S5-E13: Seven Generations of Stewarding the Land with Susan Watkins
In this episode of the podcast, Jeff Ishee chats with Susan Watkins of Watkins Farms in Dinwiddie County Virginia, a 3500 acre farm growing soybeans, corn, and wheat. Susan shares information about the long history of her family far, their transition to cover crops and no till over twenty years ago, and their approach to cover cropping. She shares about the cost and labor savings that have come from transitioning to these practices. Watkins Farms is located in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which means conservation practices like no-till planting and the use of cover crops have an impact beyond the soil health of the land itself. Farmers play a key role in improving the water quality in the Bay. You can find more info at: https://farmersforsoilhealth.com/success-stories/seven-generations-of-stewardship-with-susan-watkins/ As always, we encourage you to cooperate with other farmers and follow the four core soil health principles: 1) Keep the Soil Covered -- Cover crops are our friends; 2) Minimize soil disturbance -- Practice no-till or gentle tillage in your field or garden as much as possible; 3) Maximize living roots year-round -- to improve biodiversity and life in the soil; and 4) Energize with diversity -- through crop rotation and/or livestock integration. Yes, soil health is a great conversation starter because we can all be 4 The Soil and for the future! To enjoy recent 4 The Soil blog posts and additional soil health resources, please visit https://www.4thesoil.org/blog and https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/. For questions about soil and water conservation practices and outdoor educational activities for youth, call or visit a USDA Service Center, a Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District office, or your local Virginia Cooperative Extension office.
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17:45
S5 - E12: A Whole Community with Elizabeth McMullen and Garland Mason of Organic Valley, Pt. II
The three-year transition to certified organic farming can present a formidable challenge for farmers. A whole community working together can make the process smoother. In this second episode, Elizabeth "Liz" McMullen and Garland Mason of Organic Valley Cooperative (OV) share how the company and its farm membership nourish a whole community perspective to benefit existing farmer member-owners and reduce obstacles for farmers who are curious about organic production and joining the cooperative as members. Liz and Garland state that OV regional pool managers can talk with farmers about the certification process, requirements, and specific on-farm organic practices. Liz and Garland also advise reaching out to neighboring OV farmers in your state who have gone through the process.Organic Valley's Rootstock blog provides glimpses into the day-to-day on-farm work routines and the values, practices, and experiences that inform organic farming as a business and build a whole community. To learn more about Organic Valley's commitment to cooperation, sustainability, soil health, and thriving farms and communities, please visit https://www.organicvalley.coop/ As always, we encourage you to cooperate with other farmers and follow the four core soil health principles: 1) Keep the Soil Covered -- Cover crops are our friends; 2) Minimize soil disturbance -- Practice no-till or gentle tillage in your field or garden as much as possible; 3) Maximize living roots year-round -- to improve biodiversity and life in the soil; and 4) Energize with diversity -- through crop rotation and/or livestock integration. Yes, soil health is a great conversation starter because we can all be 4 The Soil and for the future! To enjoy recent 4 The Soil blog posts and additional soil health resources, please visit https://www.4thesoil.org/blog and https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/. For questions about soil and water conservation practices and outdoor educational activities for youth, call or visit a USDA Service Center, a Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District office, or your local Virginia Cooperative Extension office.
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17:31
S5 - E11: Common Ties: Cooperation and Sustainability with Elizabeth McMullen and Garland Mason of Organic Valley, Pt. I
Public Relations Specialist Elizabeth McMullen and Sustainability Funding and Communications Specialist Garland Mason of Organic Valley Cooperative join Mary and Eric to share about the common ties that are essential to the farmer-owned cooperative. Cooperation and a strong commitment to the sustainability of small and mid-size family farms, local culture, and community are the most basic ties. In this episode, Elizabeth and Garland outline the history of Organic Valley and how the business started as a vegetable cooperative in 1988 and now has over 1,500 dairy farmer-member owners in 29 states with an average herd size of 70 cows per farm. Preserving small family farms was an impetus for Organic Valley's start. In carrying that mission forward, Organic Valley assists farmer member-owners to be sustainable and profitable through on-farm practices such as solar, composting, solid and liquid separation of manure, reduced tillage, and nutrition management to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus, and gas emissions. Most recently, OV farmers have experimented with Agolin Naturu, which is an organic certified enteric feed supplement made of essential oils of coriander, clove, and carrot that results in better fermentation, digestibility, and less burping.To learn more about Organic Valley's commitment to cooperation, sustainability, and soil health, please visit https://www.organicvalley.coop/ The website also provides recipes and a searchable database of Organic Valley farms near you.As always, we encourage you to cooperate with other farmers and follow the four core soil health principles: 1) Keep the Soil Covered -- Cover crops are our friends; 2) Minimize soil disturbance -- Practice no-till or gentle tillage in your field or garden as much as possible; 3) Maximize living roots year-round -- to improve biodiversity and life in the soil; and 4) Energize with diversity -- through crop rotation and/or livestock integration. Yes, soil health is a great conversation starter because we can all be 4 The Soil and for the future! To enjoy recent 4 The Soil blog posts and additional soil health resources, please visit https://www.4thesoil.org/blog and https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/. For questions about soil and water conservation practices and outdoor educational activities for youth, call or visit a USDA Service Center, a Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District office, or your local Virginia Cooperative Extension office.
