Best Ag Central Radio Network Podcasts (2024)

First, they served in posts and on battlefields across the globe. Then, they came home and are now striving to bring their skills and energies to America’s agricultural system. They are veterans working to reshape our food system as they build soil health, grow vegetables and crops, and raise livestock in rural communities in every corner of the na…

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Julia Skinner – how fermentation has shaped cultures and communities through time 28:25

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4M ago28:25

28:25

What do these foods have in common? Cheese, coffee, chocolate, wine, bread, beer and saurkraut. That’s right, they’re all fermented! We’re talking about lots more than kombucha, kimchi and yogurt. Mild French sourdough with dried cherries and coriander In fact, fermentation has been a critical strategy for preserving foods for hundreds, if not thou…

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Farmers on why they welcome visitors, and how to find ag-adventure near you during WI Agricultural Tourism Wk 29:11

7M ago29:11

29:11

I really enjoyed this Deep Roots Radio conversation with Tom Wisniowski of The Happy Earth Orchard, Ellsworth, WI, and Andrew Mommsen of Mommsen Produce and Pumpkin Patch, Rice Lake, WI. They are among the hundreds of Wisconsin farmer-members of the Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Association who invite visitors for you-pick produce, corn mazes, del…

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How Wisconet is building network of weather stations that update every 5 minutes with info free to public 30:22

8M ago30:22

30:22

Have you found yourself checking your weather app every few minutes? (Often hoping that the forecast would change ;-). I know I have. Well now there’s a network of weather stations being built out across the state of Wisconsin that’ll meet that need to know what the weather’s done this last five minutes. It’s called Wisconet. I hope. you’ll enjoy t…

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Kriss Marion on Wisconsin Women in Conservation as educators for all farmers 27:50

12M ago27:50

27:50

It’s not often you get in a room with over one hundred women educated, committed and experienced in farming and conservation of our soils and water. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it is occurring more and more as organization like the Wisconsin Women in Conservation bring the women, the issues and the opportunities to the challenges of restori…

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Winter activities and adventures on Wisconsin family farms. 29:39

1+ y ago29:39

29:39

We love visiting farms during warm weather. But what about when the snow’s 2 feet deep and there are ice crystals in the air? Winter’s a perfect time to enjoy great food, family activities and adventure on Wisconsin family farms. In this Deep Roots Radio interview, Sheila Everhart, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Associatio…

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EagleSong describes a helpful, if thorny, tree in your neighborhood. 30:00

1+ y ago30:00

30:00

Hawthorn trees grow all across our farm, Bull Brook Keep. The ubiquitous Crataegus species is found all over North America and Europe, producing fragrant blossoms in the spring and firm red fruit — haws — in late summer and fall. Buelingos and hawthorn I came to recognize hawthorn – which on my farm grows as a tall, scraggly shrub – as I rotated my…

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Why American Dexter beef cattle work for the smaller farm 31:05

1+ y ago31:05

31:05

To say that Kevin McAnanny likes his Dexter cattle is understatement. He’s Director of Region 12 of the American Dexter Cattle Association, and he’s passionate about this small — but not miniature — beef breed. Kevin McAnnany and one of his Dexters Standing a bit more than a yard high at the hip, the Dexter is originally from Kerry, Ireland. Today,…

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WI Agricultural Tourism — ag-adventures for visitors & farmers year’round 28:22

1+ y ago28:22

28:22

Autumn colors are on display all across the country. Kids are running through corn mazes and families are enjoying hay rides, picking apples and sipping cider at farms throughout Wisconsin. Wrap a scarf around your neck and you can still savor wine outdoors at a local vineyard or hard cider at one of the many thriving orchards now offering the best…

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July 16, 2022, 10AM – 4PM Come visit — Eat Local Co-op Farm Tour 23:41

2y ago23:41

23:41

Bull Brook Keep is once again part of this Saturday’s Eat Local Co-op Farm Tour. Save the date and time: Saturday, July 16, 10AM to 4PM It’s a high point of our summer and you’re invited to visit our cows and pigs, as well as the livestock and festivities at nearby farms. Make a day of it! At our farm, you’ll get a chance to meet the moos, sample o…

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Exec Dir Terry Hauer – Polk Cty Economic Development Corp works in WI farm country 28:01

2y ago28:01

28:01

Economic development in rural northwestern Wisconsin isn’t all about “chasing smokestacks” explains Terry Hauer, Executive Director of the Polk County Economic Development Corporation. In this Deep Roots Radio interview, Hauer describes his organization’s role in a rural county with a large agricultural component, and in a time of post-COVID challe…

