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.

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!

Join the conversation between Garrett Moon of Moon Family Farms in the Horse Heaven Hills, WA and Dr. Garett Heineck, Cropping Systems Agronomist with the USDA-ARS CAF LTAR network research program. The interview dives into how they are working together on the farm to answer questions about the ‘down-side production potential’ of perennial wheatgrass Kernza, cover crops, and mapping cheatgrass in a region where fog counts as significant precipitation.

What are they measuring and what data matters from the research side and on the working farm - and how are they making it work? Listen now to find out!

Join the conversation between Garrett Moon of Moon Family Farms in the Horse Heaven Hills, WA and Dr. Garett Heineck, Cropping Systems Agronomist with the USDA-ARS CAF LTAR network research program. The interview dives into how they are working together on the farm to answer questions about the ‘down-side production potential’ of perennial wheatgrass Kernza, cover crops, and mapping cheatgrass in a region where fog counts as significant precipitation.

What are they measuring and what data matters from the research side and on the working farm - and how are they making it work? Listen now to find out!

In the second part of a two-part episode, host Carol McFarland visits with cropping systems innovator and award-winning conservationist Mr. Wade Troutman. Check out episode one of the two-part interview to hear about his adventures trying things on his farm in Bridgeport, WA - from being one of the first to grow canola in WA, to direct marketing of organic ‘Wade’s Wheat’, finding sunflower pans for the combine, and how ag and his neighborhood have evolved over his decades of On-Farm Trials!

In the first of a two-part episode, host Carol McFarland visits with cropping systems innovator and award-winning conservationist Mr. Wade Troutman. Check out episode one of the two-part interview to hear about his adventures trying things on his farm in Bridgeport, WA - from being one of the first to grow canola in WA, to direct marketing of organic ‘Wade’s Wheat’, finding sunflower pans for the combine, and how ag and his neighborhood have evolved over his decades of On-Farm Trials!

On this bonus episode, we revisit our talks with Jesse Brunner, Amy McKay, Eric Odberg and Chris Eckhart to hear them share their stories from the field.

In this week’s episode we interviewed Jesse Brunner whose farm near Almira, WA has been under No-Till management for over 20 years. Jesse grows canola, wheat, and several other rotational crops, including his experimentation with re-crop winter wheat in an otherwise crop-fallow system. In this episode you can hear about his favorite drill for direct-seeding canola, residue management in No-Till, his strategy for making trials happen, and the record-keeping he uses to determine if a practice is something worth repeating. He also describes experimenting with his Weed-it system over the last year, optimizing nozzle selection and what he’ll be trying next year.

Host Carol McFarland visits with Amy McKay from McKay Farm and Ranch in LaCrosse, WA sharing her experience with full, two pass and no-till production across their operation, precision spray application strategies, trying intercropping, and running cows on her cover crop trial. Listeners can hear how she navigates the moisture limitations in her area. What happened when she mowed the cover crop to seed wheat into? Check out the episode to find out!