Dirt Road Discussions

Send us Fan Mail Why have we been taught to fear bugs in general? Is it a cultural thing, or DNA thing? Introducing Jason Thomas, a University of Idaho Extension entomologist. He loads his vehicle with all kinds of little creatures and takes them to schools with a mission to help people know how to interact with our bug world. He has a message for everyone the next time they pick up a shoe to squa...

Send us Fan Mail Whether you are spitting out sunflower seeds at a ball game or walking by a 13ft flower, running a sunflower farm has a fascinating story. Bethany Gotts, the owner of Quey's Maze, has a passion for sunflowers and wanted to bring that to the public for a different spin on agritourism. She hosted the first year of the Quey's Maze Sunflower Festival, where people can come t...

Send us Fan Mail Mushrooms are easy to grow, but hard to master. They find their way to your salad and burger, and yet over 50% of specialty mushrooms consumed in the United States are imported. Luc Lalire, CEO,  and Will Beeson, COO, with MycoLogic want to help Americans learn and be able to grow mushrooms locally. From Hollywood myths to unknown facts, you will be amazed at how much you never kn...

Send us Fan Mail Crowds have gathered all over the world to watch cranes lift an entire farm unit off of a semi-truck as it is being delivered to a city, resident, or school. Those who thought farming wasn't possible for them can now hook in water and electricity to these freight farms and it's time to grow food! Dave Harris, Head of Plant Sciences, and Brooke Smith Account Executive of...

Send us Fan Mail Sherri Staheli with Staheli Farms never imagined parents would pay her to have their city kids come out and do chores on her farm.  This has led to "Farm Camp" where kids build memories, interact with animals, do chores, and learn to develop a work ethic. (Special rerelease) 

Send us Fan Mail Restaurants need food from farmers and farmers need restaurants to sell their food, right? Sounds simple, but it all got a little crazy for everybody when Covid hit in 2020 and supply chains were disrupted. It was realized there was a gap between the farmers and restaurant owners. From those tough times came a new group called FARE Idaho that is working to bring local farmers and...

Send us Fan Mail Fields of mint may look a little like hay, and get harvested a little like hay, but when one barrel of mint oil is the final product from four acres of harvest, you quickly realize this is no ordinary crop. From chewing gum to toothpaste, ice cream to candy canes, mint is part of our daily lives. Del Christensen, area manager for Labbeemint, takes us through the process of how min...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when you ask farmers and ranchers what they want in an ideal dream truck with luxuries such as boot washers, dog boxes, the works? This is where the Diesel Brothers make wishes into realities. They have not only made over 100 customized trucks but find ways to give them away for free. Hans Peterson, manager of Diesel Brothers, talks about working on John Wayne's...

Send us Fan Mail When you haul a 4-ton potato around the United States, people naturally follow you off the highway to get pictures of themselves with this spectacle. Everyone has the same question, "Is it real?" Laura Martin and Sue Kennedy, Tour Directors, take us on a journey of this famous Idaho potato truck from prom parades to barge rides around the Statue of Liberty. Hear how it a...

Send us Fan Mail Who would have thought a decade ago that farmers today can place a full 10-gallon tank on the back of a 225 lbs. drone to place applications on select areas of fields with farmers at the control. Taylor Moreland, the founder of Agri Spray Drones, tells the story of how this technology is advancing, how it is meant to work in conjunction with larger ground equipment, and how these...

Send us Fan Mail Traditional farm fields stretch north and south and east and west, but some are looking upward to grow crops. Such is the case with Vertical Harvest Farms located in famous Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Nona Yehia, CEO and co-founder, tells the story of how they worked with city officials to design and grow food in the first vertical (3-story) greenhouse in the Northern Hemisphere. Despi...

Send us Fan Mail A phenomenon spreading across all demographics is video games that allow players to realistically experience farming. One of the most popular games is called Farming Simulator by GIANTS Software. This impact of this game has inspired some players who weren't in agriculture to become real-life farmers. Of course, some with agriculture ties are also getting in on the fun. Kermi...

