Entries by ncat-admin

A Garden of Hope: The Hub of Prosperity

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Sometimes, old ideas resurface. In the same way, farms can gain a new life after perceived abandon. The beliefs and mindsets the farm embodies emerge with it. They may take a different semblance, but fundamentally, they carry the same hope, regenerated from the ground up. The Hub of Prosperity carries the dreams and hopes of the Magic Valley of the Rio Grande Valley.
Hernan Colmenero

Soil Social: Quorum Sensing, Part 1

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Sunrise is approaching. You grab your morning cup of coffee and head out to your vegetable plot. As you hold your warm mug laced between your fingers, you muse and strategize about the day’s tasks. It is that time, just at first light, that the wind is dead calm, the nightly bug chatter has ended, it is still too early for the birds to start their musical chirping, and the rooster has yet to sound the alarm. You have come to love these special few minutes of each day for their intense vacuum silence. In between sips, you hear a buzz that you haven’t heard before. It is coming from the soil beneath the tomato and squash plants. The microbiology in your soil is having a meeting.  
Darron Gaus

Feeding the World: Localism, Ecological Resilience, and Farmer and Community Agency

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My alarm goes off, the kettle whistles and coffee steeps in the French press. At my desk I boot up my computer to prepare for what comes. Typical day. What’s also typical lately are the numerous articles I read on how the global food system is being stressed by high fuel and fertilizer prices. So today I did a quick search. In 2017, oil prices were $60 per barrel and fertilizer costs were $109 per acre. Fast forward to 2022 and oil is going for $105, and it costs $291 to fertilize an acre of crops.
Lee Rinehart

Episode 261. Summer Grazing for Winter Stockpile

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Winter feeding is one of the biggest expenses for most livestock operations. In this episode of Voices from the Field, NCAT Agriculture Specialist Lee Rinehart and NCAT Regenerative Grazing Specialist Justin Morris discuss strategies graziers can use to plan for winter stockpile during the summer grazing season.
Lee Rinehart and Justin Morris