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John Jeavons – author, educator, researcher, eco-farm guru for mini-farm success anywhere 29:42

2+ y ago29:42

29:42

In this Deep Roots Radio interview, John Jeavons describes how biointensive gardening and farming is being used to increase yields, restore soils at unprecedented rates, cut water consumption by two-thirds and yield net income.Jeavons in author of “How to Grow More Vegetables* on less land than you can imagine”. Now in its eighth printing and with …

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Chefs for sustainable food – James Beard Foundation VP Kris Moon on the new Impact Programs 20:02

2+ y ago20:02

20:02

We all know that chefs can cook, some of them extraordinarily. And we know that what they cook can reflect and flavor local culture. But did you know our chefs can – and increasingly do – play a role in redesigning a more sustainable, healthful food system in America?I really enjoyed this conversation with Kris Moon, Vice President of the James Bea…

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Andrew French-about breeding/raising happy heritage cross pigs on pasture w/o hormones, antibiotics 28:23

2+ y ago28:23

28:23

I hope you’ll enjoy this Deep Roots Radio interview with Andrew French about breeding and raising heritage-cross pigs in the frigid Wisconsin climate. Andrew is owner/farmer of Full Boar Farm in Boyceville, Wisconsin, and a frequent contributor about sustainable farming to magazines such as ACRES USA.His objectives? Happy, healthy pigs; restoring t…

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Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Week starts with a bang in Amery, population 2902 29:27

2+ y ago29:27

29:27

Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Week, Sept. 27-Oct. 3, 2021 I grew up in Bronx, NY, in a city of 8 million, yet I couldn’t be more excited about Amery, Wisconsin’s launch of a special week dedicated to agricultural tourism. Agri what? Looking for the Great Pumpkin It’s a term that covers lots of things you’ve probably already done. If you’ve ever en…

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John Govin welcomes thousands of visitors to cuddle new lambs and farm babies every spring. 25:17

3y ago25:17

25:17

If it fits on your lap, we’ll help you hold it. Is there anything cuter than a new lamb? Or softer than a day-old chick? Well, maybe it’s the curly tail of a tiny piglet, or the agile jumps of a week-old kid. All will be on display, and ready for a cuddle, beginning this weekend on John and Julie Govin’s farm in Menomonie, Wisconsin. It’s their ann…

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Woman entrepreneur makes Wildflour – a small town natural foods store – rebloom in time of COVID 28:59

3y ago28:59

28:59

There’s hope! COVID 2020 – a year of pandemic, illness and isolation. We all learned about social distancing, working from home, and how to make sourdough bread. We clocked hundreds of hours on Zoom for professional meetings and family gatherings. Lots of us dusted off our sewing machines and made face masks. Our hearts broke as we learned about th…

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Abt 2021 InPerson and Virtual Fresh Fruit and Veg Conf and Agritourism 27:31

3+ y ago27:31

27:31

The snow’s flying and temperatures are plummeting, but northern growers will gear up for summer at the January 25, 2021 Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Conference. Normally held over a three-day period and attended by over 700 producers and marketers, researchers from across the Upper Midwest, the 2021 conference will be held in-person and, for the first…

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COVID exposes smaller-scale meat processing shortages – what to do 29:51

3+ y ago29:51

29:51

In spring 2020, consumers all across the country experienced shortages of fresh and packaged foods; and for most of us, this was a first in our lives. We found ourselves staring at sparsely-stocked grocery shelves, nearly empty dairy sections, and signs warning us that we were limited to the number of poultry or beef packages we could add to our ca…

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Medicinal herbalist Nancy Graden – boosting health and immunity in time of COVID-19 27:46

4y ago27:46

27:46

By the time we were halfway through our first week of “shelter in place,” I knew I had to touch base with Nancy Graden, a neighbor, farmer, and very knowledgable medicinal herbalist. What could I do to brace myself for the Coronavirus (COVID-19)? Nancy’s response is captured in this Deep Roots Radio interview, recorded March 28, 2020. I hope you fi…

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Ag economist John Ikerd – how better policies and smalls farms can move American farming to better food, soils, and economy 30:28

4y ago30:28

30:28

In this Deep Roots Radio conversation, internationally-respected agricultural economist John Ikerd describes how America’s farming model isn’t set in stone, how fence-row-to-fence-row planing isn’t manifest destiny, and how farmers don’t have to “get big, or get out” to thrive. John Ikerd, Agricultural Economist Recorded February 1, 2020, this chat…