Send us Fan Mail The Heffernan farm family (yes, there really are 5 Marys) dreamed of taking what they learned from the restaurant business and moved it into raising and producing beef among many other ventures.  This is their story of starting over 20 businesses while achieving their goal of raising four daughters with agricultural roots.

Send us Fan Mail Once thought to be a wild horse that was domesticated, the White Horse of Black Daisy Canyon is said to have escaped a hunting camp 25 years ago and has since survived on its own back in the rugged mountains around Mackay, Idaho. Locals and out-of-towners watch every spring for this icon to reappear to add to the White Horse's longevity and legacy. Macky resident and White Ho...

Send us Fan Mail Alex McCoy will be the first to admit that an ostrich farm or ostrich meat is not mainstream today and may conjure up some interesting conversation. People are more familiar with a traditional Fourth of July burger or chicken sandwich. However, after a culinary encounter in South Africa, Alex thought about it through the lens of nutrition. Ostrich meat is a red meat that is virtua...

Send us Fan Mail "Leaving The Tech Sector For Garlic, Goats, & So Much More" Real-life sisters Venise Cunningham and Belinda Kelly used to travel a distance to work in the tech sector, but life changed with the purchase of 10 acres of land. The problem: neither of them knew anything about farming, so off to Google and mentors they went to learn how to grow something to sell. Today, t...

Send us Fan Mail Ask any farm kid from the last 50 years how much they liked rock picking and see their reaction. Most would say it was pretty fun for the first 15 minutes and miserable for the rest. Today, farmers can't afford to have sizeable rocks damage their increasingly expensive farm equipment in the fields. As with all aspects of agriculture, farms are looking to automation. Trevor Th...

Send us Fan Mail Millions of books are sold every year with all kinds of glamorous tips and gimmicks to get people to think the food they eat will give them what they want. Unfortunately, many of these fad diets aren't sustainable. Sheri Glazier is a farmer and nutritionist known as the Dirt Road Dietician. On this podcast, she walks us through how people can live life, not be too extreme, an...

Send us Fan Mail Dirt Road Discussions has shared stories from many people from across the country. In this special holiday episode, we share a touching story of hope and perseverance told by Lynn and Susan Steadman who lost their house in a fire. Their words remind us of what is truly important in life.

Send us Fan Mail Florida has the fun job to grow the majority of strawberries for the United States during the winter season. Whether they are surviving a hurricane, covid, regulation changes, or labor shortages, the strawberry industry is an exciting place to be. Michelle Williamson, Operation Manager of G&F Farms, and Kenneth Parker, Executive Director of Strawberry Growers Association, give...

Send us Fan Mail With a collection of over 100 antique tractors, it is one man's job to revive these historic machines. This behind-the-scenes interview with Rob Bearden, aka Tractor Doctor, takes us through his story and process. These old tractors are a tribute to farmers who took horse teams out of the fields and adopted new technology that changed the future of agriculture.

Send us Fan Mail Whether it is a candy bar wrapper or medical equipment, the world uses millions of plastic products. An exciting emerging technology, using starches from potato waste and other crops, can potentially change the plastic industry and waste management of plastic products. BiologiQ CEO Steven Sherman shows how agriculture waste is being accessed to make a new and strong plastic that i...

Send us Fan Mail Phillippe Aumont tells an amazing story of being a first-round draft pitcher in Major League Baseball and then later choosing to trade a mound of dirt for dirt on a family farm. He talks about learning how to become a farmer, the reaction from his teammates, and why he loves the lifestyle that comes with growing healthy food for his community.

Send us Fan Mail Cow herds will always need cowboys, but with developing technology, ranchers can now move invisible fences (and cows) with the push of a button on their phones. CK Wisniewski, ranching success manager with a company called Vence, explains how this technology is being implemented today. Another aspect of this technology is being able to monitor the well-being of cattle while on the...

Send us Fan Mail The FFA organization is found today in schools all across America. Jim Summers and Vernon Roche probably never knew that when they went to the same high school in the 1960s that both their life journeys would lead to decades of being Ag educators. Now retired, these two sit down to share insights and funny stories into why FFA and good old-fashioned hard work are needed now more t...