Ear to the Ground Podcast

Nettle Valley Farm is using silvopasturing to prove ecological sustainability and profitable livestock production can coexist — creating healthy pollinator habitat in the bargain. LSP’s Ear to the Ground episode 265 describes Nettle Valley Farm’s beginning farmer incubator program. More information: • LSP’s Grazing & Soil Health web page • Xerces Society for Invertebrate Cons...

Martin Larsen’s integration of small grains into his cropping operation is centered on building economic and ecological resiliency beyond the next growing season. For more information on soil health and to join LSP’s Soil Builders’ Network, click here. Ear Dirt Check out LSP’s ongoing Ear Dirt podcast series for conversations on cover cropping, no-till, managed rotational grazing...

In his ongoing attempt to create a regenerative, soil-healthy farm, Kaleb Anderson is pushing a plant science breakthrough further using rotational grazing. Other Ear to the Ground Podcasts on Kernza, Forever Green & Kaleb Anderson: • Episode 229: A farmer and a researcher discuss the potential agronomic, economic, and ecological benefits of a commercially-viable perennial…  Read Mo...

What happens when you get out of the car and wade into a prairie? A scientist and a soil expert talk about this biome’s under-appreciated beauty, its outsized benefits, and how grazing can fuel its ecological energy.   Other Ear to the Ground Podcasts on Prairies & Farming: • Episode 25: The farm as natural…  Read More → Source

Tillage can do a lot of things, but building soil isn’t one of them. Soil expert Steve Lawler and Minnesota farmer Jon Jovaag talk about the importance of using nature as a guide when preparing a seed bed and bolstering the soil’s structure. • For more information on how to build soil health profitably, check…  Read More → Source

Soil health cheerleader Ray Archuleta and Iowa farmer Mervin Beachy talk about taking agroecological innovations from the “excitement stage” to the “action stage”…and the importance of aha moments. • For more information on how to build soil health profitably, check out LSP’s Soil Builders’ Network page. • Check out this LSP blog on Red Rooster…&#160...

What happened when beginning farmers Rachelle and Jordan Meyer started listening to the land and turned livestock loose on a “bacterial farm.” • Check out this LSP video on how Rachelle and Jordan Meyer are using “cell grazing” to build soil and produce livestock. • More information on Wholesome Family Farms is here. • For…  Read More → Source

Farmer Tom Frantzen talks about hybrid rye, ecological resiliency, and why being uncomfortable isn’t always a bad thing. • To read the Civil Eats article on hybrid rye — “Hybrid Rye is Helping Farmers Fight ‘Superweeds’ Without Herbicide” — click here. • To read the Land Stewardship Letter article on hybrid rye — “A Grain…  Read More → Source

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