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S5 - E10: Farmers Talking with Farmers with Anthony Beery of Beery Farms, Part II
Farmers talking with farmers is key to building soil health, encouraging innovation, and expanding peer-to-peer mentoring. Anthony Beery of Beery Farms and Cumberland Hay and Straw LLC shares his journey of learning, mentoring, and on-farm experimenting with Mary Sketch Bryant and Jeff Ishee. In the previous episode, Anthony talked about how he benefitted from his father's counsel and encouragement. Anthony provides similar mentorship to his children and fellow farmers through the Virginia No-Till Alliance (VANTAGE) and Virginia's Integrated Cropland Agronomy (ICA) program so others can generate new ideas and enjoy success. Like the majority of farmers, Anthony is constantly learning and gleaning new information through his on-farm experiments with no-till farming, multispecies cover cropping, composting, and observing the soil and plant ecosystem. As a self-described general gleaner, Anthony recommends talking with other farmers, attending conferences like the Annual VANTAGE No-Till Conference, and reading books and publications available through USDA's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) and agricultural partners. In Anthony's work with multi-species cover crops, he uses Green Cover Seeds' SmartMix Calculator as one of his reference tools. As always, we encourage you to talk with other farmer mentors and follow the four principles of soil health: 1) Keep the Soil Covered -- Cover crops are our friends; 2) Minimize soil disturbance -- Practice no-till or gentle tillage in your field or garden as much as possible; 3) Maximize living roots year-round -- to improve biodiversity and life in the soil; and 4) Energize with diversity -- through crop rotation and/or livestock integration. Yes, soil health is a great conversation starter since we can all be 4 The Soil! To enjoy the recent 4 The Soil blog posts and We Are 4 the Soil song created by the Flip Charts, please visit https://www.4thesoil.org/blog and https://www.4thesoil.org/#we-are-4-the-soil-video. For questions about soil and water conservation practices and outdoor educational activities for youth, call or visit a USDA Service Center, a Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District office, or your local Virginia Cooperative Extension office.
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S5 - E9: Soil Health is Attainable with Anthony Beery of Beery Farms, Part I
Soil health is attainable. Anthony Beery of Beery Farms and Cumberland Hay and Straw LLC shares that message with Mary Sketch Bryant and Jeff Ishee based on his farming experience and journey. Anthony grew up in the Shenandoah Valley where he and his father Danny raised dairy cows and poultry. Anthony benefitted from his father's mentorship and encouragement to be open to new ideas and experimenting.Anthony and his family moved to Cumberland County in 2018 to begin custom crop production and start Cumberland Hay & Straw LLC. Anthony received the 2024 Carl Luebben Soil Health and Water Quality Award at the Virginia Farm-to-Table Conference for his commitment, example, and mentorship of other farmers. If you are just starting your soil health journey, Anthony emphasizes taking a step and starting with the basics: learn the soil type and previous land use, test for nutrient content and pH, and understand the areas where nutrients are low and high. For Anthony, soil compaction was a limiting factor on his farm that started his commitment to earnest no-till farming, experimenting with diverse cover crop rotations, and continued devotion to core principles of soil health. As always, we encourage you to start your soil health journey and follow the four principles of soil health: 1) Keep the Soil Covered -- Cover crops are our friends; 2) Minimize soil disturbance -- Practice no-till or gentle tillage in your field or garden as much as possible; 3) Maximize living roots year-round -- to improve biodiversity and life in the soil; and 4) Energize with diversity -- through crop rotation and/or livestock integration. Yes, soil health is attainable and we can all be 4 The Soil! To enjoy the recent We Are 4 the Soil song created by the Flip Charts, please visit https://www.4thesoil.org/#we-are-4-the-soil-video. For questions about soil and water conservation practices and outdoor educational activities for youth, call or visit a USDA Service Center, a Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District office, or your local Virginia Cooperative Extension office.
Soil. What is it, really? It’s more than the dirt under our feet and the ground we stand on.Soil is living and life-giving.Listen as we unlock the mysteries of soil by speaking with people at the forefront of the soil health movement.“4 The Soil: A Conversation” is part of the 4 The Soil Awareness Campaign led by Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Virginia Soil Health Coalition. The campaign’s purpose is to raise awareness of soil as an agricultural and natural resource critical to social, economic, and environmental health.Hear and learn from farmers, agricultural professionals, conservation leaders, master gardeners, and many more on how and why to be 4 The Soil. The podcast is a collaboration of Virginia Tech's School of Plant and Environmental Sciences and Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation, Virginia Cooperative Extension, On The Farm Radio, USDA-NRCS, and the Virginia Soil Health Coalition with specific funding from the Agua Fund, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and Virginia Tech’s Department of Agriculture, Leadership, and Community Education’s Community Viability grant program. Stay tuned for the release of our first episode in October!
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