Farmerama

This month we are connected to the voices of farmers and fishers around the world at Terra Madre in Turin. There we bump into a rather well-known chef and sustainable food activist who celebrates small-scale farming. We also hear from an extraordinary young Palestinian farmer, with her story of making olive oil against all odds in conflicted lands. Back in the UK, we talk nationwide farmer-led intercropping trials, and in Northern Ireland we hear from an expert in community share offers.

Greg Judy is an enthusiastic mob grazer based in Missouri. He talks to us about getting animals back on the land and building biodiversity in grasslands, including the importance of cow pats... all with the goal of increasing the long-term viability of your farm. We spoke to Greg at the Groundswell Show 2018.

This month we start with some thoughts from one farmer about ways of resolving the inevitable tensions of family farming over different generations. Next, we hear from a Dorset farmer, with an update on the highs and lows of her compost tea trials on arable cropland. Moving on to Herefordshire, we discover the exciting potential benefits of agroforestry for disease prevention in apple orchards. And finally, we end up in the Netherlands, where we learn about an innovative business model that is being used to create farming communities!

Thanks to our supporters Rebel Kitchen for making this episode possible.

Thanks to the contribution this week from the Investing in regenerative Agriculture Podcast. More here: https://soundcloud.com/investinginregenerativeagriculture

In this short, we take a walk with Loredana. With her husband Roy, she runs Agriturismo Stallaini in the south east of Sicily. They prepare food for the guests all from within walking distance of the mine. Encounter lucid, vivid scents, smells, colours and be present in this ancient place.

This podcast was made by Jo, with Lizzie Ostrom, and was originally published on the Life in Scents, a podcast about smell.

http://www.agriturismostallaini.com/

https://www.acast.com/lifeinscents

Regular contributor Joel Rodker is creating a market garden from scratch and recording a diary for Farmerama as he goes. Here's is his report from June and July 2018

This month we hear all about wiggly worms and their wondrous work. We get some tips on cow pats and profitability from a Missouri-based mob grazer. Then we head over to California for thoughts on regenerative agriculture on a biodynamic vineyard, and finally we dip into the Free Range Families initiative at Jubilee Farm in Northern Ireland. Thanks to Rebel Kitchen for supporting this episode and to all of you for listening in!

Charles Schembre is Vineyard Conservation Co-ordinator at Napa County Resource Conservation District. His work sees him leading the implementation of California’s Healthy Soils Program, a scheme which compensates farmers for increasing their soil health – with the goal of sequestering carbon and increasing water retention. Charles also helped create the first ever carbon farm plans for 4 vineyards in Napa county, working with their partners the Carbon Cycle Institute. You can hear more about these carbon farm plans and details of how they monitor soil health and carbon sequestration in this month’s short.

Regular contributor Joel Rodker is creating a market garden from scratch and recording a diary for Farmerama as he goes. In this report he lets us know what he's been up to during the month of June. Time have been tough but he's enjoying being outside and working in the English summer sun.

Regular contributor Joel Rodker is creating a market garden from scratch and recording a diary for Farmerama as he goes. Here's is his report from May 2018

Hear from Tony Lovell in his talk at Atlas of the Futures recent Barcelona event on 'Fixing the Future'.

Atlas of the Future reports, 'by giving the animals a more holistic hook, carbon-canny cattle rancher Tony Lovell, co-founder of SLM Australia Livestock Fund, has raised a whopping $100 million to help to regenerate the billions of hectares of damaged Australian grasslands – using soil management, biodiversity restoration and grazing techniques: “Cows and sheep are just cows and sheep. They are neither good nor bad. The piece most people are missing is how cattle are managed.”'

Atlas of the Future is an online resource of hope, raising the profile of people working for a better future. Check out their recent interview with Dan Barber and the question we put to him about bringing regenerative soil practices to the table: https://atlasofthefuture.org/6-questions-for-a-food-futurehero-dan-barber/