Dirt Rich Episode 24: Restoring Oak Savanna
Tyler and Stephen pick up their conversation on oak savanna from our last episode: How do we restore oak savanna? What does it take? Where have we been and what’s been missed in prior restoration attempts? According to Stephen, “restoration is restoring the processes that maintain the desirable vegetation.” He dives into a variety of…
Read MoreDirt Rich Episode 23: Origins of Oak Savanna
Stephen Thomforde, farmer, Stantec Senior Ecologist, and expert in fields of oak savanna research and restoration takes us on a deep dive into oak savannas. Throughout the episode, he describes the patterns of this ecosystem’s growth across geographical space and time, all the way back to when mammoths and mastodons walked Minnesota. In short, a…
Read MoreDirt Rich Episode 10: Implementing Silvopasture
Jared Luhman and Tyler Carlson return to further discuss Silvopasture: “the intentional integration of trees, forage, and livestock into one intensively managed system.” Formerly a trope to “keep livestock out of the woods,” now farmers have the tools to properly manage their impact. By intensively managing trees to optimize the growing environment for the forage…
Read MoreDirt Rich Episode 17: Wintering Cattle Roundtable
Winter can be the most expensive time to own a cow in the Midwest. As the season changes, five of our staff who also raise beef and dairy cows gathered to share the ways that they’ve found to reduce the cost (and labor) of wintering cattle on their unique operations. All five live in different…
Read MoreDirt Rich Episode 9: “Silvopasture in Minnesota”
Silvopasture: “the intentional integration of trees, forage, and livestock into one intensively managed system.” New Dirt Rich voices Jared Luhman and Tyler Carlson give an intro to silvopasture practices, covering a little history, how silvopasture looks today, and the economic and biological benefits these systems can provide to Minnesota farmers. Stay tuned for next week’s…
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