GrassCast

Grassland 2.0's final Digital Dialogue webinar of 2021 featured NRCS state grazing lands specialist Adam Abel. In this recording, Adam discussing his experiences with managed grazing and his plans for boosting support for grazing throughout the state. 

 In Part Three of Grassland 2.0's Digital Dialogue Series, Thelma Heidel-Baker, an entomologist and organic dairy farmer in eastern Wisconsin, discusses the benefits of managed grazing for beneficial insects, other wildlife, and the farmers themselves. 

In Part Two of Grassland 2.0's Digital Dialogue Series, Dr. Stephan van Vliet, nutrition scientist and metabolomics expert at the Center for Human Nutrition Studies at Utah State University, discusses the link between animal and human health.

This episode features the first of Grassland 2.0's Digital Dialogue series, with a presentation by Dan Smith, President and CEO of the Cooperative Network. Dan discusses the changes dairying has experienced over the last 50 years and explore the economic, social and cultural impacts these changes have had through poem.

Every couple of weeks, Grassland 2.0 participants meet on Zoom for a project-wide lab meeting. This episode features an edited recording of one of these meetings, in which UW-Madison graduate student Jacob Henden presents his research design and responds to comments from attendees. We'll hear how tricky it is to separate the influence of perennial groundcover from other related factors, and why making promises about improving water quality could backfire in the short-term.

Marie Raboin is a Conservation Specialist for Dane County, Wisconsin. In this episode, you'll hear about Marie’s work with a new farmer network called the BFFs (Biological Farming Friends), why she’s big on farmer dates, and why you maybe shouldn’t invite everyone to the meeting. You can see more from this conversation on the Grassland 2.0 YouTube channel.

Kevin Oppermann is a beef farmer south of Madison, Wisconsin. In this episode, Kevin describes how he started farming after growing up in the suburbs, how selling at farmers markets has made him a better cook, and how managed grazing made his farming dreams possible. You can see more from this conversation on the Grassland 2.0 YouTube channel!

This episode provides a sneak peek of the first three episodes of the new season of the "In Her Boots" podcast, hosted by Tiffany LaShae. Produced by the Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service (MOSES),  the re-boot of this popular podcast highlights the stories of Black and Brown women who traditionally have not had a platform to share their voices. Learn about the life and work of other women in agriculture through their conversations with new host Tiffany LaShae. Details at https://mosesorganic.org/in-her-boots-podcast/

Claudio Gratton's entomology research focuses on how our agricultural landscapes influence the lives of beneficial insects. In this podcast, Claudio sits down for a conversation with a former student of his, Dr. Jeremy Hemberger. Hemberger, Gratton, and their colleague Michael Crossley have just released a paper showing that it is not necessarily the amount of land in agriculture, but the diversity (or lack thereof) of agricultural crops that has the greatest impact on bumblebees. Their research supports the idea that agriculture can provide ecological benefits and support beneficial insects as long as it mimics the biological diversity of healthy grasslands. 

**This episode is also available in English. You can find it in the podcast feed or here.**

Edgar Navarro es un trabajador agrícola con mucha experiencia en granjas lecheras. Él empezó ayudando a su madre y padrastro en su finca como adolescente, y ha trabajado la mayoría de los 10 años pasados en diferentes granjas lecheras cerca de Dodgville. En 2015, él conoció a Scott Mericka, el dueño de Green Dairy and Uplands Cheese, lo cual fue la primera granja de pastoreo que había visto. Él ha sido un empleado allá desde entonces! En nuestra conversación, Edgar compartió sobre su experiencia trabajando en la granja de pastoreo de Scott, y cómo se mide contra la granjas convencionales donde él comenzó. Su testimonio es un recordatorio poderoso de que nuestros sistemas agrícolas afectan a las personas en todos niveles.

Si a usted le interesa Edgar y su historia, con gusto tratamos de conectarles. Que nos manden un correo pidiendo una introducción a [email protected].

La banda de sonora de este episodio es Donder por  Blue Dot Sessions.

Historias Sobre la Pasura se base en entrevistas del metodología historia oral realizado como parte del proyecto Grassland 2.0. Entrevistamos a Edgar en Octubre de 2020.