Ear to the Ground Podcast

Livestock producer Eric Klein of Hidden Stream Farm describes why and how his family launched its own meat processing business. It’s been a financial and logistical challenge, but a few years down the road it’s already producing benefits for their farm as well as the local community. If you’re thinking of getting into small-scale meat…  Read More → Source

Beginning dairy farmer Carrie Redden talks about how she sees successful land stewardship and successful farming as deeply intertwined, and why more non-farmers need to make that connection as well. Carrie Redden was interviewed as part of the We Are Water initiative, which documented the stories of several farmers in the upper reaches of the…  Read More → Source

To Abbey Dickhudt, farming offers a way to not just produce food, but to make the world a better place. And she’s not afraid to say, “I don’t know.” Abbey Dickhudt was interviewed as part of the We Are Water initiative, which documented the stories of several farmers in the upper reaches of the Minnesota…  Read More → Source

When Mark Erickson’s combine got stuck in the muck, he knew he needed to unearth a different relationship with the land. Mark Erickson was interviewed as part of the We Are Water initiative, which documented the stories of several farmers in the upper reaches of the Minnesota River watershed who are using innovative production methods…  Read More → Source

Ella Robertson and Eric Wana of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate in northeastern South Dakota talk about reawakening their people’s connections to farming, the land, and water. Ella Robertson and Eric Wana were interviewed as part of the We Are Water initiative, which documented the stories of several farmers in the upper reaches of the Minnesota…  Read More → Source

Over the past two decades, LSP’s Farm Beginnings course has developed into a nationally-recognized program for launching the next generation of innovative farmers. Karen Stettler and Amy Bacigalupo talk about how Farm Beginnings got started, the community-centered philosophy it’s based on, and where it’s headed. More on Farm Beginnings • For more on LSP’s Farm Beginnings&#8...

Hannah Bernhardt and Jason Misik couldn't afford prime farmland brimming with infrastructure. But sweat equity and soil health are helping them transform a marginal piece of ground far from Corn Country. Source

Beginning farmer Zach Knutson talks to Alex Romano about how rotational grazing allows him to manage land, time, and finances more efficiently. Source

Should we call it "sustainable" or "regenerative" ag? Dana Jackson makes it clear this is not a new debate and it all centers around soil, communities, and people. Source

Researcher Emily Reno started out doing a simple market analysis for a Latino produce cooperative, but ended up gaining new insights into the barriers and opportunities involved when any farmer seeks to sell local food on a wholesale basis. Source

How the Sustainable Iowa Land Trust is connecting stewardship-minded landowners with the next generation of regenerative farmers. Source

Conservation pioneer Paul Johnson talks about forging a social compact between farmers and society...and the day he made a farmer cry. Source

A desire to continue a legacy (and a love of weed-pulling) eases Foxtail Farm into the hands of the next generation. Source

What happens when you bring a group of food service folks out to see how vegetables are actually grown? Source

Blue Dasher Farm's Jonathan Lundgren talks about bugs, biodiversity and, of course, cow pies. Source

An ag economist talks about the negative impacts the "get big or get out" attitude has had on farming and rural communities. Source

LSP staffer Elizabeth Makarewicz talks to participants in the 2019 Queer Farmer Convergence at Humble Hands Harvest in Iowa about connecting queerness, farming, and community. Source

How farmers Dawn and Grant Breitkreutz are building soil carbon and bolstering financial resiliency. Source

Farm advocates provide tips on dealing with the ag crisis, and how we can fight for a brighter future. Source

How the Tallgrass Prairie Center in Iowa is introducing a little wildness into a domesticated landscape. Source

How one land grant experiment station is helping farmers integrate livestock and crops in a way that creates resilient soils...and a resilient food system. Source

Excessive erosion on her farm prompted Jeannie Hill to have a hard conversation with her renter. But first, she did some homework. Source

Farmer and caver Martin Larsen describes the connections between land use on the surface and water quality problems he sees underground. For more on ways to build soil health profitably, see LSP's Soil Builders web page. Source

Robin Moore talks about how LSP is using soil health to forge stewardship partnerships between non-operating landowners and the farmers who rent from them. For more resources on how to develop farmland leases that reflect your stewardship values, click here . Source

A farmer and a researcher discuss the potential agronomic, economic, and ecological benefits of a commercially-viable perennial grain. Source