Entries by ncat-admin

Episode 154: Using Cover Crops in an Organic Walnut Orchard

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In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT’s Rex Dufour interviews organic walnut farmer and processor, Russ Lester, at Dixon Ridge Farms in Winters, California. Russ shares some very practical thoughts about why he uses cover crops and explains how multi-functional cover crops are to his orchards. Rex Dufour has been a sustainable agriculture […]

How About Growing Your Own Food During the COVID-19 Restrictions?

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We are all used to popping down to the local supermarket or garden center to buy potted plants or flowers to liven up the house, and to a certain degree, we still can. But as we are spending more time at home than we could have imagined a few months ago, why not also consider buying plant starts or seeds and growing your own food?

By Andrew Coggins, NCAT Rocky Mountain West Regional Director

Episode 153. COVID-19 Impacts on Local Livestock Producers

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In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Southeast Regional Director and ATTRA Livestock Specialist, Margo Hale, talks with Rebecca Thistlethwaite. Rebecca is the director of the Niche Meat Processor Assistance Network (NMPAN) and works with livestock producers, processors, and marketers all across the country. Their discussion covers some of the opportunities and challenges […]

Wine Cap Mushroom Production: Getting Started

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By Nina Prater, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Last year, the NCAT Southeast office partnered with the University of Missouri’s Agroforestry Center to host a one-day mushroom cultivation workshop in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Gregory Ormsby Mori with the Agroforestry Center provided hands-on instruction, showing multiple ways of growing mushrooms. These included shiitake mushrooms in logs, oyster mushrooms […]

Episode 152. Starting a Farm

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Today’s episode of Voices from the Field is the first in an occasional series from Rockiell Woods, Director of NCAT’s Gulf States Regional Office in Jackson, Mississippi, and Bill Evans, Director of Horticulture at Up in Farms Food Hub in Jackson. This series is all about starting a farm. Today’s conversation is focused on how […]

Growing Vegetable Transplants in the Greenhouse

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By Luke Freeman, NCAT Horticulture Specialist Earlier this spring, my wife and I got a 12×16 foot greenhouse for our small farm to use for starting vegetable and flower transplants for our garden. The greenhouse arrived just in time, before COVID-19 restrictions went into place in our state. We have been able to start our […]

Episode 151. Erosion Control and Mitigation

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In today’s episode of Voices from the Field, we hear from Kara Kroeger, Sustainable Agriculture specialist at NCAT’s Southwest Regional Office in San Antonio, Texas. She interviews Mollie Walton, Land and Water Program Director for the Quivira Coalition in New Mexico. The Quivira Coalition works on biodiversity, building soil and resilience on western working landscapes. […]

Episode 150. Glyphosate Contamination

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In this episode of Voices from the Field, Jeff Schahczenski, an agricultural and natural resource economist with NCAT’s ATTRA sustainable-agriculture program, discusses recent shipments of organic wheat and durum from Montana that were determined to be contaminated with glyphosate. That caused European Union buyers to reject the shipments. The situation has created a significant economic […]

Adaptive Grazing – You Can Do It

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Adaptive grazing improves forage availability and ecosystem functioning, and strengthens grazing landscapes with diversity and resilience. ATTRA has brought together a suite of resources for farmers and ranchers, of all scales and for all species of grazing animals, who are interested in transitioning to an adaptive grazing system.
By Lee Rinehart, Sustainable Agriculture Specialist

Peach Leaf Curl

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I’m seeing peach leaf curl in my orchard. It’s April, but the calendar date is not as important as the growth stage of the peaches.
By Guy K. Ames
NCAT Horticulture Specialist In Northwest Arkansas