The CowPots Podcast

We first got approached by Philip Horan in 2021 as he was investigating ways to add value to the digested manure coming from Australia's dairy farms. He was waist deep in permitting and planning a community digester facility and realized that there would be a need to add value to the material (poo) after passing through the digester. After 2 years of discussions, we decided it's time to announce our partnership. Listen as we discuss the how, the what, the where and the why of making CowPots in Australia. 

Jana Erickson transitioned from a career in PR to growing perennials, focused especially on pollinator friendly varieties and native species. In addition to focusing on growing healthy and native landscapes she is committed to sustainability and reducing waste from her growing business. Cue, CowPots. We talk about some of her tips and tricks to gardening and the perks she's discovered that come with growing in CowPots. Jana ships perennials all across the country, you can find a wide variety of perennials for sale online at www.witsendgardens.com

The next generation for Whittier Farms might just be 4 years old and 11 months old, but Samantha Staebner and her family are doing everything they can to make sure that their diversified dairy farm with a farm market, produce and compost is going to be there, for these little farmers to have the opportunity to continue to serve the community well into the future. Sam handles marketing and so much more for the family business, from transplanting to drafting newsletters and everything in between.

There have been a lot of changes on our family's dairy farm over the past couple of months and in this episode you'll find out about the biggest change of them all. I sat down with Ethan Arsenault to talk about his decision to become a dairy farmer and how his first 2 months as owner/manager of Canaan View Dairy are going. 

What does it mean to be a member of a farmer owned cooperative? I invited Maine dairy farmer Jenni Tilton-Flood to talk about the benefits, opportunities and responsibilities of being a cooperative member along with our favorite moments from inside a grocery store sharing cheese samples with shoppers and listening to their stories of lactose intolerance.

Cows are being blamed for contributing to climate change through their farts and burps. I wondered, how do you even measure a cow burp? I called Erin Marlowe of Agri-Mark/Cabot Creamery Cooperative to explain. Erin is working with farmers across the Northeast to measure the total greenhouse gas emissions from their farms. She talks to me about how to measure a cow fart and also what farms can do (and are doing) to reduce those emissions with an industry goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Part of the climate solution can and should include bovines, and here's why.

Meet dairy farmer and award winning cheese maker, Alise Sjostrom from Redhead Creamery. She has diversified her family's dairy farm business with a creamery where they turn curds into cheddar. Together with her husband they are also pursuing another business venture that turns whey into spirits. Innovation, hard work and a truly entreprenuerial spirit is making curds and whey a uniquely sustainable addition to this sustainable dairy farm in Minnesota.

It's National Dairy Month! There's a lot that goes into making milk each day, from caring for baby calves, growing crops, pumping poop, maintaining robots, there's a lot of jobs (and sounds) on our farm. I'm kicking off the June Dairy Month celebrations by inviting you on an audio highlights tour of our farm.

Theresa Freund wasn't raised on a farm but she has made her home on this one for over 40 years. She met and married the farmer's son and evolved from dairy farmer to farm marketer, building a brand while also raising 4 kids. That evolution led to our family's dairy farm diversifying to include a farm market, bakery, garden center, greenhouse and catering business. Theresa's got stories, here's just the beginning!

In this episode, I talk with Meghan Austin about her experience when Hurricane Michael slammed their family's dairy farm and creamery in 2018. We talk about surviving the storm and what came next. I am excited to share Meghan's story about resiliency and rejuvenation as we all figure out life after Covid. In Meghan's case, building back includes lots of ice cream and fresh milk from their family owned, Southern Craft Creamery.

In this debut episode of The CowPots Podcast I sit down with my dad, and we dive deep into poop. Matt talks about the inspiration for CowPots, the multiple benefits cow manure provides our farm, his experience being featured on Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs and much more.

We've been caring for cows and growing crops for 7 decades. We also spend a lot of time managing cow crap, that's what makes us a little different: we form our cows' composted manure into biodegradable pots. We are excited to share how CowPots and other creative solutions are meeting the needs of our farm business and beyond.