heritage 

·        Draft Animal-Power Network 

·        Live Power in Agriculture: Working Equines and Bovines Class 

·        Midwest Ox Drovers Association 

·        All Things Oxen 

·        Oxen in Canada 

Contact Linda Poole and Tracy Mumma at [email protected] and [email protected]. 

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this podcast.  

You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find access to our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.  

This episode of Voices from the Field was produced in partnership with ATTRA and the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program. To learn more about SARE’s library of practical information and available grants to fund projects that advance sustainable agriculture, visit sare.org.

In this episode, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Justin Duncan talks with Edmund Frost at the Twin Oaks Intentional Community in Virginia. Edmund is the managing director of Common Wealth Seed Growers, a cooperative of seed growers producing farmer-grown, regionally trialed seeds in the Southeast.

Since 2013, he has received funding from Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education for research and breeding work with butternut squash. Justin and Edmund talk about breeding strategies to produce butternut squash that is resistant to downy mildew while still maintaining its eating quality. They also discuss how Edmund conducts taste tests of the squash and how he gathers the data from his research.

Related ATTRA Resources:

Adventures in Mirliton

Squash Bug and Squash Vine Borer: Organic Controls

Organic Pumpkin and Winter Squash Marketing and Production

Related SARE Resources:

Breeding a Better Butternut

Breeding and Evaluation of Butternut Varieties for Southeast Organic Farms

Winter Squash Evaluation and Improvement for Downy Mildew Resistance and Fruit Quality

Identifying and Marketing Open-Pollinated and Organic Cucurbit Seedstocks for Virginia

Other SARE/NCAT Podcasts:

Episode 327. ATTRA and SARE: The Commercial Potential of Mulberries in the Midwest.

Other Resources

Twin Oaks Intentional Community

Common Wealth Seed Growers

 Contact Justin Duncan at [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 to our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.

This episode of Voices from the Field introduces one of NCAT’s newest staff members. Danielle Duni recently joined NCAT as a Carbon Farm Planner who will aid Wyoming shepherds as they build profitable businesses and healthy landscapes.  

 Danielle shares her winding career path working with livestock across the western U.S. and her vision for ranchers “finding that interface where we can all work together to build resilient communities.” 

Also, Danielle and NCAT Grazing Specialist Linda Poole sketch the shape of the Climate Beneficial Fiber Partnership, a five-year program to provide technical assistance and cost-sharing to ranchers and farmers growing wool or cotton using climate-beneficial practices. With support from USDA’s Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities, Danielle will lead NCAT’s work to build a better future for Wyoming woolgrowers and working lands. 

Related ATTRA Resources: 

·        Climate Beneficial Practices 

·        Growing Hope: Practical Tools for Changing Climate and Soils 

·        Episode330. Meet NCAT: Carbon Farm Planner Allison Cooley-Agee of Montana 

Other Resources: 

·        Foraging Behavior of Raramuri Criollo vs. Angus Cattle Grazing California Chaparral and Colorado Plateau Shrublands 

·        Collegiate Woolgrowers at Montana State University 

·        International Society for Range Management, Young Professionals Conclave 

 Contact Linda Poole and Danielle Duni 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 to our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.  

In this episode of Voices from the Field, we meet one of NCAT’s impressive new staff members, Allison Cooley-Agee. Allison talks with NCAT Livestock Specialist Linda Coffey about her background and the interesting and varied experience she brings to her new position as a Carbon Farm Planner. Training cutting horses, milking goats on an organic dairy, raw milk, 4-H, and Nicole Masters all make their way into the conversation.  

Allison also discusses the Climate Beneficial Fiber Project, which will be the main focus of her work for the next few years and will benefit sheep producers in Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota. She also explains the process of carbon farm planning, and how to go about applying for the Climate Beneficial Fiber Project.  

Related NCAT Resources: 

• Climate Beneficial Fiber Project 

Related ATTRA Resources: 

• Episode 321. Meet NCAT: Tyler Jenkins on Carbon Farm Planning 
• Spotlighting Carbon Farm Planning 
• Episode 317. Meet NCAT: Cody Brown on Carbon Farm Planning 
• Episode 284. Carbon Farm Planning 
• Carbon Farm and Ranch Planning 
• Climate Solutions 

 Other Resources: 

• Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education 
• Integrity Soils CREATE  
• Fibershed 
• 4-H 

Contact Linda Coffey and Allison Cooley-Agee 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 to our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.  

In this episode of Voices from the Field, Margo Hale, Director of NCAT’s ATTRA and Armed to Farm programs, visits with Dr. Adam Ingrao, a beekeeper and educator in Michigan. Adam, a military veteran, talks about his farming operation and the programs that have been beneficial to it.  

He shares how his military service and farming experiences led him to beekeeping. He also discusses the Heroes to Hives program, which reaches thousands of veterans each year, and he offers some advice for veterans who are interested in farming. 

 Related NCAT Resources: 

·        NCAT Armed to Farm 

·        NCAT Armed to Farm Facebook page 

 Related ATTRA Resources: 

·        Veteran Resources 

·        Veteran’s Business Planning Tipsheet 

·        Armed to Farm Map Connects Farmer Veterans Across the U.S. 

