Branching Out: Growing Together

We took a trip to the local USDA Service Center and it turned into one of the most useful days of the year.

This episode walks through what FSA and NRCS actually do, how to get a farm number, why a "Highly Erodible Land" determination isn't something to panic over, and the one form standing between specialty crop growers and a $650/acre payment.

Featuring our local Kentucky USDA team: Robin Hughes, Barbara Meredith, Sandra Childress, and Hallie Armstrong (Farm Service Agency), and Fanny Ye and Robert Bean (Natural Resources Conservation Service).

Show notes and full checklist:
Check out our blog on this episode:  https://unitedchestnuts.com/how-to-get-a-farm-number/
FSA office locator: https://www.fsa.usda.gov/fsa-office-locator
ASCF program details: https://www.fsa.usda.gov/resources/programs/assistance-specialty-crop-farmers-ascf-program

A production of United Chestnuts.


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What happens when a Wall Street equity analyst with a master's degree in natural resources turns his attention to chestnut farming? You get one of the most data-grounded, ecologically serious conversations we've had on Branching Out: Growing Together.

Brett Hundley of Agroforestry Partners spent 15 years covering packaged food and agribusiness before co-founding a fund that has now planted nearly 1,600 acres of chestnut trees in Kentucky. He's not a romantic about it — he ran the numbers, visited farms in Chile, and made a deliberate choice. In this episode, he shares exactly what he found, what surprised him, and what it means for growers at every scale.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Why chestnuts rose to the top when Brett's team evaluated every major tree crop for the eastern U.S.
• What a research trip to Chile's commercial chestnut industry revealed — and one observation that every American grower needs to hear
• The real economics of chestnut farming: timeline, yield benchmarks, land value, and what patient capital actually looks like
• How the U.S. compares to mature chestnut-producing countries — and why being early isn't a disadvantage
• What Brett believes the domestic chestnut industry looks like in 30 years, and what role independent growers play in getting there

Visit unitedchestnuts.com for trees and resources from the Ebb Farm Lab and a community of growers ready to help. Subscribe so you don't miss the next episode of Branching Out: Growing Together.

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• The United Chestnuts Blog: Industry Insights & Growth Strategies
• Shop Ebb Farms: Direct from Our Orchard to You

This episode includes AI-generated content.

On this episode of Branching Out: Growing Together, host Melanie Jones sits down with Jon and Bill Nash of Nash Nurseries in Michigan. Together, the sixth- and seventh-generation Nashes share the habits, decisions, and community values that turn a first chestnut planting into a thriving orchard — from patience and site selection to tissue culture and the brand-new Treeborne value-added line.What You’ll Learn

• Why patience is the #1 rule when starting a chestnut orchard (2:00)
• The simple 1×1×1 soil-drainage test that can save your investment (36:45)
• How six generations of know-how moved from Bill’s memory into barcodes and field maps (12:30)
• The beer-napkin origin story of Treeborne’s chestnut chips and chestnut brown ale (23:00)
• What tissue-culture Eurohybrids could mean for the next wave of growers (26:00)
• Why Jon says, “We are not a big enough industry for everyone to be their own kingdom” (44:00)

Resources Mentioned

• Nash Nurseries — nashnurseries.com
• Chestnut Growers of America (CGA)
• Northern Nut Growers Association (NNGA)
• Midwest Chestnut Producers Council
• Michigan State University — Dr. Dennis Fulbright, Dr. Mario Mondojando
• Treeborn — roasted chestnut chips, flour, and value-added products

If this episode helped you, share it with a fellow grower and leave a review — it helps other chestnut-curious folks find us. Join the community at unitedchestnuts.com, subscribe to the weekly blog, and let’s keep growing together.

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Explore More from United Chestnuts

• Main Website: unitedchestnuts.com
• The Branching Out Podcast: Listen to More Episodes
• The United Chestnuts Blog: Industry Insights & Growth Strategies
• Shop Ebb Farms: Direct from Our Orchard to You

This episode includes AI-generated content.

