Here on the On-Farm Trials Podcast, host Carol McFarland dives into the different trials that come with farming systems innovation in the inland Pacific Northwest, speaking with professionals all across the region about how they get things done.
In this episode of the On-Farm Trials podcast, join the conversation between Grower Chris Williams and USDA-ARS Researchers Dr. Dan Long, and Dr. Stewart Wuest as they discuss their collaborative work using combine-mounted protein monitors on Chris's farm outside of Athena, OR. Chris, Dan, and Stewart describe the what, why, and how of leveraging this ‘new' precision technology in useful and usable ways including to map nitrogen use efficiency across the field, gain a greater understanding of how wheat responds to applied nitrogen, and how that information can translate into management decisions on the farm.
In this episode of the On-Farm Trials podcast, we're on Esser Farms outside of Moscow, ID. Long-time innovator Garry Esser shares his experience with many soil-health focused trials starting with the transition to direct seed and being part of Shepherd's Grain. Listen as Garry describes more recent trials such as alternative crop rotations, including intercropping with pulses and underseeding clovers, compost tea, and how ‘unintended consequences' led to integrated grazing on the farm. The conversation explores getting your feet on the ground and seeing what you're looking at - and how it can be more fun to try new things with friends.
In the first full episode of On-Farm Trials Season 2 Jason Bishop of Living Heritage Farm in Edwall, Washington, describes his trials building life on the farm with alternative crop rotations, intercropping, and a range of cover cropping strategies that include cows jumping fences- all while looking both forward and backward for inspiration to further the farm's management goals.
The first episode of season 2 is a short introduction to Jason and Jill Bishop of Living Heritage Farm in Edwall, Washington. In our ‘pre-season episode' Jason and Jill describe coming back to the farm and working to build out value-added direct marketing enterprises to support the addition of their family on the farm. Hear how they embrace the farm name, and their experiences ranging from specialty beef, to seed increases from the Einkorn heritage grain patch started in their suburban Seattle backyard.
In this bonus episode ‘Stories from the Field' we hear thoughts on the what, how, and why, around building soil health and cropping systems innovation in grain production systems of the inland Pacific Northwest. Listen to these highlights from interviews with Soil Health Producer of the year 2023 Clay Hutchens of Hutchens Family Farms in Dayton, WA, one of the original founders of the Pacific Northwest Direct Seed Association Mark Sheffles of the Sheffles Company outside of Wilbur, WA, and Aaron Esser of WSU Extension and Howard Nelson retired career agronomist and land owner in Lincoln county, about the challenges and rewards working hard to grow food, and steward land, in their communities.
In this episode we hear from WSU Extension Specialist Aaron Esser, and land-owner cooperator Howard Nelson of Creston, WA. In this interview on the WSU Wilke Research Farm in Davenport, WA our guests discuss liming trials along with soil pH as it relates to maintaining soil health. We also hear about a long history of collaboration from work on winter peas, to decision-making for the advisory committee for the Wilke Farm.
In this episode of the On-Farm Trials podcast we hear from Clay Hutchens of Hutchens Family Farms outside of Dayton, Washington. Join the conversation to hear from Clay as the Washington Soil Health Initiative's Soil Health Producer of the Year for 2023, what soil health means to him and his perspective on the imperative of a safe and abundant food supply. He shares his thoughts on soil acidification and his experience collaborating with the Columbia County Conservation District to ameliorate soil acidification with lime, and his experience as an early adopter of precision nutrient management technology - don't miss his description of adapting his early computers to the tractor cab!
Join this conversation about On-Farm Trials with recently-retired farmer, Mark Sheffles, outsideof Wilbur, Washington. Mark describes his trials with winter peas, the Weed-it spot sprayer, andhis history with direct seeding.
In this bonus episode, "Stories from the Field", we hear thoughts on the what, how, and why,around building soil health and cropping systems innovation in grain production systems of the inland Pacific Northwest. Listen to these highlights from interviews with Uhlorn Family Farms team, Tom Conklin, and Douglas Poole about the challenges and rewards working hard to grow food, and steward land in their communities.
This episode of On-Farm Trials comes to you from the Rosanoff Homestead outside of Ritzville, WA where we hear from Ron Jirava and the WSU research team Dr. Bill Schilinger, Dr. Tim Paulitz, Dr. Jeremy Hansen, Dr. Surendra Singh, and Bruce Sower about their work together on the longest running Dryland On-Farm Trial collaboration in Washington State. Their conversation covers an array of the work that has come from this trial around alternative cropping systems, the soil microbiome, pathogens, tillage equipment, and residue management and how they all of these management strategies interact with soil moisture in a dryland environment. We also hear about future directions for the research to come, building on past work and exploring new ideas, including even more focus on soil health!
Join the conversation on Uhlorn Family Farms outside of Cottonwood, ID with Darrel and Brentley Uhlorn and Dave Dahlsrud. In this interview they describe their trials with cropping system innovations, alternative crops, weed management, integrating cattle, and using compost teas, extracts, biostimulants, and foliar fertilizers at production scale.
