Our Rich Land

Farming is also an art. Ask any farmer. But there is more than meets the eye when you drive past a corn field. Agronomy, the science of producing crops, is the topic of this episode. We asked Jordan Miller, an employee of the United States Department of Agriculture: Natural Resource Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS), all of our burning questions, including those on soil, agriculture technology, and how the NRCS fosters healthy ecosystems and ensures productive farms, simultaneously.  

Links to more information!

1) The book that Josh mentioned: "Water for Every Farm", by P.A. Yeomans

2) Richland SWCD's website "Agriculture" page, with local SWCD and NRCS resources: https://richlandswcd.net/services/agriculture

3) NRCS's about page: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/about/

4) Agronomy.org: https://www.agronomy.org/about-agronomy/

5) About conservation agriculture: http://conservationagriculture.mannlib.cornell.edu/pages/aboutca/advantages.html

Richland County's NRCS district office phone #: 419-747-8691

Richland SWCD's website and phone #: 419-747-8686 | www.richlandswcd.net

Kingwood Center Garden's website: www.kingwoodcenter.org

Music:

Music permissions for tracks used in this and all of our episodes was generously granted by the artists. Special thanks to Dan Lebowitz, whose "Run One Down" is our theme song. Also thanks to TrackTribe for the other tracks used in our program ("Running Errands" & "Easy Stroll")

Ever heard of Louis Bromfeild? He's our hometown (Richland County) Pulitzer Prize winning author and one of the founders of America's environmental movement. Helping to advance the ideas of regenerative agriculture and conservation, Louis founded Malabar Farm in south-eastern Richland County, OH. He wrote several books about his life and "new" agriculture on the experimental farm. Josh and Evan talk about Louis story, and the effect that regenerative agriculture has had upon natural resource conservation. Ecosystems are complex networks, and those networks include us. What if we looked at conservation not only as saving nature from destruction, but also as assisting nature in supporting itself and us? It can be as simple as planting cover crops. And there are other things we can do. Listen now to find out what they are!

LINKS!!!

Malabar Farm Foundation: https://malabarfarm.org/

"Pleasant Valley" by Louis Bromfield (Book)

Permaculture Principles: https://permacultureprinciples.com/principles/

"Founding Gardeners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the American Nation" by Andrea Wulf (Book)

Regenerative vs. Sustainable Agriculture: https://durham.ces.ncsu.edu/2021/01/regenerative-vs-sustainable-agriculture/?src=rss

Regenerative Agriculture Ultimate Guide and Examples: https://grocycle.com/regenerative-agriculture-ultimate-guide/

Wikipedia has a good definition for Regenerative Agriculture as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regenerative_agriculture

OUR WEBSITES

https://richlandswcd.net/

https://kingwoodcenter.org/

Music - we were generously given permission by the artists listed below for their tracks:

Run One Down - Dan Lebowitz

Easy Stroll & Smoke Jacket Blues - TrackTribe

"Don't Fight the Site!". What does that mean? Well, let us tell you! Plus, we discuss some other important woodland management concepts, the havoc that invasive species have wrought, and the challenges of conservation outreach. All this and more in this month's episode. 

LINKS!!!

OSU's Woodland Stewards website: https://woodlandstewards.osu.edu/

YouTube video we discussed - "How we get tree planting wrong | It's Complicated" from the Guardian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhvOJrkhh8I

Richland Soil & Water Conservation District: https://richlandswcd.net/

Kingwood Center Gardens: https://kingwoodcenter.org/

Music

Run One Down - Dan Lebowitz

Easy Stroll & Sunday - TrackTribe

Permission was generously granted by the artists for the use of these tracks.

YAY SYRUP! Today we welcome Kathy Smith, Forestry Program Director for The Ohio State University's School of Environment and Natural Resources. She has a wealth of knowledge about woodlands, and works with students at OSU's Mansfield campus researching maple syrup production. Not only does maple syrup production go well with pancakes (or French fries, Josh?), but effective woodland management!

If you want to "tap" even further into this subject...

Ohio Maple Producers Association: http://ohiomaple.org

• They serve all of Ohio's Maple Industry. They help you sell maple products while promoting the industry and Ohio's maple heritage

Ohio State Maple blog: https://u.osu.edu/ohiomaple/

• They offer upcoming educational events, updates about ongoing research projects and articles from cooperating entities

National Resources on maple syrup:

• http://mapleresearch.org/

Links to Our Stuff!

Richland SWCD: www.richlandswcd.net

Kingwood Center Gardens: www.kingwoodcenter.org

Music!

Special thanks to both Dan Lebowitz and TrackTribe for granting permission to use their music for our podcast. Tracks used are listed here:

Run One Down - Dan Lebowitz

Smoke Jacket Blues - TrackTribe

Easy Stroll - TrackTribe

Hello and welcome to Our Rich Land, a podcast of Richland Soil and Water Conservation District (aka Richland SWCD, aka Soil and Water)!

Thanks for taking a listen! This is just a quick episode about our District and what this podcast is all about. Richland County is aptly named for its ecological wealth. The rich land is used in a variety of ways from agriculture to industry in urban and rural settings. Richland County has 8 watersheds: 3 flow to Lake Erie and 5 flow to the Ohio River. Protecting and conserving this rich land is very important and is the primary reason Richland SWCD exists.

House Bill 646, which became the Ohio Soil Conservation District Enabling Act, was signed into law by Ohio Governor John W. Bricker on June 5, 1941.The act gave the states authority and the ability to organize local soil and water conservation districts. Today, there are 88 conservation districts in Ohio, with each county being represented by a soil and water conservation district. Richland SWCD was voted into being in 1948. Ever since, we've been a resource for our community, adapting to ever changing land-uses and conservation needs. 

If you’re a local resident, you may know Richland County well, but you may not know the many conservation efforts involved in protecting and enhancing our rich land. If this is a topic that interests you or you want to learn more about, we encourage you to listen to our podcast!

Links!

Our website: https://richlandswcd.net/

Our podcast's website: https://ourrichland.podbean.com/

Want to find out how much you know about current conservation issues? See how your knowledge compares with David Attenborough's and take the quiz that Josh and Evan took! --> https://www.wwf.org.uk/how-david-attenborough-are-you 

Music!

Blackest Crow - TrackTribe

Salute to Washington - United States Marine Band