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ATTRA Blog

Whether you’re a seasoned or beginning producer, a curious consumer, or simply someone who appreciates the bounty of the earth, you’ll find valuable insights and engaging stories here.

Written by ATTRA specialists on topics they are passionate and knowledgeable about, the ATTRA blog highlights techniques, how-tos, insight, success stories, and much more in support of sustainable agriculture.

Plant Diversity for Animal Health

While many people make conscious decisions about what foods they eat for health reasons, the same considerations are not often made for livestock. We rarely discuss how the variety of plants they eat affects their health, wellness, and nutrient density of their meat.
By Kara Kroeger, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist

A Spring IPM Toolbox for Controlling Powdery Mildew in Vineyards

Powdery mildew has plagued vineyards since time immemorial. If temperatures reach between 70 and 85 degrees, chances are, powdery mildew has woken up from its slumber and is ready to infect your grapes. When left unchecked, this fungus can reduce vine growth, sabotage yields, and reduce fruit quality. There are all sorts of practices in our integrated pest-management toolbox that we can use to control powdery mildew. Prevention is always number one, but there are plenty of mitigation strategies we can employ as well. Here are some good examples:
By Katherine Favor, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist
apple blossum

Fruit and the Freeze of 2021

Better Than I Feared but Worse Than It Looks By Guy K. Ames,…

Safety Nets and the Polar Vortex

By Mike Morris, NCAT Southwest Regional Director I’m still…

Reflections on NCAT’s First Soil Health Innovations Conference

Everyone has their “thing”—that topic or interest that they just can’t get enough of. That topic that you bore people with at parties (remember parties?) when you talk about it just a little too long. For me, my “thing” is soil. I find the topic of soil so endlessly fascinating, and I get to think about, talk about, teach about, and play with soil as a job and a way of life. I’m lucky enough to be a soil specialist for NCAT and I live on a family farm.
By Nina Prater, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist

Connecting with the Customer

By Daniel Prial, NCAT Community Food Specialist Being Authentic…

Reclaiming Wood

So many of our projects on the farm require building structures out of wood. I’m always building a new raised bed or chicken coop or fences to keep the chickens from messing with my vegetables, but a recent trip to the local hardware store was a rude awakening. Wood prices were double what I paid six months ago. Why? They said it had something to do with the fires out west. After taking a moment to reflect on the inter-connectedness of everything, I paid for the wood I needed and went on my merry way. My trip home was merry indeed because I passed by an opportunity, literally: pallets. Stacks and stacks of pallets.
By Justin Duncan, NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist

So, You Want to a Start a Farm?

This blog will cover a short set of key questions you should ask yourself when considering starting a farm. Your answers will help you think about whether farming is right for you and help get you started in your planning process.
By Rockiell Woods, NCAT Gulf States Regional Director

Juneberry: the Delicious Native American Fruit with a Thousand Names

Of the many names for this plant, "chuckleberry" is certainly my favorite, but I've only seen it in writing, never heard it spoken. Around the Ozarks where I live "sarvis" or "sarvisberry" seems to be the most commonly spoken, at least among the old-timers.
By Guy K. Ames, NCAT Horticulture Specialist
Bianca Moebius-Clune

Moebius-Clune and Soil “Livestock”

Dr. Bianca Moebius-Clune sees soil as a living ecosystem whose critters need attention, just like the animals in any agriculture operation. 'Every one of you who's a farmer or even a gardener has livestock, because your livestock are in the soil, and you wouldn't think to not feed them,' Dr. Bianca Moebius-Clune said recently to producers in Kansas.
By Rich Myers, NCAT Outreach Specialist