This episode of the On-Farm Trials podcast features an interview with farmer Douglas Poole inMansfield, Washington as he describes how his trials are intended to work with the ecologicalsystems on his farm. Douglas shares his experiences from collaring cows to harnessing soilmicrobes, planting alternative crops, hosting landlord parties to talk cover cropping and soilhealth, a decades-long legacy of biosolids, and creating/conserving sage grouse habitat on thefarm.
The interviews compiled for another special episode of Stories from the Field featuresRuss Zenner retired farmer from Genesee, Idaho, Clint Zenner farming outside of GenesseIdaho talking with University of Idaho researcher Kendall Kahl, and Tracy Erikson retiring farmeroutside of St. John, WA.
In this episode we hear from Tom Conklin of Wittman Family Farms outside of Cul de Sac, Idaho on how their farm team works together to design, track, and evaluate their ‘farm scientific trials' from cows to water and towards lower inputs and diversification goals.
In this episode we hear a career retrospective from Tracy Erikson outside of St. John, WA, and how his lifetime pursuit of learning has evolved innovation and trials on the farm along with his impact on the landscape over decades. He describes starting the fabrication of his first no-till drill up to current interests and trials looking under the microscope for signs of soil health, spray water quality, and opportunities in drone technology on the farm.
This episode of the On-Farm Trials podcast features Clint Zenner of Zenner FamilyFarms in Genesse, ID and his collaboration as a PI on the PNW cover crops projectalongside Kendall Kahl of the University of Idaho. A conversation with them highlightsyears of working together that has resulted in a wealth of knowledge on cover crops,cows, and even earth worms! Listen to their conversation about how they are workingtogether to ask and answer important soil health and cropping systems innovation forthe farm and region with their on-farm trials.
This episode of the On-Farm Trials podcast features Clint Zenner of Zenner FamilyFarms in Genesse, ID and his collaboration as a PI on the PNW cover crops projectalongside Kendall Kahl of the University of Idaho. A conversation with them highlightsyears of working together that has resulted in a wealth of knowledge on cover crops,cows, and even earth worms! Listen to their conversation about how they are workingtogether to ask and answer important soil health and cropping systems innovation forthe farm and region with their on-farm trials.
The interviews compiled for another special episode Stories from the Field feature Erin Ruheland Doug Schuster of Westfield Properties in St. John, Washington, Frank Wolfe of LesterWolfe Farms talking with Subodh Adhikari of the University of Idaho in Uniontown, Washingtonand Derek Schafer of Schafer Farm and Ranch in Lind, Washington. If you want to hear morefrom any of these guests you can find their full length interviews in the On-Farm Trials podcastarchives.
Our guest for this episode is Russ Zenner, a retired farmer from Genesee, Idaho. Listen to theconversation to hear him describe the trials from the early days of Direct Seeding in the region,value-added and identity-preserved marketing, and share his thoughts on climate change andgoats, working with research and conservation partners, and the importance of life-longlearning.
In this episode we hear from Doug Schuester and his daughter Erin Ruehl outside of St. John,WA - as they talk about their on-farm trials in remediating eroded hilltops with compost andcover crops, growing cows and canola, and some farm succession planning.
This episode of on-farm trials features Frank Wolf of Lester Wolf farms outside of Uniontown,Washington, and his collaboration as a PI on the PNW cover crops project alongside SubodhAdhikari of the University of Idaho. A conversation with them highlights years of workingtogether that has resulted in these collaborative on-farm cover crop trials, how they are workingtogether to look at various mixes, get them seeded, and what and how data is being collected tomeasure impact on subsequent crops, soil, weeds, and insects to create a regionaldecision-making tool based on their findings.
This compilation of interviews features Garrett Moon of Moon Family Farms with Researcher Dr.Garett Heineck with the USDA-ARS in the Horse Heaven Hills, Andy Juris of Diamond J Farmsin Bickleton, WA, and Wade Troutman of Open Heart Farms in Bridgeport, WA. In the episodewe dig into stories from the field, as these growers share their stories of cropping systemsinnovation in the face of constantly changing conditions from markets to climate.
In this episode, we talk with Derek Schafer about farming between Lind and Ritzville, just around the corner from the Lind Research Station where their farm has a long history of working in partnership with researchers to advance the regional cropping system. He talks about his experience growing fall seeded peas and canola in rotation with wheat, their farm's transition to no-till, and managing weeds like Russian Thistle with rotation and spot spray technology.
Join the conversation with Andy Juris on his Diamond J Farm, in Bickleton, WA as he discusses his trials with herbicide resistance, transitions in tillage systems, diversifying the cropping system in the face of changing conditions, why innovation is critical, and talking crop insurance and ag transportation issues with policy makers in DC and Olympia.
Join the conversation with Andy Juris on his Diamond J Farm, in Bickleton, WA as he discusses his trials with herbicide resistance, transitions in tillage systems, diversifying the cropping system in the face of changing conditions, why innovation is critical, and talking crop insurance and ag transportation issues with policy makers in DC and Olympia!
