This is the fourth and final episode of "We Are The Ones: Co-operative Power Rooted in People and Place" produced by Davika Thomas and funded by Missouri Humanities. This episode is a conversation between Davika and Margot McMillen, one of the hosts of Farm and Fiddle. Besides providing an overview of the project, the program features clips from several of the interviews that Davika has conducted. The program aired on Wednesday, November 5, 2025 on KOPN radio Columbia Missouri and kopn.org. 

This is the third in a series of four podcasts produced by Davika Thomas with funding from Missouri Humanities. The series marks the significance of the United Nations declaration of 2025 as the International Year of the Co-op. This episode moves from the theoretical aspects of co-op organizations and includes visits to co-ops in Missouri and Wisconsin and interviews with significant members about the experience of belonging to and working for a co-op. There are contrasts to work in an ordinary profit-based industrial workplace. This podcast aired as a radio program on Farm and Fiddle at 6 p.m. Central Time on KOPN 89.5 Columbia and on the web at KOPN.org.

This is episode #2 of a 4-part series. Producer Davika Thomas explores the history, culture and context of co-operatives in rural life through decades of challenges to the rural economy.  2025 is the United Nations International Year of Cooperatives and their slogan “Cooperatives Build a Better World” showcases the impact that co-ops have everywhere including mid-Missouri. Funded by Missouri Humanities, KOPN’s Davika Thomas has produced a 4-part series,“We are the Ones: Cooperative Power Rooted in People and Place” airing on KOPN 89.5 and KOPN.org, Wednesdays at 6 p.m. starting October 15th.  On November 11, at the Columbia Public Library, we can join Davika and a panel of experts on the role of co-ops in meeting the needs of citizens while bringing people together to strengthen economic futures for all.

This is episode 1 of a four-part series funded by Missouri Humanities and produced by Davika Thomas, longtime KOPN radio producer. The series calls on many experts and explores the history, culture, context and necessity for co-operative ventures in America. 2025 is the United Nations International Year of Cooperatives and their slogan “Cooperatives Build a Better World” showcases the impact that co-ops have everywhere including mid-Missouri. The series was broadcast on KOPN 89.5 and KOPN.org on October 15th.  On November 11, 2025 join Davika for a panel of experts on the role of co-ops in meeting the needs of citizens while bringing people together to strengthen economic futures for all.

As the oldest radio program in the world to talk about sustainability, Farm and Fiddle loves taking a break from farming to talk about sustainable music. In this episode, old-time fiddler Howard Marshall plays old-time dance music with bass player Kathy Gordon, guitarist Heinrich Leonhard and multi-instrumentalist Asher Ferguson. Marshall talks about where the music comes from and all the musicians talk about how they found their sounds and their beloved musical instruments.

Melissa Vatterot, policy director of MCE, talks about bills that have been introduced in the Missouri legislature that affect water quality and definitions of ownership of water. She gives suggestions about how people can help protect water quality for today and tomorrow.

Missouri Rural Crisis Center was started in the 1980s when farmers were losing their lands due to government programs that left them in the lurch. Today MRCC continues to work against industrial takeovers that started in animal agriculture with giant facilities that raise thousands of animals in overcrowded buildings, polluting creeks, air and rivers for miles around. Tim Gibbons discusses these issues plus the takeover of Missouri farmland by foreign corporations. 

When Green Belt Express announced they were putting massive electric lines through North Callaway and Boone Counties, other national green-power corporations came into neighborhoods to access farm land for solar and wind "farms" to ship electricity to big cities in the east. These properties are expected to take land out of farming forever but Susan Burns and Mid-Missouri Landowners Alliance are fighting back. The issue has split rural communities that are unprepared for the problems of massive electrical transmission and already worn out by other big industries moving in. 

James Owen is Executive Director of Renew Missouri, an organization working to bring more sustainable energy options to the state. Among other topics is the legislative effort to allow community solar in Missouri. Many other states have this option so that developers can include electric generation in their plans for subdivisions, apartment complexes, commercial buildings and so forth. In Missouri at present, only power companies recognized by the Public Service Commission can sell power to consumers. Bills at the legislature now can enable the change, opening a whole new way to provide electricity to consumers.

Dave Dillon is Vice President of Public and Media Relations. A St. Louis native, he chose to go to college in Fulton and has spent much of his career working on rural issues, partly with the MO Department of Agriculture. In this interview with Margot McMillen, Dillon talks about why rural hospitals are having such a hard time and what this means for rural communities. It's more than the health of the population: Employers and new residents look for health care when they choose a community.