Advertise on podcast: AcresUSA: Tractor Time

On this episode, we speak with Eric & Joy McEwen, Owners of Diggin’ Livin’. They talk about the origin of the farm, the positive effects of having beehives for a landscape, the generic interplay with nature and the need for a new generation of beekeepers.  Thank you for listening. You can learn more about Acres U.S.A. at www.AcresUSA.com.

On this episode, we speak with Mollie Engelhart, Executive Chef at Sage Plant Based Bistro & Brewery and owner of Sow a Heart Regenerative Farm and Sovereignty Ranch. Mollie speaks about how her passion for the environment spurred her interest in the regenerative movement and the difficulties that come along with fighting for a better planet.  Thank you for listening. You can learn more about Acres U.S.A. at www.AcresUSA.com.

On this episode, we speak with Paul Neubauer, Farm Foreman at Vilicus Farms and owner of P/N Custom Grazing. Paul speaks about his passion for livestock integration with crop production and the inequalities that exist in the agricultural landscape.   Paul Neubauer is a young agrarian and first-generation farmer and rancher. Growing up in Buffalo, NY Paul did not get first-hand exposure to agriculture until after graduating high school when he worked on his uncle’s ranch in Tennessee. He was immediately attracted to raising livestock as well as agriculture in general, and was able to build on those interests while attending Warren Wilson College in North Carolina. While pursuing a degree in History, Paul worked on the school farm, learning about land management and animal husbandry, as well as equipment operation while raising crops and livestock for the students of Warren Wilson. After graduating from college, Paul apprenticed at the San Juan Ranch in Saguache, Colorado through Quivira’s New Agrarian Program. He spent two years working in the high and dry San Luis valley, continuing to grow his skillset in animal and land management. After his time as an apprentice, he continued to work in Colorado for a local rancher, managing a herd of cattle in nearby Gunnison.Paul is the Farm Foreman at Vilicus farms, and manages the day to day operations of the farm as well as managing his own cattle enterprise, P/N Ranch. He is committed to working at the intersection of crops, livestock, land health and people. Paul is certain we are not doing enough as a society to address climate change, the deeply unhealthy food system, massive and unsustainable inequality of the gender, racial, religious and economic kinds and the lack of livestock on U.S. cropland. His work as a foreman and mentor at Vilicus Farms, as well as his time as an apprentice in the NAP program have been in an effort to live closely to the land and pursue remedies to the aforementioned societal ills. Paul’s relationships with his agricultural mentors has been the essential catalyst for his joy in the work of growing food, and his small successes thus far. Inspired by his own experience as a mentee, Paul is dedicated to providing education, mentorship and his friendship to other beginning farmers and ranchers.Paul’s work with land, animals, food and people also extends past the farm gate as he is the president of the Cottonwood Local of Montana Farmers Union. Paul has represented the Montana Farmers Union at the National Farmers Union Convention, and works hard to help create and shape policies that will improve the health of the land and the livelihoods of those who manage it.   Thank you for listening. You can learn more about Acres U.S.A. at www.AcresUSA.com.

On this episode, we speak with Harry Greene, Co-founder of Propagate. Harry speaks about the creation of Propagate, how their software generates more profit per acre and the future of agroforestry.    Harry is an agroforestry agronomist, focusing on finance and economics for useful trees on working farms: orchards, windbreaks, silvopasture, and alley cropping. He spent years trail running, swimming, and kayaking made clear the connection between forests, clean air, and clean water. Before an MBA, Harry spent two years as a resident modern pentathlete at the Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center. He competed on the World Cup circuit in the United States, Mexico, and Egypt and at the 2015 World Championships in Berlin. Harry currently resides in Trumansburg, New York, farming chestnuts, black locust, and other tree crops on 50 acres.   Thank you for listening. You can learn more about Acres U.S.A. at www.AcresUSA.com.

On this episode, we speak with Kelly Mulville, Vineyard Director of Paicines Ranch. Kelly speaks about how his passion for holistic agriculture developed, the technics he employs at Paicines Ranch and the future of the industry.     For the past 25 years Kelly Mulville has managed and consulted with vineyards, farms and ranches throughout the western USA, Spain and Australia. His focus is on combining experience in farming and viticulture with holistic management in order to design and manage more ecologically, socially and economically sound farming practices. This usually involves a considerable amount of help from livestock.  Kelly has been vineyard director at Paicines Ranch since 2014 and does design/advising work for vineyards.   Thank you for listening. You can learn more about Acres U.S.A. at www.AcresUSA.com.