Chestnut operational maturity is the difference between a hobby orchard and a resilient business. In this episode of Branching Out, I am joined by Sandy Russell to discuss the rigorous post-harvest systems required to survive a rapidly changing agricultural market. We explore why cold chain management, strict grading, and shared industry standards are absolute necessities for the modern grower.

Takeaways from this episode:

• The 90/10 rule of chestnut supply chains.
• How to avoid the financial risks of blind aggregation.
• Why small growers must adopt strict post-harvest discipline today.

Listen to the full interview and join the conversation. Subscribe to Branching Out: Growing Together.


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Explore More from United Chestnuts

• Main Website: unitedchestnuts.com
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• The United Chestnuts Blog: Industry Insights & Growth Strategies
• Shop Ebb Farms: Direct from Our Orchard to You

This episode includes AI-generated content.

Can a drone really change the way you manage a chestnut orchard? This week, I’m sitting down with Caleb Canter from AeroAg to talk about the leap from hobbyist toys to industrial-grade tools.
We explore how autonomous flight is solving age-old problems for growers—from precision
spraying in tight canopies to mapping tree health with LIDAR. Whether you’re managing five
acres or five hundred, this conversation is a look into the future of sustainable farming.

● The Battery Breakthrough: How lithium-ion tech changed the game for heavy
payloads.
● Precision in the Canopy: Why drones are often more effective than traditional tractors
for tree crops.
● Beyond Spraying: Using drones for seeding, fertilizing, and even transporting your
harvest.
● The ROI Factor: Breaking down the costs of ownership versus hiring a service.
● Navigating the Legal Landscape: What you need to know about FAA licensing and
regulations.

Listen now and join the conversation at unitedchestnuts.com!

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Explore More from United Chestnuts

• Main Website: unitedchestnuts.com
• The Branching Out Podcast: Listen to More Episodes
• The United Chestnuts Blog: Industry Insights & Growth Strategies
• Shop Ebb Farms: Direct from Our Orchard to You

While much of American agriculture is stuck in debt and overproduction, a quiet revolution is growing beneath the canopy of chestnut trees. In this episode, Roger Smith of Prairie Grove Chestnut Growers joins United Chestnuts to share how his network of seven-state growers has broken free from the commodity system — and built a model where farmers are price makers, not price takers.

From “street-corner retail” to standardized genetics and cold-chain precision, Smith’s story is proof that specialty crops can rewrite the rules of farm economics. Host Kim Douglass unpacks how Smith and other innovators like Greg Miller and Mike Nave are leading the shift from survival to legacy — and why the chestnut industry’s playbook may hold the blueprint for the future of regenerative specialty farming.

Tune in if you’re ready to:

• Understand how specialty crops are outpacing commodities
• Learn practical steps to reclaim pricing power
• Hear what modern cooperatives are doing to protect grower margins
• See how small farms can scale through innovation and collaboration

For more episodes, insights, and grower resources, visit www.unitedchestnuts.com or join the United Chestnuts Community on Facebook and LinkedIn.

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Explore More from United Chestnuts

• Main Website: unitedchestnuts.com
• The Branching Out Podcast: Listen to More Episodes
• The United Chestnuts Blog: Industry Insights & Growth Strategies
• Shop Ebb Farms: Direct from Our Orchard to You

Messy in the Middle: What It Really Looks Like to Build a Chestnut Orchard (and an Industry) What happens after the excitement of planting trees fades—but before everything feels established? In this Messy in the Middle episode of Branching Out: Growing Together, Melanie Jones reflects on the often-unseen middle phase of chestnut farming and industry-building. Inspired by the idea of the “messy middle,” this episode explores what it really looks like to grow a perennial crop—and a community—when progress is real but unfinished. From uneven harvests and learning curves to orchard decisions that don’t come with a playbook, this conversation is about staying planted through uncertainty. Melanie shares perspective from EBB Farms in Western Kentucky, parallels from other perennial crops like pistachios, and why patience, learning, and shared experience matter more than hype. This episode is for:

