Regeneration Rising

In this month's episode of Regeneration Rising, host Taylor Muglia speaks with Katie McInnes, Co-owner and Operator of The Dogs Run Farm near Clearwater, Manitoba, Canada. Katie talks about her journey from acting into farming and how community relationships and a bit of luck led her and her now husband Colin to securing land for farming. Katie also talks about what their farm looks like today, ho...

On this episode of Regeneration Rising, our guest is Terrance Boyd, owner of Wild Boyd Farm in Matheson, Colorado. Terrance talks about his deep interest in being an active agent in his own food production, his journey into homesteading, and how he has turned the homestead into a ranch business that serves a variety of meat sales channels due to high demand for locally-raised meat in the Denver ar...

Chase Hetler and Jessie Hook spent much of 2023 as Quivira Coalition interns through the Carbon Ranch Initiative, investigating the financial and ecological viability of compost application and erosion control structures on rangeland in the southwest. Host Taylor Muglia chats with both interns about their experiences and how their internships changed the way they see academia's role in ranching.

In this episode of Regeneration Rising, host Taylor Muglia chats with New Agrarian Program mentor Louis Martin, owner of Round River Resource Management near Rush, Colorado. They talk about Louis' background in agriculture and education, and how he found opportunities to access land and capital even though agriculture skipped a generation in his family. Louis has mentored over 60 apprentices; he e...

In this episode, host Taylor Muglia sits down with current New Agrarian Program apprentices Ryan Koch and Samuel Moreno to talk about their experience in the past year. From applications and interviews to successes and struggles during the season to plans post-apprenticeship, this conversation has so many valuable lessons not only for future applicants, but anyone considering starting a career in...

In anticipation for the 2024 New Agrarian Program applications opening November 1st, we are spending some time today with mentor Layna Jansen, rancher and Beef Program Coordinator at the Home Ranch in Clark, Colorado. She shares details about her career path and what it takes to feel like you finally belong to a place after moving from Virginia to the Home Ranch as a young adult, and working her w...

In this episode, host Taylor Muglia dives into the details of a creative land access model with Poudre Valley Community Farms Executive Director Stacy Lishka and one of the program's lessees Evanne Caviness, who also happens to be the Western Organizing Manager for the National Young Farmers Coalition. The two guests talk about what can go right and wrong with cooperative land leasing, and share i...

Emily certainly didn't see herself coming back to her family potato and barley farm in the San Luis Valley of Colorado, but a husband, child, and global pandemic later, she finds herself learning how to farm from her parents, participating in succession conversations, and becoming an advocate within the ag community. In this episode of Regeneration Rising, host Taylor Muglia talks with Emily Brown...

The New Agrarian Program's Taylor Muglia sits down with Pork Rhyne "The Pork Evangelist" to talk about his career path as a young farmer and transition into public speaking and consulting, as well as lessons he's learned from helping clients build profitable livestock enterprises. You can follow Pork Rhyne by visiting the youtube channel Agro Educators International , or visiting their website . P...

New Agrarian Program (NAP) alumni Graham Holtrop guest-hosts this episode, interviewing his former mentor Jim Spinner (current NAP mentor at The Veebaray ). Graham and Jim discuss what he loves about ranching, what it takes to be ranch manager, and advice for first generation ranchers who may pursue ranch management, as opposed to ownership. Jim talks about his challenges raising a family and navi...

Hannah Breckbill, co-farmer at Humble Hands Harvest in Decorah, Iowa, felt a desire to own land originally because of a yearning to incorporate perennials into her vegetable and sheep operation. This can be a frustration for land renters who feel unsure of their longevity on a piece of land. In this episode, Hannah sits down with Taylor Muglia of the New Agrarian Program to talk about the process...

New Agrarian Program (NAP) Alumna Natalie Berkman (Milton Ranch, 2020/2021) joined as a guest-host to interview Susan Elder (Charter Ranch, 2020/2021) for a conversation about their lives post-apprenticeship as managers of ranches in Montana and Kansas. The conversation highlights lessons learned from apprenticeship and challenges of the transition, with some good laughs sprinkled in about purple...

Tony Vorster, Research Scientist at Colorado State University (CSU), Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory sits down with host Taylor Muglia to talk details of the new CSU Western Ranch Management and Ecosystem Stewardship Program and options beginning agrarians might have for further education. They discuss the Summer Field Course, the importance of learning alongside peers of diverse specialties,...

