In this episode we hear a career retrospective from Tracy Erikson outside of St. John, WA, and how his lifetime pursuit of learning has evolved innovation and trials on the farm along with his impact on the landscape over decades. He describes starting the fabrication of his first no-till drill up to current interests and trials looking under the microscope for signs of soil health, spray water quality, and opportunities in drone technology on the farm.

This episode of the On-Farm Trials podcast features Clint Zenner of Zenner Family

Farms in Genesse, ID and his collaboration as a PI on the PNW cover crops project

alongside Kendall Kahl of the University of Idaho. A conversation with them highlights

years of working together that has resulted in a wealth of knowledge on cover crops,

cows, and even earth worms! Listen to their conversation about how they are working

together to ask and answer important soil health and cropping systems innovation for

the farm and region with their on-farm trials.

This episode of the On-Farm Trials podcast features Clint Zenner of Zenner Family

Farms in Genesse, ID and his collaboration as a PI on the PNW cover crops project

alongside Kendall Kahl of the University of Idaho. A conversation with them highlights

years of working together that has resulted in a wealth of knowledge on cover crops,

cows, and even earth worms! Listen to their conversation about how they are working

together to ask and answer important soil health and cropping systems innovation for

the farm and region with their on-farm trials.

The interviews compiled for another special episode Stories from the Field feature Erin Ruhel

and Doug Schuster of Westfield Properties in St. John, Washington, Frank Wolfe of Lester

Wolfe Farms talking with Subodh Adhikari of the University of Idaho in Uniontown, Washington

and Derek Schafer of Schafer Farm and Ranch in Lind, Washington. If you want to hear more

from any of these guests you can find their full length interviews in the On-Farm Trials podcast

archives.

Our guest for this episode is Russ Zenner, a retired farmer from Genesee, Idaho. Listen to the

conversation to hear him describe the trials from the early days of Direct Seeding in the region,

value-added and identity-preserved marketing, and share his thoughts on climate change and

goats, working with research and conservation partners, and the importance of life-long

learning.

In this episode we hear from Doug Schuester and his daughter Erin Ruehl outside of St. John,

WA - as they talk about their on-farm trials in remediating eroded hilltops with compost and

cover crops, growing cows and canola, and some farm succession planning.

This episode of on-farm trials features Frank Wolf of Lester Wolf farms outside of Uniontown,

Washington, and his collaboration as a PI on the PNW cover crops project alongside Subodh

Adhikari of the University of Idaho. A conversation with them highlights years of working

together that has resulted in these collaborative on-farm cover crop trials, how they are working

together to look at various mixes, get them seeded, and what and how data is being collected to

measure impact on subsequent crops, soil, weeds, and insects to create a regional

decision-making tool based on their findings.

This compilation of interviews features Garrett Moon of Moon Family Farms with Researcher Dr.

Garett Heineck with the USDA-ARS in the Horse Heaven Hills, Andy Juris of Diamond J Farms

in Bickleton, WA, and Wade Troutman of Open Heart Farms in Bridgeport, WA. In the episode

we dig into stories from the field, as these growers share their stories of cropping systems

innovation in the face of constantly changing conditions from markets to climate.

In this episode, we talk with Derek Schafer about farming between Lind and Ritzville, just around the corner from the Lind Research Station where their farm has a long history of working in partnership with researchers to advance the regional cropping system. He talks about his experience growing fall seeded peas and canola in rotation with wheat, their farm’s transition to no-till, and managing weeds like Russian Thistle with rotation and spot spray technology.

Join the conversation with Andy Juris on his Diamond J Farm, in Bickleton, WA as he discusses his trials with herbicide resistance, transitions in tillage systems, diversifying the cropping system in the face of changing conditions, why innovation is critical, and talking crop insurance and ag transportation issues with policy makers in DC and Olympia.