• Chestnut growers in the early or mid stages
• Landowners considering planting trees
• Anyone building something long-term that doesn’t offer quick feedback

Chestnuts aren’t “coming back” overnight. They’re being built—orchard by orchard, season by season. This Messy in the Middle episode is part of an ongoing series within Branching Out: Growing Together, highlighting real-world, in-progress experiences from EBB Farms and the broader chestnut community. 👉 Learn more and explore resources at unitedchestnuts.com/resources

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Explore More from United Chestnuts

• Main Website: unitedchestnuts.com
• The Branching Out Podcast: Listen to More Episodes
• The United Chestnuts Blog: Industry Insights & Growth Strategies
• Shop Ebb Farms: Direct from Our Orchard to You

Melanie Jones sits down with Roger Blackwell, President of Chestnut Growers of America, to talk about the momentum building in the U.S. chestnut industry. Together they explore what’s changed, what’s ahead, and how growers across the country are uniting to shape the next chapter of this remarkable tree crop.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/branching-out-growing-together--5924771/support.

Explore More from United Chestnuts

• Main Website: unitedchestnuts.com
• The Branching Out Podcast: Listen to More Episodes
• The United Chestnuts Blog: Industry Insights & Growth Strategies
• Shop Ebb Farms: Direct from Our Orchard to You

🌐 What the Heck is SEO (and Why Should Chestnut Growers Care?) 

Hi friends—Melanie Jones here with United Chestnuts, and today we’re breaking down a big, messy topic in a way that makes sense for farmers: 👉 SEO (Search Engine Optimization) If you're a grower who wants to sell more chestnuts, trees, or host visitors to your orchard—but don’t have time to become a digital marketing expert—this episode is for you. We’ll cover:

• Why chestnut growers need SEO—even if you’re not “online people”
• Simple ways to get your orchard found in Google, Facebook, and TikTok
• What terms like AEO and GEO actually mean (and how they help)
• How United Chestnuts is making this easy with tools, templates, and support

💻 Learn more and join the movement: unitedchestnuts.com/resources 🌰 Chestnuts are coming back—and we’re building the system to support them.

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Explore More from United Chestnuts

• Main Website: unitedchestnuts.com
• The Branching Out Podcast: Listen to More Episodes
• The United Chestnuts Blog: Industry Insights & Growth Strategies
• Shop Ebb Farms: Direct from Our Orchard to You

Today we’re out in the orchard with Nora D’Antuono from the Ecdysis Foundation, talking real‑world regenerative agriculture: soil health that sticks, biodiversity that pays back, and farmer‑led research through the 1000 Farms Initiative. We dig into tools like the BugBox and Xerinx, why insects are powerful indicators of farm health, and how community + data help farmers move from “hope” to “proof.” Recorded at EBB Farms (Western Kentucky)—the chestnut-growing testbed powered by the United Chestnuts movement. You’ll hear:

• What 1000 Farms is measuring—and why it matters to your bottom line
• Simple biodiversity practices that fit real schedules and budgets
• The role of the BugBox/Xerinx in tracking ecosystem health
• How growers are sharing data, stories, and momentum

Resources: unitedchestnuts.com/resources
Resources: ecdysis.bio
Connect: United Chestnuts Community (FB), Ecdysis Foundation, Blue Dasher Farm Tags: #RegenerativeAgriculture #SoilHealth #Biodiversity #1000Farms #Ecdysis #Chestnuts #UnitedChestnuts #EBBFarms

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/branching-out-growing-together--5924771/support.

Explore More from United Chestnuts

• Main Website: unitedchestnuts.com
• The Branching Out Podcast: Listen to More Episodes
• The United Chestnuts Blog: Industry Insights & Growth Strategies
• Shop Ebb Farms: Direct from Our Orchard to You