TRACTOR TIME #72: In this special episode #3 AcresUSA invites you to a special Podcast Series on Integrating Precision Analysis with Crop Input Applications. Learn how to use precision lab analysis to optimize crop input selection, application and timing while minimizing budget. Presented by Apical Crop Science Thank you for listening. You can learn more about AcresUSA at www.AcresUSA.com

TRACTOR TIME #71: In this special episode #2 AcresUSA invites you to a special Podcast Series on Integrating Precision Analysis with Crop Input Applications. Learn how to use precision lab analysis to optimize crop input selection, application and timing while minimizing budget. Presented by Apical Crop Science Thank you for listening. You can learn more about AcresUSA at www.AcresUSA.com

TRACTOR TIME #70: In this special episode #1 AcresUSA invites you to a special Podcast Series on Integrating Precision Analysis with Crop Input Applications. Learn how to use precision lab analysis to optimize crop input selection, application and timing while minimizing budget. Presented by Apical Crop Science Thank you for listening. You can learn more about AcresUSA at www.AcresUSA.com

In this episode ... and this is quite the invitation … we’re going to make you a bit uncomfortable. We’re going to talk about a lot of things going on in eco-agriculture and regenerative agriculture, but we’re not going to talk about soil health. In fact, we’re going to talk about money. We’re going to talk about the challenges built into the booming interest in the regenerative ag industry, what pieces are missing, and how the investors lining up at the gate can help – or they can hurt. To explore these topics, we’ll be talking with Lauren Manning, the owner of Ozark Pasture Beef and senior associate at Croatan Institute, an independent, nonprofit research and action institute whose mission is to build social equity and ecological resilience by leveraging finance to create pathways to a just economy. She talked to us from her farm in Arkansas, where it had just snowed for a little November surprise – or shock – but she still found a moment to talk. Tractor Time is brought to you by Sea-90 Ocean Minerals!  Sea-90 offers complete nutrient support for today’s farm, homestead, and ranch. With more than 90 minerals and trace elements in nature’s perfect balance, Sea-90 re-mineralizes soil, increases nutrient density, and elevates the vitality of your animals.   Web:  www.Sea-90.com Email:  info@seaagri.com Phone:  (770) 361-6092 Thank you for listening. You can learn more about Acres U.S.A. at www.AcresUSA.com.

On today’s episode of Acres U.S.A's Tractor Time sponsored by microBIOMETER, we’re going to live under the soil. We want to invite you too. Imagine a world where you could peek under your crops and see and hear what is going on. Where you could look into your flowerpot on your windowsill and see a whole universe of life. What you’d see would not only resemble Times Square, but Times Square Times Times Square times Times Square … or something like that. The cycle of life and the intelligence of nature is fully, and beautifully, at work. We are joined today by Laura Decker, the owner and operator of microBIOMETER, Dr. James White, a professor of plant biology at Rutgers, and Jeff Lowenfels, the author of several books, including a new one, Teaming with Bacteria. In our conversation, you will hear us try to establish why microbiology is an important topic for all farmers and ranchers today, and then go deep into what we know. How nutrients are brought to plants. How water can be stored. How nature resists some technology we are trying to force into it today. In the end, you’ll hear Jeff Lowenfels compare mycorrhizal fungi to the free love concept, we (unofficially) nominate Dr. James White for a Nobel Peace Prize, and Laura Decker talks about the future. Lowenfels is the author of the latest book, Teaming with Bacteria. You can find it, and all of his books, at AcresUSA.com. His entire collection is 30% off right now. Shop here" https://bookstore.acresusa.com/products/teaming-with-book-bundle Dr. White will be speaking in December at the Eco-Ag Conference & Trade Show in Covington, Kentucky. Laura Decker will be there too. So will I. We’ll see you there as well. You can register at EcoAg.AcresUSA.com SPONSOR MESSAGE: Improving the health of your soil is essential to increasing your output, but how can you tell if you are making progress? Research shows that microbial biomass — fungi and bacteria — is the leading indicator of soil health. Living soil fixes nutrients, improves plant immunity, stores water more efficiently and builds soil structure, therefore, a healthy level of microbes increases productivity while reducing inputs. There are more microbes in a handful of living soil than there are humans on this planet. We are just now starting to understand how vital the symbiosis is between plants and these microorganisms.  microBIOMETER® is a low cost, fast, on-site soil test for microbial biomass and fungal to bacterial ratio that allows you to quickly determine the health of your soil.  Order direct at microBIOMETER.com. Frequent retesting provides you with the data necessary to assess your soil management practice.

Anne and David recently published What Your Food Ate, a deep dive into the research around regenerative agriculture tactics. They read hundreds of research papers, talked with dozens of practitioners and ended up … hopeful. Listen in as they talk about their book, how they see us building a more resilient human being through changing our food supply to focus on nutrient density, microbiology and plain old common sense.

On this episode we welcome Anneliese Abbott. Her name may be familiar to Acres U.S.A. readers. She writes a monthly column called History of Organic Agriculture in America. It’s a must read that’s always full of surprises — and so is her first book, Malabar Farm: Louis Bromfield, Friends of the Land, and the Rise of Sustainable Agriculture. The book explores the life and legacy of a famous, Pulitzer Prize-wining novelist who became an Ohio-based, hard-partying prophet of a new kind of agriculture in the post-war era. It’s fascinating story that involves everything from Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall to wild parties, boxer dogs and techniques that now make up the foundation of sustainable agriculture. Abbott studied plant and soil science at The Ohio State University. She ran a Michigan CSA for four years. She’s now a graduate student in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.