In this conversation, New Agrarian Program's Taylor Muglia has a powerful conversation with Ryan White, CEO and Founder of SnapLands LLC . Ryan talks about his winding road into agriculture, which is rooted deeply in his appreciation for nature which he has carried since childhood. Ryan discusses difficult career decisions he's faced in the industry of regenerative land management, expands upon "e...

Quivira Coalition's Taylor Muglia sits down with Michelle Hughes, the Operations and Impact Director at National Young Farmers Coalition . Michelle speaks about her background in farming and livestock production and how she transitioned to advocacy work, then became staff at NYFC. She talks about the challenges and successes of weaving racial equity into an agricultural organization, and how accou...

Quivira Coalition's New Agrarian Program Colorado Manager Taylor Muglia sits down with Akwese Mbendang Milene Majolie. Akwese was an intern this summer with Quivira's Carbon Ranch Initiative. Working remotely from Rwanda where she attended school at the African Leadership University Rwanda, she helped with biochar projects and educational guides, and expanded her knowledge of regenerative agricult...

The National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC) Land Advocacy Fellowship is a two-year advocacy and leadership fellowship for current and aspiring young farmers and ranchers. In this episode, host Taylor Muglia sits down with Benú Amun-Ra, Tanisha Diggs, and Óscar Vital, three Fellows from right here in Colorado. They talk about their land access goals, how it can be even harder for BIPOC to access ag...

Caroline Caldwell is a rancher, academic, traveller, Corgi-owner, and Quivira's very own Northern Plains Manager here at the New Agrarian Program. In this episode, we pick Caroline's brain about land transition and her work with American Farmland Trust, her perspective on how new agrarians can find success without inheriting land, and what qualities you can work on to become a great ranch manager....

If you've ever had to rush through evening chores, change your smelly boots, and make it to town in time for a date, this podcast will feel very relevant to you. Martha Skelley, Farm and Livestock Manager at Paicines Ranch sits down to talk about her "fast-tracked" path into agriculture, the general culture of workaholism she has noticed and embodied during her career, and the reality check of wan...

Formally, you might know Donne Gonzales as the Los Sembradores Farm Trainer & Youth Education Coordinator at the New Mexico Acequia Association, but it's impossible to parse out where her personal passions end and her professional work begins. In this episode, Donne teaches about the magic of acequias, her work teaching farming skills (however big or small a garden might be) and preserving the tra...

In this episode of Regeneration Rising, NAP's Taylor Muglia sits down with Caleb Valdez, a young rancher and owner of Uncompahgre Farms in Montrose, CO. Caleb has built his grassfed beef business from scratch, starting out by knocking on doors of neighbors with land to see if he could graze his small cattle herd. He talks about building a rapport with the community, crafting a brand, using his bac...

Caity Roberts, 2nd year Apprentice/Apprentice Coordinator at Ferrell Ranch/4L Grazing in Beaumont, Kansas sits down to talk about her journey in agriculture, and particularly how she has learned to care for her mental health and mindset while working on vineyards and ranches. Caity has helped Ferrell Ranch build their own apprenticeship program and has discovered the beauty and joy of living in th...

Quivira Coalition's Taylor Muglia sits down with Geoffrey Van, Program Director of the Changing Hands Program at Rogue Farm Corps. Geoffrey talks about a childhood surrounded by concrete in Hong Kong, then moving to the US and finding his passion in farming, first on a goji berry farm, and then in raising livestock. He found himself learning butchery in Brooklyn, New York for a bit, which solidifi...

In this episode we speak with Shalini Karra. She's the Holistic Livestock Manager at Apricot Lane Farms in Moorpark, California. Shalini didn't come from an agricultural background, but took several important opportunities - including a New Agrarian Program apprenticeship and working with Gabe Brown - that allowed her to develop a career in regenerative agriculture. She talks about the bumps in th...

Shepherdess, mother, and generational farmer Elena Miller- ter Kuile tells us more about the history of her family's operation, Cactus Hill Farm in La Jara, CO. She explains how she revived the sheep operation and developed a fiber business, with eyes on a direct-market lamb enterprise. Her family also helps run the farm operation with alfalfa, grains, and vegetables. Motherhood on the ranch has p...