Podcast
Luhman: Lightening the Load
So often people fear that in order to improve their soil health and regenerate their soil it will come at the expense of their profitability and the success of their farming business. And while it is true that adopting regenerative farming practices can be a learning experience, and sometimes that comes with yield hits or…
Read MoreDirt Rich: Building Relationships and Telling Your Story
Connecting with others and meeting new people has always been important to John Beaton, and it’s this flair for relationship building that is at the heart of his farm story. John and Emily Beaton operate Fairhaven Farm just north of Duluth, Minnesota, and are members of SFA’s Lake Superior Chapter. John got his start on a…
Read MoreDirt Rich: Wisdom of the Prairie
Megan Benage, a Regional Ecologist for the Minnesota DNR, brings her passion for the prairie to 32 counties in southern Minnesota–and to thousands of listeners on the Prairie Pod, which she hosts with fellow scientists. And today, she brings it to Dirt Rich! Once covering a full third of the state, Minnesota’s tallgrass prairie is…
Read MorePodcast: Growing Grazing Dairy Farmers
Angie Walter and her husband Nate run an organic dairy in Central Minnesota, and are also masters in the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship program. Today’s episode of Dirt Rich features them in conversation with their first apprentice, Ryan Heinen, who now manages a dairy in Waukesha, Wisconsin. His passion for ecology and restoration led him to…
Read MoreDirt Rich: Pastured Pork & an Incubator Farm
“What else is livestock farming but sort of a dance and a balance between farmer happiness, livestock happiness, and soil health happiness?” Dayna Burtness discusses her “pastured pig-centric farm,” marketing enterprise, and incubator farm near Spring Grove, in the Driftless region of Minnesota. Dayna is the sixth generation in her family to farm in Houston…
Read MoreDirt Rich: Silvopasture Library Revisited
In anticipation of our trio of silvopasture field days and workshops next week, we wanted to highlight the five episodes we’ve made that cover this management approach with ecological and indigenous origins: Episode 9: “Silvopasture in Minnesota” with SFA’s Tyler Carlson and Jared Luhman. Episode 10: “Implementing Silvopasture” with SFA’s Tyler Carlson and Jared Luhman.…
Read MoreDirt Rich: The Potential of Perennial Crops & Kernza
“I’m so heartened by the work that our farmers are doing, that our researchers are doing, to create these really sustainable crops–they’re actually regenerative crops–that are not only delicious on the plate, but really good for the land.” Beth Dooley shares the excitement for Minnesota perennial crops and Kernza that she, Jacob Jungers, and Peter…
Read MoreDirt Rich: A Chat with Gabe Brown
On the latest episode of Dirt Rich, Gabe Brown shares his ranch story and his 25+ years of learning about regenerative agriculture practices with host Jared Luhman. Before “soil health” concepts entered the mainstream, a few hail storms in the ‘90s, financial challenges, connections made with soil experts, and some serendipity prodded Gabe to try…
Read MoreSpring Grazing Management on ‘Dirt Rich’
When is the best time to turn the cows out? On Episode 31 of Dirt Rich, Kent Solberg and Jared Luhman dig into this decision that sets you up for the rest of the grazing season. It can be awful tempting to get started as soon as we see green, but Kent illustrates how letting…
Read MorePodcast: Getting Ready for a Seed Saving Season
Zachary Paige returns to Dirt Rich in Episode 28 for a conversation on planning ahead for seed saving! You may remember him from Episode 21 at the top of the season. Zach farms and operates North Circle Seeds in Vergas, Minnesota. North Circle Seeds is a newly certified organic seed company and collective committed to…
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