·        Farmer Veteran Finds Passion in Horticulture Therapy 

·        Programs Focus on Farmer Well-Being 

·        Veterans Discuss USDA Programs 

·        From the Air Force to Alpacas 

Other Resources:  

·        Heroes to Hives 

·        Bee Wise Farms, LLC 

·        Farmer Veteran Coalition 

·        USDA Veteran Initiatives 

·        USDA Service Center Locator 

·        USDA Farm Service Agency 

·        USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service 

·        USDA Rural Development 

Contact Margo Hale at [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 to our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.  

This episode of Voices from the Field is the first of a new podcast series, "Lessons Learned on a Southern Farm." In it, NCAT Gulf States Regional Coordinator Felicia Bell talks with Marguerite McClintock from Alchemy Farms and Plants in Huntsville, Alabama.   

Marguerite discusses the lessons she has learned from operating her certified organic vegetable farm and from raising heritage and registered sheep, specifically Katahdin
and Gulf Coast Native. She offers some tips and ideas that Alchemy Farm used to
stay in business while maintaining the farm's organic integrity. 

 Related ATTRA Resources:
·        Tools for Managing Internal Parasites in Small Ruminants: Pasture Management 

·        Ruminant Nutrition for Graziers 

·        Organic Tomato Production 

·        Grazing to Control Parasites 

·        Small Ruminant Sustainability Checksheet 

·        Managing Internal Parasites in Sheep and Goats 

Other Resources: 

·        Alchemy Farms and Plants 

Contact Felicia Bell at [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 to our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications,
webinars, videos, and other resources at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG. 

This episode of Voices from the Field was produced in partnership with ATTRA and the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program. To learn more about SARE’s library of practical information and available grants to fund projects that advance sustainable agriculture, visit sare.org.

In it, NCAT Sustainable Horticulture Specialist Guy Ames talks with Weston Lombard, who grows mulberries on his Millfield, Ohio, farm and was a SARE farmer/rancher grant recipient on the topic “Field Testing the Mulberry for Commercial Production in the Midwest” in 2016.

Guy and Weston talk about the commercial possibilities and challenges mulberries present, along with different cultivars and growing strategies.

Related ATTRA Resources:

Community Orchards

Fruit Trees, Orchards, and Vines for Natural Growing in the Ozarks

Community Forest Gardens: Case Studies Throughout the United States

Related SARE Resources:

Field Testing the Mulberry for Commercial Production in the Midwest

Sustainable Agriculture Solutions for Appalachia: Mulberry Agroforestry

Mulberry Production with Weston Lombard

Other Resources: 

Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden

Tree Crops: A Permanent Agriculture

Contact Guy Ames at [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 to our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.

We have only recently begun to understand the true nature of soil organic matter. In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Nina Prater is joined by Dr. Johannes Lehmann, a Cornell University professor with the School of Integrative Plant Science - Soil and Crop Sciences Section as well as the Department of Global Development. They talk about misconceptions around soil humus and explore new ways to look at the organic components of the soil. They also discuss a number of other issues, including the carbon cycle, the importance of diversity, and the challenges of creating a circular economy.

Related ATTRA Resources: 

·        Managing Soil for Water: How Five Principles of Soil Health Support Water Infiltration and Storage 

·        Climate Solutions

Other Resources: 

·        Lehmann Lab: Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences 

Contact Nina Prater at [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 to our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.

This episode of Voices from the Field continues a discussion between Mickey Willenbring, a lifelong shepherd who raises Navajo-churro and Karakul sheep in Western Oregon, and NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Linda Poole. Mickey touches on the value of reading, the role of on-farm experiments, the need for a good veterinarian/client relationship, and learning from people we don't agree with. 

Related ATTRA Resources:

·        Episode 325. She’s Raising Sheep: Mickey Willenbring of Oregon, Part 1

·        Tools for Managing Internal Parasites in Small Ruminants: Copper Wire Particles

Other Resources:

·        Dot Ranch

·        Navajo Churro: Nikyle Begay on t’aa dibé (The First Sheep)

·        Navajo Churro Sheep and Shepherds: Meet the Rainbow Fiber Co-Op

·        Navajo Shepherd

 
Contact Linda Poole at [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 to our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.  

Raising sheep can be a hobby or a business, a joy or a trial. And with the right intent and actions, it can also be a powerful way to heal ourselves and our relationship with the Earth.  Listen as Mickey Willenbring, a lifelong shepherd who raises Navajo-Churro and Karakul sheep in Western Oregon, shares her shepherding journey and the wisdom she's gleaning along the way. 

In the first of a two-part discussion with NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Linda Poole, Mickey touches on the shepherding challenges of parasites, predators, and marketing. 

Related ATTRA Resources:
She’s Raising Sheep Series 
Tools for Managing Internal Parasites in Small Ruminants: Copper Wire Particles 

 Other Resources: 

Dot Ranch 

Navajo Churro: Nikyle Begay on t’aa dibé (The First Sheep) 

Navajo Churro Sheep and Shepherds: Meet the Rainbow Fiber Co-Op 

Navajo Shepherd 

Contact Linda Poole at [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 to our trusted, practical sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.