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Clay Coyote CEO Morgan Baum on the beauty and function of clay cooking vessels 26:42

4+ y ago26:42

26:42

I’ve baked my sourdough hearth loaves in covered clay pots for years, and recommend that same strategy to the many baking students that travel to my Bull Brook Keep teaching kitchen. Why? because the covered vessels provide a blast of heat and moisture-saving enclosure that yields high rises, crisp crusts and tender crumb laced with glossy holes. T…

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Jewelltown Roastery: brewing coffee, building community and raising music in farm country Wisconsin 26:32

5y ago26:32

26:32

I haven’t done it often, but when I take Deep Roots Radio on the road, I’ve always loved it. This episode was filled with the sounds of a busy new coffee shop and music venue called Jewelltown Roastery, Star Prairie, Wisconsin, population 561. Just 15 minutues from our farm, Bull Brook Keep, my husband Dave and I became fans with the first jingle o…

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Founder/director describes growing demand and struggle for Beijing organic farmers market 19:39

5y ago19:39

19:39

The annual Organic Farming Conference held every February in La Crosse, Wisconsin never fails to deliver, and surprise. Expertly organized by the nonprofit Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Services (MOSES), it attracts about 3,000 farmers and ranchers, researchers and policy makers, film makers, authors and chefs, vendors and advocates from …

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Historians describe Seed Savers Exchange’s web exhibit – The Rise of Heirloom Seeds 27:12

5y ago27:12

27:12

I’ll never forget that first campout. It was the early 1980s, and my mom, my four-year old daughter and I slept in bunks at a Boy Scout camp just a stone’s throw from the Decorah, Iowa farm owned by the Seed Savers Exchange. It was July – hot and sticky. And there were dozens of us from all across the Midwest gathered to learn about how to save hei…

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Podcast: How MN-based You Betcha! Box is boosting small business and down-home philanthropy via local gourmet foods 26:23

5y ago26:23

26:23

Katie Sterns, You Betcha! Box Lots of businesses boast of a triple bottom line, but it’s a rare enterprise that can show results. Witness the You Betcha! Box, a new Minnesota-grown business that not only aggregates and promotes state-based small food businesses, but delivers great-tasting product while advocating for sustainability and contributing…

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Jeremy McAdams: describes his nearly invisible farm – making mushrooms bloom from logs of woods 23:51

5+ y ago23:51

23:51

It’s signature America isn’t it? Rolling acres of grain, 8-foot high rows of corn, pastures of beef cattle and barns filled with mooing dairy cows. Oh, and then there are fields of grazing sheep and rooting pigs. You can see the patchwork from your airline seat 6,000 feet above the ground, and whizzing by your car window. Oyster mushrooms growing i…

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Brooks Geenen – describes his b&w photo exhibit documenting man’s impact on ag land 24:55

5+ y ago24:55

24:55

Brooks Geenen’s black and white photos are dramatic and stark. His large-scale frames invite us to look at agricultural land – and how man’s shaped it – through his high-resolution lens. In this day and age of smartphone selfies and Instagram immediacy, Geenen uses large 5-inch by 5-inch exposures taken through old bellows-camera technology. His ap…

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How Upstream Tea project brews city-country-upstream-downstream connections about our shared water 23:14

5+ y ago23:14

23:14

It’s quenching and destructive. It’s calming and controversial, and essential to life. Water. How we divert rivers, tap lakes, draw down aquifers, and taint our groundwater affects us all because water is a shared commodity. It’s fragile and it’s powerful. The questions, proposals and debates over how to use and protect our watersheds will grow – a…

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About a Navy fighter pilot/organic farmer, a writer/singer/rapper, and a certified organic bourbon 28:14

5+ y ago28:14

28:14

Yeah, it’s an interesting mix of characters, values and place: Christian Myrah, a former Navy combat fighter pilot from a Norwegian farmer/warrior background, now distilling hyper-local bourbon and whiskey using corn and grain grown on his family’s Minnesota certified organic farm. Then there’s Dessa, a singer/writer/rapper/poet born and of the Twi…

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Angelica describes the process, nutrition and business of Angelica’s Garden raw ferments 25:42

5+ y ago25:42

25:42

Angelica Holstead describes her fermenting business and the values behind it. So good in grilled cheese I admit it, I love kimchi with my huevos rancheros and sauerkraut in my grilled cheese sandwiches. I often make these fermented veggies myself, but when I run out, I turn to the raw deliciousness from Angelica’s Garden. In this Deep Roots Radio c…

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