Join the conversation between Garrett Moon of Moon Family Farms in the Horse Heaven Hills, WA and Dr. Garett Heineck, Cropping Systems Agronomist with the USDA-ARS CAF LTAR network research program. The interview dives into how they are working together on the farm to answer questions about the ‘down-side production potential' of perennial wheatgrass Kernza, cover crops, and mapping cheatgrass in a region where fog counts as significant precipitation.What are they measuring and what data matters from the research side and on the working farm - and how are they making it work? Listen now to find out!
Join the conversation between Garrett Moon of Moon Family Farms in the Horse Heaven Hills, WA and Dr. Garett Heineck, Cropping Systems Agronomist with the USDA-ARS CAF LTAR network research program. The interview dives into how they are working together on the farm to answer questions about the ‘down-side production potential' of perennial wheatgrass Kernza, cover crops, and mapping cheatgrass in a region where fog counts as significant precipitation.What are they measuring and what data matters from the research side and on the working farm - and how are they making it work? Listen now to find out!
In the second part of a two-part episode, host Carol McFarland visits with cropping systems innovator and award-winning conservationist Mr. Wade Troutman. Check out episode one of the two-part interview to hear about his adventures trying things on his farm in Bridgeport, WA - from being one of the first to grow canola in WA, to direct marketing of organic ‘Wade's Wheat', finding sunflower pans for the combine, and how ag and his neighborhood have evolved over his decades of On-Farm Trials!
In the first of a two-part episode, host Carol McFarland visits with cropping systems innovator and award-winning conservationist Mr. Wade Troutman. Check out episode one of the two-part interview to hear about his adventures trying things on his farm in Bridgeport, WA - from being one of the first to grow canola in WA, to direct marketing of organic ‘Wade's Wheat', finding sunflower pans for the combine, and how ag and his neighborhood have evolved over his decades of On-Farm Trials!
On this bonus episode, we revisit our talks with Jesse Brunner, Amy McKay, Eric Odberg and Chris Eckhart to hear them share their stories from the field.
In this week's episode we interviewed Jesse Brunner whose farm near Almira, WA has been under No-Till management for over 20 years. Jesse grows canola, wheat, and several other rotational crops, including his experimentation with re-crop winter wheat in an otherwise crop-fallow system. In this episode you can hear about his favorite drill for direct-seeding canola, residue management in No-Till, his strategy for making trials happen, and the record-keeping he uses to determine if a practice is something worth repeating. He also describes experimenting with his Weed-it system over the last year, optimizing nozzle selection and what he'll be trying next year.
Host Carol McFarland visits with Amy McKay from McKay Farm and Ranch in LaCrosse, WA sharing her experience with full, two pass and no-till production across their operation, precision spray application strategies, trying intercropping, and running cows on her cover crop trial. Listeners can hear how she navigates the moisture limitations in her area. What happened when she mowed the cover crop to seed wheat into? Check out the episode to find out!
Join this conversation on Eckhart Farms outside of Deer Park, WA where we talk about cover crops, reducing synthetic fertilizers, building organic matter, mycorhizzal fungi, and farming with the next generation.
Host Carol McFarland returns to Holland-Boone Farms to speak with Moses Boone and student Oscar Rodriguez about the co-production of research around a field scale pH survey featuring the research and extension experiences for undergraduate students and the use of in-field pH meters and experimental design to capture pH variability across the field and within the soil profile and a discussion of low pH symptoms in lentils, nitrogen fertilizer contribution to low pH, and the benefits of the co-production of research.
On this bonus episode, we revisit our talks with Sheryl Hagen-Zakarison, Dusty Walsh, and Moses Boone to hear them share their stories from the field.
In this episode, host Carol McFarland talks with Moses Boone of Holland-Boone Farm outside of Palouse, Washington on experimenting to overcome no-till seeding spring crops into high residue and other barriers to full adoption of no-till practices, balancing soil health with production goals, why he isn't currently growing cover crops, return on investment for experimentation, and what keeps farmers from experimenting today.
Join this conversation as Dusty shares his trials using a ‘new' planter, and growing wheat, canola, and sunflowers, cover crops and cows, and flowers and kids outside of Colbert, WA.
On this episode, we visit Zakarison farms and chat with Sheryl Hagen-Zakarison about the farm that's been in her family for 4 generations! This episode includes her experience with their enterprise's recent and big transitions into thinking about their farm near Palouse, WA within an ecological framework, including No-Till adoption, reducing inputs, diversifying and intercropping crops, and their farm's alternative marketing strategies. She discusses partners in their experimentation as well as lessons learned in what they've tried.
Join this conversation in Genesse, ID as Eric describes the features of his new AgPro drill, increasing his ROI by reducing his inputs, his experiences growing and marketing sunflower, millet, cover crops and more as part of his wheat-based system. We also hear abouthow Shepherd's Grain has enabled producers to account for their cost of production withidentity-preserved regional marketing.
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